Christmas 2015

Good Evening, Everyone :)

It is Boxing Day and Christmas is well...OVER :D As much as I was excited about Christmas this year I am kind of glad it's all done. We had a really wonderful time with some nice presents and amazing food...cooked by yours truly...and now it's time to go back to reality and out of the Christmas lights. It's really only just the start of winter though and we've got some awesome plans during Januray and February so a lot to look forward to :)

 If you don't know it already then some countries celebrate Christmas on the 24th, which is what we do in Estonia. So on the 24th we had a little tiny family Christmas. I started cooking at 1pm and then after dinner at 6pm we were meant to open presents, but Oscar went to sleep incredibly early :D SO we did what English people do and opened our presents on the morning of 25th. After which we went to Dans parents house for some more festive eating :D We did open one present each before the meal though :) And Oscar got this Gruffalo trunki suitcase, which will come useful in January...hint, hint :D he loves dragging it around the house :)

Thats the picture Oscar took :D

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and as always 

Stay tuned :)

xoxo

Meril

Brand Review KIKO MILANO

Hello, Everyone :)

As promised I will be starting my brand review segment today and the first review will be of a completely new brand for me .... Kiko Make Up Milano. I have heard of this brand before, but I must admit, there was not much I knew about it. The reason is that I had never come across this brand in drugstores or department stores. So when I saw a Kiko Milano shop in Guildford I immideately went in and came out with a few products that I thought I would like. I tried to cover a few areas....face, nails, eyes and lips and I also got some face wipes. But go ahead and keep reading to get the full reviews on the products :)

AND BEFORE I FORGET...they have a massive in-store and on-line sale on at the moment :) So head over to one of their many shops or shop on their WEBSITE

Firstly let me start with the 4 eyeshadows. I got 3 of the basic Infiity shadows. Colours shown on the picture and then a more shiny/sparkly high pigmentation shadow in shade 139 pearly salmon.

The 3 basic shadows are all colours that go well with my green eye colour and I figured the shiny shadow will be just good in the inner corner of the eye and under the eyebrow, but it is SO BEAUTIFUL and not sparkly at all but rather sheen shiny, so I have actually been using it as a highlighter and I think £2.90 for an amazing highlighter that gives you the pretties glow is something you can't miss out on :) The other shadows are nice as well, but I can not stop raving about the pearly salmon.

I got another eye product, which was the Long Lasting Stick Eyeshadow in 04 Golden Chocolate and I am again IN LOVE. The colour is so pretty I have been wearing it DAILY. I apply it all over my lid and shade out the edges and it lasts for hours...I wouldn't say 8 hours but definitely hours :D And it's on sale at the moment :)

Then I got 2 nail varnishes. I know I mentioned a few months back that I won't buy another nail varnish for years, but I couldn't stop myself :D I got a 303 Beige chrome colour for Christmas season and then 530 Pearly Blue Peacock for the New Years Eve festivities. And I don't regret buying them :D They last really long and the shine makes me happy :D

Moving on to lip products. Something I have too much of already, but again I couldn't help myself. I picked up a nice pink colour 701 SMART lip pencil, but I find it a bit too tough to apply. Maybe I need to keep it in a warm room first :D SO not a big fan of this, but I did also find the PENCIL lip gloss sticks. I picked up a pale pink in 07 Baby Pink and my favourite so far the 04 Chocolate Glitter. IT IS a brown colour with some glittery bits in, but it looks so AWESOME on the lips. Just something I haven't seen before...the colour I mean. And it's perfect for Christmas and New Years. A different take on a dark lip :)

And then I also got a DARK CIRCLE concealer in 02 Peach. I don't know why?!? because I don't really get dark circles :D but I did. Not a big fan, it doesn't dry fast enough for me and the colour is all wrong (my fault for picking wrong) and I can't even use it as a concealer by it self ... Anyway I am not a big fan of the product. 

AND then I also got some PURIFYING pure clean make up removing wipes. Which are basically just make up removing wipes :D they were half price at £2.50 and I don't think I would be buying them full price as I don't think there is anything different about them from shall we say Nivea wipes. But they smell nice and they do remove make up so it was £2.50 well spent :)

All in all I am very impressed with the brand AND will definitely be browsing their sale again very soon :)

Hope you enjoyed the first BRAND REVIEW post 

Stay tuned

xoxo

Meril

Weekend Away

Hello, Everyone :)
Like I mentioned in the packing post it wasn't really a weekend, but rather a beginning of the week break. And for D it wasn't really a break at all. He had work in and around London on Monday and Tuesday so me and Oscar decided to go with him to the South East and have a look around there while D works away :) We decided to get a hotel near Windsor as I have already been there in the Summer so it wouldn't have been completely new to me. But we did stay in the countryside rather than in the town. And it was lovely :)
We drove down on Sunday afternoon and came back Tuesday evening... but here is what me and Oscar got up to in the meantime :)

The first night we didn't really do much. We went to a nearby pub for some Sunday dinner and then had a coffee in the hotel lounge.
The second day D had to go to London, so we all drove to Windsor in the morning, where D got a train and me and Oscar had a lovely day shopping and having lunch. I love how small towns have small awesome shopping streets, with lots of little shops, where you can spend hours just browsing and not even buying anything :D I did buy Oscar some new shoes though, as he is slowly but surely growing out of his Nike Jordans. He is 16 months old now and wearing size 5 shoes :D I think it's crazy :D
Around 2 PM it was time for Oscars nap, so instead of getting a taxi back to the hotel I figured a nice hour and a half walk down the ''Long walk'' would be the right thing to do. It's a pretty much straight road from the Windsor Castle all the way to the little town we were staying in :)

All I'm going to say that once Oscar actually fell asleep an hour after getting on this walk I was so tired I couldn't wait to get back to the hotel :D

He already had doubts about this walk before we started :D I should've listened to his face :D I didn't
On Tuesday we drove to Guildford, where D went to a meeting and I had to explore a completely new town all by myself with Oscar...IN THE RAIN :D
The day wasn't all that great. We ended up spending most of it in the shopping centre, where Oscar was playing in the play area. He had fun, but at the end of it all I was so freaking tired all I wanted to do was get home and sleep in my own bed.

All in all though it was really nice to get away for a few days and get away from the routine and now it's full on preparation time for Christmas :)

So as always 

Stay tuned

xoxo

Meril

Packing For A Weekend Away

Hello, Everyone :)
Over the months me and D have become more and more confident in taking little trips away from home so I thought I'd share the tips and tricks I have learnt along the way on getting packed for a weekend away with a toddler.

I use to be so scared to leave the house other than for a few hours and not very far away :D I would think that anything that I hadn't prepared for would happen and I would be stranded in a restaurant with a naked baby, because he has had an explosive poo. Or that we would leave and I'd forget to pack his milk and he would starve and resent me for the rest of my life :D
Honestly the things I use to worry about I look back to now and think WHY?
Sans baby I use to be the most layed back traveller. I would set off with my passport and wallet and not worry weather I took that extra pair of jeans or snack. As long as I was able to get to where I was headed, everything else that I might have forgotten could be gotten there. And I have become more and more aware now as well, that it is pretty much the same when you travel with a toddler/baby. As long as you make sure you have the necessities, you are pretty much good to go. But obviously it's always good to be prepared for everything :) So here are my tips on getting packed for a few days away.

We actually are going somewhere, so I'm not here packing bags for no good reason :D D has got some work to do in and around London, so I figured I'll go as well and have a look around Windsor and surrounding areas :) I'll obviously do an update on those days for all of you and show what I got up to :)

First things first. The diaper bag...or any bag you use to keep diapers and wipes in. I had a period where I only used my handbag and had everything I needed for Oscar thrown in there with all my stuff...it worked until it didn't. SO now I like to keep my diaper bag packed at all times.

Things I have there at all times
 - diapers (pull up ones as Oscar does not stay still for the changes :D pull up diapers are so much easier for when you are on the go)
 - Pack of wipes - I use them for everything. Messy meal times, diaper changes, hand wipes...you name it.
 - Muslin cloth. Just to wipe things again or dry things.
 - Diaper bags. For diapers, rubbish, dirty clothing
 - A roll of clothes (video of me trying to do it before Oscar steals the clothes :D)

 - Pacifier/dummy - for those tantrum moments or nap times
 - Oscars Red Book. They tell you to bring it with you at all times....so I do
Things I pack before leaving
 - A toy of some sort. I like to change these around so this is why the toy is not always packed
 - Cup with juice or water
 - Depending on weather his milk feed will be at the time of when we are out and about I pack the things for that. But these days he rarely has milk outside
 - A bottle of water....for me :D and also in case he drinks his water and the cup needs refilling
 -  A zip lock bag with some snacks. At the moment there would be some string cheese, cucumber sticks and some Organix cheese and herb crisps. These are the things he can have while he is sitting in his pushchair or waiting for food in a restaurant/cafe. Just stuff he enjoys having at the moment. I don't worry too much about the snacks being healthy all the time, as it's not like we do this every day.
Whatever keeps him happy, I tell you guys :D
 - wallet (mine obviously)

And that is it. My diaper bag is the same one I got from Amazon when Oscar was teeny tiny and it does it's job. I love that I can use it as a cross body bag or attach it to the pushchair handle.

Things I pack in the suitcase
A little back story. We are going on Sunday and coming back on Tuesday. So I am packing for 3 days and 2 nights. We are staying in a hotel near Windsor and we are taking the car. Which is why I probably am taking more things than necessary :D If we would be going by train, which we do a lot as well, I would be more strategic. But I'll tell you about the extras as I go along.

 - 3 pyjamas. I know I said 2 nights but it's always a good idea to get an extra. Accidents happen  :)
 - 2 joggers and 1 pair of jeans/trousers
 - 2 sweaters
 - 2 bodysuits (1 short sleeve, 1 long sleeve)
 - 2 pairs of socks
 - 4 shirts (short sleeve ones and long sleeve ones)
 - A pack of diapers(pull up ones). This is what I would not normally do. What I did was I put 10 diapers in the suitcase and the rest of the pack in the car boot. I also have around 5 in the diaper bag at all times, so I do replenish them after use. The thing with diapers is that they sell them EVERYWHERE :D but the things with diapers is that if you run out accidentally then the trip to the shop could seem like a very long one :D and AGAIN ... accidents happen...hotel carpet and baby poo don't mix well :D 5 night time baby dry diapers. 2 nights, but sometimes, we need to change him during the night. 4 swim diapers as there is a pool in the hotel. And I might be going to a near by water park
 - A bib. It's not really something we use at all really for feeding times. But I use it as a scarf.
 - Little pack of medicines. Some calpol, teetha granules, medicine pacifier (we swear by this one. It is just so easy to give medicine to a baby/toddler with this, and there is no risk of overdose as it only fits about 4ml, which about 1 ml less than usual dose allowance :))plasters, diaper cream, body cream, toothbrush and something I always take now is 3 of the non slip bath mats ( just in case there isn't one in the hotel...I hate requesting it :DThat is my issue obviously)

 - 3 milk bottles and a bag of formula. Formula scoop and a container for a 1 feed formula (just in case) A bottle brush and some bottle wash. I hate washing the bottles in the hotel sink, but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do eh?
 - extra pack of crisps ( I also have another zip lock bag with snacks in the car for the road, although we usually plan our longer drives while it's Oscars nap time)
I am also taking his fleece blanket and his pillow that he sleeps with and 2 extra pacifiers.
He also sleeps with his panda bear that we got in one of our Ikea trips and he absolutely loves it. The thing is that as I do like to be prepared for anything, the last time we went to Ikea we got another one and we keep that one in the car. So the panda is packed at all times. And in case one goes missing, we have a spare :)

And that is what I'm bringing for Oscar for our few days away :) As you can see everything fits in a little weekend bag and his diaper bag very well. And if there will be a time where I think I need something else I can always acquire it there and then :)

What are your non negotiable things you always pack for you child while travelling? 

Let me know in the comments below if you have any other tricks/tips you've learnt :)

And as always

Stay tuned

xoxo

Meril

Baking Gingerbread Cookies

Hello, Everyone :)
I remember when I was little, our Christmas tradition was to make gingerbread cookies with my sister and my mother. It was so much fun to roll out the dough and cut the biscuits out, eat the leftover dough :D and then once the house was filled with the sweet smells of cinnamon and ginger and the biscuits had cooled down enough it was time for decorating them with icing in every single Christmassy colour. And I couldn't wait until I can do it with Oscar :) I will admit, that he is still A TINY BIT too young to understand what is actually happening, but we had so much fun anyway :) He had fun sprinkling the flour and then eating it :S :D

I got the dough from my mom. They sell these small packages of ready made gingerbread dough in every single shop so I had her bring some to me when she came down :) It lasts for a really long time in the fridge and of course you can always just bake the cookies and store them in an airtight container for weeks :)

It was a pretty messy affair and obviously made even messier by the ''helping'' 15 month old :D

I went for the tarditional Christmas colours for the icing -  white,green and red.
I made the icing with butter and icing sugar. I mixed 2 cups of icing sugar with 3 tablespoons of orange juice and a few drops of vanilla and then divided the mix in three small bowls. I kept one simple and white and added green and red food colouring to the other ones. The red looks a lot like pink because it turned out pink :D :) The piping bags I used are actually just ziplock bags with a little hole cut in the corner. I don't like reusable piping bags only because I hate washing them :D You can really use any plactic bag you have, as long as it's clean and doesn't have any holes in it :D

And this is the end product.
Its was so much fun preparing them and decorationg them while the candles burned softly and SmoothXmas was playing in the radio :D

A great evening treat with a mug of mulled wine...what more can you ask :) Your child to maybe go to sleep at a reasonable time...maybe just that :D

Hope you enjoyed the post 

Stay tuned

xoxo

Meril

Oscars 15 Month Update

Good Morning, Everyone :)

I have literally lost the plot. I wanted to come over to the blogger website to finish my ''10 New Traditions to start this Christmas'' post and typed in homebase.com instead :S :D I honestly spend most of my days there....awkward, but that is what happened :) And then now I realised that I am missing a few pictures for the post, so I'm just going to postpone it for a while...like I do with most of the things in my life :D

But today I will be sharing a little personal post about Oscars update :) Because I love him so much and so much has changed since the last one...(I think it was his 9 month update) so it will be really good to do an update...update...I keep saying that word in my head :D Anyway it will be a 15 Month UPDATE...as you might have already figured out from the title of this post :) So here it is...enjoy :)

 

I shall do sections, just because otherwise I will, I WILL, forget something and then I'll get angry at myself :)

EAT

Oscar is now 15 and a half months old and he is having 2-3 milk feeds a day. We still use formula...because he refuses cows milk :D we keep trying, I keep putting it in his cup during his meals and I've even tried half formula half milk, but he gets it....he is just too clever. I don't think there is anything wrong with giving formula either, it's pretty much the same and honestly I think it's cheaper as well :D SOOOO...

He wakes up around 7-8am and then has his first milk feed. Then after that he has his breakfast around 10 ... 2 hours after milk feed. It use to be just weetabix with a mashed banana and COWS MILK, yes the only time he accepts it :D, but now I mix it up. Sometimes he has a bit of bread and cheese or anything I can think of. I would love for him to have porridge in the morning, because it sets him off for the day, but sometimes he is just not interested in it, so I don't really push him.

He only has one nap now and another milk feed just before it. Once he wakes up he has lunch. This is usually a toastie or anything with egg. If we go out for a meal it's usually for lunch, because he seems most interested in food at that time, so we get to eat our food as well. 

At dinnertime, he has whatever we are having. Sometimes I try sneaking something healthier for him when we are having a cheat day, but he just picks up on it and refuses to eat his food, so he still ends up having whatever we are.

He has snacks in between as well. It's either the organix crisps or cheesestrings or a few slices of sausage and now that it's clementine season he is having those as well. On a completely unhealthy note he is absolutely obsessed with Wotsits :D haha, he sees a pack and he will throw out anything he is holding in his hand or mouth and he will not give up until we have opened the pack for him. The wotsits packs are now being held on the top of out kitchen cupboards, but I don't think it's completely unacceptable for him to have a few every now and then. It's all about the balance just like with grown ups. He also doesn't really like sweet things, other than his juice, so having a few unhealthy crisps really doesn't worry me :)

SLEEP

I don't even want to start :D He has one nap a day, which is usually 2 hours, and then goes to sleep around 7-8pm but most night he still wakes up. And for a really long time he was still having some milk during the night. I think...it's because he is getting loads of teeth. I mean he only has about 7 at the moment so there are still a lot to come. BUT it is EXHAUSTING....I am so lucky to have D to swappies with me, because honestly I don't know what I would do if I'd have to do everything myself every day AND then night....So any tips for teething relief would be awsome :) (we are currently using Teetha camomille granules, because he doesn't like the gels anymore)

PLAY

Our little art session with paints :)

He loves playing with anything or everything. I just find him so clever ( I'm sure all mothers think that about their child, but really he is CLEVER :D)He just figures everything out and then does it and it's amazing. He loves the flap books still, where you lift a flap and voilaa something is under it. And he remembers what is underneath before we even lift it up. He has also recently gotten into Lego. I got him a Lego Duplo number train set for his birthday, but until now he played with it for like a second and then moved on to something else, but recently...he has figured out how to put the parts together himself and is loving it. So I also got him a Lego Duplo farm set, which he loves. So sucess in the lego area :D next up puzzles I think. 

He is also going to at least 2 playgroups a week. I go with him to a toddler group on Fridays and then we have a nanny coming on Tuesdays or Thursdays who takes him to a different playgroup. He also likes soft play centres and he is fearless. He will climb up the slides and come head first from ladders :D I mean it's good exercise for me to keep him safe :D

MILESTONES

Because it's been soooo long since the last monthly update I thought I'll just mention that he started walking just before 11 month mark or just after...I can't even remember...what a great mother I am. but I remember thinking ''does this ever get old'' every time I saw him walk  :D honestly. 

He has been a bit slow on the talking side of things. He tries soooo hard :D but no words have come out until very recently. He still said ''emme'' (mommy in Estonian) ''dada'' and ''mommi'' (bear in Estonian) but other words were slow coming. He is now very good with words that start with a ''C'' like CUP and CAT and CAR and also DUCK and just short words. but he is getting better everyday and he tries to repeat whatever we say to him :)

SIZES

He is using pull up diapers and normal ones for night time. The pull up ones have been a size 5 for a while and we will be switching to nr 5 on the normal Pampers Dry night ones as well, as his belly is getting too big for the 4 :D 

He is in either 9-12 month old or 12-18 month old clothes now, depending on the make really. Tesco, which is where I get most of his clothes has smaller clothes for the sizes, so 12-18 month old clothes fit him perfectly. As H&M 12-18 is way too big for him. But he will grow into the clothes, so I'm not worried. And also it depends how many times I've washed something :D 

He is about 10.7 kg heavy, which is normal for his height, which was 78 ?? I think at his 1 year check up :) 

And I think I have pretty much covered everything :) If you have any questions, please, feel free to ask me anything. I am no expert in child care, but I can speak from my experience :)

Hope you enjoyed the post

And as always

Stay Tuned

xoxo

Meril