Prosecco, Nerves & Canapés - My first Bloggers event.

Well I thought it was about time I escape the comfort of my tiny little corner of the web and got out there to mingle with some of my fellow local bloggers.

I am fortunate to have a real life friend in Rachel who also happens to be a blogger ( a very fabulous one at that) over at The Illistrated Teacup and has introduced me to the more sociable side of the whole blogging world and the people behind the web pages.

Southampton Bloggers organise fantastic events year round and I was lucky enough to receive an invitation to the HomeSense event in June. This was perfect for me. It involved perusing a store full of wonderful goodies, gave me a couple of much needed and enjoyed hours to myself and was not too far from home.

So off I travelled down to HomeSense Hedge End store and was welcomed by the lovely Fran & Emma from Publicasity with Prosecco, canapés and a cute little #SouthamptonLoves tag to capture photos of all the items in store that I loved.

There was absolutely no reason to be nervous as everyone at the event were really friendly and welcoming. I was glad to see Alice from Annie Writes Beauty, Alice & Jess work hard to secure some fantastic opportunities and meet ups for the Southampton Blogging network.

It was so much fun looking around the store and rummaging through all the unique products. This is what I love about HomeSense, it's not rows and rows of the same thing it really is like a treasure trove of delights which get your interior design juices flowing.

You're simply spoilt for choice with beautiful dishes, centrepieces and decor of all kinds. There really is something here for everyone. 

I saw some colourful and quirky foot stalls, ornaments inspired from around the globe and they even have a kitchenware, garden section and crafts aisle. If you're looking for some tasty treats to fill your home or a delicious gift for family & friends you're also spoilt for choice with the gourmet food emporium and an appetising selection of wines.

Featured throughout the store were items from one of my personal favourite designers Orla Kiely including a beautiful home journal and bedding sets. I would never dream of being able to afford Orla's designs usually but with the help of HomeSense some of her range becomes much more accessible. 

Despite all the temptations I kept my sensible mummy head on and aimed to find something practical for the home. I decided to treat us to a new duvet set and the home furnishings didn't disappoint.

You can find some top brands here including another one of my absolute favourites Scion, famous for their Mr Fox.

In the end I actually opted for a Helena Springfield bedding set from her Rise and Shine Range. With its over sized floral motifs and retro style design it's very much in line with my favourite styles and had some gorgeous pastel shades. On the reverse it also features a mini floral print in a beautiful duck egg blue.

I had a really enjoyable evening with the blogging girls and the event felt really relaxed and informal. Not stuffy or bewildering at all (especially for those sometimes nervy types like me) So if you're looking to get more involved in the blogging community please don't hesitate. You can check out their Twitter Page here.

I'd throughly recommend a trip to HomeSense if you're looking for something unique, a talking point piece (there are some wonderful wall mounted wooden African Giraffes, Gold and Jewel encrusted Buddas, Giant bell jars- delightful filled with fairy lights- the list is endless) or just if you want to deck out the house with some designer goodies at great prices. It's definitely worth a visit.

All views are  of my own opinion and is a true and honest reflection having visited HomeSense Hedge End store in person. Chosen product was kindly gifted as part of the Blogger's event attended.

Top tips for travelling with tots.

So we've just adventured to Cornwall for a family holiday and there is far too much to review and write up about. So instead of a narrative of our holiday I thought I'd summarise with some pictures and top tips for holidaying with a toddler in tow.

Here's some of our top tips for travelling and holidaying with tots!

Pack for any weather.

Our holiday was a total mixed bag of weather (thank you UK) we checked the forecast before leaving and suspected as much but when we left home the sun was shining and it was lovely and mild. The optimist in me threw all the sandals, shorts, sun hats and beach gear in the suitcase dreaming of sand castles and laying on a inflatable lilo in the sea. We did get some lovely weather but it also turned and we had some wash out days.I was so grateful I'd also packed the rain macs, closed toe shoes and a few jumpers for cooler evenings.

Buy your suncream before you go.

Some of the sunny days totally snuck up on us and it's never great to be caught without sun lotion. Keep the children safe from the sun and be sure you have sun cream to hand whatever the weather. Some of the smaller shops sometimes quickly go out of stock if a bit of a heat wave appears and no one wants to spend their precious holiday time driving around looking for lotion. If you are caught without sun cream and the sun is basking down on the kids don't forget other families often have lotion with them and are quite happy to lend a little to keep the kids safe from those harsh rays, this can help tie you over until you can buy some of your own. (Of course be cautious of those little ones with sensitive skin if borrowing a product, a sun hat and a thin blanket or long sleeved tee can help protect from burning if you're really stuck) 

Bring some toys.

We stayed in a beautiful old cottage but there wasn't much there in the way of entertaining the children indoors. Pack a soft play mat some puzzles, books, shape sorter etc to keep the kids happy. They also come in handy for long spells in the car, flicking through a book or having a puzzle toy to play with is far more entertaining then looking at the back of a car seat for hours on end.

Stock up on snacks.

You never know when the kids might get peckish. Avoid those meltdowns and make sure you have lots of nibbles. Yogurt drops, fruit, crisps, snack bars etc are all great to curb those hunger pangs whilst out and about.

Wipe clean bibs.

Avoid having to pack a heap load of cloth bibs and take plastic wipeable ones. We only packed 2 of these and they lasted us all week. It saves on washing and packing space. Once the kids have chucked their food all down their front you can wipe them clean, wash them up in soapy bubbles and dry them for the next meal time. (We did still have a few cloth bibs with us but found the wipeable ones much more manageable)

Bottled water.

Carry round a bottle of water in your changing bag. So handy for topping up sippy cups when you're off the beaten track.

Bring a toy tie

If your tot has a favourite cuddly toy be sure to keep them tied to the pushchair/ car seat/ bags. We have a toy tie so if Lottie flings Nutbrown hare out the buggy she doesn't fall to the floor to be lost forever. Lottie sleeps with her Nutbrown Hare and they pretty much go everywhere together so losing her is not really an option. ( we even have a spare)

Have a wind down/ rest day.

Holidays can be quite daunting for little people. They're somewhere they haven't been before, the familiarity of home and comforts are suddenly gone. Make sure you take some time out to rest and have some quiet time so the children don't get overwhelmed. We had a morning of swimming at the cottage and then the children spent an afternoon with grandparents one day. This gave us a lovely chance to spend some couple time together too and everyone could recharge their batteries. 

Pack a picnic.

We must have saved so much money taking packed lunches out for the day. Nanny made us some lovely cheese wraps, veg sticks, yogurts, crisps, and lemon cake which meant we could lunch when and where we liked. We did treat ourselves to a couple of meals out to Rick Steins fish restaurants early evening but for lunchtimes we found taking a picnic worked really well.

Hope some of these tips are helpful when travelling, holidays with tots are always a big fun adventure!

Lottie turns 1- An Afternoon Tea Party

I can't believe I'm actually writing this,it appears our baby girl has officially turned 1, where has the time gone.

It really does feel like yesterday that she arrived in our arms and we were back to that newborn phase enjoying sleepless nights, baby screams/cries, the joys of cracked nipples and some pretty impressive explosive poo nappies. But I'll give our little girl her due she's been an absolute delight. Yes there have been hard days/nights/weeks well months in fact but overall Lottie is such a contented, happy and intelligent little thing and we couldn't be prouder. This little lady really has made our little family whole and it's hard to imagine life without her now.

Lottie has also made some pretty wonderful baby friends who we feel blessed to have and to have shared all our firsts with. It's been a fun year!

We decided to mark the special occasion with a little afternoon tea party joined my loved ones and a delicious spread of sandwiches, scones and sweet treats not forgetting to mention a big red velvet birthday cake topped with vanilla icing and sugar star sprinkles (thanks Betty Crocker for your help) 

We ordered Lottie a fun little Tutu from the very talented Tinky Winks Boutique, it was dusty pink and gold and I picked out a design for a frilled vest top for her to wear to the party. This was printed locally at Spoilt Rotten Workshop (Fareham) , a really quaint little shop tucked away a few doors along from the Aldi store on West Street. I choose a gorgeous custom font called Magnolia Sky and a gold vinyl which matched the tutu really nicely.

We didn't go mad on presents or catering and made everything between us and the family in house. For gifts we picked out a huge beige bashful bunny from the Jellycat range. It's around 50cm in height and about the same size as Lottie herself. Lottie has been attached to her Little Nutbrown Hare since birth (they go everywhere together) so we thought it was quite apt to mark her 1st birthday with a bunny her own size. The bashful bunny actually also comes in a giant size (70 cm in height) too but this will set you back a whopping £80. 

Nanny kindly offered to host the party at their house tucked away in the New Forest and made some delicious sandwiches, shortbread and strawberries and cream. We brought along a 85 piece dessert platter from Iceland for a bargain £5, some cheese savouries and the birthday cake, it made for quite a spread.

Nanny and Grandad put up some pretty pink balloons and I made some homemade bunting with some simple pastel card stock. 

We finished off the afternoon by stopping in to Ashurst Birth Centre where Lottie was born to say hello to the team. They were very welcoming and pleased to see her. The Ashurst Birth Centre is an amazing facility and we are so fortunate to have a great team of midwives there on top of the labour ward and Broadlands Services at Princess Anne. NFBC holds a special place in our hearts after Oscar and I were cared for there following my accident so close to full term. We are always happy to return and see the team of smiling faces. After a family stroll along Calshot and a second helping of food and cake we were all tuckered out from the days celebrations. 

Looking back I was naturally a little anxious about having siblings so close in age and how it might change the family dynamics (I absolutely cherish my son and we have an amazingly close bond) but there was no need to be, Oscar adores his baby sister and words really don't come near to expressing how wonderful having her in our lives is.

How will you be celebrating your baby's milestone 1st birthday? A cake smash? A day out? A meal with family/friends or a children's party at a local hall? Would love to hear your ideas.

Happy birthday little Lottie Florence we all hope you had a beautiful day x

Fort Nelson.

I wasn't planning this blog post but just had to do a write up of our recent visit to Fort Nelson.

Hubby took a day off to spend with us and typically the great British weather turned grey. It was also bitterly cold and our plans of a trip to the Zoo or somewhere out in the fresh air took a back seat again. Stuck for ideas other than soft play we thought we'd Google some local museums. 

A couple of results popped up but we were reluctant to spend a small fortune to get out for some quality family time and that's when Fort Nelson came to mind. We've driven past on a couple of occasions and always commented on having a visit but I'll be honest it's never been top of our list.

The morning had been taken up with a quick stop off at the dentist so we didn't have a full day and the thought of somewhere nearby and fully or even partially undercover to protect from the bite in the air certainly sounded appealing.

So off we headed to Portsdown Hill. 

Entry to Fort Nelson is free of charge but we purchased a souvenir brochure, all proceeds go towards supporting the Fort and it's really informative with a guide map inside.

For anyone who is not really sure about what Fort Nelson is all about it was built in the 1960's as part of a defensive chain around Portsmouth and it's vital Dockyard. It's is one of the best surviving examples of a Victorian fortress and has been restored to its original 19th century state, together with parts of its Second World War heritage. (Source: Royal Armouries Leaflet Literature)

Our first stop was to the Galleries, in particular Art of the Artillary showing unusual and decorative canons including dragons and tigers. The reason we started here was because they have a treasure box for the children. There is a wonderful soft play mat and all the items inside the treasure box are dragon or tiger themed in relation to the surroundings.

Lottie had fun playing peek a boo with Tiger scarf, we read stories, and dressed up as tigers using the props. The kids loved the sensory element. After 25 minutes or so we packed up the treasure box and head back to the cafe for our picnic. You're not allowed to eat in the galleries so we grabbed a couple of highchairs and ate in the warmth. I can throughly recommend the hot chocolate and the caramel slice, they also serve babyccino .

After lunch there was a display of live gun fire at the Parade. Sound defenders were provided in case the noise was too loud. Seeing the canons fire was amazing and quite an experience to watch. It was nice to see the canons in action rather than just looking at them and made the visit feel far more interactive and engaging.

Following the display we continued around the galleries to learn all about the fort, how it was built, it's history and design and the story of the development of Artillery. 

We then got a real insight into what Victorian garrison life was like at the barracks room and kitchen.

This is where we discovered a 2nd treasure box for the children which was full of foodstuff play items, stories and another soft play mat to play on. Cards inside the treasure box had pictures of items found around the kitchen and helped explain what they were and how they were used in times gone by. We had  a mini indoor picnic with all the play items  which was a lot of fun.

There are suggested activities of how to make the most out of the treasure boxes if you're stuck for ideas and they're designed to provide hands on fun for inquisitive pre-schoolers (age 0-4)

The treasure boxes are available term time on week days.

Finally we had a stroll into the secret tunnels and underground chambers (perfect for a rainy day) Here you can discover how the volunteer soldiers reached the underground defenses and protected the fort from enemy fire. It is where the gunpowders and projectiles were stored. The structure is breath taking and if your little ones enjoy exploring be sure to take your torch along for the dark corridors.

We finished of our trip with a slice of cake back at the cafe and a browse around the gift shop, here I discovered that Fort Nelson offer guided tours and special events throughout the year including a junior summer assault course (with balance beams, crawl nets and tire walks) a Victorian Spy Special and adventure trail for families and for the adults as part of the nationwide Museums at Night festival you can visit for a rare opportunity to explore the Fort and experience the noise and power of the guns after dark. (Chargable event)

We actually found our visit incredibly informative, there is a lovely mix of activities and sights both inside and outside of the Fort and we throughly enjoyed our family visit. 

Easy decorative nursery mobile

So this project has taken me far longer than I had hoped to get started.

But I'm determined to make my own nursery mobile for decor and for little Lottie's enjoyment. 

I've been browsing ideas for months and bookmarking them but have never really got round to grabbing all the materials and deciding upon a design.

Sometimes I see these beautiful ideas online and get put off at my capabilities to put something together. No one likes bringing all their goodies home from the craft store only to find their idea doesn't work or looks a bit naff in reality. 

For this reason I decided to keep this one simple (and I mean super simple). This mobile could be put together with some spare ribbons (if you have any) or from ribbons obtained from an arts/crafts exchange if you want to keep costs to a minimum. You really just need an embroidery hoop and off you go. No sewing, gluing or complicated piecing together.

All you need to do is measure your ribbons out evenly and then loosely tie them onto the embroidery hoop. 

I wanted to make Lottie's mobile in keeping with her nursery theme which is pink and gold so chose these colours for my ribbons. 

To finish off the mobile you will need to  tie 2 pieces of cord/twine to hang it and suspend from a ceiling hook.

What I like about the mobile is that it could quite easily remain as part of the room decor as Lottie gets a little older, it adds a splash of colour to what is effectively our box room and is a simple but effective way of doing so.

How did you decorate your little one's nursery? Did you make any features yourself and did it take you as long as me to get round to it? X

The Siblings Project

Today we're joining up with a new linky that is 'the siblings project' from dearbeautifuboy.com. You can read here what the sibling project is all about but in a nutshell it hopes to capture how growing up with a sibling can shape your childhood by creating those unique shared lifelong memories together.

What I love about this linky is that it encourages us to cherish these moments. 

As Lottie has gotten older we can really see the beautiful bond our two have together particularly being close in age. I'll be honest we we're originally a little apprehensive about a small age gap but there has been no need to be, they have rapidly become as thick as thieves! 

We find it wonderful watching them enjoy things together and sharing things they do. Even at such a young age Oscar and Lottie enjoy meal times together, shared bubble baths, natter to one another and play. Only this evening were they chasing after each other on all fours giggling ( I fear this phase won't last long as our baby girl is keen to be upright) 

Oscar likes to cuddle his little sister, have story times together and they attend baby signing class once a week for a joint activity which they both adore.

Part of the sibling project is to post an image to treasure such moments and I'll be honest it's hard to whittle them down to a single picture. So here are a trio of images I narrowed it down to. These aren't staged photographs, they are simply everyday life, they choose to cuddle, they choose to hold hands, they choose to smile. It's beautiful to see that two babies you have an overwhelming love for can too genuinely have love for one another at such a tender age. It safe to say we love them both to the moon and back.

Lalalab.

Hello and a very happy new year to all my lovely readers. I thought we'd start off the new year with a blog milestone here at bebebearcubs with our very first collaboration. This is with the photo based app Lalalab (previously known as Polagram)

Lalalab kindly gave us the chance to review one of the fabulous products in their range, the 21'' x 21'' photo book.

What greater way to cherish your snapshots from the year gone by than a book brimming with all your fun filled memories.

There are so many choices out there for photo books and photo gifts nowadays and the online market is briming with them.

So here's why Lalalab was our choice.

-Quality

I have ordered prints from Lalalab before and have been immensely impressed with the quality. You can see some examples of the prints we recieved and what we did with them here. From a mobile app I'll be honest I was naturally a bit apprehensive but there was no need to be. Their prints are great quality and on a fabulous Fujifilm Archive Supreme gloss paper. They are far superior to any prints I have collected from high street retailers, we were pleasantly surprised.

-Convenience

All your photos are at your fingertips. Being an app on your mobile phone Lalalab can gain access to your photostream (with your permission) and off you go! Just select the images you want printed, the product you wish to purchase and click to order. No faffing around on the PC, no rummaging around for memory cards, everything you need to create a wonderful keepsake of your images is there in your hand. I have a Fuji  mirrorless camera for my photography too so I simply use wifi connectivity to ping these over to my mobile if I wish to include some higher quality jpgs (you're not just restricted to mobile images)

-Fresh, modern and fun.

Lalalab are slightly different to your usual photo products because they offer the retro style Polaroid look to their product range which is very on trend right now. Getting your photos printed in polastyle gives them a fun appeal and there are heaps of creative ideas of what to do with your Polaroids on Pinterest. The app also ties in nicely with Instagram and the square style photo streams which are really clean and fresh. As a blogger I adore the photography style look and layouts online and these are reflected nicely in the photo books. Your photo book cover can effectively look very much alike a hard copy of your Instagram feed at a glance and inside are the larger images (still available in the cute square shape) to enjoy , it's a great way to treasure these as a hard copy.

So Lalalab were happy for us to give their photo book a test run. We had our first family holiday as a four to Portugal recently so used our photo book to capture all our adventures.

The photo books start at the  base price of £19.90 and you can choose from 26 images to fill it. You can add further images if you wish to (an additional 14, these cost 79p each) giving your photo book a total of 40 pictures.

The front cover is a collage of some of your images which can be shuffled to suit .

The app gives an option to add a title to each page but we choose to keep it plain, there is also an 'effects' function to edit and adjust your images if you so wish to. Many of our images already had a vintage film applied as that's the look we wanted so we also didn't use this functionality. It's nice to have it as an option though especially if you are feeling creative.

In summary our Lalalab photo book is unique, modern and fun. The pages are more of a matte than a gloss like the Polaroid prints and the focus is most certainly on images rather than reams of text (if you want your photo book to have a written story or documented descriptions then this probably isn't for you on this occasion) but you can add titles to each page if you wish to. The photo books have a good quality hardback cover and nice chic white background. I think they'd work really well at capturing an event like birthdays, an engagement, summer adventures or even just a really novel way to store your Instagram or mobile phone snaps as a hard copy to enjoy flicking through. 

There are definitely more comprehensive photo book sites out there with more choice of image layouts, greater customisation and different album sizes but the Lalalab app isn't pretending to be another one of these. It's grasped back the simplicity of uploading your digital files straight from your mobile phone and creating a simple but fun and fresh photo book to cherish these. 

The photo book pictured was given to us for review purposes. All feedback is our own opinion and is a true and honest reflection having used the app and received said product. In return we are happy for Lalalab to use our comments or photographs for press release or social media purposes.