Health - Dealing with a Crohn's Flare

Regular followers will know that I have Crohn's Disease, which is one of the Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (the other being Ulcerative Colitis). You'll find a little bit about my diagnosis in this earlier post.

Last year I had my first flare and ended up back on steroids to control the symptoms. Shortly thereafter I had a colonoscopy which confirmed that I still had some active inflammation.

I've never really been back to my usual self since that flare last year, and then last week I had 7 days where everything I ate went through me. It was horrendous and I was absolutely shattered. Hence why I've been pretty quiet on Twitter and here on my blog - apologies!

I restricted my diet and for a couple of days I ate toasted crumpets, white toast and rice pudding to give my gut a bit of a rest. I lost nearly half a stone - which was good because I had put on quite a bit over my Easter holidays - but obviously this was not a good way to lose it!

When I was first diagnosed I had a book called something like The Healthy Gut (it had a bright red cover!) and I thought I'd share some of the advice that I remember; hopefully this might help others out there with IBD.

I've found that when I have a bad day, the BRAT diet helps. It's a bland diet that has foods that are low in fibre. When you're having a flare you want to avoid high fibre foods as they could worsen the bowel upset.

BRAT stands for Bananas (contain pectin which helps regulate the digestive system), Rice (absorbs fluid and adds bulk to your stools), Apples (Peel and grate them then leave to go brown; like bananas, apples are a good source of pectin) and Toast (said to soak up toxins, especially if its burnt).

Apparently Heinz Cream of Tomato Soup is also good as it has the perfect balance of electrolytes for an upset tummy although I'd have thought that tomatoes, which are acidic, aren't a good idea. I saw a nutritionist when I was newly diagnosed and I was told to stop eating tomato-based sauces (I used to eat a lot more pasta and curries than I do now) and not to drink fresh orange juice on an empty stomach.

It's also really important to drink plenty fluids. Victoria (@IckleBear_) on Twitter who also has Crohn's suggested Lucozade Sport to me, so I got myself plenty to keep me going!

Thankfully I seem to be a bit better now and my bowels have settled. I'm still waiting blood results from the hospital and faecal calprotectin measurements which correlates significantly with disease activity in people with confirmed IBD.

At the moment I take azathioprine daily to control my Crohn's, but if I continue to have these episodes or flares then the nurse has suggested that we may look to change my meds. I am also going to investigate different diets more. First up I'm going to switch all my tea to decaffeinated; caffeine makes me run to the loo! I'm also going to consider going wheat-free or maybe even gluten-free.

Review - Enchanted Forest & Friends Clothing for Children

The Enchanted Forest and Friends brand has been created by Scottish husband and wife team, Bernie and Mariessa Devlin. I love the concept behind the range, which features a series of five forest friends: Zed Fox, Humbellina Bumblebee, Sirrell Squirrel, Bertie Bluetit and Miss Bun Bun.

"In the Forest a magical tree exists, with a secret door which lies slightly ajar showing a golden glowing light shining bright. Enter through this door and it leads to the Enchanted Forest, a magical world full of discovery, exploration and adventure. Beautiful flowers, gigantic trees, colourful mushrooms, sparkling lakes and enchanting sounds can be found."

The Forest Friends characters feature on the clothing, and we received the all over print short sleeve tunic for the littlest to test.

The littlest turns 4 years old this month but she's tall for her age; we had ordered the 4-5 year t-shirt which was the perfect size for her. The T-shirt has washed well and has become a firm favourite in the littlest's wardrobe.

Girls All over Print Short Sleeve Tunic Top, £13.99 (on sale just now at £10.99)

In addition to the T-shirt, we were also sent a Character Backpack... meet Miss Bun Bun:

Children's Character Backpack, £22

The concept of this backpack is great... the head can be used as a pillow, within the backpack is a blanket and there are detachable reins (which the littlest at nearly 4 years old does not need, but she liked pretending to be a baby!). My daughter fell in love with Miss Bun Bun immediately and has been wanting to wear her ever since she arrived. 

Miss Bun Bun 

We removed the blanket to put in some toys and special bits & pieces, but I think once it was emptier coupled with the heavy weight of the head meant that the backpack didn't sit very well on my daughter's back. Perhaps we needed to spend more time adjusting the straps, but as we reduced the straps to pull it tighter into her body, the rabbit ended up folding in two a bit. 

For me, the backpack perhaps has a few design flaws but the idea is fantastic and my daughter certainly adores it.

Which is your favourite character? I think mine is Zed Fox!

We received two items from Enchanted Forest & Friends to test and review. As always, opinions are honest and are my own.

Interiors - My Living Room Tour

It's now been over a year since I moved into my new house and things are finally starting to come together. The living room is pretty much finished, for now at least, and I thought I would film a quick vlog whilst it's looking lovely and festive!

My original plan was for the room to be Scottish themed, and I had wanted some tartan curtains to complete the look. However, it's too expensive to get new ones so the room isn't exactly how I had envisaged but I still love it.



Do let me know what you think :-)

Dry Skin, Aveeno & My Evening Routine

We were sent a lovely parcel from Aveeno with a copy of their new book, Bye Bye Dry Skin by Penelope Harper. My daughter sometimes has eczema and dry skin on her wrists, but she is reluctant to put on the cream for some unknown reason! The Bye Bye Dry Skin book has been brilliant at helping explain why it's important to use the moisturiser and I've had much more success at getting her to cooperate nicely with me to use them. 

I've even been using the moisturising cream myself as part of my evening skincare routine. It's been great at keeping my skin hydrated and soft now that the weather has been getting more harsh.

P.S. If you're interested, you'll find more details on Merumaya here in Lorna's guest post and on BareMinerals here.

{Asda Haul for Children's Clothing}

Over on YouTube right now is a vlog of my recent Asda Haul of children's clothes. I had gone to Asda to get a pair of these amazing Disney leggings for the littlest after my friend Heather told me about them, but alas they didn't have her size available.

Whilst I was there I picked up a few other bits & pieces. Here's what I bought...

{Love Scotch Lamb Food Festival}

At the weekend the kids and I headed to SWG3 on Eastvale Place, Glasgow for the Scotch Lamb Street Food Festival.

The aim of the festival was to showcase the versatility of lamb and inspire the guests, journalists and bloggers, with some exotic lamb dishes.

Pop-up dining pioneers 'The Street Food Cartel' were serving a special menu from four of their most popular street kitchen stalls...

Scoop Silver Bullet
Braised neck fillet of lamb, ras el hanout, pomegranate & sultana cous cous

Antojito Cantina
Barbacoa lamb in soft tacos with sour cream, guacamole & pico di gallo

Pad BKK
Lamb massaman curry with jasmine rice, Thai prawn crackers, crispy shallots, peanuts & herbs

So La Ti Dough
Lamb shoulder slow roasted in the wood fired oven with vine tomatoes, rosemary and garlic. Focaccia baked to order.



The food was amazing. I tried the first three of the dishes, not having enough room to even attempt the last one unfortunately! The kids had the braised lamb and they thoroughly enjoyed it - they weren't keen on the pomegranates though. My son had some of the lamb from my taco and the littlest just had a plain tortilla wrap. All the lamb was melt in the mouth, and the flavours were brilliant. Lamb isn't something I would normally cook, although we did take part in a Love Scotch Lamb recipe challenge the other month and we cooked two lamb recipes here in the Glasgow Mummy kitchen. But the lamb here was just so tender compared with the lamb I cooked at home. I obviously need to practice! Thankfully we were given away a cookbook so I can read up and perfect my skills!

We also enjoyed some smoothies. I had coconut and oreo cookie. It was divine!

The kids were given a free apron :-)

Littlest in her princess dress!

My son doing his own vlog!!

#selfie

I didn't get to enjoy the cookery demos as the kids weren't happy to stand for that long - it may have been better if there were seats available - and as such they were a bit noisy so I whisked them away as I didn't want to disrupt the demo for the rest of the guests. There was a children's area with colouring in sheets and pencils but I think this could have benefited from more activities and things to do to keep little ones amused.

All in all it was an enjoyable experience and I have certainly been inspired to use lamb more.

{Ice Bucket Challenge and MND Scotland}

The ALS MND Ice Bucket Challenge was started to raise awareness and money for Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association in the UK and the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Association in the US although a lot of people started to donate to other charities too.

Motor Neurone Disease is a group of illnesses that cause damage to the nerves (motor neurones). These are the nerves that control our muscles. Initial symptoms are muscle weakness. Different muscles may be affected in different people, so some may have trouble walking or lifting their arms whilst others can struggle to speak, chew and swallow. The disease gets worse with time and may also spread to other muscles. Sufferers can lose the use of their limbs or parts of their body.

I was nominated for the challenge three times, and with much consideration I had decided not to participate. I was of the opinion that throwing a bucket of ice over my head wasn't going to achieve anything as there were so many other videos already out there. When I had seen that people had injured themselves, and I think someone even died participating (not sure if that was a hoax or not) then I was keen for the challenges just to stop.

That was until my friends Peter & Jenn came to Glasgow from Newcastle for the weekend and I was sort of forced to participate. Peter was the first to nominate me!

It was absolute carnage.

I had explained to the kids that R was going to pour cold water over mummy's head and got them watering cans full of cold water so they could join in too.

Both they and I did not anticipate just how cold it was going to be. Cue my screams, and then lots of screaming and upset from them as they thought I was hurt or something. My son, bless him, went after R and tried to defend me...watch the clip below to see what happens! I suggest you turn down your volume though if you don't want to be deafened!


   

The most important thing though is to donate. I donated to MND Scotland. You can make a contribution to them by texting ICED14 £5 to 70070 to donate £5.

I didn't nominate anyone, but I ask you to please watch this... it's the last ALS Ice Bucket Challenge that you need to see:

{YouTube}

If you haven't already found me over on YouTube, then please do head on over and subscribe to my channel. It'd be much appreciated :-)

Some of my recent vlogs are this one for #vlogchallenge on the topic of 'What's in my fridge?'...



...and this one which is my day to day make-up using bareMinerals and the new bareSkin serum foundation - thank goodness for make-up as my skin is a state right now!!

{#VlogChallenge - What's in my bag?}

If you haven't already spotted it, I have a new video up on YouTube for the weekly #vlogchallenge. The theme last week was "What's in my bag?" and here is my contribution:



The lighting is pretty bad, but I didn't have the time or the energy to re-do it.

My bag is from Marks and Spencer, and it's a brown leather cross-body number. I got it in the sale recently using some vouchers ;-)

Do let me know what you think...

{Disney on Ice - a review}

We were thrilled to be asked to review Disney on Ice in Glasgow, and in no time it was the weekend of the show! *squeals* (I'm worse than the kids!!)

We took a taxi to The Hydro as I wasn't totally sure where I'd get parked and how far a walk it would be, and I'm glad we did. (Hampden Taxi app was brilliant as I was able to book our return taxi from the comfort of our seat in the arena!)

We ended up being slightly rushed as our tickets weren't at the desk, but thankfully it got sorted out just in time and we made it to our seats just as the lights were dimming. This meant we didn't get a chance to grab any snacks prior to the show starting, but being the organised mummy that I am (ahem!) I had a couple of packets of crisps and Innocent smoothies in my bag for the little ones if they got hungry tummies!

Anyway, the show started and the littlest's face was just so adorable. Her reaction to the characters was just amazing. She was over the moon to see them all.

In awe!

Combine her wee gorgeous face with The Little Mermaid music and I had a tear in my eye!

The Little Mermaid was definitely my favourite part of the show. I think a lot of this is down to the music - proper Disney old school classics. Whereas the music from Tinkerbell, Cars and Toy Story 3 didn't have the same impact for me. The kids loved Mickey & Minnie, as you'll see from their YouTube video below!

It was the innocence of my son that was just so lovely... he said to me excitedly during the show "Tinkerbell waved at me!" and it was adorable that he was so absorbed in the show that he thought the characters were waving just to him. Very cute!!

I had requested tickets for the 2.45pm performance, but I hadn't anticipated how long the show would last. Toy Story 3 came on after the interval and I think it didn't capture the littlest's imagination as much as the other acts, it probably was more suited to slightly older kiddies (although she loved seeing Barbie!). She also got a bit tired towards the end and was keen to go home :-( Thankfully the taxi was outside at 5pm to collect us and we got home soon enough.

After dinner I got the kids seated on their wee kitchen stool to capture their thoughts on the show...



And here are the out takes!! The eldest seemed to find it highly amusing to leap on me every time I started filming!



We'd definitely go back to see another Disney show and I'd love to take the kids to Disneyland. It's on my 35 at 35 list!

We received complimentary tickets for Disney on Ice in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts, as always, are our own.