Busymum Family Organsier

I'm not normally a 'family organiser/diary' type of person but there are only so many days you can pack your child off to school, only to discover she has a day off when you reach a closed school gate.  (*shame face). I bought one of these Busymum organisers last year and found it really good for planing out the weeks. When they hand  out the school calendar in September, I am able to fill in all the dates for the year. This means I don't have to worry about losing that sheet or remembering what days are half days etc.

I'm not bad at remembering birthdays but when your 7 year old starts getting invited to 10 plus parties a year, things can start to get a little tricky. I found the organiser great for planning ahead. Usually, when a birthday pops up, I'm reactive, as in, the day before I run out to get a present. With the busy mum organiser, I can look ahead a month or two and pick up what I need at a more proactive pace!

The organisers run from September to December and come with cute little stickers for highlighting special occasions. Each month gives busy parents little tips and cute suggestions.

You can write each family members name along the top and their co-ordinating activity on the dates underneath. The layout allows you to see quite easily if anyone's schedule clashes. To those of you that only need to look after numero uno, you won't see the benefit in this. Anyone with more than themselves to look after, a household to run, a job to go to etc etc needs one of these in their lives!





This little doozy retails at €12.99. I bought my 2014 organiser in Carraig Donn and 2015 one in the pop up calendar shop @The Blanchardstown Centre.

Kel x

Clinique - Take The Day Off Cleanser

Just over a week ago I was in Arnotts with my mother in law. A lovely young woman approached us from the Clinique counter and offered us a free cleanse, using their new Sonic System Purifying Cleansing Brush (Wow, that's a mouthful). This was a real treat for my MIL. The girl that done the cleanse offered to apply some makeup afterwards too. I thought this was very nice of her so as a way of showing my appreciation, I thought I would pick up a product or two while we were there.

I needed a new cleanser and without asking or going through the products in detail I just picked up a bottle of the 'Take the day off cleansing milk'. If I am totally honest I picked the cleanser the same way I pick a horse in the grand national. I picked based on colour alone. That's never a good idea!

I have been using the cleanser at home since and can you believe it's not living up to it's colour! lol Seriously, though, I'm just not mad about it. Yes, it cleanses the face and is fragrance free etc etc but I find that it leaves a kind of film on the skin that I just don't like. If you have ever used the Nivea in shower moisturiser you will know that oil and water kind of feeing on the skin. While this is beautiful and soft on the body, it doesn't work so well on the face. Anywhere near my eyes and this stuff burns!

The price comes in at €23 so I will be sure to use it and get my moneys worth but I can't see myself purchasing this product again. If you have a bottle and feel the same about it as I do, I have found using it in the shower to remove makeup in best.

What is your go to cleanser?

Kel x

Gentlebirth - A review

Greetings from the 12 week mark. I survived!!

As many of my friends and followers know, we welcomed a beautiful little girl into our family, 12 weeks ago (almost). I've wanted to write a post on the Gentlebirth program for a couple of weeks but as you can imagine with a newborn, there isn't time to pee never mind write blog posts. I want to get straight into it but before I do can i just say, I'm not an expert on labour and certainly don't claim to be. I'm not proclaiming to have found the answer to a pain free delivery nor do I want this to be a platform for negativity. I've come across articles on labour and 'coping' methods before and have found a lot of criticism directed at new mums. EVERYONES experience of labour is unique to them and EVERYONE deals with labour differently. I wanted to share some of my pregnancy/labour journey with you as I feel it might be beneficial. Nothing ventured, nothing gained as they say!

Gentlebirth:

Gentlebirth is a positive birth program that teaches you easy self hypnosis techniques that allow you to relax easily and to feel calm and in control throughout your pregnancy and labour. 

There are a number of different programs you can choose from, between pre pregnancy, pregnancy and birth. The complete box set, which includes a 200 page guide plus 8 cd's is the one I used but you could take a look at the website and choose which one suits your needs. The cost of the complete box set is €70.

My Gentlebirth experience:

DONT WORRY!! It's ok to keep reading, I'm not going to divulge all the in's and outs of my labour. I just want to give you an overview and explain how the gentle birth program played its part in my recent birthing experience. 

So, scan back 7 years to my first childbirth experience. Nothing out of the ordinary, it was your typical first birth experience.  Waters (hind waters) broke at 1pm ish. Headed into the hospital, nothing much happening but I was brought up to the labour ward and started on a drip to get things moving as there was meconium in my waters. I vaguely remember the next 14 hours. I know at about 3-4cm I was rolling around the bed, begging my hubby to get me an epidural. Obviously swearing blind that I was never having children again.! When the epidural kicked in life was sweeeeet . . . until it wore off and the pushing started. I pushed for 2.5 hours, stirrups outs, vacuum attached and out into the world came Saian. That's it in a nut shell. When I got home, unless there was 5 cushions under me, I didn't even attempt to sit down. Ouch!

From the negative to the positive . . . 

I had heard people refer to 'alternative' methods used to relieve pain and distress during labour and honestly, thought they were mad. No epidural, are these people for real...Why would you do that to yourself? 

My friend introduced me to the gentle birth program. It started with the Irish Better Birth Book. I read this book in super quick time. It was full of stories of 'gentle', 'relaxed', 'happy', births and I didn't believe a word of it. In fact, I found them so annoying. Total bullish*t, I thought. I simply could not get my head around anyone being anyway 'relaxed; during labour.

The positives are coming, bear with me...I'm just trying to get the point across to you that I was a total non believer in this stuff. I know many of you wondering about the program are probably in the same boat.

The reason I looked into the gentle birth program was because it offered calm, and I needed calm. I was in and out of hospital in the first 3 months of the pregnancy with bleeding and my nerves were shattered. I had unfortunatly experienced a miscarriage just before this pregnancy so I was extremely on edge. My friend referred to the gentle birth cd's as her sleeping tablet and I wanted some of what she was taking!!

I bought the complete box set and without reading the book or following the instructions, I started listening to random tracks. I got myself all set up, quiet room, headphones on and lay down on the bed. The particular track I first listened to was one where you visualise yourself floating out to a boat in the distance. Things started off well until my mind started doing overtime. Before I knew it, I was wondering if the waters I was now floating in were shark infested. No joke, what was supposed to be relaxing turned out to be the opposite. I got up, put the program away and almost wrote it off. 

About 1 week later, sitting watching t.v; I picked up the manual that comes with the program and it's then that I realised, there is a listening guide. Ooops... (Listening instructions)

Ok, so let's try this again.

I started using the program at 25 weeks and following the instructions, it became my single most favourite tool in pregnancy. I was sleeping, I was chilled out, and most importantly for me, it made me believe that things could be different this time around and that I could cope with labour. I had not made a definitive decision not to ask for the epidural but I had decided that I would use the gentle birth program for as long as it worked for me. 

I felt positive and ready, going up to the labour ward...Until those double doors opened and I heard some stomach churning screams. (She obviously wasn't using the gentle birth program, ha ha). Gone was the calm exterior, I was in full blown panic. I didn't think I could make it back. I was desperately trying to come up with ways to get out of there. "See you later doc, I think I'll come back another time". We all know it doesn't work like that unfortunately, so I stuck my earphones in and blasted out some of my favourite Boyz II Men tracks. It took me almost an hour but I began feeling relaxed again. Gentle birth had taught me how to calm myself down even when not using the program itself. 

Labour in a nut shell

At 4pm my waters were broke. (ARM). No progress followed so I was induced using a drip at 6pm. I chose to stand bedside and gently rock side to side. I used earphones to block out external noises and went into my little zone. I worked my way through the now familiar tracks and once I felt like I had reached the calm hypnotic state I had hoped for, I felt comfortable to switch to other music albums. Now, I'm not suggesting that you stick on any old album. I had already planned what I would listen to. Choose something that takes you to a 'happy place'. Pour moi, that is none other than the amazing Sam Cooke, of course.

Things progressed well. At one point between contractions I was side stepping to Sam Cooke's 'Twistin the night away'. (This is around the 6-8cm mark). Reflecting back to my first labour, I assumed I had a long way to go, especially since I had not started climbing the walls yet or screaming profanities at my husband! lol Boy was I wrong, two contractions later, things changed, the intensity of the contractions revved up a gear and I knew my little one was on the way. The midwife checked and I was 8cm! I could not believe it. That alone gave me the motivation to keep going. 

The next fifteen minutes consisted of sharp contractions followed by an innate urge to bear down. The pushing down seemed to take the pain out of the contraction and give me something to focus on. I'm absolutely an advocate for the gentle birth program but I am not about to tell you that my labour was pain free. There was pain...a lot...of pain, but the difference this time was that I could manage and cope with it. For that, I am grateful that I used the program. At 10 past 9 I hit the 10cm mark and at 9:16pm my beautiful baby girl was born. I felt like I was present. That's the best way I can think to describe it. After my first labour, I would ask my husband to tell me the story of what happened, as if I wasn't even there. It was such a blur of pain and misery. This time, I had control over my body and what was happening to some degree. I felt the pushes, I felt her little body move through the birth canal and watched wide eyed as she entered the world. 

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't the proudest I've ever been of myself at that moment.

To end this enormous post!, what I would really like to get across is that I tried this program not believing it would be any help at all, only to discover it brings out the miracle within, literally. You have nothing to lose by trying it, and everything to gain!

Happy ever after

Just a few words on the recovery after birth. Following the birth of my first, I was very sore for a long time. My recovery this time around was much smoother, not only physically but mentally too. 

Have you used, or do you plan to use the gentle birth program?

Kel x

HOTD - 2nd October 2014

Hiya October.... You are looking fiiiiine!!

Lovely weather for October eh? All this extra sunshine has added a pep to my step. I recently signed up to a 12 week challenge (ok literally 2 days ago). It's 3 x 40 minute workouts per week and I'm hoping to drop a dress size by Christmas. I will follow up with a post in a couple of weeks and let you know how I am getting on and I'll post the details of the program incase others wanna sign up. Since having the baby my confidence has been non existent. I noticed I didn't really look in the mirror any more. Maybe this is how I managed to leave the house still wearing slippers ha ha.

With a new me on order from Santa, I decided to treat myself to a hair cut too. My hair was in bits and was falling out at an incredible rate. It was so knotty too. I got the girl that does my hair to put in a treatment before she cut it and it feels amazing. I can notice a big difference already. She uses Redkin products only and I am a big fan...just for the smell alone!

So anyway between this new gym challenge and the treatment, I didn't want to wash my hair this week. It started to look a  little greasy today so I had to tie it up. I didn't want to feel frumpy so I stuck it up in my version of a 'faux hawk'.

I'm lovin this easy updo. :-)

What's your favourite 5 minute updo?

Kel x

Slowly losing my mind

Good morning,

This blog post is the ramblings of a mad woman, it would seem. Honestly, I think I am losing my mind (a.k.a. baby brain). I have been up to all sorts of weird and wonderful things lately. I thought it would be a good idea to document them, incase of course I am losing my mind for real and also to give you a little laugh this weekend.

So there are your average everyday crazy occurrences going on around here but these 3, from this week, take the biscuit!!

1. Dropped my little one to school during the week and as I'm trying to lose this post pregnancy weight, I decided to 'jog' home. What a sight for sore eyes that was! Anyway, as I'm getting to my house there was a woman with a dog standing in off the path to make room so I was conscious of getting past her as fast as I could so as not to inconvenience her. Run past lady and dog and up the driveway I go. Stuck the key in the door...or tried to at least. Shit! There is something wrong with the lock. The key is not going in. So, as you do, I mashed my face up against the window to see if my husband was in the kitchen. No sign of him, so I knocked a few times and no answer. I turned to look for my mobile. In doing that I spot some random items in the garden that were not there earlier. Instead of this maybe setting off a few alarm bells, I proceeded to F  and blind about someone dumping rubbish in the garden. As I am about to start forensic analysis on garden items, I also spot a for sale sign in the garden....hmmmm......Who the * put that there....pause ........And slowly back away from the neighbours front door MORTO!!!

2. Pandemonium here yesterday when we discovered the dog had taken herself for a walkies. We have the cutest little maltese called Indie and she's babied by everyone in the house so you can imagine the absolute panic that set in when I realised she was missing. I was sitting on the bed feeding the baby and asked my other little girl to check on the dog. I hadn't seen her in about 20 minutes and maternal instinct must have kicked in lol. About 3 minutes later I hear a high pitched cry, so I shout down to ask whats wrong (Afraid of the answer). "Mam I can't find the dog". Faster then you can say 'jayzus', baby is off the boob and I'm tearing down the stairs two steps at a time. 
Before I fill you in on what happened next, I have to tell you that my wardrobe has consisted of tank tops with easy boob access and blouses for the last 12 weeks. Yesterday, was 'sheer' blouse day.

Queue crazy Mam... Out on to the street I went, back into the house, back out of the house. Put 7 year old on baby watch while I ran up and down asking passer-by's if they have seen her. By the way they are looking at me I'm sure they think I'm crazy. I stop for a minute to take stock of the situation and think to myself, there is a bit of a chill in the air today.....Yep...you're cringing for me now, I know...You've guessed right. In all the panic and haste, I forgot to 'pop' the boob back in. 
World please swallow me whole!!!

p.s. Doggy was found safe and sound.


3. I blame number 2, for number 3. Needless to say after the missing dog saga, I was out of sorts for the rest of the day. At about 6, I took kids for a walk. Do do do...off we head down the road. Pass a few people, as you do. Hello Hello! Something doesn't feel right...no wait, something felt very right. I was so comfortable! .... Eh yeah, that would be because I still have my SLIPPERS on!!!!!



I'm not leaving the house today..... Happy Sunday Everyone!!

Kel x

Catrice Nude Illusion Foundation - Review

Bonjour September,

Hey everyone, where did the summer go? I feel like I wished it away a bit because I wanted the difficult few weeks of having a newborn over with. Things have certainly settled down and with the school run on the daily schedule again I am trying to establish some kind of routine. I'm hoping that if I can get a bit of routine going then I will also have time to start blogging again. I really enjoy blogging and have so much content that I want to blog about but I've just been brutal at putting some time aside. Seeing the pride and work that goes into other peoples blogs inspires me. Blogging for me is the chance to chat about the things that I love, be introduced through other blogs..to the things I love and to be part of a community. The blogging community has some real characters, whose posts and twitter comments I get a great laugh out of on a daily basis.
Being on maternity leave, it's nice to feel like there are still adults in your world, especially during those night feeds!!

Anyway, back to the beautiful world of foundation!

Lately, and by lately, I mean about a year, I can not get a foundation that matches my skin. I don't know if it's my bad judgement or if I'm colourblind but I can't get the shade right anymore. Because of this I have just been using BB creams. I knew I needed a new foundation though, as I don't feel 'dressed up' on a night out if I'm just wearing BB cream as a base.

I've heard the Catrice Nude Illusion foundation mentioned by beauty bloggers a couple of times over the last two weeks, so when I seen it in the local pharmacy, I picked it up. With a wedding last week, it was the perfect opportunity to road test it.





I literally did 'road' test it. We were running late and I had to apply my makeup in the car or risk missing the I do's.

Risky business trying a new foundation on the way to a wedding with no back up plan but in lovelygirliebits I trust! I LOVED this foundation. Wow, well done Catrice.




The foundation: 

• Quite thick but spreads easily using either fingers or brush. I use the real techniques face brush. 2 pumps is plenty (for me)
• Comes with pump dispense
• Medium to full coverage 
• Smooths out skin
• Leaves skin luminous but not to the point where you forehead looks like it was shined. 
• Matte finish
• Budget friendly (Approx 8 euro-Total bargain)
• Available in 5 shades ( I picked up 020 - Rose Vanilla)

This foundation certainly won't break the bank, so if you try it and don't like it, at least you won't have to keep repaying the loan you took out of the credit union to buy it, while it sits on your makeup shelf getting dusty! I'm thinking your gonna like it . . . 

Let me know if you've used it and what you though? I'd love to hear about other magical little beauties like this one too.... So be sure to share a find or two. 

Kel x

Hello routine!