Mummy Stress!

This week really has been the toughest since becoming a mum! Bee is (I'm guessing) teething... dribbling everywhere, screeching, screaming, crying, more screaming.. it's exhausting and last night actually left me in tears.

I took him for his audiology appointment yesterday as we had concerns he couldn't hear due to the wax build up, we were kind of right.

Bee passed on his left ear but failed his right, they think he has a build up of gloop behind his ear drum which should sort itself out over time but we have to go back when hes 7-8 months for further tests.

They weren't too concerned as you only need to be able to hear out of one ear for speech and learning development so that is a relief, I'm also glad its only one ear, although I'm pretty sure a couple of weeks ago he couldn't hear at all bless him.

Rocket is doing extremely well, loving preschool and as inquisitive as ever but I am loving teaching and explaining things to him and am fascinated by the things he learns at preschool and comes home to tell
us!

Bee-ing the last!

Now that Bee is born we have been thinking hard about what to use for contraception. He is our last baby and after actively trying for a baby for 2 years, going back to using contraceptives is a difficult decision as there are so many different options out there.

In the past I have had the implant 3 times, never got on with it so in the end just gave up. I've had the depo shot too, but when adding those hormones one of the side effects is that you can gain weight and that's really not an option for me.

Condoms are the quickest and easiest contraceptive option for us and we were recently asked to review some of the newest condoms from Durex; 'Real feel'. You can see what we thought about them HERE.

Part of me is sad that Bee is our last but due to my HMS being so bad, having any more children really isn't an option for us.

https://www.realfeeldurex.co.uk/






*This is a sponsored post and we were also sent product free to test in return for our honest review.

Saints and Slimmers ready meals review

A while back we were sent a couple of ready meals to review by Saints and Slimmers.

Saints and Slimmers is a company with a website that tailor different diet plans and sell diet products at a very reasonable cost.

The 3 that we were sent were : Chicken Satay, Sweet and sour chicken and Chilli con carne.

S&S : Our Chicken Satay combines juicy chicken, herbs and soya sprouts in a delicious spicy peanut sauce and comes with a separate serving of white rice to leave you feeling completely satisfied. At only 473 calories, our Chicken Satay diet ready meal provides a high level of your daily protein requirements and is low in fat and fat saturates. Stores at room temperature until you're ready to eat it and cooks in just three minutes. Great at lunch time or in the evening.

Our review : The chicken Satay has to be my favourite that I tried out of the 3, I was expecting it not to have much flavour, as I guess when it comes to 'diet food' I kind of expect cardboard tasting meals. However I was not disappointed with this meal as it had alot of rich flavour to it and despite its portion size I was satisfied after.

S&S :  Our Chicken Sweet and Sour diet ready meal is filling and full of flavour, yet it contains just 461 calories. Low in saturated fat and a good source of protein, this delicious Chicken Sweet and Sour will leave you feeling satisfied. The tasty chicken, pineapple, tomato, peppers, onion, carrots and celery, in a gently spiced sweet and sour sauce goes perfectly with the supplied portion of plain rice. Cooks in just three minutes and can be stored at room temperature until you're ready to enjoy it.

Our review : I actually really enjoyed this one too, it tasted very similar to a sweet and sour chicken meal you would have from a Chinese takeaway (which is fab considering the low calories!)

S&S :  Our Chilli Con Carne diet ready meal, with its juicy minced beef, tasty red kidney beans, tomatoes, onions and fine spices isn't short on taste, but it is short on calories. In fact, it contains just 416, but still leaves you feeling satisfied and full up and it can help your diet plan when you combine it with our meal replacement bars or shakes. It even comes with a separate portion of rice. Ready to eat in just three minutes and can be stored at room temperature until you're ready to enjoy it.

The hubby's review : (I didn't have this one as I'm not a chilli fan or of things spicy but my husband wolfed it down no complaints and said it wasn't different to any other chilli con carne that he had had before so it was OK for me to go ahead and get more ;) )

A quick summery : I love that these meals have a long shelf life on them and they don't need to be refrigerated - on top of that they cook in just 3 minutes so they are perfect for meals on the go or if you don't want to worry about food. We will be stocking up on these meals and trying the others too.

Children and Technology - a guide for parents by LeapFrog

Now that I am beginning to think ahead as Rocket will soon be off to primary school (this September!) It is a perfect timing for me to be sharing a guide that the lovely LeapFrog guys have put together on Internet safety and protecting children 'online'.

Rocket is a very tech savvy little boy, he always has been. He could work my iphone by the age of 1 and by 2 had a whole host of apps on my ipad! He also won't be fobbed off by toys that aren't the real deal - clever boy!

I do worry about what will happen when the time comes and he wants to spend time on the Internet, not just playing on apps and that's why it's so important to be aware of the things we can do to help keep our children safe.

Here is the guide from LeapFrog

Do you worry about the technological future?

Springtimes here!

Gosh this winter has been dull! I'm so thankful for the lighter evenings and beautiful sunshine we have had for a few days, although it's not meant to last! (we can hope ;) )

Having a newborn over winter made it even more difficult for me to get Rocket out the house and between my hormones, a small baby and my HMS being just as bad as it was during the pregnancy I became a bit of a prisoner to the indoors.

Rocket is an amazingly active little boy, he is definitely the outdoors type and thrives outside so I did feel guilty that most of the colder weeks he was in front of CBeebies and the Disney Channel!

We were actually sent some vitamin D drops from Natures Aid that are suitable for the whole family including breastfeeding babies. So we have been giving drops to Rocket whilst the sun was no where to be seen! Hopefully it has been working, I'm not too sure how you know if you are getting enough vitamins or not but I feel happier as a mum knowing he is getting that supplement.

Now the flowers are blooming I have actually been enjoying short walks with the boys (as much as I can handle right now!) But we have many plans for the warmer weeks to come!

Britax DUALFIX Review

We have been reviewing the DUALFIX car seat from Britax for a good month or more now and I'm really excited to share my experience with you all.

Having Hypermobility Syndrome is hard enough at the best of times but dealing with the extra relaxin hormone from pregnancy, I really suffered after Bee was born in November.

The biggest problem I had was taking the baby car seat carrier I had in and out of Rockets pre-school as not only was it heavy, it also involved me awkwardly trying to navigate the think corridors of pegs, coats and other people trying to pass - as well as an energetic 3 year old! I was in alot of pain and also pulling my shoulder out of its joint regularly. This made me not even want to venture out and left me with constant flare ups on top of having to deal with a newborn.

When Britax sent me the DUALFIX as part of the Mumbassador scheme I was desperately excited to try it! Its a fabulous design of smooth curves - my immediate thought was how it looked like something out of Men In Black!

Its an extremely heavy seat as it needs to weigh a lot for the swivel action. I had to wait til my husband got home so he could install it, but that was relatively easy as it pops straight into the ISOfix slots in the car. (The ONLY thing I am sad about is that it can't go in the front as it needs the ISOfix, but that isn't the seats fault!)

Having  seat that you can place baby in facing the door is simply amazing for me, especially after struggling sideways with our past seat. All you have to do is secure little one in the comfortable 5 point harness then press the button located behind the seat and swivel the seat with your right hand and you will hear it click into place... easy!

I think its great that it comes with a recline feature, although this can only be used when the seat is rear facing. I find the recline very comfortable for Bee.

Also, the rotate feature means you can completely turn the seat round (obviously not whilst the car is driving) but if you needed to you could access baby easily from the back seat.

Now when I drop Rocket off at Preschool it takes me seconds to remove Bee safely and I have the freedom of carrying him in with me which is so much easier!

Of course I have only had rear facing experience with Bee so far but I will update the review as he moves to forward facing.

Although this seat is on the more costly side, I would really recommend it for anyone that has joint problems like I do, it really does give you that extra help you need as a parent with chronic pain  - plus the smiles you get from your baby as you put them in facing you is heart warming!

The fact that it suits up to 4 years old also makes it a worthwhile investment.

Visit the BRITAX website and you can find them on TWITTER and FACEBOOK.

Some facts about the DUALFIX -

• Rearward facing from birth to 18 kg allows you to keep your child rearward facing even longer. Choose rearward facing or forward facing for your child from 9 - 18kg – offers you the choice of position that best fits you and your child 
• 5-point safety harness with one-pull adjustment distributes the impact forces out across the strong bones of the body and into the seat, plus it allows you to perfectly adjust the harness to your child’s size and keep them secure in the seat no matter what collision you have
• 360° seat rotation makes it easy to move the seat between rearward and forward facing without re-installing and also place your child in and out from the side
• ISOFIX system allows direct connection to the car’s ISOFIX anchorage points for a simple and safe installation
• Multiple recline positions allow a comfortable sleeping position for your child that you can adjust without disturbing them
• Newborn insert provides extra comfort and support for your baby
• Height-adjustable headrest and harness with easy singlehanded adjustment allows the seat to grow with your child without the need to remove and re-thread the harness
• Deep, softly padded full side wings provide optimum Side Impact Protection for your child along the entire seat
• Performance chest pads reduce your child’s forward movement and energy that occurs in the event of an impact
• Installation indicators confirm the seat is installed correctly
• Quick-remove washable cover eliminates the need to remove the harness when washing the cover, therefore ensuring the harness is always installed correctly
• Belly pad for your child’s comfort
• Softly padded cover keeps your child comfortable in their seat
• Rearward facing from birth to 18 kg allows you to keep your child rearward facing even longer. Choose rearward facing or forward facing for your child from 9 - 18kg – offers you the choice of position that best fits you and your child

Group 0+ & 10 – 18kg(≈ Birth – 4y)

	H	W	D	Weight
	78 cm	45 cm	53 cm	14,7 kg

Skibz Bibs Review

We were sent one of Skibz bibs to road test with Bee a few weeks ago now. The design we were sent is the Cowboy Star original dribble bib in red and white (you can buy it HERE).

When Rocket was a baby I didn't know much about bandana style bibs so completely missed out, but since Bee has been here, they are pretty much all the style that he wears now.

My first thought was that at £8 each, they were a bit on the costly side for us but after comparing them to other dribble bibs around, the quality speaks for itself.

Skibz are made of 100% cotton are exceptionally thick with brilliant absorbancy. I can get twice as much time out of Bee wearing his Skibz than I can from a supermarket brand dribble bib.

At the moment of course, Bee is still very young (he is 12 weeks old) but he constantly has his hands in his mouth so his clothes do get soggy - which is why we love the Skibz as it looks like part of his outfit and firs snug around his neck comfortably. There are 2 popper choices on the Skibz so it can grow with him which is great.

They also wash well so I predict it will have a long lasting job to do when Bee turns into a teething
dribbler!

If you head on over to the Skibz website, you can see all the fabulous different designs you can choose from, as well as other awesome products that they sell.

We are very pleased with Skibz and as teething approaches, we will be stocking up!

You can follow Skibz on FACEBOOK, TWITTER and on Instagram ( @SkibzBibs )