CHILDREN: Design your Own LittleLife Backpack with JoJo Maman Bébé

An exciting (and dream, in my opinion!) is happening between LittleLife and JoJo Maman Bébé in the form of a design competition for pre-schoolers. This year marks LittleLife's 10th anniversary and for all of those ten years JoJo Maman Bébé have stocked their backpacks, so the collaboration seems like the perfect way to celebrate their support for each other. On the 1st June 2018 they launched their 'Design a New Backpack' competition for pre-schoolers to take part in, giving them an opportunity to see their design come to life by the end of July this year as well as win £200 JoJo Maman Bébé vouchers!

GIFT GUIDE: For their First Birthday

The calendar says that Poppy will be turning one in a matter of weeks and that is something I find hard to believe. It doesn't seem like yesterday I was heading to hospital to be induced, only to be in established labour hours later and very quickly meeting Poppy for the first time. Our baby bags were still in the car and we were in a bit of shock for the first few hours - a birth miles away from our first daughters. Yet here we are almost a year later, settled into life with two children. We celebrated Poppy turning one back in April when we had their joint birthday party, so there won't be a big party near her birthday. I hope to do something special to celebrate because after all you are only one once! Below are a selection of gifts that would be perfect for your little ones first birthday too...

CHILDREN: Christmas Gift Guide 2017

The excited faces of children on the run up to Christmas is why the magic is just so special. Finding unique gifts that are fun, educational and practical can be tricky, but I've put together some of my top gift recommendations for children this year. Personalised gifts for children add that extra touch, especially when they get to an age where they can read their own name. Who doesn't love a gift with your name on? Most of these gifts inspire children to use their imagination to explore the world of magic and creativity.

CHRISTMAS: Toddler Gift Guide 2016

I can barely believe that Isabella is now in the toddler bracket rather than the baby one (to see my baby gift guide click here). Not that it's a bad thing at all, in fact there is so much fun to be had with toddlers at Christmas. They are just starting to understand, interact and really learn to play. It is therefore helpful to support their desire for learning new things with gifts that do support just that.

4 THINGS: I wish we had bought earlier

If there is every an event in your life that requires you to buy a lot of 'stuff' it's having a baby! There are endless checklists online, parents are often more than willing to share their 'must haves' and there's just no avoiding buying a lot of the essentials. I absolutely loved shopping for all thing mini, both before Isabella was born and after. Those 3am night feeds were the perfect time for a spot of online shopping! After a few months of new orders arriving almost daily (of course I needed to stock up on endless craft supplies for my 2 month old!) we decided to take a step back and think carefully about whether or not we needed each item. However, there have been a few things I really wish we had bought earlier. There use would have made life easier, we would have got more use out of them and therefore making the more expensive purchases worthwhile.

TODDLER: Keeping safe with LittleLife Daysack with Rein

Since Isabella learnt to move, beginning with rolling then going on to crawling, walking and sometimes even running, the challenge of keeping her safe has had to constantly adapt. Long gone have the times when we could put her down and she wouldn't move, I took those days for granted because they quickly became a distant memory. Then came along the need to baby proofing everything, follow Isabella everywhere and forget sitting down for a hot cup of tea! When she mastered the skill of walking it was very slow at first, each step took a lot of building up to. However, in a few weeks she was zooming around with a surprising amount of speed.

HOLIDAY: Packing with the LittleLife Bee Suitcase

Packing for a baby is never an easy task - how can something so small need so much? Once you've packed the essentials: clothes, travel cot, nightwear, sleeping bag, bottles, milk, food, calpol for inevitable poorly timed holiday illnesses, nappies, wipes, swimwear, shoes, coats, blankets, baby monitor, nightlight, pushchair etc. you're still not done. Taking entertainment for your baby is personally an essential, Isabella rarely sits still but is always wanting to play with something. I'd much prefer that to be one of our toys than an item in the lodge that isn't ours - no one wants to have to pay for breakages! 

DAY OUT: Family walk at Rutland Water

 

There's nothing quite like getting wrapped up warm and embracing the cold winter weather outside. I was never one to particularly enjoy going for walks, but since having Isabella it's one of my favourite things to do as a family. It's free, refreshing, encourages Isabella to discover the world around us and gets us away from technology for an hour or two. Bliss.