As a breastfeeding Mum it can be difficult to find clothes to match your usual style, you need to think about easy access to the milk machines and you need to be comfortable too.  I never thought I would say this but one of the hardest things I find about adjusting my style for breastfeeding is the size of my boobs, I always thought I would love to have ample bosoms but it’s not as much fun as I thought it would be.  I know it’s my fat that makes me look fat but bigger boobs definitely goes some way to adding to the feeling of looking larger than life.  With my previous two babies I have (sadly) gone for comfort over style but this time around I really want to make the most of it all, Jelly Bean is my last baby and I want to feel better about the way I look this time so that I don’t feel the pressure to give up breastfeeding early.  With this pregnancy I tried to dress more feminine and I felt better wearing dresses, as the summer is approaching I still want to wear dresses but I have found breastfeeding dresses quite hard to come across so I’m going to share with you my favourites . . .

The Stella Dress

From Babes with Babies

Mummy tummy number three has proved a little harder to shift, it turns out that the elasticity definitely dwindles with age and number of pregnancies so the Stella Dress has been perfect for disguising my mummy tummy.  It hangs from the breast and falls into a bubble hem at the bottom.  It is so versatile it can be worn alone as a dress or as a tunic over skinny jeans or leggings and it looks fabulous, really funky and flattering.  Breastfeeding is really easy and discreet as access is hidden in the pleats at the front of the dress.  This is a dress which I will be wearing long after breastfeeding has finished.

It is also worth pointing out how beautifully packaged this dress came, even with rose buds and a chocolate!! Perfect if you’re considering buying as a gift.

Navy Stripe Maternity & Nursing Maxi Dress

From JoJo Maman Bebe

I love a Maxi Dress, they are great for covering up pasty white legs after the long winter, they are great for keeping cool on a hot summer’s day and they are really easy to dress up or down to suit your occasion.  I am also a big fan of ‘nautical stripes’ it looks great when accessorised with red and this maxi dress from JoJo Maman Bebe is just perfect for breastfeeding.  The mock wrap top discreetly covers openings at the side of the breast to make breastfeeding easy and you looking fab all at the same time.

Sleeveless Nursing Dress

From The Essential One

Summer IS approaching, every now and then we get a little glimpse of sunshine so we want to keep cool but look good too and that’s where this sleeveless nursing dress from Essential One is perfect.  It’s great to wear alone or teamed with leggings for a completely different look.  Again this dress has a mock wrap top which is great for discreetly covering side access to the breasts for feeding.

Red Knee Length Dress with Honeycomb Bibee

From Bibee Dresses

I have reviewed the Bibee Dresses previously when I was still pregnant with Jelly Bean, I loved it then as a maternity dress and I love it even more now as a nursing dress.  The Bibee is a genius design and makes breastfeeding easy and discreet.  I love the pockets in the dress and I have just seen on their website that they have loads of new designs including maxi dresses.  I LOVE this new red dress, there’s nothing like red to make you feel fabulous!

DISCLAIMER: I have been sent these four breastfeeding dresses to review free of charge for the purpose of this post.  All words and opinions are my own, I have not been instructed what to write.  You may not copy any part of my work without my permission.

The post Top breastfeeding dresses! appeared first on Mummy Matters.

A few weeks ago Hubby underwent ‘the snip’ as our family is now complete.  Obviously his nether regions were a little *ahem* delicate after this procedure and the Doctor who treated him suggested that he keep icing his ‘nuts and bolts’ with frozen peas to reduce swelling and bruising.  Being the dutiful wife I popped to the shops and bought him a small, large, extra large bag of peas and he used them appropriately for a day and a half and they did their job.  Now you never know when you are next going to need an ice pack for bruises and injuries so we left the peas in the freezer in a food bag so that we knew which peas NOT to use when cooking.

Fast forward a few weeks to this evening and my Mother and Father-in-Law came over for the afternoon/evening to collect the children from school as I was away for the day and cooked a scrummy shepherds pie for tea for all of us.  Can you see where this story is going yet?

As everyone sat down to tea, conversation flowed and they all (I still wasn’t home) tucked into their wholesome meal.  MrsG commented to Hubby that she had boiled the peas for ages but they still tasted a little bit tough to which Hubby replied “they should be ok, they’re Birds Eye and I only bought them on Monday”.  MrsG said “they were in a food bag?”.

YES – you guessed it!!!

Image courtesy of antpkr / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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For the last two years my family and I have enjoyed some really fun days out at Lollibop, the festival for little people and we are fully intending on going again this year.  However, this year the event will be taking place at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and promises to be bigger and better than ever before.  Check out what’s happening this year at Lollibop – you’d be mad to miss out!

Joining some of the hottest names in kids entertainment, as well as hundreds of activities, workshops and interactive demos is the Mr Men and Little Miss Village Green Event and Shaun the Sheep’s Championsheeps!

The ever-popular Mr Men will be hosting a fun maypole activity area and favourite characters such as Mr Bump, Mr Tickle and Little Miss Sunshine will be meeting and greeting fans at the Mr Men and Little Miss reading hubs.

Shaun the Sheep will be personally on hand at the Championsheeps with sheepy shenanigans including Shirley’s Pie-athalon, the Naughty Pig’s Sack Race and Get Fit with the Flock. Kids and parents are ‘wool-come’ to get involved!

Other big names confirmed so far, include:

– LolliBop favourites Dick and Dom return with their special mix of madcap games, songs, jokes and a foam pie or two…

- Peppa Pig will be at the festival all weekend meeting and greeting all her little fans

- Sid Sloane and Andy Day will be hosting their very own Big Birthday Bash and everyone is invited! Expect lots of energetic songs and silliness and plenty of audience participation

– Watch and learn how to ‘Copy Poppy’ with Poppy Cat on the Lolli Live stage

- Straight from Nickelodeon to the Lolli Live Stage, The Go! Go! Go! Show are bringing brand new pop songs, catchy, easy-to-learn dance moves and loads of laughs

- Sing and dance along with the adorable Cloudbabies mini show

- Older LolliBoppers will love The Diary of a Wimpy Kid activity, which include exclusive clips of the author Jeff Kinney talking about the books and a master class showing how he draws the characters. There’s also a Wimp Wars quiz

- Experience the life-size Transformer Optimus Prime Truck, along with the Transformers Station; showcasing the new Beast Hunters toys, viewings of the cartoon series Transformers Prime and free green screen pictures

- Witness the amazing wildlife showcase with National Geographic Kids Animal Man

- Laugh along with hilarious antics from the amazing 8ft Titan the Robot

Returning LolliBoppers will also see old favourites mixed with new attractions for 2013, including:

LolliBop Live – Popular CBeebie presenter Alex Winters is comparing the live stage which plays host to some of the biggest names in kids entertainment, with live music and performances from stars of stage and screen

Lollipalladiam – is a live theatre tent showcasing performances from pioneering and internationally renowned companies and artists. This year it features Spooked, the critically acclaimed Broken Rose Performing Arts first show for children – a hilarious and spectacular blend of dance, theatre and spoken word featuring skeletons Molly, Jinny and Charlie.

Science Zone – Make a rocket, hold a dry ice cube, or get messy with gooey slime in the LolliBop lab – brimming with exploding experiments for pint sized guests to try! London’s Science Museum will also be attending with live demonstrations and interactive activities.

Run wild and have fun in the LolliSports area. With activities including retro favorites like swingball, hula-hoop and frisbee to football tournaments and sports day style races.

3ft and under is also making a comeback but this time is it within the brand new Itsy Bitsy Zone. Activities for babies and toddlers will include soft play, baby massage, storytelling, mini discos and much more

The Lolli Promenade – Situated on the River Lea! We’re very lucky to have a real river running through our new home, so why not relax and enjoy an ice lolly at the Lolli Promenade which also features beach hut crafts and bandstands.

Discovery Zone – will host a number of educational, interactive and hands on activities where kids can learn a new skill like beatboxing in one of the many workhops.

Lolli Stops – Enjoy crafts from puppet making, and customised fashion workshops,, to balloon modeling, and graffiti painting, there is a something to make and do around every corner.

The Meadows – A perfect spot to chill out, enjoy your lunch and watch our special street performers

There is also a wide selection of food and drink stalls at LolliBop. Extensive covered buggy parks, baby changing and breast-feeding areas are also available.

For more tickets and more information: http://www.lollibopfestival.co.uk

The post Lollibop Festival has a new venue!! appeared first on Mummy Matters.

I love this time of year when you can start to break open your summer wardrobe, walk out of the house in a morning without your coat on, you start to smell freshly cut grass AND you can start looking forward to holidays, BBQs and late nights sitting out on the patio.  It is a time full of promises of great moments to come.

It’s also a time to start looking to your wardrobe and all those items of clothing which have been shut away during the winter months.  Personally, I need to give my wardrobe a serious overhaul.  I am a rather shameless clothes hoarder, I still have clothes in my wardrobe that I was wearing in my early twenties and probably don’t stand a chance of ever fitting into again but I keep them ‘just in case’.  I know that I need to get ruthless and have a clearout.

Sometimes it’s just a matter of buying a few new pieces to pair up with last seasons items to create a whole new look.  Of course buying new clothes depends on how much money you have spare to buy those clothes but it needn’t cost a fortune.  I am a bit of a bargain hunter, I love searching through a good clothes sale to see what little gems I can find and the money that I save might either buy me another item of clothing or matching accessories to really jazz up a look.

I’m also a big fan of Gok Wan and the way that he can take something quite plain and then use old necklaces, bracelets and craft items to spruce it up and make it look designer.  Getting a new summer wardrobe doesn’t have to cost a fortune and it can actually be lots of fun to do.  You could even organise a ‘Spruce It’ party where you get together with your friends, go shopping for clothes from the sale rail only and then see who can make their bargain look the most expensive with a little bit of creativity.

What is your best tip for updating your wardrobe at minimum cost?

The post Your new summer wardrobe doesn’t have to cost a fortune! appeared first on Mummy Matters.

With the difference in ages of our children I was a little worried that we would find it difficult to keep everyone happy all of the time but as it turned out I had nothing to worry about at all.

When we checked in at the Ocean Hotel we were presented with an entertainment schedule to help us plan our days (if that’s your cup of tea), it had a really easy to follow key so that you could see at a glance what age group an activity is aimed at, when and where it starts and whether or not it is included in the price of your stay or has a nominal charge to pay.

I can honestly say that we didn’t even touch the surface of the entertainment available to us.  A typical day for us would start around 7am when the children woke up but rather than getting straight up we enjoyed chilling together in our room, reading books, listening to music and laughing together.  Once we had got ourselves ready for the day ahead we made our way down to breakfast at around 9am and filled up our tanks to give us energy for a busy day.

At 11am we would drop Curly off at the Sports Meeting Point so that he could take part in the Football Coaching session which would last for two hours and was to run every day of our holiday.  Then whilst Curly was busy doing his thing, we took the tiddlers into the Skyline Pavillion to watch a show on the main stage, anything from Thomas the Tank Engine to Pingu and more.  We saw Puppet Theatre, played in the soft play areas and had fun on the kiddy rides.

At 1pm when Curly finished his Football I would take Beanie Boy and Jelly Bean back to the hotel room so that they could have their sleeps and I could sunbathe catch up on blogging on the balcony whilst Hubby, Curly and Little Bean had fun at the fairground, in the swimming pool and in the amusement arcades.

Once the boys had woken up we spent the afternoon doing various different activities; one day we went to see a Mike the Knight show in the Character Theatre, another day we saw the amazing Jack & The Beanstalk Panto (which we personally felt was a better production than the ones we had paid to see at our local theatre at Christmas).  One afternoon we all went swimming but Jelly Bean wasn’t keen (he hasn’t quite learnt to like the water yet) so I couldn’t really get involved although it was fun to watch from the comfort of a sun lounger.  Hubby, Curly and the tiddlers loved it, Curly was able to go on all the slides with the friend he had made at football (he particularly loved the Spacebowl Flume) whilst Hubby, Little Bean and Beanie Boy enjoyed going on the big white wavy slide again and again and again!!

At around 4.30pm we would return to our room to have a little downtime before getting changed for our evening meal (more on food in another post) and then heading back to the Skyline Pavillion for Tots Disco and shows by the Skyline Gang and then on some evenings we would venture over to the Centre Stage for evening entertainment depending upon how tired the children were.  One evening we enjoyed a Tom Jones and Tina Turner tribute act who sounded unbelievably like their stars.  The one thing which I really loved about all the entertainment was how the red coats engaged with the tiddlers and even remembered their names.  How they manage to remember so many children’s names is beyond me but they did.  Little Bean was a like a little magnet for red coats, she always wanted to sit or dance right by their sides.

Each evening we would finish off with a visit to the slot machines so the children could spend their holiday money.  Beanie Boy was a natural, he would sit quite nonchalantly on top of the slot machines casually dropping his pennies in as heaps of them would drop straight out of the bottom whilst poor Little Bean would concentrate hard on getting her pennies in at just the right time and rarely reap any rewards.  When she eventually did win, you’d have been mistaken for thinking she had won the lottery not a mere 30p!

On the last day of our Butlins break we realised that all the plans we had made to visit local sites such as Arundel Castle and Bognor beach had been completely forgotten.  At around 4pm we decided to pop up to the beach to see what we had missed and felt a slight pang that we hadn’t made it but then we’d had such a fun time on resort that it hadn’t even crossed our minds and it means of course that we have even more reasons to return to Butlins Bognor Regis again.

DISCLAIMER: My family and I attended Butlins Bognor Regis from Monday to Friday free of charge for the purpose of this post.  All words, opinions and images are my own.  I have not been instructed what to write.  You may not copy my work without my permission.

The post Family Entertainment at Butlins – Part 2 appeared first on Mummy Matters.

Who can resist a cute cuddly teddy?  Not me, that’s for sure!!  Hubby is always complaining that our tiddlers have too many teddies but they love them.  Even Curly at 11 years old still sleeps with a bed full of teddies, so many in fact that you would think it would be uncomfortable.  Little Bean and Beanie Boy are no different although Beanie Boy tends to sleep on top of all his teddies so that really can’t be comfortable at all.  Each of their teddies has a meaning though, a particular day out or a special celebration and I can name each and every one of them so I defy Hubby when he suggests they have a clearout.

When I was asked if we would like to review the four new characters to join the ‘My Blue Nose Friends’ range I couldn’t say no and I’m so pleased that I didn’t as they are seriously cute!

The My Blue Nose Friends plush characters each have their own individual personalities and are sure to capture fans imagination.  Smoo the Highland Cow will clamber up the steepest slope to make sure she stays by her owners’ side, while Comedy the Hyena will have fans in tears of laughter as she just loves to make everyone smile!  Spirit the Lemur is bursting with energy but will always have time for a quiet moment with his owner and Twist the enchanting Snake has a spellbinding personality and will conjure the perfect solution should there be a problem!

All four animals are really cute and cuddly, made from seriously soft and plush fabric.  They are small enough for little fingers and will be sure to put a smile on your little (or big) one’s face.

Visit the ‘Official My Blue Nose Friends’ Facebook page to join in with the buzz and discuss the first new character launches of 2013.

This summer, My Blue Nose Friends celebrates its fifth anniversary with the launch of four further Friends, as well as a host of fun events for fans.

The super cute collectable characters are available from bycarteblanche.com, Amazon, Clintons, WH Smiths and Independent Retailers nationwide, RRP £5

DISCLAIMER: We were sent the four characters for the purpose of this post.  All words, images and opinions are my own, I have not been instructed what to write.  You may not copy my work without my permission.

The post Review: New My Blue Nose Friends appeared first on Mummy Matters.

You’ll have to excuse the novice videography skills here, I’m still trying to find a movie making software that I like.  This is just a short video to give you a little taster of just some of the entertainment we enjoyed whilst at Butlins in Bognor Regis.

DISCLAIMER: My family and I attended Butlins Bognor Regis from Monday to Friday for the purpose of this post.  All work is my own, I have not been instructed what to write.  You may not copy my work without my permission.

The post Butlins Family Entertainment – Part 1 – A little video fun! appeared first on Mummy Matters.

Little Bean is a typical little girl, she LOVES dolls!!  Baby dolls, Barbie dolls, boy dolls, she just loves dolls!!  I was the same when I was little, I loved nothing more than playing with all my dolls, changing their outfits, doing their hair and acting out all kinds of different scenarios.  When I was little there was NOTHING like the Bratzillaz Magic Night Out Dolls, they are just so glam and trendy.  I can see that lots of people might not be happy about these for their little girls because they have tattoos, high heels, vampy clothes and over the top make-up but at the end of the day, it’s just a doll and Little Bean only sees them as a doll at the moment.  At 5 years old she is a long way off wanting to think about tattoos.  She is just starting to show an interest in make-up but I only let her wear a very small amount for special occasions.

We were sent Cloetta Spelletta for the purpose of this post which was handy as Little Bean already had Sashabella Paws (who I love!).  They are both fully poseable and when you twist them at the waist their arms wave around as if they are dancing.  Also included in the pack is a hair brush, stand which holds them upright and a light-up broomstick which you can change the end to make it into a wand for you.

As with most toys these days, the dolls were so securely attached to their packaging I nearly needed a wrench to get them out, Hubby made the mistake of using scissors to cut all the ties for Cloetta and accidentally cut the elastic band which holds Cloetta’s witches had on so now Little Bean can’t use it which is a shame.  Both dolls came wearing removable clothes, shoes and jewellery but like most dolls were naked within a matter of minutes and now Sashabella only has one shoe whilst Cloetta has lost her earrings and cape  but Little Bean doesn’t mind, it all adds to creating her own style for her dolls.  At the end of the day girls just want to have fun and these Bratzillaz are providing her with plenty of fun at the moment.

DISCLAIMER: We were sent a Cloetta Spelletta doll for the purpose of this post.  This is my own work and opinions, I have not be instructed what to write.  You may not copy my work without my permission.

The post Review: Bratzillaz Magic Night Out Dolls appeared first on Mummy Matters.

You would have to have been sleeping under a rock if you hadn’t realised that the Royals are soon to be welcoming the pitter patter of tiny feet.  Yes William and Kate’s baby is due in the next few weeks and there is much speculation over what they will name their first son or daughter.  To join in with some of the fun BabyTV.com carried out a Nationwide Survey involving 1500 UK parents asking what they thought the baby would be named, this is what they thought;

Diana 27.52%

Philip 24%

Elizabeth 18.35%

Charles 7%

William 7%

Who made the final decision when you chose names for your children and how did you decide on their names?  I had dreamt of Little Bean’s name long before I even met Hubby but thankfully he liked it and it stuck, when it came to Beanie Boy we struggled to find a name that we liked and then one evening Hubby came home and suggested it and I loved it straight away.  Dare I say it when it came to choosing Jelly Bean’s name, I was watching a Celebrity TV Game Show when one of the guests was telling the host the names of his children and my ears perked up at the name of his son, decision made!  According to the survey almost 60% of British Mums choose their child’s first name whilst Dad’s have a mere 21% influence and grandparents are way down the pecking order at just a 4% influence.

Mummy Matters Competition Time!

Now I have an opportunity for you to enter two great competitions, one here on my site to win a Baby TV Package worth £60 containing these 6 DVDs to keep your little one entertained.

Entry is so simple;

• All you need to do is enter the main competition at BabyTV.com you can read the details of the competition below.  Once you have entered the competition on BabyTV I would like you to come back here and leave a comment below telling me that you did so and the name that you created.

For extra entries to my competition you can do any of the following and leave a separate comment below letting me know that you did so;

• Google+ this post using the widget at the bottom of the post (let me know that you did so in a comment below with your Google+ name/id)
• ‘Pin It’ – using the widget at the bottom of the post and then let me know that you did so in a comment below with your Pinterest name/id.
• Tweet about this competition including @MummyMatters and the URL of this competition – tell me you did so in a comment below with your Twitter ID.
• ‘Like’ Mummy Matters on Facebook and tell me that you did so in a comment below with your Name/ID.

Giveaway Closes 11.59pm on 28th June 2013!!!!!

Terms and Conditions

1. All entrants must be over 18 years of age
2. Entries are open to UK residents only unless otherwise stated.
3. Prizes can only be sent to a valid UK address unless otherwise stated.
4. Only entries received by the closing date will be submitted to the competition.
5. Winners will be chosen at random from all valid entries within 14days of the closing date.
6. Winners will be contacted via email names displayed on our website.
7. The Judges decision is final and no correspondence will be entered in to.
8. There is no cash alternative to any prize.
9. Mummy Matters is compliant with the data protection act.
10. Our policy is such that we will not pass on your details to any third party without your prior consent.

Baby TV Competition Time!!!

Challenging convention, Baby TV is throwing down the gauntlet to British parents and asking them to create a NEW name for a boy or a girl.

Baby TV is launching a competition challenging you to create a new name for a boy and a girl together with an explanation behind it e.g. Cathliam (a combination of Prince William and Catherine Middleton).

A Right Royal Prize

The winning name – be it the cleverest or the one that make’s us smile the most – will literally put their child in the picture with prizes you’ll want to keep forever.

You’ll win:

· A framed portrait of your child in the style of their favourite Baby TV character.

· A soft toy made in the likeness of your child’s cartoon.

· The cartoon image on a series of memorabilia – a shirt/ a pillowcase/ a mug and a water bottle.

About BabyTV

Founded in 2003, BabyTV offers 24 hours of top-quality content created by educational experts for babies and toddlers, in a commercial-free environment. It was designed to support parents by providing shows that explore early learning themes through fun, with an emphasis on parent-child interaction. A part of FOX International Channels since 2007, BabyTV airs in over 100 countries globally via 600+ affiliate platforms, and in 18 languages, and also provides its content via VOD, Mobile and Broadband offerings. Visit www.babytv.com

The post Royal Baby Naming Competition – ending soon!! appeared first on Mummy Matters.

It’s been a while since I have had the opportunity to review anything for Fisher Price but being one of my favourite brands I was keen to see what they had to offer.  I still loved the Fisher Price baby bouncer we had purchased for Beanie Boy so we decided to use it again for Jelly Bean until we were offered the Discover n Grow Bouncer.

On first impressions of receiving the Bouncer I was shocked by how small the box was, I wondered if this too meant that the bouncer would be small but my fears were allayed once the bouncer was built as it is a generous size.  The instructions were really simple to follow and the bouncer was ready for it’s test-ride very quickly.

• I love the lovely bright colours of Fisher Price products, it’s a great unisex mixture of colours which is brilliant if you are intending on expanding your family further because you will certainly have a product that is built to last for more than just one baby.
• The brightly coloured toys quickly captured Jelly Bean’s attention and had him smiling as if they were his best friends who had dropped in for the day.
• The toy arms are great for encouraging Jelly Bean to reach out and interact rather than just laying back to watch the world go by.
• Toys include: a rattle ball bee, a clacker monkey, a spinning penguin and a swaying butterfly.
• When baby gets tired you can move the toys out of the way and switch the calming vibrations on to soothe baby to sleep.  This is actually something which I never use on any of our baby products as all three of my children have hated vibrating seats but I do know that many babies love it.  At least the option is there.
• In the unfortunate event that your baby is sick whilst in their chair or has one of those exploding nappy moments in the comfort of their bouncer you’ll be pleased to know that the seat covers can be easily removed and machine washed so they are as good as new again.

For the full range of Fisher Price bouncers have a look on their website.

DISCLAIMER: We were sent the Fisher Price Discover n Grow baby bouncer for the purpose of this post, I have not been instructed what to write.  All words and images are my own, you may not copy them without my permission.

The post Review: Fisher Price Discover n Grow Baby Bouncer appeared first on Mummy Matters.