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Monday 30 April 2012

Review- Monster Pet supplies Whiskas cat food

Monster pet supplies sent me a box of whiskas goodies for us to test & review, well the cat tested and I reviewed thankfully.


I had never ordered online before for my pet supplies so was pleasantly surprised when it arrived in a lidded box and wrapped in tissue.




In the box
Whiskas bite & chew tasty textures with chicken x2
Whiskas bite & chew tasty textures beef
Whiskas bite & chew tasty textures Salmon
Whiskas bite & chew tasty textures Trout x2 
Whiskas Cat milk x2
Dreamies Mix


The first one I put down for Shadow was the Chicken flavour he instantly got stuck in, but in true Shadow style he licked it dry and left all the chunky bits of meat, it's not the fact that he doesn't like it or it's not tasty this is what he does with every food we have tried him on, he did the same with the beef too but out of the next pouch came trout, I expected him to do the same as what he normally does but he well and truly tucked in, he polished off the whole bowl, even licked the bowl clean, I still can't quite believe the fussiest cat I have ever known ate the actual meat. He ate all of the other Trout & salmon pouch.

All of Whiskas Tasty textures bite & chew range have roughly chopped meat in a soft meat pate so your cat gets to lick up the soft meat pate and chew on the chunky bits of meat

Roughly chopped meat in a meat pate



Enjoying his meal 
click on the link to see the full range of Whiskas adult tasty textures  the prices vary 

Next we put down a bowl of the Whiskas cat milk for him to try 

It is suitable for cats & kittens over 6 weeks old and each bottle contains 4 servings, it is low in lactose and provides essential calcium and vitamins, the 200ml bottle should be kept refrigerated once opened and used within 4 days of opening. 


 

Shadow loved the cat milk and lapped it up really quickly then looked at me with his big wide eyes wanting more.

We will be purchasing Whiskas Cat milk again, you can purchase 3x 200ml bottles for £3.61



Last up for testing is Dreamies Mix, again Shadow is quite fussy what treats he eats but he happily ate these.  In the resealable bag there is 2 different varieties, Scrumptious Salmon & delicious cheese.
You can feed your cat 20 pieces a day, they are small square treats with a crunchy exterior & a soft interior.
 the bag is 60g and is resealable, the contents should be used within 4 weeks of opening.   
Shadow seemed to really enjoy these treats and ate every piece we offered him so with him they are a big hit, I was quite happy that they didn't smell so are pleasant for you to hand feed the treat to your cat. They are available to buy for just £1 which I think is excellent value.


I received the items for the purpose of the review only, all words and opinions are my own.




Review- Blade & Rose baby leggings

Blade & Rose sent me a pair of their gorgeous baby leggings to review. The leggings come in five different designs and they are all equally cute, I chose the Daisy leggings because I had just purchased some cute T-shirts that would go with them perfectly.

The leggings are made from 75% combed cotton, 20% nylon & 5% spandex, they are available in 4 different sizes 0-6 months, 6-12 months, 12-24 months & 24-36 months & are £10 each.
 They wash really well but are not suitable for tumble drying, however they do dry quickly when on a radiator. I found them to be really soft and they are not overly tight on my daughter, I got them in 6-12 months, my daughter is 10 month so she has a bit of room still in them.

All of Blade & Rose leggings come with a large print on the back of the leggings which makes a crawling baby even cuter, it is much nicer than seeing your child's nappy, four of the designs also have a print going down the leg. The Daisy leggings have a large daisy on the rear of the leggings and smaller daisy print around the legs of them, the hem at the ankle is easy to pass over your child's foot & is slightly frilled with tiny detailing to them.  


They are as thick as baby tights so give the baby some extra protection to their knees for when they are crawling. They look good with a T-shirt and are equally cute under a skirt or dress. I do love the leggings and find them really cute, I particularly like that if I put them on underneath a dress or skirt to keep her warm her feet are still free so she is able to have a good grip on the floor which is very important at the minute because my daughter is cruising around furniture. I would recommend the leggings to family and friends. 



I received the legging for the purpose of this review, all words and opinions are my own.

Thursday 26 April 2012

Zippy Suit Review & Competition

I was asked by Zippy Suit to review one of their new Zippy Suits, they sent me the Starry night design in hot Pink, It arrived really quickly & was well packed. The colour description is Hot pink, now I know hot pink can mean a vary of many different hues, Zippy Suits is a light red colour with pink hue, it has red, lilac and white stars printed on the material. 



The material is a very soft 100% cotton and unlike the traditional sleepsuit that fastens by using poppers/stud, yes you have guessed it, it fastens by a zip. The Zippy suit fastens from one leg to the other using a zip with a velcro cover to cover the zip when the zip is closed, this helps to stop an older baby from undoing the zip themselves or playing with it.The zip does not come in contact with your babies skin. 

I found the Zippy Suit much easier & quicker to change than the traditional sleep suit especially since I damaged my index finger I am guilty of washing & drying it then putting it back on so I don't have to do the poppers up on her others, the results of washing and drying a few times are good, the material has kept it's shape and colour.


It has an envelope neckline to make changing easy, I love this feature because if your baby's nappy leaks you don't have to remove the suit over the head making the job less messy, it also has a material zip guard to protect you baby's skin. My daughter was able to move around freely, we received it in 9-12 month size and it fits her well, she is 10 months old.

Designed and launched by Nicole Graham 
She is a mum who lives in the UK and made the suit after getting frustrated with doing up the poppers on a traditional sleep suit
Any parent knows the difficulties of trying to do up the poppers when half asleep or when you have a wriggly baby.
The suit is well made and the stitching is perfect, the material has kept its softness after a few washes & tumble dries.

The Zippy Suit can be bought in 3 different designs in sizes 3-6 months, 6-9 months, 9-12 months and 12-18 months and are £12.00, a matching bandana style bib is also available to buy for £3.75

I have a discount code for all my lovely readers 
use FIRST10Z for 10%off

I received the Zippy Suit for the purpose of the review, all opinions are my own.


The lovely Nicole at Zippy Suit has also given me a Zippy suit to give to one of my readers fill in the rafflecopter below to enter.
choice of 3 colours 
and 4 different sizes













a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wednesday 25 April 2012

Mummy News sent me 2 DVDS to review for them below is our review


Baby Tv
Concertino music &art Vol 1


Danny Donner, has used his experience as an esteemed conductor, composer and educator to creat a unique program that brings you classical music that is carefully selected and produced for small children, it is suitable for 6 months to 4 years & the approximate running time is 40 minutes.

Featuring

Edvard Grieg, Morning Mood, Peer Gynt, Suite No.1
Set in a fantasy garden


Johann Sebastian Bach, Badinerie, Orcgestral Suite No.2
Set in a colourful nursery

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Allegro from Divertimento, K. 136
Set in a winter wonderland

Antonio Vivaldi, First Movemonet, Autumn, Violin Concerto, Op.8, No.3
Set in a fantasy farm

Leo Delibes, Pizzicato, Sylvia
Set in Fantasy seaside

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Presto, Divertimento, K. 136
Set in a fantasy Playground

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Romance from Eine Kleine Nachtmisik, K525
Set in the sky with colourful hot air balloons

Johann Strauss II, On the Beautiful Blue Danube
Set under the sea

Claude Debussy , Dance, Children’s Corner
Set with an oriental theme

Piotr llyich Tchaikovsky, Waltz of the Flowers, The Nutcracker
Set in a fairground.

My son who is 4 didn’t seem to take much interest or so we thought, it later came on the TV and he announced that his DVD was on the TV so although we thought he was not interested or paying attention he actually was.  My daughter who is 10 months watched the DVD and seemed to enjoy the visual stimulation this DVD offers and the Classical music had a calming effect, it is perfect to use as a night time, bedtime routine because it has soft sounds together with gentle visual stimulation.
RRP 9.99



Baby TV

Oliver Discovers


Activities

This DVD is suitable for ages 6 months to 4 years with a RRP £9.99 which I think is good value, the approximate running time is 40 minutes.


Features

Vegetable Garden
This episode starts off animated where Oliver waters a lettuce that has dried up then goes onto to children looking after vegetables in the garden, and then it goes back to animated. This episode gives your child the opportunity to learn to count and also recognise vegetables, it also teaches them where vegetables come from as most children will think they just come from the supermarket.
This episode your child can learn to count, learn colours and the different vegetables using animated and real children.


Beach
A mixture of animated and real children playing on the beach this episode will teach your child colours, shapes, size difference.

Forest
This episode explores the forest, it teaches your child about the forest and what makes up a forest, and also it teaches them the difference between fast and slow.

Bathroom
Teaches you child to count and colour recognition using familiar things in the bathroom.


Park
This episode shows children exploring the park again in animated and using real children at the park, it teaches colours, and to count using things you would expect to see in a park.

This DVD uses everyday things that your child may encounter to help to teach them. There is plenty of learning opportunities and it features 6 nursery rhymes, 2 of them being five little monkeys and little green frog, both are my son’s favourite nursery rhymes. Both my children aged 10 months and 4 years enjoyed this DVD very much.

Friday 20 April 2012

Taste testing the sand

Yes you have read correctly, we took Rhian to the beach whilst away on holiday this was her first opportunity to fully explore the beach because she was just a tiny little baby every time we have been. Being a mummy means I take snap shots of my kids all the time (well the ones that will let me aim my trust camera at them) so I automatically grabbed the camera and snapped away click, flash, click, flash, you get the idea, the images are quite funny so I thought I would share with you all too.

"hmmm what's this then?"

"sand! did you just say sand?"


"not sure about this you know!"

"haha she said the beach is fun"

"the sand isn't fun"

"ok I will give it a try"......."it doesn't taste nice"

"eurgghh get it out" 

"I need water"

Its fair to say the beach will have to grow on Rhian hopefully she will grow to love it like the rest of us do.

Action - The Gallery

This weeks gallery theme is Action




This is my son Running the toddler race last summer he came 1st and was very proud as were we 






Inch Blue shoe review

The lovely company Inch Blue contacted me to see if I would like to review a pair of their shoes and I jumped at the chance, they asked me to choose a pair I liked and they would send them to me, for anyone that has visited Inch Blue's website you will understand how hard it was to pick just one pair of their shoes, they are all absolutely gorgeous. After browsing all the shoes I decided on the Mary Jane Primrose shoes from the Mary Jane section because these would go with most of Rhian's outfits. They sent them out to me really quickly despite having to make them for us, I thought that was pretty good service. 
They come in a lovely bag giving that extra special touch
& would make a perfect present


So onto the actual shoes, they are made from soft natural leather with suede soles making these perfect on our wooden floor. The ankle part of the shoe is elasticated allowing you to easily put them on and take them off, they stay on whilst Rhian is walking about in her walker, which is great because they help her grip the floor and have nice cosy toes. The inside of the shoes are soft and have no rough seams, they are very well made shoes. 
lovely flower detailing

The shoes are a pale yellow in colour with a beautiful flower detail on the side

Rhian has been wearing hers for about 3 weeks now so have moulded to her foot nicely, she does like to take them off every now and then to have a chew but Inch Blue's shoes are chrome 6 free and vigorously safety checked,  making them 100% safe. 
The Mary Jane shoe comes in four different sizes between 0-24 months but Inch Blue do cater for children up to the age of 6

Rhian can move her foot as she would if she had no shoes on

They retail at £18.00 but for that you get soft breathable leather and a shoe that will last and keep nice because they are easy to clean. You know you are getting a quality shoe for your child's soft, growing feet. I highly recommend Inch Blue for you babies shoes.

We received one pair of shoes for the purpose of this review, all opinions are my own.


Thursday 19 April 2012

Swim baby swim


splashing away
Do you and your family enjoy to swim? We love swimming, well I say we I mean them I just find it quite stressful trying to keep my eye on five children when we all go, even the ones that can swim or if we are in shallow water I can't relax. The large swimming pool we have for the summer I find much nicer I can see them all clearly and I can control the amount of splashing. I do like to swim when I can actually swim instead of walking around with a baby or toddler in my arms. My eldest attends swimming every Thursday, my son who attends a special needs school goes swimming in their hydro pool every Friday and we normally take the youngest two when the others are in school. Tristan is not that confident but we are slowly working on him, Rhian is a water baby she loves being in the water and doesn't mind being splashed or dunked under the water. Madison sadly doesn't get to go that often but she loves it & has loads of confidence in the water and will soon be starting to swim with school. I think its very important for a child to learn to swim, you never know when the ability to swim may save their lives.
Rhian is very happy to be in the water 


Tristan taking the safe option

Daring to swim in the cold sea

Tristan as a baby

Madison loves the water

in the pool in our garden

Madison under water as a baby

 This is my entry for Brit mums Joy of swimming sponsored by British Gas 

Sunday 15 April 2012

Graco Symbio b- Final Thoughts


Well the time has come to the end of our battle to be crowned the Graco Ambassador, 5 of us lucky people have been putting the Symbio b to the test over the last 8 weeks, we have blogged, reviewed, tweeted and videoed and no more can be done, so I thought I would end with my final thoughts.

My full review of the Symbio b can be read here, but since writing up this review all of the Symbio testers wrote about our 5 point essential check-list when buying a pushchair which was interesting to see what is important to each one of us. 

I recently have been testing the Symbio b out on the hills of Devon and the many steps that greet you at the Devon Cliffs haven camp. The hills are like nothing I have seen before, thankfully the Symbio b weighs a tiny 7.5kg & is so easy to push, even up steep hills. The holiday camp has many steps and with only a few ramps and 1 lift I found myself bumping the Pushchair down the steps(naughty mummy)  the Symbio b has pneumatic rear wheels and shock absorbing spring suspension that I have fully tested this last week & its funny I half expected to have a deflated tyre but so far so good(I have not been that careful about what terrain I run the pram over either).
Whilst away I put it through its paces on the beach, it passed with flying colours but it does not go so well over an artificial beach such as playground sand. I found using the rear wheels much easier to push it forward rather than doing what ever parent has done at some point and dragged their pushchair backwards.
At night when in the club house watching the evenings entertainment I was thankful that I could flip the handle over so Rhian could see the entertainment whilst sat happily in her pushchair, then once asleep I could fold the handle right down to the wheels to stop cheeky children grabbing the handle as they fly pass hyped up on sugar and fizzy pop thus preventing them from waking my sleeping baby. The raincover is excellent because it has a large opening at the front which enables you to get to your baby without having to slip you hand up the side making it much easier .  

The Symbio b has a few war wounds but that would be expected, ours also has a rather large none carpeted space at the back of our minibus to move about in whilst travelling below are all the scrapes and scratches I could find.
on the handle

down the side of the frame

Wheels still in great condition 

under the handle this is what has been resting on the floor of our minibus

the top of the bracket where the seat unit sits

I think it has survived quite well considering what space it has to slide about and how much use we have had, the fabric and mechanism are still perfect.


my little acrostic poem 

Symbio b so shiny and new
   You came to me for a review,
Multifunctional for ages 0-3
                Blissful walks is what you bring to me,
           In and out of the shops you weave
               Over muddy paths, it’s such a breeze,
                                  Brilliant in every way, I like to push you every day.