A recap...

To say that 2011 has been eventful would probably be an understatement!

Lows:

Our landlords putting our lovely house up for sale when I was 28 weeks pregnant.

New landlords deciding they no longer wanted to rent out the house a week before we moved in.

Pregnancy scare at 32 weeks with doctors saying baby would come within 12 hours.

Spending a week in hospital.

Being sent home from hospital and having to leave Finn in NICU.

Ryan starting a new job the day Finn came out of hospital and not getting to spend any time together.

Ryan losing his job.

Prospect of having to move away from friends and family.

Highs:

A very amazing uneventful pregnancy up until 32 weeks.

Finding a great house in a pretty little village.

Finn hanging on an extra 3 weeks to be delivered at 35 + 2.

Getting to meet my beautiful boy earlier than expected.

The care of the neonatal staff looking after Finn.

Leaving the hospital with Finn at 17 days old with no health problems.

Watching Finn grow every day.

Meeting some amazing new friends.

Ryan getting to spend time at home with us as a family whilst looking for work.



Pretty much every low this year has been cancelled out with a high which is always a good thing!

 

Ryan has his second interview in January so we will find out whether we need to relocate, which is a scary but exciting prospect for the new year.

May

Teeny tiny feet



June

 

July



August

September

October

November




December



Cute pic of my pup in the snow 2 years ago!

A whirlwind of 12 months!

Love Mel & Finn xx

Happy Boxing Day!

I hope you've all had a fabulous christmas! Finn was a little over whelmed but loved it.

We had a strict £30 limit for each other as so nothing interesting really to show you, however Finn has a massive mountain of toys, how we'll get them all home I don't know! I've even entertainted the idea of flying with Finn just so we free up two spaces in the car for toys.

I've been a bit photo mad the last few days so this is just a very small selection!

Love Mel & Finn xxx

Dear Santa, I have been very good this year...

and I know I'm a little late with my Christmas List but if some (any!) of these could make it under the Christmas tree then I will be a very very happy girl.

A Mulberry Bayswater (my friends boyfriend just treated her to one of these, jammy cow!)

Short Chestnut Uggs - to replace my £5 cheapies which have a mouth

A beautiful Opal ring - I've wanted an Opal ring my whole entire life, I think they are beautiful

Christian Louboutin Black Pumps - I'd kill for the red sole

Naked 2 Palette - simply gorgeous

And if I could have just one day hour with Taylor Lautner & Robert Pattinson, then I would never ask you for anything ever again.

A girl can dream!

What one thing do you wish Santa would deliver you?

 I'm taking Finn to see Arthur's Christmas tomorrow then we are off t'up North for the week to spend Christmas with Ryans family

I hope you all have a very merry Christmas lovelies.

Love Mel & Finn xxx

GlossyBox - December Review

Hi lovelies,

I thought that after a review for any yummy mummies followers, I would do a non baby related review!

I was super excited to receive this months GlossyBox, expecting it to be better than ever. So when my postman opened my front door and left it in the porch (who elses postman does this? not sure what's wrong with the letterbox!) , I was downstairs quick as a flash!

This very festive looking box lived up to my expectations (although Octobers is still my favourite). GlossyBox had gone all christmassy on us, gone was the dusky pink box in favour of a fetching Santa Claus red box.

Here's what I got in my box

MeMeMe - Seventh Heaven Facebase

Generally I don't use a primer as I haven't found one I totally love but this is fab, instantly sinks into your skin, mattifies and evens your skin tone providing a great base for your make-up. Excellent size for a sample too. Personally I don't like the smell, smells like toilet cleaner to me but a lot of people love it!

Rituals Foaming Shower Gel - Indian Rose and Sweet Almond Oil

I cannot describe how much I love this, it smells divine, like marzipan and sweeties, so does my bathroom walls after I squirted it all over them by mistake, you have been warned! The scent lingers subtly on your skin for quite some time. I don't wear perfume any more as I don't like Finn smelling of it, so this is perfect for me.

Deborah Lippmann nail polish in ‘Razzle Dazzle’

Again I love it, such a beautiful Christmassy shade, plummy purple with raspberry glitter, it is absolutely gorgeous. It also seems to be wearing very well, three days later and I only have one chip on my thumb. I also received an extra 'Stripper to go' nail varnish mit, which was handy as I'd ran out of my nail polish remover and was desperate to paint my nails in Razzle Dazzle!

Blink + Go Mascara

Not even going to waste words on this, hate it! see previous review!

Cargo lip gloss

I'm not normally one to slick on the lip gloss but as Christmas is coming up everyone wants a little sparkle. I received the shade Serengeti which is a lovely peachy shade with a shimmer running through it, a your lips but better hue.

If you would like your own GlossyBox for £10.00 plus £2.95 p&p then click here

Love Mel & Finn

MAM Review - Bite & Relax Phase 1

So the lovely ladies at MAM must of heard my cries of desperation and sent Finn one of their newest teethers, the Bite & Relax Phase 1 to review

What it does...

Unique shape helps fine tune baby's motor skills

Mini Teether for babies from 2 months plus

Extra light weight for even the smallest of babies to hold

Designed especially for front teeth

To be launched very soon (add them to facebook to be kept update!)

This teether is from 2 months + plus and is very light so even the tiniest of hands could hold it and enjoy biting on it's textures surface. Finn is still a dinky thing and sometimes struggles with larger/heavier teether so this was great for him.

Finn's hand eye coordination isn't quite what it should be with him being prem, however the design of this teether means he can hold the handle and guide it to his mouth ( er, or his eye!) very successfully.

Conveniently it comes with a sterilising box, which if you have a bubba like mine who loves to drop everything he holds then it comes in very handy! You simply fill the box with 25ml of water and ping it in a microwave at 700 - 1,000 watts for 3 minutes. Ta da, squeaky clean teether.

Now Finn enjoyed chomping on this teether, normally not many fit in that gorgeous little mouth of his as he is still the size of about three month old but this was perfect for him. Also because he is a little monkey and I think his back teeth are coming through, he kept putting the handle end in his mouth as it went deeper to reach the pesky back teeth!

We were kindly send this teether for consideration, all reviews and opinons are honest and 100% my own.

Fear not followers who are not here for Finn, I am on a blogging roll, next up GlossyBox (yes I'm aware I said that two days ago!)

Love Mel and happier Finn xxx

December GlossyBox - Blink + Go Hi-Definition Mascara

Hi Lovelies,

I do have a GlossyBox review to do this month but I thought I would start with one of the products first!

I received the full sized Blink + Go Hi-Definition Mascara//'Longer, thicker, sexier. Give your natural lashes a stunning flake-free, waterproof boost'.

This retails at £14.99 for 8g, which is more than I would normally spend and I already have my holy grail mascara being Max Factor's False Lash Effect Fusion.

I only wear waterproof mascara one day a week when I take Finn swimming and with lots of splashing babies I need a decent waterproof mascara, at the moment I use Models Own Ultra Water Proof mascara which is a bit rubbish at defining but a fab job of withstanding underwater swims and lots of splishing and splashing.

 Blink + Go isn't a brand I've heard of before and personally I don't rate the mascara at all.

Naked lashes

Main photo//One coat of mascara//Small photo's//two coats, curled.

The wand is a quite thin and also angled to get the hard to reach lashes.

With one coat of mascara it actually looks quite good, longer and more defined however with a second coat it clumps quite significantly.

However I'm really disappointed with staying power of this product, I had a shower about 30 mins after applying the mascara and wiped my eyes whilst in there, immediately had a black hand and full on flaking with a streaky black face, not a good look!

 Definitely not a product I would repurchase or recommend.

GlossyBox & Haul review up tomorrow.

Love Mel & a still grumpy Finn x

My ears are bleeding...

I've had quite a shock to the system yesterday. Finn seems to be in full blown teething mode (can't feel any toothy pegs though!). He's crying the house down, now Finn never ever cries, I know I'm very lucky with this but oh my gosh it's horrible to hear and to know I can't do anything to help him, apart from cuddles, bongela and calpol!

I have heard there is a miracle teething powders called 'Ashton & Parsons Infant Powders' they have rave reviews but I have called every local pharmacy and none are stocking them due to manufacturing problems, so if anyone happens to be in/near a pharmacy and sees them then please let me know, I would be you lifelong friend!

If any of my lovely followers have any suggestions on other teething remedies then I'd love to hear them!

Calpol has knocked Finn out now so I shall go and finally take photos of my recent hauls and get them uploaded tonight!

Love Mel & a very very grumpy Finn xxx

An update

Hi lovelies,

I apologise for my lack of blogging, since Ryan lost his job I've had to be good and go out less and shop much less. So me and Finn spend our days playing and meeting up with friends. Which doesn't really make for exhilarating blog posts.

Because of the field of work Ryan is in, for him to find another job it's going to mean relocating. His parents live in the North West and mine in East Anglia, so hopefully we will find something within a decent travelling distance of both. I'm not quite sure how I feel about moving to somewhere I've never been, making new friends, finding a new job and having no family around but it will be an adventure I'm sure! So again fashion and beauty aside, I shall leave you with a few picture of my gorgeous boy.

I also wanted to say hi to my fabulous new followers, it makes my day when I see I have a new

follower!

I *will* upload my H&M & Boohoo haul asap, time escapes me at the moment!

Love Mel & Finn x

Garnier B.B Cream Review

Hi lovelies.

How blinking cold is it? I'm bundled up in jumpers and Finn is in a million layers and his super cute snowsuits!

I've been meaning to buy the Garnier B.B cream for a while after seeing lots of reviews but wasn't that sure it would do anything for me and it is a hefty £9.99, but I'm an ad mans dream and was suckered in after seeing the advert!

It boldly claims to be a 'Miracle Skin Perfector'. Quite a claim.

This is my normal naked, cleansed and moisturised skin (please excuse the wet hair)

As you can see it's quite blotchy and a little uneven with a few scars and marks here and there.

Now it says it will //Even tone and boosts glow//Blur imperfections//Smooth fine lines// have 24hr hydration//and give SPF15 UV protection

 I find it quite a thick consistency, almost foundation like but it does go on quite light and blends easily.

 I thought it was quite a dinky tube for £9.99 but a little does go a long way.

I chose the shade 'light' as the 'medium' was a little orange, now being half Portuguese I'm never a 'light' in anything so I think if you're very pale then even this might be a bit too dark for you.

As you can see it does work quite well, I'm not as 'wowed' by it as I thought I might be, then again I do wear a heavy foundation daily (ELF Flawless Finish). I do wear this on days which I'm moping around the house or visiting friends but I wouldn't wear it on a night out or even if I was going out in the day as it just doesn't give enough coverage for me.

If you've got good skin to start with a generally don't wear a heavy foundation then it'd be great for you.

However it'll be great for the summer though when I still want some coverage but not anything heavy.

Right I'm off to put the heating on again!

Love Mel & Finn xx

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I'm all Christmassed out!

Tree up, house decorated, presents wrapped, salt dough decorations made, Christmas card photos taken.

All I'm missing is mulled wine and a mince pie, damn you diet!

Love Mel & Finn xxx