Sunday 29 March 2015

Easter Bonnets - Easter crafting!

Noah has to make a bonnet for his school, so I thought I would make an afternoon of crafting and get the twins involved 


This will be the first time doing bonnets so I'm not 100% how well it will turn out! 

Everything in the above picture cost £10 and we got it all in the pound shop, so for an afternoon of crafting I wouldn't say that was too bad!

I had some extra craft stuff laying around so we used that as well. 


By the time I had set everything up the twins were napping, so I was left to do theirs whilst Noah did his.

Even though the wildlings were involved it was chaos!!


 Noah's


No has a bunny ear headband that he will put on once the bonnet is on his head 


The twins 



Once the glue has dried and everything is stuck in place I will add a picture with them all modelling their bonnets!

 We had fun doing these so I think I'll be doing more easter crafting during the Easter holidays 


Ella's kitchen - play and learn finger food Review

Ru was kindly sent the new Play and Learn finger food range from our friends over at Ella's Kitchen.


In our lovely purple box was: 

• grab me melty puffs - strawberries and bananas 
• grab me melty puffs - tomatoes and leeks 
• pick me melty hoops - cheese and tomatoes
• pick me melty hoops - vanilla and bananas 
• grab me baby biscuits - Apple and ginger 





Ru was very impressed with all of it and wanted to gobble everything up in one sitting! 

I would say his favourite from all the mmmmm'in nosies he was making was the vanilla and banana pick me melty hoops!

The twins liked the melty puffs and the baby biscuits. They were practically trying to steal them out of poor Ru's hands.
Even Noah liked the biscuits.

The packaging is very eye catching and I love the colours. I always think Ella's kitchen products stand out more than the other baby food products that are available and that because of that I'm always drawn to them.
I'm like a blackbird instead of shiny things it's pretty colourful things lol! 

This range are great at helping with their hand to eye coordination, as well as being scrummy for their tummies 

They're 100% organic which is always a bonus for me as I know they'll have no 
hidden nasties in them! 


What the label say - 

No added sugar 
No concentrates
No additives or colourings
Just yummy organic snacks for babies 
They only contain naturally occurring sugars 


Happy tums Happy mums! :)

My Sunday photo

This was taken during one of our evening walks last week.
On top of a hill looking over the Isle of Sheppey.





OneDad3Girls

Wednesday 25 March 2015

1 month till the big day

Ru is 11 months!!!
Where has the time gone! 



•he's mastered standing up by himself and taking more than four steps!
•he's a big fan of pasta
•he's very into In The Night Garden, only time he sit/stands and really watches the tv
•he's into 12-18 clothing and has been for a while 
•he now has his own room, but I've yet to get it looking lovely as it's still full of boxes 
•his eyes are still green
•his hair is getting rather long but I won't get it cut!
•he finds his brothers very funny and try's so hard to play with them
•we still are using cloth nappies


So as the big event draws closer and closer I'm made to actually think how I'll be making the day special! 

I've bought him some lovely bits from kynaboutique 
but I'm not sure what he'll eventually wear on his big day 



I'm thinking about having a little tea party for him with all the family. 

I need to sort out a cake

A present 

Invites

Party food

Tea party games. 


Warning explosive dog beds!!!

I'm guessing he wasn't a fan of that bed!!!

 


brummymummyof2

Monday 23 March 2015

Minibe teat review - reviewers needed ....


Minibe's are looking for new mums to review their new born teats ....


Minbie teat
Minbie is a high quality soft silicone baby’s bottle teat with revolutionised design-functionality

that nurtures a newborn’s instinctive breastfeeding technique.



Why Minbe ....

They passionately believe that you should be able to breastfeed and bottle-feed your baby.
To help you, they have created Minbie which is a teat designed to support your newborn’s instinctive breastfeeding technique. This means that when newborns feed from Minbie they practice the instinctive latch and feeding-action for nurturing breastfeeding. This is a significant breakthrough in matching breast and bottle-feeding techniques and preventing feeding-confusion*.
For newborns who can not be breastfed, we created Minbie to allow them to bottle-feed with the instinctive breastfeeding technique that they are born with because why shouldn’t they be able to feed intuitively with the technique that is developmentally right for them and that helps release digestive enzymes for proper digestion of the milk.

Our research has found that generic and orthodontic bottle-teats can quickly teach newborns a different latch and feeding-action to the newborn’s natural instinctive breastfeeding technique. This may be sufficient for bottle feeding, but it can cause feeding confusion and problems such as a ‘weak latch’ and ‘lazy feeding’ when the baby is breastfeeding.
If your newborn has become used to other bottle-teats, he or she may have difficulty feeding from a Minbie teat. This may be an indication that your baby’s instinctive feeding technique has been damaged.
Every feed counts …
Use Minbie as the first and only bottle teat for your baby to help maintain and strengthen your baby’s instinctive breastfeeding technique, the way nature intended.

Minbie’s design



Minbie’s significant
breakthroughs

  • Minbie nurtures a newborn’s ability to breastfeed by allowing newborns to bottle-feed with the instinctive feeding technique that they are born with.
  • Minbie supports a newborn's digestion by helping to release natural digestive enzymes. This supports a baby’s sleep too.
  • Minbie matches breast and bottle feeding techniques.

So if any of you have new born babies 0-6 months if you comment below the first five of you will have your details passed on and you will receive a newborn feeding pack!

They want to know the age of my readers babies and whether they have introduced another bottle teat, and if so if it has worked for them. 6+ and under is most effective.


So get commenting and the first five will be the reviewers .....

If you want to know more about them why don't you check out their website 

How we've been getting on ...

So it's a second week in the new house.
Noah started school this morning, in a little village ten minutes away.
Everyone seemed very friendly and a lovely little girl came up to us and introduced herself and some of the other girls in his class.
He was very shy but we had no tears, so that must be a good sign!!


 I'm looking forward to finding out how his day went.

We have now cleared the lounge and put up our new bookcase.
Some of the walls are looking rather bear so we will need to find some nice pictures to put up.

Noah's room is still half done so I'm really hoping to sort it this week as I want him to be settled and happy with the new house.

Rupert's room is still a no go area as its stocked with millions of boxes.

Our new super king bed should be here soon, I'm so excited about having a nice bed to sleep on.

We added to our family yesterday.
Which we are all very pleased with a Ray seems to have settled in well already!

Ru and Noah adore him 



We have a lovely meadow five seconds from our doorstep so it's ideal for his walks and the beach is only ten minutes away.  


Some pictures from the week 






Sunday 22 March 2015

My Sunday photo 22/3


Meet the newest member of our family

Ray

We adopted him from a rescue centre that rescued dogs from Cyprus.

We weren't planning to add to the family until we had settled down in the house but we fell head over heels in love with him when his picture pop up on facebook.
 He was just perfect
<3



OneDad3Girls

Wednesday 18 March 2015

Sudocrem Care and Protect - review




Ru was very kindly sent some of the new Sudocrem care and protect.
I've always been a big sudocrem fan, I've used it on sore bums, sun burn, itchy skin and spots!

It's magic truly is endless!! 

This little tube of magic couldn't have come at a better time, as while we were on holiday in Wales we switched nappies and the brand we switched to gave all 3 boys nappy rash.
:(
With one use of the ointment the twins bottoms were instantly better!

Ru's bottom was worse than the twins but with a day's use of the ointment it had cleared up!

I give sudocrem care and protect 10/10!!

Here's some product information incase you want to know more....

Sudocrem Care & Protect is a nappy rash ointment - designed specifically for babies - that offers triple protection against nappy rash at every nappy change:

1. Creating a protective barrier that seals in the skin’s natural moisture and protects even the most delicate skin against external irritants.

2. Conditioning the skin Vitamin E and Pro Vitamin B5 helps to protect the skin and keep it soft, healthy and moisturised.

3. Guarding against infection - As well as sealing in the good stuff, Sudocrem Care & Protect acts as a barrier to protect delicate skin from the bad stuff, like the chemicals in urine and poo, and from chafing and rubbing.

Because Sudocrem Care & Protect is just for your baby, it is hypoallergenic and has been dermatologically tested. It is also free from artificial colours and preservatives. 

SCP also won Product of the Year 2015 in the category of 'Best Nappy Cream.' 



***i was sent this product for free in return for an honest review***

The house so far....

So we moved into our new house officially on Monday, we had spent the weekend doing as much unpacking as we possibly could, my parents helped out on the Sunday and we did get a lot done and my mum blitzed through the house giving it a good clean!

Mum is just like Monica from friends but worse!

We got the twins room done, 
Noah's room half done. 
We also got the kitchen in some sort of order and the lounge so we could sit down in.

On Monday Jon had the day off so we bought all the boys over and tried to crack on whilst the were running round getting to know their new home.

Jon managed to get the kitchen in a working order!



It still needs work as not everything has a home.

Poor Ru, his room has turned into a box room where you have to fight your way in... 



His room will be done last, as he still sleeps with us so it's not a big priority.

I can work my way through the boxes and then work my magic on his first ever room!

The twins decided to add their own art work to their walls on Monday evening


 I've managed to get rid of some,  just this last lot is proving rather stubborn :( 




The boys room will be decorated eventually but for now they don't mind the flowers. 

My mission today is to try and empty Noah's room of boxes and build his wardrobe.

Wish me luck and if any of you have any good tips about removing crayon from walls please please please let me know x


Sunday 15 March 2015

Saturday 14 March 2015

Ru is turning one!!!


It's just hit me like a big slap in my face....My little monster is turning one!!!
I just can't believe it :(

I'm sure he only popped out yesterday!!!!

I realllllllly need to start planning his birthday!

Our time at Bluestone Wales.....


Last Monday, we all set off for a four hour long car journey....destination..... 

Bluestone Wales!!!

The trip came at such a great time, as Noah had just had his last day at school on the Friday and we got the keys to the new house on the Wednesday. 
So whilst he was in-between schools it meant we could all go as a family! 

Monday
We set off around midday as there was no rush to get there as we couldn't check into our lodge till 4.30!
The journey wasn't bad at all and all four boys behaved themselves. We stopped about half way and to get some food and change nappies.
We got to the resort just before 5 o'clock, we were greeted by a lovely member of staff who gave us our keys and car hanger, she also gave us a welcome pack and explained the map to us.

We stayed in Preseli view number 31! 
We unloaded the car and then Jon took it to the car park, where it stayed for the week.

Our accommodation 

Wow!!

We stayed in the Gateholm Lodge which sleeps 6!
One double and two twin rooms.
Our double had a gorgeous ensuit with a lovely big bath and then there was a family shower room which only I used once. We all stuck to using the bathroom. 
Both bathrooms had super powerful showers! 
Which were lovely!! 
I do love a powerful shower.





Upstairs the lodge was open plan living which we really liked.




There were stair gates at the top and bottom of the stairs, a travel cot and a highchair!
All the baby essentials you need!

It had a really cosy feel to it and we had some gorgeous views from the upstairs windows.

I managed to captured some lovely sunsets with my camera! 









By the time we had unloaded and given the boys their dinner everyone was pretty tired. So bath and bed was in order for the monsters then Jon and myself ordered a takeaway.
We went for the curry


It was a bit of a let down to be honest. We paid a lot for it and it just tasted like a supermarket jar curry with uncle bens rice.

Tuesday 
Everyone slept really well and was ready for a day of fun.
We had breakfast and headed off to the village.

Jon decided he was going to be the main carrier of Ru. Great chance for them to bond and give me some time off as he's starting to get rather heavy.
Note to self Buggy really is needed!!




Half way down we were greeted by Mr snake (I'm not sure what his proper name was) the boys thought he was amazing!


The boys saw the park and shot off to play!




We then went for a coffee in the coffee shop, it was such lovely weather we sat outside and we had some very friendly company (they were after our Welsh cakes not our friendship mind!!!)



We decided what activities we wanted to do and where we wanted to eat and headed off to the village info to pay and put a reservation down for the farmhouse grill!

Our first activity of the week was The Secret Village.


We were met by Hobbit Harry and we had to do the secret oath and cast a spell to make us small then we followed Harry off to the secret fairy village!
Along the way we came across a troll bridge



We then went on into the woods and found a sleeping fairy named Rosebud.
We all had to wake her up so she could take us on to the fairy village! 



The boys all loved it and really believed in the magic and that we were in a real secret fairy village!
I loved seeing their faces light up when Harry and Rosebud were talking.

They thought Harry was hilarious and probably would have followed him around for the whole week!

For Dinner we went to the Farm House grill.
Jon had a rump steak grill which he really really enjoyed, the boys had the kiddie buffet and I had chicken and sweet potatoe chips.
The kids buffet was perfect for tired kiddies who didn't have the patience to wait.
The food was nice but the hall where we sat reminded us of a school hall. 
Maybe some light music could have made it a bit of a better atmosphere.


On the way back to lodge we checked out the mini beast hotel to see if we could find any, but our luck was out. The boys still enjoyed looking.



Wednesday


The heavens had opened and it was forecast rain for the next two days. 
We didn't let that stop us from having fun.
Noah set off to become a Bluestone Buccaneer and went on a two hour adventure with 6 other children.
Whilst he was doing that, we took the others to the activity centre to play.

Ru loved the ball pit!

 
Once the twins were exhausted we went upstairs the the woodland café.
 We then headed back to the lodge and did some puddle jumping along the way!


Jon went to collect Noah and met us back at the lodge. 

Noah had a great time, they went up to camp smokey and found some real pirate treasure.
He came back rather wet with a treasure map he had drawn himself, a giant chocolate coin and a balloon pirate sword. 



We then spent the rest of the afternoon in the lodge, letting the twins and Ru nap.
In the evening we took the boys to kids hour at the granary.
They were a bit like deers caught in headlights at first and weren't so keen on joining in but by the end they were having a whale of a time. 




Thursday 

Whilst we were sat in on the Wednesday afternoon I booked up four activities for today.
The twins were booked in for toddler sensory - space themed 
Noah was booked in for the lantern workshop and Ru was booked in for baby sensory - pirate themed

The twins loved the space themed sensory play, the parachute was their best bit.
Oscar decided to spend his time there dressed up as a lion!!!


Noah made an excellent lantern and said he really enjoyed himself.


Ru at baby sensory..... Well he was a bit of a rebel and decided he didn't want to do what he was meant to and wanted to play with the toys at the back of the room.
He then went round and tried to hug everyone.
The sensory was great and all the well behaved babies seemed to be really enjoying it. Even though Ru was being rebellious he had a great time too! 

We were going to go to the pub for our last meal but the boys were all rather tired after their activities so we decided it was best to stay at the lodge and cook ourselves. 

We had planned to go swimming everyday but unfortunately we had far to many children and not enough adults. :(  
So when we go again we will bring the grandparents along with us! 


We had such an amazing time we are all so thankful to have been given this holiday!!

I really think Bluestone is the perfect place to go to when you have a young family!

I'm still in disbelief that my blogging got me and my family a holiday!!!

Thank you Bluestone, we will be back!!! 




*** I was offered 4 days at Bluestone for free in return for an honest review!***