Look in my Letterbox #26

I haven't had an awful lot through the post this past week but I'm hoping next week will be better. I'm waiting on tons of prizes arriving plus I've been buying Christmas presents! As Alice is still away, I'll be linking up at Mummy's Monkey for this week's Look in my Letterbox.

Reviews:

Convertible book

C received this fab book that turns into a pirate ship from Miles Kelly. He'll get tons of fun out of it!

Wins:

Christmas plaque

 I won this over at Precious Parcels on Facebook. I'm so excited for Christmas and can't wait to hang it up.

Toot Toot Convertible

I won this on day 28 of VTech's daily giveaway on Twitter. C loves his Toot Toot set and cars and this is one that he doesn't have yet.

Izzy costume

I won this for E on Disney Junior's Facebook page. C already has the Jake from Jake & The Neverland Pirates costume so this will match his!

Purchases:

Leggings

A lovely store called @bibbyandboo_ started following me on Instagram and I saw she was selling these handmade leggings and I had to get a pair for E!

Outfit

I bought this from @beccasbowtiquex on Instagram for C. It's 3-4 years but I'm so upset because the shirt is too tight!

Others:

Benefit primer

I think this is a SoPost freebie but I'm not sure!

Vichy sample

Did you receive anything nice last week?

C is 3!

I can't believe my baby boy is three! He actually turned three on September 21st so I'm a bit late in writing this - bad mummy!

We just had a small family day at home with lots of presents, balloons, party food and cake and both kids really enjoyed it. This is the first birthday he's had where he understands it and loves the banners. As soon as he came downstairs and saw his presents he said, "Oh, thank you, mummy and daddy!" It was adorable. He ripped the wrapping paper off himself (this is a first as he wasn't interested last year or last Christmas) and he was overjoyed with everything.

This month he's doing amazingly well with phonics. He tries to read his word books by sounding out the words. I was pretty shocked the first time he did it! He also never stops talking. All day, every day, it's incessant! It definitely makes a change from me constantly worrying because he wasn't a big talker when he turned two!

He is becoming more and more obsessed with dinosaurs and he loves to use the iPad to teach himself about them (mainly using the Andy's Dinosaur Adventures activity on the CBeebies app). He can now tell me the different types of dinosaur using his figurines.

I love that he's starting to eat more again. When he was little he'd eat anything but he started to get fussy and slowly he's trying new foods. I could squeal with joy!

Clothes-wise he wears 3-4 years in tops but only 2-3 years in trousers. His feet are a massive size 8! 

Finally, potty training. This is a total no. No matter what I try he will not entertain the fact that he has to use the toilet. I am worried that he's getting too old to still be in nappies and I'm a little embarrassed if I'm honest!

C is the funniest little boy. He's so witty and makes me laugh every day and I am so proud to be his mummy - even if he does throw an impressive tantrum!

What I've Won - Sept 2015

September was an okay month for my competition-wise. October is when I really focus on winning for Christmas so hopefully I'll have lots of wins to share next month!

Here's what September brought me:

1) Fish slice from Fish is the Dish

I have been entering this every week for what feels like forever and I finally won! It's come in so handy.

2) Clown cake toppers (RRP £3.50) from Party Kitsch

The lovely Alice at Alice-Megan actually won these for me! She was playing a game of tag on Party Kitsch's Instagram page and the tagger and taggee won a set!

3) Hand sanitising spray from TalkHealth

This is a handy little win and it's great for keeping in the changing bag!

4) Headwrap (£5.99) from Darcy Beautique

I won a surprise headwrap in a "guess what my daughter has drawn" Instagram competition. I had already bought E a Little Mermaid skirt so she very kindly made the headwrap in the same fabric so she could match!

5) Two bows on headbands (RRP £8.00) from babysfirst__x

I am bow obsessed so I was so chuffed with this win - they are so beautiful.

6) Knitted hat (RRP £5.50) from ajsboutique_16

I am so in love with this hat. I'm a sucker for anything handmade because so much time and effort has gone into it. E will be wearing this a lot over the winter.

7) £10 off at thelittlemeadows 

This was a tag win on Instagram. I haven't yet chosen what to put it towards - so many nice things!

8) Fireman Sam DVD and sticker book (RRP £10.98) from MadeForMums

I always enter the MadeForMums Facebook competitions and this will be great for C! I'll put it away in the Christmas cupboard.

9) Tulle bow (RRP £3.40) from sophiebearboutique

I won this in a game of tag and I just love how Christmassy it is! Now to get E something in the same wine colour...

10) Izzy pirate costume (RRP £14.99) from Disney Junior UK

I never, ever thought I had a chance at winning a Disney competition so I'm over the moon. I got to choose either a Jake or Izzy costume but C already has the Jake one so I can't wait for them to match!

11) £30 voucher for Tenstickers from BizziebabyUK

I'm so excited about this win. It will be lovely to get some updated stickers for the kids rooms. I haven't chosen yet but I'm thinking dinosaurs for C and fairies for E.

12) Personalised Santa sack (RRP £12.00) from Jemma's Personalised Prints

I am so excited for Christmas this year and was so pleased to have won this. I already have a Santa sack with C's name on so it's nice to have one for E too!

13) Case of Tornado energy drink (RRP £12.00)

This was a runner up prize on the Tornado website. The main prize was 10 Xbox Ones or PS4's. Chris is a little annoyed I didn't win the biggie!

14) Christmas plaque (RRP £7.50) from Precious Parcels

How cute is this!? It's making me so excited for Christmas to come. I can't wait to hang it.

15) 25% off my own dress design at bear.and.monster 

I'm always buying clothes for E and bear.and.monster had an Instagram competition where you had to choose colours for a tie dye dress and also what colour the binding and leather sleeves would be then the winner would get 25% off their design. I suggested a grey tie dye with teal leather and binding and mine won! I can't wait to receive it, I'm sure it will look beautiful.

16) Toot Toot Drivers car (RRP £7.00) from Vtech Toys UK 

Vtech were giving away a Vtech Toot Toot Drivers car every day in September on Facebook and Twitter. I entered almost every day (with the exception of days where the prize was a car C already owns) and won on day 28's Twitter one! C loves the Toot Toot sets so he'll be chuffed with this.

17) £100 from Instinctif Partners

This was a survey win! I very rarely complete surveys as I get a bit bored halfway through but it pays off to do them! I got to choose between £100 cash and £100 John Lewis vouchers.

18) Fairy non-bio family pack (RRP £12.99) from Winneroo

I always enter the Winneroo competitions and have had a few nice wins from them. This one is a handy win - my favourite type! It will save us a bit of money.

So, in September I won 18 prizes worth a total of £243.85!

How did you do this month?

The Dinosaur That Pooped a Planet Sound Book & The Dinosaur That Pooped The Bed - Review

Way back in December last year, C was lucky enough to get the chance to review three of Tom Fletcher and Dougie Poynter's (of McFly fame) 'The Dinosaur That Pooped' books and they went down a treat! 

He is a very lucky boy again and has received the new book, 'The Dinosaur That Pooped The Bed' as well as a sound book copy of the 'The Dinosaur That Pooped a Planet'. You can read my full review of the '...Planet' book here. The book is exactly the same except it is a hardbacked cover with fun buttons that make relevant sounds when pushed and C absolutely loved them and thought they were hilarious.

I love sound books for children as I find that they are a great way to capture attention. This one in particular is very funny as it has a lot of poo sounds which are perfect for my little monkey. He was in stitches! 

'The Dinosaur That Pooped a Planet' sound book retails at £7.00 on Amazon.

I really want to focus on the new book; 'The Dinosaur That Pooped The Bed'. The story is similar to the others. Danny and Dino need to tidy Danny's room which is a bit of a tip. As it is so messy, Danny has a clever idea - why doesn't Dino eat it instead? Dino eats everything, even Danny's bed! Dino got bigger and bigger so they were stuck inside and couldn't get out. Suddenly, Dino felt like he needed to poo and everything came straight back out again.

This is such a funny little book and one that C wants read to him over and over again. I love that the lines rhyme and it just flows brilliantly. I know it will be one of C's favourites for a long time! The other books are all number 1 UK bestsellers and I can definitely see this one following in its footsteps.

'The Dinosaur That Pooped The Bed' can be purchased for £3.85 on Amazon.

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

Look in my Letterbox #25

Lovely Alice who runs Look in my Letterbox is off on holiday this week (I'm not jealous at all *huffs*) so this week I'm linking up over at Mummy's Monkey! Here's what I received last week:

Wins:

Bow

I won this gorgeous tulle bow in a game of tag on Instagram from the lovely @sophiebearboutique. The little deer is adorable and so Christmassy!

Jacket

I won this from Wallis in their Wallis Wednesday competition on Twitter way back at the end of July. We had a bit of a faff and it got delivered to the wrong address but they were so lovely and sent another one out and it came within a few days. I'm very impressed, what a fab company!

Handmade hat

I won this beautiful handmade hat for E from @ajs_boutique16 on Instagram. I love handmade items and this will be perfect for E in the winter.

Reviews:

KD UK toys

I'm so pleased to be a KD UK Mumbassador and we received these lovely bits for C and E to try out!

Beauty bits

Although this is primarily a parenting blog, I do like to treat and pamper myself so I'm excited to try these out!

Purchases:

Postcards

I bought this book of postcards on Amazon so I can start entering postal competitions. I will need to get myself some stickers to jazz them up!

Vest

I bought E a skirt last week and realised I didn't have anything to match it so of course I had to buy her this vest!

Panda hat and socks

I bought these from @little_liv_co on Instagram. Aren't they just the cutest!?

Others:

Cycling bits

I did a post promoting Aldi's cycling range that is now in stores and we got to try some bits for ourselves.

Urban Decay mascara

I think this is a SoPost freebie. I love Urban Decay so I'm sure I'll really like this!

Bows

E is a brand rep for @little_liv_co on Instagram so we got these gorgeous bows to show off.

Did you receive anything nice in the post last week?