Gallery Aloud - Blog • Page 3 of 17 •

in Kimberley

Talking all things motherhood with Giovanna Fletcher and Izzy Judd

It was lovely to catch up with HELLO!’s editor Rosie Nixon at her book launch for Amber Green takes Manhattan at The Fleming Hotel. I’ve already packed it in my suitcase for my holiday read next week. I had a good chat to Giovanna Fletcher and Izzy Judd about all things motherhood. I’ve met them both briefly before but never had a chance to chat properly. It’s always nice to compare stories as we all have kids of similar age and their partners were both doing the whole promo trail in McFly at the same time as Girls Aloud so we have lots in common. Izzy has also just released her book Dare To Dream following Giovanna’s book Happy mum, Happy baby. Izzy’s is an account of her struggle to conceive her first baby. She has now fallen pregnant a second time naturally which is so lovely. I love how honest they have both been in their books on motherhood. I think it’s so refreshing and great for young mums to be able to read their books and find comfort in them.

We took Bobby and Cole to the new CBeebies hotel at the weekend. It was a real family trip as Justin’s daughter Chloe also came. The hotel was amazing! Every room was themed and fully equipped with everything you could possibly need for young children. We stayed in the Postman Pat and the In The Night Garden rooms and Bobby couldn’t believe his eyes. He also met Mr Tumble which as most mums with young children know is like meeting royalty to kids!

Bobby was chatting away to all his favourite characters from the show and wasn’t fazed in the slightest. He was completely wired by the time he went to bed but it was a such a fun night for him. Justin took the boys to CBeebies Land the following day with Chloe as I had to be up crazy early to travel to Liverpool to present British Style Collective.

I managed to get myself up and out of the hotel at 5am so the car could take me to the Liverpool Echo arena and start hair and make up for the press call at 7am! It was such a fun event to host. British Style Collective is made by the creators of The Clothes Show that was in Birmingham for years and years and it has been revamped, renamed and made its debut in Liverpool this weekend. It’s a huge celebration of British fashion with catwalk shows and fashion talks. It was such a fab event to be a involved in, I really loved it. I presented the two main catwalk shows at the Echo Arena and took part in a fashion discussion at the St George’s Hall with Jo Elvin, Caryn Franklin and Lisa Snowdon which was really interesting.

The discussion was about dressing for success and how much what we wear actually impacts our confidence and how we feel. I don’t usually think that deeply about these things but it really is true that clothes really do massively effect how we feel. It was a buzzing weekend in Liverpool but I was glad to get home to my boys after an 18-hour day. We off on our holidays today so it’s been a mad rush to get everything sorted as you need to think about so much when you take a baby away but I’m so excited to take Cole on his first summer holiday!

[Source]

in Gallery Kimberley Nicola Sarah

Gallery updates this week

I feel as though i don’t use the blog as much as i should, so here’s to a new goal!

This weekend we had quite a few gallery updates than normal, so here is a rundown. Click the thumbnails to take you to the photo album with more pics!

Nicola was seen heading to Tramp nightclub as she attended her record label party

The next day she was at the Warner Music Group and British GQ Summer Party

Sarah was spotted out (it’s been a while!) shopping in North London on Wednesday

On Friday, we got more Nicola pictures as shes seen out and about in London

We also received pictures of Kimberley, who took her family to the CBeebies hotel opening at Alton Towers

Then on Saturday, Kimberley headed to Liverpool to attend the British Style Collective event

You can find regular updates on our twitter over on @GalleryAloud make sure you’re following!

in Kimberley

Dealing with the heatwave with Bobby and Cole

Well it’s been a scorching few weeks! I have to say I love the sun but I can’t take the heat! My boys have basically been naked 24 hours a day and there’s been a lot of paddling pool and hose pipe action! Bobby absolutely loves being outside watering the flowers and playing with the sprinkler. Cole hasn’t enjoyed it so much though. I think babies just get fed up and uncomfortable in the heat so I’ve been doing my best to keep him cool. My electric bill will have doubled this month from the multiple fans we’ve had to have on constantly but on the plus side my washing pile is non existent cos my boys don’t wanna wear clothes!

This hot weather has made me realise it’s time to bare my post baby body which is a moment I’ve been dreading to be honest! I think all women feel the pressure when summer comes round and we know we have to dare to bare but it’s far worse when you’re still carrying extra baby weight. I never let myself get too down about it cos I know I will get there eventually but I’m going on holiday in a few weeks and it’s still a bit daunting thinking of wearing a bikini! I have actually managed one work out since Cole was born but I’ve been so tired running round after the two of them and getting up in the night that I just haven’t been able to focus and make it part of my life again. The way I see it is we have enough pressure as women and mums that we certainly don’t need to add the pressures of working out and size to the equation before we feel ready. Right now I’m focusing on looking after my boys and juggling work commitments that are coming up. I’ll just have to suck it up this summer and accept I won’t be back in my normal summer wardrobe just yet!

I caught up with Denise a few days ago at an industry lunch at the Ivy Club in London. It was so lovely to see her as it’s been a while cos we’ve both been so busy. Denise and I got to know each other climbing Kilimanjaro and doing Strictly together and I absolutely love her. She’s always looking out for me when it comes to the industry cos she’s been in the business a long time and knows it inside out. I really appreciate her help and we’re always mentally planning some fun show we’ll do together one day, it’s just about getting the timing right.

I also caught up with another good friend from the business, Brian Dowling and his husband Arthur. I’ve known them for nearly 10 years as Arthur was a dancer for Girls Aloud for years. He’s now a choreographer and going to work in New York for a while so we wanted to have a little get together before he left. They’re such a lovely couple and both hilarious and good company so we had a fab night! My sister Sally came along too as she’s become good friends with them over the years. Sal also has a young baby, my nephew Teddy, who is only five months, so it was really nice for us both to let our hair down for a change. Of course we paid for it the next day but hey that’s the price you pay when you have young children. I wouldn’t change it for the world, they’re both at such cute stages at the moment I’m loving it.

[Source]

in Kimberley

Cole is starting to eat solid food – Kimberley’s Blog

I’ve had a busy few weeks with promotion for The Lodge as the new season started on Friday. It’s been nice being back at work. I popped into This Morning for an interview which is always lovely and it was good to see Fearne Cotton and Emma Willis there on the show, it felt like working mothers special, we caught up about our little ones backstage. I tried the world’s strongest coffee which I was quite excited about cos since I’ve had children I feel like coffee is my best friend but I actually didn’t dare drink too much cos it came with serious health warnings! I’m pretty sure I’m nearly immune to caffeine by now but I wasn’t gonna risk it!

I also appeared on Sunday Brunch yesterday which is one of my favourite shows to do cos I’m such a foodie. I love getting involved with the cooking segments and trying all the different recipes. Most people just try out of politeness but I actually ask them to save me a bit of every recipe to try cos I don’t wanna miss out! I ended up chatting to John Barnes about babies and he said he got all his babies sleeping through the night cos he would always wake up first cos he’s such a light sleeper. Sunday Brunch is very different to other shows you do as it’s on for three hours and you sit at the table with everyone else throughout that time so you end up chatting to people about all sorts. I never thought I’d be getting tips from a football legend about getting my baby to sleep though!

Cole is 6 months now so I’ve started to wean him on to solid food. So far he seems to have taken to it really well! I started him on baby rice and he seems very excited when he sees food and is doing really well with keeping it down. He does mess around with it a bit before he actually swallows but that’s totally normal as it’s a whole new skill he’s never done before! Weaning can be hard work with all the blending and planning and mess but I love that they can start to experience and enjoy food. I remember this being a real turning point with Bobby where everything got a lot easier. His tummy was more settled, he slept better and I loved that I didn’t have to rely on feeding him milk to keep him happy all the time. It’s much easier when you can just give them a little snack or something when you’re out and about. I’ve also started to wean him off breastfeeding which I think is a natural progression when you introduce food. I’m not in any rush but I think 6 months is a good amount of time and I’ll just naturally start introducing more bottles here and there. I guess this means my baby is already growing up which is crazy, I really can’t believe how the time flies by!

Now Cole goes down at 7 I have my evenings back again and my guilty pleasure is Love Island On ITV 2, I love it. If you haven’t become hooked like me, the show is based on a group of girls and boys who are put in a villa together and in order to stay in the show they have to be coupled up. There is an odd number of girls or boys so whoever doesn’t get picked at the end of the week has to leave the villa. I think the nature of the show just means it creates lots of drama and is very entertaining! At the moment I think my favourite is Marcel who used to be in the Blazin Squad, he just seems like a genuinely decent guy. Blazin Squad were around at the beginning of our Girls Aloud days and I always remember thinking they were sweet cos they were so young. It’s crazy cos Marcel is actually the oldest person in the villa at 31 which makes me feel seriously old!

Source