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Dear Daisy, It is your first day at school...

Caravan holidays with a toddler hacks

As a family (especially before babies) we have always loved to travel and any disposable income naturally leant itself to holidays and weekends away. Obviously when children come along travel needs and desires change, you want things to be as easy and stress free as possible, if that even exists of course. But we give it a good go! 

Travelling with toddlers and tots is all about give and take. So with a little organisation, preparation and patience you can all enjoy the break. Daisy has been abroad a few times already and actually she didn't make things too tricky but we know with another baby thrown in the mix that it could well be more difficult and so we decided to have our summer week away in the UK, that and we haven't got him a passport! 

We've often holidayed here so it's nothing new to us, you can find posts on Bluestone and Center Parcs here as well as many other places in the travel tab at the top of the page. This time we stayed in a static caravan on St Ives Bay Holiday Park







I thought I would share a few little tips that we picked up from our stay;

Tub baths - The one big thing that made me unsure about this type of holiday was that caravans don't tend to come with baths and my babies are used to having a good wash in one. Although Daisy likes a shower it depends on how it is to if she will actually wash in one!!

We take a large storage box with all of our groceries, handy items like in bin bags and loo rolls in for easy packing, this doubles as a bath!! I could bath Alex in it properly but Daisy is just able to sit in it and be washed, perfect for getting the sand out of areas that we would have struggled in the shower with!

Own bedding - This applies where ever we go. If we can then we take Daisy's pillow and quilt with us. That way she has her familiar things with her and you know she's comfortable. 

Choosing the right venue- when booking a holiday we now have to make sure it's toddler friendly, gone are the days of ensuring a location is central to lots of swanky restaurants as a priority but instead hunting for swings and slides, swimming pools, grass to run on, child friendly cafe and take away and somewhere you can get places with them walking.

Toddler entertainment - Get yourself to Poundland or the supermarkets before you leave for beach toys, buckets etc as you will really pay a premium when at the coast!

Cleanings Bits & Bobs - I have holidayed like this plenty of times as a child myself but never had the responsibility of going with my own family until now. My mum made sure we took bin bags, tea towels, dish clothes, washing up liquid etc as none of this is supplied. I took a few packets of anti- bacterial wipes too as they're so quick and easy for wiping things down. 

We recently stayed in St Ives Bay Holiday Park which had all of the facilities you would need with a toddler that doesn't stop, needs entertaining and needs wearing out! Perhaps wouldn't have been our first choice of accommodation a few years ago as a couple with no children but how times change!!! Or at least you're forced into making practical decisions anyway!! Anything that helps give you a quieter life!





Hayley xxx




Days out: The Quarry Park & Dingle

The weather has been so strange this summer so far, when we have had the odd sunny day we have had to make the most of it as much as we can!

Wednesday is swimming day and the pool is located in the middle of the towns park, The Quarry.

We quite often have a little walk down to the play park or have a run on the field with our sandwich before heading home but hadn't been able to in a while what with the rubbish weather and well me having a baby! (Good enough excuse?) 

 


Well this week the weather looked pretty disappointing and so we thought it would be a coffee to warm up in the cafe at the pool rather than a picnic outside in the park. 

After swimming we went for that anticipated coffee and all of a sudden the grey, miserable rain filled clouds disappeared and so we thought we would take a walk down to the dingle at the bottom of the park. The last time we went was spring and the flowers were just starting to shoot, but look at them now! 

 

   



And look in the ponds there were ducklings!!! They are so tame, obviously used to visitors stopping to have a chat with them. We did have to stop a cheeky toddler from going in for a cuddle though! 

It's free to go in the Quarry and free to wander around the Dingle too,  so a cheap day out if you take a little picnic with you! We had held a little tea party for Daisy's nanny the night before so went armed with left over sandwiches and sausage rolls as a mini picnic! It's the little things that toddlers find fun and they love to explore. 

Xxx


Kitchen Ideas & Inspiration

We are in the middle of planning an extension on our home, a bigger family means we need more space!

Our kitchen currently is more traditional with a slight "vintage/ shabby" feel to it, at the time of doing it last time I wanted shaker style units, pastel accents with upcycled pieces like my dresser and spice rack.

This time around I am after a cleaner, easier to upkeep, sparkling, modern feel! So a good 360 turn around!

Kitchen
Source: 

buildteam.com



I thought I would share a a few pins from my Pinterest board with you that I am busy pinning away for inspiration.

Kitchen Design
Source: 

Holland And Green Architectural Design

Kitchen Ideas
Source: 

magnet.co.uk





Retro Kitchen
Source: 
Bright Kitchen
Source: 

HGTV























Hayley xxx

Positive Birth Story: Video Update

I shared my birth story not so long ago on here but said that I would do a video on my Youtube channel to support it. 

So here we go!



Hayley xxx

Rockin Baby Giveaway

If you follow me on social media or YouTube then you will have seen some of the images I have been sharing of both Daisy and Alex wearing some new Rockin Baby items and how adorable they are! 

 
 
 
 
If you missed it I have linked the YouTube haul video down below! 




Rockin Baby have a fantastic initiative where they will donate an item for every item you purchase to a mother in need. A snippet from their website "Rockin' Baby was founded in 2002 to provide slings to mothers around the world. We now offer stylish slings and childrenswear, with a philanthropic mission of one-for-one. You buy, we give."

You can find out more on their website

I have a few pieces to give away to the lucky winners! I will have at least one piece to give away through my blog and one on my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/hayleyslittlethingsblog/

To win a boys item between 0-6 months please comment below with what you favourite piece is from the website and what age your little one is! 

You will be sent a random piece not what you have commented with as I already have the prizes here with me! 

You will be given a number on your comment and then they will be raffled online so it's nice and fair! 

There is nothing to stop you entering both on here and on our Facebook page! 

Good luck! 


The Pinterest mummy

I love Instagram and I almost love Pinterest just as much. 

But I find it's easy to get wrapped up in those pretty little images and forget they're often just staged, photoshopped little snapshots of someone's life, they're not always real life or at least not the whole picture anyway. We can sometimes be aspiring to be like something that isn't realistic or possible! Setting ourselves up for disappointment or a knock. 

It's easy to muddle the beautiful ideas and projects for an image of the perfect parent. I'm fairly smart in that I know that perfect parenting doesn't exist. But sometimes that's hard to remember when you are surrounded by images of perfection. It's not about being jealous but setting yourself unrealistic standards! 
I am never going to be that mum that can create those crafty masterpieces all of the time, or has one of those white sparkling homes with just little accents of marble and copper! 
 
I love to get stuck into messy play, craft and baking but the majority of the time it looks as if a bomb has gone off in the house or the toddler leaves me stranded doing these things on my own after paddying that her paper dared to be the wrong way around or she all of a sudden had a hatred of getting a teeny splash of paint on her fingers, hardly Instagram worthy material! And don't get me started on our house... (Not that it's bad or filthy of course, just not picture perfect, I call it lived in!) 

This isn't a rant against Pinterest, it's just a reminder that as magical as it can make things look that it's not always real and it's just a source of inspiration rather than perhaps a way of life we should all be living. I've come to learn that perfect pictures don't tell the complete story and actually would I really want life to look so glossy? The messy days can be the best ones! 

 I for one enjoy those beautiful images and the fun of trying out some of those new games and ideas and enjoy it for what it is, play time! I know it's not a competition and that sometimes people just have a really good knack for these things :) Me not being one of them! 

And do you know what I'm pretty guilty of sharing images of perfect days out or holidays and what you don't see is the story behind it, the run up to the event or the aftermath, it's just a snapshot, a picture perfect moment. 

A little something to think about...

xxxxxx 


Days out: Powis Castle (National Trust)

We are lucky in that we have several lovely day trip options pretty much on our doorstep or at least a short drive away anyway. I thought I may start to share some of the photos we took at them and our mini reviews incase anyone else is looking for a day out!!

Powis castle is somewhere we have been several times and actually has become quite a special place to us after we took Daisy there in her first week of life and then did the same with Alex. 

You'll have seen me talk about this place a few times if you've followed my blog a while so I thought it only right that I would give it its own post! 

Powis Castle is a beautiful medieval castle, and grand country mansion in PowysWales. It's a National Trust property and is known for its terraced gardens with views out to the local surrounding hills. 







You'll see from the photos that it is a beautiful building and the grounds are stunning, we actually have never ventured in to the venue before as we've just made the most of the gardens in the good weather that we've been lucky to catch! 

The grounds are fairly large and have various levels and little areas to explore and enjoy. The only downfall for us personally is all of the steps you have to navigate with the pushchair,  I'm not sure I would manage going on my own with the babies! But of course the steps are part of the character and architecture so I wouldn't wish them to change or anything drastic like that, it's just something to bear in mind when visiting. 

They do have a little route that includes no steps but it is a steep bank and you actually miss half of the terraces and the views you get from there. 

Daisy loves it here and often visits with her grandparents and picnics in the garden. She even has her own little friend here, Alan the peacock!

Hayley xxx


Dear Alex, Happy 1 Month Birthday

In true Muma fashion I am a Little late in getting this post up, only by a few days mind. Which isn't bad considering how busy life is now a days, you and your sister keep our days very full! 


I know it's a cliche but I honestly can't believe it's been a month since your suprise arrival, it's flown past me so fast that it makes me feel a little sad, you aren't "new new" anymore. You've lost most of your squished up wrinkles and you are no longer that flushed pink, although you've been left with the most gorgeous olivey skin. 

Your colouring seems to be just like Dada's at the moment, much darker than both me and Daisy, but I know that you'll change so much in the coming year and who knows what you'll be like by your first birthday. I really don't want to think that far ahead, I want to make the most of these days when you're a baby, Daisy's baby days whizzed me by and sometimes I struggle to remember them. 



You have a lovely little temperament. As long as you're fed and clean you're pretty happy, although keeping you full can be a challenge at times you are a growing boy! You were 7lb 14oz when you were born almost 5 weeks ago and now you weigh 9lb 8oz, you're certainly stocking up and piling the ounces on! This makes me a proud muma as I have breastfed you until now so I know my magic milk seems to be doing a good job. 

This past week I have given you a little top up at night in the hope you'll sleep better and it does seem to have worked, when I say top up its been just 3oz right before bed, enough to make your tiny tummy a little heavier! 

You can be a bossy boy, when you want something (usually feeding!!) you really shout! It's not so much a cry, more of a really loud shout! In the night I have to tend to you sharpish incase you wake your sister, our lives wouldn't be worth living if we woke her up! That girl needs her sleep! 


You've had some lovely trips already including Powis Castle, camping in a cool pod and a few parties! Not that you've seen much because when we are out and about you seem to snooze! Yet when at home you prefer to be awake as much as you can. 

You were poorly last week and gave us a fright, you were so unsettled and had a horrible rash all over your body so we had a trip to A&E for a few hours, luckily it was a virus and nothing too sinister and we were sent packing with some calpol! You tinker frightening us like that! 

You are now in clothes up to one month and probably should be moving into 0-3 months but after you didn't really use first size wardrobe for long I want you to wear your newborn as much as possible first! They are getting snug now though. It's crazy. Daisy was so much smaller than you and was only just coming out of tiny baby clothes at this age! You're much more of a bruiser! 

You're milestone this month has been that you now smile! Only the lucky few get them but you're so beautiful when you smile, your eyes really change! It's quite early I think but you really do smile as a reaction rather than wind! 

Lots of love, 

Muma xxx