I have been tagged by the lovely Louise who blogs at Birds and Lilies to do the Mummy Tag. The idea is to find out more about each other and what we’re like as mums!

Here goes.

1. Are you a Stay at Home Mum or a Working Mum?
I’m a working mum and I work four days a week. I am lucky that my work allows me to work one day from home, so it means I still get to take E to school on Thursdays and Fridays.

2. Would you have it any other way?
In an ideal world, I would love to be able to work from home full-time and manage my work hours around my family. I do manage to do a bit of that now, but it would be nice not to have to commute to London. A lot of my blogging friends work from home, and I am always jealous when they tell me that they’re working in their bed or outside in the garden (in the sun) while I am stuck in the office! I do have plans to start taking on more freelance work (I’m a Web Designer in my day job), so I will see how that pans out before making any rash decisions. Mr H works for himself, so we need to have one source of steady income coming in.

3. Do you co-sleep?
I’ve never had to co-sleep, but I wouldn’t discount it (if we were to have another child). Both the boys were generally very good sleepers and preferred sleeping in their own beds. We do have them in our bed when they are feeling poorly, though, but generally, they ask to go back into their own beds, which is fine by me!

4. What is your one must-have item for your baby?
A baby bouncer! I found it so useful for putting them down so I could go and have a quick shower or just to have my hands free to be able to do things like run the hoover around the house or have a cup of tea.

5. How many kids do you plan on having?
I always wanted two – one boy and one girl. Of course, it didn’t turn out that way, and now that M is 3 and no longer a baby, I am feeling very broody and would love to have another. There was a time I was adamant there wouldn’t be anymore, though, so who knows?

6. Date nights? How often do you have them?
Definitely not as often as we should! We tend to go out individually, so the other is at home looking after the boys!

7. Your child’s favourite show?
They are both obsessed with Paw Patrol and Blaze and the Monster Machines on NOW TV

8. Name one thing you brought before you had the baby and never ended up using?
Errmmm…I’m trying to rack my brains to think of what we didn’t use…I think we were pretty good at only buying items we knew we would need/use.

9. Your child’s favourite food?
They both love Sausage & Mash with gravy, either that or a Roast Dinner.

10. How many cars does your family have?
We’ve always had one car – even before kids. We both commute during the week, so we only tend to use the car at weekends. We did upgrade to a 7-seater, though, just before M came along, and it was one of the best decisions we ever made!

11. Weight gain, before pregnancy, during, after and now?
Before kids, I was probably the healthiest and lightest I’d been for a long while. A lot of that was motivated by our wedding. I gained about three stone when I was pregnant with E and managed to lose most of it whilst on mat leave doing Weight Watchers. I put on two stone when I was pregnant with M and initially found the extra weight hard to lose. I was then diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, which sped up my metabolism, and I lost weight without even trying, which was great, but I suffered from some horrible symptoms and had to be on medication for a while. These days, my weight yo-yos a lot, and I fluctuate between a size 14/16. I did Slimming World for a bit last year and did really well, but I have not had the motivation to get back on it since then.

12. Dream holiday with your kids?
We are planning a big trip to America for my 40th in a couple of years’ time and want to go to Disneyland in Florida. E is already very excited about it and keeps telling anyone who will listen that he is going to America when he is 8!

13. Dream holiday without your kids?
I think I’d like to go back to Venice again. We went pre-kids years ago, and it was so nice not having any cars around. It’s a beautiful city, so I’d like to go back and take photos of the place this time!

14. How has your life changed since having kids?
I can barely remember what it was like before I had kids. It’s a distant memory. I had more time on my hands and more sleep, and we could do things spontaneously at the last minute. We weren’t restricted to bedtime routines and things like school, but nothing beats having children and seeing them grow and learn. My boys make me laugh every single day.

15. Finish this sentence: “It makes my heart melt when…”
I see my boys looking out for each other.

16. Where do you shop for your kids?
H&M mostly, GAP when it’s on sale, and Primark when I manage to get into town. Other than that, supermarkets or wherever takes my fancy.

17. Favourite make-up and skincare products?
Oh god, I am so useless at looking after myself. I have such a basic skincare routine! I use Simple Eye Make-up Remover, Simple Light moisturiser and Aveeno body moisturiser, as well as Soap & Glory Hand Food for my hands (when I remember)

Make-up wise, I use Clinique’s Superbalanced foundation and the Clinique compact powder. Rimmel Scandaleyes mascara and Rimmel Lipsticks.

18. Huggies or Pampers?
Definitely Pampers. Huggies didn’t contain the boy’s poo very well, and we always had leakage! We used Aldi nappies with M as they were really good value, and we had no leakage – hurrah!

19. Have you always wanted kids?
Yes, I always knew I wanted kids and wanted to be a mum. Being the eldest of three, I think that maternal instinct was always there because I had to look after my brother and sister when we were younger.

20. Best part of being a mum?
Seeing how happy my boys are – I love it when they are playing and laughing out loud. It reminds me to stop and take a moment to enjoy their happiness.

I’m tagging the following people if they would like to do this:

Franca at A Moment With Franca, Angela at Days In Bed, Lisa at Mrs Savage Angel and Kathy at Hopes Dreams and Chocolate.

Related posts:

Behind the Lens with Mummy to Dex SOS Mummy Survival Kit Behind the Lens with That Mummy Blog The truth about…having another baby