My toddler this week #2

Potty in the background, nice! Proudly showing her clever puzzle skills!

So this week I'm noticing all the things that Isla has been saying. I notice that sometimes when I've said something to her she stops and looks at me really seriously. This is when she is thinking about something I've said, mulling it over and trying to make sense of it. One of my favourites recently has been this:

Me: You're such a clever old stick!
About a minutes silence
Isla: I'm not a clever old stick, I'm Isla!

See, very clever!

My other favourite is this one:

Me: What's the magic word
Isla: Abra....
Me: No, not that magic word
Isla: Oh, thank you!

I loved that one, she has a magic wand and is so into changing us into frogs or rabbits at the moment.

Another one that I have no idea where it came from is her saying "Bravo!" when we've achieved something! Not something I've ever really said, so I'm assuming this is a nursery thing.

We've also had a lot of references to 'best friends' this week. Just to show how fickle toddlers are, here are two examples, the first one happened when I was laid up in bed with a bad back this week. I can hear Isla downstairs harassing the Other Half to come upstairs and see me..

Isla: I want to see mummy, mummy is my best fwwwweind

On the flip side of this, the following morning when I was trying to get her dressed, (me still having the bad back) I got cross as she was escaping my clutches! So this time:

Isla: You're not my best fwwwweind anymore

The final two Isla quotes can be solely attributed to Peppa Pig and Ben and Holly:

"Sit down your majesty" and "Ahoy there me hearties"

The first one I'm trying to get her to say to my Dad, just because I think this would be funny. I'm loving Isla's chit chat most of the time and I'm going to keep trying to record her 'Islaisms' so we can look back on them and have a good giggle!

The Gallery - My Awesome Photo

I know this isn't a photo of a bungee jump or some amazing waterfall/ beach scene or me wing walking (never going to happen!) but this is MY AWESOME PHOTO. It captures my OH and I in a way that we'll never probably ever be seen again. I absolutely love this photo, when I look at it is makes me feel all mushy (it's also slightly cheesy I know!). I haven't done anything with any of my wedding photo's and we got married over 3 years ago, they remain on a disc and on my laptop waiting for me to put them in a book but if anything happened to them, I would really be upset about not seeing this one ever again. Photo's are weird like that aren't they? I love reliving memories just by looking at a stack of photo's and I really do love reliving the memory of my wedding day!

Check out the other Gallery Entries here

Jelly Kitten Skidaddle Zebra - Christmas Stocking Filler

I've previously posted about Jelly Cat soft toys on the blog - we love them! Isla has her bunny and Noah has his dog and Cousin M has donkey AND bunny! I didn't realise that related to Jelly Cat is Jelly Kitten and when Hello Baby offered to send me a Jelly Kitten Skidaddle Zebra for Noah to try out I was really pleased as I knew it would be a cool toy for him and also one that isn't a hand me down!

Here's my little zebra enjoying his Skidaddle Zebra!

It's such a lovely toy and would make a cool Christmas stocking filler. The black and white is great for babies to look at and the rings round each of the zebra's feet have been good for Noah to hold on to and chew on (everything is going in his mouth at the moment!). There are also blue ribbon tags for the mane, which gives another texture for baby to feel.  There is also a useful strap on its head so it can be attached to the cot and car seat. Naturally every toy that enters our house also has to be given the Isla once over and she loves it too, I also love when she says Zebra as she doesn't pronounce the 'Z' - it's an 'Ebra' as far as she's concerned!

The Skidaddle Zebra is available from Hello Baby and retails at £10.99.

Hello Baby also sells a wide range of other baby and nursery stuff including Baby Toys, nursery furniture, travel and safety products.

I was sent this Jelly Kitten toy by Hello Baby for free in exchange for a review. My opinions are honest and my own.

My toddler this week...

This week I witnessed the funniest tantrum yet and it all started with a banana!

Isla: I wanna 'nana
Me: We're going to nursery in a minute, you'll have breakfast there.
Isla: I wannaaaaaaa 'nanaaaaaaa (repeat x 12)
Me: OK then (goes gets banana, peels it and hands it over)

Isla: I wannnnnnaaaaaaa 'nanaaaaaa
Me: I'VE JUST GIVEN YOU A BANANA
Isla: (Now pointing at the remaining bananas in the fruit bowl) I wanthatone

She now throws the banana that I gave her on the floor and goes back to pointing at the other bananas. I ignore her and get Noah ready to leave the house. Then she goes over to the discarded banana, stamps on it and goes over to the window hysterically crying, looking out in despair. When she stamps on the banana I'm open mouthed, as I've never seen this level of stroppiness before! Then 2 minutes after stamping on it, she goes over to the banana picks it up and happily walks off eating it!!

Who could know that a banana could cause so much grief?!

Weaning Has Begun!

Shea Mooti - Review

I am a big fan of using oils for stretch marks. Fact. I'd love to say that my body is a stretch mark free zone but that would be a lie. I can't even say that I didn't have any until I had kids, I had them WAY before! One thing I can claim though is to not have had one single one across my tummy after my first pregnancy. The sad news though is that the second pregnancy didn't take any prisoners and I have a few on my tummy now. But rather than feel hung up about it like I used to about the ones on my thighs, I actually don't mind so much as I have my beautiful boy to show for those 'battle' scars! I love using oils as I think they help to keep my skin supple and help to make it look more youthful.

Anyway, moving on. I was asked to try two products from the ethical skincare range Shea Mooti and I was really up for it as I LOVE body care products and it makes a change to receive something for me. Before children, without fail I would moisturise my whole body EVERY DAY. Now with two children, time spent on myself and my body is limited and I don't lavish enough attention on my poor weary, clapped out shadow of my former self!

I tried the Belly Rub Stretch Mark Oil and the Soothing Leg and Foot Cream and I really can say that I would buy and use them. I have a preference for the Stretch Mark Oil as I loved the scent of it and I really do think that it helps my skin as it shrinks back to size. The Stretch Mark Oil is most often used by the mum to be and I'm using it post baby but I would say that it's just as vital to be kind to your skin when you've had the baby as it is pre baby. The oil absorbs nicely, it's non greasy and doesn't sit on top of the skin.

The Leg and Foot cream has such a lovely texture and it feels great on the skin. I wasn't as keen on the scent for this product, it wasn't as delicious smelling as the stretch mark oil but I think this might be due to the anti-septic oils contained within the product. Again this is a product that would be well suited to a mum to be as it is described as "Therapy for those hard working legs carrying a heavy load" - I would say that Noah is definitely a heavy load (20lbs at 4 months!) and so my legs are working just as hard now as when I was pregnant and so deserve to be treated to this cream!

Both of these products are packed full of wonderful ingredients and all Shea Mooti products contain Shea Butter. This brand is a wonderful example of 'natural' skincare. Try it yourselves!

At the moment they have a discount code for first time users to get 10% off their first order. Quote SHEA131 at the checkout.
Like Shea Mooti on Facebook and follow on Twitter for all updated news on their products!

I was sent both of the products mentioned in this review for free but my views are honest and my own.

Give As You Live

Last night I went to an event at Liberty's in London and I feel compelled to tell you all about it ASAP as if the word gets out quick then a lot of charities can benefit from all the online Christmas shopping that will be done between now and the day itself!

I clocked off with the kids yesterday at 4.30pm and handed over the reigns to my OH. I felt mildly sorry for him as the end of the day is usually pretty fraught, but as I made my way to the train station, I was getting excited about being in London again (something I usually complain about when I work there everyday!) and looking forward to finding out about 'Give as you Live'.

I was welcomed by Polly Gowers founder of 'Give as you Live' and CEO of Everyclick, a fundraising technology company, which enables people to give to any of the UK's charities (from the smallest hedgehog related charity (!) to the biggest Cancer related charities) through everyday online activity such as online shopping.

Give as you Live is Polly's latest initiative. What is it?

Give as you Live is an online shopping app that turns every pound supporters spend online into funds for their favourite cause. How does it work?

Quite simply you go to http://www.giveasyoulive.com/ and download the app to your PC, this takes seconds and on restarting it will be present on your computer. Once restarted the Give as you Live app should start up and ask you to register all your details and also select the charity that you would like to benefit from your online purchases. I chose Myeloma UK as my Dad has this condition and the more money they get the bigger the strides towards a cure. Once you have an account registered you can regularly check how much you raise just by shopping.

You then shop online and if you shop at a store that is part of Give as you Live (which shouldn't be hard as there are over 1500 retailers linked up) then a window pops up and asks you if you want to give on this shop. You tick the box, do your shopping and rack up money for charity. The beauty of it is that you are not putting your own hand in your pocket, just by doing your usual shopping (Christmas or otherwise!) you will earn your favourite charities some valuable funds. It is the retailer who will be making the donation.

There are too many retailers involved to mention them all but most of the big ones are, including Boots, Sainsbury's, Debenhams, John Lewis, Liberty, House of Fraser, Topshop, M&S and soon one of the biggest online retailers Amazon will also be joining the throng!

An example of how much charities can benefit from this, 5 gifts and how much can go to charity if you Give as you Live:

iPad2 costs £399 and £5.99 would be donated to charity
iPhone 4S costs £499 and £7.49 would be donated to charity
Scrabble costs £14.99 and 58p would be donated to charity
Kindle costs £89 and £4.45 would be donated to charity
Twilight Box Set costs £8.49 and 21p would be donated to charity

This isn't just a Christmas initiative, it works all year round but it's worth saying that in this country last December, £6.8 billion was spent shopping online and if everyone had used Give as you Live £170 million could have been raised for UK Charities. If you're a fan of charity starting at home then you really should make the effort to shop in this way!

Go to Give as you Live and start your Christmas shopping and feel good knowing that you're doing your bit for charity.