The last few weeks!

The last few weeks have been hectic! My husband has had two weeks off on holiday and this is the first year we didn't really plan anything, we had the last minute panic of should we book something abroad or even a cottage in the UK but in the end decided against it.

I'm really glad we didn't book anything as we have had a fab few weeks, and the girls have really enjoyed having their daddy around as have I. He works long hours and so in the week he is rarely home to say goodnight to them and with Rock Baby he has struggled to bond with her.

Over the last few weeks I have seen their relationship blossom, RB has been taking much more interest in her daddy, he has been feeding her and giving her her bottles, giving her baths and playing with her and its made me so happy to see this. Pop Princess has been full of beans and making her daddy read 'just one more book' every night before bed.

Me and my husband have also managed to get some quality time with each other, enjoying our first night away since Rock Baby has been born to celebrate my birthday. We stayed in a gorgeous hotel in Cambridge (Hotel Du Vin), had a fantastic room with baths at the bottom of the bed!! My husband spoilt me rotten and we had time just to talk without being interupted and able to concentrate on the conversation and more importantly just to laugh together. We also slept in till 11am the next morning woo hoo, it was amazing.
The girls stayed with Nanny and Grandad for the night and had a whale of a time, feeding chickens, making me a birthday cake and eating ice cream. My initial worries of leaving RB for the first time soon disappeared with my stepmum giving me regular updates by text!

I'm really lucky that my dad found a lovely lady to remarry and she has has accepted the girls as her own grandchildren and they love her to pieces as they do their Grandad. They are always around to help us out and we do manage to have the occasional night out and lay in the next day thanks to them.



We've had lots of day trips including one to Wimpole Home Farm, with my sister in law and her husband and their three children. Pop Princess adores her cousins and they dote over her and Rock Baby. We also went to stay with our close friends in Oxford who have children about the similar age to us. We have been friends with them for over ten years and I used to live with Rebecca when we are at university. We had some mad times together from mud infested Glastonbury to raving all night till 6am the next day. Obviously life has changed a great deal and we were just pleased we managed to drink a bottle of wine and not feel too grotty the next morning when the kids were up bright and breezy at 6.30am!

The Gallery - Holidays

This weeks The Gallery theme is holidays. As I don't have a scanner at the moment I had to use what pictures I had on the computer already and so I've chosen this one:



It shows me and my hubby and our little dog Finnie. This was taken pre children on a holiday we went on in Devon about 5 years ago. I chose it as that was our little family us and our dog who we treated like a baby (still do!). We look younger, happy, relaxed, not too many lines under our eyes and it just feels like a life time ago. So much has changed since then, we have two beautiful daughters now, we have a mortgage, we have responsibilities. We are proper grown ups now!

Don't forget to hop over to Tara at Sticky Fingers to check out the other posts!

Tips for going on holiday abroad with a baby

A lot of people are starting to talk about holidays and so I thought I would write a post about my top tips for travelling with a baby under the age of one. Next post will be tips about travelling with a toddler (eek!)

Another reason for writing this post is to do my homework as I am currently receiving weekly instructions from fantastic fellow mummy blogger Erica at littlemummy.com who has a great mummy blogger e course which I’ve signed up for and this week’s lesson is all about links.

We went away to Cyprus when Pop Princess was 10 months and we were initially really worried with all the usual fears what would she be like on the plane, what if she was ill, would she eat anything, how would we make bottles up and so forth.


1. Book child friendly accommodation – sounds obvious but there are certain holidays and companies that really go the extra mile if you have children. After doing some research we decided to book The Almyra Hotel in Paphos. They provided a service called Baby Go Lightly which meant we were able to prebook all the baby essentials we could think of. Most were free such as activity mat, baby walker for the room, changing mat, baby bath, Avent Steriliser, arm bands and for a price you could also pre order things like nappies, baby food, wipes etc. We pre ordered all the free stuff and the steriliser in particular really was fantastic.

2. Do some research into your hotel, villa etc as in its location and where the closest supermarkets are, don’t make the mistake we made and take with you all the nappies and swim nappies you need as you can buy these when you get there. I emailed the hotel and they put my mind at rest and told me the supermarket which stocked pampers nappies etc was less than a 10 minute walk away

3. Look into what formula is available in the country you are going to before you go and take it with you if you have any doubts. Also what brand of baby food is readily available. Most have their own versions but you obviously won’t understand the labels. We took with us a few Orgnanix and Plum pots that weren’t too bulky just in case PP was having an off night and wouldn’t eat anything off the menus as she was only just having more lumpy foods.

4. On the plane most airlines let you take the buggy right up to the plane when you depart but it could be some time that you get it back the other end so be prepared to carry your little one for a short while. We found PP slept on the plane on the way out we were lucky and had seats with loads of leg room right at the front so she could sit on the floor and play with her toys. We took things like biscotti biscuits and rusks which she could nibble on whilst going up and down to help her ears with the pressure and tried to get her to drink milk or water on the ascent and descent.

5. Between 6 months to 12 months take toys that are light and compact like stacking cups, crayons if they are old enough, we took some of those wooden shape and animal puzzles as well as her favourite cuddly toy for night.

6. Pack a light tog gro bag, they come in 0.5 tog for really hot climates

7. Don’t forget trainer seat inflatable which are great for the pool and arm bands if they are not provided at hotel.


8. UV suits are fantastic in the sun and cover your little ones up and baby sunglasses like baby banz are a good idea too.


9. We bought a Shade A Babe which was fantastic as it not only protected her form the sun in her buggy but acted like a mosquito net for the evenings.

10. PP wasn’t crawling when we went to it was a lovely time to go as she sat and played mostly on the sun beds which were like big double beds! But we did put her in the crèche a couple of morning which was run by powder Byrne who are fantastic so do check the facilities and standards as soon as you arrive and again do your research on them before you leave.

11. In terms of making up bottles we used mineral water you just need to check the sodium level that it doesn’t exceed 200 mg per litre (NHS has good guide lines click here) and boil it in the kettle and make them up like you would at home. The hotel was great and a kettle was also waiting for us when we got there.

12. Don’t forget snacks for when you are there like biscotti biscuits, raisins, Ella’s kitchen fruit pouches are always good too – all great for the beach bag.

13. We had one visit from the doctor as PP had a temperature and was really cranky and as we were abroad I was even more paranoid so the hotel called for one for us it was really expensive and as it was there was nothing wrong with her as the next day she cut a tooth!! But make sure you have those European Health Cards just in case as well as Calpol in the sachets and thermometer.

I can’t recommend the Almyra Hotel enough we went in August 2008 and it was expensive but it was a hassle and stress free holiday and as we were quite nervous about going abroad with a baby it really did make the holiday staying somewhere where all your needs were met. They had thought of most things the children’s menus were split into pureed meals, lumpy meals and then toddler meals and if your child was eating normal food they served a kids buffet earlier in the evening. They even had a massive awning over the main pool so the little ones were kept out of the sun!


The prices have gone up incredibly high since we went so we probably can’t afford to go again now we have 2 children. Hopefully my tips will help anyone going abroad it won’t be nearly as bad as you think and you will have a lovely time with a bit of forward planning. Please leave any tips you may have in the comments below.