The One Where Three Become Four....

Just a quick update to let you all know about the arrival of our gorgeous second bambino who will be know as the dude. He is much loved, and sometimes hated, by big older sister Honey bug and is a dream baby! Sleepless nights and feeding, as well as looking after a toddler in the midst of the terrible twos, has slowed up the blog posts a little, but stick with me, all content will be doubly as good, even though it may come a little slower. I have lots of goodies in store! xx

Recipe of the week - Ottolenghi Inspired Orange & Hazelnut Summer Salad

This delicious Orange and Hazelnut Summer Salad is inspired by Ottolenghi's famous green bean, orange and hazelnut salad which is honestly one of the yummiest salads at anytime of the year. I actually use a combo of watercress instead of green beans because that's what I had, but you can use anything green you have.
The combination of the orange and hazelnut marry so well together and bring a completely new dimension to boring old green veg. This salad makes a very welcome change in our house from the standard lettuce, cucumber and tomato with olive oil and balsamic.
The dressing is also great drizzled over freshly steamed broccoli to accompany a light summer roast.

Ingredients
Large bunch of watercress
Bag of mange tout
Large handful of hazelnuts
Zest of an orange
Handful of chives

For the dressing
The best olive oil you can afford
A couple of glugs of hazelnut oil
1 garlic clove crushed
Juice of 1 orange
Salt & pepper to taste

Method
Wash the watercress and scatter over a shallow bowl. Steam the mange tout and plunge in a bowl of iced water to cool and preserve the colour and crispness, then dry and scatter over the watercress.
Roast the hazelnuts in the oven for 10 minutes, when cooled chop roughly with a large knife, sprinkle over the greens along with the grated zest of an orange. Using scissors snip the chives in long pieces over the salad.

For the dressing mix all the ingredients together depending on taste. (I sometimes skip the garlic if I don't want to be smelling of garlic for a week.) Drizzle over the salad just prior to serving.

NOTD - Orly Rage

Ooooh I love this colour. Orly's Rage it is a rose-gold metallic, which is surprisingly quite neutral and subtle for a glitter/ metallic. It has a subtle pink sheen, which doesn't really translate in the photos but it is gorgeous. It paints on flawlessly and dries really quickly, two coats is all you need for a sparkly bit of day time bling.

Book of the Week - The Tiger Who Came to Tea

I LOVE the Tiger Who Came To Tea by Judith Kerr. First published in 1968, it is an old fashioned, little gem of a book, a modern classic in fact. The books perception of family life is super sweet, although a little dated (the mummy stays and home, cooks dinner and looks after the children while daddy goes out to work), but that is what's so endearing about it, and after all that is what happens in our house anyway. It is always a pleasure to read about Sophie and her mummy who sit down to cake and tea only to be interrupted by a knock at the door, by a very hungry tiger. The illustrations are as gorgeous as the story and always keep wandering little eyes transfixed.
This best seller has even been adapted for the stage, which came to Surrey a few months back but Honey was just a little too little to appreciate it.

You can buy The Tiger Who Came To Tea from most bookshops, and Liberty online here.

Any recommendations for favourite children's classics??

Bump Update - 9 Months

Proof I can stay up past 9pm!

I am writing this at 39 1/2 weeks preggers, so uber close to due date, having just come back from a  midwife appointment. I was offered a sweep at thirty-nine weeks, then again at forty weeks by my consultant due to previous complications (see my post on the scary side of pregnancy here). I have however declined my thirty-nine week sweep in order for the baby to cook a little longer and hopefully decide to arrive naturally. If you'd have asked me a month ago whether I'd want a sweep early I would have jumped at the chance but for some reason I'm just not feeling it at the moment.

The baby is not engaged either, apparently second plus babies don't always engage due to previously stretched muscles. Today however I do have lower back ache, and a few niggles so I'm hoping that means something is happening.

I has a sweep with Honey and she appeared the next day so I'm under no illusion they only happen if the baby is willing anyway. This time though I'm going to let mother nature run her course for a few extra days... wish me luck!

Alex Monroe Bumblebee Necklace

The famous Bumblebee necklace, which has hung on the necks of the most discerning fashionistas and made by the celebrated British jewellery designer Alex Monroe, was very kindly given to Honey for her christening last year by her gorgeous and generous godmother. As Honey is way too little to wear it I thought I'd be the custodian of the necklace until she's eighteen and have been very kindly wearing it in for her. It is actually have the sterling silver Baby Bee necklace which is slightly smaller than the original. It is super delicate and beautiful and I'm sure Honey is going to love it as much as I do when she is old enough to wear it.

If you haven't seen or heard of Alex Monroe's gorgeous whimsical, nature inspired jewellery, which has graced all the major glossies, you must check out the website. I have spotted a few gorgeous pieces myself, great for *ahem* push presents etc. 

Mr & Mrs Bird Necklace

Twisted String Bangle

Petite Tea Spoon

The Baby Bee and original Bumblebee necklace also come in gold plate, or solid gold and can be bought from Alex Monroe here.

Recipe of the Week - Healthyish Banana and Sultana Loaf

So you all know I love a nice piece of cake and a cup of tea, and I'm trying to go slightly healthy here so as not to stuff my face with icing or chocolate as per my normal recipes.
This Banana & Sultana loaf cake from the ever awesome River Cottage Baby & Toddler Cookbook gets most of its sweetness from bananas and sultanas and uses sunflower oil in place of butter hence a healthy loaf cake. As with any banana based cake it gets yummier and moister as the days go on, if it lasts that long.
You can go even healthier by using wholemeal flour as opposed to white, and skipping the icing, but if you're gonna have cake you might as well go for it I think! Would also be amazing with an orange cream cheese frosting (which you can adapt from my amazing Carrot Cake recipe here).

Ingredients
85g caster sugar
2 eggs
1tsp vanilla extract
150ml sunflower oil
3 medium banans mashed (approx 400g)
250g self raising flour
1tsp ground cinnamon
finely grated zest of an orange
100g sultanas
75g icing sugar
juice of 1/2 an orange

Method
Grease and line a loaf tin, preheat the oven to 180oC
Put the sugar, eggs and vanilla into a mixer for around 5 mins and whisk until light and fluffy and increased in volume. Add the oil and whisk again, then whisk in the bananas.
Combine the flour and cinnamon then fold in lightly. Finally fold in the orange zest and sultanas.
Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 50 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Let it cool in the tin then transfer to a wire rack to let it cool completely.
Skewer the top of the cake, mix together the orange and icing sugar and drizzle over the top.

Will keep in an airtight container for 2-3 days.

You can buy the River Cottage Baby & Toddler Cookbook from Amazon here.

NOTD - Essie Mint Candy Apple

Essie's Mint Candy Apple is fast becoming a favourite across the blogosphere and after Essie landed in my local Boots, I couldn't resist trying it out being a huge fan of Essie. The colour is gorgeous, a pale turquoise pastel, and it is brilliantly chip resistant as you'd expect from Essie. My only thing is, after wearing Shellac for the past year, it (as well as other standard nail enamel's) lacks shine, gloss and the wow factor that gel varnishes deliver. So I love it, the colour is gorgeous and it is less faff and time to apply, but I'm going back to Shellac as soon as this comes off I think!

The other ingenious nail related product I bought was Bourjois Magic Nail Varnish Remover, which literally takes off your nail varnish in a second. Almost worth painting your nails just to use this! It is great, smells way better than standard nail varnish removers and actually has some very good conditioning oils in it such as almond so it doesn't dry your nails out at all. Love this.

Laura Mercier Illuminating Tinted Moisturiser

The dewiness of this product does not come out that well in the pictures above but believe me I'm glowing away, subtly of course.

So recently I've been addicted to skin care products and make up, I think it's because fashion is pretty much out of the question with a huge bump, and as my skin is blemish free for once I have become a bit of a beauty junkie.

Anyway, on my quest for perfect dewy skin, I decided on Laura Mercier's Illuminating Tinted Moisturiser. It has had pretty mixed reviews, some people think the illumination is too much. I used a friends a few years back and my face just looked like I had been showered in moon dust. However after seeing it used on A Model Recommends (probably the best ever website and blog) I thought I'd give it another shot. I'm not sure if the formulation has changed, or my skin has, but I LOVE it. As well as having and spf 20, this tinted moisturiser also contains shea butter to hydrate the skin, liquorice root and green tea to calm and soothe, and vitamins A, C and E to guard against free radical damage. 

I bought the shade Natural Radiance, a medium beige for light to medium skin tones, which blends perfectly, and the glow is definitely not too much, on me anyway. I love the whole dewy look. It doesn't crease or make me look oily, and for everyday it is a perfect skin pick me up for a natural dewy look all from one product. The coverage is medium, and buildable. I would recommend using a primer first though, pores full of shimmer are not a good look. When I bought this from Space NK the Laura Mercier rep actually matched me up and told me to use a primer too and apply with fingers rather than a brush (I had to deal with a screaming child so didn't have time to ask why).
I actually bought this in preparation for post baby number two when I'm surviving on no sleep and my skin is looking dull and crap, so the added ingredients and promise of a one-minute glowing makeover product are enough for me. 

If you are looking for light coverage and a dewy fresh looking skin I highly recommend this tinted moisturiser. You can buy it from Space NK here.

Baby Shop of the Week - Cath Kidston

Cath Kidston Hampton Rose T-shirt

I love Cath Kidston, subtly though, as it can become a bit twee. The children's section is great, the clothes are always classic, well cut and beautiful (apart form a lot of them being hand wash only, for a baby? Come on!) and the good thing is you don't see as many babies or kids dressed in it as say JoJo Maman Bebe.
Anyway they have an amazing sale so I popped down to our nearest store and bought Honey some leggings and a t-shirt this week which are super cute rose print and gorgeously girlie. They are 100% cotton and unbelievably soft. I thought the rose print would be great at hiding spillages and splashes too, which Honey seems to always be covered in at the moment. I could have bought the whole collection, but with the weather being so unpredictable did not want to buy too much summer stuff in case I was tempting fate and we don't end up getting any sun. Below is my current wish list.

Gorgeous cotton sun dress, great layered, also comes in blue

Super cute plimsolls

Gorgeous wellies, in fact we need these!

High on the wish list for the new baby, especially as I don't have a conventional changing bag

You can buy it online from Cath Kidston here.

Bedroom Furniture Farrow & Ball Makeover

The wardrobe - now in chateaux chic(!)

Hideous orangey pine wardrobe

The chest - this used to be the same pine colour as the wardrobe

Farrow & Ball No. 229

As you may have noticed I am well and truly in panic nesting mode. I have been organising clothes, rearranging furniture, clearing out the loft, shed and cellar, and now revamped our bedroom furniture. My husband did joke he was going to come home one day this week and everything would be whitewashed (I'm nearly there!)

Anyway to achieve this *incredible* wardrobe and chest makeover all I used was a brush and a couple of pots of tester paint. I chose Farrow & Ball No. 229 Elephant's Breathe, which we've had sitting around in the cellar for about two years. It is a beautiful pale grey taupe colour which on completion has given the once orangey pine a gorgeous grey, aged, depth and colour which you definitely couldn't get from a plain white paint. 

I wanted to create a whitewashed, worn, beachy kind of effect so I didn't sand the furniture or apply primer beforehand, as the look is not meant to be perfect more of a lived in battered look. To create this all I did was put a touch of paint on the brush and really work it in to the wood, working with the direction of the grain, spreading it as far as it would go, so the brush was almost dry.
The wardrobe and the chest took me under an hour and a half to paint, and as the paint was spread so thinly pretty it much dried instantly. Great for toddlers on the loose!
I think it turned out pretty well, and changing these two huge pieces of furniture has transformed our room, making it feel far more airy and serene. I just can't believe how easy it was to do and that I didn't do it sooner.

For more interiors inspiration check out the Farrow & Ball website.

Week in Pictures - Flowers, Friends and Feasts

This week has been all about being chilled, meeting friends, eating out and doing nice things. Not only can I barely move around with out huffing and puffing, I know that in under two weeks I will be a complete zombie with new baby in tow and not be able to do much at all. So this has been our last couple of weeks. (I particularly love the pic of Honey engrossed in Vogue.)

Baume de Rose by Terry

I was first given this little pot of Baume de Rose by Terry by one of my best friends (who I think loves Space NK more than I do) as a birthday present, and loved it so much have used and purchased another pot. Don't get me wrong it is probably the most ludicrously priced lip balm you can find (£35 anyone?) but I must say for a little bit of luxury and an honestly amazing lip balm it really is good, hence repurchasing. 

This little frosted pot of rose scented pink balm not only smells divine, it doubles as a cuticle/dry patch treatment. Tres handy for the excess left on your finger after applying to lips. It smooths, plumps, hydrates, repairs, nourishes AND regenerates, not to mention the 15 SPF. Pretty good for a humble little pot of balm. It also looks great on, quite a pale pinky/ bluey toned gloss which is not at all sticky and lasts for ages. Actually the one good thing about this is the pot lasts forever, good thing really for the price. 

Anyway, as you can tell I love this lip balm. If you're after a special treat for your lips you can buy it at Space NK here.

Getting Ready For The New Arrival

The moses basket in situ!  

As I mentioned in the Hospital bag check list post, I am feeling much more prepared now for the new baby's arrival. In fact I would quite like him to arrive early, or on time at least, as I am getting far too tired and uncomfortable to go on much longer. Under two weeks till the due date, scary. It's amazing that this is our second baby and we already have all the kit but there's still endless things to prepare and buy.

So, the moses basket is washed and clean and in position waiting for it's second owner, and I have finally got round to buying new bottles, formula and dummies just in case he doesn't take to breast-feeding.
The Medela breast pump (best on the market apparently) has been borrowed from a friend (I hated my Tommee Tippe one last time), and I can't believe I will be pumping again in a few weeks, surely the worst part of the job?! The noise, the time, the whole dairy cow feel of it, yuck.

I have also bought dummies, to to try and give us a little bit of peace in the evenings. I was dead against them with Honey as they have such a (ridiculous) stigma attached, and spent hours rocking her and feeding her. Honey started sucking her thumb at 3 months anyway so we didn't need to use them. This time round I'm definitely going to be a little more lax and try them out, just to give ourselves a bit of a break.
The nursery is still not 100% finished, we're waiting on a  few storage boxes, and new cot so I will post updated pics when it is. The moses basket will be in our room, then the spare room, until the baby is sleeping through so as not to disturb Honey's sleep, then he will go in with her in the nursery.

Can you tell I am getting a little bit excited?! 

Swaddle, dummies & clip, Medela bottle

The nursery is still a bit girlie

Baby Stages

The offending photo!

My hormones are wild at the moment, one minute I'm crying at TV adverts the next I'm shouting about emptying the dishwasher, but I saw a picture of Honey on my mobile the other day and burst into tears because she is just so cute. How stupid is that?! When you first have a baby people tell you they just get better and better, which is hard to believe because you love them so much you can't believe you could love them any more, but it is so true. Each stage they go through they just get more and more awesome. From newborns, to sitting, to crawling, to getting the first tooth, to walking, then learning, and now talking. Honey is at the cutest stage ever. She is 22 months and for the last month has been picking up new words and trying to copy everything we say (we're currently trying very hard not to swear).

At the moment her favourite words are; 

ater - water, she loooooves jumping in muddy puddles, too much Peppa Pig I think
uzzy - muzzy/muslin, her comforter, amazing she now tells me she wants this
nee naw - police car, obvs
down - dual meaning for up and down. She says down when she wants picking up or wants to get out of the buggy
bispy - universal word for crisps (rice cakes) or biscuits
bubble - she loooooves bubbles
tacktor - tractor, somehow she spots these everywhere
no - one of her favs, she says it all the time, even if she doesn't mean it
car - literally at every car
oh no! - when shes dropped something etc. it's super cute!
do - dog, again she loves dogs
bee buzzzzzz - for bees, flies or anything buzzing around
peppa - new name for all pigs

Anyway I could go on and on, she loves picking up new word sand saying them all the time. She has mummy and daddy on repeat all day long as well as the above. So anyway, this is the stage we are at, it is just amazing and she makes me smile everyday (ignoring the monumental tantrums peppered throughout), I can't wait for the next stage.

What's on your bedside table??

I thought I'd start writing this post after a few moans to the husband about how life changes so much when you have kids even your bedside table is unrecognisable. He suggested I blog about it, so I did.
Anyway, gone are the days when pre-baby mine was stacked with back issues of Vogue, Diptyque goodies, beautiful hand creams, fountain pens and notebooks, the occasional vase of flowers, makeup and lip balms. Or at uni boxes of Haribo for breakfast, empty bottles of Sambucca or red bull, lots and lots of make-up and even more unread text books.
Now it is all about baby entertainment and taking away all the interesting things that can get smashed/ broken/ eaten/ lost or spilt. And it changes monthly. New baby books, occasional a new mummy book, nipple creams and spare muslins, lovely. Mine has obviously been cleaned of tea/ milk stains and rearranged a little for photographic purposes, but this is it in all it's mummified glory. I will try and do these regularly, because if any of you are like me I love nosing round people's houses and this is a good little sneak peak!

• Angelcare montior - not used much anymore
• Bio-Oil for evening bump oiling and Whistles Cowshed hand cream
• Jo Malone Orange Blossom candle, on it's last legs (hint hint)
• Eye mask, to try and convince my preggers body to stay asleep
• Baby Names book - yup still no closer to naming the bump
• Gina Ford - The Contented Toddler Years - Am trying to read up on how to adapt the routine to two
• Another book - I think it is The Sense of an Ending, but I keep falling asleep as soon as I pick it up
• A gazillion baby books to try and keep Honey entertained while I sneak a few more moments in bed

The fabulous Mrs Jones at Keeping Up With The Joneses and I are twinning this link so don't forget to check out what's on her bedside table here.

If you are brave enough to share what's on your bedside table don't forget to link back to this post or enter below!

Napmit Baby Bows

Please excuse the unbrushed hair, Honey had got a bit hot at soft play!!

I was sent these two glorious hair bows for Honey a couple of weeks ago, one everyday blush pink one and one cream to go with her flower girl dress. They are so beautiful. Handmade by a very clever mummy who couldn't find quality hair accessories for her god-daughter. She filled the gap with these, they come in a rainbow of colours to go with everything and also come in baby or toddler size. They are made with the finest Grosgrain ribbon, which covers the clip also so as not to pull or catch on baby's hair, which is a must and gorgeous packaging. You must check them out!

Napmit baby bows can be bought here www.napmit.com and to follow the lovely blog click here.

Week in Pictures - A Stacay in the Cotswolds

A few snaps from our heavenly little sojourn to the Cotswolds a couple of weeks ago. I can't fly this summer due to the imminent arrival of the new baby so we decided to head to the Costwolds lakes.
We stayed in an incredible log cabin, with the comfiest super-king sized bed I have ever slept in, not to mention the Finnish hot tub on our veranda, private jetty with rowing boat and a double swing seat overlooking the lake. It really was a little peace of heaven. We spent the days walking, rowing and eating in country pubs and in the evenings Honey's daddy and I settled down and watched the whole series of The Bridge, accompanied by lots of Green & Blacks chocolate and a couple of really good bottles of red.
British holidays are the way forward!