My town trip

I went into Lincoln city centre today to pick up an order I placed with M&S, your probably thinking M&S- why?.. 

Well me& my boyfriend got sky a couple of months ago so we got a free £100 gift card. I found quite a few lovely things actually.. surprisingly! 

One of my friends had been raving about the autograph nail varnish from there so I thought I would try some make up from there. I got 2x Foundation, concealer, eyebrow pencil &some powder! Ok quite excited to try these out actually. I've never done my eyebrows properly before. I've never plucked them or done much to them because they are quite neat& tidy already. So any tips? Send them my way! 

I also got 4x plates, I know not exciting but I love these plates they are square and I think they are quite classy. They were only £4 each, bargain! 

We also bought a new kettle, me and my boyfriend are in the middle of home improvements at the moment. 

I bought a wicker heart, it looks so cute in the window, and I've been wanting one for ages. I also got my sister one for a moving in present! 

Didn't do too bad really, free stuff! 

I also ended up nipping to boots and getting a white nail varnish, I've seen loads of pictures and thought they looked lovely so I'll give them a try and let you know! I also ended up buying a models own ARTSTIX! It has a pen to draw on your nails and a brush too! Can't wait to try it out. I bought pink. I also got a Barry m basecoat, topcoat and nail hardener!

Offers I spotted- 

3for2 on models own nail varnish in boots! 

3for2 on ANY nail products (including nail varnish remover) at superdrug!

I also bought some 'real techniques' brushes, alot of my blogger friends have these brushes and think they are really good. I bought the core collection kit. I can't wait to try them out! Xx

What have we been up to?

What have we been up to? That's a good question, however the answer is slightly boring I'm afraid. We haven't done much at all. Been for walks to the shop& went into town and i bought Alfie some goodies! (See Alfie's goodies post) I spoil him way to much, he is worth it though! 

I got a £100 gift card from M&S for joining sky, I was very happy about this and got on the Internet straight away. I bought a new kettle, make up &a wicker heart for the window (they look so cute). 

I can't wait to get my order! I'm a shopaholic! 

We got out and about this weekend though as it was my cousins wedding and we were invited to the reception. It was held outside & yes, in true summer spirit it rained! Alfie was not impressed at all, being surrounded by all these noisy people and it was quite chilly! So me& Alfie set off early and went home and got into our jarmas! At least my extended family got to briefly meet him, even if he was Mardy :-P! 

On Sunday, my dads friends new baby daughter got christened, we didnt go to the church as I thought Alfie would not be able to stay quiet for long so we met everyone at the party. It was quite nice to go it was a small gathering so Alfie didnt mind so much. 

Alfie got to wear his shirt (Alfie's goodies post) as it wasn't too hot. He looked so cute and grown up! 

Alfie was 3months old on Saturday, where is the time going?! He's such a clever boy, I must write an update on him to let you all know what he's now doing and how he's developing. 

My gorgeous boys who I love to bits! 

Phil smith shampoo& conditioner

This week I bought myself some new shampoo and conditioner usually (because I'm a hairdresser) I get my hair care products from the wholesalers. I know they will do exactly what they say they will do on the bottle when I get them from the wholesalers as I've used them for 4years but I thought I would have a change. I saw these on offer in sainsburys and thought it would be the perfect time to give them a try! 

This shampoo and conditioner claim to brighten blondes. In my professional opinion I don't really think it did. I think im being a little bit harsh as I'm used to using salon strength shampoo for blondes which are obviously better but they cost 3-4 times the amount of regular shampoo& conditioner in the supermarkets. However they left my hair feeling so soft and healthy and was quite easy to manage afterwards. I didn't use any hair prep products and my hair still felt amazing! Usually I wouldn't be able to get a comb through it but I could after using these. 

The product smelt good and I could smell it in my hair the next day too which I like. If your hair smells funny, you feel self conscious and have to give it a wash again! 

I would really recommend blondes to use this product if your hair is abit dry and in need of TLC! The range also does ones for brunettes and red heads so no excuse not to try! It is half price is sainsburys at the moment (£1-99 each!) 

I'm going to start using a new product every month for my hair and reviewing it. They will be salon products as I will get them from the wholesalers so if there is anything you would like me to review or any products that you know you want but can only get from wholesalers, let me know and I will get them for you!! 

Xx

Alfie's goodies

I've bought Alfie a few goodies this week, there's never really a week that I don't buy him anything. He has everything he possibly needs but you know how it is- we have to spoil our babies! 

After the birth of the royal baby- Prince George Alexander Louis, tommee tippee revealed that they had made limited edition royal baby bottles that were available at Mothercare. I jumped on the Internet as soon as I found out and ordered my prince a bottle! They are so cute, I would like another for him really! They have a bunting design and soldiers design on the boy version and the girls have carriages and a bunting design! 

He is growing so quickly that he is now wearing 3-6month old sleepsuits, he would still fit in 0-3 if his legs weren't so long. His top half is still in new born sizes. Weird! I bought him some more 3-6 sleepsuits to start his collection. These ones were half price so perfect time to buy him some

I got him this cute little bodysuit too, I just couldn't resist! 

I bought him some new soothers, as he is 3months tomorrow he has now moved up a size so I thought I best buy some to add to his collection as I can never find them when I need them. He doesn't really need his soothers anymore but I do use them at night to get him to sleep and also take one out with us just incase he's Mardy! I choose avent ones, all his other dummies are tommee tippee but thought I would give these ones a try. 

I bought this shirt for Alfie for a christening we are going to on Sunday so I would quite like it if it cooled down abit so he can wear it. I'll probably put this shirt with his navy chinos :-) 

I also bought Alfie some more converses, he's growing out of his size1 ones, when I find something I like I buy it in every size :-P oops! Don't tell my boyfriend!! 

My recovery after a c-section

I had a c-section because of health complications during labour. I didn't expect to be having a c-section as my pregnancy was very straight forward! 

I didnt know anything about caesareans because I didnt look up anything about them before I gave birth. 

I thought I would tell you about my experience because I didnt know what was normal and what wasn't normal to experience after this sort of operation. So incase any mums to be out there have to go through a c-section, you know that some things are very normal.

The actual operation was fine, they gave you so many 'drugs' and pain relief that you don't feel a thing. I wasn't really aware of what was happening during the operation at all. It was quite sad because I can barely remember seeing my baby for the first time :-(. After all the stitching up and everything they wheeled me back to my room. I felt quite normal really, even though I just had quite a serious operation. Because I was sat in bed I didn't realise how much I couldn't work the bottom half of my body until I tried to sit up. I couldn't use my legs at all so I couldn't push my self up, the midwives had to help me by pulling me around! If you've read my birth story you will know I was bedbound for a couple of days so didnt realise the extent of what was happening to my body at this point. 

When they moved me down to the post natal ward, you have to do everything by yourself so I forced my self to get up! It took a while but I got up in the end. It did me good really, my legs were like jelly. I felt absolutely terrible because I hadn't really picked up my baby by myself or changed his nappy till I made myself get out of bed. I think getting out of bed and moving around short distances actually helped me get the feeling back in my legs.

The 2nd day after birth, my wound was leaking, It was like water but I wasn't sure what it was so I can't really tell you. They said it was fine and just put another dressing on it so it was nothing to worry about and obviously happens to a few people.

Everything was quite straight forward after that, I was aching but nothing out of the ordinary! My wound healed really quickly, I do have quite good healing skin though, which was a bonus. 

When I got home I didnt want to sit and do nothing, I'm the sort of person that has to be up and about doing things. You are meant to 'rest' for 12 weeks but how is that possible when you have a baby to look after and our partners only have 2weeks off? 

I wish I wasn't naughty and did what the midwives told me though because 2weeks later my scar came open. a&e patched it up and gave me more anti-biotics!! It took a couple of months to heal after that. 

Your wound site will ache for quite a while. Your body will have a way of telling you that you've done to much if you do. Your wound site will start to ache and hurt a bit but that's normal. Just take it easy and listen to your body! 

It's healed now but my tummy still feels numb, this is likely to be the case for 2-3 years apparently! I suppose if you think about the severity of the operation it's understandable, as they cut through lots of layers of skin. 

Don't let it scare you, people are alot straight forward than me. My body couldn't cope with the birth at all. 

Hope this helps mums who have a cesarean because I didnt know anything about cesareans or recovery afterwards and worried about every little thing.

What have we been up to?

It's been too hot this week to do much really, so we've been chilling out at home. We've been for a few walks but even I was getting hot& bothered. 

We went to the doctors on Monday because Alfie still has a cough which he has had for about a month, the doctor just told us to leave it and it will get better on its own. 

On Wednesday, we went to the sure start children's centre so that I could weigh him. He weighs 12lb12oz, he's getting so big. He loved seeing all the other babies! I've signed him up for some baby groups, can't wait for him to start them :-) 

Last night my boyfriends mum and stepdad had a BBQ, it was lovely to catch up with them. It did start raining after we finished our food though! Typical weather- always rains at our BBQ's.

I'm quite thankful that its cooling down, Alfie is in a happier mood when it's cooler and I'm not keen on the sun really! Because it was cooler today we went for a walk to sainsburys, he loves being in his pram!   

What has everyone else been up to this week?? Xx

Alfie's update- 1

I'm going to start telling you all what Alfie's up to every week. Let me know what questions you would like me to answer :-)..

Age- 11weeks&4days

Weight- 12lb12oz

Personality- 

He is a very happy baby, he very rarely crys (touch wood). He smiles at everyone but can be a bit shy when he first meets people. He's very independent and can play on his playmat for a while. He loves watching the tele too!

Learning anything new- he's trying to talk to us in his little baby talk! It's nice because he starts his baby talk when he wants something so we can sort out what he wants before he starts crying! He very rarely crys now (let's hope I haven't jinxed it!) 

Learning anything new physically?- he's always been a very active baby, even inside my tummy. He's starting to lift his head up for longer when he's lying on his front. He gets a bit fed up of being on his tummy, so we bought him a tummy time toy! He grabs everything now too, my hair, my necklace, his blanket, his toys! He keeps leaning forward when hes in his car seat! He really is becoming a clever boy. He hates being cradled in your arms, as if he thinks he's too old for it :-P he likes being stood up and always pushes his feet off everything. He looks so pleased when he does it too showing us that cheeky smile! He's so strong 

How is he communicating?- he smiles constantly which shows us that he is a very happy baby! He is trying to talk to us in his baby talk, we copy the sounds he makes back to him and he loves it and starts laughing! When he wakes up he lays in his Moses basket and just gurgles away to himself, when I pop my head over to say morning he has a beaming smile for me, I love this because it shows he's excited to see me and knows who I am

How is he socialising?- 

He literally smiles at anyone when he gets used to them. His cousin blayke came round last week and he just stared at him, he's never seen another baby before.

Bought anything new for him?- we bought him a tummy time toy as he gets so fed up when he's laying on his front. It was £18-50 from mamas and papas! He still gets fed up after a while but he lasts longer than he did without the toy. 

I bought him some new bibs as his others already look worn out :-P 

Has he been up to much this week?- I took him to get weighed today, he is now 12lb12oz. (He was 8lb3oz at birth, and he weighed 11lb4oz at the beginning of June). I've signed him up for baby classes at the sure start children's centre, I want him to be sociable when he's older so I thought it would be best to start him making friends now. It will also be nice for me to get to know other mums too. I also am looking into taking him swimming, do you take your little one swimming? Do they like it? 

Apart from that we haven't done much, been on a few walks to the park. 

Have you had to change anything for him?-  we have now put 3m+ teats on his tommee tippee bottles, he seemed to be struggling to get his milk out quick enough with the 0m teats and he seems so much happier now we've changed them and he's been bringing up his wind better. We have also had to start putting him in his 3-6month sleepsuits as his legs are quite long and his feet looked squashed. It's weird though because he still does wear newborn clothes! He's small on top and has long legs! 

How is he sleeping?- he sleeps from 9-10ish till about 8. Which is very good :-). We are lucky! 

How is he feeding?- he has a 200ml bottle every 3-4hours. I have been giving him water in between feeds, as the weather is so hot! 

What's in Alfies changing bag?

As most women know we carry everything in our handbags and I'm no different. More so now that I've had a baby! I chuck everything in because I never know what I'm going to need.

I Love my 'handbag' my boyfriend bought me it when I first had Alfie, it's big enough to be a change bag so I do use it for Alfie's bits and bobs when we are out and about. This bag is from Accessorize, we got it for £27-00 as its in the sale and still is so grab a bargain girls. The bag is so strong and sturdy that it doesn't matter if I chuck everything in it as its strong enough to carry the weight! I recommend for any mum to be as use for a change bag! It's stylish but also practical! 

Purse-

I never go anywhere without my purse, I got this from river island. It fits so much in it. I need to sort it out really, it's got receipts in there from months ago! 

Sunglasses-

These sunglasses are from Avon! They are Lipsy and are so cute! They have pink arms and little bows on the side, very girly. They are limited addition and I'm not sure if you can still get them in Avons most recent brochure. I always keep my sunglasses in my bag as if I'm looking abit rough, I just slip them on and hide my face! I usually have aviators but I fell in love with these as soon as I saw them!

Perfume-

I'm in love with this perfume, I go through phases of liking a certain perfume and I just wear it constantly! This one was a present from Alfie for my birthday so tying not to waste it :-) and also it's expensive! 

Deodorant- 

Never go anywhere without this! Especially in this hot weather. It's one of the miniature ones so quite handy just to chuck in your bag. This one was actually from out my hospital bag when I had Alfie :-).

Sudocrem- 

Alfie has not had nappy rash yet (touch wood), I still apply it everytime I change it for protection against the wetness in his nappy! 

Scratch mitts- 

I carry some with me wherever I go as Alfie's nails grow so bloomin' quick! He got a thing for scratching his head and face, he has a little bit of ezcema, which he got from me so I try to keep his nails short but have these with me just incase! When he was around a month old, he had a bit of baby acne- apparently some babies get it from hormones from there mother but I had to keep him from scratching his face and it's got a lot better now!

Comforter-

i always take this little bear with us when we go out, Alfie can get a bit restless when we're out and about so this little bear keeps his occupied for a bit and he falls asleep cuddling him. We have one for out and about and one in his Moses basket! 

Dummy- 

I take one with me just incase he becomes unsettled, he doesn't really like sucking his dummy anymore. He just spits it out but if he's really tired he will suck on it and fall asleep! 

Baby wipes-

Always carry these obviously to change nappies and also to keep him clean. I'm a little obsessed with keeping his face clean after him having his spots. 

Carton of milk& a sterilised bottle-

Alfie loves his milk and I can never guarantee when he will want his next feed so I have to be prepared! The cartons are so easy, just snip the end off and pour it into your bottle! They can drink it room temp or you can heat it up for them. They are a lifesaver really! Remember their bibs too! 

Nappies-

These are obviously essentials! Make sure you take 3-5 nappies out with you, depending on how long you are going to be. Need to make sure your always ready if they fill there nappy! 

Water-

In this weather, i always carry around a bottle of water for Alfie. Must be horrible for babies when they can't tell us they are hot so keep them hydrated! :-)

That's everything I have in my bag today, hope this may help mums to be to know what to take with them when they are taking there little ones out! Xx

Quinny Buzz

I thought I would post a review on Alfie's pushchαir αs I know mαny pregnαnt women find it hαrd to decide which one to get αs there αre so mαny to choose from! 

When I first got pregnαnt I wαs looking αt the silvercross 3D trαvel system, I realised it wasn't really 'me'. Its abit too bulky for me. As the time went on I sαw mαny people with the quinny buzz- I thought they were quite stylish, my boyfriend wαsn't very keen on the ideα of hαving α 3wheel pushchαir but I got whαt I wαnted :-P I αlso looked αt the silvercross surf which I still reαlly like, it's very similar to the buzz but a little more expensive!

I'm so glαd I got the buzz, even though its costly- it's such α good product and I would recommend to αny mum to be! :-)

It's very easy to put together, just need to click your wheels on and your off to go really!

The pushchαir itself is αround £550. And if you wαnt to hαve the cαr seαt on it you hαve to buy thαt! I hαve the mαxi-cosi pebble αnd I love it! It's αbout £100 but worth it. Alfie loves it αnd it does look comfy!

You cαn get the quinny in mαny different colours- red, pink, blue and trαditionαl blαck. I got blαck αs I'm not α very αdventurous person! They αlso do α bronze colour chassis now but I do prefer the silver. 

It's so eαsy to put up and down, even αfter having my Caesarean I could still put the pushchair in and out the car with ease (even though I shouldn't have been lifting) :-P it's hydraulic so very very easy! It's very lightweight and so smooth to push! The pushchair comes up itself after one click of a button

I also have a carrycot for it but I'm not to keen (if anyone does want one let me know because I want to get rid of it really). The carrycots are brilliant for newborns so they can lay flat but Alfie never really liked it so always used the car seat! The seat that comes with the pushchair can either be sat up or laid down (there is some pictures below of this) 

Just recently we have started using the 'big boy' chair, it's so comfy and padded and Alfie loves it! He falls asleep in it everytime we go out for walks now! 

Any questions, please ask! I know everything about this pushchair so willing to answer anything :-) xx

(The car seat charm is from next (£15).)

Alfie's story so far!

I thought I would tell you a little about my baby boy- 

Name; Alfie Martin 
Born; 27/04/2013
Weighed; 8lb3oz

Alfie was due on the 17th April but was 10days overdue.
The pregnancy was very easy and I loved being pregnant! 
We decided to found out the sex at the 20week scan so we could be prepared- I thought the baby was going to be a girl as I have 2sisters and so does my boyfriend. 
When they said he was a boy I was very happy but shocked too as I had been picking girls names! 
As soon as we got out the scan room we started talking about names- Alfie is the first name we said and it stuck! Couldn't imagine having any other name for him now. 

Top- 22 weeks

Bottom picture- 38weeks (about to pop by the looks of it!) 

I woke up in labour so obviously started labour when I was sleeping, the pain wasn't too bad to be honest and I'm a wuss. My labour lasted 16hours, he was born by cesarean as his heart rate was slowing and mine was too. He just didn't want to meet us!

He weighed 8lb3 and looked the spitting image of his dad! He was such a wide eyed baby when he was born and wouldn't stay still, which surprised the midwives.

He is now nearly 3months and i can't believe how much he is developing, he's starting trying to talk to us in his little baby language! He does nothing but smile at everyone& he's a very happy baby!

I'll keep you updated on all his firsts :-) 

Xx

Me!

I decided to start a blog as I have a few friends on twitter who have one and I love reading them so thought I might aswell do one myself. I will be blogging about fashion- beauty- hair& being a mummy to my gorgeous Alfie! I will be telling you all about what I'm up to and also review products.

i will tell you abit about my self so that you know who I am :-); 

I'm Emma, 22 from Lincoln. I live with my boyfriend and my little boy Alfie. I had a pretty good childhood because of my dad, my mother left when I was 10years old. Which was awful, as I have 2sisters. Nicole is one year younger than me and Rebecca is now 15. Rebecca was 4 when my mum left so she obviously took it hard because she was only little, me, Nicole and my dad spoilt her with attention and toys to cheer her up which made her into a spoilt child. Shes not as bad now but she went through a very bad patch where she used to scream and shout to get what she wanted and she did. 

I had a bit of a rubbish time at secondary school, which I don't really want to talk about. I was alot happier when I went to college and did what I felt passionate about, hairdressing! I didn't go straight to college after my compulsory education though, I stayed on for 6form. I only got my AS levels but I could always finish them off sometime in god future. I studied health& social care& English language& literature. I decided that I didnt really want to be there so applied for college.  I trained in a salon and worked there for 4years. I found out I was pregnant in September 2012... Alfie was a massive suprise, i was on the pill! I worked out that around the time i concieved i was working at the Salon, working at next and working at matalan so my pill got a bit messed up( not taking it at the same time everyday) As soon as I found out I found out I knew I couldn't do3 jobs so worked at Matalan part time until my maternity leave started in February of this year. Will hopefully be starting mobile hairdressing when Alfie is abit older. My boyfriend has been looking at buying a salon, i would also quite like to train as a midwife but we'll just have to see what the future holds! 

I gave birth to Alfie in April and I love it. He's gorgeous and the love of my life! I never thought I could love anyone as much as I love him.. 

Xx