Breakfast with View Quest

Sleepy slumbers with Harriet Hare designs

Don't be a chicken!

Spring showers with Joules

Easy Mum Style

Raising Those Rascals

Clarins Hand and Nail Treatment

Hey guys, today I have a little 'beauty post' to share as I have found a skincare solution that is so good, I think everyone should know about it! 

I've written about my hands in the past, more specifically the battering they take during the cold winter months. The fact that they are washed umpteen times a day with looking after the babies and rinsing bottles makes them even more prone to dryness and irritability. This year was particularly bad though as my hands have been horribly dry especially around my knuckles.

I wanted to find a handbag friendly cream that would be easy to incorporate into my daily skincare routine and I really wanted it to work-not just have pretty packaging! 

Enter: Clarins Hand and Nail Treatment Cream...

An understated, effective and truly marvellous recipe for soft, smooth and happy hands. This bottle has become a close friend over the past few weeks! I bought this on recommendation after being informed of how effective this was for treating a particular case of dermatitis. I was intrigued to see how it might make a difference to my skin and boy was I impressed when I began using this.

I saw results pretty instantly- whilst the formula sinks in quickly on application, you can still feel its silkiness getting to work on the tougher areas of skin. Having used this every day for a couple of weeks now, my flaky knuckles are nowhere near as uncomfortable or sore as they were, they're way more hydrated and the skin has plumped again. 

The bottle contains a generous amount of product: 100ml and, having used mine round the clock, i'm pretty satisfied that I still have a good amount left. At £21 it's definitely not the cheapest hand cream but for the fact it actually does something to your skin unlike many other creams you can buy, it's definitely worth the extra pennies- especially if your skin is problematic like mine.

The other benefit I have noticed is a big improvement in my nails. I had acrylic tips applied before Christmas and my nails took a real battering from them. They had been dry and brittle for weeks
 and the growth had been especially poor during this period. Yet, since using this cream they’ve strengthened noticeably and they also seem to have had a growth spurt too. The only thing I can credit this to is using this hand cream as nothing else has really changed in my skincare routine.

I will definitely be repurchasing this product- even though I know I won’t need to for a while yet! 

Have you tried this cream?

Love,

Taking a break

This evening we arrived home from a week away with Eddy’s family- hence why the blog has been so quiet! I really felt I needed a break from computer screens and some time to just be in the present with my boys. Sometimes I find it really beneficial to have a bit of downtime and it felt so good, freeing and refreshing to take a pause from the ever buzzing online world. 

When I take time away from blogging I always notice that is the time when I have a greater abundance of ideas and inspiration for future posts. More than that though, it just felt really good to quieten my thoughts and be at peace with reality, here and now.

I feel rested, recuperated and ready to move forwards- thank you for your patience!

 I hope you all have a beautiful, peaceful weekend!

Love,

Matching boys

Now that Jonah is getting bigger and more mobile, I've found a bit of a guilty pleasure in deliberately buying both boys matching outfits to wear. I know it screams 'cliche mom' but something about seeing both my littles dressed identically is just irresistible to me! It throws me back to the time when my mum dressed my older sister and I in matching outfits too. As a child, I relished being able to copy my big sister and I remember the occasions when mum did  the big seasonal shopping trips for our clothes; Maria and I would have all the same stuff, just in different sizes to match our ages! 

It feels a bit strange reminiscing back to those days and now being in the same position myself of doing the 'big seasonal shops' for my own boys. So far though, I'm loving pairing the boys in similar clothes, it definitely makes it much easier to keep an eye on them when we're out and about! I tell you, there is method in the madness!

Mamas, do you match your little one's outfits? Tag your photos on social media with #RaisingThoseRascals, I'd love to see them all!

Love,

Raising Those Rascals!

Good morning everyone and welcome to this week's Raising Those Rascals post!... And what little rascals they've been! We're actually off to Center Parcs today and so we have spent the past few days chatting to Noah about it. I should have know that every other word from him for the next week would be swimming related!
 It is lovely to see him getting all excited though and I'm so looking forward to a bit of down time with the family too.

I feel as though this week I have my happy baby back too! Jonah has been so much more content and smiley- honestly, it's been a sweet relief for everyone. There's nothing worse than seeing your baby in pain and now that the teething has calmed down a bit, I think we all feel a little less on edge. I can't lie, the better night's sleeps are definitely helping too!

A bit of a challenge for the next few months is going to be encouraging Noah towards potty training! I think once we get back from our mini-break I'm going to really try to push ahead with it. The only problem is that he is so uninterested in the whole thing!- even with bribing him with prizes!
 Part of me thinks that he'll naturally let us know when he is ready for potty training, but at the moment he is so unfazed with continuing to wear nappies. I think part of the issue is that anything that takes him away from playing with his toys, against his will, is never met with enthusiasm on his part. So, choosing our moments for 'practice' have to be planned a bit carefully! As I said, I think we are going to try to introduce more of a 'routine' with our trips to the toilet when we're home again....Ahh, but I feel we are so far away from wearing pants!

 Any advice on that front mamas? Is it a bit of a 'boy thing' to not really be interested in toilet training?

As always, I wanted to share some of your lovely images from the hashtag #RaisingThoseRascals over on Instagram. I always love scrolling through and seeing all the lovely moments captured and shared. With the colder weather this week, it's been especially nice to see littles enjoying the snow and bracing the chilly temperature to find adventure. This view by @weescottishstudent is just stunning!

I only wish we had enough snow to go sledging as a family, but what a beautiful atmosphere for it, just gorgeous!

And speaking of gorgeous, how adorable is this little cherub all dressed to take on the snow!?

AND he is a Noah too! :D  Thanks @aimee.flower for sharing such a cute image of your little one!

I couldn't not smile when I came across this lovely montage by @thisisemilie,

I love dungarees on toddlers but those facial expressions are just too brilliant! I actually giggled aloud when I saw them! 

Finally, how adorable is this gorgeous wee babe, shared by @spanglishlondonwife!

Ohh, how I love a newborn! My sister and sister-in-law are both expecting babies quite soon and as such, newborns are very much on our minds as we're all so excited for them! There's something so wonderful about gazing at babies, isn't there? Their innocence just melts your heart. Thanks so much for sharing @spanglishlondonwife, he sure is a beauty!

Well loves, I hope this week brings you joy and content. Thank you ladies for continuing to use the hashtag #RaisingThoseRascals, it's so encouraging to share these moments and cheer each other on, especially in the more challenging aspects of parenting! Do keep them coming!

Love,

Jonah's week in facial expressions!

After having a bit of a tumultuous few days with Jonah at the start of the year, this last week has been filled with so many giggles and cooing as my happy baby has truly returned. He has been chattering away, playing games with us and for the most part has been in such a good mood which, as his mama, warms my heart.

For some reason, Jonah has also been pulling the most hilarious faces this week. I've managed to capture some of them and I created an album of 'silly moments' to store them all in. Not knowing exactly what I was going to do with them, I thought I would share a few with you!

If I'm ever feeling a bit down, looking through the boys' baby photos always cheers me up. They stir memories and feelings within me and always help to brighten a dull day!

It's a bit of a random one, granted, but I hope this post brings a little smile to your day too, courtesy of this cheeky chap! :)

Have a great weekend friends!

Love,

A trip down memory lane

When I think back to my days at school, one thing that always comes to mind is the memory of getting to choose a new backpack for the year. Looking back, I always had a bit of a thing for Roxy bags. With such 'cool', sleek designs and a real emphasis on surfer style, I used to get really excited about starting off a new term with a new bag and stationary set...can you tell I was never one of the 'popular' girls? :p

I had been looking for a bag recently as we are off to centre Parcs next week and, knowing that we will be spending a lot of time cycling, swimming and walking, I didn't want to have my arms weighed down with bags. Whilst it seems there are still lots of sales to take advantage of, I thought I would see what kind of rucksacks were around in the hopes of solving my dilemma!

I was struggling to find something that I liked and that had a bit of vibrancy in the design. In the end, I decided to check out some Roxy bags on a whim and totally fell in love with this fun, geometric design. Not only is it identical in style to some of my favourite bags I had in school (bringing up so many memories!), but I absolutely loved the colour combinations and design. 

I love that this backpack is so eye-catching and bright. Noah saw me open it after it arrived in the post and his eyes lit up instantly as he surveyed all the colours. Of course, he just had to try it on first! 

 I can see myself using this SO much over the coming months! (Hurry up summer holidays!) This would be a perfect carry on bag for a plane journey, it's the perfect bag for a hike, for a run, a shopping trip...the list is endless!

It's really nice to finally enjoy one of my all time favourite bag designs outside of the classroom and get planning all the adventures it will join us on!

Are you a backpack fan?

Love,

2016 Resolutions

I know New Year’s resolutions aren’t everybody’s cup of tea. To be honest, I never used to really bother with them either. Sometimes it’s just the fear of not keeping to them past January that has prevented me from committing, and sometimes i've just not felt like jumping on the bandwagon! However, this year I’ve set myself some personal goals which which I thought I would share...

Be silly!-  I know that might sound an odd choice, but on reflection Eddy and I both felt that 2015 was quite a stressful year for us. Of course, there were some lovely elements such as staying with my family while house hunting. But it has still been quite full on, particularly with regards to forging forward with Eddy's business. We’ve spent many an evening getting to grips with all the rules and regulations and laying out strategies for the next year. It all sounds hideously boring, I know, but it has been pretty time consuming and, with a million risk factors in there, we’ve certainly felt as if we’ve been living on the edge for a while now! As a result, I feel that last year we didn’t make a great deal of time for fun, or to simply be silly! We call it being ‘seventeen and silly’ just as we used to be! Now and again, it’s so good to be reminded of how we were as teenagers, so carefree and relaxed. So, for 2016 we want to have a whole lot more fun! We’ve got a couple of trips in the pipeline and some new family hobbies to begin together. I’m looking forward to making more memories as a family and really making the most of the present time!

Date Nights!- As an add on to the above, we want to make date nights a bit more of a regular thing. Whether by going out for a meal or having a ‘no phones, no internet’ home date, we definitely would like to try to make it a weekly thing. Not only is it good for ourselves to individually have a break, but it’s such a good way to keep our marriage balanced and in check! For me, it gives me a break from domestic life to get to date my husband and for Eddy, it’s a good way to mentally get away from work and check in with me.

Fitness and wellbeing- One of my big goals for this year is to be fit and strong. For me, this isn’t about reaching a particular weight or dress size, it’s about making my body the best version it can be! Eddy and I know we would love to have more children and so, whilst I have the opportunity to, I want to make my body as fit and strong as I can…all in preparation! :p I worked out a lot between my pregnancies with Noah and Jonah and the difference it made to my pregnancy with Jonah was quite significant. Though I didn’t talk about it much at the time, I really felt a lot stronger in myself and more capable of coping with fatigue. In terms of all round wellbeing, working out is so important and I’m looking forward to pushing myself further this year.

Don’t stress over it! This is such a big one for me…and yes, I’ve already broken it! I am just one of those people who stresses about the small stuff…and I mean the really small, insignificant stuff! Normally this relates to household tasks like the cleaning and laundry. It’s always going to be there and sometimes I need to just get over an unhoovered floor and think, there’s always tomorrow! I also spend way too much time worrying about what everyone else’s opinion of me is and not enough time thinking about and being thankful for all the positive, amazing parts of my life. 

Read & Learn- A final resolution for this year is to delve into more books and learn! I graduated from Uni four years ago this summer and part of me still misses the academic challenge! I feel that mentally I need more stimulation to keep the cogs turning over and to keep my brain sharp! When you have a subject you're passionate about, this just becomes really engaging and fun, so I look forward to learning new things this year through books and not just the internet!

Those are my 'resolutions' for 2016, did you make any?

Love,

Little readers

I’ve really enjoyed reading with Noah recently. His love of books and his interest in reenacting characters and voices really inspires me to keep up the reading we’ve been doing. As a pre-schooler, most of what he understands from books is taken from illustrations and little activities like puling the tabs to reveal the dinosaurs hiding, or playing with pop ups. 

When I see Noah picking up a book to look at, I really see his curiosity and imagination at work in a totally different way to his expression when he watches the television. His face comes to life as he experiences touching and feeling the pages of a book and digesting what the images are telling him about the plot.

I think sometimes I take for granted the importance of reading with him. We all probably know how essential reading is to child development, but I have often saved ‘reading time’ till bedtime when, normally, we are both exhausted. It's no surprise that I then find myself repeatedly reaching for the quiet, gentle and shorter books to soothe him to sleep. Whilst these are great for that purpose, I have been feeling that we need to establish a bit more of a routine for day time reading.

Having made the effort to stop after lunch and open some of our more adventurous, loud and exciting books together, It’s made for a lot of fun and creative play. I’ve especially been enjoying the peace from not having the television on in the background and just enjoying the excited noises coming from my toddler’s imaginative play!

I hope you're all having a great week!?

Love,