Monthly Archives: March 2014

Review – Boots No7 Pop And Glow Cream Blush & No7 Lovely Lashes Mascara

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No7 Pop And Glow Blushes ReviewGorgeous cheeks and luscious lashes.  Mums, get ready for Spring and Summer with these lovelies.

No7 have released a pretty little selection of cream blush sticks for spring/summer that are just so easy to apply.

The colours available are *Rose Blossom, Mango Sorbet and Classic Rose.  All are super wearable colours.  Sweep gently onto the cheek for a ‘pop’ of colour or build for more intensity.

In the picture here I am wearing the Rose Blossom, which is a lovely iced pink, perfect for spring.  Mango Sorbet and Classic Rose will be great for the summer when we have (hopefully) managed a bit of a tan.No7 Pop And Glow Blushes Review

Now, with the cheeks sorted it’s time to move onto the eyelashes.  No7’s new *Lovely Lashes Mascara, a deep, deep black with conditioning Argan Oil.  You can see from my picture that it gives a lovely thickness to the base of the lashes when worked into the lash line but still feathers beautifully without clumping.  The Argan Oil nourishes and softens the lashes to help keep them in tip top condition apparently.  Yeah!

Review - No7 Pop And Glow Cream Blush & No7 Lovely Lashes MascaraI liked both products and can recommend.   Priced at £9.95 each for the blushes and £12.95 for the mascara they are also affordably priced.

Mamasimx    About Me

Don’t forget to enjoy your day.

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Winner of GIVEAWAY For A Fantastic Read With Me Scout Toy From Leapfrog!

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Congratulations to Katie, our winner.  Thank you to all those that entered and keep coming back for more giveaways!

The lovely people at Leapfrog have offered a fantastic Read With Me Scout toy for one of you lucky readers.  Simply leave a comment and let me know if you would like to take Scout home!  You can see my review here.

GIVEAWAY!!!!!

 

LeapFrog_READ WITH ME SCOUT REVIEW

LeapFrog_READ WITH ME SCOUT REVIEW

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Mamasimx           About Me

Don’t forget to enjoy your day.

How To Stop Baby Crying And Fussing When Dressing Them

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It was always tears in our household whenever we changed or dressed our babies. My second and third especially did not like being dressed one little bit. They would fuss and cry and get quite upset, which is as distressing for you as it is for them.

Recently, when Babygirl was a few months old I mentioned to my husband that she seemed to dislike the clothing going over her head and then having the garment moving about her neck as I put her arms into the sleeves.

He suggested that I put her arms into the garment first, and then finish putting the top on by putting it over her head as normal.

Do you know what? This worked. She did not cry at all. In fact she has never cried when I have done it this way.

But often I found myself getting into a muddle with the clothing when using this method and it would take me extra time to get her dressed. So whenever possible I now put her clothes on feet first. I.e. over her feet and up her body. This works really well most of the time except when the garment has a neck opening without any buttons or not much give, then it can be akward to get her arms in. Cue crying. So in that case I simply use the arms in first method. Just making sure I take my time and don’t get into that muddle!

Have a go and let me know if it works for you.

Babygirl and Mamasim

Babygirl and Mamasim

Mamasimx About Me

Don’t forget to enjoy your day.

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Positive Discipline

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Sometimes I still catch myself  asking my children in a voice of varying degrees of exasperation..”How many times do I have to tell you?”

To not hit your brother, to not wet your pants, to not ride off out of site, to not talk with your mouth full, to not walk in the house with muddy boots.

Don’t hit.
Don’t slouch.
Don’t yell.
Don’t whine…

The list is endless.

Jane Nelsen in her book Positive Discipline describes a kind but firm method of parenting that stresses the positive rather than the negative action.

For example; muddy boots stay outside, stay where you can see me, use the potty when you need a wee, finish your food before you speak, speak to me in your nice voice please.

I found the book very interesting and it is this key technique of positive reinforcement that is my main take away. It’s an effective technique.

But it does take some practice.

What do you think?

Mamasimx About Me

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The Ogdon Device – Car Mechanic Invents Tool to Ease Obstructed Births

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The Ogdon DeviceWhat an amazing story.

One day a car mechanic watches a YouTube video on how to extract a lost cork from a wine bottle.

At 4 o’clock the next morning he suddenly wakes realising you could do the same thing to ease a difficult birth.

Viola, the rest is history.

As a woman who has had 3 natural births, 2 of those assisted with a ventouse, I have experienced first hand the discomfort and seen the physical trauma this procedure subjects to a new born baby’s head.

So what an extraordinary moment at 4am for Jorge Odon and for the world.  Inventing a simple, low cost powerful alternative to the dangers of the traditional ventouse or forceps births.  And a revelation for the third world.

Read about Jorge’s invention in the New York Times here, or on the Odon Device website here.

And the Ogdon Device has won the enthusiastic endorsement of the World Health Organisation.

Wonderful stuff.

Mamasimx  About Me

Don’t forget to enjoy your day.

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Mother’s Love

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Babydaughter is not well today.  She has an raging temperature and horrid cold.  She is feeling very grotty.

And only Mummy will do.  All day she has cried if I have put her down or moved away from her.

With her two older brothers to look after as well, it has got a little tricky at times.

But as I lay with her on the bed tonight, waiting for her to fall into a deep sleep, all hot and snotty and upset.  I felt her little hand resting on my arm, keeping me close.  And I felt so much love and happiness that I meant so much to this little person.

It’s one of the best things about being a parent.  It’s something to hold on to.

Mother Love

Mamasimx   About Me

Don’t forget to enjoy your day.

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I Killed Lightning McQueen – A Tale Of Heartbreak And Tears

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On my son’s third birthday I broke his heart.

I did not do it purposely.  But I did it nonetheless.

It started innocently and with lots of good intentions and well, actually, a lot of excitement on my part.  You see, my son absolutely, 100% adores Lightning McQueen. From the movie Cars.  You know him?  He’s the lead character that Owen Wilson voices.

My son has the pyjamas, the t-shirt, a hoodie, the toys, toys and more toys from the movies.  He is devoted. And anytime you ask him what DVD he wants to watch, he ALWAYS replies “…nighning Queeeeeen pease”.  (That’s just so adorable, just like him!)

So what better cake could a loving mother prepare for her son on his 3rd birthday than a replica of Lightning MQueen himself?  None.  Damn right!

The day before his birthday I trawled the internet looking for inspiration and came across the most amazingly perfect cake at How To Cook That.  Reading the method I noted that it specifically said do not attempt to make this cake the night before.  The decorations etc. are best started a week or so in advance……

Now I am a fully trained and qualified chef and pastry chef.  Bah!!!! I said, I will be able to whip that up in no time.  So planned to start after the kids had gone to bed.  Which is just what I did.  I started at 8pm.  I thought I would be Lightning McQueen Cakefinished about 1am.  At 1am I realised I probably wasn’t going to finish until 5am.  I finished at 4.32am.

Man, talk about a labour of love.  The last few hours are a haze of coffee induced blur.  How I managed to stay awake the whole next day is a true feat of endurance.  What with Babygirl, Birthdayboy and Eldestboy all vying for my attention as I slogged my way through.

Anyway, it was all going to be worth it to see the look on Birthdayboy’s face.  And it was.  His little face lit up like the proverbial christmas tree.  He was soooooooooooooooooooooo excited.  He could not believe this cake was for him.  Wow Mamma, you really pulled one out of the bag there I thought to myself.  Beaming with happiness.

We sang happy birthday, we blew out the candles and then, with gusto I plunged the knife into the car to start serving it up.

The tears and wails were as if I had taken the knife and plunged it into little birthdayboy’s teddy bear.  “Nooooooooooooo! Mamma broke my car!!!!!!  MAMMA BROKE MY CAR!!!!!!!!!!!!  Sob, wail, tears, tears and more tears.  It took hours to calm him down.

And he wouldn’t eat it.  Not a single piece.

I can absolutely recommend How To Cook That.  The tutorials are brilliant.

Mamasimx  About Me

Don’t forget to enjoy your day.

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Is From Birth Too Young To Toilet Train?

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Toilet Training From Birth

In an awful lot of the world babies start toilet train practically from birth.  In fact, it’s only in the developed, western world that babies wear nappies at all, let alone until they are 2 or 3 years of age.  That is only for us western Mums with our convenient disposable nappies.

It seems horrifying to me the concept of my babies not wearing nappies at all.  How do mother’s in the non-developed world cope without them?  Well, one of the strategies is to toilet train their babies at a young age.

We are in the middle of toilet training my 3 year old at the moment.  This is late I know, I think from 18 months to 2 is a good time, but my baby daughter was born around that time so toilet training was put on the back burner.

So it was very interesting to me to receive this infographic on toilet training from Early Childhood Education Degrees that suggests not using nappies/diapers at all.  (exclamation of horror from me!)  What are your thoughts?

Potty Training
Source: Early-Childhood-Education-Degrees.com

Let me know your toilet training experiences.  What age do you think is suitable?  Would you forgo nappies altogether as this infographic suggests?

Mamasimx  About Me

Don’t forget to enjoy your day.

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