Me & Mine - August 2015

It seems like we have spent the whole of the past month shopping! We have two birthdays in September with E turning one on the 5th and C turning 3 on the 21st so we have been out spoiling them. I can't wait til it's all over (that sounds a bit horrible, doesn't it?!) as I hate trying to decide on what to buy and worrying if I haven't bought enough etc.

I was hoping that we'd have a lovely, sunny August but that didn't happen. We go to my parents every Saturday to visit and luckily we had a few good weekends where the kids could run about the garden and play in the paddling pool.

Daddy is loving:

His guitar - Chris has had a guitar for years but one of the strings has been broken for quite a while. It's been gathering dust since we had the kids so he finally bought some new strings and is falling in love with it all over again.

Playing Grand Theft Auto on the PS3 - yep, I am a GTA widow. It's his favourite way to wind down at night but I don't mind too much as we stick a movie on his laptop and I get some competition entering done!

Mummy is loving:

Listening to music - I have always been a big music lover but since having C, I kind of just stopped! I've downloaded the Spotify app on my new phone and am loving listening to all my faves again.

Rewatching Gossip Girl - this is such a guilty pleasure show and I love when the kids and Chris are in bed so I can sit and binge watch! 

C is loving:

Roleplaying - his new favourite thing to do is pretend to be either a cowboy or a doctor. He keeps asking me for a dressing up box so that is a must for Christmas.

Using the buggy less - we don't drive so getting places takes us quite a while. We would find it easier to strap C in the buggy and go but he is very tall and heavy so we have taken the plunge to take him out without it more. He has done really well and when he is sleepy, Daddy puts him on his shoulders.

E is loving:

Learning to walk and stand unaided - she has recently learned to stand for a good 20 seconds on her own. I've been trying to get her to walk but she is still a little unsure and would much rather cruise along the furniture. I don't think it will be long before she's off on her own.

Expressing herself - she has developed her own little language and loves to point and 'ugh' at things when she wants them. It's lovely hearing her little voice, especially when it's saying 'mummy' and 'daddy'!

Look in my Letterbox #21

It's Look in my Letterbox time - hurrah! Here's what lovely goodies I received this week.

Wins:

Charles Worthington hair goodies

I won these from Beauty Bible. I've been entering their competitions for years and I was so chuffed to have finally won one!

Pip Ahoy! toy

I won this from Pip Ahoy! on Twitter and it's perfect timing with both kids birthdays coming up next month.

Reviews:

Lamaze bunny

I know that E will love this and I know her big brother will try to steal it too!

Grobag

I've never used a Grobag before but so many people swear by them.

Purchases:

Star headband

I bought this from @kopashop on Instagram and it is so delicate and perfect.

Phone cover 

Last week I mentioned that I upgraded my phone so a new phone called for a new phone case. I got this one on eBay for about £4. Bargain.

Moccasins

I bought these beautiful white moccasins from beccasboutiquex on instagram. They're so cute and I think I now need them in every colour they come in!

Bows

Over on instagram, @leahannboutique had a market night where she sold discounted bows. I just had to have these two.

Birthday cards 

E is 1 on Saturday and C is 3 on the 21st so I ordered these two cards from Funky Pigeon.

Others:

Toys 

My mum bought the Twirlywoos and Sula for C for his birthday and E the Baby Annabelle and had them delivered to my house as it was easier.

Wooden pram

Again, my mum bought this for E for her birthday. She will love it!

Did you receive anything nice this week?

C & E's Birthday Wishlist

Next month, C turns 3 and E turns 1! How on earth did that happen!? I blinked and suddenly my children grew up. A birthday calls for lots of things; cakes, decorations, balloons and, most importantly, toys!

I've been scouring the internet for weeks now trying to find the perfect gifts so I put together a little wishlist!

C is very much your typical boy and loves playing with his Mega Bloks First Builders bag so some construction toys would be perfect for him.

He loves all things cBeebies related with Twirlywoos and Bing being his favourite shows so of course I have to add some character toys in here!

Dinosaurs! Oh my goodness, this house is coming down with dinosaur playsets so I know anything with dinosaurs on will go down well!

Roleplay is one of C's favourite activities to engage in and he is forever dressing up as a pirate, musketeer or calling himself "Doctor". A medical case would be perfect as he likes making people feel better and pretending to listen to their hearts.

I honestly think C would spend all day everyday outdoors if he could, no matter the weather, so some outdoor toys would be a wonderful treat. My dad recently made him a makeshift sandpit so I'm loving this sand and water table as an upgrade.

E is a bit harder to buy for as she's still so little. I've gone a bit overboard with the soft toys but they're just so cute and perfect for her age.

Similarly to C, she loves being outdoors and exploring different sights and textures. A slide would be ideal for both kids actually!

A doll and a pram are must haves for a child's first birthday, right? She will look so adorable pushing it around!

E loves playing with her brothers cars and pushing them around on the ground. I love the look of this little girly one and it will be great for imaginative play.

Finally, she's gotta have a Disney princess! We actually saw these in store and E sat up and pointed at it. She also gave her daddy a cheeky smile so he has to get it for her!

(Disclaimer: This post is in collaboration with House of Fraser).

Red Car Blue Car from Little Tiger Press

I love working alongside Little Tiger Press on book reviews for the kids. C has always loved books. The importance of reading is something that I've always wanted to instil in him as it was my favourite thing to do when I was little.

We recently received a wonderful book called Red Car, Blue Car which is a pop-up book of colours. C knows all of his colours so he was happily telling me each of them alongside what the vehicle was.

Each page has a different coloured vehicle which pops up as you turn the page. This is accompanied by a short rhyming passage. C loves the animals that appear in and around them. The pages are bright and colourful so E likes to have a good nosey too!

I love pop-up books as they really grab C's attention and excite him. He does get a little too excited sometimes and I need to tell him to be careful as he might rip them!

This fabulous little book retails at £6.99 and it is published by Little Tiger Press. You can also find "One, Two, Baa, Moo" in the range too.

You can keep up to date with Little Tiger Press on Facebook and Twitter.

(Disclaimer: We received this item for the purpose of this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own).

Fun in the Pool with Zoggs, Peppa and George!

C is very much a water baby and always has been. I try to take him swimming as much as I can and I really hope E will begin liking the water too. She does like a good splash!

Zoggs have a range of Peppa Pig swimming accessories. C is obsessed with Peppa and George so when we were offered the chance to review, I knew he'd love them. We received two sets of George armbands in sizes 1-3 years and 3-6 years and Peppa & George soakers.

E and C turn 1 and 3 next month, respectively, so I thought that the armband sets would be great fits for each of them and I was right. They are super easy to inflate too. The chambers are in two sections, front and back, and you need to squeeze the valve and blow in. Squeezing the valve means that if you let go, you won't lose any air unless you squeeze it again. They fit round both the kids arms perfectly and the fun George design means that the kids love them. They do what they are supposed to do perfectly and are a great buoyancy aid. They are made from heavy duty Vylux so risks of bursting is minimal.

The Peppa and George soakers are little soft toys that are fine to be submerged in water. They are good to use as little friends in the pool and are great to splash and squeeze out water. I thought E would like these as shes only small but she never gets a look in with C! He loves playing with them in and out of the water and they don't take ages to dry out either.

The armbands retail at £7.50 per set, the soakers are £8.00 and they can both be purchased from the Zoggs website. You can also browse their full range of Peppa and George themed products.

You can also keep up to date with Zoggs on Facebook and Twitter.

(Disclaimer: We received these items for the purpose of this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.)

Look in my Letterbox #20

Goodness me, I just get later and later with posting this! For next week's one I'm gonna make a conscious effort to have it scheduled for Saturday and get back into the swing of things! Anyway, here's what I received in the post last week and I'm linking up with Look in my Letterbox.

Wins:

Outdoor Opposites book

This was a surprise win that turned up in the post. I'm so chuffed with it as C will love it. My house is coming down with books!

Frozen bundle

I won this in a Twitter competition run by From Aldi to Harrods. She bought it whilst on honeymoon in America! 

The Truffle Mouse 

I won this from Scholastic on Twitter. It's a little old for both my children but I'll keep it for them as it sounds like a lovely read.

Bow

I won this headband from @loveleeuk on Instagram. I love it!

Floral headwrap

I won this gorgeous headwrap in a game of tag with @minimoonbeams on Instagram. The mustard colour will be lovely for A/W!

Reviews:

Baker Ross

Apologies for the rubbish photo! I love being a Baker Ross blogger and C got sent these fab Autumn/Halloween themed craft sets. I'm so excited to do them with him.

Bobux 

Bobux posted on Facebook that they were looking for testers of their shoes. I put E's details in the form and we were lucky enough to be chosen! 

Simply feet slippers 

I received these Geluxury Moisture Slippers to try out and they are amazing!!

Bickiepegs and doidy cup 

So handy and perfect for E at the mo! 

Purchases:

Personalised headband 

I bought this from @dollybowtique on Instagram. I knew as soon as I saw it, I had to have one. It's the cutest!

Watermelon headband

This, I purchased from @little_sweethearts on Instagram. I just need to order the gorgeous tie-dye watermelon leggings I saw from another Instagram store now! Someone really needs to ban me from Instagram lol!

Blue tutu

Batman dress

I bought this handmade Batman dress from @houseofharlaway on Instagram. I've always bought C superhero clothing so I wanted to do the same with E!

1 today vest 

I bought this online from Dollymix Boutique as it will be perfect with E's skirt and headwrap set on her birthday.

Leopard set 

I bought this skirt and headwrap set from @auroracoutureuk on Instagram. Love it so much!

Finally, my new baby arrived - my Sony Xperia Z3 compact. I had been counting down the days til my upgrade. I've had iPhones for about 6 years so changing over was weird but so worth it! I'll never go back to Apple.

Did you receive anything nice last week?

C at 35 Months

In a months time, I'm going to have a three year old. What!? How did that happen?

C has transformed from a toddler to a child before my eyes. His speech is amazing and he has full scale conversations with us. This month he was able to tell us all about Christmas. He said he wanted snow and a Christmas tree. He also said we needed decorations and a cake so I think he thinks it's Santa's birthday! He's getting smarter by the day too. He can count to 20, he knows all his colours and shapes - even pentagon and hexagon! Role-playing Doctors and cowboys is his favourite thing to do. As he's getting older, he likes to do puzzles and he picks up his books and tells his own little stories just by looking at the pictures. We have been taking him out without his buggy most days. He is quite tall so he looks like he's far too old to be in one. He is starting to walk well and doesn't kick up too much of a fuss. He does however ask daddy to carry him on his shoulders a lot! We've taken C to the museum in his buggy a few times but we went without and he absolutely loved being able to run around and see everything properly. 

His relationship with his little sister is the cutest. He always says she very tiny and sweet and loved giving her kisses and hugs. Sometimes though, he just wants to play by himself so when E is annoying him he'll tell me to either feed the baby or put her to bed just so he can get some time to himself! I had originally planned to write here how much he loves Choco, my parents' rabbit. He was always over feeding him, petting him and telling him to eat and drink up. Unfortunately last week, Choco went to bunny heaven so C had his first experience of death. He doesn't quite understand why he isn't there anymore and I'm sure he'll keep asking about him. A few days before he died, C was telling me that he loved him. It broke my heart at the thought of telling him but he took it quite well.

Siblings: August 2015

This month, C has been very frustrated with E. She can crawl quickly and is now pulling herself up on things. When C is playing with toys, E is straight over trying to play too. Sometimes C just isn't in the mood so he'll ask me to feed the baby or put her to bed just because he doesn't want to play.

E is copying everything that C does. A few weeks ago, C thought it would be funny to slide his palms down the patio door at my parents house because it makes a squeaky noise. Two minutes later, E was over doing the exact same thing. 

They do love to have fun together. When E is crying, C lets me know and he always tries to do a funny dance to make her laugh. It works most times! He also loves trying to get her to chase him so he'll run to one side of the room, E will crawl after him then he'll run to the other side. This can go on for quite a while and they both laugh so much. 

C loves his baby sister so much. He always tells me that she's cute and very sweet. They love having cuddles in the morning.