Styling the Little One (31 weeks old)

What have we been up to this week?


Monday and Tuesday
Same as last week, we didn't do much so the days were just spent in a nappy.


Wednesday
We went out to a Sensory Heaven group at a local children's centre which sadly was the very last one as the centre have decided to stop running it. Instead, they're going to run a 'play & explore' group at a different time and at a centre that's several miles away. #notimpressed

Dress: Mothercare (3-6 months)

Mess in the background: Mother's own

Thursday
Baby Bounce & Rhyme at the library today.

Dress: Secondhand but originally Boden (3-6 months)

Tights: Lily and Dan at Aldi (3-6 months)

Friday
We didn't really do much today apart from going through her wardrobe to see what still fits and what she's grown out of.

Tshirt: TU at Sainsburys (3-6 months)

Trousers: Secondhand but originally Marks & Spencer (3-6 months)

Saturday
Big day today, Lily's first visit to a carnival!

Long-sleeved vest: Secondhand but originally Next (6-9 months)

Dress: Secondhand but originally Next (3-6 months)

Tights:Lily and Dan at Aldi (3-6 months)

Sunday
Lots of playing today and a little find first thing in the morning - a tooth!

Tshirt: Secondhand but originally George at Asda (0-3 months)

Dungarees: Secondhand but originally Marks & Spencer (3-6 months)

How's your week been?

Full credit goes to Helen from Treasure Every Moment - her 'week of style' post with daughter, Isabella inspired me to do the same with Lily :-)

Styling the Little One (30 weeks old)

What have we been up to this week?


Monday and Tuesday
We had a bit of a quiet week as I knew we were having a big weekend away camping. No outfits (just a nappy) as we didn't go out anywhere!


Wednesday
A party dress today as we were off out to a BBQ at a friend house - it was a get-together of all the ladies from our NCT group and a chance for all 6 babies to play together.

Dress: Secondhand but originally Frugi (3-6 months)

Thursday
Another day with no clothes!


Friday
A quick swimming session after lunch and then the drive down to the steam fair with all our camping gear.

Dress: Secondhand but originally Cherokee at Tesco (3-6 months)

Saturday
A day out watching everything at the Great Dorset Steam Fair.

Tshirt: Secondhand but originally Next (3-6 months)

Leggings: Mothercare (3-6 months)

Socks: Boden (with pink Sock-Ons to keep them on!)

Sunday
No pic today as I completely forgot and by the time I'd remembered, her outfit was already covered in lunch!


How's your week been?
 

Full credit goes to Helen from Treasure Every Moment - her 'week of style' post with daughter, Isabella inspired me to do the same with Lily :-)

Styling the Little One (29 weeks old)

What have we been up to this week?


Monday
I've wanted to do baby signing classes for a while but the nearest ones would involve a 45 minute bus ride and that's not something I fancy doing every week. There was a group in Bath doing taster sessions during the holidays though so my dad gave us both a lift into the city to try it out.

Dress: Secondhand but originally M&Co (3-6 months)

 

Tuesday
We popped out to our local health visitor clinic to return some books we'd borrowed and then did a little bit of shopping.

Dress: Secondhand but originally Matalan (3-6 months)

 

Wednesday
We spent most of the day out: in the morning at an NCT Bump 'n' Babes group, the lunchtime in a café sharing a tuna mayo jacket potato and the afternoon at a Sensory Heaven/messy play-style class at a local children's centre.

Dress: H & M (4-6 months)

 

Thursday
A quiet day spent at home in just a nappy!


Friday
Most of the day was spent at Nannie & Grampy's house. Andrew's dad has (or rather, had) a vintage lorry from 1935 which he'd owned and restored for 41 years; Friday was the day he sold it and the vehicle was low-loaded away to live with it's new owners!

Dress: Secondhand but originally Jojo Maman Bebe (6-12 months)

Tights: Lily & Dan at Aldi (3-6 months)

Saturday
A day spent playing and catching up on housework.

Romper: John Lewis (0-3 months)

Sunday
Andrew took his lorry out to be on display at a local agricultural show, the Mid Somerset Show. We went out to join him for the afternoon.

Long-sleeved vest: Secondhand but originally George at Asda (3-6 months)

Dress: Secondhand but originally Tesco (3-6 months)

Tights: TU at Sainsburys (0-6 months)

How's your week been?

 

Full credit goes to Helen from Treasure Every Moment - her 'week of style' post with daughter, Isabella inspired me to do the same with Lily :-)

Styling the Little One (28 weeks old)

What have we been up to this week?


Monday
We took a bus ride into Bath to meet up with some NCT friends and have a picnic and wander round Carters Steam Fair in Victoria Park.

Dress: Secondhand but originally Tesco (3-6 months)

Tights: TU at Sainsburys (0-3 months) - similar here

Tuesday
We started the day with yogurt for breakfast and ended the day with pizza for dinner so today's outfit consisted of various bits of food.

Yogurt: Marks and Spencer's 'Made without Dairy' Apricot Soya Pot (plus apple slices for dippers)

Pizza: Recipe from Gill Rapley's Baby Led Weaning Cookbook (with some potatoes as a side)

Wednesday
A busy day today: Baby Bounce at the library in the morning followed by a bus ride into Bath to visit my workplace for their annual summer picnic finished off with a trip to Grannie and Taid's in the evening.

Long-sleeved top: Secondhand but originally George at Asda (0-3 months)

Dungarees: TU at Sainsburys (3-6 months)

Tights: TU at Sainsburys (0-6 months)

Thursday
A big day out at Bristol Balloon Fiesta today with Grannie, Taid and my brother.

Bodysuit: Secondhand but originally Next (3-6 months)

Dress: Secondhand but originally Next (3-6 months)

Tights: Lily and Dan at Aldi (3-6 months)

Friday
A quiet daytime but an exciting evening out at the fairground in Bath with both sets of grandparents and my brother.

Long-sleeved top: Secondhand but originally M&Co (0-3 months)

Trousers: Mothercare (3-6 months)

Socks: Florence and Fred at Tesco (0-3 months) plus red Sock Ons to keep them on!

Saturday
Most of the day was spent in just a nappy but we did do a quick trip out in the early evening.

Dress: Mothercare (3-6 months)

Sunday
Someone didn't want to pose for a photo! It was far too exciting trying take off shoes and eat them. We took a picnic into Victoria Park in Bath to see the last day of the fair and watch them packing away.

Hat: Secondhand but originally TU at Sainsburys (6-12 months)

Dress: Secondhand but originally Cherokee at Tesco (6-12 months)

Shoes: TU at Sainsburys (0-3 months)

Nappy: Secondhand but originally Tots Bots

How's your week been?

 

Full credit goes to Helen from Treasure Every Moment - her 'week of style' post with daughter, Isabella inspired me to do the same with Lily :-)

Styling the Little One (27 weeks old)

What have we been up to this week?


Monday
Off out to a pop-up vintage tearooms with the rest of our NCT friends and their babies - when we arrived, we realised all of us had dressed the little ones in stripes so we took the opportunity to take some group photos :-)

Long-sleeved top: Secondhand but originally from M & Co (3-6 months)

Leggings: Mothercare (3-6 months) - similar here

Tuesday
Swimming in the morning followed by a lazy afternoon.

Dress: Secondhand but originally from Florence & Fred at Tesco (3-6 months)

Tights: Lily & Dan at Aldi (3-6 months)

Wednesday
A busy day today: an arts and crafts class in the morning (lots of messy play), a dance exercise class for me at lunchtime (a baby-friendly class) and then a Sensory Heaven session at a local children's centre. Needless to say, what she went out in first thing in the morning, was not the same thing she returned home in!

Tshirt: TU at Sainsburys (0-3 months)

Leggings: Secondhand but originally from George at Asda (0-3 months)

Thursday
A baby bounce session in the morning followed by a short journey to our local monthly sling meet to re-hire our fab Lenny Lamb sling.

Dress with bloomers: Secondhand but originally from George at Asda (3-6 months)

Tights: TU at Sainsburys (0-6 months)

Friday
A quiet morning but a busy afternoon travelling to Cornwall for a little weekend break. She was wearing a comfy sleepsuit for the day but managed to poo over it before I could take a picture.


Saturday
Off out for a walk round Newquay town and then a trip to an outdoor theatre performance in the evening (which she slept through most of).

Long-sleeved top: Secondhand but originally from TU at Sainsburys (0-3 months)

Dungarees: Nutmeg at Morrisons (3-6 months)

Tights: Lily & Dan at Aldi (3-6 months)

Sunday
More swimming! This time in a Newquay hotel which is open to non-residents and amazingly we had the whole pool to ourselves. Just a sleepsuit for today though - easy to put on and off for swimming and comfy for travelling home in.

Sleepsuit: TU at Sainsburys (3-6 months)

How's your week been?

 

Full credit goes to Helen from Treasure Every Moment - her 'week of style' post with daughter, Isabella inspired me to do the same with Lily :-)

Styling the Little One (26 weeks old)

One brilliant parenting blog I've followed since before her little daughter was born is Treasure Every Moment run by Helen. As well as parenting tips and weaning ideas (I think I've pinned pretty much every recipe Helen's posted), she also does a weekly feature about what her little one has been wearing that week.

So, blatantly copying Helen's fab idea (it's okay, I've asked her), here's a weekly round-up of what Lily wore :-)

 

Monday

I've been doing swimming lessons with Lily since she was 11 weeks old (she's now halfway through stage 2 in her classes) and the company we do them with (Turtle Tots) do underwater photo shoots every so often and we were booked in to do one in Bristol. I wanted something that was easy to take off and put back on again so a simple dress it was!

Dress: Secondhand but originally from Florence and Fred at Tesco (3-6 months)

Tuesday

Off to the health visitor's clinic this morning to be weighed; I wanted to see what size she was before we started food - she was 14lb 8.5oz!

Top: Charity shop but originally from M&S (3-6 months)

Leggings: Mothercare (3-6 months) - similar here

Wednesday

Two classes today: The Creation Station's arts and crafts Baby Discover class in the morning and a Sensory Heaven class in the afternoon. Both of them say to bring a change of clothes; she didn't need it in the morning but at the sensory class, they had a water tray and she certainly made use of that!

Top: Charity shop, unbranded unfortunately (0-3 months)

Leggings: Mothercare (3-6 months) - similar here

Thursday

No classes today but we did go on a bus ride to my friend M's house for dinner.

Dress: Secondhand but originally M&S (3-6 months)

Tights: Sainsburys (0-3 months) - similar here

Friday

Our usual swimming lessons stop for the summer but some of the local pools do baby classes so we went out to have a half hour's splash around in the water.

Dress with bloomers: Nutmeg at Morrisons (3-6 months)

Tights: Lily and Dan at Aldi (3-6 months)

Saturday

A lazy day at home but also a big day for Lily as we started baby led weaning - or 'food playtime' as it's more accurately described. She only had her nice outfit on til lunchtime and then we stripped her back to just her nappy.

Tshirt: Nutmeg at Morrisons (3-6 months)

Dungarees: Secondhand, unbranded unfortunately (3-6 months)

Sunday

We had to dress up smart today as we were heading back to our fertility clinic for a complimentary family photo shoot - we should be getting the shots back next week!

Dress: Frugi (0-3 months)

Tights: Frugi (0-6 months)

 

How's your week been?

 

Full credit goes to Helen from Treasure Every Moment - her 'week of style' post with daughter, Isabella inspired me to do the same with Lily :-)

What Duck Wore...Thrifting Bargains

I'm one month behind in doing my whole "one outfit post every month" thingy for my 33 before 33 list. I think I'm going to blame the lack of decent daylight and busy weekends.

 

 

I've picked up a few interesting little things from charity shops recently (if I can get away with December as "recently") and also took part in Janet and Steph's Big Blog Clothes Swap the other month so here's a bit of a roundup of bits and pieces. Some of them need a bit of alteration but nothing that can't be done at some point with my trusty sewing machine and a mug of tea.

 

This little dress is a modern one by TU at Sainsbury's and was a bargain £3.99 from a charity shop in Bath. One of those dresses you try on and then a little smile appears on your face at just how perfect it is.

Even though I tried in on in the shop though, I didn't actually notice there was a little button missing from the front but that's no bother to fix really. I've even worn it to work a couple of times and no-one's noticed yet anyway!

 

This one was picked up in a charity shop in Bath the other week. I love the colour of it and the pattern and I picked it off the rail to look at and then put it back because green isn't really my colour. It was such as lovely shade though and I loved the neckline on it; it was also Berketex and £8.99 so I thought well, what the heck, I'll try it on just for fun anyway.

In the mirror though, it didn't actually look that bad, which is quite amazing as like I said, it's not often I can pull off a green colour. I'd like to take it up a bit though as I think it would look slightly better if it was shorter but that's a job for another day. It also has the coveted 'Made in England' label!

This top and scarf were part of the fab package Janet sent me for the Big Blog Clothes Swap. I love Breton tops but don't actually own any, there's always a bit of me that remembers it being drummed into you as a teenager - "stripes make you look fat" - so I've never actually bought one.

This fits me perfectly though and I went for a casual look when we went out to see one of the Bath Lit Fest talks the other week. The jeans are just an old pair I've had for a while, the scarf is thrifted via Janet (White Stuff originally) and the brooch is fabulous sparkly heart from a Lucky Dip Club box.

This dress I actually picked up just before Christmas in a charity shop in Trowbridge, Wiltshire. It's supposed to be floor length I think but even so, on my 5ft 4in frame it's just a tad too long and needs taking up a few inches.

I do think it's fab though, it was one of those items that look a bit frumpy on the hanger but when you put it on, looks so much better and a lot more structured. There's no name on the label but it does say 'Made in England' and puts me in mind of something a bit early 1980s.


 

And lastly (not clothing) I've seen a few different bloggers make outfits based on the patterns from the Sew Over It shop and then in a charity shop in Bath I found this gem peeping out from the shelves for only 50p.

I do feel quite inspired to get making and crafting but the first thing I need to do it dramatically sort out my crafting area. At the moment, my sewing machine is rather buried under a large amount of detritus from Christmas and my birthday last December!
 

What Duck Wore...On a January Work Day

On my 33 before 33 list, I have this thingy about doing one outfit post a month. The idea was inspired by Janet's post last year about how bad outfit shots can make you feel better; that really struck a chord with me as I don't feel at all comfortable in front of a camera.

Put me behind one and I'll happily snap away but put me in front of one on my own and I just don't know what to do. How am I supposed to stand? Do I smile or laugh (and risk pulling some kind of weirdo face)? Does the one-hand-on-your-hip-and-leg-bent thing look too forced? Do I cultivate some kind of staring-into-space arty look? Does this outfit which I think I look good in look hideous to everyone else? And so on and so on.

The best pictures of me are the ones that have been taken really quickly or by accident. The sort of ones that, when you're looking back at your pictures on the computer, you think "oh, wow, I actually don't look too bad there".

I don't really want to live my life only feeling good about the 'surprise' pictures though, it'd be nice to think I could actually stand in front of a camera wearing a nice dress and not feel like a complete prat.

 

 

 

So in the spirit of pushing myself to try new things, here's my first outfit post for 2015.

 

With the exception of the shoes (I'll tell you about them in a minute) this is what I wore on my first day back to work after three and half months of sick leave.

 

The dress was from Asda, bought last November for only £12 and it's had quite a lot of use since then (I even spent my birthday daytime wearing it). It's black and white leopard print but I don't think it's particularly loud or in-your-face so I feel quite okay wearing it.

 

 

 

The cardigan was a little gem picked up in a charity shop just before Christmas. It was priced at only £2.99, I'm pretty sure it's handmade and it certainly hadn't had a lot of use. There was a tiny little hole in one area of the neckline but that was no bother to sew up easily.

 

 

 

The shoes I haven't actually worn to work yet (it's far too cold at the moment) but I picked them up last Saturday in a charity shop for £8, completely new and unworn. They're Clarks 'K' shoes and are also the very first thing I've bought clothes-wise in 2015 - the cutting-down-on-clothes and high street ban thingy is going well so far.

 

 

 

How do you feel about having your photo taken?