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My Favourite Mummy Blogs

The term “mummy blog” or “mummy blogger” is a weird one. Yes, parenthood might be the main focus of these lovely blogs but these women do have other interests too! These are just a fraction of the parent blogs I read daily, but they definitely sit there among my favourites.

More Than Toast
MTT isn’t just adorned with photos of adorable Elfie and cute baby Hux— blogger Alice is also a fantastic, witty and funny writer. She documents life with a child with a rare genetic condition, shares amazing mouth-watering recipes and writes honestly about her personal life. She even edits a magazine and is now writing a book! Phew. Supermum or what?


Write Like No Ones Watching
With posts that detail her sordid love affair with Sleep and describing herself as “a bag of actual vagina-nerves” before her first smear test, it’s no wonder Charlotte’s been shortlisted in the Laugh category of the BiBs— this girl is hilarious! Don’t get me wrong though— she’s not all one-liners and punchlines. If you want heartfelt posts about a mothers love too, then Charl’s your gal!


Mummy Daddy And Me Makes Three
It was Katie’s photographs that I fell in love with first. She’s clearly a very talented and creative woman and I love the way she documents absolutely everything in her families lives! She also has the best bump diary I’ve ever seen (and I’m envious that I didn’t make a bigger effort to do one properly myself!)


Maggie Stone Vintage
Kelle has a great sense of style, that she’s clearly passing down to her toddler daughter, Hattie— she has a better wardrobe than me! Seriously, sometimes I wish they did her outfits in adult sizes. Kelle is also mama to Fraser, a lovely cuddly boy, with a lovely grin!


My Pretty Mummy
I was happy to find out that Emma is actually pretty local to me. She’s the stay-at-home mum (although don’t underestimate how hard she works!) to Alice, who is just a few weeks older than Byron. She posts lots of photos of their life, home and the food they eat, as well as (sometimes random!) videos.

I’m always looking for more parent blogs to read. Please share your favs!


It’s Time For Little Boy Shoes

Ok, so considering the grey skies outside, I’m not quite sure we can even call this British climate spring yet, let alone summer— but that doesn’t stop me looking at what the high street has to offer! Byron has been cruising the furniture for a while now and has begun to get the courage to stand up himself, so it’s only a matter of time before he starts walking independently. A sure sign that he’s growing up, is buying him his first pair of proper shoes! There are lots of cute girls shoes available everywhere, but as I’ve found with a lot of children’s clothing, there’s not always so much variety for boys.

I have however discovered a few gems in John Lewis:

Baby Birkenstocks? Iddy-biddy Converse? LITTLE BOAT SHOES?! Please, stop me before I die of cute.

Disclaimer: This post contains a sponsored link— but I really do LOVE these shoes! You can read more about my policy on sponsored content, here.

Family Budgeting

Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.

Never was a truer word spoken!

Sometimes the best way to save a little money, is to start small. We do the best to make the most of our money and still manage to live full lives— just with a smaller price tag! I wrote about some thrifty tips that we use as a family earlier this year, but I think there’s an endless amount of things you can to do save or make a little dosh, whether you’re a parent or not.

Here’s a tip: Don’t let your child eat their clothes. You will have to buy new ones.

Sell Your Junk. Although I don’t do it often, I’ve been known to sell my stuff online before and it’s the easiest, quickest way of making a little extra money, in my opinion— especially if it’s an item or items that you were willing to depart with anyway. A little money is better than no money, it saves space in landfill and it’s true what they say— one man’s trash is another man’s treasure!

Know Your Dates. There’s two kind of date codes you’ll see on food products— use by date and a best before date— and people often get confused between the two. A use by date is the date the food should be consumed by, as it’s deemed dangerous to eat it after this point as potentially harmful bacteria may have grown on or inside the food (even if it looks fine!) A best before date is to do with quality— the manufacturers advise that you eat it before the best before date as this is when it’s at it’s optimum in terms of quality, however you can eat it after this date but it won’t be as fresh. Learn the difference and you may end up throwing less away!

Buy Reduced Products. It’s always worth looking in the reduced sections when you’re doing your food shop, in case there’s a bargain to be had (although don’t buy it just because it’s cheap!) Find out what time your local supermarket do their final reductions for the day, to grab some bits at the best price possible! Even if some food products are going out of date, you could freeze them and save them for later.

Buy Own Brand. I’m no food snob— we always buy supermarket own brand when it comes to the majority of our shop. Often there’s no difference in quality! The same goes for non-foods stuff too— some of my favourite skincare is Boots or Superdrug’s own!

Grow Your Own. If you have the space, grow some of your own favourite fruit and veg. And if you don’t, try growing your own herbs on the windowsill! I always find I waste half a packet of the fresh herbs you can buy, but this way you just pick what you need. It’s so easy (if I can do it, anyone can!) and packets of seeds are very cheap. You could even cheat and buy a plant and just maintain it!

Use Cash Instead of Plastic. It’s so easy (too easy!) to use a debit or credit card when you’re buying something. Actually handing over cash feels like you’re spending money. There have been way too many times that I’ve bought some bits with my card and taken no notice of how much the cashier has told me it’s come to!

Soft Play. Soft play is a bit of a godsend! A quick Google search and you should find an abundance of soft play centres close to you. They’re usually very cheap— especially in comparison to big days out!— and allow you to knacker your child out, while you catch up with other adults. Your local Sure Start Children’s Centre probably has some free activities too, allowing your child to have all the fun, make all the mess and you have none of the clearing up. Win, win!

Disclaimer: This post contains a sponsored link. You can read more about my policy on sponsored content, here.

When I Grow Up

I never knew what I wanted to be when I ‘grew up.’ We had to make a decision in year 10 of secondary school, to discuss with a careers advisor— a woman who was a complete stranger and knew nothing about us or our abilities! I liked writing and English was one of my favourite and strongest subjects, so I thought journalism would be a good route, despite knowing nothing about it. The careers advisor ‘advised’ that journalism was a good option, but asked had I considered being a nurse / doctor / teacher?

Er, no lady.

I was bitten by the photography bug years ago, but it’s only recently that I’ve come to the conclusion that wedding photography is the path I want to choose (along with some other documentary-style coverage and portrait sessions too— I just can’t get enough of photographing people!) I guess reportage style photography is similar to journalism in the sense that it allows me to collect, edit and present a story or news. Perhaps my original career plan wasn’t too far off!

There’s something really lovely about being included in the happiest day of people’s lives and all the emotions it brings, when two families come together. It’s all about the details, whether they’re big or small; that little squeeze of a hand that no one else sees; big smiles; flower arrangements; tears; colours. And of course, The Dress. There’s so many different styles now— a modest wedding dress collection here, a vintage dress there. Coloured tutus, or classic, simple bridesmaids gowns. Big traditional bouquets or just a conservative centrepiece? No two weddings are the same, ever, despite couples adopting similar styles. Being a wedding photographer is such a varied, creative, unique and happy job, and I can’t wait to get my teeth stuck into some more celebrations this year!

What did you want to be when you ‘grew up’? Did you follow that career path?

Disclaimer: This post contains a sponsored link. You can read more about my policy on sponsored content, here.