A Day In The Life Of Little Bear

For this weeks post I thought I would write a post from Little Bears point of view and how she runs her day.

Being 2 and a 1/2 is really hard work. My day starts around 7-7:30 when daddy gets up for work, and I love nothing more than going and getting into mummy’s bed, ready to hide under the covers when daddy comes back in the room. Sleeping all night makes me sooo hungry so I make sure that I instantly demand breakfast as soon as I get to the bottom of the stairs. It is important that I don’t stop stressing this until mummy is giving me my breakfast.

Once my tummy is full I like to watch my favourite shows on the telly such as blaze and the monster machines, but mummy sometimes has things she wants to watch. I have tv to catch up on too, but I do quite like Corrie. It’s now been an hour since I had breakfast and I would love nothing more than to eat some chocolate or some cookies, but mummy says no. Cue the mega tantrum because I didn’t get my own way. I wish mummy knew how much I wanted to eat them. Maybe if I offer her some she will give it to me. Nope that didn’t work.

When I’ve finally gotten over my meltdown and accepted that eating chocolate at 9:30 just isn’t acceptable, I like to slowly test mummy to see what kind of mood she is in today, and to see how much I can get away with. I find it best to get all my toys out at once and just watch mummy slowly die inside looking at the utter carnage unfolding in her living room.

Once I have decided what toy to play with me and mummy have the best time ever repeatedly playing the same game for ages on the floor. Now I’m starting to feel hungry again, and mummy says it’s snack time. But mummy doesn’t have the same idea of snack in her head as I do. Mummy insists if I’m hungry to eat some fruit like raisins, where in my head I’m still praying she gives me a biscuit. I settle for raisins because I’m hungry and quite like them anyway.

That snack has given me so much energy and I just feel the unnecessary need to run as fast as I can singing at the top of my lungs or shouting chicken (my new favourite word) between the kitchen and the living room. Mummy loves that.

Around 12 is lunch time and one thing mummy does do is make the best lunches. My favourite is mummy’s special fried rice, but mummy doesn’t get that the only colour that matters in the world is blue and she gives me a green plate. Why mum. Insert meltdown here!

If it’s sunny after lunch, I love bringing all the shoes in from the porch to let mummy know I want to go and play outside, accompanied by me saying shoes on repeatedly, and if its not raining she says yes. Sometimes we even go on adventures to the farm or the park round the corner. My favourite game to play in the garden is dig up all the bark where my garden toys are and throw it all over the patio. Mummy doesn’t agree with this though.

Ooh it’s now afternoon snack time and because I’ve been good mummy actually gives me a snack which I want. Some bear crisps. These are my favourite ever. The rest of the afternoon is spent listing my favourite family members, my best friends and just chatting rubbish which makes mummy laugh. She calls me her chatterbox.

Around 6 daddy gets home from work and this is most definitely the best part of the day. Daddy is the most fun in the world and mummy isn’t fun anymore when daddy gets home. He doesn’t tell me off in the day like mummy does, and let’s me eat chocolate at snack time. When he gets in he makes the yummiest tea ever and after tea me and daddy have cuddles on the couch.

Once my tea has gone down, the urge for chocolate comes back and daddy promises if I’m a good girl and get my jams (pj’s) on, I can have some cookies with my milk before bed. I don’t know how but there is a magic fairy in my house that puts my milk and cookies on the couch just in time for me to come downstairs. (I think it might be mummy though but she says it isn’t)

Now I am in my big bed when I go to bed mummy and daddy read me lots of stories until my tired eventually catches up with me, and once mummy has read the Gruffalo and the Gruffalos’ child, I am finally ready to go to sleep to start all over again the next day.

Like I said at the beginning, being 2 and a 1/2 is really hard work, but I love spending every day with my mummy and daddy, even if I do wind them up.

How is my Little Bear 2 1/2

Since having Little Bear, I swear time goes faster every week. Today my not so Little Bear is 2 1/2 and we are officially in the midsts of the terrible twos. To be fair to her though she isn’t too bad. We just have irrational tantrums over things that really don’t need tantruming over, for example not being able to go to work with daddy or being able to change the weather.

A lot has changed since my last post about Little Bear in March. She is now a “big girl” in her words and won’t accept being called anything else, unless it’s doctor as that’s her current obsession. She even has scrubs and a doctors set to match the name. Oh and we don’t stop talking – every second of every day.

As much as Little Bear is hard work, this is such an amazing age as she is constantly growing and learning new things everyday, and I couldn’t be more proud of her. She is like my little best friend. Over the last month she seems to have come on from no where from moving into her own big bed and being completely out of nappies. I would go as far as to say she has been here before. She just seems to take everything in her stride.

I’m not going to lie though it is hard work looking after her everyday because she has so much energy, and being pregnant with a toddler is so much different than being pregnant with your first. I can’t just take a nap if I want one. She doesn’t really nap either, but when she does I don’t know what to do with myself. The battle of do I clean, get jobs done or just sit and enjoy the peace is unreal.

Little Bear is very excited to meet Baby Bear and can’t seem to decide on what she wants. She told me the other day that she wants a sister, but she wants the baby to be a boy, so I don’t know how I am going to do that one. I just hope she likes it whatever it is.

We met my friends little baby boy the other day and my god he is gorgeous and Little Bear was in her element, mothering the life out of the poor baby. Her little face lit up when he lay on her knee, which gives me hope for when this one comes. I just have a feeling after a few weeks she may start to question when the baby will be leaving and go through a not liking the baby very much phase.

I think the one thing I am conscious about though is involving her the whole way through to make sure she doesn’t feel like she is being replaced. After all she tells me it’s her baby already so I have competition and the baby isn’t here yet. I’m sure she will change her mind if it cries all night.

So for now I am going to enjoy the little time I have left with just me and my Little Bear before all kinds of crazy breaks loose and I have to figure out how to look after two bears without loosing my mind. Even though it’s only been 2 1/2 years, I feel like I have completely forgotten what to do with a newborn.

All I remember is they give the best cuddles and they smell amazing.

When three become four

So I know I have been absent for some time now. When I looked back, my last post was way back in March. So much has changed and happened since then which kind of explains where I have been. As you may have guessed from the title, our little family of three is soon to become a family of four. Yes, we are adding a Baby Bear to the family, and it is safe to say that Little Bear is more than excited to meet her new brother or sister.

This little bundle of joy won’t be here till October but is definitely making itself know with all the kicking it does. Come the time I go to bed, there is a full-on kung fu competition going on in there. Don’t get me wrong it is the best feeling in the world but can be quite uncomfortable sometimes.

I have gotten so used to my little family of 3, with Little Bear being my best friend, and I have been through all the emotions of how am I going to love another Little Bear as much as my Little Bear. I think I’ve come to the conclusion that I won’t love her any less, my heart will just double to love them both even more.

As with Little Bear, we haven’t found out the gender of the baby, to the disagreement of some of my friends (Emma), but when we had her it was the best surprise in the world hence why we have done the same this time around. It saves me some money too put it that way. There’s only so much neutral stuff you can buy before you become sick of the sight of beige.

Life is definitely going to change when Baby Bear arrives, and I really hope that Litlle Bear likes it as much as she likes her baby dolls. If she is anything like she is with them with the new baby then the baby won’t get a minutes piece. Either way, she is going to be a fab big sister.

So now I am feeling more with it, I will be going back to my normal schedule of 1 post a week every Wednesday starting from next week.

In the meantime, if any mums or dads are reading this who have two kids who can reassure me that going from one to two really isn’t that bad and that everything will be ok, then that would be great. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. At the end of the day, we are all in this together.

6 things I’ve learnt since becoming a parent

Being a parent really has changed my life and for the better. There is no better feeling than knowing you will have a best friend for life. Someone to laugh with, cry with and help grow into the person they will one day be. The one thing I love about being a parent is that every day is different, and watching your child grow and learn new things is just as magical each and every time.

There are some things that I have learnt since becoming a parent that no one told me before hand or no amount of reading parenting books would have prepared me for. Here’s a list of 6 things that I have learnt since becoming a parent in the hope that someone somewhere can relate to them and we can take some comfort in the fact that we are all in this together.

Tantrums happen for the most pointless reasons – So having a toddler means meltdowns over things you think really don’t need a meltdown. I didn’t know that giving someone the wrong coloured fork or putting the wrong pair of shoes on could ruin someones day so much until I had a toddler. Little bear has a thing for the colour blue at the moment so unless what she wants is blue then the world literally ends. I gave her a pink fork with her tea the other day and I just stepped back and watched my lovely little toddler just melt into a crying mess. Can you imagine doing that as an adult.

Multitasking becomes second nature – Before having kids multi tasking was just a useful skill used to juggle every day tasks. Nothing serious. I could happily watch the TV whilst ironing or cooking with ease. Now I am a parent I feel like all I do is multi task. This also goes for learning to do everything with one hand. Key skill in parenting. Gone are they days of casually going about my day. Now I have to multi task like some kind of ninja, from trying to eat my food whilst feeding a toddler whilst trying to clean, and keep everyone happy in between all at the same time. I can’t even go to the loo without multi tasking. Having a wee in peace is a thing of the past. And just when you think you have it sussed, as in said toddler is sitting quietly watching TV (or so you think) they pull out this super power of deadly silence where they can achieve mass destruction in a matter of minutes.

How much I respect my mum – I think every child/teenager goes through a phase of where their mum is the worst person in the world because they wouldn’t let them do something they wanted to do. I know I have been there. And in that moment you think your mum is being so unfair and ruining your life. It’s not until you become a parent yourself that you find you are doing and saying the exact same things that your mum said and did to you. Also you realise just how hard it is to be a parent, emotionally and physically. Kids use every last bit of energy you have and fill up pretty much 100% of your heart. Only now do I realise that my mum wasn’t doing those things to be a pain, but because she loved me and knew what was best. So thanks mum for teaching me life lessons that I didn’t know you were teaching me at the time. I just wish you were still here to help me when things get tough.

Patience is key – Patience is definitely key when it comes to parenting. A toddler will subconsciously know just how far they can push you before you explode, whether that be shouting mummy a million times a day or crying for no reason. Toddlers are the most unreasonable human beings in the world, and there really is no negotiating with them once they get an idea into their head. Little bear loves cars and tractors at the minute and constantly points at the TV and demands I put on a non-existent program about them both, resulting in a toddler lying face down crying into the floor because I can’t find the program that doesn’t even exist. They also never forget things. I could mention something to Little bear in the morning and by lunch time she still remembers and asks for it again. Never promise a toddler anything you cannot follow through. It’s a good job I am a patient person.

Life becomes 10 times harder but 10 times better – Having kids is quite possibly one of the best things I have done, but also one of the hardest things I have done at the same time. No one mentions the sacrifices you have to make when you become a parent. People only tell you the good parts. No one mentions how lonely it can get sometimes. No one mentions how Peppa Pig takes over your life and no one mentions just how much your life will change. Your free time becomes non existent, nights out get less and less, everything becomes that little bit more stressful and you have always got some kind of toddler related muck on you somewhere. You become a personal tissue to them. Chocolate hands, wipe them on mummy. Just picked your nose, wipe it on mummy. The list goes on. I feel like I literally wing it everyday. There are so many parenting books that tell you how to be perfect parents but what they fail to do is tell you real life, and the curve balls that parenting can throw at you any time. And at the end of the day no matter what you do, there is always someone who has an opinion on how you are doing it, and that your doing it the wrong way. The way I see it – do what you like, however you like because it is your child.

Don’t be scared to ask for help or feel guilty for taking time to take care of yourself – Like I said earlier, parenting is one of the hardest jobs in the world, and by asking for help you can’t help but feel like you have failed in some way. But everyone needs help sometimes and there is nothing wrong with admitting that you might be struggling or if life just gets a little to much sometimes. That’s what friends and family are for. Even if it is just watching the kids for a couple of hours so you can do some cleaning in peace or just so you can sit and do nothing. Every little helps and will make you feel better in the long run, and this will have an effect on your parenting. It isn’t a crime to take time out to look after yourself so why do we as parents make ourselves feel so guilty about doing so. That’s one challenge I have set myself this year, that I am still a person and not just a mum. Even if that just means something as simple as going to bingo with my nutcase friend Emma. It is time away where I can just unwind and not have to think about my Little bear for a while and recharge my batteries for the next day. Plus she is the same boat as me with a toddler that is just as irrational as my own Little bear.

So there’s a few things I have learnt since becoming a parent. I wouldn’t change a thing for the world though. I literally couldn’t love anybody as much as I do my Little bear, no matter how she tests my patience. I have a best friend for life.

Feel free to comment below what you have learnt since becoming a parent. Are any of them the same?

Sorry it’s been a while…again

I remember saying to myself in the new year that I was going to make more of an effort to put out two posts a week but sometimes life gets in the way. Hey, I even started with a blog schedule calendar, which I stuck to for January. It really helped because it meant I had the whole month of posts planned out and I knew what my topics were going to be straight away, which made writing that little bit easier.

A lot of people who read my blog might think the hardest part is coming up with content but that bit comes easily to me. The hardest part is the constant need to promote once posts have gone live which takes up the most time, and this is needed if I want to get a decent following and audience for my blog. Don’t get me wrong, I would love nothing more than a big following but that isn’t the purpose for my blog. I do this for myself. Look at it as a place I can vent my thoughts and feelings in this lonely little world, in the hope that someone somewhere is reading it thinking “yeah I feel the same way”.

If I didn’t have Little bear I really don’t know what I would write about because she is a content goldmine with some of the stuff she does, especially now she is 2. And I think when you are a parent, hearing that someone else is going through the same thing as you is the most reassuring thing in the world, even if they are on the other side of the world. There is such a big community of parenting bloggers out there and the internet is where we turn to as our point of call for our little monsters we love so much.

I’ve decided for the time being because life is a bit crazy at the moment, I am going to drop down to one post a week so at least I can share my stories and experiences still. I might go back up to 2 posts a week when things settle down, but I am going to do a schedule for March as my motivation to stick to and post on a regular basis.

So this is only a short post today, but as of next week, I will make Wednesday’s my Blog post day.

In the meantime, are there any topics in particular people would like me to write about then comment them below and I will try my best to cover them over the month.

It can be anything so fire them at me.

Superbowl Sunday

So that time of year has come around again, it is officially Superbowl Sunday and that only means one thing… A late night and plenty of munchies to see me through the game. The Superbowl is literally the highlight of my year, but also sad because it means there is no more football till September when the season starts again, and I have to listen to daddy bear moan about how there is no sport to watch.

This years Superbowl is between the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams and is looking like it is going to be a good game. I haven’t always been into American football, but I guess when I have to sit through 7 hours of commercial free football (Scott Hanson quote) once a week, I kind of have no choice but to enjoy it. Even if I ask questions the whole way through because I still don’t fully understand the rules.

The best part is how daddy bear has something called a game pass which you can buy for £9.99 so we get all the American adverts as well as full coverage of the Superbowl. We used it last year and going to use it again this year. Some of the adverts themselves are pure comedy so it really is so worth it. Heres a link if you want to check it out – NFL Game Pass

The part I look forward to the most is the Half-time show. This year it is Maroon 5, so really looking forward to watching it. That is if I’m still awake by then. My favourite half-time show has to be Beyonce with Bruno Mars and then Coldplay. Staying awake till half time is hard enough though never mind the end of the game.

I think I have only managed to stay awake one year and that was because I had done a bet, but the one I was going to put on and didn’t (on daddy bears advice) came through and I would have won around £200. That’s what I get for listening to his advice.

This year if I do any I won’t tell him and will just use my extensive knowledge (not) to guess whether it is actually possible to come in or I am just wishful thinking. Using that extensive knowledge I am going to try and predict who I think will win.

Based on previous Superbowl’s I should realistically go with the Patriots as they seem to always win, but I’m not a massive fan. I’m still getting over the fact that my Cowboys are not going to be in the Superbowl. So on that note, I am going to predict that the Rams will win tonight, but it’s not like i’m going to be awake still to see who does win. I guess I will have to just let daddy bear tell me in the morning.

When Little bear was born we bought her a Chicago Bears baby grow that looked like a football kit. Any guesses as to why we bought this one. She didn’t get much wear out of it so when the next season came around and we couldn’t find one in her size, I decided to make some alterations. I cut the feet off and hemmed the bottom of the legs. It was massive on her when we bought it so it still fit her without the feet.

So who are your predictions for the Superbowl and will you be watching??

Leave your comment below.

DISCLOSURE: This post contains my own opinions and views. NFL did not pay me nor did I receive any kind of gift for this post. I am purely recommended from my own use my own opinions of the service. All the merchandise shown in this post were bought by me with my own money. I will also not receive any money if you click through my link.

Little Cotton Frocks Promotion

As you might know from my previous post about one size does not fit all, I mentioned a brand called Little Cotton Frocks. I was lucky enough this last week to receive a lovely gift through the post with 2 of their dresses in, and Little bear loves them.

They came beautifully packaged and it was clear that a lot of care and effort had gone into the packaging of the items. Each one was individually wrapped in tissue paper. This for me is important because it just adds that finishing touch to the overall service.

The first of the 2 dresses was one from their current sale. If you have been on their facebook page you can see which patterns are available in their January sale. Be quick though because they are selling fast.

Check them out here. 

This particular dress I have added below is now £10 in their sale, down from £25. The postage and packaging is only £1.50 too. It doesn’t come with a white top or vest, but it goes well with just a normal long sleeve top or t-shirt underneath. I usually put a cream jumper underneath Little bears with it being cold and it looks lovely. It also doesn’t need to be worn with tights, a pair of leggings or jeans look just as nice. They could even be worn in the summer on their own or with a t-shirt.

The other dress I received was one from their Valentines collection, with a lovely cherub print in pinks and reds. This dress is from the main collection so comes with a long sleeve bodysuit and postage and packaging is also free.

Again this dress would go with other things such as leggings/jeans/jumpers/t-shirts. I normally try to match clothes that Little bear has with colours in the dresses to mix and match each time she wears it. That way she kind of never wears the same outfit twice.

These dresses really are made so well and they wash incredibly well too. I really love the fact that they are a local business too.

Be sure to check out all the prints they have available and drop them a message on their Facebook or Instagram pages for more information on sizes and prices through the links below.

Facebook

Instagram

DISCLOSURE: This post contains my own opinion and views. Little Cotton Frocks provided me with the dresses as gifts in exchange for my honest review of their products. The images of products on this post were gifted to me but the views and opinions mentioned about this company are my own, and Little Cotton Frocks did not tell me what to say or how to say it.”

Would you rather challenge??

I was tagged in one of msblife’s latest posts to do the would you rather challenge. You can find her post and page here.

How this works is at the end of her post, she created 10 questions and then tagged me and other bloggers in a challenge to answer the questions and post our answer. My job now is to answer the 10 questions she set and tag more bloggers to do the same. Be sure to check them out and their answers.

My lovely cousin Alice has decided to help me answer my questions and included her own answers with mine.

So here goes!!

Would you rather be confined to reading a book, or your phone?

Me: I would rather read a book any day over looking at my phone. There is nothing better than having a real book in your hands. Don’t get me wrong I love my kindle because I can have so many books stored in such a small space, without filling up half of my house. One of my favourite books I have read is called Fat Chance, which is about an overweight couple who enter a competition to see which couple can lose the most weight. It made me laugh and cry and is written in such an honest way.

Alice: I would rather be confined to reading on my phone because I can read all sorts of different things such as the news before I go to sleep.

Would you rather only be able to listen to one album, or never be able to choose what you listen to again?

Me: I think because I have such a weird taste in music I would probably listen to one album only because I’m not a massive fan of different genres of music. The one album I would pick would have to be Backwards Barbie by Dolly Parton. Did I mention I am a huge country fan.

Alice:  I would choose to never be able to choose what I listen to again because I like a bit of everything. Just not country music. My mum loves Dolly though.

Would you rather be able to run and never get tired – but not be able to swim, or just be mediocre at both?

Me: I would rather be able to run as it is something I have always wanted to do. I downloaded the couch to 5k app on my phone with seriously good intentions. I still haven’t used it. In fact, I’m not sure it’s still on my phone anymore, but it’s still January so not too late to start.

Alice: I would rather be able to do both because I love swimming and I’m pretty good at running too.

Would you rather only be able to complete one game (and when you did you could never play another), or be able to play lots of games but never finish them?

Me: I would have to be able to complete one game because I’m the kind of person who hates leaving anything unfinished. It would really annoy me having all these different games started and not being able to finish them. One of the best games I have ever played has to be Cards Against Humanity. I have never laughed so much playing a game in my life.

Alice: I would rather be able to play lots of games and never finish them because one game wouldn’t take long to finish and then what am I supposed to do after that.

Would you rather have an incredible understanding of the past or a clear view of the future?

Me: I would rather understand the past because I don’t think I would want to know the future. I feel that it would change the way I do things, and the future should be something you should look forward to. I read a book by Stephen Hawking not long ago about the big questions asked about life and it was the most interesting to read even if I don’t understand science.

Alice: I would rather have a clear view of the future because you would be able to plan everything before it happens. I wouldn’t want an incredible understanding of the past because there’s too much to learn.

Would you rather live in the city or the countryside?

Me: I have never been big on very busy places so the likes of New York really doesn’t appeal to me. I would rather live in the countryside because I would love the peace and quiet, and some of the landscapes and scenery is just breathtaking. We go to Wales quite a lot in the summer in a caravan, and there’s something about being out of the way, with no wi-fi. It’s quite refreshing to have a social media detox sometimes.

Alice: I would rather live in the city because that’s where all the shops are so I could go shopping whenever I wanted.

Would you rather meet your ‘idol’ in person and never be able to speak or consume their media ever again, or your ‘idol’ not know who you are but you are free to consume as you like?

Me: So my idol is (wait for it)…..Phillip Schofield. I really don’t know why, and I can hear you all laughing now. I kind of just love him. His snapchats are the funniest things I have ever seen so for that reason I would rather them not know who I am because his snapchats just make my day, and I don’t think I could not watch them every day.

Alice: My idol is Zac Effron because he is fit. I would rather him not know who I am because I would miss listening to his beautiful voice while I get ready in the morning.

Would you rather be forced to laugh or cry, at everything?

Me: Anyone who knows me knows that I am a ridiculously happy person so for that reason alone I would rather be forced to laugh. I think I smile and laugh at everything as it is now so it wouldn’t take much effort. Life is too short, so why not laugh. After all, it takes less muscles to smile than it does to frown.

Alice: I would rather be forced to laugh because I laugh at everything

Would you rather enjoy the taste of everything but be colour-blind, or see the world in the highest definition but not be able to taste?

Me: I would rather enjoy the taste of everything and be colour blind because there is no better feeling than eating something that tastes amazing. I mean we need to eat to survive so I may as well enjoy the taste of what I’m eating.

Alice: I would rather enjoy the taste of everything because I loovee food.

Both options coming with their natural benefits and downfalls, would you rather have to exercise for 1 hour every day, or never be able to exercise again?

Me: Well considering I’m with a personal trainer at the minute, I would say exercise for an hour a day. It isn’t that long really and if you do something you enjoy then it’s even better. I would probably do Zumba or boxing as they are my two favourite things to do. Plus with the answer to the previous question I think I would need to exercise an hour a day otherwise I would just get fat.

Alice: I would rather exercise for an hour a day because I already near enough do that now so it wouldn’t be much different.

So there are my answers. I want to thank msblife for tagging me. It has been fun answering these questions.

Now it’s my turn to think of some questions;

1. Would you rather always be the first there or always the last?
2. Would you rather be famous when you are alive but forgotten when you die or not known when you are alive but famous when you die?
3. Would you rather live in virtual reality or the real world?
4. Would you rather never use social media again or never watch another tv show or movie again?
5. Would you rather know how you were going to die or when you were going to die?
6. Would you rather be constantly tired no matter how much you sleep you get or constantly hungry no matter what you eat?
7. Would you rather have to read aloud every word you read or sing everything you say out loud?
8. Would you rather be too hot or too cold?
9. Would you rather be able to mind read or be invisible?
10. Would you rather go bald or be forever cursed to have terrible haircuts?

I am tagging

Erica – (@ThePreppingWife) – https://thepreppingwife.com/

Alexx – (@AestheticsAlexx) – http://aestheticsbyalexx.com/

Ray – (@hartofblogging) – https://hartofblogging.com/

Jason – (@jasontravelblog) https://jasonlikestotravel.wordpress.com/

Kat – (@HousewifeBoozy) https://boozyhousewife.family.blog/

Don’t forget to check them out and share the love!

Be who you are, not who you want people to see​

No matter what age you are, I think everyone goes through some kind of self-confidence battle with themselves, some worse than others. It is something I personally have struggled with for a long time and never quite thinking I’m good enough because I don’t match the images that society has set out for us. Only now that I have my own Little bear do I understand how important it is to love yourself for who you are because that kind of self-love is powerful.

Magazines and social media images of what we should look like hold an unrealistic view of how people should look. More and more young people use social media now and look up to these celebrities with an aspiration to be what they think they should look like based on what they see on a daily basis.

But what you see on social media isn’t necessarily a true view of what that person looks like, or in fact what their life is really like. I think it is really important to point out that body image is such a wide spectrum, and that not one look is perfect. It is the little things about each individual person that makes them who they are. Lumps and bumps included.

One person trying to change the way the next generation view themselves is author Vese, who has created a wonderful brand with the idea to empower the next generation of children to love themselves for who they are. Not only that, but she also helps underprivileged children around the world, who deserve to feel happy about who they are and what they stand for.

With her daughter as her inspiration, she has created a children’s character portrayed in a book in the hope that children everywhere can identify with her and love themselves for the strong, confident, adventure loving people they will grow up to be. Influencing children at a young age will hopefully help change the way they think of themselves as an older person.

I was lucky enough to receive a copy of Vese’s book, and it really is a great way to look at life. Rather than looking for and pointing out the bad points about yourself, it encourages you to look for the parts that make you unique and just how amazing that makes you, and also to get the idea that you are more than what you look like. It asks the question what makes me who I am from the viewpoint of a child, with an answer that all the little things added together are what makes me special and that there is only one me.

Not only is this brand an inspiration to young people, it also helps by shipping books to an underprivileged child every time a Philly and Friends product is purchased by working closely with Books 2 Africa. A quote from her website says that “According to World Bank, over 202 million children, which makes up 90% who go to school in Africa, cannot read or write after finishing school due to lack of books”. I feel that every child should have the opportunity to read and experience the joy that comes from reading and this brand is helping to make this a reality.

I read this book with Little bear who loved looking at and pointing out the different things on the pictures (we love body parts at the minute) and I really feel that it can achieve what it was created to achieve.

Like I said earlier, you are not only going to be helping this brand spread their word and achieve their mission but other children all over the world who want to learn to love to read and to love who they really are inside and out.

You can pre-order this book here Philly and Friends

DISCLOSURE – I received a copy of this book from Philly and Friends to review. I was not financially compensated in any way. The opinions expressed are my own and are based on my observations from reading and my own experiences.

One size certinately does not fit all

Anyone who has a toddler or a baby will know just how fast they grow. One minute they are a little bundle of joy you bring home from the hospital and next they are running around your house shouting choo choo. What no one tells you is how expensive it is when it comes to buying new clothes.

One minute they fit into their clothes and then before you know it your toddler is walking round in a crop top and 3/4 pants. Then you have that awkward stage where they are between sizes, and the size up looks like you’ve dressed them in a bin bag. We have been lucky though with the way Little bears birthday falls so close to Christmas because it means we get pretty much a whole winter wardrobe between the two.

But it doesn’t help that different shops don’t have standard sizes, even though they are the same size on the label. Little bear is now in age 2-3, but I can buy her a 2-3 in Asda and it fits, but then buy the same size in Next and it be huge. There’s just no middle ground, so I find it easier to stick to the same couple of shops for her clothes.

My personal favourites are the children’s clothes from Matalan, Asda and Next. But my favourite is a small local business called Little Cotton Frocks.

This business makes the most gorgeous little dresses that are made with 100% cotton, and they come in all sorts of different colours, patterns and designs, ranging from age 0 – 5 years. Ever since Little bear was born, every year her Grandad and Grandma have bought her one for her birthday and Christmas. We now have about 4 dresses and she just looks the cutest in them. We get nothing but compliments about them when we are out and about.

Another thing I love about them is the price. They are so reasonable, especially for the quality, like I said before being 100% cotton. They literally can be worn with anything from tights to leggings, and wash really well too.

The inspiration for these dresses came from Kathryn, the brains behind the concept, who made a dress for her daughter and things took off from there. Now they are sold in little shops across the country, but mostly online through Facebook and Instagram. I will attach links to these at the bottom of this post.

The one thing that does make me think about how much Little bear has grown, is looking through all her old clothes from when she was a couple of months old and trying to imagine her ever fitting in them. It really feels like she wasn’t a little baby for very long. Now she is a cheeky toddler who pretty much runs my house.

We’re at the point now too where Little bear wants to pick her own outfits. We have had some strange combinations of leggings and tops or odd socks, which apparently serve a better purpose on her hands. It shouldn’t be that hard to keep socks on a 2-year-old. The struggle is real.

But if you like well-made clothes, that come in such a wide variety of patterns and colours, and are interested in buying one of these dresses they currently have a fab offer with selected dresses only £10 each but they are going fast.

You can buy them here through these links;

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/littlecottonfrocksfrodsham/

Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/littlecottonfrocks/

Here are a few photos of the dresses little bear has.

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DISCLOSURE: This post contains my own opinion and views. Little Cotton Frocks provided me with some of the information in this post. The images of products on this post I bought myself or were gifted to me by family. The opinions I shared about this company are my own, and Little Cotton Frocks did not tell me what to say or how to say it.”

Soft play all day

I am sure you are all aware of or have been to a soft play centre if you have children under a certain age. They seem to be everywhere. If you have been then you will know what I mean when I say they are full of hyperactive kids letting off steam.

Me and the Little bear had our first experience with soft play areas a couple of weeks ago on a play date with Little bears best friend. The weather wasn’t the best and my friend messaged me asking if I was free and wanted to kill some time. She suggested the soft play near me called Fun4All, which is like a stay and play and priced on age, so for our little ones it was £4 each, and adults are £1, so a fairly cheap afternoon out.

The moment we walked in Little bears eyes lit up as if to say “I can run around and you won’t tell me to stop this, stop that, put that down”. And I naively thought me and my friend could sit down, watch the kids play and have a drink. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The little bear being who she is wasn’t satisfied with the area designated for her age range. No!! She wanted to go and play in the big play area where the big kids played. Because nothing says fun like somewhere where your not supposed to be.

Obviously, because this area is designed for kids aged 4+ it is a lot bigger than the baby and toddler section. This meant that I had the joy of having to run around the soft play helping Little bear get up and down the parts her legs were too little to do themselves. My poor friend ended up sitting on her own watching our things while I was running around having the time of my life going up funny stairs, down slides and sliding through the rollers like the ones in a car wash. Honestly, I went for the Little bear’s enjoyment, not mine.

After a few goes round it was safe to say I was knackered and closed nearly all three rings on my Apple Watch, but I needed a rest. So because I’m such a nice friend, I let her have a go. Can I just add, she wasn’t best pleased, but did it anyway. Between us, we decided to take it in turns to take both the kids and then switch out after a few goes round so we could recharge ready for the next go.

If I had to pick the best part it would be the slide, because who doesn’t love a slide. Little bear flew down laughing her little socks off, but when my friend went down, I swear she went the speed of a plane taking off a runway. I wouldn’t be surprised if she got some actual air time.

After a couple of hours, we came away from the soft play, and I really don’t know who was more tired. Us or the kids. Again Little bear being who she is decided that she still wasn’t tired enough for a sleep on the way home so guess who had to deal with an emotional, irrational toddler till bedtime. Wine was definitely needed that night!

I haven’t been back to a soft play since, not because it wasn’t fun, I just haven’t had a chance, or anyone to go with. But me and Little bear do regularly go to mums and tots group which I don’t think get enough credit as soft plays. They are usually run by people taking time out their day to organise and keep them going.

The local tots group we go to is only a 5-minute walk from where we live and it gives the Little bear the perfect opportunity to interact and play with other kids her age. I think because she loves rough and tumble kind of play, due to having older family members, she prefers playing with the older kids, or boys. Normally the boys though. She is such a little flirt. And by going to these, it takes the tiny bit of guilt I feel that she is missing out because she is not in a nursery as of yet. But that’s a story for another day.

Not only is it good for Little bear to mix with other kids her age, but it also gives me the chance to mix with other parents who have similar interests and things in common with me. That’s the one thing I wish someone had told me before having Little bear, as to just how lonely being a mum can be. Don’t get me wrong it is amazing getting to spend every day watching my Little bear grow up and become the little character she is today, but sometimes it’s nice to speak to someone about something other than Peppa Pig.

The older Little bear gets, the more independent she wants to be and I think that soft play and tots groups give her the opportunity to do this in a safe place where she can make her own decisions and interact with other little people trying to do the same thing.

DISCLOSURE: This post contains my opinion and views, and I didn’t receive any kind of payment, product or promotion from the companies mentioned

Bye Bye Dummy

Before we had Little bear I remember saying I wasn’t sure about giving a dummy, but when the baby is screaming at 4 o’clock in the morning you will do anything to make it stop so you can sleep. So we introduced a dummy.

There is so much controversy around dummies and how long they should have them for, including a big list of pros and cons. I think unless they are left with it in their mouth all day they are a godsend. For Little bear, it was mostly used to settle her down for naps, at bedtime or if she was poorly, so taking it away probably wasn’t such a big deal to her. By this point, she was only having it to go to bed of a night, so not really relying on it in the day at all.

This has definitely made the whole process that little bit easier. The only problem now is the bottom of Little bears bed looks like a zoo due to the fact that she can’t decide on just one teddy to take to bed. That’s another thing she’s never been attached to. There has never been a specific teddy she won’t go anywhere without. The only ones are Mickey and Minnie but they stay in her bed.

So we decided as it was Christmas and we had some naughty elves visit our house (which I regretted after two weeks due to running out of ideas) to use this time as a distraction to get rid of the dummies. The elves stayed longer than normal and went back to the North Pole the day after boxing day, and took the dummies with them.

We did our normal routine of pj’s after tea but instead of just coming downstairs to wind down, instead Little bear hung her dummies on the Christmas tree ready for the elves to take them when they left. We soon learnt that the dummies being at the bottom of the tree wasn’t going to work because every 5 seconds she would come to me with a different dummy in her mouth. So we moved them to the top of the tree and she forgot about them. In the morning the elves left Little bear a present and a note saying where the dummies were going and thank you for leaving them.

I wasn’t sure how it was going to pan out at bedtime because, like me, Little bear loves her routine so I was kind of worried about changing it. But the time felt right. We read our bedtime stories, went up as normal, brushed our teeth and changed our nappy. Normally Little bear would pick her own dummy out of a little box for bed, so I had to think of something that could replace that part of her routine. Instead, she now picks a teddy she wants to take to bed with her, hence the zoo at the bottom of the bed because one teddy just isn’t enough.

It is now 2 weeks on since we took the dummy away and I can honestly say she has done amazing. We have had a few up and down nights and no sleep but the good nights completely outway the bad nights. The only struggle I found was that if she disturbed in the night there was nothing to settle her back to sleep. So I bought a reward chart.

And that was a success. It’s amazing what something so small as a sticker for being good can do. Every morning if Little bear sleeps all night, she gets a sticker next to the bed picture and when she has 7 in a row she gets a reward, which she can pick herself. She also gets stickers for listening, brushing her teeth, using the potty and eating all her tea. So far we have 6 stickers next to the bed so one more good night and she can pick a treat.

There was a point where I wanted to give the dummy back because I just needed some sleep, but Daddy bear told me to persevere and she will learn to settle herself in other ways, which she has and is doing absolutly amazing without her dummy. I just wish she would stop growing up so quickly.

So long 2018 – Hello new me

So now new year has been and gone the internet is inundated with “new year, new me” posts and pledges to change for the better now that 2018 is behind them. I too am one of these people. 2018 was a year of ups and downs for me. It was the anniversary of losing my mum, I finally graduated university and my Little bear turned 2. So it’s definitely been a full year. And yes I am kind of glad to see the back of it.

Graduation was the highlight of my year, and finishing University is probably up there with one of my biggest achievements, apart from having the Little bear of course. I’m not going to lie, it wasn’t easy especially having a scrambled brain from everything else going on in the background, but being organised really helped me keep on top of things. People who know me well know that I am a lists kind of person. The type of person who makes a list for the smallest of things from cleaning to the usual shopping list. I guess I feel a sense of achievement crossing stuff off my lists.

Another highlight of the year has to be the summer. I can’t remember the last time we had a summer that good. England was almost coming home and the constant nice weather seemed to lift everyone’s mood. And living with a tech person has its benefits in the summer too by being able to wire up the tv so it could work in the garden.

And let’s not forget the BBQ’s. My house where I live is better known as the house that has the BBQ’s. Call me mad but even in the winter, it wouldn’t be unusual for Daddy bear to whip out a disposable BBQ to finish off homemade Nandos chicken because as he puts it “it tastes better”.

So what does 2019 have in store for me. Well not much in the way of big events coming up, but I have decided that this is going to be the year for me. It’s nothing extreme or anything like that or completely changing who I am, but just little things that make me happy. I’m working with a fab personal trainer who believed in me enough to choose to work with me, and keeps me on track with exercise and nutrition. So far I am enjoying every second of it, and after having a nice break over Christmas, I am more than ready to get back on it in time for this summer. With the help of him and the group of girls who are so motivating, there’s nothing stopping me.

But I’ve found since having Little bear I seem to have forgotten who I am as a person and just become a mum. But not any more. As of now I am making time for me and enjoying being who I am because let’s face it, I’m still young, even if I don’t feel it.

Christmas isn’t quite the same anymore

I know it’s been a while since I last posted. In fact, it’s been a good couple of months. This time of year is a busy time of year when you have a Little bear who’s birthday is the week before Christmas. It’s gets to the point where it all just rolls into one big day of expensiveness.

So now the Little bear is a big 2 and my god have we hit the terrible twos with a bang. We’ve also learnt the word no and love to shout it at every opportunity as loud as we can if we don’t agree with what mummy says or does. Not cool! If you have ever tried to negotiate with a 2-year-old then you will understand. There’s just no reasoning with them, and I just take a step back and watch as my precious child lies face down crying into the floor because an episode of Peppa Pig finished.

Being honest though, every day just gets better the older she gets. She becomes more and more like my little best friend each and every day, and we kind of have little conversations where only I know what she is saying. Not going to lie, they aren’t the most intellectual conversations and usually consist of her pointing out cars, more cars, more trees or her telling everybody we pass her name and how old she is. Looks like she is going to be a chatterbox when she starts properly talking. God help me.

Christmas is an expensive time of year as it is, so having Little bears birthday 6 days before the big day really does add to the cost. Not so much at the minute with her being so young and not really understanding, but I’m sure she will make up for it when she gets older. Even so, she still asked for certain things this year. Three things to be specific. All she wanted for her birthday and Christmas this year was a car, a baby and a choo-choo. It looks like she must have been super good this year because she got everything she asked for, and more.

Instead of staying at home like last year where Daddy bear cooked, we all went out for Christmas dinner. There’s nothing like not having to wash up on Christmas Day, but I do feel bad for the people who do have to work on Christmas day because this time of year especially, should be spent with family.

One thing I appreciate more than ever since losing mum is just how important family is and how we take them for granted sometimes. I love Christmas, I always have done but there is a definite hole at the table and inside all of us at this time of year. She was the life and soul of any party and she would light up any room she walked into.

Last Christmas Aimee got me one of the best presents I have ever had. It was a canvas of a photo of Mum and Little bear from when she was only a couple of months old. It was only right to put it in Little bears room, and every night me and her say goodnight and blow Nana Dot a kiss before she goes down to sleep. She won’t let me put her down without doing it. I do wonder sometimes if Little bear speaks to her.

But it’s not quite the same as her really being here, and it’s slowly getting easier. I don’t like to admit it but I have had my fair share of up’s and downs over the last couple of weeks, but having friends and family all around really helps keep me up, especially Little bear. I really don’t know what I would do without her.

She really is a diamond in the rough in all this and makes getting up in the morning 100% worth it. The best part is she doesn’t even know how special she is, but I will be sure to tell her every day just how much I love her and just how much she is like her Nana Dot, from the way she walks to the way her facial expressions are just the image of what her Nana used to do.

God help us all if we’ve got another one on my hands.

Cleaning, then cleaning again

When it comes to cleaning, it’s never something that I look forward to. Especially when there is a little person coming along behind you literally undoing everything you have just done in 2 seconds. Now that little bear is getting older, it is getting harder to clean the house properly in a reasonable amount of time because she always wants to help. What should take 1-2 hours now takes near enough a whole day.

I set aside most of Friday to clean after we have caught up on Corrie and had some breakfast. Me being the kind of person who loves a list writes down room by room what I need to do and then I can check it off as I go. For the most part, little bear is really helpful for example when I mop the kitchen floor, she is quite satisfied using a wipe to wipe the floor or the cupboard doors, or her toes.

She loves nothing more than using said wipe to then wipe the glass coffee table, which I have only moments ago cleaned with glass cleaner, carefully placing little finger marks back in their retrospective places. Once I’ve dusted everything, I then get the hoover out which little bear sees as a challenge to see how long she can shout “me” at me until I give her the hoover to have a go. Bearing in mind the hoover is twice the size of her, she still tries her best to push it. Then gets frustrated and cries because it’s too heavy for her to move.

By this point, I normally find something for her to watch on the telly or something for her to play on the iPad (educational of course) which distracts her long enough for me to go over the bits that I had already done and do them again.

Upstairs is pretty straightforward and just a case of tidying around and putting daddy bears washing in the washing basket because apparently it’s too hard or he can’t find it. Little bear does a better job of putting her dirty clothes in when she puts her pj’s on, sometimes without being asked. It’s like having two kids sometimes.

The only struggle when cleaning upstairs is the bathroom because the little bear has an obsession with water and turning the taps on full, and god forbid she hears me turn the shower on. She moves that fast to get into the bathroom if you blinked you would miss her. So I have resorted to getting in the shower and closing the door to clean it, while she stands and watches through the door. She finds this highly amusing.

There are loads of little jobs that little bear does around the house and that’s not by being told to do them. It’s just stuff she does out of choice. Her favourite is putting the dishwasher on after tea. Obviously being supervised she puts the little tablet in, closes the door and turns it on. Then shouts “I DID IT” to me and daddy bear.

I guess this is all a part of growing up, but I have noticed over the last couple of weeks or so she seems to be becoming more and more independent. Most recently feeding herself is the only way to eat now and mummy and daddy trying to help just don’t cut it any more.

I can’t complain though. I mean who doesn’t want help when they are cleaning the whole house. Start them off early and if she enjoys it then why not.