Fun Family Days Out

Chris works 4 days a week and is at college on 2 of those "days off" so we rarely get any family time. He's got this week off so we've decided to make the most of it. 

A few days ago, we took C to the park. I'll admit, I'm a bad mummy and I don't take him to the park nearly as much as I should. He's never been since he started walking! 

He absolutely loved it. He sat on the bouncy seesaw type thing and could not stop smiling. 

I always knew he liked the swings but this time it was different. He giggled and laughed but he surprised us both by moving his legs forward and his upper body back and actually pushing himself! Unbelievable! 

He loves going down the slide (I think he got butterflies) and just generally walking about and exploring too. It made me realise how much fun he has and I need to aim to bring him to the park at least once a week. 

Win a kids Princess Fiona Costume

I am always dressing C up and Chris jokes to me that he'll hate me when hes older. My saying is, if you can't dress kids up in cute costumes then who can you dress up!?

The lovely people over at Joker's Masquerade have offered my readers the chance to win a fabulous Princess Fiona costume in a childs' size.

Dress your daughter up as Princess Fiona from Shrek! This stunning green child size outfit includes a headpiece with attached green ogre ears, making it a fantastic choice for the dressing up box.

This is a pretty simple Rafflecopter entry - you only need Twitter!

UK residents only. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Win a Complete Collection of Meerkat Toys with Compare the Market

I'm sure that there isn't a single person out there who hasn't heard of Compare The Market and seen their fabulous advertisements with the adorable meerkats. Well, they have an announcement to make - Baby Oleg has been born. Isn't he a cutie!?

In celebration of this, Compare the Market have offered my readers the chance to win a complete collection of meerkat toys, including little Baby Oleg!

This competition is open to UK residents only and will run until 5th February at midnight. 

Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

C at 16 months

I can't believe I'm writing another monthly update. How is he getting so big!? We haven't had many new experiences this month.

C rode in a trolley. Last time we did this he was very small and couldn't really keep himself upright. This time, he was very mischievous and once daddy's back was turned, he lifted a glass bottle of oyster sauce off of the shelf. Why he wanted oyster sauce, I do not know.

He's learned that he can get into his toy box by himself. This doesn't bode well for me because once I've tidied all of his toys away, he's straight back in pulling them all over the floor.

Now that C has established walking, he's given himself a new challenge - running! This never really ends well as he falls down but it doesn't seem to bother him. He just gets up and goes again. He's actually ended up falling into the TV stand and bruising his cheek, falling into his Fisher Price zebra and cutting his nose, and just the other day he fell into the post on the stairs which resulted in a huge bump and a little bit of a cut!

Lovely red mark on his forehead

He has become a proper character and is just constantly making his daddy and I laugh. I'll give you an example: One evening, I brought a pear pot into the living room for him and stood at our side table to open it. He ran over and tried to snatch it out of my hand because I wasn't going quick enough. I then went into the kitchen to pour out some of the juices and he ran after me. I took the lid off completely and put it in the bin. Well, C thought I'd thrown his pot in so he dropped to his knees and started searching in the bin for it. Kid loves his grub!

C has been obsessed with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for months. He has quite a few DVDs and I've recently found him laughing at certain bits. I kept an eye on it and realised that he was laughing at a part that was actually funny! Pete tells Donald to duck then says, "Get it? 'Cause you're a duck?" and C kills himself laughing! You'd swear he understood.

C has always been a mummy's boy when he's sleeoy. Chris has actually said, "daddy is for fun times and mummy is for sleepy times" and he's right. C now has his own way of letting me know that he's tired - he'll come over and hold my hand. It's so adorable but he screams bloody murder if I need to let go for a second.

He's also a budding musician -

If you follow me on Instagram/Twitter or are on my Facebook friends list, you'll know that I take a lot of pictures of C. He has now decided that he loves the camera flash and smiles every time it goes. Perfect for me who wants a baby who looks happy and smiley all the time!

Plum Baby Launch Their New Range - 'Mighty 4'

Plum is delighted to announce the launch of Mighty 4.  These mighty pouches are a nutritious organic snack for active tots and picky eaters and they are the only such product in the UK to cover four mighty food groups: fruit, vegetables, dairy and ancient grains. Plum takes enormous pride in their first-rate organic recipes, nutritional credentials, and fantastic taste – coming up trumps with mums and dads in blind-tastings across the UK. Knowing the dangers of adding sugar and other additives to baby and tot food products, Plum ensure that they are doing best by little ones everywhere and include only natural and nutritious ingredients in their pouches and pots. The Mighty 4 range is no exception - ensuring a mouthful of goodness with every scrumptious squeeze, giving tots the very best start to an active and healthy life.

Plum knows how parents worry about getting the right food in to their little ones, particularly fussy-eating toddlers, and so have created these great-tasting pouches to help mum and dad during snack times. The delicious pouches are easy to carry around and enable tots to self-feed. They are ideal for avoiding mini meltdowns when tots are getting peckish and guarantee to provide them with a nutritious boost to fuel them until their next main meal.

The Mighty 4 line complements Plum's comprehensive and award-winning line of organic baby food meal pouches, breakfast cereals and tots’ range. There are three delicious flavour combinations in the range that toddlers will love to eat in a format they enjoy too.

·         Blackberry, quinoa, carrot and Greek-style yogurt (12m+)

·         Sweet potato, blueberry, millet and Greek-style yogurt (12m+)

·         Kale, strawberry, amaranth and Greek-style yogurt (12m+)

The Mighty 4 range is priced at RRP £1.19 per 100g pouch. The products will be rolled out in Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda, Boots, Waitrose, Ocado and Morrisons between January and April 2014.

(Disclaimer: This is a press release. I did not receive a financial reward for posting this. I did, however, receive some Plum samples.) 

It's my blogs 1st birthday!

Source

Yep! I've been blogging for a whole year today.

It's been 12 months since my very first post which you can read here.

It really has flown by and I can't believe how far it's come. People actually read what I have to say!? Crazy! 

Thank you so much to everyone who takes the time to read my blog. We recently passed 50,000 page views which is absolutely incredible. 

I can't wait to see what this year has in store for my blog. I know it's gonna be even bigger and better though! 

Nonabox: December

When Nonabox got in contact with me about reviewing their subscription box, I jumped at the chance. I thought the idea was brilliant and the contents looked fantastic. (I actually did a post back in July introducing Nonabox!)

As I mentioned before, Nonabox is a monthly subscription box for mothers that range from pregnancy to two years old. It is filled with top-quality products. The boxes are £25 per month but you are sure to receive items worth more than that.

December's Nonabox arrived in the first week of January. I understand that Christmas is such a busy time and they did keep everyone up to date with what would be happening on their Facebook page. I didn't mind the delay. 

When I received the box, the first thing I noticed was how heavy it was. I was really excited to see what was inside. 

I opened it and there was a lovely little "Merry Christmas" message and the items were wrapped in tissue paper and sealed with a heart sticker. 

Inside my box was:

1. Two packs of Ella's Kitchen Nibbly Fingers in Mango & Carrots and Banana & Raisins (RRP. £2.29 each) - C absolutely loves the Ella's Kitchen range so I was so pleased to see these. They are almost all gone already!

2. Zimplex Junior Immune Booster 200ml (RRP £7.00) - I thought this item was a bit odd. I don't like giving C any medication that he doesn't really need so it isn't really for us. I was a bit disappointed though, to see that the expiry date was February 2014.

3. Medela Purelan Nipple Cream 7g (RRP £4.99) - I, unfortunately, wasn't able to breastfeed C so this product is wasted on me. I do feel as though it would be more tailored to a pregnancy box rather than one for a 16 month old. I can, however, pass it on to someone who will be able to use it.

4. Me... by Emma Dodd Board Book (RRP. £7.99) - I love this book! The story is so sweet and C loves sitting with me and listening to it. One of my favourite items in the box (and C's too!).

5. Shea Mooti Mama's Belly Rub Stretch Mark Oil 100ml (RRP £14.99) - I do have a lot of stretchmarks from my pregnancy with C so I am excited to give this a go to see if it will have any effect post-partum. Again, this is another item which I believe would be more suited to a pregnancy box.

6. Imago Dei Ruffle Shorts in 12-18 months (RRP. £9.99) - At first look I thought these shorts were really cute. They do have blue on them but when I looked on the Imago Dei website for more details about them, they are described as "Girls Capri Pants" not really suitable for a 16 month old boy. I was also surprised to see thin shorts in a box received in the winter. My sister in law is expecting a baby girl though so they won't go to waste.

The contents of my box total at £49.54 which is fantastic given that the box is only £25 to purchase. I have to admit that I was a little bit disappointed to see that many of the items were unsuitable for both my 16 month old son and I but they can be passed on. I'm very excited to see what will be in January's box.

(Disclaimer: I have received a three-month subscription to Nonabox free of charge in exchange for an open and honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.)

Pink Lining "Yummy Mummy" Changing Bag - Review

A few weeks ago, I received the best delivery ever - a gorgeous Pink Lining "Yummy Mummy" Green Dragonflies changing bag!

I got so excited when I saw the box and almost cried at its beauty when I took it out. I couldn't wait to get testing it out. 

We don't drive and we walk everywhere with the pram so our changing bag gets used a lot. I keep everything baby related inside it plus, it also gets used as my handbag too - I don't see the point in having two bags hanging over the buggy.

On first impression, obviously the outer dragonfly design is beautiful with a gorgeous cupcake on the pocket and embroidered with "Yummy Mummy". The pocket has a magnetic fastener which comes in so handy when quickly closing it when you're finished with it.

Also on the outside are two insulated bottle holders. There are no zips to fiddle with so they're so convenient for putting bottles in and out of.

The inside is probably the girliest inner of changing bag I've ever seen. It is a haven of pink but there are so many useful pouches inside.

There are 2 nappy pockets and I am able to squeeze 2 nappies into each which is a great as 4 nappies lasts me a full day. In addition to this, there is a small zip pocket where I'll keep a small tube of nappy cream. The bag includes a padded changing mat too. For a mat that comes free with a changing bag, this is amazing quality. C seems so comfortable on it.

Wet bag

Changing mat

As I mentioned earlier, I also use my changing bag as my handbag and Pink Lining have really incorporated that into this bag. It includes a pen holder which is fab as I always need a pen and never have one. This is reminded me to carry one! As well as a key fob, a small mirror and phone pocket! Amazing and so thoughtful.

There are two ways to carry the bag too, small handles to hold or a strap to go over your arm or buggy. The strap is easy to loosen or tighten so it can be hung at a convenient level.

My favourite aspect, being a cloth mummy, is the zipped wet bag. In my old changing bag, I always brought a plastic carrier bag with me to place my used cloth nappies in until I got home. This addition to the bag is fantastic. It's so simple but made me so happy! I don't have to worry about anything in my bag getting wet or forgetting the house without a bag.

I have had this bag around a month and it has not got a speck of dirt on it due to the wipe clean outer material. I am so impressed with it and I could not recommend a changing bag more. This bag is currently on sale from £79 down to £50 so it is well worth picking one up! You really won't regret it.

You can find Pink Lining at their website, Facebook & Twitter.

(Disclaimer: I received this item free of charge in exchange for an open and honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.)