Make some noise for the Raa Raa playset

Today was one of those indoor days. We were trapped in by the weather, both feeling under the weather and it seemed the perfect moment to review the Raa Raa the Noisy Lion interactive playset – thank goodness we did! It really did bring some excitement and fun into our house today.

My little girl has watched and enjoyed Raa Raa the Noisy Lion and recognised the show straight away when she saw the box – her little eyes lit up which always make mummy very happy. I could see it was much more than she had expected when I told her we had a new toy to try out.

The set has some great features, it comes with a Raa Raa figure, tree house, car and some little drums. The figure has a little hole underneath which means he fits easily into the car, the sound buttons and the swing. The swing was a particular hit with my little girl!

There are two noise points on the set, when you press RaaRaa down near the door he says various phrases which your little one will recognise. When you press him down near the car canopy it makes the noise of the cubby car starting up and the tree shade zooms up the string. We loved this, I wasn't expecting the palm leaves to move and Squiggle played with this and the cubby car over and over.

The fun sound effects aside, I think the real fun is in the tree house – it's much more than a Raa Raa toy! Very well made and hardy for play it makes a great base for all your child's small toys to climb ladders, play house, go for a swing and have a great time. My daughter's monkey have already been knocking on Raa Raa's door, swinging on the trees and going for sleep overs on Raa Raa's little bed. Her toys have also been having lots of fun playing hide and seek around the tree. 

From the box it looks like you can buy other characters to add to the fun (something my little one quickly spotted!!) which I'm sure would be great for Raa Raa fans. Even though it's based around a television programme it encourages roll play and imagination for stories beyond the animated ones they have already seen.

It has kept my daughter happy all day and I'm sure for a lot longer, I'm surprised by how much I like it too! Everybody that has been to visit has been taken to play with this toy, she is so please with it and it has brought lots of fun. 

You can get a better idea of the interactive features in our video... take a look and see what you think!

What I used to save for

I was talking to a friend who's 4 year old daughter received so much birthday money, she opened her a bank account and she's now stocking up those savings to use redecorate her bedroom in a years time. I  thought this was such a lovely idea, I still remember opening my first bank account and how much I enjoyed saving those pennies.

This got me reminiscing about all the things I've saved up for along the way. It makes for a lovely list of memories, in particular the memory of the pride and excitement I felt when I reached my goals! Here's my savings memory list:

Ice cream and souvenir money for holidays

A Sindy doll kitchen

Bermuda shorts from the market

Getting my ears pierced

DMs and an army surplus bag for school

Tickets to see REM at my first solo concert with friends

A velvet jacket

Floorboards for my bedroom

An ultra classy holiday with friends to Benidorm (after a long summer working for £2.90 per hour!)

The end of school girl's holiday to Tenerife

University

Inter-railing around Europe

An amazing New York art trip

Glastonbury tickets

My first car (I still have it!)

A deposit on a house with my future husband

Our magical honeymoon

Maternity leave

... And then we hit babies and spending lol, I guess that's a whole other post! Do you remember what you used to save for before every penny started to count for so much? What is the first big thing you remember saving up for?

Please note this is a sponsored post but all the ideas and words are my own

'Baby Annabell doll' and 'Baby Annabell Bed with Lullaby' Toyologist reviews

Why we've been going gaga for her!

We have been busy playing again... This time with baby Annabell and the baby Annabell bed with Lullaby.

When I pulled these toys out of the box Squiggle was very excited, the pressure was on me to get them out of their packaging as she stood over me demanding I do it faster!!

We got the cot out first and she absolutely loved helping me put it together. It's really easy to assemble - no screwing needed! She loved the little bedding set which consists of a blanket, sheet and pillow, and she was giggling that everything had sheep on. She was most excited though by the fact the cot had it's own mobile (you will need a screwdriver here to add the batteries). She was over the moon pushing the button and playing the little tune on it (which has sheep baaing through it!).

Then we got Baby Annabelle out, I was really interested to see how she'd go down with my little girl as she's never really shown much interest in her baby dolls. She has always refused to put them in her pram, opting to take penguin or giraffe for a walk instead! Straight away she was a lot more taken by this doll and I think it's mainly down to the interactivity of it. I find some dolls slightly freaky but she's actually got a really nice little face!

She's a very clever little doll, when you give her the dummy or her sheep bottle (both included in the set) her cheeks actually move along with the sounds so it really looks like she is sucking or drinking. My little girl loved this, she spent a long time running back and forward to the cloakroom sink to fill the bottle with water and give her another drink. It was very cute to watch, she was tucking her up in her cot, giving her a bottle and then turning the mobile on to get her off to sleep. Baby Annabell laughs, cries and sleeps and I have spotted my little girl singing her little lullabies along with the music to help her drift of to lullaby land.

I have four nieces who are all older than my little girl and have all gone through phases of baby Annabell obsession. I think from this I was a bit of an Annabell sceptic and wasn't sure why she was any different from any other dolls... but now we know! She is well made, lovable, has features that bring out the caring side of my little girl, and most of all she is actually getting played with! She had a 4 year old friend round to play recently and she absolutely fell in love with both the cot and the doll and kept wishing she had one herself. It's great that it's suitable for older children and so will hopefully stand the test of time!

If you are on the look out for a baby doll for your little one to love and take care of I would really recommend this toy. Have a little look at our video to get an idea of some of the features and see the smile on my daughter's face!

No messing, just fun! Princess Aquadoodle review

So we've opened possibly the most exciting box to ever land on our doorstep and it's time to start our Toyologist reviews!

I was delighted to be sent an Aquadoodle to review, and what could be even better, a Cinderella one! My little girl does have a very girly streak in her and loves a princess so I knew this would go down well. In her own words when I showed it to her she said... "my new toy is magnificent"... that's a bit of a tongue twister for a toddler. 

The set comes with an Aquadoodle mat, a Cinderella print maker and a water pen. You simply fill the pen with water and place Cinderella under the tap to get going, so simple! If you add water to the mat it turns pink, just like magic. Squiggle loved drawing her pictures and then watching them dry in the sun, ready to start again. She overloaded Cinderella with water the first time but when we got used to it you roll her along and she makes a little heart pattern.

The box says 'no mess' so I was interested to see if it was true. I've tried no mess arty options before and tried leaving her with a water colouring book once – it was a disaster as there was blue water everywhere. This is not the case with the Princess Aquadoodle, I can honestly say it is 100% mess free, hurrah, perfect for silly mums like me who have cream carpets! It also requires no batteries or assembling and won't run out, you just add more water... this is the kind of easy toy I love.

The fun continued with the Aquadoodle today – the sun was shining so we had the paddling pool out  – my little artist was dipping her toys in the water and then using them to make prints on the mat, this soon turned into footprints and was great fun. I think the only thing for us that could have made it even more fun would have been a larger mat, but saying that this smaller size makes it really neat to fold away and store.

My little girl loves her new Aquadoodle and very sweetly asked if she could keep it, it's a fantastic addition to the toy box. It also makes a great guilt free gift as you know your not sending any mess and chaos into anyone's house!

If you'd like to see the Aquadoodle at work take a look at our little video. I am so sorry it is on it's side but you get the idea... I promise future videos will be the right way up!!

From cot to bed and how to remove a head

We have finally plucked up the courage and turned Squiggle's cot into a bed and taken off the sides. She turns 3 in a few months and I know most people would be surprised we hadn't done it sooner! She has always been happy in her cot but it was getting to the point where she was becoming too heavy for me to lift in. Also when going away or staying at people's houses she is really a bit too big to sleep in a travel cot now so we wanted to get her used to beds.

She's been very excited about it all which has meant some long evenings for us! After about 5 minutes we usually hear the light turn on, then the door creaking, followed by footsteps and then a little face peeking round the door with the biggest pleased as punch grin you have ever seen. We are averaging about a 9pm sleep time at the moment, but we'll get there!

The biggest stress came last night... of all the bed related things I had worried about, this wasn't one. I heard her calling me at about 3am, weird I thought because she normally just jumps straight out of her room and shouts up the stairs if she wakes up. Maybe she's really tired and will just go back to sleep I thought. I decided I better check on her and thank goodness because the poor little thing had rolled out of bed, then half under it and got her head stuck. I had to twist it on its side and pull it out. I was surprised she wasn't a bit traumatised but she just told me quite matter of factly what had happened and happily got back in bed. I was really worried and couldn't sleep after that, what If I hadn't heard her and she'd been unable to breathe?

These things are so scary, the whole bed thing has scared me quite a lot in general, I go to sleep every night with that feeling that my little girl is vulnerable. Am I neurotic?

I stuffed some giant floor cushions under the bed last night which have jammed the gap but I'll have to come up with a better solution!

Has anyone else find the swap hard, everyone seemed to tell me it was easy peasey before we did it!!

Wedding styling

Next are running another amazing styling competition, this time with The Rock and Roll Bride blog... the challenge? To style wedding outfits using the Next range – ohhhhh I've had so much fun!!

As life rolls on and getting to the point now that I'm no longer the bridesmaid and my little girl is! I've styled outfits for us both where she is the gorgeous bridesmaid, and me a very happy guest. I've based it on a monochrome wedding theme as it's a big style trend at the moment and is so eye-catching. Plus even my 87 year old Nan agrees it is now fine to wear black to a wedding! I hope you like my choices, I am so in love with the dresses I have chosen.

All together the outfits for the two of us come to £190, well within the challenge budget of £500, I might have to head back to the Next site and pick out a suit for the other half with the rest of the (imaginary) money!

Here are the links to my chosen products in case anybody wants to locate them, Emily x

Girl's pumps: http://www.next.co.uk/x502670s10

Bridesmaid Dress: http://www.next.co.uk/g71138s1

Black and White Dress: http://www.next.co.uk/x50102s7

Sandals: http://www.next.co.uk/x50312s1

Clutch Bag: http://www.next.co.uk/x506368s2#791083x50

Necklace: http://www.next.co.uk/x505386s1#146118x50

We're part of the Toyologist team!

Well it's official! I'm delighted and proud to announce that I have been selected as a Toys R Us Toyologist. I'm one of 24 lucky families who, over the next few months, will be playing with and reviewing lots of toys. I'm part of the purple team which means I'll be reviewing toys for babies and toddlers age 0-36 months.

I'm hoping to write some helpful reviews to give everyone plenty of ideas in the run up to Christmas, so I hope you pop back and have a read! I'll be posting them here but also on the Toyologist Toy Box blog – there you'll find all the other reviews throughout the 3 age categories.

I'm so excited to get started and can't wait to be part of the community and share some fun reviews with everyone.

(YEY YEY YEY!!!)

People pedal power

Well we did it, this weekend we took part in our local Sky Ride. We cycled up to the start point and I was worried I'd be tired before I got there but I didn't do too badly! It almost looked like we wouldn't make it as there was a problem with my inner tube...my husband zoomed to the shops for a new one and replaced it but it still went flat. Luckily my mum saved the day and leant me her much nicer bike (a specialized) yey!

When we got to the start point we picked up some bright yellow bibs and set off. I meant to get a photo of us looking so fetching but completely forgot, sorry! A few of the main roads around the City Centre of Milton Keynes had been closed off and a route set out so we had lots of fun pedalling along the dual carriageways. My daughter thought it was a race track and was over the moon to be on the back of daddy's bike for a change so she could actually win for once! We stopped at the bike cafe for a drink and a snack to put all those calories back on, and relaxed on a friendly atmosphere while Squiggle tried a spot of tennis and honked the horn of a penny farthing.

It was a really lovely morning out and I would recommend looking up your nearest event and joining in. I bet there could be some really spectacular routes in some towns and cities!

Enjoying the bike cafe

Cranking up the fun with my little monkey

Squiggle and I are putting together our plea to become Toyologists... we love playing with toys... and talking about playing with toys... and so we would love the chance to review for Toys R Us for a few months! Here's our review for our application.

At the weekend while I was trying to decide which toy to write about and recommend, my daughter came up with the inspiration. She shouted "lets make a monkey jungle!!!" pretty much as soon as she'd got out of bed. So that is what we did (and why she is still in her pyjamas in the photos).

I thought it was the perfect choice, the monkey jungle she is referring to is 'Gears! Gears! Gears! Movin Monkeys' by Learning Resources. It's a fantastic toy which really has it all – great for fun, imagination, cognitive skills, and has a bit of engineering thrown in. My mother-in-law had an old school version of this (by a different make) which she had kept safe since the 70s and which my daughter had really taken to. Ever since we had all been on the look out for something similar for her, and hurrah we finally found this in Toys R Us.

It is basically a really fun and different construction toy - it comes with various pieces you build up to make your very own twisting, turning jungle. You start with some flat green pieces which slot together a bit like a jigsaw. You then build up from there adding cogs, building trees with the parts, palm trees, monkey vines and cranks. Squiggle finds some of the parts a little hard to put together but she is a good bit younger than the recommended age and it's fun to do together. She is quickly learning and as she gets older she'll keep finding fun from it in different ways.

You can follow the instructions or make up your own jungle, it's great because what she creates is different every time and then brings fun throughout the day. She makes up stories about the monkeys nesting on the trees, getting stuck on vines and being chased by crocodiles. Like most children she seems to really love monkeys, they really bring out her cheeky side when she's playing.

It is great seeing her mind at work as she realises how all the cogs go together, and her imagination in full flow as she decides what game to play.

When we've had people round to play it has been a bug hit with both boys and girls, from ages ranging from 2 to 6 (and some 30 odd year old daddies). I have been asked by so many people where we got it from as it's not something most people have seen - that makes it a great gift idea!!

I think this is a top, great value toy which will really stimulate your little ones, as well as bringing them lots of joy. We've almost had it a year now and it is standing the test of time, getting played with more rather than less as the months roll on! Monkey-tastic!!

Want to know a little more? Why not which our mini movie! x

On your bikes for sky ride

I've just been hearing all about Sky Ride, a fantastic initiative which involves Britain's streets and parks being turned into safe traffic free cycle routes. It's such a wonderful idea and a great family day out so I really wanted to help promote it. As one of 17 nationwide events, my local sky ride is coming to Milton Keynes this Sunday the 26th August, so if you live in the area why not come and join in? They really want to inspire the nation to get out on two wheels so I'm planning to strap my little girl in her bike seat and give it a go! We quite often go on bike rides as a family, it's such a lovely thing to do together, outdoors... and it's free (we like that!).

If you want to find out more take a look at the website here and register for free.

Now just wish me luck, I am the opposite of speedy and normally have my daughter shouting faster faster faster in the back seat!!

Partying hard at sunny Lollibop!

At the final hour on Friday I managed to win us a family ticket to Lollibop in Regents Park. I was sooo chuffed, I was desperate to take Squiggle, she loves a good party!

We had a fantastic day, she wasn't going to let us do anything until she got her face painted, there were lovely choices of designs but I suggested a nice small butterfly on the cheek as it was so hot (mean mummy). She was happy with that though and we had a delighted and excited little girl.

She is dinosaur mad at the moment, her favourite being the stegosaurus and they had an amazing kind of human puppet one there. This was one of my highlights, S got to feed her favourite dino a fern which was amazing and something I never thought I'd be able to arrange!!

Another fantastic moment was Mr Maker, she had been really looking forward to seeing him, and when he came out her face just lit up so much I almost burst :) so lovely when you see your little ones that happy!

The arts and crafts were great too, the lady helping S was fab and really let her work things out for herself while she was making her bird puppet. She named him 'flappy' and was VERY pleased with herself. She also enjoyed the B&Q tent painting her piece of wood and getting covered in glitter. Daddy took it off to dry before she was quite finished... he had to fetch it back as she was so particular that it needed one more splodge of yellow, so funny!

The festival was full if things to do, for quite a mix of ages... she rode a bike round a track, did yogo with the Waybaloo, read a story with them too, stroked a very realistic polar bear, danced with a cat, had a go at swing ball and tug of war, and watched some cooking.

My only shock of the day is that I'd given her £2 to get an ice cream. I said she could use it to buy a balloon if she preferred... Oh what planet am I living on? It was £6!! And then the lovely ballerina balloon spent the rest of the day bashing daddy and passers by on the head. He almost took out a whole queue of ice cream buyers.

Just as we were completely pooped Squiggle announced that she'd forgotten to see the Zingzillas. We only had to wait 10 minutes and they were on the main stage. The perfect end to it all for her!

Thanks for giving my little girl a great day Lollibop! X

I'm Not Scared – my perfect summer read

I'm writing this review as part of the Tots 100 summer reading challenge in association with Tesco in which they are rounding up some of our favourite summer reads. I love reading but life is so manic I hardly get a chance to sit down with a book, so I'm going to make sure I pick one from the list and make some time to do so.

I'm delighted to share one of my favourite books with you but I've never reviewed an actual grown up book before so I hope I do it justice!

It took me a while to narrow down my perfect summer read to just one book... I was all ready to write an enthusiastic post on 'The Poisonwood Bible' (an awesome book). It's good and thick and certainly lasted me a summer, but as I know it's not for everyone I decided that didn't really qualify as a summer read... maybe not what people are looking for whilst relaxing on the beach!

The book I have chosen is one I loved and one I think really anyone would enjoy – 'I'm Not Scared' by Niccolo Ammaniti. Set in Italy during a brutal and scorching summer, the story follows 9 year old Michele, his gang of friends, and their childhood antics. The writing sets the scenes so perfectly you feel as though you have been there running through the wheat fields yourself. It captures all the different childhood relationships really well and took me back to my long summers running through fields with all the local kids. All much more innocent, we imagined and invented our dramas and mysteries... Michele's however, soon become all too real.

As Michele tells the story you're with him all the way, and the group's childhood dares and adventures soon lead him to a discovery that sets his world spiralling around him (I don't want to give any more of the story line than that away!). You're soon swept in to a absorbing mystery that will keep you hooked until the end.

I just loved reading this book and as soon as I had finished I tried to get everyone I knew to give it a go! It is so easy to read and completely sucks you in. I didn't want to put it down and, although I'm a pretty slow reader I finished it quickly. It's not too long, so if like me you don't often get time to read, it's not at all daunting to start! Well told, charming, intriguing, exciting and sad, it's a perfect little tale which has it all for a summer's day on the deck chair.

If you do read it I'd love to know what you think... and I'd love to hear from anyone who's read it already? I hope my post tempts you to read it, I'm no great writer myself, which I think is why I love reading what other people have written so much, I just find it amazing!

I'm looking forward to reading the Tots 100 round up and getting some new ideas and inspired for my next read.

Salcey Forest - fun above the tree tops

Last weekend we spent the morning at Salcey Forest in Northamptonshire, I had never been before but had it recommended to me as a nice place to take kiddies for a walk.

It really was lovely, Squiggle got her wellies on and went on a puddle hunt. It didn't disappoint - there were muddy puddles galore and lots of trails to explore. She had lots of fun following the pink signs on elephant walk until we found the treetop walkway. This is something we don't get at our local woods! S loves any kind of bridge/ pathway she can run along so this was a huge hit! It gently slopes up and up until you are above the treetops with a fantastic view. We were hoping to spot a squirrel down below and we did! We also discovered tadpoles, pond skaters and water boatmen in one of the ponds. We really had such an enjoyable family walk!

We then headed back to the parking area for our picnic as there is a lovely wooden playground full of things to climb. There is also a cafe there in case you don't pack anything or it rains!

Entry is free but it's £3 to park for the day which was great value we felt.

All in all a great time for a budget morning out in the fresh air!

Support your country at the Olympics and you could win a fantastic Lumix!

This competition has now closed.

Random.org selected number 1 which means Gemma Mills you are the lucky winner, congratulations I'll be in touch!

Has anyone noticed quite a big and very exciting sporting event going on at the moment??!! My family (like most of us) are completely gripped, it's such an exciting time and so inspiring to see all our athletes doing so well!

So if like me you are feeling all over excited, why not head over to facebook and have a go at the great fun Panasonic Flag Tag app. You can take a photo or select a fun one from your archives and then chose which flag you want to use to decorate your face.... and no mess! My girl loved seeing her picture decorated with the Union Jack. It's great fun for all the family to have a go, what do you think of ours?!

And what's even more exciting? If you have a go and come back and share your creation you'll be in with a chance to win a fantastic Olympic themed Panasonic Lumix camera here on my blog.

If you would like to enter just head over to the app, create you flag tag image, then simply come back and leave a link to your image in the comments below. You can find the app here:
http://www.facebook.com/
PanasonicUK/app_316244828451255

I'll pick a winner at random from all the valid comments after the closing date, please remember to leave a way for me to contact you (twitter handle, email etc.).

If you'd like to follow my blog or follow me on twitter you'll be the first to hear about the winner and any new competitions. It won't get you any extra entries but it will put a smile on my patriotic face!

Good luck and have fun, I can't wait to see the photos!

The details:
Competition closes 9th of September 2012 (just after the Paralympics).

Winner chosen at random and details passed on to promoting company.

The promoting company will send out the prize to the winner in the next 2 weeks following the closing date.

Non-UK entrants may enter but for postage reasons will receive a same value Amazon voucher instead. UK residents will receive the camera.

One entry per person.

The pictures will appear on the giant screen next to the Olympic stadium in Stratford

Organix 'Veg & Oat Bars' review

We are huge fans of Organix snacks in our house, my daughter's favourites have to be the fruit bars, so I was really interested to find out what their new savoury versions were like.

It's a great idea, I never leave the house unless armed with some kind of snack (bribe) but I don't always want to be giving S something sweet - the savoury options are a lot more limited! Organix very kindly sent us two boxes of their Veg & Oat bars to sample and here is what we thought...

First up was tomato and carrot:

Squiggle recognised the packaging straight away and was very excited, I explained to her what flavour they were and she said "yum I like carrots"... Her review was... "They taste nice, they taste like tomatoes, the smell like tomatoes, I like tomatoes..."

And that pretty much sums it up! She did like them but she also said I could have the other half. She does quite like sharing food with mummy, but she would NEVER share her fruit bars!! I had some too and they do have quite a strong tomato flavour. I think she would have liked them even more when she was younger and was a real fan if those strong flavours, she is almost 3 now and knows what she likes!

Our second box were sweetcorn and red pepper flavour:

Again these are both flavours that she loves so she was excited and these went down even better. The texture and quality of the bars is up to the Organix brand's usual high standards and of course they have the no junk promise to put your mind at ease!! I think the bars are well worth a try, some kids will love them. I remember being at the earlier stages with squiggle when I was trying to avoid sweet treats, I would have stocked up on these. In bribery terms I have to confess I'll probably still reach for the Organix carrot cake bars instead. She really enjoyed the savoury bars but she begs and pleas for the fruit ones!

Has anyone else tried them? I'd love to hear what your little ones thought? Well worth a try I'd say!

Please not we were sent these to review but my thoughts are my own.

Very very tiny planes, trains and automobiles

This is my post for this weeks The Gallery theme 'planes, trains, and automobiles'. This photo is of an wonderful place where we had a fantastic family day out – Bekonscot Model Village & Railway in Buckinghamshire. Here we found the tiniest railway where the trains stopped at the stations, boats that sailed round the harbour, and it's very on teeny tiny airfield. It has it all so just seemed perfect for the theme. I could barley drag Squiggle away from the station, I think she could have stood and watch the trains all day!! It's a lovely day out, and a good one to take Grandparents along to. There are lots of lovely details to look at with little jokes thrown in to keep easily amused adults like me happy!

Things I wish I'd never started

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The adult way of doing things just doesn't really apply to toddlers does it? You do something silly, you laugh, you move on. Oh this is not the way of a little person, do it once, like it, do it over and over and over again. You learn fast as a parent and there are a lot of ideas you know you just don't want put into kid's heads. For example a friend suggested to S while playing hide and seek that her toy might be hiding in the toilet. "Nooooo" was the cry from me, I knew that could well be the start of everything I own being flushed away. I never learn though and have still have done many a thing I wish I'd never started. Here are but a few...


1. Puting a blob of Sudocrem on my nose. This happened a good way back as a clever way of turning nappy tears into giggles, I was pleased with myself. Then every nappy time came "mummy put the cream on your nose please please please!!!" I've refused but I now can't leave the stuff in reaching distance. She'll stick her whole hand in and wipe it on my face / her face / anyone in reach. It is the hardest thing in the world to just wash off by the way, has some kind of inbuilt magic water resistance!


2. Fantastical bedtime tales 

I made up a nice little story about some mice one bedtime and S loved it. It would send her to sleep nicely and myself sometimes. Then one night she begged for 'the mouse and the blue banana'. I wanted to encourage her imagination so ok I said and off I went. Ever since then she has invented wilder and sillier story titles for me to tell. My mind is boggling trying to come up with them and she is laughing and getting very over excited rather than sleepy...doh! 

3. The magic cup
She's not a great drinker so in desperation one meal time I tool a sip from her cup and pretended it turned me onto a duck. She took a sip and turned into a mouse, yes it worked I thought!!! Was it worth it? Now every mealtime I am forced to pretend to be a duck and she still only has a minuscule sip. :(

4. Laughing
This applies to a lot of things when you know it's so wrong but it's so funny. At the weekend, for example, she was scribbling on her doodle book with her wipe clean pen (thankfully) when she decided to turn her face onto that of a zebras. Oh how I tried not to laugh but I couldn't help it. And it got such a good reception the minute i had got her clean, she did it again. Bad mummy, I asked for it!

Do you have any? I bet you do! I'd love to hear them, gone on give me a laugh :) xx


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Some creative gift ideas from 'Find Me a Gift'

Well our girly luck was in last week as we received two fantastic products from Find Me a Gift to review.

All parents know that having children brings with it the inevitable influx of children's parties and before you know it their social lives are better than yours! I love all the parties but with the invitations comes the dilemma of what gift to buy... I always want to get something useful but fun and that wont take up too much room in Mum's house, it can be a tricky one! Thanks to Find Me a Gift I now have a couple of great ideas for you.

First up is the fabulous 'Super Craft Kit for Girls'. When I was offered this product to review I just knew Squiggle would love it. She gets very over excited about pom poms and wobbly eyes and it this set had both, perfect! It is actually quite a large box when you see it which gives a great wow factor for a gift. When I pulled it out from behind my back my daughters eyes lit up immediately. "Can we do it now pleeeease mummy" she begged. She got really excited looking at the box and listing all the different things we could make.

She quickly decided that what she really wanted to make was a caterpillar... He turned out to be a monster caterpillar which she thought was hilarious. It doesn't come with any instructions which allows creativity to flow like this and actually turned out to be a really fun positive.

Monsterpillar

Squiggle enjoyed taking inspiration from the pictures on the box and so my only negative was that there wasn't much variety in size of the pom poms provided. This meant if you did want to copy, for example, the rabbit on the box, you didn't have all the equipment. This didn't bother my little one in the slightest though... we just improvised and he turned out pretty cute don't you think?!

I would definitely get this as a gift for a girl's birthday, it's the kind of gift that won't matter if you have duplicates and you know it will get definitely get used. It's a sure hit with parents and kids alike and the box looks really fun and glittery and girly. At £5.99 I think it's fantastic value and it's just around the right party of stocking filler price mark for me. As parties get more and more frequent sadly you just have to reign in the budget a bit! I'm so pleased we were sent this it brought us so much fun and lots of giggles.

The next item they were kind enough to send us was a very cute Pillowhead Chubbie. I was so pleased to be sent this as I had been thinking about getting Squiggle some kind of animal cushion but hadn't seen a design I really liked. I had never seen the Chubbies before, they are really sweet! 

I don't think his picture online (or my picture) really does him justice as he is very very lovable in real life. He is soooo soft that you really do just want to snuggle into him and it's this super softness that really wins the day. Perfect for snuggling on the sofa in the evening or on our early morning car journeys we often have to do. The ultimate cosy gift, and a fun original pressie too... oh and my daughter also seems to find it hilarious to throw him about the place due to his roundness, poor little piggy! He costs just under £10 so another great value buy!


Please note I was sent these items to review but my review is honest and all my own, I hope you have found it helpful xx

Getting my brain around nurseries

Sorry! I was getting a lot of spam on this post so I have panicked and taken it down. If you want to chat on this subject comment or drop me a tweet!!

Labour stories

This week I've been thinking a lot about labour... it's funny how it all goes from your mind isn't it. I've just found out one of my closest friends is pregnant (yey!) so have been reliving it all. I also met another friends beautiful baby girl for the first time last week and couldn't wait to hear all about their birth – you see, I think my friend is some kind of early prototype of how women are going to evolve in 20 years time!! She also has a little boy (my gorgeous Godson) who is the same age as my daughter and she gave birth to him in 2 hours. It was actually quite scary for her and her poor husband, who was being told what to do with towels in case they didn't make it to hospital on time, but they did! They told her to be prepared with the second one and she was. After the first slight twinge she went straight to the hospital and told the midwife her situation, who didn't really quite believe her. She had to argue her way into the birthing pool and  they let her in to humour her really and said she'd need to get out again in a couple of hours. Next thing, out pops the baby's head. What a great "told you so". How amazing is this? Her labour lasted under an hour!!

Mine was 24 hours, which I don't think is too bad? A lot of it was spent at home playing Mario Kart to pass the time... how long did your labour last? I wonder what the national average is?

Hands on

I love the hands on approach of my toddler. The spirit of 'I'm going to do everything and I'm going to do it right now' is amazing! She wants to touch and pick up everything, see what noise it makes, find out what it feel like and what it can do. You may have seen this photo before from my post about our trip to Italy so apologies for using it on the blog again, I'm not being lazy but for me it summed up this week's Sticky Fingers blog gallery theme 'hands' perfectly!

We were in Pompeii and had just spotted the first lizard of the holiday scuttling along a wall. She was so amazed! After he scurried off into hiding Squiggle announced she must make a stick lizard, (as if it was obvious and exactly what anyone else would do after seeing one). She gathered some sticks and using her very own little hands and big imagination, made her very own lizard on the path. She was very pleased with herself when he was done and skipped round it in delight! This is one of those occasions where her imagination really just caught me by surprise and is a memory I'm going to treasure.

Why why why?

My little girl hasn't quite reached the why stage yet, which is a stroke of luck, as I am not one of those people with a bank of general knowledge. I'm also not really a why person, I think as I was growing up the general theme was – well life's not always going to be fair so make the most of it – which is what I do, and enjoy it! There are somethings in life though which just shouldn't be and do deserve a massive, hands on head, "but WHY????"

Mummy Central started this great meme: after endless why's from her little ones, she's now bombarding them with some questions of her own for a change. It's our chance to join in, here are the rules:

1. Post your whys – as few or as many as you like

2. Link up your post to Mummy Central, and it would be great if you could leave a comment too

3. Tag 5 bloggers to keep this going

4. If you’re not a blogger, leave your whys as a comment below. We’d love to read them

5. Show your support by reading a few others and commenting on them

I was tagged by the lovely Debra at 'My Darlings and Me', you should really go and read her 'whys', they are fab and I could have just copied and pasted the lot as I agreed with them all! She may have noticed though, so here is my very own unplagiarised list:


For my daughter:
Why... do you take food off my plate when I have served you your own plate of the same dinner?

Why... did you tell me you didn't need a wee over and over when is soon became clear you did?

Why... is it funny to hit the telly with lego bricks / toy animals / fairy wands? You love the telly!

Why... do you love me so much when I'm always telling you what you must not do? (She is amazing, I'm such a lucky mummy)



For life in general:
Why.... after a rainy weekend is it always sunny on a Monday morning?

Why... are the baby / child sections in shops always upstairs?

Why... can I never find my keys? (I have caught my daughter playing 'I can't find my keys' a few times – that's how bad it is.)

Why... am I scared of spiders?

Why... is Piers Morgan on the television?


Too pass on the fun I tag:
Momma of Mojo
The Chaos Queen
A Mummy's View
Cupcake Mumma
Busy Bee

Why? Because I thought it might give you a giggle x

Styling my tot from the gorgeous Next collection

This is my entry into the Next competition being hosted by the fantastic 'All Baby Advice' blog. The challenge? To style an outfit from this season's Next's maternity or childrenswear ranges. As I'm not pregnant I have chosen to style an outfit for my little girl – it was so had to narrow down my choices as the range is full of beautiful items!

This is my chosen outfit and it's ready for anything the British summer might throw at us! I've had so much fun doing this, I hope you can tell! x

Why I love this outfit

Navy Spot Playsuit

I fell in love with this playsuit as soon as I saw it, it is perfect for messing about in the garden or for a family day at the seaside. I love how it is all about fun and has a casual feel, but at the same time it is really stylish and super cute! It has gorgeous detailing around the buttons and looks like it would be really comfortable, which is very important when you're busy playing. As much as I love girly clothes it's nice to see something still really pretty that isn't necessarily bright pink. It's perfect for little adventurers like my gorgeous girl. Spot on Next!

Ginger Straw Trilby

Truthfully we're not great with keeping hats on but this one would definitely be worth the risk. It's amazingly cute isn't it? I can't think of a better way to keep the sun off in style!

Navy And White Stripe Cardigan

Ah fun summer days and long lazy evenings... you know when you've been out and about all day at the beach playing and then you get back to the campsite in the evening and the sun is starting to go down? I just want something really soft and snuggly to put on my daughter and this cardigan would be perfect! It's made of 100% cotton so you know it is going to be great quality and lovely and soft. My little girl is pretty argumentative when it comes to coats but if you present her with a 'jacket' she's happy as anything, so this would work really for us. Am loving the cool nautical look it has going on too, it really has that summer feel!

White Trims Pumps

I have been looking for some little runabout shoes that I can keep by the backdoor so that Squiggle can pop them on quickly when she wants to go out in the garden. These have Velcro straps which are perfect as she loves putting her shoes on by herself at the moment and these would be really easy to manage. The bow makes them very sweet too and I think they would go really well with any summer outfit, not just this one!

 

Yellow Duffle Coat
Well this is England and although we hope for sun, there's bound to be some rain and plenty of wind – this mean a coat is an essential item for any outfit. I wish I could have this coat for myself, I wouldn't mind putting it on when it's so sunny in yellow. It is simply gorgeous and would cheer up any dull day. It feels me with a nice sense of nostalgia – we were always dressed in little duffle coats when we were younger and I really love these timeless styles. Plus yellow just happens to be Squiggle's favourite colour and yet something that isn't in her wardrobe!

Union Jack Wellington Boots

What's the up-side of rain? PUDDLES! Puddles bring lots of smiles and giggles to our family so we always have to have wellies on hand. These boots are perfect for getting in the spirit of things, what with the Jubilee and the Olympics I think it's time to splash the Union Jack a little. Perfect for all round fun!

I hope you like my choices, I've absolutely loved putting the post together. If you are a parent blogger you should really have a go too, there is an unbelievable £500 voucher up for grabs. No really! I find Next clothes great value so this would go such a long way. I'm off to have a look at t I've absolutely loved putting the post together. Iet some more inspiration.

I'd love to hear what you think of my dream shopping spree. x