Dressing The Baby: Little Boy Blue!

While I was pregnant there was nothing I loved more than shopping for baby clothes.

I bought TONS of outfits in sizes newborn, 0-3 months, 3-6 months, 6-9 months, 9-12 months - I even bought one outfit in Age 1 with the intention of Tyne wearing it for Easter 2014!!!!

Yep ... I was a bit over-eager!

But while I was doing all of that shopping, I had an image of my mind of how I wanted to dress my little man - I had decided I wanted him to be a trendy little dude. I wanted him to look like a real "little man" - in mini grown up outfits, all stylish and cool!!!

So I bought lots and lots of those kinds of outfits....

Unfortunately for me, once Tyne was born - I had a COMPLETE change of heart.

I no longer like all of those super-trendy little outfits - I feel like he has years ahead of him to dress all cool, wear bright colours and be stylish - but he only has a certain amount of time to be my tiny little baby boy.

I have absolutely fallen in love with baby blue outfits - I LOVE the colour, and I think it suits Tyne perfectly - I love cute little outfits with stripes and star patterns, and cutesy little images - basically everything I thought I didn't want!! 

I think there is only a certain amount of time that a little boy can get away with wearing baby blue before he looks too old for it, and so I want to make the most of it while I can....

So all of his trendy outfits have been pushed to the back of the wardrobe and instead he has acquired a sea of baby blue outfits!!!

Here is just a small selection of some of my favourites:

3 piece suit - £10.00 by Zip Zap (bought from Kiddicare)

This super cute little set consists of baby blue bottoms, white short sleeved t shirt with baby blue piping around the sleeves and collar, and a cute little lightweight jacket which is baby blue with white star patterning and images of a giraffe and a tortoise.

All in one play suit  - £8.00 from Kiddicare

I love this one because the design is just SO sweet, it features a picture of a bear with the words "This is my bear, his name is Henry".

So cute! And also, I love it because Henry is one of Tyne's middle names! :)

Striped blue, grey & white knitted suit from MiniClub @ Boots - £12.00

I love this suit because it just looks so comfortable, and the colours are such a nice combination! It also had a little hood so it kind of reminds me of a onesie!

Blue & Grey Striped Dungarees - £10.00 - Debenhams

This little pair of dungarees is my Mums favourite outfit of Tyne's, I love the striped pattern and it does really suit him!

Teddy Bear Ear Coat - £16.00 - Mothercare

I love this coat SO much that I'm going to buy it again in the next size up as I'll be devastated when he grows out of this Tiny Baby one!

Dungarees and Top - £12.00 - Junior J @ Debenhams

I love the elephant design and the lovely soft material of these dungarees. As always with Junior J clothes, the quality is brilliant!

The Junior J logo is featured on the sleeves of the vest, which doubles up as a long sleeved top with a super cute collar edged with baby blue stitching detail.

What are your favourite colours and patterns to see your children in? As always, I'd love to hear from you!

Friday Fives: 5 Most Useless Baby Products We've Bought

You know how it is when you're expecting your first baby, your mind is constantly going over all of the things you NEED to have before the baby arrives and your mental list of things you will NEVER be able to survive parenthood without is as long as your arms!

However, once the baby actually arrives - you soon come to realise that actually a lot of the products that you absolutely HAD to have, are really pretty useless.

We certainly have a whole stash of products that I would put into the Useless category, obviously every parent is different and some people might find these things absolutely essential - but personally I could certainly have survived without them, infact in the 7 weeks since Tyne's arrival we haven't used them once.....

1. Baby Breathing Monitor

Before Tyne was born all I could think about was the risk of cot death, and I was convinced that I would never be able to sleep and would instead be spending all night perched over his crib checking his breathing.

Now don't get me wrong...these monitors are a fabulous invention, and if ever anything foolproof was invented I'd be all over it like a shot!! But let me explain....

When I heard about the baby breathing monitors on the market I thought all my problems were solved, and I just HAD to have one - they're certainly not cheap and I spent months trying to get the money together to buy one and panicking over not having one....I eventually purchased one the week before his birth. The one we bought cost £60 and is to be placed on the babies nappy to monitor his stomach rising and falling when he breathes.

The product is still in its box, at the back of cupboard.

Why? Because it is so very impractical.

Initially we couldn't use it because we had a small baby and his Micro nappies were big on him and didn't touch his skin, so when we tried to attach the alarm to them - it wasn't in contact with his skin and would always give false alarms. So we put it away and have since decided against using it at all.

The monitors are known to have false alarms every now and then....and so if it were to have one, it would wake the baby up and most likely give him a massive fright with its loud piercing alert (which I think would probably be quite dangerous, in itself)...and because it is to be placed on their nappy, it would take a half-asleep Mummy a good few minutes to be able to undo the babies sleepsuit and then his vest to be able to get  to the monitor on his nappy and deactivate it.

I have also learnt that babies actually breathe rather loudly, and as a Mum with your baby sleeping next to you in his basket (as its advised to keep a baby in your bedroom until they are 6 months old for safety reasons) you become aware of their breathing patterns and can monitor them without the use of an alarm.

Of course I'm sure these products are literal lifesavers for some and its good that they are on the market if people choose to them - but for us, it hasn't worked out at all.

2. Nappy Disposal Unit

We purchased a Tommee Tippee nappy disposal unit when I was very early on in the pregnancy because I couldn't imagine having to constantly change dirty nappies and be running outside to the bin all the time to dispose of them.

However, it is still in its box at the back of the cupboard. Why? Because when you're running around everywhere else every 5 minutes, it REALLY doesn't make any difference to have to put a nappy in the bin every now and then!

Plus we use nappy bags anyway, so the smell and dirt is all contained nicely in those.

3. Bath Seat

We bought one of these as we thought it would be handy to have an aid to keep the baby afloat in the bath to make washing him easier.

We haven't used it because its easy enough to wash the baby and keep him afloat in the conventional, old fashioned way of just using our hands....I cannot be bothered with having any additional things around that aren't really required. Bath time is enough of a faff as it is!

4. Swaddling Blanket

Again - I thought these were a great idea. Making swaddling safe so that there can be no mix ups and nothing to put the baby in any danger.

But actually, they're rather useless. The ones I have tried are all far too loose and far too light weight, Tyne was not comfortable or settled in them at all as he likes to be tightly swaddled. Normal cellular blankets work just fine.

5. Top & Tail Bowl

We've used this once - the idea of it seems to make sense, but actually we prefer to just bath the baby more often than top & tail him as he hates being topped & tailed anyway and it seems to be just as much hassle to do, so he might as well just have a bath and have a proper wash!!

And even if we did want to top & tail him, clean bowls work just as well. 

What products did you find to be useless as a first time parent? As always, I'd love to hear from you!

Thursdays Thing That Annoys Me.....The General Public

As a new addition to my blog, I'm going to be introducing a new post each and every Thursday entitled....Thursdays Thing That Annoys Me!

Yep, that's right - every single week you can look forward to reading my hate-filled outpouring of rage on whatever topic has wound me up lately! Lucky old you! :)

And for the first week, I have chosen to talk about my hatred of the general public.

Since I had my little boy, I have found myself becoming filled with rage on the vast majority of our outings because of the sheer stupidity and selfishness of what seems like a large proportion of the general public.

I would like to break these people up into four specific categories....

1. Parking Plonkers

This is definitely my number 1 bug bear since becoming a parent. I have to admit, before having a child myself I did occasionally get a little bit miffed at the creation of parking spaces dedicated to parents - particularly on very wet days when I really didn't feel like trudging miles from my parking space to the shop entrance when there were lots of empty spaces much closer which were reserved for people with children.

But no matter HOW horrible the weather was, I was NEVER tempted to claim one of those spaces for myself when I wasn't entitled to it.

However, it seems I'm somewhat alone in my morals on that one - because in the last few weeks, I have discovered just how many people think it is perfectly acceptable to plonk themselves into these parking spaces when they clearly do not have any children with them.

Since becoming a parent, I have realised how important it is to have access to these spaces - with a newborn child in the car we have to get a big pram in and out before we can head off anywhere, as these parking spaces are designed to give extra room and not back onto other cars the job is made FAR easier when we can use the spaces.

And of course, for people with older children who are walking by themselves - the closer proximity to the entrance of a shop means that the parking space is safer for the children.

Yet so many selfish, lazy, ignorant, self-important arse holes think that its just fine for them to take up that space because they can't be bothered walking a few steps further to their destination!!!

What surprises me most (I'm not sure why, but it does) is that the majority of people I've seen doing this are older women - I see them coming back to their cars, shopping bags in hand, not a little bit bothered by the death-stare's I'm giving them as they get into their cars and drive away without a child in sight....nevermind the fact that your selfishness may have meant that somebody has had to struggle that bit harder to get a pram out of a car or that a small child has had to walk further and may have been in that little bit more danger from surrounding traffic - no no, as long as YOU get a nicer parking space, who cares?!

HOW F****G LAZY!!!!!!!!!!!

2. Pavement Thieves

Along the same lines as the parking space plonkers are the pavement thieves - the people who see absolutely nothing wrong with parking their big stupid cars up on the curb, taking up half of the pathway which is meant for PEDESTRIANS!

But if I was to struggle on past and scratch your big stupid car with my pram - oh you'd have something to say about that, wouldn't you?!

So instead I have to walk my pram out onto the road and around your car, putting myself and my infant child in danger and inconveniencing myself. 

How very thoughtful of you.

3. Selfish Smokers

I know that people have the right to smoke outdoors in the majority of places - but it bugs the hell out of me when I am standing with my child, and someone stands next to me and lights up a fag. 

What is worse still is when their are designated smoking areas provided somewhere, and CLEAR signs asking people not to smoke anywhere other than these areas - yet people can't be bothered huffing their way to their designated space and instead decide to stand wherever they choose to, bugger everybody else who then has to breathe in their filth.

The worst example of this was at the hospital where I had my son - this was a womens only hospital which deals largely in maternity - there were designated smoking spaces a few paces from the entrance, and clear signs asking people not to smoke directly outside.

But everytime I went there,  there would be crowds of people puffing away on their cancer sticks - forcing me and countless other pregnant women and even newborn babies leaving the hospital for the first time to have to breathe in their second-hand smoke.

It is YOUR decision to fill your lungs with poisonous fumes, do NOT be selfish enough to inflict that decision on everybody else - particularly pregnant women and young children! 

4. Foul-Mouthed Fools

Don't get me wrong, I'm not claiming to be some sort of angel who never utters a swear word - I can have a mouth like a sailor when the mood takes me.

But there is a time and a place for it, and what really bugs me is when people are too ignorant to notice that there are children around who shouldn't be exposed to their bad language.

It particularly annoys me when you're in an enclosed space with no option to get away from it - such as on a train or a bus.

Recently I was putting the baby in his car seat at a retail park when a pair of young lads walked past us, effing and blinding at the tops of their voices - I wouldn't mind so much but they were RIGHT outside Mothercare!!! LOOK AROUND YOU, YOU CRETIN!!!! REALISE WHERE YOU ARE AND ACT ACCORDINGLY!!!!

Surely people must realise that swearing loudly around children is out of order?! SO SHUT THE F**K UP!!!!!

So there you have it folks, my annoyance for this week....how do you feel about this?!  What things about the general public annoy you?! As always, I'd love to hear from you!

Beauty Wednesdays: Dirty Works Face Mask

With a new baby who is hell-bent on never sleeping of a night time, its no surprise that tiredness has been taking its toll on my skin lately!

So I was thrilled to be given the chance to try out Dirty Works Power Berry Detox Mask.

The mask is designed to draw out impurities in the skin, revive and refresh - promising to leave you with glowing skin! 

No small task with the current dullness of my skin!!

I tried the mask out after a particularly harsh no-sleep weekend, and was intrigued to see the results...

The first thing I noticed was the lovely packaging. My regular readers will know that I'm a sucker for anything retro and kitsch, so the baby blue polka dot tube was right up my street! It looks really cute sitting on my bathroom shelf!

The delightful smell of berries makes the mask feel like a real treat right from the start. The consistency is really nice - not too runny as i've found with some masks in the past, and gives a great coverage.

As advised on the tube, I kept the mask on for 10 minutes while I pottered around doing some bits and pieces - I then gently cleaned it off using a damp cloth and patted my skin dry.

My skin tends to feel quite dry after using face masks, but I didn't experience that sensation with this mask - my skin felt very clean and refreshed, and I do think it had much more of a glow about it afterwards!

I certainly think it helped put some life back into my skin, and I would definitely use it again.

Dirty Works products are available from Sainsburys, the Dirty Works Berry Power Detox Mask costs £4.99 for 100ml.

Baby Watch: Week 7

Dear Tyne,

Today you are 7 weeks old.

In the last 2 weeks you have grown and changed quite a bit!

We had our last visit from the Health Visitor last week, and now we won't be seeing her again until after you turn 1.

Before she left, she weighed you - I couldn't believe that you are now up to 9lbs 4oz!!!!

You still look absolutely teeny weeny, and everywhere we go people who coo over you (and there are lots of them!) are always surprised when we tell them how old you are - they always think you are a newborn and they always ask if you were very tiny when you were born!

This week you started to outgrow some of your Tiny Baby sleepsuits for the first time, I nearly cried!!!!

But you do still fit into lots and lots of your Tiny Baby clothes, and when I got your bag of Newborn and 0-3 months clothes out to try against you pretty much everything was miles too big!!

There are about 30 outfits in that bag, and only 3 of them fit you at the moment!

Eating & Sleeping

You seem to have taken a bit of a jump backwards over the last few weeks, as most of the time you now only take 3 oz of your bottle at each feed and in 2 hours time you are hungry again.

Sometimes you take 4 or even 5 oz, but not very often - and you still seem to be hungry after 2 or 3 hours regardless, so I think that when your current tub of formula runs out I'll replace it with Hungry Baby milk to see if that helps to keep you fuller for a bit longer.

We changed your teats this week to Variflow but it doesn't seem to have made any difference to how much you drink.

As for sleeping - well that has not been very much fun this week!

On Friday night you were very unsettled, and you only slept for 30 minutes between midnight and 8.30 am!!!!! 

Saturday night wasn't great either - you slept for about 3 hours but all in 45 minute segments throughout the night.

Last night was a little bit better, so fingers crossed you're just going through a growth spurt which is making you a bit unsettled and soon you'll start to sleep better.

Your Life At 7 Weeks

At the moment you just LOVE being cuddled. You're happiest when somebody has got you snuggled in and you can fall fast asleep on them.

This week you've also started to smile properly! You give big gummy smiles and "silent" laughs when people talk to you or tickle your chin or cheek, its very very cute!! You seem to do it the most for Gagand, you think he's very funny!

You have started to enjoy your bath time more this week, we've learnt that you like your water to be nice and warm - you don't scream the house down if the bath temperature is 1 degree warmer than its supposed to be.

You've started to spend a bit more time under your gym looking at your toys, and we bought you some black & white books to have a look at - you don't interact very much with them yet but you do have a good look at them.

You like going out in the car and you ALWAYS fall fast asleep for the whole journey!

Last week you also went for your very first photoshoot - you didn't like the experience much as all you wanted was your bottle, but you did pose very well and we got some beautiful photos of you! I'm excited to get them back and see what they turned out like!

You also had your first go at art this week!!

We did your little foot prints on a canvas - you weren't sure about the feeling of the paint on your feet but we managed to get some nice prints!

Your hands were a different story - you wouldn't let us straighten out your palm at all, instead you smooshed the paint up in your hand and put big prints all over Daddys jeans!! So we gave up and just stuck with your foot prints!

That's all of our news for this week.

Lots Of Love,

Mummy xxx

Mummy Mondays: Enchanted Interiors Nursery Wall Art

When planning for my babies arrival, one thing I spent a lot of time thinking about was how I would decorate his nursery.

I have always loved the idea of creating a cute, clean little space for a baby to grow up in with lots of nice colours and calming scenes -I love the idea of a babies bedroom being a happy & playful, calming and chilled out space.

While browsing various websites for ideas, I soon came across lots of Wall Decal stickers and - as somebody who is as far from artistic and hands-on with decorating as a person can possibly get! - these instantly appealed to me.

I discovered http://www.enchanted-interiors.co.uk/ website and was instantly smitten - as soon as you hit the home page you're instantly drawn in by the pretty, soothing pastel-coloured images.

Enchanted Interiors sell a wide variety of Wall Stickers so there are lots of designs to choose from to fit in with pretty much any theme you can imagine!

From Fairy Princess and Butterfly designs for pretty feminine bedrooms to Outer Space and Trains designs for cheeky boisterous bedrooms - every taste is catered for!

I particularly love the Pirate Treasure Hunt stickers! 

As well nursery stickers, Enchanted Interiors sell many other items to spruce up your childs bedroom - once you have chosen your theme you'll be spoiled for choice with their range of  matching acrylic mirrors, lighting, canvas prints, rugs and much more!

I was thrilled to be given the chance to have a look at Enchanted Interiors Giant Fabric Wall Stickers for myself.

I chose the Singing Birds In A Tree Branch design for Tyne's room:

I love the colours in the design, and think this would look just lovely against a white or baby blue painted wall.

I particularly love the little swing on the branch with mummy & baby bird perched on it - SO cute!!!

The stickers arrived a few days ago, I was really impressed with the packaging - they were sent in a really handy little tube which kept them perfectly safe in transit and has meant that they haven't been getting in the way while they're waiting to be put up as they're so compact!

The stickers were sent with detailed instructions, which showed an image of the final design along with numbers showing where each piece should be placed - how easy is that!??

The quality of the stickers is really impressive, the colours are really striking and the design is absolutely flawless.

As we are waiting to move house we're not going to be putting the stickers up just yet, as we're waiting to be able to put them in Tyne's new bedroom but once we have moved and they are up, I will let you all know how I found the task of applying the stickers and show you all how it looks in his finished bedroom! :)

The Singing Birds In A Tree And Branch Fabric Stickers are available from Enchanted Interiors for £120.00 and with prices for wall stickers starting from as low as £12.55 there is something for every budget.

And what's more, the lovely people at Enchanted Interiors are offering an EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNT CODE for Sparkles & Stretchmarks readers giving you 10% off Fabric Wall Decals until 31st May 2013 - just enter the code SASBR13 at the checkout to take advantage of this great offer!

Summer Holidays!

With the sun shining today (for a change!) it's difficult not to stare out of the window and dream of jetting off on holiday....

My last holiday was my amazing luxury canary isles cruise which I've already talked about here - this was back in February last year, so it feels like a life time ago!!

I LOVE travelling and am the kind of person who is always browsing holiday deals online, dreaming about where I'd head off to if I had the chance...

Of course, now that Tyne is in the picture it makes holidays that bit more difficult - everything requires more thought and more planning when there's a baby involved!

I've been thinking a lot lately of what kind of holidays we'll be taking in the future, as somebody who HATES flying I have no desire to step on a plane again at any point in the near future.....so for us its going to be UK holidays, Europe City breaks via Eurostar or Ferries, and ...of course....my beloved CRUISES!!! <3

I've come up with the following Holiday Plan for the next few years!

2013 Holiday Idea

Tyne is a very very young baby right now, and he requires a lot of care and attention - at the moment I wouldn't feel too comfortable taking him out of the country, as his immune system is still going to be quite low, I'd like to keep him in areas with easy access to NHS hospitals just incase he might need them and I don't fancy the worry of having him in very hot places where I'll constantly be stressing about insects and protecting his delicate new baby skin....

So the answer to my holiday worries for this year is simple - stick with the UK!

All of our childhood holidays took place in the UK as my parents didn't like flying, and I never felt like I missed out on anything as we went to different places all the time and always had a fab time.

There are so many great places to visit right on our doorstep, and so many different kinds of holidays to consider right here at home - luxury spa hotel breaks, camping & glamping trips, seaside b & b breaks, canal boat holidays...the choices go on and on!

But my personal choice would be for a good old-fashioned caravan or lodge holiday! I haven't stayed in a caravan since childhood but I always used to love it! 

I think this year we'll be trying to fit in a late summer long weekend in a seaside caravan or holiday lodge, perhaps in Cornwall or the Lake District.

2014 Holiday Idea

Once Tyne is over the age of 1, I will feel more comfortable about travelling a little further afield with him as his routine will be more settled and he'll be that little bit tougher!

I think in 2014 it'd be quite nice to venture abroad on a little European break - I've found some great ideas on Ice Lolly's website. I think my top choice would be to go via Eurostar to Disneyland Paris! 

I know he'll be slightly too young to really appreciate it but I've wanted to go there for ages anyway, so I'm sure it'll be loads of fun regardless!

2015 Holiday Idea

Tyne will turn 2 in March 2014, and so I think that in around October we will finally feel confident in taking him on his very first CRUISE!!!

I wouldn't like to take him any younger than this as cruises can be a real breeding for the norovirus and I wouldn't feel comfortable taking a very young baby onboard for this reason. But once he's reached toddler age I think he'll be just fine - plus at this age he'll be eating proper meals with us so will be able to join us at dinner times - plus he'll understand the concept of a holiday and being a boat, and will be able to enjoy all the onboard entertainment aimed at kiddies - the ocean kids clubs start from aged 2 so it will also mean that he can take part in those and make some little holiday friends too!

So those are my ideas for holidaying with a little one, when did you first take a holiday as a Mum and where did you go?

If this post has got you thinking about holidays, why not check out IceLolly.com for a great selection of fab holiday deals and ideas!

Weekly Round Up

This Week We Have Been:

WATCHING

I absolutely love The New Normal on E4 - I got really into watching anything about pregnancy while I was pregnant, and this was one I started watching toward the end of my pregnancy.

 For those who haven't seen it, its by the creators of Glee and so has a lot of the same "snappiness" about it - but with none of the singing and dancing!

It focuses around a gay couple, Bryan and David, who decide they want to have a child. They meet hapless single mother Goldie who has run away to California with her 8 year old daughter Shania after finding her husband cheating on her.

Goldie agrees to become a surrogate for Bryan & David, and they all become a kind of family.

What I love about the show is the quick humour (the gags happen so fast it sometimes takes me a minute to even realise what was just said!) and the hilarious closed-mindedness of Goldie's grandmother.

The acting is great, the jokes are biting and hilarious, and it always has a nice sentimental side to it.

I can't recommend it enough!

LISTENING TO

I've been on a real old-school kick lately and I keep buying old CDs to play in the car by groups/artists I used to like years ago!

In the last few weeks I've bought The Greatest Hits of TLC and Mika's first album - all of which are getting played a lot when we're out and about!

HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK

The highlight of this week was definitely the glorious sunshine we had at the start of the week!

Ok ok, it didn't last very long and it's been replaced by freezing cold temperatures and lots of wind and rain - but a few days of sunshine is better than none at all!

On one of the hottest days, Jon & I took Tyne for a walk around Reynolds Park in nearby Woolton.

We hadn't been there before but it was a really lovely place to stroll around with the pram and had a nice little garden where we sat to give Tyne his bottle and just chill out for a bit.

   PICTURE OF THE WEEK

This picture of Tyne dressed up as his favourite Bunny friend is my favourite of the week! :)

What have you been up to this week? I hope you've had a good one!

Blogging For Madeleine

I can hardly believe that its been 6 years since the disappearance of Madeleine McCann....a 3 year old British Girl who disappeared from her holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal on May 3rd 2007.

I remember so clearly the day she went missing - I was sitting in my old apartment in Exeter, on a sick day from work, watching Sky News when the yellow "Breaking News" banner came across the bottom of screen reading "Breaking News: 3 year old girl reported missing from holiday apartment in Portugal...."

I followed the story for the rest of that day as more details about the case emerged, I went to bed that night with my fingers crossed that by the morning there would be some good news ....

And unbelievably, 6 years on - here we are still. 

Today is Madeleine's 10th birthday.....and after so much time has passed, we seem to have very little further concrete information about what happened to Madeleine than we had on that first day....

And what is sadder still, is that we have all experienced those news stories many times since and I personally have gone to bed many times since with my fingers crossed, hoping that by the morning there would be some good news about the whereabouts of a missing child....

It seems like 9 times of 10, eventually there is news on what happened to the missing child - but its seldom positive - in recent years there has been the cases of Tia Sharpe, April Jones, and countless other children who have been revealed to have met tragic ends.

But what about the cases that remain unresolved?

Regardless of your personal opinions on the decision of Madeleine's parents to leave her and her siblings alone in their holiday apartment while they dined in a nearby tapas restaurant with friends, nobody can deny that what they have gone through in the last 6 years must be a living hell....

6 years must seem like an eternity without their beautiful little girl, and to have no idea what happened to her on that fateful night and whether or not she is still alive must be a horrific feeling to wake up to every day.

With stories in the news this week of Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight & Gina DeJesus being found alive after disappearing 10 years ago - it is more apparent than ever than until their is evidence to show otherwise, we should never give up hope of finding Madeleine or indeed any missing child alive.

Kate & Gerry McCann's words on the www.findmadeleine.com website sum it all up....

"Why Do We Continue To Search?:

There is absolutely nothing to suggest that Madeleine has been harmed.
Madeleine is still missing and someone needs to be looking for her.
She is very young and vulnerable and needs our help.
We love her dearly and miss her beyond words."

If you have any information about Madeleine's disappearance, no matter how insignificant it may seem, please contact your local police force and call +44 845 838 4699 - alternatively you can call Crimestoppers on 0800 555111 or e-mail investigation@findmadeleine.com

Dressing The Baby: Boutique Baby Brands!

Following on from last week's Supermarket Style post, this week I thought I would feature outfits from the other end of the scale - boutique designer brands!

There are lots of little Childrenswear Boutique's around Liverpool, which sell lots of European designer brands such as Sarah-Louise, Emil Et Rose (another of my personal favourites which I will no doubt be featuring in an upcoming post!) and many more....

One of my absolute favourites of these brands is Tutto Piccolo.

Tutto Piccolo are a Spanish childrenswear company who have been in operation since 1860, when they began as a small family-run business.

They now sell their beautiful range of baby and childrenswear in boutique stores across many European countries.

What I LOVE about their clothes is that, as well as the very high quality, their designs have so many lovely little touches and somehow manage to be both classic and trendy in their design at the same time.

I could buy ENDLESS items from their ranges, but at the moment Tyne has just 3 of their little outfits....

I wanted to share them with you today.

This lovely little argyle romper suit was the first Tutto Piccolo outfit I bought and was £29.99

I loved how preppy it looked with its little collar, V neck and badge!

The suit has little tan feet in it.

Tyne thinks its very comfy!!

The next outfit was a gift from my lovely Aunty Ann for Tyne's birth, and cost around £25.

I love the little stars on the feet!

The material is really light so its perfect for the summer days that may hopefully be coming up! ;)

And the final outfit is the little sailor suit that Tyne wore for Easter....

This suit cost £19.99, which I think was actually quite a bargain for a high quality suit - although the colours are darker than I usually like to see him in, they were perfect for Easter and I adored the little ship wheel emblem on the chest!

Have you bought Tutto Piccolo clothes yourself? Who are your favourite boutique baby brands?

As always, I'd love to hear from you!