It's Only Taken (Just Over) 11 Months but...

C is finally crawling!

Let me begin by saying, I think it's my fault that he didn't start earlier. With him being premature, I really wrapped him in cotton wool. I barely let him down onto the ground as we have wooden floors and I was so worried he'd hurt himself. 

He started off where he would push with his legs but not know what to do with his arms so he'd end up pushing down onto his face (with his legs trying) but getting nowhere and this frustrated him. I hated seeing him get so upset and cry so I stopped.

Recently though, he's been turning himself onto all fours on the sofa and crawling up trying to grab things off the table. It's easier for him to get grip on the settee.

I took all his clothes off and tried him on the ground. He pushed himself up on all fours and moved one knee forward, then the second one....then moved his hands! I couldn't believe it! He's almost one and almost confident enough to walk on his own but he's only crawling now!

We did have a few 'banging his face on the ground' incidences (one resulted in a fat lip) but he's okay!

At what age did your little one start crawling?

The Happy Badger has Paid me a Visit

A lovely little badger came to visit me this morning - The Appliances Online Happy Badger to be exact. He likes to go around and spread happiness to whoever deserves it by donating £50 to a charity of the bloggers choice.

The charity that I would love to help out is Tiny Life.

Tiny Life is the premature baby charity here in Northern Ireland. When C was in NICU/SCBU one of the nurses gave me a Tiny Life card and told me that we could give them a call if we needed help with a Moses basket or premature baby clothes or even if we just needed support as sometimes it can be hard to deal with the emotions and hurdles that you may need to get over with having a premature baby.

Tiny Life can also help out by loaning breast pumps to new mothers, offering home-based family support, running family support groups & baby massage classes and offering books and publications as obviously, you will want to know as much information as possible.

A regular donation to Tiny Life of £2 a week could:

• Provide breast pump kits to enable 5 mums to express breast milk for their sick babies.
• Fund a family activity session.
• Fund a piece of sensory equipment.
• Fund paediatric first aid training for a parent.
• Fund specialised resource books on premature births.

I was lucky enough to not need the services from Tiny Life after C's birth but it is great to know that they would be there if I needed them and that they are doing so much for other families. They are very deserving of this £50 donation so a huge thank you must go to the Happy Badger!

If you run a blog and would like a visit from the Happy Badger yourself, please visit the website to contact him.

www.donate-mobile.com

Today, I'm bringing you something that may seem a bit unusual for my blog. It isn't something that I'd normally write about but it's such a great cause that I feel like I have to share.

Source

Recently, the website Donate Mobile has been brought to my attention. Everyone has a mobile phone. And the way things are nowadays, we're never off them! Donate Mobile have come up with an absolutely fantastic concept. How about you switch from your current mobile provider to Donate Mobile (they will match the price, whether you're with o2, Orange etc) BUT 10% of your bill will be paid to a charity of your choice with no additional cost to you?! Oh, and you can keep your existing number too!

You can choose from a Pay As You Go contract (SIM only) or get a handset from Donate Mobile and use it with a Pay Monthly scheme. You will get everything that you get from your current provider, except you'll be helping your favourite charity at the same time! It can be a big charity or a local charity. As long as their registered, you can donate to them.

If you want to join but your current contract isn't up for quite a while, you can pre-register with them and they'll send you an email a month before your current contract is due to expire. 

Each month, you can check how much you have paid to your charity. All over my Facebook and Twitter feeds are people doing fundraising for various different charities. Donate Mobile make it so easy!

Check out the little video below for more information.

Change the world...with Donate Mobile from Donate Mobile on Vimeo.

This is a sponsored post.

Crazy Circus Character Print Review

Last month, I posted about Art.co.uk's 'Art Sparks Learning' campaign (you can read that post here). Basically, members of the public can nominate schools that will each receive 18 framed art prints to decorate the school and inspire their students. It's such a great project and I'm happy that stuff like this exists as art is so important.

Art.co.uk very kindly sent me out one of their framed prints. I was able to choose my own & I opted for Crazy Circus Characters as it would go very nicely in C's 'Jungle Circus' themed nursery.

I was really excited to receive it and it was a lot bigger that I'd expected (I received a 76x102cm print). The colours are so bright and perfect for stimulating young minds. The print itself and frame are fantastic quality and I was eager to get it up on the wall.

Isn't it beautiful? C couldn't stop staring at it so I'm thinking that he likes the colours!

On the back, I found this little sticker:

I think that this is a lovely touch and makes it seem really personalised. I absolutely love having this up and any school that receives prints similar to this one are in for a treat.

Nominations for schools are unfortunately closed now, but if you want to nominate for next time round, you can! Visit www.art.co.uk/artevent to nominate a deserving school to receive artwork through the Art Sparks Learning campaign and to learn more about the previous schools in the program.

They aren't just for schools though, you can buy them yourself! This print including frame is worth £84.99 but if you want, you can buy it in different sizes/frames. Have a nosey here.

Happy shopping!

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

Mad Mid-week Blog Hop #MMWBH - 28/08/13

Hello all you gorgeous bloggers!

Welcome to the Mad mid-week Blog hop! 

Its new, its shiny & I hope you join in on the hoppy goodness!

This hop will take place every Wednesday, so feel free to link up all of your favorite posts from your past week! Being anything from tasty recipes, to funky DIY projects, family outings to crazy afternoons indoors, Photo dumps, to Rants...and more!

Feel free to share anything & everything, we'll all love to have a read!

I do have a few rules though...

1# Link up your favorite post of the week! No other hops or giveaways please.

2# Visit at least 3 other blogs and leave a comment on their posts. 

3# Follow your host & co-hosts.
 4# Don't link up your Main Blog URL - IT WILL BE REMOVED!

5# Grab my button & most importantly...HAVE GREAT CRAIC!

<center> <a href="http://superbusymum.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank"><img alt="SuperBusyMum" src="http://i1224.photobucket.com/albums/ee367/Tandier/Untitled-4copyrightsize.jpg"/></a></center>

Your Host

Co-hosts

 

Be sure to leave me a wee comment & I'll pop over to yours to return the kindness! 

I look forward to reading your favorite posts of the week, and welcome to the
Mad Mid-Week Blog Hop!!
Lets get hoppin'

Trendy Tuesday - Moustaches

I'm constantly buying C new clothes. I think it's become a bit of an obsession! I'm rubbish at styling myself but I take pride in making C look wonderful!

I am a fan of moustache motifs. I have a mug with a moustache on, clothing for myself with a mousache on and C has a dummy with, yep, you guessed it, a moustache on it.

This outfit is one of my favourites. The moustache motif with the braces make me give it a huge thumbs up.

The little shorts make it a perfect summer outfit matched with the stripes! I purchased the set from H&M a few weeks ago for a fab price of £7.99. You can purchase it on their website here and it's available in sizes from 4-6mths to 18-24mths.

Walkers 'Mighty Lights' Review

On a dreary Monday morning, we had a fab parcel arrive...a big box of crisps! It instantly cheered us up. 

Walkers had very kindly sent us three multipack bags of their new 'Mighty Lights' range in Lightly Salted, Cheese & Onion and Roast Chicken.

If you're a regular reader of my blog, you'll know that I only have an almost 1 year son so these crisps would probably not be suitable for him. I do however have an 11 year old sister, E, who was more than happy to be a taste tester!

She's one of those kids who will pick and play with their food, complain that she's not hungry or full up then five minutes later, will say, "Can I have a bar of chocolate/a bag of crisps/money for the shop?" ARGH!

She went straight for the roast chicken flavour and scoffed them down. I was then informed that they were "really, really lovely". Automatically, she reached for a second packet, Cheese & Onion, followed by a few Lightly Salted ones as by this point she had eaten too much! These both, according to her, were equally as nice.

She told me that her favourite thing about them is how flavoured they are and the fact that they are ridged - this makes them "less boring"!

From a parents point of view, these get a huge double thumbs up. Walkers Mighty Lights contain 30% less fat than standard crisps so even though E doesn't eat an awful lot of healthy foods, at least she's eating a healthier version of crisps.

They also:

• contain no artificial colours or preservatives
• contain no MSG
• are a source of fibre
• are suitable for vegetarians
• are made from real potatoes

Due to these facts I, and I'm sure many other parents, would be very happy to include these at part of our children's school lunches. The kids will enjoy them and we know that they're as healthy as can be!

She was really excited when I told her that she could keep all of the crisps to put in her packed lunches at school. She starts secondary school in a few days and she is always complaining that her lunches are very repetitive so these will be a lovely change.

I tried these crisps myself and I must say, they really are delicious. I couldn't just eat one bag (bad, I know!). From previous experience, healthier crisps usually mean a compromise of flavour. This isn't the case with Walkers Mighty Lights. The taste is strong but not too much. Perfect, I'd say. They have a real crunchiness to them which is exactly what you want from a bag of crisps.

My mum, dad and partner all wanted to have a taste too and were all in agreement of how tasty they are. I definitely feel like they are a huge hit and will definitely be purchased in the future!

You can find out more about Walkers Mighty Lights at their website here. 

You can also find all the goings on in the world of Walkers on Facebook & Twitter.

(Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post but does not influence the opinions stated in this review. All thoughts and opinions are open and honest.)

Funky Giraffe Bibs Review

If you haven't heard of Funky Giraffe - where have you been!? I joke.

Funky Giraffe started when their MD, Yasmin, was on maternity leave from a fashion company. Like most mums, she wanted to dress her son stylishly but wanted high quality at a reasonable price (we all know how quickly children grow!). She teamed up with her brother (who takes care of the manufacturing side of things), designed some bandana bibs and the rest is history!

We were very kindly sent three bandana bibs from their range to review.

- Red & Blue Hearts on White
- Light Blue Candy Stripes
- Superstar White

The first thing that I noticed about the bibs was how soft the fleece underlayer is. This always worries me with regular bibs and I don't want them rubbing his skin and irritating it. Even after washing, they still stay soft.

The colours are so bright that they pop and I love how they don't even look like bibs. They very easily blend in as part of an outfit too. The are bibs shaped to fit around the neck and have popper fasteners which I love, love, LOVE because these means that C can't pull them off *big smile*.

C is currently teething again. He has two teeth already so I know all the signs. The drool comes out of him like a faucet and these bibs are great at absorbing it all (due to the fleece underlayer). I would definitely recommend these to all mums!

These bandanas bibs start from £1.98 each. Funky Giraffe also stock other items such as:

- Burp cloths from £4.00
- Personalised bandana bibs from £4.00
- XL bandana bibs from £3.00
- Hats from £4.00
- Playsuits/rompers from £7.00

& many more! 

You can find out more about Funky Giraffe at their website, Facebook and Twitter.

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

Plum Are Heading to The Big Feastival!

As a Plum mummy blogger, I like to bring you all of the goings on at Plum HQ.

Plum, leading organic baby food brand, will be at the Big Feastival from 31 August- 1 September fuelling little festival goers with their new tot range, Little Foodies (which I have reviewed here), as well as their Stage 1 pouches (suitable for 4+months).

Go say hello – they'll right next to the Little Dudes Den on stand LD17 handing out goodies!

At Plum their mission is to provide babies with super nutritious food using only the very best ingredients to create delicious tasting recipes. Plum knows what you feed your little one in the first three years helps create healthy eating habits for life. As such, all Plum recipes are 100% organic made from carefully hand-picked and responsibly-sourced ingredients, containing no added sugar or salt and are free from all additives, artificial flavourings, colours and preservatives. Their recipes are designed to nourish and nurture growing babies and toddlers.

All of our pouches and pots are packed with only the finest meat, fish, vegetables and fruit. The range consists of Stage 1 pouches suitable from first weaning all the way through to Plum Tots Little Foodies ­– meals suitable from 1-3 years.

At Plum they ensure that babies get all the nourishment they need.

Find out more about Plum at www.plum-baby.co.uk or follow us on Twitter (@plum_baby) and Facebook (facebook.com/plumbaby).

C at 11 months

I haven't done a development post in a while. I just want to jot down some new things that C has learnt to do since the last time I checked in.

Let's start with the biggie first - walking unaided! We were so lucky that we caught this on camera - see below! 

That video was taken last month. He's starting to walk more confidently now though. He's still a little bit wobbly so I'm not confident to let him down on his own. I do let him walk around with my hands hovering around him for a while every day.

He's starting to lean over in his walker and almost tips out so he's clearly getting too big for it so this means that I'm in limbo - argh!

He's also started to dance! The radio is constantly on at my dad's house and we realised that he was doing a funny bounce - dancing! His favourite song seems to be Avicii 'Wake Me Up' haha!

He seems to be trying to repeat sounds. I said 'yuck!' to him a few days ago and he was killing himself laughing at it. I was showing my mother in law today and he started trying to say it too! It's more "cccck" but still!

I wonder what next month will bring!

What I've Learnt

Here we are. 21st August. C is officially 11 months old. I can't believe it. I'm so emotional right now. God knows what I'll be like this time next month!

I want to take this time to share some things that I've learnt in my first year of being mummy.

1) Your plans will change.
Everything from your birth plan to how you parent. I'd planned a water birth. I ended up having a Caesarean section. I planned on breastfeeding. His traumatic entrance didn't allow that. Over my dead body were we going to co-sleep...oops! My son would NEVER be eating rubbish food. He's had chocolate, Wotsits & processed food before.

2) You won't get a minute to yourself.
C absolutely exhausts me now that he's running about. I'm constantly needing to entertain him and if I need to pop to the loo quickly, I'd probably need to bring him as he's liable to hurt himself or touch something that he's not allowed to touch!

3) Forget about your beauty regime.
Before I had C, I'd never leave the house without making sure I looked decent. Now, I don't think I've used my hair straighteners since I was pregnant and I'm lucky if I get to wear eyeliner.

4) You'll be lucky if you can eat a hot meal.
If your child is anything like mine, as soon as you come in with a plate of food he'll run straight over and try to steal the food from it and when you say no, he'll throw a tantrum. And even if they're only teeny, you can almost guarantee that as soon as you plant your bum down they'll start crying for a feed or nappy change.

5) There is no better feeling in the world than looking at your child to have them smile at you with so much trust and love in their heart for you.
I wouldn't change what I am doing now for the world.

Is there anything that I've left out?

What would you add to my list?

I'm a Prezzybox Pundit!

You may have noticed my shiny new badge over to the right. Yep, I'm a Prezzybox Pundit! 

I love Prezzybox so I was delighted to become a part of their Pundit team. This means I will be sent lovely items from them to review and these will appear on their Pundit page. I've already reviewed an item so pop over & have a look. You can also read reviews from their other Pundits!

They've very kindly offered my readers a discount code for 10% off any item on their site. It expires on October 31st so get shopping!

PREZZYBLOGGERS100

Paper Themes Kids Party Invites Review

C's party is edging up closer and closer and I'm realising just how stressful and costly childrens' parties are!

At the perfect time, I was given the opportunity to review some of Paper Themes' kids party invitations. I opted for the Circus invites, but they do have a great range of birthday invitations. The prices start at £1.25 per unit, I received 20 invites (inc. envelopes) at a price of £25. I realise that people may think that it would be so much cheaper to pop down to the Pound Shop and pick up a pack of paper ones and fill them in yourself but the price is really worth it.

They are really easy to order, all I needed to submit was the child's name, date, time and location of party. You can also add event type, additional info & and RSVP contact email/number.

I patiently waited for my invites to arrive and when they did I was more than pleased (it was actually quite laughable how excited I was!).

(I have hidden the location - no gatecrashers allowed!)

They're a great, thick cardboard and the colours just pop out. They are very, very professional and I couldn't have imagined his invitations being any better than these.

I shared them and had a lot of compliments and people asking where they were from. For any future parties, I'll definitely be reusing Paper Themes!

You can find Paper Themes on their website, Facebook & Twitter.

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

Girlz Nailz Nail Wrap Review

I've never tried nail wraps before. I can just about paint my nails without mess and don't even start me on false nails - only had those done once (professionally) for my formal.

Girlz Nailz very kindly sent me a set of their nail wraps to try out. I opted for 'Random Hearts'. Cute, right? I'll admit, I've had these for over a month and hadn't used them because, 1) They scared me and I thought I'd put them on wrong and, 2) I wanted an occasion to wear them!

Yesterday was my partner's little brothers Christening so it was the perfect opportunity to give them a shot. The instructions seemed easy enough so off I went.

It took me around 45 minutes to put them on (how hard was it to do my right hand?!) but like I said, I'm a total newbie. I'd like to think that I've got the technique perfected now.

I don't think I did too badly! I'd definitely use these again as it's an easy way to get nice nail art without the stress! I even had some compliments on them. 2 days later and they're still going strong.

This wraps are available on the Girlz Nailz website on sale for £4.99. There are 22 wraps in total so a full fingernail set, full toenail set and a couple of extras. 

You can also find Girlz Nailz on Twitter.

(Disclaimer: I received these wraps free of charge but was not required to write a review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.)

OXO Tot Divided Feeding Dish Review

Since C is getting bigger and eating more solid foods, I have been looking into getting him a 'big boy plate' rather than using a bowl. I originally wanted to buy him a divided plate but I just couldn't see any nice ones until OXO Tot came along.

I was given the opportunity to review an item from their website. They have a wide range of bath, feeding and nursery items but when I saw the divided feeding dish, I knew it had to be that. It is available in Aqua, Raspberry & Green. I opted for green. Now it isn't quite a plate, it's more like a bowl but it isn't as deep and perfect for C's meals.

 

There are two sections to the dish, each with a 4 ounce capacity. It's a great size too as it fits comfortably in your hand (I like to hold the plate as C is likely to tip it over if I leave it on the highchair tray!).

The three parts fit easily together and we even used it as a snack container for when we were out and about. The ring can be left on too so that you can scrape off excess food. The best thing about it though is that it's dishwasher-safe and microwaveable! 

 

Since we received this dish in the post, I haven't used his regular bowl. It's quickly becoming my favourite item as it is so handy for practically anything! It's a good thick bowl too and I can definitely see it lasting a long time.

This dish is suitable for babies 6 months+ and is BPA, phthalate and PVC free. They retail at $7.99.

You can find OXO Tot at their website, Facebook and Twitter.
(I received this item free of charge in exchange for an open and honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.)

Changing Time for the 2013 Baby Boom

The Change Starts Here

Recent figures reveal 20,000 more babies are expected to be born in the UK this year and each baby will use 6000 disposable nappies in their infancy. Each disposable nappy takes around 500 years to biodegrade.

It was only in the 1960’s that these plastic filled disposable nappies first started being mass produced, but 8 million are used every day in the UK alone. gNappies see a different way for the future. choosing gNappies gives you the option to create a better future for our planet and the very best for your baby.

To celebrate a gorgeous alternative gNappies has shot a baby catwalk:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2H_q3UroKc&feature=youtu.be  

gNappies are gorgeous nappy covers with 100% biodegradable, compostable inserts. Their high tech design let’s baby’s skin breath. More comfort. Less rash. gNappies wet disposable inserts biodegrade in just 50-150 days.

 

"We're in a great position to make disposable nappies just a bad memory. We want parents to come together to make history and change the way we change nappies. gNappies is definitely becoming a trend with new mums wanting the best possible options for their babies  – we’ve seen more than 50% yoy growth on our websales.”

Louise Kjellerup Roper, gNappies Europe or EuroMummy

Easy, gorgeous, gentle and green, gNappies give parents an eco-friendly option for nappy changing, combining the ease of disposable nappies with the reusable nappy component normally found only in cloth nappies. gNappies are part disposable, part reusable and 100% ecodorable. In fact the only 100% certified fully biodegradable and compostable nappy around. You simply choose your reusable nappy cover, tuck in your disposable insert, change your baby and then hug.

(This is a press release. I was not paid for this post.)

Having a Clingy Child

Since C was very young, I've tried to teach him self settling. I didn't want him getting used to certain things getting him to sleep. This worked brilliantly as we started very early on.

Recently though, he won't sleep without me beside him. When his daddy lies down with him, he screams the house down and kicks him away. I tell Chris to move and the second that I lie with him, he snuggles into me and drifts off to sleep.

Don't get me wrong, it is extremely cute that he wants his mummy to comfort him but it can get a bit irritating and Chris is always saying "Why does he not like me anymore?" I reassure him but I think it's getting him down.

I realise that it could be a lot worse. For example, he will let other people hold him/play with him and he doesn't scream bloody murder when I leave the room...

Has anyone else experienced this or something similar? 

How did it work out for you?