Review: Arbonne Skincare And Baby Products

Arbonne was developed in Switzerland and has been around for 35 years, so it is a product that has stood the test of time. Arbonne specialise's in pure, safe and beneficial products, all products are 100 % vegan and are made with botanical ingredients and contain no harmful chemicals making them kinder on your skin.

The packaging on all the products is gorgeous and has a rather luxurious feel to it and you can tell that they are high-quality products. I think the fact that you can not buy any Arbonne products in the shops also makes them feel a bit more exclusive and luxurious too as you have to buy them from a special Arbonne consultant who is on hand to offer you advice and ensure you buy the correct products for your needs, and who also know the products inside and out and are so passionate about the products they sell. 

I was offered a range of different products to test out which were some skincare products, body care products and some baby skincare products and this is what I thought of them.

March Degustabox

 I have been sent a monthly food subscription box each month for the last few months to review from Degustabox. On Wednesday I received the March box, and I have to say that this month's box was probably my favourite one so far. So here is a look at what was inside. Once again the box was well packaged and was full of goodies which arrived in perfect condition.

• One Packet of Jordan's Granola RRP £3.69. This is a lighter version of normal granola with 40 % less fat in, so perfect for me as I need to diet. It is so yummy and does not taste like a lighter version either. It is so Moorish and is packed full of strawberry's and blueberries which are full of flavour. This is my new favourite cereal as it is so good.

My Sunday Photo 29/03/15

When you are one the park is the best fun ever.

What I Have Learnt In A Year Of Blogging

Last week marked one whole year since I started this blog and I wrote a post about my first year of blogging and what an amazing year it had been both blog and personal wise for me. I still class myself as a new blogger and I still have so much to learn. But in this last year, I have learnt so much.

Mr Tumble Is Coming To An Arena Near You This Easter

If you are a parent of a young child then you will be well aware of who Mr Tumble is, as young children adore him. This Easter he is coming to an arena near you! As CBeebies live presents Justin and friends: Mr Tumble's circus tour, across the UK this April. 

We are so excited to be going to see the show in Newcastle on the 13th April as it looks like it is going to be amazing. Mr Tumble will be joined with a host of CBeebies favourites including something special stars Aunt Polly and Grandad Tumble along with CBeebies swashbuckler presenter Gem and Andy Day. And it promises to be lots of fun with jugglers, unicyclists and lots of interactive fun to keep little ones entertained and amazed.

An Afternoon Of Crafts With Hillarys Blinds

I was recently invited to an afternoon of crafts, or a crafternoon in other words with Hillary Blinds and organised by Joe blogs in Newcastle. I was not sure if I was going to attend or not as crafts really are not my thing, in fact, I am really bad at them. But I thought I would go along as I have never attended a blogger event before and it would be nice to actually meet some other bloggers in real life.

So on a cold and windy Saturday afternoon at the start of March off I set to the venue, The Jazz cafe which is near Central station in Newcastle. As I had been unsure where I was going, I arrived stupidly early and was the first one there feeling pretty sorry for myself as I had come down with tonsillitis the day before. I had no need to worry as the super lovely folk from Joe Blogs were on hand to chat to, seriously if anyone is invited to a Joe Blogs event then go, as they are so lovely and instantly put you at ease.

Badgemaster - Review

I have now been blogging for one whole year ! I am amazed that I have actually stuck at it as I normally give up any kind of hobby within a few weeks. I have stuck at blogging even through those exhausting newborn days when I had my son seven months ago and became a mum of three.

But amazingly my blog has steadily grown and I have had some amazing opportunities through blogging and have had to register as being self-employed. I have started to get invited to events and I even have my ticket to BritMums Live in June which is a two-day blogging conference in London. To hopefully help me learn more about blogging and connect with brands and other bloggers.

With events like BritMums lined up I have been wondering how people will actually know who I am? I talk to so many bloggers every day online and I am ashamed to say I do not even know some of their names, I just know the Twitter names. I am sure many people are the same with me they know my blog name but not my actual name, it is Lindsay by the way just in case anyone was wondering. 

A Taste Of Newcastle - Mozzarella And Parma Ham Salad

Since baby number three is now seven months old I have decided it is now time to diet, as I have a lot of baby weight to lose and can no longer keep using the excuse "I have just had a baby". Whenever I think of diets I always think of boring tasteless salads that taste nothing at all like the yummy ones I have when I eat out. So when Joe Blogs contacted me to see if I would like to take part in recreating a salad recipe from Newcastle's Copthorne hotel's head chef Andrew Scott, I thought it would be the perfect to time to see if I could make a healthy salad taste tasty. 

My Sunday Photo 22/03/15

Now that it is getting warmer we decided to have a trip to the park, I can not believe how grown up my little girl is now. She no longer looks like a baby but an actual little girl!  She suddenly has hair and is fiercely independent and wants to walk everywhere on her own and loves to explore.

Ten Signs You Have Two Children Under Two

As I have now been a mum to two little ones under two for the last seven months (there is only a 14 month age gap between my children), I have realised just how hard a job it can be having two young children so close in age. The last seven months have been hard, there have been tears, there has been day's I wondered how I would cope. But it has also been amazing as I have watched my children grow together and learn to love each other, they are now such good friends who adore each other. I hope they will have the bond I shared with my own brother growing up, as there is less than two years between myself and him also.

So here is a quick look at what it is like having two children under two. If you also have young children close in age I wonder if you can relate to any of these.

My Blog Is One Today

Exactly one year ago today I sat down and started this blog. I never thought that I would still be writing it a year later, I honestly thought I would give up after a few weeks, like I do with most things. When I started my blog I had no idea what I was doing and my first post Why Write A Blog was pretty rubbish. But I remember being so happy that about five people had actually read my blog post! 

I started Newcastle Family Life as a way of recording my pregnancy with baby number three and to record days out with my girls, an online family diary to occupy me while I was on maternity leave. I never in a million years thought that anyone would ever read my blog and now thousands of people each month do. I would just like to say a huge thank you to every single person who has taken the time to read or comment on my blog or followed me on social media. 

Time For Me To Switch Energy Providers And Save Money

I am currently on maternity leave and as most people will agree maternity pay sucks, it is less than half of my normal wages. With an extra little person to provide for we have had to start cutting back on our spending, goodbye takeaways and regular meals out and new clothes for mammy and daddy. With my maternity pay soon coming to an end and entering the non paid for part of my maternity leave I have started to worry a bit about money and have been looking at ways that we can cut down on our spending.

I have tried cutting down our grocery bill and failed and I have been looking at cutting down are sky subscription and cancelling all those unneeded direct debits, goodbye magazine subscriptions. But one thing that I had not even thought of changing was my energy provider until I heard that families could save a whopping £200 per year just by switching provider.

February Degustabox

For the last few months, I have been sent a monthly food subscription box from Degustabox. Which is basically a box filled with lots of surprise food and drink items delivered straight to my door each month. On Wednesday I received my February box.

 I love subscription boxes as you never know what you are going to get until you actually open your box. It is a great way to try out and discover new products that you may never have heard of or tried before. And there is no long sign up commitment either as you can cancel your subscription at any time as long as it is before the 10th of the month as you will be charged after this date as delivery is not long after that date. 

Weaning At Four Months Old

My baby boy Jacob is now six months old, but when he was four and a half months old we started weaning him onto solid foods. I know that it is recommended that babies are not weaned until they are six months old and I am in no way recommending that parents start weaning there children at four months old. But for us weaning at four months was for the best for our son and we did seek advice from a health visitor before we started weaning on to solid foods.

The current guideline for weaning baby's onto solid foods is to start when your baby is around six months old, as research shows that up until six months all a baby needs is either breast or formula milk. There is also a big shift in recent years for parents to try baby led weaning at six months, which is where you give baby finger foods and let them feed themselves rather than spoon-feeding them purees like you do with traditional weaning. I know my health visitor is a big fan of baby led weaning at six months and all the information I was given for weaning Jacob was for baby led weaning at six months.