Back To Basics

So it had been 75 weeks and 6 days since I had last had sex. Yes you heard that right - 18 months pretty much had passed since I was last intimate with my boyfriend. I was starting to wonder if I would ever do 'it' again. 


I wrote a post back in July where I discussed how I felt after my OH had suggested that maybe I would like to get back in the 'saddle' again. But back then nothing was further from my mind. As I explained, in my no holds barred post, I was just not ready back then to do anything more than try and get a good nights sleep. I was knackered! Shattered in fact! I had a 4 month old baby and a two year old. I was still breast feeding around the clock; my body was still a bit alien to me and I just didn't feel confident in myself to be naked in front of my OH in 'that' way again. 

I was over whelmed by the positive response that post received, and all the lovely comments.  I was comforted by them, and felt relieved that actually I wasn't alone in feeling this way and I was amazed by how many other couples - well parents- were also preferring sleep to sex. Maybe it is something that affects us older mums and dads more than younger ones as we know that not everything revolves around sex in a relationship. Or maybe being older we can't cope with feeling so tired and finding the energy to be sexually active again. 

So the months passed and my OH and I continued to live together more like lodgers who shared a bed really rather than a couple. We barely even kissed each other goodnight let alone cuddle or be romantic with one another as we don't have 'date' nights or anything. Every now and then I did wonder to myself if my OH was missing his non existent sex life but he never spoke about it and neither did I. Truth be told, I had my suspicions that he had read that post, and I really wanted him to because I had hoped that it might encourage him to talk to me about 'us' and how he felt so that I could tell him how I felt by us speaking to one another. Yes, that old fashioned way of communicating with one another - having a conversation that wasn't in cyber space! Yet he never once mentioned it, or my post, and I never brought the subject up either. 

I was really starting to think that he no longer saw me as anything more than the mother to his two children and someone who cooked and cleaned for him! I know, I know that I said (back in July) that I was against any kind of physical contact, but that was months ago and time is a healer. Very slowly I was starting to accept my new body shape a bit more. I suppose I started to think that maybe I would like to have sex again. 

Basically, my OH and I were stuck in a rut and it seemed like nothing was going to free us from it. Neither of us were making the effort to end it either. I wouldn't have blamed him if he had gone off me sexually, or even from a fancying point of view. I mean I was still wearing nursing bras up until a couple of weeks ago, which are hardly alluring especially with the added pads! Also I was still mostly wearing my maternity and post baby black comfy pants which again, were not at all sexy - but I didn't feel sexy, so why would I bother to make an effort with my underwear? (something my Pre-baby self would never allow to have happened!). I covered myself up with loose fitting clothes in bed aswell so hardly surprising that my OH felt no desire to go near me.

Then a couple of weeks ago, I was discussing relationships with another blogger who identified with my situation, and I was explaining that I didn't even think my OH loved me anymore let alone find me desirable. I was actually on the verge of penning another post about my relationship, sex  life, or lack of it, in the hopes that he might read it and then he would discover how I was feeling now 6 months later and it might encourage him to bring the subject up. But something my blogger friend said to me made me realise that I needed to address the situation face to face and not hide behind my blog. I had to talk to him regardless of what he might have to say and I was very nervous because, of course, I feared the worse and wasn't sure that I would want to hear what he would say in answer to my questions. 

The next day, a Saturday, I waited for my chance to speak to him, which, with two children around, is never easy is it? I won't go into too much detail, for obvious reasons, but I basically asked him if he still wanted me in 'that way' and found me attractive after going through two pregnancies. He said that he hadn't thought about it!! Hmmm....I don't know if I believe that but ok, because as he said, after reading my post and reading how I felt about sex back then he decided not to bother mentioning it again. Fair enough, I guess. I deserved that. 


I tried to explain how I had been feeling all this time; how post pregnancy made me feel, how he made me feel and how it had taken me a long time to get to this point and I hoped he understood that. I explained my reasons for writing it all down on my blog and told him that it was in no way intended as a direct criticism of him, but a way for me to express how I felt at the time. I wanted to see if anyone else felt the same as me (I don't think he really 'gets the whole blogging thing anyway), and how I was so relieved to know I wasn't alone, that others were in the same situation. I also told him that I had hoped he might have reacted to it by discussing it with me, but of course he didn't. I think men don't find it as easy to talk about such things as women do.

So I took a deep breath and decided to ask him. I asked him if he wanted to have sex with me again. I think he was a little taken a back - he hadn't been expecting this conversation and I hadn't myself up until a few hours before. I guess I just realised that one of us had to make the first move in moving us forward and out of the rut we had become stuck in, and as I was the one who wrote about how I felt for all the world to read, I may aswell be the one to do it.

So as I said at the start of this post, it had been 75 weeks and 6 days since I had last had sex - yes 'had' been. I used the past tense - did you see what I did there!!??


Seriously though, these last few months taught me some important things:

• I needed to make my relationship work again as a girlfriend and not just as a mummy. 
• We needed to discover 'us' again and move ourselves forward and become a proper couple again. 
• I found the courage to speak up and have the conversation that I had been dreading, and it wasn't as bad as I had imagined. 

I think having children definitely changes your relationship with your partner; sometime for the better and sometimes for the worse. It isn't easy working through it but it can be done.

Malteaser Cake

My best friend Kimberly celebrated her birthday yesterday but came round to mine for tea tonight. In her honour I made her a birthday cake and thought I would share the recipe

Malteaser Cake

Ingredients:

200g self raising flour

200g unsalted butter

200g caster sugar

4 eggs

150g butter

190g icing sugar

2 tbsp milk

1 heaped tbsp cocoa powder

1 grab bag of malteasers

Method:

heat the oven to 180oC/160oC Fan

cream together the butter and sugar until smooth, pale and creamy

add the flour and eggs and mix well together 

grease and line 2 sandwich tins

add the cake mixture and cook for 25 mins approx (or until knife comes out clean)

allow to cool completely then add your buttercream (which you make by beating all the ingredients, except the malteasers, well together): half for the middle of your cake and the other half for the top

then add decorate the top of your cake with the malteasers 

then enjoy!

Silent Sunday

Saturday Caption 28/1/2012

Hello Saturday Caption fans!

Another week, another Saturday, another caption

What do you think is going on here then?

If you know, leave a comment below and then pop over here to see what other photos need captioning!

Bomb Cosmetics - Love In Vegas

When I have the time, indeed when I make the time, to have a soak in my bath, I like to use pampering products because it helps me to relax and unwind and cheer me up. I also like these bath time products to smell lovely and feel nice on my skin to help make the whole experience that much nicer and worthwhile.

So when I was asked to test the Bomb Cosmetics Love In Vegas gift set I agreed as I know it would give me the perfect excuse to make the time to enjoy a long hot soak in my bath after a busy, long and tiring day with my children. Not only that, but I always enjoy receiving fun bath products like bath bombs because not only do they look great but they add a bit of fun to the proceedings!

The Love In Vegas set comes in a gorgeously wrapped and packaged box with a tag which shows you the contents inside - even though this wasn't actually a present to me I still felt excited as a tore open the gift wrap to see what wonders lay inside ready for me to try out!

The bath bombs, blasters and soap do not disappoint and not only do they look fab but they each contain essential oils designed to soothe your skin and make it soft and supple and make you feel sexy and loved! Each one is individually hand made so no two soaps, bombs, blasters or creamers are the same.

my heart melted from the heat off my bath!

This is quite a large bath bomb and as soon as it hits the water it starts to bubble and fizz and evaporate its pink fizziness into the running bath water. It also releases two tiny rose buds which is a really lovely (romantic) touch, Containing ylang ylang and vetiver, not only did the water smell lovely as I waited to get in but my skin felt really soft afterwards which was lovely as I suffer with dry skin.

As soon as I picked this out of the box I did get some of the stars come off in my hand so I kind of had an inkling that this would be a bit messy in my bath by the time I pulled the plug!

a night in my bath with some stars!

Again, as soon as it comes in to contact with hot water the bath creamer bubbles away in to nothing releasing lots of teeny tiny gold stars into the water aswell as a luxurious creamy mix containing shea and cocoa butters, together with ylang ylang (which supposedly contains aphrodisiac properties!) and pure rose essential oils.
This bath bomb really did leave my skin feeling nourished and silky smooth and the smell was really lovely. I guess my only slight complaint would be the gold stars - its not that I mind having to wash them off my bath afterwards, its just that the next day I am still finding them on my person (indeed I think they may have gone where the sun don't shine! *ahem!) and on the floor from where I stepped out of the bath last night! BUT if I had been going out afterwards or having a 'romantic' night in with my partner then I think the way my skin smelt, felt and glowed would have made for a very sexy evening!!

No dirty Vegas in my hands!

I do like a nice smelling handmade soap and glycerin ones always look so pretty, and the ruby vegas soap is no exception. It smells quite sophisticated and is a 2-1 soap really as the centre is filled with pure essential oils to make you feel glitzy and ready for anything, just like the city of Vegas itself.

This bath blaster is similar to the rose bud bath bomb in how it quickly turns the bath water a pale shade of pink. Yet this bedazzled beauty contains lots of pink glitter which look very pretty in the bath I must admit, although as with my comments on the night with the starts creamer, it is the kind of bath bomb where the glittery bits keep on giving well into the next day! But this asides, it has a yummy scent using the aphrodisiac properties of ylang ylang and sweet orange oils and again my skin, although a tad glittery and pink, did feel very sexy and smooth again.

This is the smallest of all the love in vegas goodies but that doesn't stop it from packing a romantic punch as the smell and the creaminess of the bath water makes you feel very pampered indeed. The creamer also releases Morrocan rose petals into the bath water and pure frankincense oil bringing a touch of the eastern delight to your skin. Very pretty indeed and again super soft skin for me!

*Please note that you do not need to use all of each bath products in one go, as you can break chunks off to make the pampering experience each bath time last longer*

At just £9.99 a set I think this bath bomb set is excellent value for money and I would be very pleased to receive one myself for Valentines Day, or indeed a birthday or mothers day. 

Its a perfect pampering gift and is available to buy from FindMeAGift.com 

I was sent a  Bomb Cosmetics Love In Vegas gift set for the purpose of this review. All opinions and thoughts (and cheesey captions!) are my own. 

The Gallery - My Photography Resolution For 2012

This week for The Gallery Tara has asked us to state our photographic resolutions for this (new) year.

If I am honest, I want to make sure that I appear in more of the photos this year as I tend to feature mostly behind the lens than in front of it. I think this is a common scenario for many mums.

 I know that as much as I wanted to be in the photographs taken by my OH showing me holding my newborn baby, and in the ones that followed in the weeks ahead, at the time I looked and felt knackered and I mostly shyed away and asked to not be included, or to have them taken from the neck down!

I regret that now because when I look back at the photos taken with both of my boys, I am not in very many of them after the initial photos taken after they are first born has passed. Stupid really, because yes I was tired, my eyes do look heavy, my hair was a bit unkempt, my body was still out of sorts, and out of shape and my clothes were not the most flattering  - BUT I had just had a baby and then I had another baby 19 months later ! That's what happens - c'est la vie!

So this year I am going to try and be in more photos with my boys - even silly ones taken on my phone by me if need be. Burton takes photos of me too and I usually delete them but I am trying not to at the moment because even though some of them are taken first thing when I have been up a lot in the night with Jenson, and I could look a LOT better, it doesn't matter to him. He just sees 'me', his mummy and he doesn't care that I look knackered or a bit fat, and that is what I keep telling myself when I hear him say "cheese mummy" and I am still in my baggy pyjamas with bed hair and no make up!

So here are some photos taken mostly by Burton and I in which I am in front of the camera 

January 2012 

It just shows us being silly, being together and having fun - a good start to the year already!

 (oh and I have included one showing me around 6.30am after about 3-4 hours sleep which Burton took - I think you will know which one! At the end of the day that is how I have looked - indeed do look that time each morning- quite a lot recently. Its honest and its real!)

Now pop over to Sticky Fingers and see what other photography resolutions have been made today

Room 101 (Television Adverts)

The lovely Lauren from Real Housewife Of Suffolk County has started a new feature based on the TV series of the same name :Room 101. Just like the TV series, each Friday Lauren will give us a theme to think about and then the following Monday we can link our room 101's up to her blog. This weeks theme is television adverts (current ones)

OK in no particular order I find the following adverts really annoying

go away more like!

Go Compare 
Every time i see this fat 'opera' singing, moustache twiddling, pretend Italian speaking, silly curly wurly hair wearing idiot I want to ram that moustache where the sun don't shine! Go compare? Go away already I say. Nuff said I think!

 Jackpotjoy (bingo)

Babs, what would Peggy say?

Asides from the fact that its an annoying advert encouraging on line debt and gambling (yes I know its only bingo but one thing leads to another), what I find harder to comprehend is why an actress like Barabra Windsor is starring in them! I know she appeared in all those cheesy tongue- in -cheek Carry On films, but honestly has she no shame? She must have been offered a LOT of money is all I can say. To go from her brilliant role in Eastenders to this awful advertising campaign is beyond me.

I also hate the 'jumping on a bandwagon' type adverts eg. Cash My Gold, when suddenly there are 50 adverts (ok i have exaggerated but you get the idea) all saying the same thing but for different company! Grrrr hate that!

 I know there are more I could list but I wouldn't want to bore you and besides Room 101 is really meant to be just the 1 offering! If you have an advert you would like to go into Room 101 never to be seen again then why not post about it and link it up to

 (photos taken from google images)

Elevenses O'Clock

As many regular visitors to my blog will know I love cake and any excuse to make one or have some I will think of one! I think cake can be eaten at any time of the day really, although obviously for the sake of my waist it is better to only stick to be slice per day at the very least! 

So when I heard that Anchor Butter were busy attempting to bring back elevenses and make it part of of the British public's daily routine once again, I thought what a great excuse to eat more cake!  Anchor want to encourage people to make the time to sit down and enjoy a few minutes rest bite at 11o'clock each day and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee with a tasty little snack. 

According to the english dictionary, elevenses means

a drink and a small amount to eat between breakfast and lunch

I know that whenever I used to stay with my grandparents as a child we would almost always be allowed a little elevenses mid morning and it would be a few biscuits, a cake or maybe a warm sausage roll from the bakery in the village where they lived. 

So do you make time for a little elevenses each day? I don't make a conscious decision to have a snack at 11 o'clock everyday but as I usually feel a bit peckish around that time, usually from having been up since the crack of dawn (oh the joys of motherhood!), so I will have a nibble of something sweet to keep me going until lunchtime. My favourite elevenses snack would be a slice of (homemade) cake - I don't really mind which flavour but for the purpose of this feature I made a chocolate sponge and this is how I did it

You will need:

200g caster sugar

200g anchor butter (other butters are available of course!)

4 eggs

180g self raising flour

20g cocoa powder

1 tbsp milk

to decorate

150g butter

190g icing sugar

2 tbsp milk

1 heaped tbsp cocoa powder

chocolate buttons

Method:

pre-heat oven to 180oC/160oC fan

cream together the sugar and butter until pale and creamy

add the flour and eggs mix well

add the cocoa powder and milk and blend well

grease and line 2 sandwich tins

add the cake mixture and cook for 25 mins approx (or until knife comes out clean)

allow to cool completely then add your buttercream (which you make by beating all the ingredients, except the buttons, well together): half for the middle of your cake and the other half for the top

then add your chocolate buttons to the top of your cake and then you have your cake ready for slicing

perfect washed down with a lovely cup of tea :)

So now I have told you my perfect elevenses heaven why not tell me yours? In doing so you could win yourself a full set of Anchor Memorabillia! GIVE AWAY

The set contains everything you need to embrace some elevenses yourself and inspire you to get creative in your kitchen and maybe even make your favourite mid morning treat yourself ! It includes an apron, a cake stand, egg cups, a butter dish and tea towels - ideal!

I have 3 sets of Anchor Memorabillia to give away and all you need to do is:

leave your name and twitter name in the comments box below telling me your favourite elevenses snack

and tweet the following 

I want to bring #anchorelevenses back with Mummy Mishaps and win some memorabilia @JennyPaulin http://mummymishaps.blogspot.com/2012/01/elevenses-oclock.html

for an extra chance to enter please like Anchor's Facebook page (and tell me you have done so)

(you can also follow Anchor on twitter @Anchor_dairy)

Closing Date is Monday 30th January 2012

good luck & thanks for entering x

I was sent a set of memorabilia myself for the purpose of this post. all thoughts on elevenses are my own.

*COMPETITION I NOW CLOSED!*

HiPP Organic & Weaning

At almost 10 months of age, Jenson's eating is coming along quite nicely now. He can feed himself finger food well and although sometimes a piece of rice cake or toast can go down the wrong way and cause him to gag, and make him sick occasionally, on the whole he is doing really well.

I think, personally, that the way I have weaned Jenson compared to Burton is different. I am different. I am no longer that overly cautious first time mummy who was constantly finding her feet and worried to death that my baby might choke on everything he ate and so was not too keen on giving him anything too finger food like until he was at least 9 months. I followed the advice Health Visitors and baby to toddler recipe and information books that I had been given, and went along with what stages certain food types should be introduced based on Burton's age at the time. I also looked on the internet for help and advice on weaning too. Many of the baby food brands such as HiPP Organic have very useful guides on weaning from stage 1 onwards, and have an on line baby club which can provide mums (first time ones in particular) with some expert tips and information on weaning.

As I have mentioned before I introduced Burton to weaning when he was about 5 1/2 months old when my breast milk alone was no longer enough as he was reverting back to 2 hourly feeds and I couldn't keep up with his hunger pangs. I didn't even bother with giving him the 'couple of spoonfuls' of introductory weaning food as he wolfed down a bowlful and by the second day was on 2 meals! I was lucky as he had a good appetite and took to weaning really well.

BUT the fear of him choking and me not being able to dislodge the hazard from his throat did worry the life out of me and I was VERY cautious about introducing him to foods like rice cakes and pieces of toast and butter.

However, my second time of weaning has been very different. Following advice form my HV,  I started weaning Jenson at 5 1/2 months also. He didn't take to it aswell as Burton to begin with, and was still very much enjoying his breast milk feeds for the first couple of weeks. Then suddenly he acquired an appetite and taste for non milk food and there was no stopping him! He loved to get stuck in and of course it became a messy affair.

I soon noticed that he wanted to put things in his mouth more so I gave him some buttered toast and he liked holding his food. So I soon let him have other finger foods like rice cakes and small pieces of fruit, and there were gagging incidents and food being brought back up but I wasn't afraid to let him try actual non pureed food so young, unlike when I was weaning Burton. I have more confidence in my skills as a mummy the second time around, and I know that a baby has a good gag reflex and that some babies are straight onto finger food at the outset of weaning and they are ok.  I still give Jenson pureed (although its textured now) food because for me I can see how much he is eating this way. Plus he has a big appetite so he needs bulky mummy made meals! But I do let him have finger foods for snacks and at tea time.

eating rice cakes - mmmmm :0

As I am sure any Mummy would agree, I care about the food I give my children and it is important to me that the food I offer them is wholesome and nutritious (which is harder now with Burton being at the toddler stage of his eating cycle!). To me HiPP Organic offers quality food and use carefully selected ingredients that I am happy to offer my two. If I am ever out and about during meal times with Jenson I will take a baby 'ready meal' with me in my bag for the convenience and the HiPP Organic meal pots do look tasty and he enjoys eating them. I also find that snacks such as these

(which his big brother has suddenly found a renewed taste for too!), are a handy accessory to have either at home or away!

Hipp Organic meals offer a great range of little taste bud experiences in a box, pot, pouch or jar

examples from their stage 1 range 

Something to suit every little mouth that is trying foods for the first time. Their organically grown ingredients provide meals from stage 1, the start of weaning, right through to toddler hood.

GIVE-AWAY

1 lucky Mummy Mishaps reader can win the above pictured goodies which include:

x1 banana & peach breakfast cereal

x4 apple & pear fruit and yogurt pots

x1 banana, pear & mango 100% fruit pouch

x1 peach, apple, blueberry & raspberry 100% fruit pouch

x1 apple & pear pudding

x1 penne with tomato & courgette

x1 red fruit & apple compote

x1 banana custard

all you need to do is:

leave your name and twitter name in the comments box below and tweet the following 

I want to win some HiPP Organic stage 1 weaning food with Mummy Mishaps @JennyPaulin http://mummymishaps.blogspot.com/2012/01/hipp-organic-weaning.html


Thats it!
Closing date is this Friday 27th January 2012
Good Luck and thank you for entering xx

I was sent some HiPP Organic food for Jenson to try which he enjoyed and I would only ever test products on my children which I felt were appropriate. I would like to point out that there are other brands available who produce baby food and have their own websites, its just that they didn't approach me! Thank you 

*THIS GIVE AWAY IS NOW CLOSED*


and the winner is.........

who is Leigh Larkin @fairyprincess31
congratulations!!


thank you to everyone who entered

Silent Sunday 22/01/2012

Saturday Is Caption Day 21/01/2012

So it's Saturday which means its time for another bit of caption fun. You know what to do. Take a look, write a caption in the comments box and make me smile. 

Simples!?

the go see what other captions you can create for the other entries
by clicking here

Re-usable Nappy Challenge - Day 4

So last for the last 2 nights I have carried out challenge 4 which is

I was a little nervous about letting Jenson wear the Miosolo all night if I am honest, as I know that it is recommended that the nappy be changed every 2-4 hours during the day.

BUT to ensure a more absorbant nappy during the night you can add a MioBoost which is an extra cloth 'pad' which can be tucked inside the super absorbent core which should prevent any leakages during the night.

I didn't add the mioboost Tuesday night, because Jenson's disosable nappies never get very wet during the night since he stopped breast feeding, so I hoped that the Miosolo would not leak as a result of my decision!

Make sure that nappy is securely on - it could be on for a few hours!

As I have mentioned previously, Jenson has been ill this week and has not been sleeping through the night. The night before last, my first night of trialling the reusable nappy at night, he woke up at some unearthly hour and was not happy at all!!! Try as I might, I wasn't able to soothe or settle him, so I ended up checking his nappy to see if maybe it was wet and was proving to be uncomfortable for him. I need not have worried, although a little wet, the Miosolo had not leaked and had performed well. However, having removed the nappy I replaced it with a disposable (sorry!) because the other real ones were not completely dry from having been washed last thing before I went to bed.

BUT last night I did add the mioboost in the hopes that

1). Jenson might sleep through the night
2). If he achieved the above I didn't want the nappy to be wet and maybe leak ( he had swallowed a fair bit of bath water as he insisted in trying to crawl in the bath, and in doing so took in some water!)

Believe it or not ( I myself am still in shock after more than a week of getting up in the middle of the night for quite some time) Jenson slept until 5am!! So I changed his nappy and it hadn't leaked at all and to be fair it wasn't that wet either.

Phew!! Success and challenge 4 completed :)

Is there no stopping this Miosolo nappy? We will see.............one more challenge to undertake !

WOW!

In conjunction with the miosolo challenge week Bambino Mio are offering 25% off all miosolo purchases from their online shop with free p&p!

They are even throwing in a free 100g of miofresh (nappy sanitiser) too! http://www.bambinomioshop.co.uk/miosolo-new-32-c.asp

All you need to do to take advantage of this brilliant offer is enter discount code challenge at the checkout.

Bambino Mio sent me re-usable nappy products for the purpose of this week long challenge. all opinions are my own as is the gorgeous baby modelling the items. I will only test products on my children which i feel are suitable and appropriate

Fish Finger Pizza (My Way!)

A while ago I saw a tweet from @MyDaddyCooks talking about a fish finger pizza he had helped to create for chain of restaurants kids menu.

A fish finger pizza !!! At first I thought it was a rather unusual creations BUT then I gave it some thought and realised that as a lover of fish finger sandwiches why wouldn't I like a fish finger pizza and actually what a genius idea!

I have no idea what Nick from MyDaddyCooks has used ingredients wise for his gourmet style fish finger pizza - it is a closely guarded secret I would image. So I have come up with my own version which is basically a glorified open fish finger sandwich.

You will need

 for the dough:

1 cup (8oz) self raising flour

1/2 cup milk

1 tbsp oil

for the topping:

tomato ketchup

cooked fish fingers (I used 8)

grated cheese

It is a very easy pizza dough recipe as all you need to do is :

Sift the flour into a bowl and add the milk and oil.

Mix well until a dough forms.

Flour your worktop/chopping board and rolling pin and roll into a circle

Top with your choice of topping - see below

Re-usable Nappy Challenge - Day 3

So its Day 3 and today's challenge is

Now as you will know from my introductory post, I have never used anything but disposable nappies so some of the questions presented to me onto days challenge card were a bit redundant. So I can only give you my opinion as a first time user as I have nothing to compare these all in one nappies against.

Here are the washing facts:

Available from Bambino Mio

• It is recommended that the nappies are given a pre wash before first wear
• The Miosolo nappy must be machine washed at 60oC . 
• You could choose to soak the used nappies instead I hasten to add, but as I have a washing machine its just as easy to add a load at the end of the day for me personally. 
• You do need to add a scoop of miofresh sanitiser to your washing powder draw and then you wash as normal with your washing detergent. 
• It is important not to use fabric softener as this will lessen the nappy's absorbency.
• Oh and don't forget to pull out the liner before washing as this will help ensure that all soiled areas and any stray poo is removed! (see diagram below)

Drying the Miosolo is VERY easy and quick - obviously if you had a washing line, which I don't, you would line dry them in the right weather conditions. However, this time of year a washing line is not a reliable method for drying nappies. I placed mine on my heated towel rail and they dry within 1-2 hours

The Miosolo can be tumble dried on cold too.

Washing and drying the Miosolo is actually very easy and the turn around time is pretty fast, especially the drying time. One of the nappies I washed had a 'stain' on it and after washing it had completely gone. So I would see the maintaining the re-usable nappy as a positive experience and one that could sway me towards going more real and less disposable nappy in the future.

It is worth noting that it has been calculated by Go Real that the total cost of washing nappies (including electricity, washing powder and water at 60°C) over a 2.5 year period is just £102.19. 

Finally, I was given some tips on looking after re-useable nappies by some lovely bloggers who commented on my introductory post and I thought I would share them with you, because I think any advice is good advice from people who have experience when I don't!

 "wash at 60, with half the amount of washing powder, no softener and if you can let them dry with some sunlight hitting them (even through a window) this will help get stains out.

I put the inserts from my stuffable nappies on the radiators directly, and then lay the nappy shells on top of them, they don't get stuff and the PUL lining isn't damaged by the direct heat! Don't use a tumble dryer for the shells unless you really have to for the same reason, and it's not good for the elastic" Steph 

"I usually recommend 3 prewashes and avoid putting on towel rail directly as will reduce their life and make them hard to the touch. By or above the rail on a hanger would be good" Rose

WOW!

In conjunction with the miosolo challenge week Bambino Mio are offering 25% off all miosolo purchases from their online shop with free p&p!

They are even throwing in a free 100g of miofresh (nappy sanitiser) too! http://www.bambinomioshop.co.uk/miosolo-new-32-c.asp

All you need to do to take advantage of this brilliant offer is enter discount code challenge at the checkout.

Bambino Mio sent me re-usable nappy products for the purpose of this week long challenge. all opinions are my own as is the gorgeous baby modelling the items. I will only test products on my children which i feel are suitable and appropriate

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The Gallery - Eyes

This week Tara has set a relatively easy theme for The Gallery - EYES.

It makes me think of this phrase

beauty is in the eye of the beholder

and when I see the eyes of my two boys, I see two beautiful faces and I am filled with love for them.

now go and see what other posts have been linked to this weeks

Re-usable Nappy Challenge - Day 2

So with Jenson being too ill to take out today (which was meant to be the actual day 2 challenge!) I am going to do a challenge originally planed for later in the week instead.

But before I move on to the ins and outs of today's challenge, I wanted to clear something up.

 Yesterday I wrote about how the Miosolo had leaked a little during one of Jenson's (extra) long naps, and although it didn't put me off too much, after all even disposables leak from time to time, it did make me wary of having to monitor re-usable nappes more for 'water' content than I may have done with disposable for the same period of time (2-4 hours). However, it turns out that the 'wee-gate' incident may actually have been user error on MY part and not a problem caused by the Miosolo! I had forgotten that in order to make the nappy fit Jenson better and to be a more snug and less likely to leak fit, I needed to adjust the poppers on the front of the nappy! Doh!

Practice makes perfect!!

Let me show you. Here is

yesterday's nappy attempt

Jenson wearing the Miosolo yesterday

Notice how the nappy is quite long and you can see two exposed poppers?

Ok, well let me show you what I learnt today which enables a much better fitting nappy and so far NO leakage!
Note the shorter length and the neater finish? Yes, me too!

Anyway, back to today's challenge, which is:

I asked Jensons daddy to take up the challenge, and he has never handled a re-usable nappy either. He has changed disposable ones (not soften as me of course!), so he does at least have an idea of how to change a nappy! I briefly talked him through it and away he went.

He completed the challenge and had no problems whatsoever  in using the Miosolo. Even big brother Burton tried to get in on the act!

So if my son's daddy took to the challenge and passed then I think any daddy could do the same :)

WOW!

In conjunction with the miosolo challenge week Bambino Mio are offering 25% off all miosolo purchases from their online shop with free p&p!

They are even throwing in a free 100g of miofresh (nappy sanitiser) too! http://www.bambinomioshop.co.uk/miosolo-new-32-c.asp

All you need to do to take advantage of this brilliant offer is enter discount code challenge at the checkout.

Bambino Mio sent me re-usable nappy products for the purpose of this week long challenge. all opinions are my own as is the gorgeous baby modelling the items. I will only test products on my children which i feel are suitable and appropriate.