When I was 8 years old I started my first diary and my very first entry reminds me that I bought my mother a cactus for Mother's Day! I have no doubt that I would have forgotten all about this very momentous day had it not been for the fact I had written it down.
Over the next ten or so years I continued writing down my thoughts and experiences but unfortunately my diary became five or six books worth which over time became scattered and battered! However, I still have them all and occasionally dip in to remind me of my growing up years.
After about the age of 18 I stopped writing everything down and only took it up again during each of my four pregnancies, something which saddens me a little since many memories which should have been recorded in between times weren't and are lost in the ether forever!
However the future beckons and with it comes Journal 10+, an 11 year diary which promises to be my saviour for the next decade of my life. A beautifully bound faux leather book, it is unlike any journal I have ever used before.
Continue reading "Journal 10+: A Decade of Memories for You to Treasure (Product Review)" »
I think I've just found one of my very favourite review products - BabyCam Car, a Storage Options baby monitoring system for use in the car (or home). It's a simple idea, but one which makes life so much easier for the parents of young babies and small children.
The product is made up of two parts: a little wireless camera and a little wireless screen! The camera is attached by a suction cup to a window in the rear of the car. The camera is then pointed at the child you wish to monitor and live video is transmitted to a small companion screen also attached by suction cup to your car windscreen - similar to satnav. This enables you to keep a close eye on your child whilst driving without the need to turn around and potentially lose control of your car in the process. The product has an automatic day and night function mode, both of which show extremely clear images of the child being watched. There is also a volume control wheel which can be used if necessary. The device is powered with built in rechargeable batteries and is easily charged via your vehicle's cigarette lighter. Each charge lasts around 4 hours.
On my first attempt at trying BabyCam Car I was naturally a little wary of the product in case it became distracting. However, I very quickly found that this wasn't the case. In fact, I actually found that when using BabyCam Car I tended to look at the camera only whilst sitting at traffic lights or when parked.
Continue reading "BabyCam Car - The Safe Way To Monitor Your Baby When Driving (Product Review)" »
With Christmas just a matter of weeks away, it's time for many of us busy mums and dads to start thinking about perfect gifts for the small people we share our lives with. Having just one week ago given birth to my fourth baby, a little girl to join our other two daughters and son, I'm personally up to my eyes at the moment trying to get things just right.
In our house you can imagine that over the years we've acquired many dressing up costumes for hours of imaginative play, but it's amazing how fast time goes and how much you miss having a tiny tot tottering around in plastic heels, wearing a beautiful Princess gown or Fairy wings. With this in mind and with my new baby girl just starting her journey, I was very keen to review the most wonderful Fairy Princess Play Tent sold by Playhouses.co.uk that I'm convinced any aspiring Fairy or Princess would absolutely love.
Like many mums-to-be, I've always loved that moment when you first hear your baby's little heart beat. Then when I'm at home and it's still too soon to feel any movements, I begin to worry about whether or not the baby is still alive. So, this time around, I decided since I don't have to buy too many baby products, I'd buy a little foetal doppler so I could listen in myself when I was feeling worried.
I did a little research and chose the Sonoline B Professional Pocket Fetal Doppler
It's a great little gadget, although I'm aware such devices need to be used with caution and should never be used instead of routine visits to the doctor or if you're seriously worried about your baby's movements.
Continue reading "Sonoline B Professional Pocket Fetal Doppler (Product Review)" »
After a slow start, I've finally embraced the joys of slow cooking. Maybe I'm becoming more organised or perhaps it's just taken me a while to realise it, but slow cooking is fabulous when you have a family all coming home at different times every evening.
For me, it was the realisation after the school summer holidays that 7pm is just too late for the children to be eating in the evenings. Because they're back to school after their 8 week long break, I've been trying to encourage the younger two to go to bed around 8.30pm and if they've had their dinner late, then it means it's sitting in their tummies all night being very slowly digested and leaving them groggy the next morning.
Hubby often doesn't get in from work until 7.30 pm and although I like to plan our meals so we can all sit together for dinner, timing is a huge problem. As a way around it, most evenings I have my dinner with the children and he heats his up if required in the microwave when he comes in. Not ideal, I know, and probably losing most of its nutritional value for him because of the high heat generated by microwaves.
Anyway, with my eldest daughter having recently started secondary school, I made the decision it was time to change tactics. Apart from anything else, eating late in the evening was giving me dreadful heartburn due to my pregnancy.
I might be pregnant for the fourth time but this is the first time I've ever tried out Bio-Oil
Anyway, I used it a few times and then, as with a lot of things, more or less forgot about it and it languished in my bedside drawer for a maybe a year before I decided to try it for real about 8 weeks ago.
The reason I'd decided to try again was simply because I'd again noticed my sister's skin fabulous skin and chatted with her again about her Bio Oil experience. She hadn't one negative word to say about it, so out of interest I started reading some personal reviews over on Amazon and couldn't quite believe how successful it had been for so many people - even plastic surgeons recommending it to their patients after surgery to reduce the appearance of scars!
Whilst most people, myself included, tend to see Bio Oil as predominantly a pregnancy product, it actually can be used any time and for a variety of reasons. Fortunately, I've never suffered from stretch marks (which happens to be a family thing as neither of my sisters nor my mum did either), but I have suffered throughout my life, from my teenage years onwards from acne, some of which has left some slight scarring. After seeing the dramatic change in my sister's skin tone I made up my mind that this time I'd persevere.
Continue reading "Bio Oil - Glowing Skin for the First Time Ever (Product Review)" »
