We've been on holiday!

Cornwall, the venue for our family holiday every year. Only we haven't been for a few years. It is by far my favourite place on the planet, so it was only right to introduce my darling Louie to it :)

We stopped off at Newquay on our way to Beachside, Hayle.

 Louie absolutely adored the freedom of being able to run around the beaches. As it is out of season, we pretty much had beaches to ourselves, so it was lovely to let him explore.

 After getting back, and settling in, we went for a stroll on the beach before bedtime. This is our beach :) It is so beautiful.

Our Beach

Baby Footprints

At 7pm its a bit chilly!

Getting Packed

Today we have been getting ready for our holiday.
I have been planning this holiday for months and months. In the morning, at the break of dawn, we are getting up and starting the 300 mile trip to Hayle, Cornwall.

We are staying at Beachside, a campsite situated right on the beach (aptly named) in the middle of St Ives bay. We have been going there since I was about 6 years old, and have always loved the place and the people. We haven't been there for many years, and we are staying in a chalet instead of the usual caravan, but we are all so excited.

This will be Louie's first proper holiday, which makes it all the more special. It will be his first time on a beach, his first time in the sea, and his first time in his Mama's favourite place in the whole wide world.

We plan to visit the Minac Theatre, Dairyland farm and the Old Mill Farm. The Old Mill is a stables which I go to EVERY time we go to Cornwall, at least once! It has been known for me to go twice in one week, I love it so much. When I was a kidaroo, I was very devoted to my horse riding, and we couldn't go away anywhere without finding a stables for me to ride at. Needless to say, I have ridden horses all over the world! But The Old Mill is my absolute favourite.
Although I haven't ridden for about 4 years, I feel confident enough to hop straight on and get out there. I have re-acquainted myself with my jodhpurs, hat, boots, chaps and gloves, and to my dismay, it seems that I have shrunk! (Despite having a baby, I am smaller than I was 4 years ago, which is saying something as I am a meagre size 6 as it is!)

I can not wait to get away, and I can't wait to come back and tell you all about it :)

Baby Shower!

On Wednesday, Anna had her baby shower. Little Splodge is due in June and Anna is currently 32 weeks pregnant. I can't believe it has gone so fast! 

Some pictures from the party

Amy on the footstool

Lots of commotion on the footstool, a firm favourite!

What beautiful cakes! Courtesy of Emily

Best Friends

Back to the footstool!

Amy enjoying her cake!

Evangeline

Mama to be and Evangeline

Emily and Seth

Thankyou!

Hello everyone :)
It seems that my blog is pretty popular with some of you, I keep getting compliments about things, or just a 'Oh I saw it on your blog'!

I am really flattered that you take the time to catch up with Louie and I :) I started my blog just for me and Louie but now it has really seemed to have taken off.

To my amazement, after I blogged a Gen-Y review, with pictures of the Starstruck design, we subsequently sold out only two days after the review was written!! (Don't worry, there are a limited few back in stock!)

Thankyou for stopping by and taking time to share with us :)

Perfect Weather

New Walk Museum

Yesterday, Dan wanted to watch the football which was being shown in a bar in town, so Louie and I headed off to the New Walk Museum whilst we waited for him.
Louie had a whale of a time! He was so interested in the exhibits, leading me around. We must have looked at every single painting and sculpture and show case in the building!

I was so pleased that Louie took such a positive interest. He really studied some of the exhibits, and I told him all about what was going on in the pieces, and about the artists. His Grandpa would have been very proud :)

In the morning, his Little Life backpack arrived, so I thought it would be a good excuse to try it out before we go on holiday next week. It is fab, and Louie even likes wearing it! However, it did make taking photos of him rather difficult, being at arms length! Nevermind :)

After we finished at the museum, Louie took me for a walk up and down New Walk. New Walk is a pedestrian path running from Victoria Park into the centre of Leicester and has been free from carriages and motor vehicles since it was laid in 1785! It is wonderfully peaceful :)

Gen-Y Review

When it comes to change time, the first nappies I always grab are either Pockets or All in Ones, anything that 'goes on like a disposable'. Two parter nappies have always been a bit of a faff for me.
However, like the Weehuggers, I can change for a pretty print! How fickle!

Gen-Y's landed in the UK in January, and immediately took off. I mean, why wouldn't they, they are absolutely GORGEOUS!  For many cloth bum mummies, appearance is everything! And having the best prints around always gets you kudos. And Gen-Y certainly offer the most glorious range of prints around.

Gen-Y wraps come in two styles, the Classic and the Universal, so they really cater for everyone. The Classic cover comes in 5 sizes, XS to XL and the Universal comes in two sizes fitting from 6-18lbs and 18-35lbs. They can also be used over just about any absorbent nappy that you can find! 


The delightful prints are limited edition, and only a certain number of each design will be made, so once they are sold out, that is it. This gives them a high resale value, due to sought after designs. So when I heard news that Elizabeth had sourced a Glow in the Dark fabric with stars on, knowing my star addiction, I could not wait for us to receive our shipment of them!

I opted for the Universal cover, as I much prefer adjustable nappies, as you can get a much better fit with them, and of course they will last that bit longer, which is awesome because I would hate to have to put them away because they are too small :( The Universal cover has adjusting poppers under the crotch, which I really like the idea of, because when your child is in a nappy on the biggest size, you can see all of the poppers. But with the Gen-Y, you can't. I was slightly worried that the poppers might irritate between the legs but there has been no marks or anything. Very impressed.

So far, I have used my Gen-Y cover with Flip Stay Dry inserts, Weehugger inserts, an Issy Bear night insert, prefolds and fitted nappies, all with great success.
With the slimmer inserts (Flip Stay Dry and Weehuggers) I have the wrap on its smallest setting and it fits like a dream. My little man has averagely chunky thighs but a funny shaped tummy, and we had no problems getting a good fit, which was nice and slim.
With the chunkier inserts, I let some of the poppers out to accommodate the bulk. Even still, they provided a trimmer look than other wraps, and they also seemed to smooth over the prefold, not giving that defined bulk that you can get with that style nappy.

Because they are a side snapping nappy, they come quite low on the leg, which is really good news for users of fitted nappies and terry squares. It gives that extra bit of protection and comfort in the leg area, so you don't have to worry about ill fitting coverage.

Down to my love for my Gen-Y wrap and my Weehugger wrap, I have a new found fondness of two-parter nappies. I can just throw a few inserts into my bag and a spare wrap and they don't take up as much space as the pocket nappies.

Gen-Y wraps are also affordable! With the Classic covers available at £10.95 and the Universal covers at £13.50, they are a really reasonable price for such a beautifully made, reliable and versatile product.
You can get yours from Fill Your Pants right now!

Activity Mat

As I have vowed to myself that I would try and give as many handmade gifts this year as possible, I jumped at the chance of making a lovely baby gift for my wonderful friend Anna. Her little bundle, known as 'Splodge' is due mid June, so I have had plenty of time to think up things to make for them, and collect bits and pieces to make them with.

So far I have made a drawstring bag, which is holding all the goodies that I have been collecting for them. She has also thought up a wonderful idea of knitting a blanket where all her friends and family donate squares to contribute! You can find out more about the blanket here :)

After Christmas, I bought a lovely bundle of gorgeous kiddy fabrics in anticipation of a big project, but I had no idea what to make. Some thinking drew me to the conclusion of putting together a play mat for the baby! I thought it would be a challenge for me, but a beautiful gift to give to a new baby. Something that no other baby will have too!

However, I have never quilted before, and have absolutely no idea what I am doing, so it is very much trial and error. I have already had to scrap two panels which have just gone completely pear shaped and aren't salvageable, which is unfortunate. 

So third time lucky, I have hand appliqued the bits on to the backing panel and it has gone well! I have used cross stitch thread to applique, as I thought this would give a nice texture and nice bright colours!

 Clearly, it is a hit with the kids, as Louie absolutely adores it! He wouldn't let me take a picture of it and kept running away with it!

So this is the first panel so far! The clouds are felt and lightly padded, and the airplane is made from two different fabrics, and is stuffed with a crinkly sounding material!

Hopefully the other panels will turn out as nice and it will come together to be a lovely gift for baby Splodge!

Bit of a catch up

 Last week Louie was rather poorly. I suspected he might have an infection and took him down to the out of hours doctor at the Royal. They put the frighteners on us and told us that he might have pneumonia and all sorts and we were admitted. Thankfully it is just a virus and over two weeks later, he is back to his normal self again. As you can see from the first photos, he really was a poorly little bee :(

 I have been making ice lollies for Louie, as I refuse to give him lollies packed full of sugar and additives. Instead he now has some lovely lollies with just strawberries and yoghurt which are delicious, and it used up dregs from the fridge!

Louie's new favourite hobby is gardening! He recieved a watering can/gardening set from us for his Easter gift, and a greenhouse from Nana and he is thrilled with them! Although he can't use it all properly just yet, he is giving such a good go! He has had such fun throwing water all over him self with the watering can and has been digging up the dead pots and smearing the soil into his skin! He is such a joy!