A YEAR GONE BY

It feels like the cliche statement to make as we get closer to the end of the year but my oh my has twenty eighteen flown by. It truly feels like moments ago we were in the depths of winter with crazy snow that never seemed to go away, and yet here we are headed straight for the colder months again, seemingly in the blink of an eye. I've found myself looking back this week on photos, very much giving my own take on Facebooks 'this time last year' pop up, and I can't quite believe the difference. Sure it doesn't feel like a hot minute since we were donning woolly hats and wellies, but the photos show me just how much life has changed it that time period. My boys are most definitely boys now and really shaking away the last elements of babyhood - it's bittersweet but I just love reflecting back and seeing how much they've grown.

PARENTAL WORRIES

I think from the moment you see those two blue lies, the word 'pregnant' or a little red cross on that stick, you're saddled with worry. It's natural, and I think I'd be worried if I didn't worry which is every bit as silly as it sounds. It can vary drastically, from worrying if your kids will eat their lunch at school that day - maybe they'll be hungry, what if they don't drink enough and feel super thirsty? Then there are the bigger things, the stuff that creeps into your mind at three o'clock in the morning to keep you awake at night, what happens to my kids when I'm not around? Will they have their own family, house and life? The scale of worry is a vast one, but it's never ending as a parent, you can't escape it from the moment you're aware of their existence.

PEPPA PIG MOBILE MEDICAL CENTRE | REVIEW

It's no secret that Peppa Pig is a hit in our household, as with most families as I think Peppa Pig is a little bit of a staple in most households these days. Patrick is very familiar with all the characters so when we were given the chance to review the Mobile Medical Centre, as soon as he saw the box he began to shout 'Brown Bear, Brown Bear'.

OUR AUTUMN BUCKET LIST 2018

I'm a tad slow off the mark with this one, as I know we're well in the midst of autumn now, even if the weather hasn't quite got the memo. I can't complain, I like that we're able to wear chunky knits and chelsea boots again now - but it's not even nearly hats and gloves weather, it's perfect for us. Autumn always has, and will be my favourite season, not just for the weather but the fact it always holds so much excitement - that big run up till Christmas is undoubtedly the best time of the year. If I'm entirely honest though I've been stuck in a bit of a slump and it's only over the past week has that fog slightly lifted for me so I wanted to cheer myself up by planning out the things we want to do this autumn.

VAMPIRINA TOY COLLECTION | REVIEW

I know with the run up to Christmas in full swing, there's a huge focus on toys and what to grab for your little ones. I'm sure I'm not alone in having already begun to pick up pieces for my boys, and if you're on the look out for some fantastic toys this Christmas, then definitely look no further than the Vampirina collection. We were lucky enough to be selected to review some of their new and existing line and I can tell already that they're going to be a huge hit, as my two have loved getting stuck into all of the pieces. We enjoy nothing more than snuggling down watching episodes of our favourite vampire so when the toys arrived, the boys were over the moon to see what was in store.

PJ MASKS SUPERMOON ADVENTURE TOYS | REVIEW

The boys are huge PJ Masks fans, so we jumped for joy when we found out we were being sent a big selection of new and existing PJ Mask toys, and I truly mean jump for joy - with Noah asking if it was Christmas when he opened the box. We were kindly send the items and you can be in with a chance of winning some of them during a fantastic Twitter party that will be hosted on October 17th from 1-3pm following the #PJMasksToys hashtag. Definitely make sure you check that out and see all the fun games we'll be getting up to whilst the party is in full swing.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU TAKE A SOCIAL MEDIA BREAK | A MONTH OFF

Social media is all consuming, I don't envy teenagers today who have grown up in a world where the amount of likes on an Instagram photo dictates your mood for the rest of the evening, when life is a constant competition over who has more followers and who looks better with the cat filter on snapchat. I love my job, I really do, working for yourself is so liberating and full of a lot of perks but the pressure to constantly be active on social media is hard, it's a swamp and if you don't move fast you can so easily be bogged down.

BRIO LIFT & LOAD WAREHOUSE REVIEW

The boys in this household love playing with train tracks, and I say boys because it really isn't just Noah - no, Patrick and John are as equally dotty about curating their own little worlds with tracks and trains. And me being the practical parent, when I think of train tracks I never really look further than Brio, our house is littered with their toys, from their push and pull cars to their tracks themselves so when the opportunity came up to get our hands on the brand new Lift & Load Warehouse set and expand the boys train tracks, I couldn't turn it down.