Thursday, 25 February 2016

The Super Yummies

The Super Yummies 

Being a mum to a fussy three year old, I'm always on the look out for new snacks as James can get bored of things very quickly. So when we got the chance to review 'The Super Yummies' part of the Cow & Gate family we jumped at the chance. We have always loved Cow & Gate products as a family, using them first for James and now with Freddie. 

The Super Yummies range includes freeze dried fruit and vegetables, fruit pouches, rice cakes and bread sticks.

We were sent tomato and herb bread sticks, pear and berries rice cakes, beetroot and parsnip slices, strawberry and yoghurt pieces, Apple and forest fruits yoghurt pouch and a strawberry, kiwi and banana squeeze.

The first thing that stands out for me is the packaging. It's bright and clearly shows what the product contains by the pictures. James was very easily able to identify some of the fruits namely strawberries, apples & pears. 

The breadsticks come in a resealable packet which to me is a huge hit, as it means I don't have to go hunting round the kitchen for one of my sealing clips which do tend to go walk about.
The rice cakes were really yummy! I normally would only buy savoury flavours but these fruit ones were really nice for something different. James loved them and so did mummy!

The pouches have to be my favourite part of the range as James adores them! He loves nothing better than one of these after nursery as a snack. He could probably eat these all day!


We took the freeze dried strawberry and yoghurt pieces with us on a recent day out and James loved them! They were different to the normal snacks I would have in my bag for him. I thought he would be fussy with them as they were something different but he surprised me and loved them! 



Over all we LOVE 'The Super Yummies' I will definitely be buying some more for our snack cupboard! I have already spotted them in our local Tesco & Boots stores!

For more information on the different products in 'The Super Yummies' range please visit: http://www.cowandgate.co.uk/super-yummies

**We were sent these samples free of charge, however all words and pictures are my own**

Freddie at Three Months!

Freddie Bear how can you be three months old already! It does not feel five minutes since you were born and all of a sudden you are three months old!

You are smiling so much now and cooing! You are loving your bath time and it's my favourite time of the day as you are smiling and laughing at me! You don't like having your hair washed just like your big brother!

You are in size two nappies & wear 0-3 clothes. You are taking 5oz at every feed normally every three hours but quite often you decide to go every two hours. 

You sleep pretty good which I'm so proud of. You generally have a feed around nine pm then wake between three and four then sleep till around seven or eight. We have had the odd night though where you have had a feed at eleven pm then slept through till seven am!

You have moved out of your moses basket and into a crib, still in mummy and daddys room though as you are a bit of a grumper in your sleep and we want to keep you in with us. I know James was in his room at eight weeks but his room was closer to ours then and yours would be at opposite end of the upstairs. Plus with the fact you had the Bronchiloitis and you still get pretty snuffly during the night.

Your hair is starting to go blonde like your big brother, you still have blue eyes like mummy, daddy & James but yours are a deep blue where as your big brothers are a bright blue!

We have so much to look forward to this year with your first trip to the beach being the one I'm looking forward to the most! I'm hoping you have a better reaction to the sand than your brother who hated the beach and cried every time we went till he was three when he suddenly had a change of heart and loved it!

We have got ourselves into a brilliant routine in the mornings when James is at nursery! We go to three groups a week on a Monday, Tuesday & Thursday! On a Wednesday and Friday we chill out at home, you normally have a feed and chill on your bean bag while mummy does house work or does Blog work!

You absolutely adore your big brother and you cannot take your eyes off him when he is in the room! You love it when you are on your play gym and he comes over and plays with the balls as it makes a funny noise which you love! James is getting better with you, he has held you a few times and also kissed your head! He loves switching on your owl when you are grumping in your bed or if you are crying on your changing mat he will bring you a toy!

I wonder what you will be doing at four months! James was starting on solid food but I really hope you are not following in his footsteps!

Love you always my little bear cub

Mummy 
xxx 





Wednesday, 24 February 2016

Siblings

This is the first time I have joined in with the siblings links. 

It hasn't been an easy road on our journey as James started life as a big brother. To be honest we are 12 weeks in and still only have a hand full of photos of our boys together. James is still adjusting to becoming a big brother.

I have done a collage of our first three months as siblings.





Saturday, 20 February 2016

Pikku Hair Review


A couple of weeks ago a lovely email dropped into my inbox inviting James to come and get his hair cut at Pikku in Gosforth. We thought brilliant he needs his hair cut before he goes back to nursery after half term. I'm really ashamed to say he had his hair cut last July then we kind of didn't get round to getting it cut again till the new year oops bad mummy alert! 

Pikku is located on Gosforth high street, a short walk from regent centre metro & bus interchange, there is also parking at the near by shopping complex.

 The salon is located upstairs above the children's clothing boutique. As I had Freddie with me as well, I was able to leave the pram base downstairs and take him upstairs in his car seat where he slept the whole time we were there.

The salon is decorated in bright colours and is so welcoming to families. To keep the little ones amused while getting their hair cut they sit in brilliant chairs in the shape of convertible cars and watch cartoons on a tablet. Today James chose a pink car & to watch Peppa Pig. He could also see out the window onto Gosforth high street, so he could see all the buses and lorries going past. They also have salon chairs available for older children.


The stylist cutting his hair was called Laura and she was brilliant. She listened to how I wanted his hair cut and checked if it was ok. 


James was brilliant, he was so well behaved I was shocked! He is normally a proper wriggle bum as he has only had a proper hair cut twice, but he did sit so still and also did as he was told, even when Laura had to cut around his ears he stayed so still and for James that is a challenge as he does not like anyone going near his ears! 


I don't know if it was the watching of Peppa Pig that did it or the promise of a surprise egg after! After the cut was finished Laura put some wax in his hair which he loved and he also got a balloon which he took great pleasure in waving in my face the whole way home on the buggy board! 

On a whole we had a fantastic time and will definitely return with James and also Freddie when it comes to getting his haircut for the first time! 


Haircuts are priced at £12.50 for 1-5 year olds and £14.50 for over 5s. A full price list can be found at: www.pikku.co.uk/pikku-hair/price-list you can also book your haircuts online or phone on 0191 447 1300 

You can also shop the clothing collections online too at www.pikku.co.uk as all parents know how difficult it is to browse clothes with your children there! 


**Disclaimer: we got this haircut free of charge in exchange for this review, however all words and photographs are my own**

Thursday, 18 February 2016

Kinetik Non Contact Thermometer

As a mum to two young boys, having a good thermometer to check for fevers is a must! In fact its one of the most important items you could have in your medical box!

When we got the chance to review the Kinetik Non Contact Forehead Thermometer we were thrilled! 

Freddie is now in the infant immunisation scheme so having a good thermometer is so important. Our current one is an in ear one and the tip is far too big for Freddie's tiny ears and its impossible to get a good reading from James as his ears are just so waxy!

I found it impossible to get a reading from Freddie after his eight week Jabs as the tip would just not go into his ear.

The Kinetik website states: Changes in body temperature, higher or lower, can indicate the start of an illness. It is particularly important to identify any significant changes in a child’s temperature. The Kinetik range of Thermometers are an ideal addition to your medicine cabinet. They are designed to offer a simple, accurate way to take a temperature and provide you with the assurance you need to monitor your family’s health and wellbeing.

We were sent the NCT1 model for the purpose of this review! 
This model is: Non-contact, with a one second infra-red reading, an in built fever alarm, its suitable from birth and has a 25 reading memory!




Freddie has just had his second lot of immunisations, so this thermometer is perfect for checking if he's got a fever from his jabs. Our old in-ear thermometer was far to big for his little ears. 

To use all you need to do is remove the cap, press the on/memory button, and hold 1-3cm from the forehead and press the scan button!

This is so simple to use and I'm very impressed with it! It is so small it fits in the palm of my hand and my hands are not that big!!


We first tried out the Thermometer on our 3 year old to see if it was any easier than the in ear one & It was brilliant! He normally fidgets and fights when we go near him with the in ear thermometer but I could literally point it at him and get a reading. He came down with a bug and had a high temperature yet our in ear was reading normal and the Kinetik picked up he actually did have a temperature. I definitely rate this as amazing for a fidgeting 3 year old.

Now onto Freddie. He's just had his 12 week immunisations and this has been brilliant for checking his temperature while he's sleeping. It has literally been point & press. Again the old in ear thermometer would not give a reading for his tiny ears, yet this did! We were able to check his temperature during the night without disturbing him.


And the biggest plus for me is when it's not being used for checking either of my two sons temperatures, it's also a room thermometer! I can carry it round our hose and make sure the house is at an ideal temperature!


Fantastic product, and the small size is definerly a huge hit from us!   

**We were sent the product free of charge in exchange for this review, all words, images and opinions are my own**


Monday, 8 February 2016

My Perfect Holiday #MarkWarnerMums

For me going on holiday is not just about spending time with your family and friends, it's about exploring new surroundings and photography. They say a photograph tells a thousand words. And these photographs definitely tell more than a thousand words. When I look at them, hundreds of thousands of memories come back to me about the wonderful time we had

Photography has been a massive part of my life from the age of sixteen, so whenever I go away with family or friends my camera was always the first thing packed. When I first developed my interest in photography it was long before digital cameras & smart phones were invented, so I was one of those geeks who took many rolls of film away with me.

This photography holds so many happy memories for me. It was when Cinderella's castle first came into view from the monorail at Magic Kingdom. This was no ordinary holiday though, this was our honeymoon. We had saved long and hard to be able to afford our dream holiday for our honeymoon. It most definitely was our dream holiday as I came home with 1400 photographs from ten days! 

Walking up Main Street and seeing the castle at the top is one of the sights I will never forget. It's something I had always dreamed of seeing and to be there with my husband was just so special.

Disney has a reputation for its spectacular fireworks displays and they really do not disappoint! This was taken after the electrical parade where all the floats are lit up! The images projected onto the castle were amazing and this was just a snap that came out so well. I really want to get this print on canvas for our wall.

I have always been a lover of animals so to have the chance to visit Sea World & Animal Kingdom was just a dream come true. Spending time at the dolphin pool at Sea World was just amazing. The Dolphins would swim right up to the wall and you were encouraged to stroke them. There was also a viewing area to see them swimming under water. 

The most magical day of our ten day stay in Orlando was 13th September -my husband Andy turned 29 that day and we had chosen to spend it at Discovery Cove swimming with the Dolphins!  
The park takes all your photographs during the Dolphin encounter which are available to purchase is different photo packages, including the copyright to the photographs so you can print out as many copies as you like when you get home.
Andy and Yoshi
Me and Yoshi. This was a dream come true for me as I have always wanted to kiss a dolphin.

Andy swimming with Dexter 
Me swimming with Dexter.

I really hope that one day, in the future we will be able to take our boys to visit Disney World and of course Discovery Cove to swim with the Dolphins. You have to be six to swim with the dolphins, so it's going to be at least six years before we attempt to visit again as Freddie is not even a year old yet.

James is now three and still has not been abroad yet. Orlando was actually the last holiday that Andy and myself actually went on as James arrived the following year. We have still not had a family holiday even before Freddie arrived due to buying our first family home together. Hopefully 2016 will be our year!

**This is our entry for the 2016 Mark Warner Family Ambassadors Programme**