Review of the Zak Storm Hover Vehicle and Collectable Coins

James is such a typical boy, who is into cars and super heroes. He also loves technology, so anything that involves his tablet is a big plus to him! He loves playing games on his tablet that will help him with his learning or that he can incorporate with his toys! So when the people behind the Pop UK show Zak Storm got in touch and asked if he would like to review some of their toys and the accompanying app on mummy’s iPad he was thrilled! He loves his tablet, but if he gets to use mummies he is thrilled!

We were sent the Zak Storm Hover Vehicle and Figures retailing at £14.99 and two of the Collectable Coin packs retailing at £4.99 per pack.

These actually arrived with us late afternoon while mummy was cooking the tea and James was thrilled to see that it was actually something for him to use! He however decided to wait till the next day after school to take them out of the packet as he still had his school reading to do that night.

The first thing that mummy did was get out the iPad and go to download the app, this is where it got tricky as when we went to download it onto my iPad mini 2 it wouldn’t download with the message saying you need iOS 10, My iPad operates on iOS 9.5 which according to Apple is the highest iOS software available for that device. Luckily the app is also available on Android and Amazon FireOS 5.0, so you don’t necessarily need to own an Apple device to access all the fun that the app and Collectable Coins create!

The Collectable Coins have a QR code on the back of them to scan into the app to receive digital rewards such as weapons, powers, words and health. This helps you to progress in the game! So the more coins you collect, the more loot you can get to help you in the game!

The best thing I have found is that you don’t need to actually have the app to get enjoyment out of the figures!

Zak Storm is what is known as a connected play experience, where children watch the show, play the game and level up to enjoy a mobile gaming experience like never before. 

James had a brilliant time exploring the app and scanning in the codes on the coins to see what he got! I can definitely see us ordering James some more of the coins as he loves blind bags and the fact that these ones have the codes for the game, it’s even better!

We have also downloaded him the Coin Sheet from the Zak Storm website so he can keep track of which coins he has and which coins he needs!

James loved showing the app and the coins to daddy and seeing as daddy is a big fan of computer games, I think this is something that daddy and James can enjoy together!

These products that we were sent are available from Smyths Toys, along with many other toys which I think will be on James list for his birthday!

**We were sent these products free of charge in exchange for this review, all words and pictures are our own!**

Freddie at 20 Months!

So my little menace we are only 16 weeks away from you turning two! We have no idea yet what we are doing! When your brother turned two we went to York for the day, but with your birthday being winter and also during school term we can't really do that for you.

You are now fully off formula milk and are drinking green top cows milk. The next step is to get you off your bottles! You are taking all your water from a munchkin 360 and I have bought you two beakers with silicon teats to try and get you off your bottles at least during the day! So far you have actually taken to one of them pretty well and have most of you milk in the day time from it and only have a bottle at bed time or in the night if you wake up and don't settle back down.

Your sleep can be a little hit and miss, but most nights you sleep from between 7 and half past till at least 6 in the morning. We still do have the odd night where you like to have a rave between 1 and 4am! Generally this happens when you are teething or mummy has noticed if you get disturbed at bed time by your big brother acting up, then you are normally up and down during the night.

You are such a little menace, and accident prone! You just don't know when to stop! You gave yourself two bruises on opposite sides of your head when we were at James school for the singing picnic all because you wanted to run! You do not like to hear the word 'No' if we have to say no Freddie you generally answer with either yea or me.

You are in more 18-24 clothes and take a 5F in shoes. You wear a 5+ nappy at night and a size 4 pull up during the day! You haven't worn a sleep suit at night in a few months as mummy and daddy found trying to get you into one too much of a challenge as you definitely do not like having clothes put on! I think you would be quite happy running around wearing only a nappy.  

You love playing games with your big brother, oddly you seem to love him pulling you around the lounge by your ankles. When he does this you are normally laughing hysterically at him. You have also started to climb up onto the sofa next to James if  he is watching his favour YouTube video Scary Flying Shark!

You absolutely love going to our sure start group and I know you will miss going weekly over the summer as it changes to every other week so we only have three groups on over the holidays! But I think you will definitely enjoy the summer groups as you will have your big brother there to play with you! 

The next time I write to you Freddie you will be 21 months old and the summer holidays will be all bout over! 

Love you always my cheeky boy

Mummy

xxx 

Freddie at 13 Months

Well Freddie you are now thirteen months old! How did that happen! It's also your second Christmas Day so Happy Christmas gorgeous boy!

So since you turned one we have had to finish our baby social group at sure start. We had a lovely last session with your little pals who sang happy birthday to you or well their mummies did! We still have our fun, play and learn on a Thursday morning so we get to see lots of your pals there!

You are still in 5+ nappies and now well into 12-18 clothes! You are such a speedy crawler and a demon climber! We cannot take our eyes of you for a second! You have seven teeth and are a bit of a biter! You love nothing more than climbing onto mummy and biting my shoulder! You also love FaceTime! You have been known to hit the iPad screen and end up calling people! Normally it's your nana and gaga!

You can say mama, dada, mum mum, brubre, gaga. Nana is still a bit upset you won't say nana but you have said it once!

You are still very much a mummy's boy and you go mental if I leave the room. You love being chased then picked up going gotcha! You are very ticklish and have the adorable giggle! You love it when James tickles you! 

Your favourite foods are pasta, melon and apple! You just love your food!

Love you so much 

Mummy 

xxx

Freddie at 11 Months Old

Freddie Bear how can you be eleven months old! Only four weeks and we will be celebrating your first birthday! How can my beautiful little baby be turning one soon! The last eleven months have flown by!

You have learned so much this month! You weighed 20lbs 14oz at your 9-12 month check and are in size 5 nappies. You are also starting to go into 12-18 clothes! Much earlier than James did!  We have lowered your cot mattress as you learned to pull yourself up on the bars and we kept finding you standing up!

Your biggest development has been your progress from army crawling to actual crawling! Mummy needs eyes in the back of her head now as you follow me when ever I leave the lounge! I went to make you a bottle and found you sitting at the front door! You were so pleased with yourself! Within a week though you were following me to the kitchen and escaping the lounge when ever the door was left open! You are also cruising the furniture! You like to spend a lot of time on your feet! 

You and mummy had a lovely day out at the baby and toddler show in Manchester. It was a very long day as we left home at six am and got home just before eight pm! Mummy got you some new dribble bibs by Funky Giraffe, some new mam goodies and some of the new flavours from Piccolo! 

All your little friends have left our baby social group now. You were the youngest of our little group. Lucky we still see some of them at our Thursday group!

We are starting to buy things in for your birthday now, nanny and pappy are coming up from Surrey and we will see nana and gaga. Poor James will be at school on your actual birthday so it will probably be a tea party on the Saturday and a family meal on the day. 

You have been really poorly with a nasty virus, you hardly slept for five nights and when you did sleep it was only on mummy or daddy's chests. You've started napping more in your pushchair during the day, which is a big help to mummy, especially if we need to go out and pick your brother up!

We love you so much our little bear

Love

Mummy 

xxx

Freddie at Ten Months

My darling little Freddie how can you be ten months old already! Your first birthday is only eight weeks away! 

This month has been a good one. You have learned how to army crawl and are so quick at pulling yourself around our lounge! You can also move your infant to toddler rocker around the lounge! 

You are in size 4+ nappies, taking 6oz bottles four times a day but depending on what time you wake up some days you will have five bottles, plus three meals! You eat the same as the rest of us on an evening, but I always mush up and freeze extra so there is always something for your lunch or a night we are eating something brown together! 

You were an absolutely dream on our first big trip away as a family of four! We took the coach to London then a train out to Surrey to see your grandparents on your daddy's side. You were absolutely brilliant on the coach eating and drinking and of course sleeping! You were a little bit unsettled the first night we were away and poor mummy ended up sleeping on the sofa with you on my chest. 

You have said your first word this month too! And it was mum mum! If daddy or anyone says to you where's mummy you look straight to me and grin! I tried to go to the shop without you one day and you started crying and shouting mum mum! Mum mum! So I had to take you me! You have also started trying to walk when you are held up on your feet! It's so strange you doing this at turning ten months as James was doing this at seven months and then started walking days after he turned ten months! 

You have really been missing your big brother since he has started school! The first day he was back you woke up at quarter to seven and then didn't go back to sleep till we finished baby social at half past 11 and we were picking James up! You then slept for two hours! The second week of term we had to pick him up at half past one and you were normally napping then so daddy who was on holiday that week was doing the pick ups while I stayed at home with you sleeping! James has been interacting with you a lot more, which has been so lovely to watch. 

We had a massive thunderstorm which first woke up mummy and daddy, then it woke up you and finally it woke up your brother. We were all huddled in one bed for a while till daddy took you downstairs so me and James could get some sleep before I took him to school. It was so lovely to hear James comforting you. 

We need to find a new normal now James is in school from nine am till quarter past three. We have our two groups on a Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Sadly once you turn one we will have to find a new group for a Tuesday as you will be too old for baby social. You have made a lot of lovely little friends who you love playing with, but I think your big brother is still your favourite person to play with!  

James has already started looking at toys in Tesco for your birthday and Christmas! He wants to get you a dumper truck so you and him can play trucks together! 

Till next month my little bear, I love you so much

Mummy 

xxx

Freddie at five months!

Oops I'm a few days late posting this!

Five months Freddie how is that possible! It feels like it's gone In a blink of an eye! 

You are already growing out of 3-6 month clothing from primark! So you are in a mixture of 3-6 and 6-9. You are in size three nappies and take 7oz bottles every three to four hours! You are mostly sleeping from between six thirty and eight on a night till between six thirty and seven thirty the next morning. It's scary that you are fitting into a 6-9 t-shirt that didn't fit James till he was 11 months old.  

We have started weaning you onto solids. I was hoping to wait till six months like the guidelines say but you were downing 7oz feeds every 2-3 hours. We gave you a taste n you loved it. Taking it very slow and introducing new flavours slowly. You are now getting a small breakfast of either baby porridge or fruit purée and baby rice. And then a savoury vegetable at lunchtime. Going to keep you on this till you are six months then introduce you to finger foods and more baby lead weaning. So far you love sweet potato, but not too impressed with courgette. Mummy has a freezer draw full of puréed foods in ice cubes just for you! 

You are teething big time so you always have some sort of bib on as you are a dribble monster. You had a brilliant time at nana and gaga's wedding anniversary party. You were such a happy boy, you were awake most of the afternoon and evening with short naps in your pram. The only time you cried was when your gums we're hurting. You were giving everyone big smiles and coos. 

You are not the biggest fan of tummy time unless it's on mummy. You love your baby gym and also sitting in James old snug chair! 

We have bought a connecta baby carrier which you love! We use it around the house and for popping to the shops. I hope by the time you are six months we may be using it more out and about. 

You are still very much a mummy's boy, and like nothing better than cuddling up to mummy on an evening on the big bed to have your last feed. You adore you big brother and are always smiling at him and cooing to him. 

James has started to pay you more attention and give you kisses, especially when we take him to nursery! He loves pushing your pram around the yard in the morning!

I can't believe next time I write to you, you will be six months old! Half a year Freddie! We will soon be on the countdown to you turning one! But first we have you big brother starting primary school! I'm so pleased he got into our first choice school, which means in a few years time you will be following in his footsteps and attending the nursery there!

Love you always my little bear cub

Mummy

xxx

Freddie at four months

Seriously Freddie how can you be four months old already!

You started your fourth month Freddie by going to a creative curriculum morning at James school. You had a brilliant time being fussed over by all the little girls in the class while mummy spent some time doing activities with James.

You are now in a mixture of 0-3 & 3-6 clothing, you wear size 3 nappies and take 7oz feeds. You generally have a feed between six and seven then you go into your crib. Daddy normally gives you a dream feed between eleven and midnight, you then generally sleep through till between five and six. You were weighed at 14 weeks and you weighed 13lbs 3oz. You are definitely more chunky than your big brother as he was only 13lbs 2oz at 16 weeks.

You are definitely a mummy's boy, you like nothing better than being cuddled into mummy for a sleep. You have definitely started teething and have the rosiest red cheeks. You love sucking on your fingers or better still chewing on mummy's fingers! 

Your love going to your baby groups which we go to on Monday's, Tuesday's and Thursday's. You have found your voice big time and love nothing more than squealing when you want attention. 

You are spending more time awake in your pram when we go out now, but you love nothing better than being snuggled into mummy in the carrier.

You have had another cold which resulted in a trip to hospital to get checked over due to coughing. You then missed another week of groups due to James being ill.

You spent your first time away from mummy, when I was away for two nights with daddy. Nana and gaga came to look after you and James. 

Cannot wait to see what happens by five months

Love you always my little bear

Mummy xxx

Pregnancy update 38 weeks

Well I have made it to 38 weeks and I'm not going to lie, the last two weeks have been totally and utterly horrendous pain wise! I now have just two weeks until his due date but if it's like last time it will be three weeks! 

Last week at 36+6 had to phone midwife and the assessment unit due to the amount of pain I was in sitting, standing, walking in fact everything I did caused pain. Was given the advice of paracetamol and a bath. All ok when you have someone in the house but I hate taking painkillers when I'm at home alone with James and I have been like that since he was born. I don't even like having a bath when I'm home alone with James at the moment, in case I can't get out. I can't even read James a bedtime story as I cannot get comfortable on his bed. Poor Andy has been getting home around half past six every night and been having to do bath time & bedtime as its impossible for me. 

Then on Saturday at 37+4 I was even worse with pain trying to get around, it got to the point James was having to help me up the stairs, so again spoke to midwife who wanted me to go into assessment unit, but low and behold their answer was go see GP, which I haven't been able to do as all the triage appointments would leave me unable to get to the school in time for James.  

Baby is doing good though, he's head down and a proper fidget. He has been moving his body from side to side which has been a big source of my pain. I don't have any fat on my stomach so I feel ever little movement which at times is agony. He's a very big squirmer and likes to poke his bum & feet out! It feels like he's going to have big feet like his big brother! I just hope he does not have smelly feet like James! 

I'm back to midwife on Thursday so hoping she will refer me back to consultants to see what can be done to help me. I really don't fancy going over due again as it was hell last time as I was in slow labour for a week & no one knew when my waters actually went therefore I ended up back in hospital with a five day old baby, but add James into the mix this time that would be even worse - having unsettled baby & unsettled three year old, especially now James is at nursery.

James has been pretty unsettled due to how mummy has been, even acting up in nursery which is not like him at all. I really hate how all my pain and lack of being able to move around is affecting him. I'm so hoping baby comes sooner rather than later so we can start being a family of four and going back out and about without me struggling. 

But over all we are so ready for this boy to come! His pram is ready in the kitchen, his Moses basket has been moved into our room so James can get used to it being there and yes CB bear has already had a sleep in it on more than one occasion! 

Pregnancy update 36 weeks

So 36 weeks, one more week till I'm classed as full term! I really can't believe how fast this time has gone! It really does not seem five minutes since we found out baby boy was on the way, then announcing he was due in May & now it's about to be November the month he is due, not that I am actually expecting him to arrive in November! I'm still convinced he is going to be a December baby!

At my 34 week midwife appointment baby boy was measuring 32 weeks, but that was due to his position. He was head down, but had his body all on my right hand side, with his bum under my right ribs, I have a feeling he has moved since then though. Will find out on Thursday at my 36 week appointment. 

He's a proper little fidget and likes nothing more than poking out a foot when I'm trying to go to sleep. I'm still suffering with insomnia, normally starts between one or two am and goes on till three or four am! We had a pretty bad night with James last week, when he wanted to get up for school at half one, so once he was dropped off mummy came home and had a couple of hours sleep before picking him up! To be honest I have at least an hours sleep after dropping him off most mornings.

We have a few events coming up at nursery for James in next few weeks, starting with the nursery rhyme challenge on 4th November when I will be 37+1 weeks. We also have the school Christmas fayre on 27th November, just a few days after baby boy is due! We are going to have to have gaga on standby for that week so James does not miss out on the fayre & nana can stay look after mummy. 

I'm starting to struggle with walking so as far as I go on my own is James nursery school which is about a five minute walk from our house. If I need to go any further I have to either get my parents to come down and take me places or wait till either Andy is off on a Friday or Saturday. 

We have done most of our Christmas shopping now for family and friends. The trip into town totally exhausted me! We got home and I passed out on the sofa for a couple of hours while James had some daddy time. Nana and gaga had picked him up from school so we didn't have to rush home from town. I think rest of shopping will be done online or after baby arrives! Especially for each other and the last bits for the boys! 

I'm really hoping I don't go too far over as I don't fancy being induced! But I'm convinced he's going to be at least a week late like James was!

What's in my hospital bag?

So I'm now 36 weeks pregnant, so I thought it was time to pack mine & baby h's bags for the hospital.

At the very top of my bag are my notes! These will go in at the last minute as obviously I will need them for appointments before I go in to have baby h! 

My bag is a cheap holdall from primark. In that I have packed the following: Old tshirt for giving birth in, Pjs for after birth as it will be winter, Sleep bra & Normal bra these are from primark, Socks To keep my feet warm, Big pants again from primark, Maternity pads, Home outfit which is joggers tshirt & hoody, Phone & charger, Straws & my Wash bag. I also have a blanket for baby and his first outfit. 

In the wash bag I have toothbrush, toothpaste, brush, lip balm, hair bobbles, deodorant and shampoo.

For baby h I am using our Babymoov style changing bag. In his bag I have packed: Nappies, Wipes, Nappy bags, Small sudocreme, Vests x3, Sleep suits x3, Hats x2, Blanket which was actually one of James when he was newborn, Teddy, Going home outfit, Dummies x2, Bibs x3, Muslins x3. We have chosen to bottle feed straight from the word go like we did with James. So the baby milk is in my baby along with two bottles in our bottle bag. 

I'm hoping I haven't forgotten anything important, but since the hospital is like ten minutes walk from the main shopping area in Newcastle I'm sure my mum & dad can go pick things up if we need them! 

I really should have taken photographs but James was pestering me and running off with the camera as normal!

Pregnancy update 32 weeks

So eight weeks till due date! We are getting sorted slowly.

I'm feeling large and very tired! Really hate not being able to pick up James.

Speaking of James he's finally started nursery school. If you follow me on Twitter you will already know this has not been a great start. Poor boy has been picked up in tears and dropped off in tears. This has not been good for mummy and her stress levels. Still we have eight weeks till baby is due to get him sorted.

Have finally packed my hospital bag this last weekend, still have a couple of bits to get and put in but it's mostly sorted. Baby h has his bag all packed too. 

I'm starting to run out of clothes that fit so living in trackies when in the house and my comfy maternity jeans and jumpers when out and about. 

Getting out and about is really tiring now. Went into Newcastle over the weekend to meet Andy from work and by time I got back I was exhausted and in bed asleep by nine. Was glad to get some sleep as I still have the dreaded insomnia between three and four most mornings! The furthest I tend to go now when Andy is at work is the nursery & shops. I can't even take James to the park anymore as I can't lift him into swings :( 

Mum and me had our tour of the hospital last week which was great! Fingers crossed he comes after 37 weeks so can use birthing centre! But on a whole I loved the whole hospital so if had to use delivery suit I wouldn't mind.

Next update in two weeks at 36 weeks! It's getting closer to d-day! 

23 weeks pregnancy update

So I'm now 23 weeks pregnant so have 17 weeks left till we meet our baby boy or if he's like his big brother add on another week (James was 1 week 1 day late)!

So in the last couple of weeks we have started to prepare stuff as we worked out that Andy won't have another big chunk of time off till baby arrives. Andy finished painting the bedroom that will be babies. We bought the wardrobe and sorted clothes that a friend gave us.

We have started buying bits and pieces of clothing mostly sleep suits and vests. We picked up our changing bag last weekend. We went for the Babymoov Style after I read review from Jodie at http://www.lifewithpinkprincesses.co.uk 

James is starting to take more of an interest now we have chosen a name for little man, so has started saying good night and good morning to my bump.

Mummy is feeling rather large. Looking back at photos of when I was 23 weeks with James I'm definitely bigger this time. The bump is definitely starting to get in the way when cooking and especially bathing James. 

Baby boy has started getting very active over the last week and moving constantly as one minute the kicks are on my left hand side then next time they are on my right hand side. Hopefully he won't be like his big brother who spent the last 8-10 weeks of my pregnancy constantly on my left hand side and very low making walking and sitting very uncomfortable.

We have started gathering bits together for my hospital bag ie my wash bag as that was the part I left till last minute last time and forgot stuff. Have a rough idea about what I'm putting into babies bag.

So will update again in a few weeks!!!

Its a boy

So if you have me on Twitter Facebook or instagram you will have seen the news that baby two is a healthy little boy!

We are all over the moon to be having another boy and James seems thrilled to be having a brother!

Now all we need to do is agree on a name!