Fabulous Finds for June 2017

Welcome to the first in a new series on my blog where I will be sharing all the amazing things I discover each month. I often share products I have discovered on social media, but I thought this series would be a great way to pull everything together.

It's likely to be an eclectic mix and this month I'm including: food, clothes, beauty and kids TV. A few of these products I was given to try and the rest I have discovered all on my own.

My Baby At 17 Months

Oh what a challenging little monkey I have on my hands. Little can play happily on her own for ages, but if I pop to the toilet I can come back to find her on the table about to drop a vase on the floor. It’s hard to be mad when she looks up at me with her cheeky grin. I feel I have been saying “No” a lot to her this month, and it’s no surprise she now likes to say it back to us.  What else has she been up to?

Review and Giveaway: Sensse Deep Pore Suction Cleanser

I knew things would change after the birth of my second child, but I didn’t expect one of those changes to be the amount of make up I wear. Before her birth I wouldn’t be seen out of the house without mascara, eyeliner, foundation and concealer, but on several occasions recently I have glanced in the mirror at the end of the day and noticed I forgot to put any make up on. 

It might be that I have no time, more distractions, less mirrors or that I’m just letting myself go, whatever the reason wearing less make up means looking after my skin has become more important because I’m not covering up my spots. Yes that’s right, I’m in my mid-thirties and I still have spots, how is that fair? I was given the chance to review a Deep Pore Suction Cleanser from Sensse and I thought it sounded like a great way to try and improve my skin. If you like the sound of it there is also a giveaway to win one for yourself at the end of this post.

You can't walk around topless and 9 other things they don't tell you about breastfeeding

There are courses, books and websites to help you learn how to breastfeed.  If you need more help getting established, or a personal touch, you can speak to midwives, peer supporters or even a lactation consultant. Information and support can be essential in building a good feeding relationship, but what you hear less about is breastfeeding beyond the newborn stage. As you get more confident and your baby becomes more active breastfeeding changes. 

Here are ten things they don’t tell you about breastfeeding beyond the newborn stage.

How To Plan A Great Family Holiday

The recent heatwave has reminded me that the summer holidays are very nearly here. Although we were determined to go away as a family this year I found booking a holiday a little bit daunting. Where should we go? What sort of accommodation? Where should we look? We eventually found somewhere we can afford that will be great for me, my partner, my 5 year old and our 1 year old, but it wasn’t easy. To make it easier for others here’s my advice on how to plan a great family holiday.

Review and Giveaway: The Very Hungry Caterpillar 3D craft kits from Rainbow Designs

Everyone knows The Very Hungry Caterpillar and instantly recognises the style of the World of Eric Carle. The bright art work is a great inspiration to get crafty and Rainbow Designs have a fab collection of kits to make it easy. We were sent a Colour and Construct 3D character cardboard set and a Super Dough Model Kit to review. Rainbow Designs have also kindly provided one of each to give away and you can enter at the bottom of the post. M loved making the Very Hungry Caterpillar and friends come to life in 3D.

Review: Firefly Young Driver Lessons

My 5 year old loves to sit in the driver’s seat of my car pretending to drive. She has done this for years, but recently she has started asking if she can actually drive my car. Of course I told her she was too young and she was going to have to wait 12 years, but then I had a chat with the Young Driver team. They have real cars which under 17s can drive. Unfortunately M is too young for the proper cars, but they also have Firefly 2 seater mini cars for children aged 5 to 10 and we were offered the chance to review a lesson.

School Sports Day: The Good, The Bad And The Incredibly Competitive Dads

There were a few things that surprised me about my eldest's first sports day: it didn’t rain (the school clearly knew better than all the weather apps), they had an egg and spoon race (but no sack, wheelbarrow or three-legged race) and how seriously sports day was taken.

Sharing a Family Meal at Prezzo with La Famiglia

Like many families we have a dining room table where we eat all our meals, but during the week there is never more than 3 of us sitting down together. It’s more usual for only 1 or 2 of us to eat at a time. Even at the weekends when we do eat together I get up countless times each meal. Requests for drinks, more food and grabbing replacement cutlery as the original set falls on the floor punctuate my meal.  It’s a real treat to go out and eat together because someone else gets to do the running around and we can enjoy some quality time together.

Letter To My Eldest Daughter, Still So Full Of Innocence

“I don't need anyone to hold my hand, I'm safe on my own.”

Oh baby, how I wish that was true. At five years old your innocence is beautiful and I don't want to shatter it. You don't yet understand just how evil the world can be. I tell you there are bad people and you think you understand, you think you would be able to get away, but you don't know all the ways that isn't true.

Blogging Conferences and Minions Puzzle Giveaway

It feels like ages ago that I was at BlogOn, but it was only a couple of weeks. With the attacks in Manchester and London (not to mention all the others abroad) it’s been hard to be motivated to carry on with the every day, but carry on we must.

Blog On is a conference in Manchester for bloggers of all genres, but a lot of the attendees seem to be mums (I’m not sure I would dare to call them “mummy bloggers” though). It’s one of the smaller blogging conferences in the calendar year, but it has a good reputation due to the effort put into it by the organiser Laura and the amazing goody bags.

According to Facebook @mummygadgetgeek and I have been friends 10 years (and a few more off social media). It's lovely to spend the day drinking wine, eating cake and talking blogging at #blogonmsi

A post shared by Kate Kirk (@essexkate) on May 21, 2017 at 6:43am PDT

Review: Tots Tramp at Better Extreme Waltham Forest

I was recently invited to review Better Extreme in Waltham Forest where they have great sessions with a playzone, trampoline park, ninja run and climbing. It looked like so much fun, but I didn't have childcare for my youngest so I had to turn down the opportunity. Shortly afterwards I was invited to try out their new Tots Tramp sessions. These special sessions have access to soft play and the trampolines, but it's just for little ones (under 6 years old). I excitedly went along with Little on a Wednesday morning to try it out.