I DONATED MY ORGANS!

If you could help save a life, would you? 

This week I made one of the proudest decisions I've ever made. 

As scary as it is to think about, my decision in the future, will save someone's life. 

I'm always thinking of ways to 'do my bit' whilst I exist on this earth. I get a real buzz knowing I've helped someone, made someone smile, held the door open; small little gestures like this make me feel super positive.

Although I'm not one to set myself new year resolutions, I do set myself goals all the time, I'm someone who always likes to feel like I'm pushing myself to do my best.

A huge goal I want to achieve this year, and for many years to come, is to help those less fortunate than me.. I'm a very sensitive person and worry about everyone else before myself, even if I don't know that person, which brings me to the topic of this post..

After coming across a campaign from a Vlogger I follow on Instagram - Maisy Meow, I instantly wanted to take part. 

I decided to join a campaign called #ObjectsForOrgans, which was started by a woman called Adele, her main aim is to raise awareness about becoming an organ donor and to get as many people who want to get involved, signed up. People are helping spread the word via social media and we want to get this campaign across to as many people as possible, so everyone has the option to sign up and help change a life or multiple.

Organ donation is simple to sign up to, you simply register yourself on the Organ Donation List on the NHS website which can be found by clicking here. 

I took just a few minutes out of my day to sign up, and afterwards I felt so proud of myself, knowing that when its my time to go, I will be able to give something back and make a positive change to someones life - Because after all, life is so precious!

So why should you sign up? - Well here's just a few amazing facts that convinced me to want to donate:

• One, JUST ONE, organ donor can improve up to eight lives, as well as being able to save the lives of up to 50 people by donating tissues and eyes.
• As of last week in the UK alone, there are 6,414 people waiting for organ transfers.
• Every 10 minutes someone is added to the national transplant waiting list, however on average 20 people die a day from not having a transplant available for them.
• You can chose which organs to donate, whether its one, or like I chose - all of them.
• Its free to apply for and takes literally two minutes to fill out.

I hope this post has made at least one person aware of Organ Donating, if not more!

If you are interested in applying, then please do!

You could help make such a difference and give someone a second chance at life!

iCandy Peach Moonlight Pram | Review

As Noah is 7 months old now, I thought it would be an ideal time to do a review on Noah's pram, since we've had a good 7 months of testing it out. 

I have the iCandy Peach Moonlight pram which is a travel system, it comes with the carry cot and the pushchair which easily attach onto the frame of the pram.

When falling pregnant it came as a total shock, we were in no way prepared. We had to buy everything on a budget but luckily we had very supportive families who helped out whenever they could. This brings me to how we ended up choosing iCandy. 

My partners parents were kind enough to offer to buy our pram for us, this was a lovely surprise and we were extremely grateful.

Me and my partner had opposite ideas when it came to choosing a pram, meaning we had to come to a happy medium. After months of looking for the perfect pram, we came across the iCandy Peach Moonlight, which was on display in our local pram store, 'Simply Baby'. This pram is fab for many reasons, such as: variety of colour options, easy to disassemble and the fact this pram can be used from newborn to toddler, meaning we wouldn't have to folk out for another anytime soon. 

The iCandy Moonlight is super easy to push and also light weight, which is not what I was expecting from this pram as it looks quite bulky.

This pram is especially great for cold weather as the inside of the pushchair is lined with fleece type material, making it extra warm and snug, just like your baby is wrapped up in a duvet. 

One down side is that I don't drive which means having to use my parents car to get lifts anywhere, this means that its always a tight squeeze with having a full car majority of the time and having to fit both the pram frame and pushchair into the boot, unfortunately we have a small boot so the pushchair has to go on the back seat, or if the cars full, someone's knee, and trust me its a tight fit! This is not ideal when your in a rush, everything has to be put into the car prior to going out so were not rushing around last minute.

Now we get onto the price.. Before I say the price I just want to point out that if it wasn't for having the pram bought for us, I wouldn't have bought an iCandy purely due to the high price range, this pram would of been way out of my budget. I was never interested in a pram for the price, I was looking at Mothercare prams for a while as I liked the fact they were affordable, yet great quality. 

This pram cost a whooping £1060, and that was the SALE price! If I was to ever have more children I would be keeping this pram as for the price it was, I would want to get as much use out of it as possible! The great thing about this pram whilst on this particular subject is that the material is very high quality that my pram still looks brand new, even after pushing it around in rain, going through puddles and having baby food and milk spilt on it numerous times; which means if I was to use it again it should still look good as new! 

Overall this is a fabulous pram, however the price range would 100% put me off if I would of had to buy it myself. I believe (unless your a millionaire) that as a parent-to-be you want to be able to afford all the essentials and still have money left over for anymore baby bits you may need, although saying that, there are many brands out there who range their prams at a more reasonable price, so you still do have other options which is great.

I love the quality of every part of the iCandy Moonlight pram. There are so many great features, especially the spacious storage basket under the pram which makes shopping trips so much easier, that's one thing I'll miss when don't need to use a pram anymore, I actually have to carry my own bags!

You can buy add on's to this pram such as: cup holders, matching change bags, rain cover, clip-in sun protector umbrella and many more.

Head over to the iCandy website to check out the wide range of prams they have to offer.

Also if you want to check out Simply Baby, the store I bought this pram from who also stock popular/similar brands, then click here to be taken to their website.

Thank you so much for reading, until next time,

                                                                      

Weaning my son at 4 months old | My Journey

(Noah now - at 7 months old)

Disclaimer - I am in no way a health care professional, this post is about my experience only, if you are seeking professional advice, please contact the relevant people, e.g: your health visitor, midwife or GP.

My son has always been one step ahead of himself, which is what led me to start his weaning journey. Noah always took his bottles without a fuss, and eventually it got to the stage at around three months where his milk just wasn't satisfying him as much and he would become grumpy in-between bottles.

When Noah was four months old I decided to give weaning a try, if it was to fail I would go back to only giving him bottles until six months old, then try again.

To start of with, me and my mother made some of our own puree's using the Tommee Tippee baby food blender, however now I've had time to use this product, I've realised that I could of saved my money and just used the normal food blender I already had at home; which is now what I use as I can fit more portions into a normal blender.

Making my own puree's is so rewarding, Noah loved puree's from day one of weaning, which made me super excited for the start of his weaning experience.

My son surprised me with how fast he took to puree's, he was in no way fussy and enjoyed whatever food was placed in front of him.

When I'm not making my own puree's, my all time favourite place to shop for my son's baby food is Aldi, the prices are brilliant! With pouches of puree's starting from as little as 52p each, you can't go wrong. Considering for one pouch of Ella's Kitchen 6 month+ puree's your paying £1.50 each, your saving a heck of a lot of money in the long run, especially if you buy bulks at a time like myself. My only negative about Aldi is the variety, other stores may vary but in my local Aldi variety is limited, I never see any new flavours being released onto the shelves. This brings me back to Ella's Kitchen, although the prices are a lot higher, the variety is incredible! I do occasionally buy Ella's Kitchen baby food if there on offer. I'm always stuck for choice on which ones to buy next and I still have many more to try!

Lidl also have limited puree's but are low priced and have some lovely flavours to offer such as pumpkin, sweet potato, blueberries and apple pouches, which has been one of my sons all time fav's.

Noah is now 7 months old and he makes me so proud each day, he tries so many new foods, making my life a lot easier. I was always a fussy child and still am to this day, making me want to give Noah a great start to food so he can enjoy it instead of being scared of it.

Noah is now onto finger foods as well as 7 month+ puree's and his fav at the moment are rusks, toast and Ella's Kitchen melt puffs. These type of snacks are handy to have whilst out to fill a gap in your little ones tummy until its meal time.

I sometimes doubt myself and wonder 'am I rushing things?', although I know damn well that I do everything I can to ensure my son has an exciting, yet age appropriate diet.

Noah still gets plenty of milk and water daily, as well as a few snacks here and there ;)

To finish this post off I wanted to send a message to all parents, and that is to never doubt yourself! Don't be affraid to ask for professional help or advice from other parents if you are unsure of when to start the different stages with your baby.

You know better than anyone what stage your child's at and when they are ready to move up a step.

And with that being said, Good Luck on your weaning journey's!

Until next time..