Read With Me Scout - Review

Rocket was sent a Read With Me Scout from LeapFrog a while ago to review and being the book worm and cuddly child he is, it is amazing!

 Scout is a loveable interactive green puppy dog that is aimed at ages 24 months to 5 years, so a nice wide range making him a lasting companion that can be passed down to brothers or sisters!

Scout comes with his own set of 5 books which are programmed for Scout to read to you by pressing the corresponding colour to the book on his collar, he also asks questions about the book, making him a fun friend for your little one. Rocket absolutely loves pressing Scouts interactive pressure points and being told he is Scouts best friend!

There are 5 interactive spots on Scouts body - Kiss his cheek and he will tell you that you are his best friend, his left paw activates the songs and the right paw gives more responses.

There are 70+ different questions over the course of the 5 books, all which have a different theme to them for learning : Rhyming, Learn about, Narrative, Pattern and Concept - all presented by an exciting Scout stories!

Rocket has just turned 4 years old so is well within the age range that Scout is aimed at and I've honestly never seen a boy love a toy so much! Scout is literally his best friend, he is obsessed. Even to the point where when we are out in the car, he says he misses him and that we have to go home to him - its cute! He also gets brought out to show his friends during play dates!

Scout gets a big thumbs up from us, a fun, loveable, cuddly educational pup with a mind of his own!

You can also buy Read With Me Violet for the little ladies!

BRITAX AND BOB SPONSOR THE BLISS BUGGY PUSH FOR A SECOND YEAR

 For the second year running, leading child safety brand, BRITAX, is proud to announce its dual headline sponsorship of the 2014 Bliss Buggy Push alongside sporty outdoor stroller brand, BOB. The Bliss Buggy Push involves a series of family-friendly 5km buggy walks or runs across the UK, designed to help raise money for Bliss, the special care baby charity.

Bliss is a UK charity working to provide the best possible care and support for all premature and sick babies and their families. One in every nine babies is born premature or sick - that is around 80,000 babies every year.

Bliss is encouraging people all around the country to organise their own Buggy Push in their local area between May and December 2014, with the flagship London launch event taking place in Battersea Park, London on 31 May.

The Bliss Buggy Push series is Bliss’ most successful family fundraising event where mums, dads and children come together to raise money for the charity. Alongside sponsorship of the event BRITAX will also be giving away one of its most popular pushchairs, the BRITAX affinity, to the highest individual fundraiser in this year’s Bliss Buggy Push series. More details about the events and how to enter the competition are available here. 

Bengi Bingol Yalcin, UK Marketing Manager at BRITAX remarks, ‘We’re very proud to be coming on board with Bliss again this year. The Bliss Buggy Push is an incredible event that’s really accessible to anyone who wants to get up and active with their little one - and the best part is it’s all in the name of a fantastic cause.’

This year, the London Buggy Push closely follows the launch of the brand new BOB Revolution PRO, BRITAX/BOB’s most versatile outdoor stroller yet. The Revolution PRO allows parents to run and train with their child, with the added flexibility of having a swivel front wheel, making it the perfect everyday stroller too. So if you’re looking for a new training companion ahead of your push this year, don’t forget to check it out.

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!