Our Wedding Day // The Dress

Its finally time!! I get to share with you photo's of our special day! I have decided to do a little series so I can share with you all the details of the day, if I tried to do it in one post it would be very, very long!

So for today's segment, its got to be the dress. When we went dress shopping, way back in April 2013, I had no idea what I wanted. I was adamant that I didn't want full lace or figure hugging. What did I get? A full laced figure hugging dress! We went to Pure in Norwich, and the experience was amazing. The dress I finally decided upon was the second dress I tried. I knew as soon as I looked in the mirror it was the one.

As you can see this stunning Maggie Sottero dress, had a lot of beautiful lace detail. Broken up by a gorgeous sash, which my train was attached too. 

My shoes were nice and simple, and super comfy. They were a real bargain, £30 from Next!

I decided against a veil, although they look beautiful, I felt a veil would of been too much for the dress. Plus I don't feel comfortable in the whole idea of a veil if I'm honest. So I opted for this very beautiful head piece, again from Pure. The detail on it is breathtaking and something I will always treasure.

Are you ready to see the train?

This is my favourite part of the dress... So pretty. Yet very practical! When it came to the evening I took it off and replaced it with another sash. Perfect!

Right, I'm going to leave it here for now. Come back tomorrow to see the what the bridesmaids, groom and groomsmen and most importantly what Darcie wore!!

Oh I'm loving this.... can't believe it was a month a go!

Mummy B xoxox

P.S All photos by the fabulous Liz Bishop.

A Mummy Essential // Dettol Laundry Cleanser

I have another mummy essential for you today, the Dettol Anti-bacterial Laundry Cleanser. We were kindly sent this to review and its something that I have been meaning to get every time I nip to the shops. 

Working in a school and having a two year old that attends nursery its fair to say that we have had our fair share of germs. In fact, since becoming a mum I have found I get ill a lot more than I did before! 

In a recent study on children's clothes before and after washing, has revealed that 1 in 4 are contaminated with bacteria after being washed at 40°C. With school trousers and jumpers harbouring the highest contamination levels overall! We are all encouraged to wash at lower temperatures as it is more environmentally friendly, however it seems it is creating a new breeding ground for germs and bacteria. I quite often will wash clothes as low as 30°C, so this did start to ring alarm bells. When I saw the Dettoll Anti-bacterial Laundry Cleanser could be used at temperatures as low as 30°C, I thought this has to be worth a try. Might as well kill those germs and save the planet at the same time hey?!

You use this product alongside your laundry detergent and fabric softener, which is great because you can still use your much loved products, without having to replace them. We have been using this for the past week and so far, so good! Of course its quite difficult to prove whether or not this does actually work, but the logic behind it does make a lot of sense! In a bid for us to fight the germs this winter, I think its worth the RRP of around £4.50. Not only is this product a must for school children but I would imagine would be great if you use cloth nappies or a going through toilet training!

How will you be fighting the germs this winter?

Mummy B xoxox

A Mummy Essential - Kids First Aid Kit

I'm not going to lie, there is no point and I have to admit I feel a little ashamed. We have never had a first aid kit.

We were kindly asked to review a Kids First Aid Kit and felt slightly embarrassed that I haven't had one in the two years of Darcie's life! Of course we carry plasters, occasionally antiseptic cream but thats about as good as it gets! 

Last week Darcie had a pretty nasty fall, I wasn't with her at the time as she was with my mum, but when I saw her after work it did look a little sore. That's when I realised, now she runs walks everywhere, and she is a little clumsy (takes after her dad - sorry Jamie!) she is going to have a lot more cuts and bruises. Its a part of childhood, there is no point wrapping them in cotton wool - just except that it is inevitably going to happen. But be prepared.

First Aid kits don't have to cost you the earth, this one is £4.60. It contains everything you may need in a "mini" emergency, including

• Alcohol Free Wipes x2
• Creature Plasters x9
• 5cm Conforming Bandage
• Vinyl Gloves
• 5cmx5cm Low Adherent Dressing
• Triangular Bandage
• 1.25cmx5m Microporous Tape
• 20ml Eye Wash Pod x2

What I love about this kit it that its nice and small, so easily fits in your handbag or changing bag and cottons everything you may need. I'm hoping we won't need to use it anytime soon, at least now I feel safe in the knowledge that if anything does happen, we are prepared!

Do you keep a first aid kit handy when you are out and about?

Mummy B xoxox

Darcie's Reads // The Little Bear Book

The Little Bear Book by Anthony Browne is next on our Darcie's Reads feature. This book has been a favourite for a while as its such an enchanting story. The main reason we got this for Darcie was the stunning illustrations. 

As you can see, the book has gorgeously large drawings that are very brightly coloured. The story itself is short, but really its the illustrations that tell the story. 

The little bear is a dab hand at drawing, when he stumbles across several animals he ends up drawing just what they need. It's very much a story where art comes to life on each and every page. The ending is really clever too!

This fun story is such a joy to read, its brilliant for those tots with active imaginations too.

I hope you're enjoying this weekly feature. Me and Darcie would love to know your favourite books and authors, please feel free to leave your recommendations below.

Mummy B xoxox

Organic Beauty Week Challenge

The fantastic people at Green People challenged me to swap something from my daily beauty regime that is non-organic to something that is. Having already been converted to a number of their products, I decided to opt for a body scrub. A body scrub is something I don't skip out on, I will do a body scrub around two times a week. I have been pretty happy with my current scrub and haven't deviated from that one for around four years! So the Green People did have to come up with something amazing!

They kindly sent me their Sugar Scrub which is 95% organic and does not contain micro-beads (which are very controversial at the moment). Micro-beads are often found in scrub products, I have used products with them in before, the reason they are so controversial is, ultimately these plastic beads end up in our oceans causing problems for marine life. Not something I had ever considered before, but I will now think again before buying products containing micro-beads.

Back to this wonderful Sugar Scrub! When I opened the tub I couldn't help but breath in the heavenly scent! I can't quite place it but looking at the ingredients it contains, coconut oil and jojoba oil - so heavenly!! The scrub itself is a nice consistency, I like my scrubs to feel like they are working. When applying the scrub slowly melts away and starts to moisturise the skin - it feels so luxurious! 

I have to admit, Green People have done it again. I'm converted. The main reason for this is just how moisturised my skin feels without having to actually moisturise (something that I sometimes forget to do!). I really am falling in love with this brand, everything I have tried from these guys really haven't failed to impress. If you have never tried anything from them, make sure you check out their website, I'm sure you will find a new organic love - just in time for Organic Beauty Week. 

Have you been using anything organic in your beauty regime this week?

Mummy B xoxox

Silliness

Because sometimes you just have to be silly.

Mummy B xoxox

A Pang of Guilt

Today Darcie went back to nursery, after having an amazing two weeks off. Normally I never experience guilt when leaving Darcie at nursery, she happily runs off and shouts "bye" as she goes and says hello to her friends and key workers. 

This morning was... Different.

Darcie looked up at me and asked to be picked up as we walked through the doors - not unusual as she often asks for a quick cuddle. So I picked up my beautiful girl and we walked through the entrance. Darcie was warmly welcomed as all the workers asked about the wedding and our honeymoon, whilst we shared stories, Darcie quietly hugged me a little bit harder than she normally would. As I said "Darcie, it's time for mummy to go to work and for you to sit with your friends" she hugged me for two solid minuets, nuzzled into me. I embraced her, and just closed my eyes and suddenly felt so overwhelmed!

 We had an amazing summer and I think Darcie loved spending so much quality time with her mummy and daddy. This little embrace felt like she was saying a silent "thank you". She then pulled away and said, "love you mummy, bye now" and off she went and sat with her friends ready for breakfast. It was a strange moment, the nursery drop off is usually so rushed- and she is not normally fazed in the slightest. Though there were no tears (that would be incredibly out of character), I couldn't help but feel a slight pang of guilt as I waved at her through the window. 

On the way to work, I couldn't help but think about that moment. We have been so incredibly lucky that we have been able to give Darcie so many amazing experiences, and that has only come from hard work and generosity of loved ones. I went from feeling ever so overwhelmed with guilt to feeling so overwhelmed with happiness. 

Life is a funny thing.

Hope you have all had a fab Monday!

Mummy B xoxox

Not so autumnal walk & autumn activity

This morning I messaged my Mum asking her if she fancied a nice autumnal walk through the forest - except it actually turned out to be blooming beautiful! The sun was shining, and feeling very warm whilst we walked, so warm we needed an ice-cream! The aim of our walk was to collect some foliage, leaves and flowers for an autumnal activity. Hopefully we can use them for another activity for later on in the week too!

So anyway, back to the walk... We popped to Knettishall Heath, our local forest walk and decided to do the Heathland walk - its was 2.5 miles long and Darcie virtually walked it all!

We spent sometime taking some photographs, letting lady and Darcie explore nature . We even stumbled across some grazing ponies and a hungry caterpillar!

Some of the photo's we tried out included this one of Darcie and my mum. Last year we took a similar one in the exact same spot...

Can't believe how much Darcie has changed - time goes by way too quickly as a parent. I'm sure my mum would agree, in fact I think all mum's would agree time goes too quickly when you have little ones.

My mum also managed to take this beautiful picture...

I think its hilarious! Darcie looks so grumpy - but I'm having a hoot! hehe!

So, once our lovely walk was over and we had collected a bag of leaves, we headed home to create some art!

 Unfortunately, someone was a little too tired to get too into the arts & crafts. But we managed to do some leaf rubbings...

Like I said, we are hoping to do some more artwork using autumnal  leaves maybe even some printing using leaves. For now, we will stick with our pretty leaf rubbings.

How have you spent your Sunday? I'm now off to relax and help my mother set up her own blog!

Mummy B xoxox