Is Sun Cream bad for you?

Last week super model Gisele Bundchen made another controversial statement, saying that "Sun Cream was poison" Of course this sent cancer activist in to a frenzy, and called her an irresponsible role model. Her camp then responded saying that " The translation was misunderstood" and that Gisele was simply stating that a lot of sun creams have harmful parabens and chemicals in them, and to choose a natural alternative. Does she have a point? I have done my own research on this matter and I believe this statement to be true. Now I am not saying at all to go out with no sun cream on. I am as white as can be and I have very sensitive skin as does Dylan. The reason most conventional sun creams can cause cancer is because it contains toxic chemicals in the form of artificial fragrance, chemical colors and petroleum products used as fillers and stabilizers. These chemicals are absorbed through the skin where they enter the bloodstream and wreak havoc on the immune system. Artificial fragrances, just by themselves, may contain dozens of carconigenic chemicals that damage the liver, the heart, and even promote systemic cancer. How ever there are other alternatives out there. Organic Childrens Sun Lotion SPF25 in lavender is a wonderful product that has been made without parabens, lanoiln, phthalates, artifical perfumes, petrochemicals and colourants. 

Its a myth that you need to use Sun Block or factor 50 to protect your self and your child. I spent many years living in Asia, Australia and New Zealand and one Doctor I spoke to, said its actually better and safer to use maximum SPF 25 and to just reapply it every 2 hours. Rather than to slather our selves in SPF 50 and leave that on all day, and that block the sunlight out altogether.  We seem to forget that the Sun has many benefits to us as well. Providing us with essential vitamin D. 

So instead of slathering our selves and our babies in SPF chemical ridden sun block, choose a more natural alternative and cover your little ones up with hats and a t-shirt. 

Bring on the Summer...

xoxo

My Oscar Dress

Ok so I am not exactly going to the Oscars this year, but if I were I would be wearing this beautiful dress by Ellie Saab...
xoxo

Shoes Shoes Shoes..

I am a bit of a shoe addict, so you can imagine my excitement at the prospect of going to buy shoes for my little man. Yesterday was the day that my little crawling not yet walking but cruising baby was about to get his first pair of shoes. All dressed up we dragged DJs daddy and his credit card with us. Shoes here we come...
The first stop was to Clarks shoe shop. I remember being bought in there to get my first pair of school shoes. I wanted the patient pretty pair, but my mother made me get the boring lace up leather pair! We got his foot measured and just as I expected he has a wide foot like this mummy. As my eyes gazed across all the beautiful little shoes, I saw the perfect pair. They were so french, and we all know how obsessed I am with anything remotely French. They were navy blue little boat shoes, with a little white rope going across the top. I grabbed them and said the assistant " Do you have these in his size?" The assistants shock his head and said " No I am afraid they are too narrow for him, and they are not a pre walker shoe" Pre walker.. No no no my little man is almost walking, well holding both of my hand, and we are going to Cannes next week, these shoes are the perfect shoe for him to wear as we touch down in the South of France. How can this man not understand this. So without listening to him I pick up the  biggest pair that I could find and tried to put it on DJs foot. Hmmmm if I just squeeze his foot in just a little it might give a little?!? Nope no luck.. I turn to the assistant again and said to him " Ok thats not going to work, what do you have that will fit him?" He produces the most hideous pair of shoes I have even seen, They look like something that old age pensioners would wear!  THIS IS IT?.. this is all you have for my beautiful wide fat footed little boy!?! Andrew  laughs at me, and says we can look somewhere else.  So off we go again to trudge around the shops. Three shops later we go in to Mother Care. They had a lovely selection of shoes and all at 20% off.  Thankfully the woman assistant understood my frustration at wanting a pair of walking shoes that were supportive and lightweight yet cute at the same time. So we finally settled on a cute pair of pre walking shoes that were made for wide feet. There was only 1 or 2 choices but I was happy enough. She did give me great advice and told me that all Italian and Spanish made shoes are all made for wide feet. So I guess next time we go get him some shoes we will have to fly to Italy or Spain ;-) !

xoxo

Today I am dreaming off..

I've had a bit of a worrying few days. Laura Jane my sister and my mother have been caught up in the terrible earth quake in Christchurch New Zealand. I used to live there for 3 years and my mother and sister still live there. Luckily they are both ok but obviously shaken and stirred. 

So to take my mind off all of that I have been dreaming about my dream house where we all can live. 

By the sea.. Deep breath in and ........ Exhale 

 Be safe 

xoxo

Spring Looks for Little Boys

It seems that every store has the cutest little baby girl clothes yet I struggle to find cute trendy clothes for little boys. However, I have found some ultra cute affordable clothes for spring for my little man.
Baby gap this Spring have actually got some cute little clothes for boys, they usually just have the usual hoodies and tracksuits, but this season they have some adorable denim dungarees, soft cardigans in baby blue. Also my new favorite is Jasper Conran at Debenhams collection JJ for babies and Children. Here are some of my favorites for DJ.

Baby Gap

Light weight Spring Jacket from JJ collection Jaspar Conran

Collection JJ romper sailor suit. I bought this for DJ last summer and I will defiantly be buying one again for this Summer

Ok not so affordable but oh so cute. Baby Ralph Lauren
xoxo

Happy Birthday Dylan

This time last year I was going in to Hospital anxious to meet my little one and also in the worst pain of my life. At 10.10pm on the 18th February Dylan James was born in to the world. And as cliche as it sounds, changed my life forever.
Happy Birthday my beautiful boy...
Love you always
Your Mama

xoxo

The Terrible Ones?

I know all about the terrible twos, but what about the terrible ones?
DJ has recently starting throwing these tantrums. I mean full on head thrown back, shaking, crying, screaming until he gets what he wants! Um Hello you are a year to early for these, what is going on? I was not expecting these.
I am not too sure how I handle these tantrums either. He is still a baby, has no idea what I am saying half the time, so how do I begin to explain to him that, "no you cant have mummies bottle of wine" Or no darling you cant put that screw driver in your mouth"
 Do I let him thrash it out on the floor?
I try to distract him with other shiny objects, which usually works. But where my real problem is in the middle of the night. My beautiful son is still waking throughout the night and the only thing to get him back to sleep is his bottle. I am trying to wean him off having a bottle in the middle of the night but all he does is have one of his tantrums. Which to be honest is very hard to deal with when its 2am and I am shattered.
If anyone has any advice on this matter I would really appreciate it.
I do have to add that he is usually a loving happy little chappy..

xoxo

Happy Valentines Day

This Valentines day I have not only one love but two!
For years the only Valentines day card I got was from my lovely father, even though he always used to sign it "Love your secret Admirer " I know it was you Daddy.. ;-)

I want to wish everyone out there a very Happy Valentines Day...

Love to you all

xoxo

Should we spend less time online?

My lovely little lap top has been my best friend in my darkest hour in those early month of being a new mother. Google taught me what reflux was, how I should soothe a screaming child who has cried all night. It was my life saver. I would come online and talk to my online friends who were also new mums, I would check my Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Small world and read the news papers all online.  I also use the internet to research what foods I should give my baby and at what stages I should be given to him. I research everything online. Which is great to be able to get some much information from not just one source but 10.

Today I came across an article (again online) about how mums spend too much time online and its having a negative effect on their children. Do you think that modern mums spend too much time online? 

I know for me this rang alarm bells in my head. Do I spend too much time online? the answer is YES I do. 

My day starts going online drinking my tea. Throughout the day I find my self drawn to my laptop, fearing I am missing out on something, also desperate for some interaction other than just chatting to my baby boy all day. Don't get me wrong I love my baby but there is only so much mama dada baba conversation I can take. 

But this is all an excuse really,  I do need to get out more and meet some more mums and friends face to face, rather than just virtually. 

The other thing I really want to do is go the Library. Remember those? I used to love going in there, the smell of the books. all the knowledge that was hidden beneath the covers. Most libraries even have a children section with toys and books. They have so many books on childcare and recipe books.

My new goal for this year is to get out more and to take DJ to a Library, I am sure he will love them as much as I once did.  

Its so easy to make excuses not to go out, mainly because of the dreary weather outside. 

I am not saying I am going to give up online.. oh no.. but I am going to limit my time to updating my blog and replying to emails to when he is napping. 

I also need to stop going on so much at night time. Electronical devises have take over our world. At night time, Andrew comes home and plonks in front of the TV and I sit in front of my lap top. I don't want to be one of those families who don't talk. Who all eat dinner in front of the TV/ computers. I didn't grow up like that, So I don't want my children that this is what family life is about. I want chats around the dinner table talking about our day. 

So with all this writing I better go and get some cleaning done before the little man wakes up and we go out for  a walk. .. in the rain.. well I gotta start somewhere ;-)

xoxo

Bring on the Summer

Its wet and windy outside but I am getting in the mood for summer.
This will be my first summer that I will be donning a swimsuit/ bikini since becoming a Mummy. Ok so I know I had last summer with Dylan but really that was a right off. I spent the whole summer hiding behind flowing maxi dresses. This year as our family holiday approaches I can not hide behind bellowing dresses saying to people that I have just had a baby. Um my baby is now 1 I don't think I can get away with that anymore. So out with my Tracy Anderson DVDs its time to say good by to Tina the talking tummy and hello washboard abs.. ( we can all dream can't we)
Here are some yummy mummy bikinis, sexy swim suits ( just in case I don't reach super model body in time) and of course some sarongs to cover up those lumps and bumps.. All from Victoria Secrets . VS bikinis are great because they have push up in the tops, which after a baby lets face it there not what they used to be, but we can fake it, the swim suits offer a sexy alternative to bikinis if your still not that confidant.
Get ready Yummy Mummies.. Bring on the summer

By the way, all these VS models are mummies too...
If they can do it.. ah who am I kidding bring on the vino

xoxo

Pampers Baby

Last week DJ did a shoot for Pampers Baby Dry. As Dj is a year old and still not sleeping through the night he was a perfect candidate for the Pampers Golden Sleep campaign. There are so many reasons why your baby might wake during the night and one of those reasons can be because of a wet bulky nappy. I used to dread those middle of the night nappy changes, because it would DJ up even more and he would think it was time to get up. Thankfully pampers manages to keep him dry  and even though he is still not sleeping though the night, waking up because of a wet nappy or a nappy that has leaked is not one of them.
I am still on my quest to get DJ sleeping through the night before his 1st birthday.. (Ok I know time is running out, I have a week left!) But I am on a mission..
For more on Pampers land of the golden sleep and for more tips on getting your baby to sleep through the night you can visit www.pampers.ie
Thats where I am headed right now.....
Tonight DJ You will be sleeping

xoxo

FRIDAY FEELING

Its Friday people..
Have an amazing weekend

xoxo

Moving..

Moving House let alone country can be a scary thought. Having moved to 10 different countries and countless houses I have become some what a pro at moving. In-fact so much so I get itchy feet every 2 years and want to move again.
I have put some of my top tips down for anyone who is moving country or to a new area.

MAKE LISTS: First thing to do when you are moving country/ or moving some where new is to write a list of things to do. So you can keep on track of what has to be done and tick them off once you have done them.  It helps you to stay on top of things when everything goes in to what I call limbo land.

When looking for a new place to live, phone the local police station and ask about the safety of the neighbour hood. Find out what your street is like. As a mother safety is number one priority. You want to make sure you are bringing your family up in the nicest possible area that you can afford.

Find out where the Doctor surgery is also if you can look up your local supermarket, shopping mall, leisure center, cinema complex it will also help you feel like your getting to know your area.

Find out what play groups or coffee mornings are on in your local health center. One of the most important things to do when you move is to get our and meet other new mums. It can become very lonely when you first move so the sooner you get out to meet people the better. Other mums in the area can also be a wealth of information for things to do with your little ones. There is always an expat who has set up some sort of coffee morning or tennis morning in foreign countries and they are only to happy to have another person to come around.
Expat communities are great in foreign countries they all know what its like to move and you become fast friends as you are all in the same boat.

Go on to google maps and get to know your area. You can actually walk down your new street and see your new house.

If your moving to a new country where they speak a different language  . Get an english/french or spanish/ or Korean dictionary so you can learn the basic words you need to get around. Hello, Good bye, thank you, Please,  How much. ect

Get to know the new culture your about to embrace. I remember moving to Korea when I was 14, we looked up what some of their customs, one of them is when saying hello is to put your hands together and bow as you say hello. They really appreciate that we respected their culture and were very impressed.

and finally..

Relax, let the movers move all your stuff, think of the new adventures and all of the new friends you and your family are going to make in your new home.

Hope this helps a little

lots of love

First Day of Spring..

Today is officially the first day of Spring.. Well Some say 1st of Feb is others say 1st March .. either way it feels like spring is in the air
xoxo