Oddsockosaurus - Review

At the age of 3, C has a lot of things that he is really interested in. Books and dinosaurs are at the top of that list so when we were offered the chance to review Oddsockosaurus by Zanib Mian and Bill Bolton, I knew it would be something that C would love.

When it arrived he was really excited to read his "dinosaur book". The story is about a six year old boy who throughout the book tells us about the different types of dinosaur that he can be such as Oddsockosaurus because he wears odd socks or Loudatrops as he can be very noisy!

I think these characteristics relate to any child and C thought they were very funny seeing the little boy dressed up in each dinosaur costume and using his imagination to describe what their personality is. I saw C in quite a few of them and I'm sure he did too.

I actually had a good giggle myself, especially at Philosopherrapter!

The illustrations are beautiful and C loved all the colourful dinosaurs in all their different shapes. He had lots of fun telling me that it's just a boy and not a real dinosaur! The children's drawings and blurbs about dinosaurs at the front of the book are such a lovely, sweet touch.

Oddsockosaurus is a lot of fun for both adults and children. It is published by Sweet Apple Publishers and retails at £6.99. It can be found at most bookshops.

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

Squeaky Jumpers - Review

I remember briefly hearing about Squeaky Jumpers about a year or so ago when some of my fellow bloggers hosted giveaways to win one. I thought they looked so cool so when we were given the opportunity to try one out for ourselves, I thought C would love one.

Squeaky Jumpers sell just that - squeaky jumpers! They are available in men's, women's and childrens sizes - from 2 to 12 years - and you can choose from Poppy the Dog, Spot the Pig and Ted the Frog prints (designs and names vary slightly with adult sizes). I opted for Poppy the Dog as firstly, I love C in red and also he loves dogs so I thought it would be more 'him' than the others. He's only just turned three for I chose 3-4 years in the hope that he'd get quite a bit of wear out of it.

When it arrived, I was really impressed with the quality. With a price tag of £24.95, it is definitely worth it. The jumper itself is quite thick so your child will be kept warm and each little dog motif is vinyl so it will last longer than printed. I always check quality of stitching too and I couldn't fault it. I love the round neck and cuffed sleeves so they're great for rolling up when he's eating something messy! Size-wise, it is perfect. It looks so snug and I was right, he will be able to wear it for a while as it's very true to size. He seems comfortable in it too, no itching or complaining.

Now for the squeak test. You can see that the dogs are all black with the exception of one at the corner. This one has a squeaker inside which works when pressed. When I first showed C this, he thought it was hilarious and got himself into a fit of giggles. Even when his daddy came home from work he couldn't wait to show off what his cool new jumper could do. I did worry that washing it might warp it a little but it's been in the machine (on 40) 3 times now and nothing has been compromised.

With Christmas coming up, I think these would make a great unique gift!

You can view the full range of jumpers at the Squeaky Jumpers website and you can also keep up to date on Facebook and Twitter.

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

Look in my Letterbox #27

Late as ever with this post but better late than never! I've started my Christmas shopping so I've quite a few toys in here! I'm linking up with Alice-Megan's Look in my Letterbox.

Purchases:

Bows

I can't go a week without having a bow in here! The mini bows are for pigtails - super cute! They are from @leahannboutique on Instagram.

Pumpkin bow

Of course I had to get a Halloween themed bow! This one is from @littlesloveliesbyjo and it says "Daddy's Little Pumpkin" on it.

Hape tea set

I am so pleased to see a tea set that isn't pink! C loves having little tea parties and I thought this would be great for both C and E.

Cutting fruit

C played with something like this when we went to W5 so I picked him up his own set on Amazon.

Beatbo and batteries

Beatbo is a must have this Christmas. They're usually £36.99 but I got it at Smyths for £27.95! The batteries were added on because free delivery was only over £30 and you always need batteries at Christmastime!

Christmas cards

Apologies for the not so family friendly first card! Chris will think it's bloody hilarious so I had to get it for him and the second card gave me a chuckle as it's always me buying the cards and presents for his family.

Wins:

£100 cheque 

Woohoo! So chuffed with this and it's going straight on Christmas presents!

Miffy print

I won this from Prima Baby on Twitter. The text is actually from the Miffy books! Can't wait to get a frame and hang it in E's room.

Orchard Toys alphabet jigsaw

This was a blog win and I was so happy with it as I am planning on getting lots of Orchard Toys bits for C for Christmas.

Pop up Olaf 

This was a kids magazine competition win. It just showed up by surprise. 

Fireman Sam prize

I won this from MadeForMums on Facebook. I'm winning so many toys for C, must try to win more for E!

Reviews:

Comfi cush buggy liner 

I've never ever used a buggy liner before but how cute is this one!? It's so soft and cosy.

Beard oil and beard comb

Chris is obsessed with his beard so when he was given the opportunity to review these he was like a kid at Christmas!

Others:

Wilkinson sword sample

Did you receive anything nice last week?

Youngsies Bee Onesie - Review

If you follow me on Instagram, you'll know that I am obsessed with kids clothing. I am constantly posting pictures of my children, showcasing their outfits so when I saw that Youngsies were looking for reviewers of their fabulous rompers, of course I wanted to do it!

Youngsies sell a wide range of onesies or rompers for children aged 6 months to 2 years and you can choose from lots of different animals. I opted for the Bee suit thinking E would look adorable and boy, was I right!

When I first opened the suit out, I did give a little squeal at how cute it was and I had to get it on E right away. I usually associate bees with yellow and black but the stripes on this one are brown. I did think that this was a little odd at the beginning but it doesn't detract from how awesome this suit is!

I chose size 12-18 months as that's what E usually wears and there is plenty of room for growth. I can't cope with how sweet E looks in it so she will definitely wear it a lot. The quality is amazing too. With Halloween coming up, I think these would be great to use as a Halloween costume due to how thick they are, especially if you are taking your little one trick or treating. Regular Halloween costumes tend to be made from quite a thin material and little ones won't want to wear a coat as they want to show off their costume. The thickness of these mean that your child will be kept a little warmer than they would be with these thin ones.

The Bee Onesie retails at £17.99 and you cam view the full selection at the Youngsies website. You can also give them a follow on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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

Me & Mine: September 2015

I'm a little late with this one - apologies!

This month we have found ourselves in more of a routine as the times where Chris (daddy) is home have changed. He now has Friday, Saturday and Sunday off so we have made Friday our "family day".

We have a science and discovery centre (W5) near us and it's somewhere that I loved visiting as a child. I wanted to wait until C was a bit older to take him and now that he's 3 I decided we'd try him out. I discovered that Chris had never been either! This was a huge shock to me as Chris is very much into science so I knew he'd love it too.

We had so much fun there that we are going to try to visit different, fun places near to us each Friday. I always complain that Northern Ireland is rubbish but there are some lovely things to see and do and I want my children to experience as much of that as possible! I'm also wanting to venture down to Dublin and visit the zoo there, I think it's much better than Belfast Zoo!

Chris is only ever back at teatime during the week so doesn't get to see the kids a lot. I love that we can pack the weekends up with as much fun and excitement as we can.