I took my 3 and 5yr olds climbing and the little one totally excelled herself!
Check out the original blog post here.
Pucker up for International Kissing Day!!
But what is on your lips? And even more importantly therefore what is in your tummy?
These days I find shopping for beauty products rather a lot like shopping for food. You really have to look at the ingredients list because there is an awful lot of false advertising and greenwash. A couple brands that I had thought were safe to use on myself and my daughters actually had lots of petroleum by products in them despite their ‘green or eco’ packaging.
No one wants to eat Petroleum products and I’m even more certain that you don’t want any vulnerable people like children or the elderly eating it either. One time saving way I’ve found of checking how kind and safe a product is, is by looking to see if its NATRUE certified. If it is I instantly know that there will be no mineral oils, synthetic fragrances, or parabens in the product. A good start.
NATRUE-standard products are certified at three levels, all highly respected benchmarks:
- NATURAL COSMETICS – genuinely natural ingredients (preferably organic) and production processes, with no GMOs, synthetic ingredients or artificial additives allowed.
- NATURAL COSMETICS WITH ORGANIC PORTION – at least 70% of the natural ingredients must come from certified organic production and/or controlled wild collection.
- ORGANIC COSMETICS – at least 95% of the natural ingredients must come from certified organic production and/or controlled wild collection.
So whilst I’ve been nosing into which lip balm is safest for my daughters and I to use (and i’m sure my husband borrows it occasionally to!) it seems as though those lovely people at my favourite skincare brand Weleda had been reading my mind! Whilst shopping for a few baby bits i picked up one of their new tinted lip balms. Happy me! They cost £6.95 and come in three nice subtle shades.
For those of you who are interested in seeing which other brands out there are also kind and safe here are a few others which are also NATRUE certified:
Dr. Hauschka Sheer Lipstick
A light and creamy composition delivers subtle colour with mineral pigments, beeswax, argan oil and
medicinal plant extracts such as rosehips and rose blossoms to keep lips soft and supple.
Available in six sheer colours
01 Majalis 02 Rosanna 303 Muskrose 04 Florentina 05 Zambra 06 Aprikola
RRP £17.25 2g
Trilogy Rosehip Oil Lip Balm
is an ultra-moisturising, petroleum-free, natural lip treatment. Quickly absorbed, it provides lasting moisture and protection for dry lips.
The careful blend of pure natural plant oils, including jojoba and certified
organic rosehip, cocoa butter and shea butter,makes it highly effective in combating the dry, papery texture of dehydrated lips.
Lips respond immediately, becoming soft and conditioned with the
added bonus of a subtle matte gloss. A touch of peppermint essential
oil also makes this lip treat delicious to use and exquisitely kissable.
Trilogy Rosehip Oil Lip Balm (7ml) RRP £11.50
Lavera Glossy Lips (6.5 ml)RRP £9.90Offers reflective gloss and shimmering care. The innovative flock applicator allows for precision application creating brilliantly glossy, soft and unmistakably expressive lips. The soft texture is created with organic butter made of rose, hollyhock and limetree blossoms
Available in eight shades in four colour ranges
There are over 400 Natrue certified lipcare products out there so there are plenty to choose from and no excuses to keep on swallowing those nasties!
Funny about food
At dinner I couldn’t bring myself to eat the sausages so I ate mainly broccoli with a bit of mash.
Around 8pm I started feeling a bit peckish so I’ve just wolfed down over half a decent sized melon. Without a plate or sitting down. I just stood at the counter / sliced and ate.
Now I’m off to bed wondering if I can fit in shopping for more fruit tomorrow.
My iron levels and my platelets are low at the moment so I’m supposed to be trying to eat more meat but it’s quite a battle. I sympathise with vegetarians. You must always be trying to eat more spinach! 😃
I can’t avoid it any longer….
I’m going to have to buy a mummy mobile. The one thread of my pre-child life that I’ve managed to hang onto up until now is my car. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea but I LOVE my mini. It makes me happy.
However, you just can’t get three kids and two adults in it. It’s not possible. Never mind all the ‘stuff’ that will be required for days out with a newborn, a three year old and a five year old.
So, does anyone have any recommendations for a five seater car for me?
I’ll just have to buy myself a nice little electric Mini once my mini’s fly the nest…..
A few things that nobody else mentions about pregnancy…..
So I’m assuming it’s just me.
Cravings, glowing skin, acne, lush hair, tiredness, sickness. All things that are well documented as par for the course during pregnancy. But I seem to have had a few extras that no one else talks about.
- An expanding nose
2. Extra hair
But not the lovely luscious stuff found on ones head. I’m talking about hair where you’d rather there wasn’t any. Each time I’ve been pregnant I’ve sprouted two or three thick, coarse, black hairs just bellow my belly button. And these hairs are sneaky. They don’t pop out until my belly has gotten to the point where I can no longer see what’s happening below my belly button. They are big and long enough for me to see in the mirror from the other side of the bedroom when getting dressed. They catch me by surprise when trying to work out if say a swimsuit is going to be acceptable to wear or not. 🕷. The only answer is to pluck the embarrassing little buggers out but this is pretty tricky when you can’t really see them and they really don’t want to come out! Which leads me to my next point…..
3. Becoming more sensitive to pain.
This seems totally unfair to me. At a time when you are about to deal with what may we’ll be the greatest pain of your life, your pain threshold goes out of the window.
When not pregnant I can happily go along and have my bikini line sugared. I can even have a Brazilian and be almost entirely totally defluffed front to back. But whenever I’ve tried to have even just a minimal tidy up whilst pregnant I’ve almost cried with pain. On one occasion of trying to brace it before a holiday, I just couldn’t hack it and ended up begging the therapist to stop. I was left lop sided but I really didn’t care.
It’s not just ‘down there’ either. My regular eyebrow threading appointment becomes torture too. This may explain to friends why my brows look soo dishevelled and overgrown at the moment. I can’t take the pain. Even a bit of light tweezing makes my eyes water.
4. Bleeding Gums
Not the cool saxophone player from the Simpsons but actual – all your teeth are going to fall out surely?! – bleeding in your mouth. My daughters stare at me whenever we brush our teeth together at the moment because of the blood bath that it is involved. They are convinced that i’m about to loose a tooth or two at any moment. According to my lovely dentist this is not at all uncommon and is caused by those pesky pregnancy hormones. This time they are making my gums more sensitive which is why they gush blood at the slightest touch. Very unattractive. Good job I’ve already got a ring on my finger.
5. Constantly wet pants
No its not a leaky bladder and nothing to do with amniotic fluid. I’ll spare you all the gruesome details except to say its all to do with your cervix producing a ‘plug’. Google at your own risk.
6. Fear whenever doing a poo
This may seem totally irrational to everyone else but its totally makes sense to me. Every time i go for a poo I feel a bit concerned that the baby might come out. Even if I’ve been eating my Shreddies and there is no ‘effort’ involved I can’t help but feel as though baby is going to be squeezed out into the loo. I’ve never really suffered with constipation whilst pregnant, touch wood, but if i did i think i’d be too scared to deal with ‘it’. Pushing a baby out feels a lot like pushing a poo out in my opinion and I’m now worried that I can’t differentiate between the two. My sensible, rational side assures me that there is no way that i’m randomly going to squeeze out a baby (if only!) but the crazy, slightly neurotic side of me still feels worried about it.
How do you mount yours?
I was determined to mount this flipping thing! No mean feat when you hate getting into cold pools and your stomach muscles have gone on their own holiday. Is there even a way to do it in a civilised fashion? The dismount was even worse and basically amounted to an ungainly belly flop! Plenty of folk were looking on at the crazy pregnant lady with bemused looks on their faces.
On exiting the pool I misjudged the size of my belly as I pulled myself up on my puny little arms. I scraped my belly button and underside of my belly and my pants came down.
#pregnantpersonproblems
When sand is too sandy and water too wet
One of the things I find most difficult about being a parent is that you can’t always persuade your children to enjoy an experience and if they don’t like something there is certainly no persuading them put up with it for someone else’s enjoyment!I love evenings on the beach. It’s one of my most favourite things. Unfortunately my eldest daughter thinks that sand is too sandy and that the sea is too wet and that mixed together it’s all too much for her. 😬🙄. My dreams of playing games on the sand, relaxing with drinks and chatting on the loungers and dipping our toes in the sea lasted all of about 30mins before my eldest could no longer handle it and threw an almighty strop about sand on her wet feet. So all the photos look lovely- except the last one. 😆#holiday #peanutstopeople #kos #beach #daughters
