How I've fallen back in love with Instagram

Instagram is a funny business.
You either love it, or you hate it.

Personally I love it. It's by far my favourite social media platform, but it is also really hard work.

As a blogger I want to grow my following. No, numbers aren't the be and the end all, but growth is always a good thing to see, and an increase in following and engagement is always going to be good for an influencer who wants to make money from what they out online.

But it's so very easy to fall into the trap of feeling like it isn't worth it when algorithms are making visibility harder, and numbers are dwindling.
And I'll admit, some days I have questioned whether it is worth it.
It's hard seeing people with huge followings uploading any old photo and getting loads of likes, when I spend time curating a feed that I love, for no one to see it.

So I readjusted how I looked at Instagram.

What's in our just-in-case hospital bag and toddler bag

For our second baby boy, we have a home birth planned, so the bulk of my recent planning has been around ensuring we have everything we need in the house to bring baby boy into the world.
However, that doesn't mean we're off the hook for bag packing!

Ever the organiser, I've packed a normal hospital bag as well, just in case I have to be transferred to hospital.
Hopefully this will be completely unnecessary, but I'd rather pack and not need it, than be unprepared.

I'm also packing a second bag this time, specifically for Henry, so that if I'm in labour during the day he has a bag packed to go to his Godparents house until he can come home again.

Luckily, last time around I packed a pretty good concise hospital bag so I'm pretty much sticking with that as a base, but with a little update, and less in the way of comforts as this is just an emergency bag!

A birthday zoo trip - the Ordinary Moments

We've started a little unintentional tradition in the Bradford household, visiting the zoo for Henry's birthday. 

For his first birthday we did a trip at the weekend with some close friends and family, but as it is quite pricey, we decided to do the trip on our own this year, and do something else for his party. 

We knew that Henry would be a huge fan of Marwell Zoo this year as he's really gotten into his animals over the last few months. I mean he's a big fan of David Attenborough documentaries and any Disney film with animals in, so we thought this would be the perfect day out for him.

And it was so damn good.

A bunch of photos from our day below.

Opening birthday presents:A toddler gift guide

Post contains review items*

My little man turned two!!
That's still pretty crazy to even think about, let alone say out loud.

However turning two was a whole lot of fun, and involved a very early morning (he really does not believe in lie ins) with presents and cinnamon buns!

I have to admit, shopping for kids is actually really hard work. There's literally so much available to buy kids, so it's working out what they will actually enjoy. And it's so easy to fall in to the trap of buying and buying, because you see just another gift that would be perfect.

A home away from home - Room2 Hometel

Review Post*

I think travel is so important for families and can be such a great experience for everyone involved.
But it can also be a very stressful experience, especially for parents.

One of the key factors of any part of travel is where you stay. Where are you going to rest your head at right, and wake up in the mornings. Your base location. For families, it's vital to have a safe, secure and homely environment, to help create a stress-free trip or break.

And let's be honest. The traditional hotel just doesn't cut it 90% of the time. You see parents hiding in the bathroom whilst their kids settle down for the night. Or limited space because the cot or trundle bed have taken over half the room. And to be frank, most of them really don't look amazing. They're pretty generic with rules on what you can and can't have in the rooms, and limited additional facilities.

So when Room2 got in touch with their brand new concept, and invited me to their launch event*, I knew I had to go and get the down-low, because this has family travel sorted.