I’m not sure I believe in certain scents being enough to de-stress me.  I’ve used Rescue Remedy and other flower remedies in the past with little effect and I certainly wasn’t convinced that a combination of lime oil, bergamot and geranium would be enough to keep me calm.

What I was sure of was that I needed something.  Running around after two kids and a husband is stressful enough as it is; adding work and a killer commute into the mix was enough to send me over the edge.  And that was before I really got into my current role.  The stress levels have soared and whilst I probably do my best work under pressure it’s not a sustainable option. 

Then along came MamaBabyBliss and their Bliss Stick Uplifting Oil.  I was curious to see if it would be any better than other things I’ve tried but I didn’t hold out much hope.

I was wrong. 

The Bliss Stick is a small roll-on that you dab on your pulse points for an instant natural pick me up.  Its all-natural ingredients include lime oil to lift depression and energize a tired mind while easing breathing and assisting digestion, bergamot for depression, feeling fed-up, respiratory problems, colds and flu, PMS and SAD and geranium to help relieve stress, mild depression, PMS, anxiety and tension, menopausal problems and for general energizing.

The products is manufactured in the UK, are not tested on animals, are free of chemicals and are safe for breastfeeding mothers. They do not contain mineral oil, paraffinum liquidum, petrolatum, Sodium lauryl/laureth sulphate or parabens. They are packaged in glass bottles for easy recycling with bio-degradable bubble-wrap for protection.

And it actually works!

I’ve been religiously dabbing the stuff on my wrists and I’ve noticed such a difference in my stress levels.  The oil’s scent can seem a bit strong, especially if you use a lot of it, but as long as you’re not wearing perfume it’s not a problem. 

The Bliss Stick Uplifting Oil costs £5 – a small price to pay – and is available from www.mamababybliss.com.  It’s part of a range of natural pampering products for pregnancy, babies and mothers, all of which are made with natural active ingredients that are ethically sourced and are entirely free of chemicals found in similar products.  Whilst you’re visiting the site why not take a look around and check out the new video content including baby massage & yoga, pregnancy relaxation, how to avoid stretchmarks, post natal exercise and post natal relaxation.

You could say I’m creatively inept.  Sure, I can craft words but that’s just about it.  I try my hand at cross-stitch and inevitably bite off more than I can chew.  Like the time I tried to stitch a wizard and got it so wrong that I had to hand the piece off to Nan for her to correct and finish.  Lace making, calligraphy, card making and other crafts have all been successfully tried by members of my family.  I can just about sew a button back on a shirt.

So when I agreed to review some craft items from Docrafts I’m not quite sure what I was thinking.  Oh, I remember, that TB would do it.  Despite my ineptitude he’s managed to get a half decent eye on him and will happily spend hours with glue, sellotape, paper and scissors. 

We started out with cards.  It was father’s day and I realised that we hadn’t got the husband a card, or the father.  Oops.  My fail.  I set TB to work with pre-sized card and envelopes.  He looked at the stamp marked ‘sent with love’ and realised there was no stamp pad to use with it.  I may not be good with craft but I can be ingenious, getting him to colour the stamp with a felt tip.  Maybe a stamp pad would’ve been less dangerous.  Soon we had two cards and two envelopes bearing the gushing sentiment.  Stickers next.  Although the World Cup was already a sore point with the father, TB carefully designed a football field with the stickers.  The husband got fish and TB was proud of his work. 

We also got calendar sheets.  Family should look away now because they’ll all be getting TB-designed calendars for Christmas.  I definitely wasn’t brave enough to let him loose with the pinking shears and there were some other bits that were too good for the hands of a six year old.  I might try my hand at making a few cards; if I fail I can always get Nan to come and sort me out. 

Docrafts don’t just sell craft supplies, it’s an entire crafting world.  They also sent me a copy of their magazine, Creativity, and I’ve seen a few things I might have to try.  If the site and mag don’t give you enough to try you could always check out the Docrafts blog for inspiration.  Now you’ve got no excuse not to help your kids with their crafty projects.

I’ve been a pumping mama for six weeks now and I won’t lie: it’s not easy.  I’d been using a great pump but it just wasn’t cutting it: battling with the effects of tiredness, caffeine and lack of time things just weren’t working out.

Don’t get me wrong, the Avent Single Electronic Breast Pump is great.  But it is only a single and regardless of how efficient a pump is, your milk will only come out so fast.  I needed to turbo charge.

Avent sent me their Isis iQ Duo Twin Electronic Breast Pump to review; I think I’m in love.

This baby comes with a lot of accessories and I must admit I was overwhelmed when I saw the size of the box; how on earth was I going to get it all to work each day?  Once I’d gotten everything unpacked from the box and into its black microfiber travel bag I felt a bit like Mary Poppins; all these bits and such a small bag in comparison.  To be really specific, the box contained the electronic pump body, electric lead and tubing, four bottles (two 4 oz, two 9 oz), two pump attachments, two opaque bags (big enough to fit two bottles into), two Thinsulate bags (again, big enough to fit two bottles into), four ice packs and a handy two pack of Avent disposable breast pads.  Try saying all that in one breath.

The pump attachments are the same as those for the Single Electronic Breast Pump, the only difference being a slight change in the silicone diaphragm to allow for the creation of a vacuum rather than a more manual operation.   Even so, the attachments come with spare diaphragm and manual handle just in case you want to switch to a manual pump.  The tubing plugs into the electronic pump body through a lead that resembles your telephone cable and also via another plug.  The second can be quite stiff to insert but once it’s plugged in there’s no budging.  One half of the tubing connects to a handle for control by the electronic memory, the other a more basic attachment which fits onto the diaphragm.  Just like the Single Electronic Breast Pump you start pumping manually as the electronic memory learns your pumping rhythm but the one handle controls the two pump attachments.

The only difference I’ve noticed between the ISIS iQ Duo Twin is that the pumping suction seems to be a little stronger but in no way uncomfortable.  I’d imagine this is due to the stronger motor but in this situation strength doesn’t seem to be a bad thing.  I don’t have time to mess around and the ISIS iQ Duo Twin gets straight down to business.  My record is 10 oz in just under 20 minutes and I’m sure I can beat that if only I could get some sleep.

The black microfiber travel bag is a bit like a laptop bag in that everything has its place.  It’s more than big enough to fit all of the parts of the pump inside and I pushed it so far as to include my laptop, power cable, lunch and cardi.  It doesn’t just work for the pump either; did you see that black bag I was toting around at Cybermummy?  Thank you Avent for making sure I was stylishly accessorised.  However, as every commuter knows, the bag you cart around on public transport can make a lot of difference to your journey, especially when it’s contents aren’t particularly light.  By the time I’d added in those extras my shoulder was rather weighed down.  Once pulled around in the crush of the tube I found it wasn’t the most practical of options.  Perhaps in the future Avent may consider making a rucksack an option.

Not only does the ISIS iQ Duo Twin come with all these accessories, it’s also accompanied by a handy Guide to Breastfeeding DVD.  While seasoned breastfeeding mothers will probably have little use for its contents it’s definitely contains useful information for first timers.

At £249.99 the ISIS iQ Duo Twin may seem expensive but when you consider all the extra accessories you would otherwise be buying the additional cost more than pays for itself.  I’m sure all pumping mamas would agree that they’d rather be breastfeeding their child than pumping, but if you ask me, the ISIS iQ Duo Twin is the next best thing.

We all know how difficult it can be finding suitable activities to do with the family around the country and with the summer holidays upon us there’s nothing worse than being stuck inside the house with the kids climbing the walls.  Silver Cross Days Out is a website dedicated to helping parents, families and guardians find places to take their little ones to throughout the UK.

The site has been pre-populated with 500 destinations and families will be able to search for specific types of attraction such as zoos, parks, aquariums, museums or places to eat. Alternatively you can enter a postcode to discover what attractions there are nearby.  Because Silver Cross Days Out is a community site, parents and guardians will be able to rate and review the venues, as well as adding their own destinations.

So when you’re looking for things to do over the holidays check out Silver Cross Days Out first.  And once you’re back home, why not add your own review and help other parents out.

We’re lucky in that Little Mister sleeps quite well.  He naps regularly (even if sometimes those naps are catnaps), he tends to go down easily at night.  He sleeps through.  Pretty much.  Our issue is with the 05:00-06:00 hour.  That hour’s far from perfect.

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I first visited Portsmouth Historic Dockyards when I was 10, maybe 11 years old.  In those days there wasn’t a great deal there; the HMS Warrior 1860, HMS Victory and the Mary Rose being sprayed down with salt water – the parents didn’t bother with anything else and we just followed.  The day out held interest for me only because we’d recently studied the Mary Rose at school.

Portsmouth itself, however, holds a special place in my heart: it was where the husband and I first met (in real life, that is).  That first day we shopped in town and walked out to Gunwharf Quays late afternoon.  Our first flat was in Portsmouth and we frequently visited Gunwharf and loved the Victorian Christmas festival.

When I saw that Have A Lovely Time were looking for someone to visit the Dockyards¹ I whipped up my hand and shouted Me! Me! Me!  But I didn’t hear anything back.  I should have known the husband would have gotten in first.

In 15 years Portsmouth Historic Dockyards have changed a fair bit and it now makes a completely packed day out.

We started in Action Stations, a museum which  brings the modern Royal Navy directly to you with an exciting mixture of physical challenges, simulators and technological experiments.  There was plenty for kids to try out and help them understand about how little corners of a naval ship works.  The upstairs of Action Stations is more scientific where the downstairs is more hands-on, allowing you to try things like shooting helicopters out of the sky (TB and I totally thrashed the husband!), pilot a helicopter and activities based on a Royal Marines assault course.

Next we visited the HMS Victory, the ship on which Nelson sailed and died.  I should’ve guessed it wouldn’t be easy when we had to leave the buggy outside (there are no locks so don’t forget to take a buggy clip!).  Getting on to the ship wasn’t a problem, nor was getting up any of the steps, but getting down again, that was a different matter.  Depending on which area of the ship you’re on, the stairs range from steep to might as well be a ladder.  Not exactly practical when you’re carrying a baby; I feel for families who’ve got two or more non-or unsteady walkers.  Despite the inherent difficulties with traversing centuries old ships, they’re an excellent way of learning about the past.  Even TB, with his limited six year old attention span was captivated by the simplest of things.

A day out in Portsmouth wouldn’t be complete by only visiting the Historic Dockyards.  We wandered over to Gunwharf Quays and went up in the Spinnaker Tower.  Soaring 170 metres above Portsmouth Harbour and the Solent, the Spinnaker Tower is taller than the London Eye, Blackpool Tower and Big Ben.  In 2003, when the tower was being constructed, I worked the 06:00 shift at one of the stores in Gunwharf Quays.  In the mornings, as I rode my bike to work, roads would be closed to accomodate double-length lorries transporting pieces for the Tower.  If it hadn’t been so early in the morning, Portsmouth would have been in chaos, and it didn’t surprise me on our return to the UK in 2004 that the Tower still hadn’t been completed.  The Spinnaker Tower opened in 2005 and its high-speed lift sends you up to the viewing towers at 4 metres per second – just a little scary.

Of course if you really want scary, you could try walking across the glass floor on View Deck 1.  At 100 metres high it’s certainly a drop to the ground below.  If views across the land are more your thing, you can see for up to 23 miles around 350° of the Tower.  If your day out isn’t quite as sunny as ours was, you could always invoke the Tower’s view guarantee.  If you can’t see the 3 Solent forts on the day of your visit, the Tower will issue each member of your party with a ticket to return for free within three months.²

There’s always something going on at Gunwharf Quays and until 29 August, unlike the rest of Portsmouth, Gunwharf has a sandy beach complete with traditional Carribean food and drink vendors and a steel band.  There’s more than enough to keep your kids occupied whilst your other half watches them and you go off to sample the events.  TB was lucky enough to go on the water walkers, or hamster balls as he called them – my aim is to be under 10 stone by the end of the summer so I can try them too³.

And if, like us, you can’t be bothered to cook after your packed day out, there’s more than enough places to eat at Gunwharf.  We rocked up to Chiquitos as TB wanted fajitas, but having regularly visited over half the bars and restaurants at the Quays both the husband and I can safely say there are no bad ones.

^{1: Have A Lovely Time and Tourism South East arranged and funded the day’s events as part of their ‘Beautiful South’ campaign
2: Ts&Cs apply
3: Keep your rude comments to yourselves!
We had the pleasure of Emily ‘BabyRambles’ O’s company; unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to leave the men and kids and go shopping!}

Little Mister has a bald patch.  Luckily I don’t think it’s a case of the hereditary premature baldness that hits my family but his wriggling.  You see when he’s tired he rubs his head and face.  It aggravates his eczema when he rubs with his hands but he also rubs the back of his head on the surface he’s lying on, thus the bald patch.

I was hoping that he’d stop doing it as he got older and that as his hair grew the bald patch would disappear but neither seemed to be happening.  When Theraline offered to send me their new Baby Pillow I thought it would be worth a try. 

The Theraline Baby Pillow is a comfortable and safe way to protect your baby’s head and preserve its natural shape.  Babies’ heads are prone to developing deformities in the first few months of life as the bones of the skull are so soft and the long periods spent lying down often flatten the skull.  You might find that as a baby, your parents placed you to sleep on your front often, and in terms of babies’ skulls this might be a more preferable sleeping position.  However it’s widely recommended that babies sleep on their backs to avoid the risks of cot death. 

The Theraline Baby Pillow’s anatomically shaped and perforated high-tech fabric supports your baby’s head evenly and effectively.  The pillow is made of a special arrangement of three different types of breathable fabric and maintains an even temperature around your baby’s head. The high-tech fabric used is so open that, even when your baby begins to turn and the head comes to rest in the pillow‘s hollow, he or she can still breathe easily through.  I was dubious at first, especially given how heavy Little Mister’s head seems to be, but the fabric does actually hold up to weight resting upon it and is breathable even when weighed upon. 

I gave the pillow six weeks and started to notice a visible reduction in Mr A’s bald patch.  The hair started to feel softer and it was definitely growing back.  I wanted to give the pillow a few more weeks to really see its effect but things didn’t go entirely according to plan.  Little Mister started moving a lot at night and would frequently end up with his head away from the pillow.  We’re still using it but the Baby Pillow often ends up across the cot.  If only we’d started using it earlier!

When used from birth the Theraline Baby Pillow could prevent any head deformities from occurring; when used when deformities have already occurred the Baby Pillow helps to accelerate their correction .  The Baby Pillow is washable at 60° and suitable from birth to 12 months.  You can purchase the Theraline Baby Pillow from the Theraline shop priced £19.90.

Breakfast is a battle in our house but it’s one I firmly believe in.  TB eats so much each day, grazing constantly (I’m told it’s a problem with boys in our family; the brother is just the same), that I hate to think what he’d be like without breakfast.  Even so, at 08:00 when the husband’s trying to get him out for school, he never seems ready for breakfast.  There’s few things I enjoy about my commute to work but no longer having to cajole TB into eating is one of them.

According to Weetabix one in five parents would rather resort to having their children eat anything at all than the thought of them leaving the house on an empty stomach.  My hand goes up; I admit I’m one of those parents.  We’ve gone some way to making breakfast healthy by avoiding too many nasties in our cupboards.  Much to the husband’s disgust I avoid buying pancakes and waffles and I make sure there’s a variety of cereals and toast toppings in the house.  Choice is key, but just like dealing with a toddler, you can’t give TB too much choice.

Weetabix sent us a box of their new Chocolate Weetabix to try out.  I will admit that I’m not even going to go there.  I can just about stomach Weetabix if I fill the bowl with something like raisins but I’d rather not have to.  TB really likes it though.  His favourite variety is the Minis with chocolate chips in, one of the boxes not available in our local (and too small to be of any use) supermarket.  He was rather dubious at first – I don’t think he really felt like eating Weetabix on Thursday morning – but he tried it after I told him it would probably be like Weetabix mixed with chocolate powder.

Instead of me telling you what TB thought, we decided that he should tell you himself*.  With a few classic moments that will definitely be shown to future girlfriends.**

^{*You probably shouldn’t look to TB for any confirmation on the ingredients of Chocolate Weetabix, or for any concrete information on what it’s actually like.}
**OK, I’m probably not that cruel.

I wanted a nice wooden high chair, the sort without a tray that would sit right up at the dining table.  I pictured the four of us sitting together eating dinner without the monstrosity of plastic trays or splayed out high chair legs.  What I didn’t consider was our lack of a table.  Sure, we have one.  It’s surface is folded down and it acts more as a sideboard and dumping ground.  Our chairs aren’t matching wooden ones but folding plastic from Ikea.

Sian fixed us up with a Prince Lionheart bébéPOD plus and although I’m sure she never intended it to be used instead of a high chair, it’s become our solution.

The bébéPOD is a soft and squidgy first seat which has been ergonomically design to help your baby learn to sit.  Like other first seats your baby’s bodyweight helps position them and fix them into the chair.  The bébéPOD comes with a pommel, an adjustable tray, two reusable placemats and a toy which fits into the tray or can be used alone or you can buy the bébéPOD on its own and add the accessories later.

I loved just about everything about the bébéPOD.  It comes in bright colours which I consider essential.  My baby’s a boy, not a gooey little infant to be cooed over; we do bright and bold.  You can adjust the tray so it’s closer or further from your baby depending on size and preference and its surface is smooth so no worries about food or other baby nasties getting stuck on.  It also comes with removable straps in case you want a little extra security.  We’ve removed ours for the moment but as Little Mister gets bigger they’ll go back on, just in case he manages to throw himself over.

But best of all is the toy.  Within hours it had become Mr A’s firm favourite whether on the tray or off.  In fact I’d go as far as to say I would’ve bought the bébéPOD just for the toy.

At £44.95 the bébéPOD plus is a little more expensive than similar products on the market but you get so much more for your money.  I’m going to tell all my baby-parent friends to ditch those other brands and go buy one!

When I heard that Have a Lovely Time was looking for someone to review Tankfest and the Tank Museum I jumped at the chance.  Even now I’m not entirely sure what I was thinking.  No, I remember, that both TB and the husband would love it.  I just thought it had potential to be interesting.

We started out early on Sunday morning, armed with a packed lunch, plenty of water and sun cream.  Google thought the journey would take almost two hours.  Past experience told me that three quarters of the journey could be done in an hour so I guessed an hour and a half.  What I’d forgotten was that awful traffic that hits around Rownhams.  Yeah, three hours was more like it.  Three hours stuck in that oven of a car with no air con.  We were more than a little roasted by the time we finally arrived.

We pulled into a field turned car park manned by some young lads wearing combats and TB was immediately taken with excitement.  “Marines!”  Erm no.  Cue the husband trying to explain the difference between the various armed forces before TB really managed to insult someone.  It wasn’t a long walk down to the museum but it wasn’t entirely practical either; our monster truck three wheeler buggy coped with the dusty bridleway pretty well but it was still a bumpy ride for Mr A.  The track was quite thin in places which wouldn’t have been a problem if the traffic was all going in one direction; as it was more than a few teenagers felt the need to try and shove the buggy off the path.  Our feet were filthy once we reached the road but at least it was only dust.  Had it rained in the few days before though, it would’ve been a different story.

Lunch was first order and whilst I fed Mr A, TB tried to make up his mind whether he’d rather eat or play on the mini zip wire.  Yeah, the park won out.

Whilst the displays were on hold over lunch we decided to take a look at the museum.  Despite being a massive warehouse-style building and having no apparent air con it was quite cool inside.  The tanks were absolutely crammed in but there was still plenty of room to manoeuvre the buggy around.  It did mean there was a lot of information to take in and I think after a while TB was more interested at looking rather than learning, but then at six years old, I wouldn’t expect his patience to stretch as far as reading every info board anyway.  The husband did a good job of giving him an easily digestible run down of each tank.

Now here’s the thing.  Although the husband and TB were having a whale of a time, after about the sixth tank they all seemed pretty much the same to me.  I’d have loved to spend my time wandering from tank to tank, taking in the details and the history.  Instead I was pushing the buggy, trying to get Mr A to sleep, and chasing after the boys as they raced around trying to cram everything in.  In my opinion, the Tank Museum has a lot to offer, but it shouldn’t be rushed.  There’s lots of side activities and info for kids to look at; interactive mini-displays showing things like how to aim a tank’s gun and fire when you can’t see.

Once the worst of the lunchtime heat had passed we headed back outside to the arena to watch some of the displays.  The arena is basically a large patch of grass surrounded by a moat (for want of a better word), chalk barrier and then a grass seating area.  On one of the hottest days this year so far it was perfect to sit on, but like that path down to the museum, if it had rained recently it wouldn’t have been much fun.  Also, because there was no seating, it was difficult to position the buggy without blocking the view of the other spectators.  We gave up in the end and parked Mr A by the barrier whilst the husband took photos and I slathered on more sun cream.

Despite the prospect of seeing tanks in action, the limited view for TB and the wait between vehicles whilst we listened to the history aspect was too much to keep his attention and we decided to take a look around the displays.  This was where the words living history really came to life.  Of course the baking heat did it’s best to prevent the re-creation of a WWI trench but TB was still fascinated with what it was and why it worked.  It was a good chance to get up close and talk to people who really knew their history; here were the real enthusiasts.  They could also be found amongst the stalls and if I hadn’t been there to stop them TB and the husband would probably have brought home and assortment of aged combat gear, rifles and a gas mask.

We had a fab day out and TB and the husband are already planning next year’s trip.  Next time though I won’t be the one holding the baby.