Mr Eli and Mini Boden: Outfit #3.

Today is Mini Boden Outfit #3 Day* – and Mr Eli is dressed for Bowling!

I had ‘craved’ going bowling right throughout my pregnancy. Obviously, there is some danger attached to bowling, so this was off the cards for the duration. We had a free afternoon today so we decided to go to Hollywood Bowl! Beyond ecstatic, we arrived but soon realised how absolutely loud a bowling alley is…. not to mention the booming music from the speakers at each lane… the pins being hit sounded somewhat supersonic! We stood in the queue and debated whether this place really was *too* loud for a 12 week old baby. Then noticed that nap time was approaching! Eli was falling asleep, we couldn’t believe it. He slept the entire afternoon in there!

So what is Eli wearing today?
Click here to purchase>> Breton T-Shirt, Green, £12-£14; from Boden.co.uk

Click here to purchase>> Chunky Cord Dungarees, Red, £24-£26; from Boden.co.uk

How cool are these cord dungarees? The answer is TOO COOL! I absolutely love them. When we found out we were having a baby boy we said we’d just love him to wear red dungarees and stripey tops and Converse trainers! We had that entire ‘dream’ nailed in one outfit here! The dunagrees are made using a chunky cord and are lined with an awesome jersey star fabric; again, perfect for the colder days we have yet to come! The dunagree’s are easy to take off with the traditional workwear straps, but  Mini Boden have gone one further and added poppers for easy access when nappy changing too! These dungaree’s are definitely durable and great for anyone who likes a bright colour! Better still, I know these dunagrees will last Eli a while, thanks to the adjustable straps too!

MM.

 

 

* I am partaking in a Boden Bloggers competition. Head over to the Boden Facebook page to vote for my blog posts as your favourite :)

Mr Eli and Mini Boden: Outfit #2.

Today is my OH’s birthday 🙂 His first birthday as a Daddy and this is also Outfit number 2 of a week with Mr Eli and Mini Boden*!

As you can see, Mr Eli is holding up his birthday card, which he obviously wrote out himself, for his Daddy.

So what is Eli wearing today?
Click here to purchase>> Breton T-Shirt, Green, £12-£14; from Boden.co.uk

Click here to purchase>> Lined Cord Trousers, Cadet Blue, £16-£18; from Boden.co.uk


I love this casual outfit. The Breton Stripe t-shirt will go with everything I have for Autumn and Winter; it’s perfect for layering. It’s a nice cotton style, which would also work for Summer too. The chunky cord trousers are so lovely, as a trouser, they’re a heavier and thicker fabric – which I just know will be brilliant on those colder Winter days that we have to come. As you saw yesterday, I do enjoy a turn up! This style is so cool with it’s bright red contrasting lining.

Keep checking back to see what Mr Eli wore next!

MM.

* I am partaking in a Boden Bloggers competition. Head over to the Boden Facebook page to vote for my blog posts as your favourite :)

Mr Eli and Mini Boden: Outfit #1.

So let’s kick off a week with Mr Eli and Mini Boden*; today we start with Tuesday 23rd October.

I take Eli to be weighed at a local centre every fortnight. The past few times Eli has gained weight, but not as much as we’d ideally like. This week Eli had gained 11 ounces, which is spot on! I was both relieved and over the moon. Eli was both a little bit too excited and very cosy in his first Mini Boden outfit!

So what is Eli wearing today?

Click here to purchase>> Winter Jumper, Grey, £24-£26; from Boden.co.uk

Click here to purchase>> Lined Simple Trousers, Blue Ticking Stripe, £16-£18; from Boden.co.uk

The Winter Jumper is absolutely beautiful. It is made using a super soft cashmere blend; which also means it’s beautifully cosy. I love the cable knit and button detail to the shoulder. The simple trousers are just great, an absolute wardrobe staple. These trousers can definitely be styled for a casual outfit or for somewhere smart. You can also turn these trousers up to reveal the contrast green lining – this is how I styled them on Eli.

Keep checking back to see what Mr Eli wore next!

MM.

* I am partaking in a Boden Bloggers competition. Head over to the Boden Facebook page to vote for my blog posts as your favourite :)

The Mini Boden AW12 Baby Boy Essentials!

FINALLY, Mr Eli fits into actual Boy’s clothes and not just baby grow’s! YEEEEAH!

I’m a HUGE fan of Mini Boden, so naturally, I absolutely COULD NOT WAIT for Mr Eli to be just that little bit bigger so he could fit into all of the amazing and cosy Autumn pieces.

This lovely lot (a lot, a lot) of Mini Boden AW12 pieces turned up* recently and I’m going to show you how I styled Mr Eli for a week in these absolute essentials! The jumpers are so soft and cosy – perfect for this change in weather…Winter is definitely on it’s way!! All of the pieces are such good quality, all super warm and the Winter jumper with the snowflake on is my pick for Eli’s Christmas Day outfit!

First of all, here is the must-have check list.

Click here to purchase>>  Jersey Duffle Jacket, Navy, £22-£24; from Boden.co.uk

Click here to purchase>> Breton T-Shirt, Green, £12-£14; from Boden.co.uk

Click here to purchase>> Chunky Cord Dungarees, Red, £24-£26; from Boden.co.uk

Click here to purchase>> Winter Jumper (Snowflake), Red, £24-26; from Boden.co.uk

Click here to purchase>> Lined Cord Trousers, Cadet Blue, £16-£18; from Boden.co.uk

Click here to purchase>> Cosy Romper, Grey, £18; from Boden.co.uk

Click here to purchase>> Winter Jumper, Grey, £24-£26; from Boden.co.uk

Click here to purchase>> Lined Simple Trousers, Blue Ticking Stripe, £16-£18; from Boden.co.uk

Check back during the week to find out what Mr Eli wore and where! You can also follow the special Pinterest board I’ve set up, ““The Mini Boden AW12 Baby Boy Essentials!”.

MM.

 

* I am partaking in a Boden Bloggers competition. Head over to the Boden Facebook page to vote for my blog posts as your favourite :)

Our changing bag: The Mulberry Clipper Holdall.

This has been the sight next to our front door, for the past NINE weeks. These are all our hospital bags, ready and waiting! Suitcase is mine, and is filled to the brim with every essential you need for your stay at hospital – you can read what those absolute essentials are, here>>I’ve FINALLY done it! Hospital Bag(s) are packed! The amazing Mulberry Clipper Holdall is our changing bag (more on that in a second), the Barbour bag to the bottom left is OH’s essentials (iPad, change of clothing, toiletries) and the Borough Market bag is all our food supplies!

So, Changing Bag… we spent such a long time searching for the “perfect” bag. We wanted something that didn’t look ‘Mummsy’. We didn’t want something that was feminine, OH will be carrying it around too! During our search we found that there was nothing that was completely unisex – apart from the generic black satchel style bags… which to be honest, just didn’t hit the spot for us! This is going to be a bag that we’ll use every day, so we wanted to be really happy with it! All of the ‘Mummsy’ style bags are pretty expensive anyway, £250+!

We looked for actual Leather satchels as we felt this would be most universal for us both. But with Leather, comes a pricetag. We soon found that even just nice Leather satchel bags, that weren’t necessarily for our purpose, were coming up at £400+. When we would look into the details of these bags, we found that there just wouldn’t be enough space for everything that a babba needs on a daily basis – as well as what we might need to cram in for ourselves too! We also decided we wanted something that would be kind of waterproof – Britain is not renowned for it’s dry weather is it!

We went to all the usual high street stores in search of just a standard, but small, holdall that would meet all our demands. We almost settled on this one from Barbour – Barbour Wax Cotton and Leather Trim Satchel, £119: Style available from JohnLewis.com

But, this bag is actually a little too big for what we need it for! It looked massive against me and I just couldn’t see ME using it. OH on the other hand, was chuffed with it.

So on with the search!

I’m a massive fan of Mulberry. It’s my favourite brand. So, I said I wanted a Mulberry Alexa…

Mulberry Oversized Alexa Messenger & Shoulder Bag, £925. Style available from JohnLewis.com

But then we realised that the £795 size wasn’t big enough… and £795 is a ridiculous price for a ‘changing’ bag! OH also concluded that an Alexa was too feminine for him. I did email Mulberry regarding changing bags, as they’re clearly missing a huge audience by not offering a selection! They replied to me with:

We have taken on board customer requests for changing bags and our soon to be available Autumn Winter 2012 collection will include the Rosie Baby bag in Black or Oak Tiger Print Nylon as part of the range.

Pretty exciting! But a bit too late…

Then I started looking at their holdalls. We’d always said we wanted a Clipper holdall. They’re classic Mulberry. They’re perfect for trips away. They’re a style that just will not date – but will get better with age.

We went along to Westfield: Stratford City to take a closer look. The Simple Mulberry Clipper Holdall (£350), was the perfect size! Inside and out 🙂

So we said “sod it” and bought it 😀 It’s beautiful. We’re over the moon with it – and more to the point, unlike ‘real’ changing bags, we’ll be using this holdall for years and years and years and years to come. It’s a style that is built to last! So we were happy to pay the £350 price-tag, because it’s going to get so much more use than a standard changing bag. It completely meets our very niche criteria and OH cannot wait to get outside with it 🙂

MM.

I’ve FINALLY done it! Hospital Bag(s) are packed!

After weeks and weeks of , “Oh, I’ll definitely pack it this weekend!“, I did actually get round to packing my hospital bag(s) this week! But only after I thought I was going into labour with my coccyx pain! Perhaps Baby Boy Bump was tired of my excuses for not packing the bags too!

So, with this all in mind. I thought I’d share my list of ESSENTIALS. I’ve been through absolutely dozens of “What to pack…” lists, along with forums and speaking with friends. And I think I’ve pretty much formed the definitive list. You DO need to take lots to the hospital. I’ve chosen to take everything in a suitcase simply because it’s easier than cramming everything into lots of bags… it will also fit in the boot of our car neater 🙂 I do know it looks like I’m going on holiday, but I swear, it’s all completely necessary!

Here we go then…

FOR ME.
To have ready to hand.
Birth plan/preferences
Maternity notes
Cash for carpark
Cash for payphone – there might not be signal. The battery might go on your phone!

For labour/ward.
Maternity pads – two packs of 10
Breast pads – 15 pairs
Cheap nightie(s)
Large cotton knickers – 7-10 pairs
Bedsocks with grips to the bottom – your feet get cold during labour.
Massage oil
Lipbalm
Bobbles
Headband
Hair grips
Brush
Pillows – my usual pillow and maternity pillow
x2 Dark towels
Phone chargers
Change of clothing for leaving the hospital – baggy, to fit at least a 4-5 month pregnant bump.
Slippers/Flip flops
Fan
Stopwatch – to time contractions
Swimwear – for the birthing pool!
Hot water bottle
Plastic jug – useful for afterwards, going to the loo is likely to be quite painful. Pouring a jug of warm water over the affected area whilst going to the loo can allegedly help sooth the pain.
List of phone numbers on paper
Face cloth
Camera
Toilet roll – we like our quilted Andrex!
Plastic bag for dirty clothes/towels
Book/Magazines
Pen and paper – useful for writing down notes that may be passed on from doctors/midwives; or in the instance that I can’t talk whilst mid-contraction! Also good to have if we get bored and fancy hangman!
Clean clothing for James (Other half)
Ear plugs – it might be quite noisy… 
Nice nightie for afterwards
Dark dressing gown
Birthing ball – just incase there isn’t one spare. This can be left in the boot if not needed.
Birthing ball pump

Toiletries
Shampoo
Conditioner
Makeup bag
Mirror
Deoderant
Toothpaste
Toothbrush
Mouthwash
Facewipes
Antibacterial hand gel
Gaviscon
Anusol
Deoderant
Dettol wipes for ward
Lavender Oil
James’ wash bag with toothbrush/deoderant/bryl creme

Something extra…
Chocolates for the Midwives for afterwards
Card for the Midwives for afterwards

Food/Snacks/Drinks
Raspberry Leaf Tea
Mini cheddars
Bananas
Cereal bars
Frozen drinks – it’s apparently quite hot on the wards. A frozen drink will melt slowly, so will be much nicer than warm bottled water!
Juice – cordial
Bottles of water
Glucose tablets
Bendy straws – useful for drinking at any angle!
Crisps
Two plastic cups – so we can celebrate afterwards?!
Peppermint teabags – useful for trapped wind and cramps afterwards.
Dried fruit
Chocolate
Soreen

BABY CHANGING BAG.
Going home outfit
x5 vests
x5 baby grow’s
Pair of scratch mittens
Hat
Booties
Blanket
x6 muslin squares
x6 bibs
Soft toy
Swaddle
Towel
Cardigan – just incase, I know it’s July, but I do live in England.

Toiletries
Cotton wool balls/Cotton wool pleats
Grooming kit – for his little nails!
x27 nappies – a whole pack of Pampers New Born.
Sudacrem
Vaseline – useful for smothering over Baby Boy’s bum, it makes it easier to clean the first newborn poo’s away.
Bottles – just incase there’s an issue with breast feeding.
Ready made formula bottles – just incase there’s an issue with breast feeding.

Is there anything I’m missing from your own list?! Something that might have proven absolutely essential for you during labour or afterwards?

MM.

Something for our Olympic 2012 Baby Boy…

Baby Team GB Baby Grow, £12. John Lewis.

Considering that our little babbit is due on the day the London Olympics 2012 being (that’s 27th July 2012 for anyone who has been living under a rock), we’d been searching for a little ‘momento’ to mark the, well, momentous occasion!

We’d been looking at the John Lewis ‘Olympic Shop’  in both Westfield Stratford City and in Bluewater, Kent. We wanted something for our Baby boy that we could keep forever… but something that would also be useful! All of the toys are for 3 years+ (?!!!) so that went straight out of the window, as did pens and keyrings… we wanted something for HIM.

Then we went shopping at Bluewater in Kent for the first time this weekend and had another rummage around the  ‘Olympic Shop’. Then we came across a display unit with lots and lots of Baby Grow’s! PERFECT! We saw the Baby Team GB Baby Grow, above, and could not resist. It’s the absolute perfect keepsake! It’s a definite contender for the ‘coming out of hospital’ outfit. Especially if he is born on his due date of 27th July!

You can purchase this brilliant Baby Grow by clicking here, and heading to JohnLewis.com!

Has anyone else joined in the Olympic fun with their soon-to-arrive Olympic Baby(s)?

MM.