Christmas Gift Ideas: Tech21

These days, the majority of people own smartphones and tablets. Tech21 have a wide range of accessories that are perfect for Christmas gifts.

They sell a range of Impactology cases for iPhone 5, 5s, 5c, 4 and 6, Apple Macbook, Samsung Galaxy S4 and S5, HTC M8 and iPad Air, iPad Mini, iPad and iPad 3rd and 4th gen. You can also purchase anti-glare screen protectors for iPhone models 5c, 5s and 4s.

Impactology is a promise that Tech21's products always deliver the most intelligent impact protection. The products are made with a selection of ingenious raw materials, providing optimum impact protection. I was given the opportunity to try out two items from their range - an iPad mini mesh case and an iPhone 5 Smokey case.

Both of the cases that I received are integrated with D30 Impact material which absorbs and dissipates shock from your device when dropped. Perfect for me having two children in the house! 

The iPad mini case is made from a thick rubber. It bends and may look flimsy but it's far from it. It fits perfectly and leave access for usage of all ports and as the case is compatible with Apple Smart Cover, one edge of the iPad isn't covered so that this can click in. 

The iPhone 5 case is made from a hard plastic with a rubber bumper. It feels secure in my hand and again, you get full usage of all of your ports. 
The cases for both items look and feel high quality and you can really put your trust in Tech21. 

You can find out more about Tech 21 at their website, Facebook and Twitter.

(Disclaimer: I received these items free of charge in exchange for an open and honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.)

TOMY Winnie the Pooh Balloon Nightshow & Protect n Play iCase - Review

We love TOMY (see our past reviews of the Winnie the Pooh Stack, Pour, Post & Play, Jungle Magic Sounds Aquadoodle & Lamaze) and ever since I was younger, I've loved Winnie the Pooh. I've since introduced C by watching Piglet's Big Movie etc so we were really pleased when TOMY sent us the Winnie the Pooh Balloon Nightshow (RRP £19.99) and Winnie the Pooh Protect n Play iCase (RRP £12.99) to try out.

As soon as I opened the cardboard box, C was straight in trying to see what the nightlight did. He has been a bit of a fussy sleeper and will only sleep if I hold his hand. This gorgeous little nightlight has come in very handy! 

Winnie the Pooh holds a balloon which lights up in different colours and plays music. At first, I did think that maybe the music would keep C awake because he wanted to look at it and listen to it but it did send him off to sleep. It plays 5 different songs and you can even set a timer for it to play for either 10 or 20 minutes. Very handy if your child is in their own room as you won't have to sit in to keep switching it on. 

This Winnie the Pooh Balloon Nightshow is suitable from birth so you will really get the use out of it. I think I'll even use it when Baby Girl is born too!

We also received the Winnie the Pooh Protect n Play iCase. C is forever touching our phones. I think it's because he sees us on them all the time and he wants to see what the big deal is. The idea of this case is to put in on your iPhone like a regular case (it's suitable for iPhone models 4, 4S, 5 and 5s) and your child can play with it. It comes with a free Winnie the Pooh app. Add that to the fact that you can hang it from a car seat or pram and you've got the perfect travel entertainer.  You just put the app on before inserting your phone and your child can interact with Pooh by tickling him, feeding him honey and many other things! It even has a mirrored 'honey pot' on the front with little balls inside so it doubles as a rattle!

C has loved playing with this and I love that it fits both mine and Chris's phones (models 4 and 5) so he can always play even when one of us is out. 

This Winnie the Pooh Protect n Play iCase is suitable from 6 months. 

You can find out more about TOMY and their range of toys and baby items at the TOMY website. 

(Disclaimer: We received these items free of charge in exchange for an open and honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.)

Pregnancy+ App - Review

I am addicted to my iPhone. It's never out of my hand so when I fell pregnant it was a cert that I'd download a pregnancy app. 

I had the chance to try out a great app from http://www.health-and-parenting.com/ called Pregnancy+. Now, this app has a paid version and a free version, but I'm going to speak about the paid version first. 

When you first open the app, you are prompted to enter either your Estimated Due Date (EDD) if you know it or the first day of your Last Menstrual Period (LMP) and it will work out roughly how far along you are. You can also connect up with Facebook. 

The main menu looks like this:

I have connected my Facebook account so my profile picture is displayed in the corner. As I have filled in my due date as being 8th September, I get a high quality image of roughly how my baby would look at this stage of pregnancy and a timeline of how far I am.

If you scroll down, you can get an RSS feed of the Health and Parenting's daily blog which is filled with great pregnancy tips and information; information of your due date; more information about thoughts or worries that you may have; weekly information about your baby, body, health & tips and information for your partner; images of how your baby might look at the stage of pregnancy that you are currently at in the form of a 2D scan, high quality image and 3D scan; a size guide which compares your babys size to fruit or vegetables; a place to chart your weekly weight changes which is then graphed; a handy calendar to save your appointment dates and times, you can set alarms too; a to-do list which is very handy for pregnant ladies suffering with 'baby brain'; a place to save your monthly belly photo alongside how your baby is positioned in your womb; a list to select and shortlist your favourite baby names; a checklist of things that you may need to buy for your baby and you can even tick them off once you have purchased them; a phone number list - very handy to store your midwife and maternity units numbers; and information about the app.

If you tap on the 'buttons' (play, baby, me and more) along the bottom you will get the following information:

Play - a slideshow of how your baby is growing alongside an estimated length and weight. I think that this is a lovely way to bond with your baby as you more or less know how your baby is looking.

Baby - daily information on any thoughts or worries that you may have (also available in the main menu); weekly information about your baby (also available in the main menu); images of how your baby might look at the stage of pregnancy that you are currently at in the form of a 2D scan, high quality image and 3D scan (also available in the main menu); a size guide which compares your babys size to fruit or vegetables (also available in the main menu); a timeline which tells you what is happening at each stage for example, at 22 weeks the baby will begin to develop voice recognition and at 27 weeks it has a good survival rate if born at that stage; and a kick counter which is a lovely way to document your babys movements.

Me - guides on: food (what to eat, not to eat, vitamins & minerals, how much to eat and weight gain), labour (preparing for labour, signs of labour, stages, positions, breathing, information on different types of births and birth companion), exercise (general tips, why exercise, exercises to avoid, enjoyable activities and pelvic floor exercises), medical (medication, pain relief, induced labour, assisted births, when to call a doctor); a place to chart your weekly weight changes which is then graphed (also available in the main menu); a place to save your monthly belly photo alongside how your baby is positioned in your womb (also available in the main menu); information about what a birth plan is and you can even select your birth wishes from a handy checklist such as who you want and don't want in the room with you, how you would like to be monitored, what pain relief you would like and many more!; handy calendar to save your appointment dates and times, you can set alarms too (also available from the main menu); a to-do list (also available from the main menu).

More - app settings, list of phone numbers (also available from the main menu); a list to select and shortlist your favourite baby names (also available from the main menu); a list of things that you may need to buy for your baby (also available from the main menu); a list of what to pack in your hospital bag, your partner's bag and your baby bag; a contraction timer.

I really don't think that anything has been missed out or overlooked with this app. As a second time mum I am still finding out things that I never knew and the checklists are fabulous so I'm sure a first-time mum would feel very at ease using the app during pregnancy. The paid app costs £1.99 and it is available on the App Store, Windows Store or Google Play, but if, like me, you're a bit dubious about paying for something without knowing whether it's really worth the money, you can always download the free app first. The free version only gives you information on the first 14 weeks of your pregnancy so you will have plenty of time to try it out and maybe purchase the paid version later.

I am really enjoying using this app and it has made me feel comforted knowing how my body is changing, baby is growing and is keeping me organised when it comes to purchases!

(Disclaimer: I received the paid for version for my iPhone free of charge in exchange for an open and honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.)