Autumn in Joules wellies

I love everything about Autumn. I love the changing leaves, the smell of fires being lit, the stunning light through the clouds, and the warm food. 

I also love putting on wellies and going outside with my family to play in the leaves, walk through the mud and take in all the seasonal colours. It's even more enjoyable with Nate in tow. I love nothing better than rediscovering the world through the enthusiastic eyes of a one-year old. 

I was given the opportunity to choose a set of wellies for me and Nate for the Autumn from Joules. They have a HUGE range of cute Women's wellies and they even had a teeny tiny pair small enough for Nate who is a size 4. There is a boys wellies range from Joules too if you have an older son. It took me ages to finally decide on a pair for me. I went for dark green ones with little foxes on it because I wanted something more understated, but they have excellent patterns to suit all types of styles. 

When they arrived I took Nate straight into the back garden to try them on. Nate has a pair of cheaper wellies and he hates them because they are so stiff and he struggles to walk in them. I was worried how he would react. But these Wellies are seriously soft and squishy and he loved them straight away! He noticed the tractors on them and kept pointing to them, then looking back up at me and smiling. 

The only thing left for us to do was to get out and go exploring! My husband and I took Nate and the dogs to our local nature trail. It was Nate's first proper walk in the woods and he was in his element. 

I honestly love these Wellies.  They are reasonably priced and so comfortable and light. And because they are super soft, they slip on and off so so easy, which is of course essential for me so that I can get to my cup of tea as quickly as possible after walking in from the Autumn chill. 

You can have a look through all the Wellies on the Joules website here. 


We were sent these wellies free of charge from Joules for the purpose of the review, but all opinions are my own and are 100% honest. 

Carriwell Nursing Swimsuit ~ A review

Nathan loves swimming. He goes every Saturday to a Waterbabies swim class and I also try to take him to our local public pool for a splash in the water when I can. I like seeing him slap his hands against the surface of the pool and kick his little legs.

But what I don't like is trying to nurse him poolside in my standard one-piece swimsuit, fumbling to pull the straps around my shoulders, unintentionally flashing swimmers paddling past. 

I wasn't aware that there were nursing swimsuits available until I was asked if I would like to review one for the lovely Karen at BoobieMilk.  I was curious and eager to test out a nursing swimsuit. I was hoping for something comfortable to wear and discrete to nurse in when at the pool.

Karen sent me the Carriwell Nursing Swimsuit and I tried it out on my recent swimming excursion with Nate.  

Image of swimsuit from BoobieMilk website

The swimsuit fit me really well. Considering there are only 4 sizes (small to x-large) I was surprised that it was such a nice fit. The material is thin but supportive and the black colour is slimming and did a good job at disguising my postpartum pooch. I wouldn't say it's the most stylish of swimsuits: the leg is cut quite low and it's a very plain design; but the fit on the top is flattering and, as with most nursing-wear, function is certainly more important than fashion. 

The nursing clips are subtle and lay flat. I don't think anyone would notice it's a nursing swimsuit unless you pointed it out. The clips can be fastened and unfastened with one hand easily, which is important. 

Close up of nursing clip

There is a second A-frame cup under the top cup so that when the top layer is pulled down, nursing is very discreet. I was confident when nursing poolside that I wasn't flashing anyone. I even took a quick look at my reflection and could see nothing was on show. 

The back straps of the swimsuit come undone with a sliding clasp. This is convenient because you can keep the straps straight or cross over your back. When I first put on the swimsuit the straps came undone at the back and I had to get someone to help slide them back in place. I found that crossing the straps helped to keep them secure and once the suit was on with the straps crossed they didn't come undone again. 

Close up of sliding clasp at back of straps

The fact that the straps are so adjustable really helps to get a nice secure fit on the top and I love that this swimsuit is designed specifically for a nursing mother so it fits snugly around the tummy. 

The suit functioned well in the pool and when I got out to nurse it was comfortable because it's made of a quick drying material. It was still wet, of course, and I needed to rub down with a towel, but it didn't hold any excess water which made for a nicer nursing experience.

Overall, I think the Cariwell Nursing Swimsuit is a comfortable and functional nursing swimsuit. It offers great coverage for breastfeeding when swimming. I wouldn't recommend it for very active swimming, but for leisurely splashes around with your baby and comfortable poolside nursing sessions, it's perfect. 

If you would like to purchase this swimsuit, check out the BoobieMilk site where it is for sale as well as lots of other great breastfeeding gear

This product was sent to me free of charge for review purposes, but the opinions expressed are 100% my own. I received no other compensation.

product review: MaterniCare

I was recently sent some MaterniCare Pre & Post Natal Nourishing Cream to try. This was incredibly great timing; my bump has grown rapidly over the last few weeks and I have been looking for something to moisturise my expanding tummy to avoid stretch marks and itchy, dry skin. 

I have been using the cream for a couple weeks now and I can say that I really love it! The cream has a light, fresh fruity scent and contains lots of lovely ingredients such as almond oil, avocado oil, and pro-vitamin B51.  

I have been rubbing the cream on my tummy and hips every day and can notice a big difference in the softness of my skin compared to any other lotions I have tried. My husband even commented the other night that my bump felt really soft, which is always nice to hear :) 

It's hard to say whether or not the cream prevents the appearance of stretch marks because I have been lucky enough to not have any (yet!). What I can say is that it makes my skin amazingly soft  and I plan on continuing to use the cream throughout my pregnancy and afterwards. 

If you want to learn more about MaterniCare and healthy skin in pregnancy go here. To try some of this lovely cream yourself, you can buy it from Forum Health here.

This product was sent to me for review purposes, but the opinions expressed are 100% my own x

product review: bravado silk nursing bra

About a month ago I got to the point where I sadly outgrew my under-wire bras and needed to invest in a couple of good quality maternity and nursing bras. All the books I had read strongly suggested buying a couple of these due to all the changes my body will go through over the next year. As I am planning on breastfeeding I thought I would get a bra that I can use during my pregnancy and after the baby is here, because, let's face it, bras are not cheap and I wanted to get the most use out of them as possible. 

I searched high and low for the right bra, searched websites, read lots of reviews and I finally decided on the Bravado Seamless Silk Nursing Bra. The reviews I read were nearly all positive so I went for it and bought 2 from the NCT website for £29.70 each; I have not been disappointed so thought I would share my own review here. 

I must admit I was hesitant to buy a bra without any under-wire. I have been wearing under-wire bras since the age of 16 and was afraid of the bra lacking support and of getting uni-boob (you know, where "the ladies" get squished together into one). The material used is super stretchy which means the bra feels very secure and the material is different in the center and on the side giving a good shape and preventing the dreaded uni-boob - hooray!

The bra is so comfortable and one of my favorite features is the removable cup inserts that come with it. The inserts are slightly padded and smooth all the lumps and bumps out. I wear quite snug stretchy shirts to work and these inserts hide everything - it's great! 

The only negative I can think of is the sizing. They only come in small, medium, large and x-large. I wasn't sure whether to get the medium or large (I went with the medium and it's snug but in all the right ways).  The bras come in a lot of really nice colors. I got Black and Pink Ice to start, but I'm thinking of getting the Teal as well, maybe in the large just in case. 

In all, the Bravado Seamless Silk Nursing Bra gets 2 big thumbs up from me. I love how comfortable it is and the great silhouette it gives under shirts. The nursing clips seem easy to use, though I will have to wait until baby is here to fully test how the bra performs as a nursing bra. 

*I purchased this product myself and really liked it so decided to write a review to share my thoughts. I have not been paid by anyone to write this and all opinions are completely my own.*