What I'm Packing For Freddie

So in a few weeks time we are off on our first family holiday and I am so excited! I have been buying and putting things away for this trip for months and its finally time to pack the case for the boys! 

The best way I find when packing for any trip for the boys is using Ziploc bags and putting stuff together ie day time outfit including a pull up and socks in one bag and same for evening in a separate bag. I find doing this it takes up less room in the case. I am also then going to put the boys stuff into separate packing cubes to keep their things separate. 

So for Freddie I am packing eight day time t shirts - we are away for 7 nights but will arrive at the resort around midday on the Monday and leave mid-morning the following Monday so I will be changing Freddie out of his traveling clothes once we have arrived at the hotel!

Then we have two pairs of swim shorts and his swim jacket. We have six pairs of shorts for wearing during the day and four pairs of shorts for evening. We then have seven smarter tops for wearing on an evening. 

We also have his Paw Patrol poncho and a big beach towel packed for Freddie as well!.

Shoe wise freddie will be traveling in his primark trainers, but we will also pack his sandals and also his doodles.

For his nappies we have 21 nappies that he wears over night, Two packets of swim nappies and 10 pairs of pull ups. We have ordered the rest of his pull ups and extra swim nappies from Boots and will collect them once we are air side at Newcastle airport! 

His changing bag will also be fully stocked and packed into the boys case. The bag that goes under the pushchair which contains our SnoozeShade, some carrier bags and our first aid kit will also be in here.

What am I Packing for James!

So we are finally off on our first long awaited family holiday very soon and I am so excited! I have been buying and putting things away for this trip since we booked it in November last year and its finally time to pack the case for the boys! 

The best way I find when packing any time the boys go anywhere is to use ziploc bags. This means putting stuff together ie day time outfit including pants and socks in one bag and same for evening in a separate bag. I find doing this it takes up less room in the case. I am then going to put the boys stuff into separate packing cubes to keep their things separate.

I am packing eight day time t shirts, even though we are away for seven nights we will arrive at the resort around midday on the Monday and leave early the following Monday morning so I will be getting James to change out of his traveling clothes once we arrive at the hotel, especially as he will have been in these clothes from around 2am!

James has two pairs of swim shorts and his swim jacket. We have two pairs of shorts for wearing during the day and four pairs of shorts for evening. We then have seven smarter tops for wearing on an evening for when we go for dinner and probably a walk around the resort. We will probably try to watch the hotel entertainment on a night as well especially as there is a mini disco every night! I'm hoping this will tire the boys out so they will sleep!

Shoe wise James has his leather trainers which he will be traveling in, a pair of cheaper trainers for wearing during the day and also a pair of sandals for around the pool. 

James also has his Spiderman poncho and a big beach towel packed. There will also be an extra set of inhalers in his case. 

I think that is everything we need for James! If we do need anything else then there are shops in Majorca!

Living Arrows 2018 39/53

Welcome back to another week of Living Arrows hosted by Donna over at What The Redhead Said. If you are new to this then the name of the linky comes from the poem by Kahlil Gibran "You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth"

This week Freddie and James have been pretty busy with school and playgroup. 
James has had his second lot of spellings to learn at school and we also collected his glasses on xxx. I'm hoping these glasses will help James to improve his reading and writing. He has been so stubborn towards his homework, reading and spellings this last couple of weeks but I think it's down to not being able to see them properly. 

He was also made up to come home with Star of the Week! He got given a sticker in assembly and then a certificate was posted home, which mummy proudly put up on the kitchen wall!

James also had a science day at school last week and they all made slime/gloop aka cornflour and water with food colouring! He was also talking about seeing a giant tortoise in school too!

On Wednesday James had a forest school session and parents were invited in to join the fun! Mummy had a brilliant time with James making a kite, a dream catcher and also a hedgehog out of a pear and sticks! 

Freddie has been quite grumpy and waking up at silly am in the morning. He has cried at playgroup drop off again but been full of smiles at pick up. He is not seeing the dietitian for his intolerances till November and mummy is finding it tricky as he keeps having reactions with a bad tummy from either hidden dairy or hidden soya. We didn't realise that most bread companies actually use soya flour, so the poor thing has been having toast most days!.

Living Arrows 2018 38/53

Welcome back to another week of Living Arrows hosted by Donna over at What The Redhead Said. If you are new to this then the name of the linky comes from the poem by Kahlil Gibran "You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth"

So we are now back in the full swing of the school and playgroup routines. James has really settled back into school and with his friends. He is loving the fact he is allowed to scoot to school on his scooter. 

On Tuesday we headed straight across to Tesco so James could get his eyes tested. At this appointment we found out that James is long sighted and now needs to wear glasses in school and also at home when doing his reading, homework and on his tablet. The appointment took forever as they were running slightly late and then they ended up needing to put drops in James eyes. So by the time we got home it was time for tea and bed for both the boys! His class are also doing forest school at the moment so Wednesday it was an extra bag to remember his wellie boots! James also had his second Beaver's meeting on Thursday night so mummy took him and then came home and then went back to pick him up! He is really starting to enjoy Beaver's, and mummy is thinking about going back into scouting.  

Freddie is loving being back at Playgroup. He went bouncing in on Tuesday but on Wednesday the poor thing was crying his eyes out as he had seen James coming in from forest school and he wanted to go and see him.  We haven't started going across to our new group yet on a Thursday as Freddie had a dairy reaction so was a little poorly and slept most of the day. Then last week mummy had to go to the dentist so we had to go to nana and gaga's house plus it was also daddy's birthday and it was Beaver's for James!

Not the best photos of the boys this week! Since they have been back to school and playgroup its been so hard to get nice photos!

Siblings in September

September already! This year is going so fast! and out holiday is getting so close!!!

This month the boys have been driving each other crazy! They have been winding each other up something rotten and fighting so much! I'm hoping that our upcoming holiday will help them to enjoy spending time with each other!

This is the only photo I have managed to get this month and it was taken on the first day back at school and playgroup!

What is in my Plane Bag!

Welcome back to my series of posts on our plane bags for our up coming holiday! You can read about Freddie's bag here and James bag here!

So first off I am taking my Babymule backpack as my hand luggage as it has three compartments, which means I can separate the changing kit from my own stuff. I will also have my handbag with me which will have my wallet, phone, power bank and USB cable plus all our travel documents. 

So in the very back big pocket of the bag I will have a spare top for me just in case of any accidents, all the changing kit for Freddie will be in the essentials pouch. In here I will have two pull ups and two nappies, a packet of travel baby wipes, some nappy bags, some nappy cream and antibacterial hand cleanser. I will also have a zip lock bag with some extra pull ups and another two nappies along with some spare nappy bags in case I need something to put clothes in. 

In the middle pocket I will have my headphones and iPad, not that I am expecting to be able to use my iPad but I will have some books on the Kindle app and probably download some films on Netflix and BBC iplayer. I will also have some extra snacks for Freddie in here. As Freddie is dairy and soya intolerant I will make sure I have plenty of little bits in here that he can eat if he can't have his children's meal that we have ordered. We have changed mummy's meal to vegan as they do not actually do a vegan children's meal so hopefully Freddie will be able to eat something between his own meal and my meal! I will also have my hat in this pocket, But my sunglasses clip on's will be in my handbag. 

The veryfront pocket will have a spare travel packet of baby wipes and some antibacterial wipes for wiping down surfaces such as the plane arm rests and tray. Freddie hasn't had a reaction by touch, so this will just be a precaution as you can never be too sure. We will also have some antihistamine just in case as well! I tend to carry a first aid kit with paracetamol, ibuprofen, a blue inhaler plus spacer and antihistamine under the pushchair but this will be in our suitcase to get out once we arrive in the resort. 

In the small pocket where the messenger bag strap is I will have a headphone splitter just in case I need to watch something on the iPad with Freddie. 

The most important thing in the front pocket will be a spacer and an inhaler for Freddie. He doesn't normally need it as much as James does, but since he has been diagnosed as dairy and soya intolerant, one of his reaction symptoms is wheezing.  We are sat separate and across the aisle from each other, so it makes sense for me to have one in my bag

What snacks are we taking abroad

Packing for a holiday with two children under six one who is asthmatic and one who is intolerant to dairy and soya means its tricky!

Freddie first started having issues with dairy when he was six months old, but it took till he was two for us to finally be referred to hospital to seeing dietitians

Our holiday is all inclusive so we get all our food and drinks included, but we will be taking a selection of Freddie's favorite dairy free snacks in both our case and hand luggage.

On our flights we have changed mummy's meals to vegan just to make sure there is something Freddie can eat, as they do not do vegan children's meals. 

The first thing we will be taking is two cartons of almond milk. This is what Freddie drinks first thing in the morning and also at bed time. We normally add a little bit of water to it as well. These will be packed inside our Duc cool bag in one of our cases. We will also take a carton in our hand luggage along with a letter from GP to say he is dairy and soya intolerant and we need to take it through security.

Both boys love crackers so we will take a big packet of them in both our case and hand luggage. These will be ideal for putting into a sandwich bag and into our cool bag for when we are around the pool or out and about in the resort.

Freddie absolutely loves these dairy free flapjacks from Tesco. These come in packs of 5 so we will have one in hand luggage and at least two in our case. These are individually wrapped as well which is brilliant.

Another thing Freddie loves are these raspberry oat bars from Kiddylicious. These are from the baby and toddler aisle in supermarkets and are fantastic for him. Again these are individually wrapped so are the ideal snack for both boys.

So these are the snacks we will be taking away with us. If anyone can suggest anything else that is dairy free please let us know in the comments below!