Cool urban boys’ clothing from ABC123me

ABC123me are a London based label offering brand free, unisex clothing made from 100% soft cotton made to be washed and tumble dried and to be worn with ease and comfort. It’s a shop I turn to for great quality and stylish basics — I love the simple styles which are so cool and on trend, but in a very simple, classic way. Pim still loves wearing his corduroy suit that he got last year (love these photos of my little guy!), this mid-season jacket in his favourite colour, and the vintage style hoodies with extra long sleeves with thumb pockets.

ABC123me is one of the wonderful shops joining us at the ShopUp next week. We’re so excited to have them join us!

xxx Esther

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Maud Fontein’s Happy Holiday Shoot, again at the ShopUp!

It’s becoming a little ritual, my yearly trip to Maud Fontein‘s studio with my four children. It’s always a bit chaotic, because it needs to be done quickly, in between school pick-up and tennis training. Maud is great at making the kids feel at ease though and always captures them looking so cute, making use of clever little tricks and parental involvement like sitting on the whoopy cushion or throwing confetti in the air.

I love the sequence of the yearly shoots (here‘s the one Maud took 2 years ago, and here is last year’s shoot). So cute to see those sweet faces develop!

This year’s theme with the black background and the confetti is so fun — it brings so much movement to the photos and makes for such a sweet series, with such honest, spontaneous faces.

Maud will be at the ShopUp this year again, like the previous three years, so if you’re in London here’s your chance to have cute portraits of your children taken. (Or maybe you already have started a series last year?) She will be set up the full two days, so do bring your sweeties along when you come to our event! (If you would like to reserve a specific time, it’s best to drop Maud an email beforehand.

xxx Esther

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MamaOwl — a one-stop shop for merino wool and beautiful knitwear

It seems like so many of our blog posts in the past few weeks have been focused on cosy knitwear!! Tis the season, I guess… and it’s a beautiful one! In addition to a roaring fire and lots of hot chocolate, beautiful, thick, cosy knitwear is one of my favourite things about the winter season. (Seeing these photos makes me miss it. Never thought I would say that!!!)

MamaOwl is the perfect one-stop shop for gorgeous knits and merino wool pieces from a selection of our favourite knitwear brands. They stock everything from chunky jumpers to hats, scarves and mittens. And slippers! And coats! And all-in-one suits for babies! And even merino wool long underwear.

MamaOwl will be back again at this year’s ShopUp event next week on the 10th and 11th. The perfect opportunity to stock up on everything you’ll need to keep your little ones warm and toasty this season.

Courtney x

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The Claude Series by Alex T. Smith

Helena, my eldest, loves to read. But she’d rather read lots of shorter chapter books then one long one. When I found Claude on the Slopes at the local library I was thrilled to find a series I knew she’d enjoy. It’s rather like a picture book but yet it is over 90 pages long. It’s great for both of my girls as Florence sits just long enough to listen to it and Helena reads it in one night giving her a great feeling of accomplishment! Its witty illustrations make you smile and they had Helena hooked from the very beginning.

Claude on the Slopes is a charming book about the exploits of a mischievious dog who wears “a rather nifty beret” and his friend Sir Bobblysock. Each day when Claude’s owners, Mr and Mrs Shinyshoes, leave their house Claude and his friend pursue adventure. In this particular story Claude learns to ski but his silly escapades of snowball throwing cause problems on the slopes.

Helena loves these books and has since read Claude in the Spotlight and Claude Lights! Camera! Action! It’s easy to see why Claude on the Slopes has been shortlisted for Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize. They are such fun books!

Available from all good bookstores and online from Amazon (US) and (UK).

Vanessa xx

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First day of Advent (and the sweetest Christmas calendar from Fabelab)

Last year I blogged about our last minute advent calendar — not a calendar filled with gifts and sweets, but one filled with little notes suggesting a daily activity to get us in the mood for Christmas. It was a huge success and a tradition was born, so I just (quite last minute again!) put up our activity advent for this year.

I was lucky enough to get my hands on the coveted Fabelab Christmas calendar — such a clever and cute idea, where the little pockets forming the calendar are inverted to reveal the most adorable hand puppets. I love this addition to our activity advent tradition: not only do the pockets hold exciting activities for the December days to come, but also, slowly a puppet theater is formed for the kids to play with while we’re all cozying up inside.

If you want to join in with a (last minute) activity advent, I created this easy download last year.

xxx Esther

PS Lovely posts by our team member Mo on her activity advent calendar and also her inspirational book advent with the most amazing book suggestions!

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Family-friendly hotels at i-escape: exclusive discounts on offer!

The team at i-escape recently reached out to share an exciting promotion they’re running on a selection of their favourite family-friendly properties in their Kids Collection. They’ve teamed up with Family Traveller magazine to offer exclusive discounts on 36 of their properties, including stylish apartments, boutique B&Bs, family-oriented safari lodges and far-flung beach retreats. We are thrilled to share with you!

We always love browsing the selection of holiday destinations on the i-escape site — it’s like looking through a stylish travel magazine to find inspiration for a future holiday — and of course it’s even better when discounts are involved! : )

What I love about i-escape is that they personally visit each of their hotels and offer descriptions in refreshingly honest detail – with lots of photos and personal tips about which rooms to book, how to get there, and lots of information on which age ranges suit each property, etc. You know exactly what to expect from each of their hotels.

The discounts are valid as long as you book by the 31st of December, and you can view the full list of properties and discounts here. Happy browsing!

xx

This post was sponsored by i-escape, a company we have personally used for many years and one which we are so happy to support here. 

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Tuesday Tips: 5 things we’ve learned about parenting

Esther and I have both recently been asked to share five things we’ve learned about parenting over on the Wear&Where site. What a great series! I read Esther’s answers from last week and thought her tips were so good that we should share them here as well. Spoken like the super experienced mama of four that she is:

• Take care of yourself and your relationship: Becoming parents is a big change and a big challenge. It’s easy for us, mothers, to focus entirely on our family and to forget to take good care of ourselves as well. But our own wellbeing is just as important as that of our children and partner! A mother that feels good about herself is a happier mama and a sexier partner.
• A change of scene can mean a change of spirits. When things are not going very smoothly, consider a change of scene. It can be as simple as putting everybody’s wellies on and splash puddles in the park for half an hour. Dinner can wait.
• Step back and reflect. In the bigger scheme of things, hugely important parenting decisions like ‘which organic nappy brand is the absolute best for my baby’ are maybe not as important as they appear to us, over-worrying and over-achieving parents. Sometimes it’s good to take a step back, and reflect.
• Take things with a grain of salt. No-one is perfect. Don’t be fooled by what you see, or what you think you should be!
• You don’t have to do it all! Kids generally love doing what you’re doing, so if you do something you love, your kids will love doing that with you. (For example, spending hours on the playground is not my biggest hobby, but I love cooking and crafting, and my kids love to cook and craft with me. It’s a way to spend time together we all enjoy.)

And I thought I would share my answers as well:

• Everyone does it a little bit differently, and that’s okay. One of my closest friends, also a mother of four, just sleep-trained her 6-week-old baby to sleep through the night. My first instinct was to judge her as one of those crazy, straight-laced mothers with a tight schedule, but then I reminded myself that it works for her and that her children are all happy and healthy. My babies all slept in our bed and nursed on demand for the first six months of their lives, and I’m sure she would think I’m a crazy, hippie mother with no routine! What works for one family might not work for the other, and that’s okay.
• Take the parenting books with a grain of salt. There is so much advice and so many books targeted at new mothers, and it can all seem overwhelming and confusing. I think we often forget to listen to our gut and trust that we can make the right decisions for our family. Sometimes the best thing I can do is to slow down, tune in and listen, really listen to my children to truly understand their needs.
• Kids don’t have to be bathed every day – they’ll survive without being squeaky clean! I’ve become way more relaxed about baths over the years, and I’ve realised that my kids are just as healthy and happy as before, even if they’re only bathed twice a week.
• Despite coming from the same mould and being raised the same way, each of my children is unique and individual. I’m constantly surprised by how different my children are from one another and even how different they can be from me. They are little individuals with their own ways of doing things, and I really find it fascinating to observe this nature versus nurture phenomenon and encourage them to be their own individual selves (no comparisons).
• It’s addictive! I love having babies; I loved being pregnant (apart from the first few months), I even loved giving birth, and I especially loved those first few months of sleepy newborn magic. I’ve now gotten to a point where our baby is two and we are pretty sure we won’t have any more babies, and yet I still don’t want to close that baby chapter. I guess I always assumed it would be an easy decision to reach, that I would just feel finished. I had no idea it would be so difficult!

Now it’s your turn! Please share what you’ve learned about parenting. We would love to hear.

Courtney xx

Image of Esther and her family is by Katrina Campbell. 

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