The Bellies Babies - Review

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If E could only choose one type of toy to play with it, it would always be dolls. When we had the opportunity to test out and review a new range called 'The Bellies' I jumped at the chance because I thought it would be a real winner with her.

The Bellies from Bellyville are a new range of crazy, cute, funny babies. There are four different dolls to collect; Bobby-Boo, Muak-Muak, Yumi-Yummy and Pinky-Twink - we received Bobby-Boo.

Each Bellies doll has their own birthmark hidden on their body and have their own personalities. Bobby-Boo is the funniest one who loves scaring people and loves the colour blue, Muak-Muak is the most loving, Yumi-Yummy is the sweetest and Pinky-Twink is the naughtiest!

Inside your box, you'll find:

• Bellies doll (complete with hat and nappy)
• Dummy
• Bottle
• Blanket
• Instruction guide, or "Bellypedia"
• Stickers

Inside your new baby's bellybutton you'll find a little tab, which kind of doubles as its umbilical cord. Once you've pulled that out, its heart will start beating then after a few seconds it will begin to babble. E absolutely loved this as the majority of the dolls we own don't make noises so it's adds a little interactive aspect. It did grate on me a little, I'll admit. 

Although Bobby-Boo is a boy baby, E was adamant that it was a girl baby so, what can you do!

Her favourite thing is when the baby makes a very obvious pooping noise! Of course, that definitely got a laugh out of her. When you open its nappy, you will firstly discover it's birthmark on its bottom (Bobby-Boo's is blue) but also a surprise inside in the form of a poop sticker.

Inside your Bellypedia you'll find a cute little sheet to fill in with your baby's details, instructions on how to look after your baby but also a Poopypedia! Each poop sticker has a meaning (you get a sticker sheet so you can change these yourself) from having a runny nose to too much milk. I really like the concept of this but I think it would work better if the poops were velcro like the fastenings of the nappy. It means that you won't lose the stickiness and they'd hold better.

E has really enjoyed looking after her Bellies doll and the details are very cute. She loves playing mummy, changing it's nappy and giving it its bottle and dummy. The mouth of the doll isn't open so the bottle and dummy don't actually fit in. You just sort of hover the bottle over it's mouth and the dummy is magnetised. I think I would prefer it if they fitted in.

Also available to buy is a Bellies Emergency Kit for additional play, which contains a syringe, vitamins, snot remover, food and plasters. Obviously we only received the one doll but if you have two and sit them together, they will interact with each other.

The Bellies have a brand new YouTube channel that they've love for you to subscribe to - you can find them at The Bellies Babies EN.

The Bellies dolls retail at £29.99 (which, to be completely honest, I'd be a bit reluctant to pay. I think I'd be okay with the £17 mark at most) and you can find them at Smyths and all good toy retailers.

Casdon Flymo Toy Lawnmower - Review #CasdonFlymo

[AD/gifted - We received this item for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. [This post contains affiliate links. If you click through to buy anything through a link on this page, I will earn a few pennies at no extra cost to you.]

One of E's favourite ways to play is doing role-play. This started at a young age with her little tea set and progressing onto a toy kitchen, a sweep/mop set, shopping trolley - anything mummy and daddy do, she wanted to act it out and pretend that she was doing it too. Casdon are a really great brand for role-playing toys and we've actually reviewed some in the past which have been well-received.

With it being the middle of summer and it being quite good weather, E was delighted to receive the Casdon Flymo Lawnmower - exactly the same one that her grandad has - so she could "help" him mow his garden.

It is super simple to put together, coming in just three parts, the main base which is the iconic Flymo orange colour (complete with Flymo logo) and two handle pieces that slot together. You're then all ready to go!

The lawnmower doesn't require batteries which is a massive plus in my book and the wheels on the bottom make a clicking sound to imitate the mower noise.

Aimed at children aged 3+, I did have a little worry that my tall, almost-five-year-old daughter may be too big for it but she is able to push it comfortably around the garden.

The plastic is really sturdy and I did think, before opening, that if E maybe put a bit too much pressure on the handle as she pushes, they would come apart but that hasn't been the case and we are very impressed with it. 

E is enjoying mimicking her grandad and cutting his grass for him but it's even great to bring indoors on a rainy day too as it wheels along the floor nicely too.

The Casdon Flymo Lawnmower is priced at £12.99 and is available at all good toy retailers. You can find out more at the Casdon website.

Blume Dolls - Review

[AD/gifted - We received these items for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. [This post contains affiliate links. If you click through to buy anything through a link on this page, I will earn a few pennies at no extra cost to you.]

Like many children her age, E is absolutely obsessed with collectable toys - even more so if they are of the doll variety!

Blume Dolls are brand new on the market and I think that they bring a little bit extra to the collectables world. From the outer packaging, not too much is given away but from the flowerpot shape and designs, you can see a bit of a gardening aspect added - something that I haven't yet seen with children's collectables.

E received three Blume Dolls to test out for herself and couldn't wait to see who was inside each flowerpot. 

Once you've removed the outer film, you have your flowerpot ready to go. The pots come in different colours, each one corresponding to the rarity of the doll that you will find inside, so you do get a bit of an inkling as to what to expect. Underneath the lid, you'll see a collector's sheet, telling you more about the 22 different Blume dolls that you can find and their rarity. You will also see a miniature watering can.

You are then instructed to peel back the foil to reveal a layer that you pour water onto from your watering can. You can watch my video below to see what happens once you've watered your pot.


 
The water seeps through, making the Blume doll's hair expand and start to pop through. I like that the process is quite quick. E can get bored very easily so if she had to wait a while for her doll to be exposed, I know she'd get fed up. I was actually blown away by this concept and I believe I verbalised a "Wow!" 

Once the excitement of getting your doll is over, you can easily open up the flowerpot to reveal a home for your new Blume doll. Inside you'll see some more surprises. Here we found a mirror/stand, a friend for our doll, clothing and shoes and a little sticker sheet.

E loved decorating the inside of her Blume dolls pot with her stickers and once you've collected more than one doll, you can mix and match their outfits too. Not only that, but the hair is removable too so you can switch them around as much as you'd like, they clip onto a little bun that is hidden underneath. 

The Blume dolls themselves are really cute and E likes the extended play aspect. Although the watering and element of surprise is over fast, it is nice that it comes with a little playset that encourages creativity and imagination. If you keep the lids and remove your dolls hair, they can fit inside and be tidied away easily too. 

I imagine that Blume Dolls will be a huge hit this year as it's genuinely a toy that I, as a parent, really loved. They are suitable for children aged 3 and up and are available to buy from Argos and all good toy retailers for £9.99. 

2019 Reading Challenge | Books 36-40 Round-Up

I'm so late with this round-up, I've actually just recently started book 43! In this post, I'll be sharing books 36-40 of the year. You can catch up with my other posts here: 1-5, 6-10, 11-15, 16-20, 21-15, 26-30, 31-15. I'd also love it if you'd come add me on Goodreads!

I Looked Away by Jane Corry - 5/5

Blurb:
"Every Monday, 49-year-old Ellie looks after her grandson Josh. She loves him more than anyone else in the world. The only thing that can mar her happiness is her husband's affair. But he swears it's over now, and Ellie has decided to be thankful for what she's got.

Then one day, while she's looking after Josh, her husband gets a call from that woman. And just for a moment, Ellie takes her eyes off her grandson. What happens next will change her life forever.

Because Ellie is hiding something in her past.

And what looks like an accident could start to look like murder..."
 
Review:
Going into the book, I assumed it would be a simple story about a woman looking after her grandson, her taking her eye off him for a moment and him getting into trouble. It is so much deeper than that.

The story follows Ellie, grandmother to Josh, and her entire life story. From losing her mother as a young child, her father remarrying, gaining a baby brother and an accident which changes everything to meeting her husband and having her own children.

We also follow Jo, a homeless lady who is travelling around, just trying to get from day to day safely. Both of their stories tie together. It's such a compelling read tackling the issues of homelessness and PTSD.
 
A Summer To Remember by Sue Moorcroft - 4/5

Blurb:
"WANTED! A caretaker for Roundhouse Row holiday cottages.

WHERE? Nelson's Bar is the perfect little village. Nestled away on the Norfolk coast we can offer you no signal, no Wi-Fi and - most importantly - no problems!

WHO? The ideal candidate will be looking for an escape from their cheating scumbag ex-fiancé, a diversion from their entitled cousin, and a break from their traitorous friends.

WHAT YOU'LL GET! Accommodation in a chocolate-box cottage, plus a summer filled with blue skies and beachside walks. Oh, and a reunion with the man of your dreams.

PLEASE NOTE: We take no responsibility for any of the above scumbags, passengers and/or traitors walking back into your life..."

Review: 
I read this one quite quickly as was an easy, feel-good book.

Clancy's life in London goes to pot as her relationship breaks down and she loses her job, so she decides to move to tourisy town Nelson's Bar. Her cousin Alice half-owns a house there with Aaron, the brother of her ex-fiancé Lee (who she left at the altar six years ago) as he bought his share.

Alice has been travelling since so Clancy decides to take the caretaker's job for the holiday rental cottages, meaning she can stay at the house free of charge.

There is a lot that goes on in the little village and it seems like she can't escape her past either. 

The First Breath: How Modern Medicine Saves the Most Fragile Lives by Olivia Gordon - 3/5

Blurb:
"The First Breath is the first popular science book about the pioneering fetal and neonatal medicine bringing a new generation into the world - a generation of babies without precedent, who would not have lived if they had been born only a few decades ago.

Olivia Gordon explores the female experience of medicine through her own personal story and sensitive, intimate case histories of other mothers' high-risk births. She details the relationship mothers develop with doctors who hold not only life and death in their hands, but also the very possibility of birth.

From the dawn of fetal medicine to neonatal surgery and the exploding field of perinatal genetics, The First Breath tells of fear, bravery and love. Olivia Gordon takes the reader behind the closed doors of the fetal and neonatal intensive care units, resuscitation rooms and operating theatres at some of the world's leading children's hospitals, unveiling the untold story of how doctors save the sickest babies."
 
Review: 
This is a really informative book about how far we have come with regards to medical procedures involving babies in utero. It is packed full of information so, to me, it reads more like a long article or research project.

It didn't capture me in the same way that Adam Kay's This Is Going To Hurt and Leah Hazard's Hard Pushed: A Midwife's Story, books in a similar vein, did and I found it hard to get into at first. I'd put it down a lot in favour of doing something else.

It's obvious that the author has done a lot of research into the pioneers of some of the procedures that are outlined, and the things that they have been able to do are amazing.

It's Not You It's Him by Sophie Ranald - 4/5

Blurb:
"New Year's Eve. The most overrated night of the year, right? I have to get through a night of enforced fun, drink all the prosecco and talk about new beginnings. But I don't want new beginnings. I want my old beginning back.

It's been ten days, two hours and forty-three minutes since Tansy got dumped. Two heartbreaking weeks since Renzo, who made her weak at the knees and dizzy with excitement, found out Tansy's secret - and ended it on the spot. 

Since then, she's spent every evening scrolling through their old photos, drunk texted him twenty-six times (he stopped reading after five), and lost count of how many packets of Kleenex she's cried her way through.

That's where Operation Get Renzo Back comes in. She ropes in a new wing-woman, maxes out her credit card and accidentally-on-purpose bumps into him at every opportunity. Oh, and she finds a fake boyfriend, as you do...

But while she's busy pretending, Tansy's plan is thrown a major curveball. She has to learn the hard way that it's not her, it's him - and that sometimes, a break-up can end up being the making of you.
  
Review:
I was almost giving this a middle-of-the-road three star rating until the very end.

Renzo, Tansy's boyfriend of six months, has broken up with her following a secret being divulged by Tansy. She vows to win him back but I hated her character at this stage because of the lengths that she was willing to go to and the sheer desperation.

Renzo is a prat. That's all there is to say about him.

I did love the secondary characters and their relationships, and Tansy really won me over in the end. The plot was good and I liked that issues such as anorexia, gambling/financial abuse and the usage of sweatshops in the fashion industry were touched upon.
 
The Missing Wife by Sam Carrington - 4/5 

Blurb:
"You think you know those closest to you. You are wrong...

A sleep-deprived new mother approaching her fortieth birthday, the very last thing Louisa wants to do is celebrate.

But when her friend Tiff organises a surprise party, inviting the entire list of Louisa's Facebook friends, Louisa is faced with a room full of people she hasn't spoken to in years - including someone she never expected to see again: her ex-boyfriend Oliver Dunmore.

When Oliver's wife Melissa goes missing after the party, everyone remembers the night differently. Someone knows what happened to Melissa, and Louisa is determined to find them. But the truth could be closer, and the deception more devastating, than she'd ever imagined..."
  
Review:
Louisa is turning 40, married to Brian, with a teenage daughter and a newborn baby. Her best friend Tiff conspires with Brian to throw a surprise party for Louisa, with Tiff inviting lots of people from Louisa's Facebook friends list because Louisa doesn't really talk about her past and the people who were in it. We learn that she has disassociative amnesia regarding an incident that happened in her late teens.

One of the party attendees is Oliver Dunmore, Louisa's ex-boyfriend from her college years. After the party, Louisa starts having patchy flashbacks but can't piece together what happened. A couple of days after the party, it turns out that Melissa, Oliver's wife, has gone missing but no one at the party can even remember seeing her there.

This is so well-written and I couldn't put it down. I was desperate to see how everything would tie up together. I wasn't sold on the ending but it was an enjoyable read nonetheless!

Have you read anything good recently?

 

What I Won - June 2019

I actually dreaded coming to write this post because wins have been so thin on the ground lately, and I was sure I didn't have very much to share. Are any other compers finding it hard to win this year?

Here is what I did manage to win in June:

Facebook Wins
A bottle of Opihr gin, a gin book, four Double Dutch mixers and two bags of The Ice Co ice 

Instagram Wins
King Dice Funko Pop

Molang house playset 

Set of Teamsterz cars
 
Twitter Wins
C.S Lewis themed books 

Case of Walkers Max Strong Jalapeño and Cheese crisps


Web Wins 
A copy of Giraffes Can't Dance 

Magazine Wins
Ariana Grande Cloud perfume

Num Noms toys

I'm really pleased that I managed to win some toys to put away for birthdays as that's what I mentioned that I wanted to win last month. Now for some Amazon vouchers!

Did you win anything nice last month?