Sunday, 31 August 2014
#mysundayphoto - selfie photobomb!

TBM is a UK based family & lifestyle blog written by Kelly, a mum of one, living in the Midlands and sharing her life, loves and adventures in motherhood as she finds the 'me' in mummy.
Saturday, 30 August 2014
ELC Happyland - top toy picks for toddler boys
We then found Happyland and everything changed. It's suitable for 18 months to 3 years although there's no reason we can see for Ethan not to play with these toys now.
It's a really fun and engaging range that has everything from people and animal figures through to small buildings, interactive playmats and larger toys. There's around 55 different products or sets to buy in the current range so there's plenty of choice and Ethan already has a few things in his collection.
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All photos source from ELC |
He has the interactive playmat, with tour bus, tourists, policeman and safari and farm animals, plus a set of construction vehicles and workers.
Dare I say it, I've even bought his main Christmas present. In August. I know, I know, but at the moment the Happyland range has 20% off, to celebrate Early Learning Centre's 40th birthday. It was too good a deal to miss and I had some vouchers to spend so snapped up Ethan's main Christmas present - the Happyland train set. The staff told me that a extension pack will be available for it soon and I also learned that every figure in the range is painted by hand.
I also have my eye on the table, as it would be useful to have a set play area for Ethan and his Happyland toys, and the pirate ship also looks a lot of fun.The prices of the range are great too, particularly for the figure and vehicle sets, and I think Happyland will be on Ethan's Christmas list to Santa for sure.

TBM is a UK based family & lifestyle blog written by Kelly, a mum of one, living in the Midlands and sharing her life, loves and adventures in motherhood as she finds the 'me' in mummy.
Wednesday, 27 August 2014
Making more of memories

TBM is a UK based family & lifestyle blog written by Kelly, a mum of one, living in the Midlands and sharing her life, loves and adventures in motherhood as she finds the 'me' in mummy.
Tuesday, 26 August 2014
Boost your iron
Another new addition to my diet comes in the form of a liquid food supplement, packed full of iron and vitamin C. Spatone combines 100% natural iron-rich water (sourced from the mountains of Snowdonia no less) with added vitamin C to help your body absorb as much iron as possible.
- Remember Folic Acid is recommended for all pregnant women. Best started before pregnancy, but do commence as soon as your pregnancy is confirmed.
- Get serious about your nutrition – is absolutely essential for a healthy pregnancy and your baby’s development, but it’s quality not quantity that counts – you only need an extra 300 calories from 5 months onwards.
- Your first blood tests will be due in early pregnancy – this check includes your blood group, iron and rubella amongst other important tests. Now is a good time to start your daily Spatone to help maintain iron levels during your pregnancy.
- If you have been suffering from some of the pregnancy ailments such as nausea and tiredness, the good news is that for most woman these should start to ease off in the next few weeks.
- You will have probably been excited to have heard your baby’s heartbeat at your antenatal visit and felt your baby moving for the first time. At around 20 weeks you will be offered a scan to check your baby’s development, which provides you with an opportunity to have a peek at your baby too if you wish.
- Although your body is adjusting to your pregnancy and you will have put on some weight, it is still important to ensure you get plenty of exercise and fresh air and a good night’s sleep daily.
- There is often a lot going on – so make a list of questions for your antenatal visits and discuss any concerns with your midwife.
- You may find difficulty in sleeping due to to discomfort – try experimenting with pillows and wedges in your bed.
- It is still important to continue to eat healthily right until the end of your pregnancy. Now is the time when your baby’s brain is rapidly developing – essential fatty acids and iron are crucial for brain health.
- Iron demands rise steeply in the 3rd trimester so now is the time to increase your Spatone to two sachets daily.
- As you get nearer your due date you may experience an increase in Braxton Hicks contractions, heartburn and backache, although uncomfortable, these are all signs that your pregnancy hormones are active and busy preparing your body for birth – so just be patient and await events.
- Lastly, don’t forget to pack your birthing necessities well in advance and make sure you include your birth plan if you have made one.
So, if you're energy levels are flagging or you want to top up your iron, I'd thoroughly recommend you give Spatone a go. A box of 28 sachets (a month's supply) is priced around £8.25 and you can find out where to buy online here.

TBM is a UK based family & lifestyle blog written by Kelly, a mum of one, living in the Midlands and sharing her life, loves and adventures in motherhood as she finds the 'me' in mummy.
Monday, 25 August 2014
#MeetAMum - Lucinda from Teacher2Mummy

TBM is a UK based family & lifestyle blog written by Kelly, a mum of one, living in the Midlands and sharing her life, loves and adventures in motherhood as she finds the 'me' in mummy.
Sunday, 24 August 2014
#mysundayphoto - my boys

TBM is a UK based family & lifestyle blog written by Kelly, a mum of one, living in the Midlands and sharing her life, loves and adventures in motherhood as she finds the 'me' in mummy.
Saturday, 23 August 2014
Scrapbooks
I used to put together photo albums religiously every few months, to make sure I had my memories documented somewhere nice and safe. Then Facebook took over, followed more recently by Instagram, and I find myself sharing snaps through social media, with less and less time to make a more permanent record. I still keep my cinema stubs, although they are far rarer now than they once were, along with gig tickets, Ethan's artwork from nursery, shells from Ethan's first visit to the beach and all other kinds of things.
I think when you have a baby, if you're a bit of a collector of whatnot like me, you start hoarding all sorts of bits and bobs, trying to treasure every little thing so that in the future, when they are all grown, you can cherish the momentoes of their childhood and recall how small they used to be and all the milestones and memories you have shared.
I still love albums and collecting these little trophies and treasures and I have always wanted to do scrap-booking. I made one once, for a friend, but I just don't seem to find the time to let my creative side out these days. My spare time is spent making the most of Ethan and my hubs and my creativity and wider interests are mostly channelled through this little blog of mine.
But I am determined to make some time, before I get even more behind in my memory-logging than I am now. I love the fact that this blog is an ongoing record of our family life and all the stages Ethan goes through, but I do like the idea of something I can hold in my hands, to flick through now and again to bring a smile to my face with the warmth of a special memory.
That's why, during my last visit to Hobbycraft, I got rather excited and flustered in a way that I can only get over stationary when I was first introduced to Project Life. Stationary is one of my favourite things and I just can't help myself.
Project Life is a modern take on a scrapbook and makes the whole process really easy, with brilliant design to boot. It's a large binder which can take many, many plastic pages which have pockets for photos, notecards and anything else you can think of. There's different combinations of pockets available and you can buy sets of cards with different themes or colourways to them to start building your own scrapbook.
If you want to find out more about the world of Project Life, created by a creative American lady called Becky Higgins, you can visit the main website here for lots of design inspiration (Pinterest is great for that too) and you can buy the different elements you need from Hobbycraft or on Amazon.
Here's what I have to get started with. I'm going to create a family scrapbook to make note of all the fun things and special occasions we share as a family. I have the Kraft edition of cards to start things off and will add my own embellishments along the way. Can't wait to get started!
Oh, how I love this range...

TBM is a UK based family & lifestyle blog written by Kelly, a mum of one, living in the Midlands and sharing her life, loves and adventures in motherhood as she finds the 'me' in mummy.
Friday, 22 August 2014
First steps, first shoes
Ethan has been pulling himself up on his feet for quite a while now and every day, he's getting more confident, shuffling around the lounge, one had holding onto the sofa or table for support. He's getting lots of practice at nursery and it won't be long before he's walking for real.
So, the time came to buy him his first shoes. Proper shoes. Ones with solid soles and lots of support for his growing feet.
We went to Clarks, as without question, I knew they were experts and every little boy should have a special pair of first shoes. And it seems that Clarks agree. I was there, snapping away on my phone, keen to capture the memory of Ethan having his feet measured for the very first time, when the Clarks sales assistants told us how they too think it's an important occasion.
After measuring his feet for the first time (he's currently a 3 1/2 G), we took a look at the shoes they had in his size and let Ethan choose which pair to take home.
The assistant then said would we like Ethan's photo taken in his new shoes, to go inside a certificate booklet. Erm, yes please! They took his photo then handed us his new shoes in a lovely box with a beautiful poem inside the lid and gave us a very nice booklet that explains all about how children's feet develop. There's a lot more to it than it looks and I knew I wanted to get a really 'good' pair of first shoes to support Ethan as he moves from cruising to walking.
At the cruising stage. the soft cartilage-like structure in a child's foot is staring to ossify - gradually forming most of the bones they will need to support their foot. When they start walking, there's 25 different bones forming in their foot, so it's important they get the right support. Apparently, after they turn one year old, their feet will grow around 16mm (two sizes) every year thereafter until they are five years old and it's recommended that you take them for shoe fitting checks every six to eight weeks.
When reading the booklet, I also noticed it included a note from Katie at Mummy Daddy Me - what a nice surprise!
Here are the shoes that Ethan picked out as his first. Another milestone ticked off and a step closer to his first steps...

TBM is a UK based family & lifestyle blog written by Kelly, a mum of one, living in the Midlands and sharing her life, loves and adventures in motherhood as she finds the 'me' in mummy.
Thursday, 21 August 2014
The roles we play
As Ethan gets older and hubs and I settle into our roles as Mum and Dad (honestly, does it ever stop sounding weird being called that??) , I'm realising that we each have quite distinct roles.
There's many things that we do well together as parents; we naturally take turns when it comes to changing nappies or preparing meals for Ethan without the need for discussion and if Ethan's ever sick, we start working in tandem with each other, one of us taking care of Ethan and one dealing with the mess left behind.
When it comes to Ethan and what he needs from us, however, increasingly I can see a difference between what hubs and I provide.
For fun, giggles and entertainment aplenty, Dad's the guy to go to. I do my best, playing with his animal figures, making the appropriate sounds, rolling a ball, showing him how to use certain toys. I just don't really *know* how to play or what to do whereas it comes much more naturally to Stephen. He scoops Ethan up in his arms, swirls him around, plays peekaboo behind the sofa cushions, pretends there's a monster under his tshirt... all sorts of fun things that just come to his mind really naturally and never fail to make Ethan giggle.
So my role tends to be more practical or emotional. I keep Ethan's routine on track, noting his meal and snack times, rotating his toys around to keep things interesting and giving him cuddles as he has his milk before bed. It comes much more naturally to me to look after the practical side of parenting and the comforting when needed, probably as I feel I know what I'm doing more.
Ethan needs to have play companions and cuddle givers so it's good that hubs and I can compliment each other well, despite our naturally skills for different roles. I hope that over time, as Ethan grows, I can learn how to play more and how to make things fun. I guess it's a case of researching my role and practising my part whenever I can.

TBM is a UK based family & lifestyle blog written by Kelly, a mum of one, living in the Midlands and sharing her life, loves and adventures in motherhood as she finds the 'me' in mummy.
Wednesday, 20 August 2014
Free to play

TBM is a UK based family & lifestyle blog written by Kelly, a mum of one, living in the Midlands and sharing her life, loves and adventures in motherhood as she finds the 'me' in mummy.
Tuesday, 19 August 2014
The shift

TBM is a UK based family & lifestyle blog written by Kelly, a mum of one, living in the Midlands and sharing her life, loves and adventures in motherhood as she finds the 'me' in mummy.
Monday, 18 August 2014
Water vs. baby products - new video from Johnson's Baby, featuring me!
Take a look here to find out more...

TBM is a UK based family & lifestyle blog written by Kelly, a mum of one, living in the Midlands and sharing her life, loves and adventures in motherhood as she finds the 'me' in mummy.
Meet A Mum - Emily Beecher, The Good Enough Mums Club
I first saw this lady at BritMums Live earlier this year, giving a really inspiring seminar on creative blog writing. She asked us to think of the kitchen of our childhood and to write down everything we could remember, trying to convey the smells and textures and colours we could remember. We only had five minutes but I quickly became engrossed, remembering my Grandparent's kitchen, and loved how simple the idea was in getting the creative juices flowing.
I kept this seminar in mind when I wrote my BritMums Live post and it was certainly one of my highlights of the weekend.
Well, since then, I got to tweeting with said lady and I am so pleased to be featuring her on my blog today. Let me introduce you to the super talented actress, writer, blogger, Mama and creator of the musical The Good Enough Mums Club that is Emily Beecher...
- A sling/carrier – having two hands again is a miracle
- The Sleep sheep – gorgeous contraption
- An amazing pram/travel system – there were times I loved mine more than my husband!
- And… Someone to show you how to breastfeed lying down – changed my life.
- Oh all the pink tat – gag gag gag.
- The Glo Clock – Maisie just wakes me to tell me it hasn’t changed yet
- A bassinet – she didn’t sleep in it ever. Just buy a cot if you want one – next time I’d do one of those co-sleepers that attaches to the bed!
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The Good Enough Mums Club |

TBM is a UK based family & lifestyle blog written by Kelly, a mum of one, living in the Midlands and sharing her life, loves and adventures in motherhood as she finds the 'me' in mummy.
Sunday, 17 August 2014
There was a little boy who had a little curl...
We took Ethan for his first haircut yesterday.
My baby boy had his baby hair cut and his golden locks trimmed into a smart style. I knew that trimming a few wisps of hair would make all the difference and as we watched in the mirror, our little boy became more of a little man with every snip.
Of course, Mummy kept his first locks as a memento. How could I not? Such beautiful hair and yet another milestone marked.

TBM is a UK based family & lifestyle blog written by Kelly, a mum of one, living in the Midlands and sharing her life, loves and adventures in motherhood as she finds the 'me' in mummy.