Where Have I been and What have I been upto -

Happy June almost July everyone -

 I know I haven't been around for months (well I have been, but not blogged much recently.) This will change and I have missed blogging, but just been upto 101 things recently and had a break away for a while. I just thought I'd do a quick update on how things are going and what I've been upto.
While away I have started to do different things such as starting to take my crafts to a new level -
Started my new little venture (( I will include some pictures of what I've made at the end of this blog)). I've always enjoyed making things and being creative I've made my own Christmas and birthday cards and even my own wedding invitations back in 2011, but I just never had the time to make more of it up until recently.
We have been confirmed again that we are a part of the Mother & Baby awards testing panel for this years awards ((which we are very excited for.)) And I have started to test products which I will be uploading reviews to YouTube.
Alex is due to start secondary school in September, so we've had meetings/visits etc for this and also Rowan will be heading off to start school in September and like Alex we've had visits and meeting for him also.
Noah is now walking ((yup I know iv got him now.))
And....We've finally got around to starting our own you tube channel, with v -logs and reviews on so all in all a very busy if not crazy few months.

My Social Networks -
Instagram - tingle.rachel
YouTube (our first Vlog) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76Y0hBb8b8A
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Mummy-T-Personal-Mummy-Blog-829042723816003/


Please give me a follow / subscribe and like....be fab if some of you could comment as well :) ((would make my day.))

Speak soon

Mummy T

Munchkin White Hot safety spoons - Review -

I thought it was time for me to blog again with a product review. This time we've been using the White Hot Safety Spoons by Munchkin. It's currently the Baby Event at our local Asda and they had  a 4 pack for £2 so, I picked a pack up to try them out - plus Noah needed some new spoons.

The first thing I noticed about the spoons where there super long handles, I really wasn't sure how Noah would manage trying to feed himself with them being so long. But on the packaging it advised that there suitable from 3 months + - I can honestly say he's managed really well using them and I have found them easier also. The are all very brightly coloured and the spoon part is super soft and flexible for gums. But here's the smart part about them, the spoon part of them change's colour when in hot foods (or liquids such as gravy / watery home made custard) - which I thought was really good! When the colour disappear's from the spoon, this is a indication that the food is too hot. Which is pretty smart. Of course I still check his food even when the colour hasn't all gone from the spoon just to be sure. But over all I think it's a good idea especially if your on the go and just not sure if the foods still hot, even when its been left to cool slightly. The colour does return to the spoon once the food cooled down.

So, I really do like these and I think there a good idea! Here's a link to their on - line shop.

http://www.munchkin.com/uk/white-hot-reg-infant-safety-spoons-4-pack.html

I've got photos below of the spoons in use but this is with hot water (just as a demo so you can see what happens to them.)

Thanx for reading everyone!

Mummy - T

x

The Spoons before the warm water was added to the bowl.

The Spoons after they where in the warm water for 1 minute.

The spoons just after the water was added.

Removed from the water and colour returning.

Loyalty clubs/ vouches/ coupons and offers. My top picks.

 I found that through out my pregnancy I was handed lots of leaflets more of which was in the bounty packs (along with lots of samples to try!) I found some clubs didn't give you anything apart from spam to email and junk mail through the letterbox! 

So, seems as having children and a baby is so expensive I thought id write a blog about which are my bests companies to join that have been really rewarding and I would recommend to other parents.

 So here are my top ones which have never stopped giving! 

Cow&Gate baby club - I signed up to this when I was pregnant with Rowan! There's a fabulous  on - line community and also on - line chat option with professionals for help / advice. When I was pregnant I got the little cuddle cow, pregnancy diary and lots of helpful information through the post. When I started weaning the boys I also received lots of coupons for the different Jar's of baby food and breakfast cereals! I also received a weaning plan too with recipe ideas in. Which all came in handy and I saved a small fortune! 

Pampers Nappies - I'm sure with these a sent back a slip in the post and they now send me coupons for pampers nappy's You can only claim these coupons at Tesco stores, but still a little bit of a money saver over time!

Johnson baby wipes (( baby club)) -  On the packs of baby wipes is a code which you type into their web site (www.johnsonsbaby.co.uk) You get points for the different codes  ( I think its 5 points per pack of wipes) - once you have so many points you can swap them for baby things such as books, and even baby swimming lessons ( See Picture below.) Iv just recently found this baby club when I actually reading the side of the wipes (which iv never done). I've recently hit points needed to get a gift so ill update how it was and what was sent out to me later. This is more of a loyalty scheme then coupons etc but I thought it was worth giving it a mention.

Boots Parenting Club - I LOVE this one! It's definitely a favourite with me. I got asked to join the baby club while in-store (after I had Noah). I thought id give it a go I can honestly say it's been really good! I got a free baby changing bag when I purchased some pampers nappies. I got double points for my advantage card and I receive all sorts of vouches through the post including 25% off the mini mode clothing and buy one get one free on wipes ((boots own brand))! This has been great and the dates on the vouchers last a while so there plenty of time to get products. I can honestly say I wish I knew about this club when pregnant!

So these are my top ones! ((So far)) If anyone else knows of any-more please message me and ill join up and add them in here!

This photo is the Baby Club over at Johnsons (link in blog ^^)

Thanx for reading

Mummy T

x

Our experience of bronchiolitis.

With it being the winter season I thought id write a blog on winter illnesses - I wanted to share our story and experiences of bronchiolitis which both Rowan and Noah has had. I should point out thou that I'm not a Dr and I'm just posting as I personally had never heard of it until Rowan was admitted to hospital - which was where I found it was quiet common!

This is our story!

As I said at the start both Noah and Rowan have had it! Rowan spent his first Christmas in hospital with it! He started a few days with a cold but it seemed a heavy cold. Of course at a young age you put it down to teething! At first he had cold like symptoms - runny nose, cough, temperature but he didn't really seem to get better but seemed to get worse. He wasn't feeding as well as he normally would. I was warned with Rowan being almost 6 weeks early to keep a extra close eye on him. So I felt it was time to get him checked over so I rang the 111 helpline, who told me to go up-to my nearest A&E. It was xmas eve and not a place I really wanted to visit but he needed to be seen so off we went. They where very good at the hospital. I explained what was wrong and what my concerns where. The did Rowan's pule and oxygen rates which had cause for concern. By this point also his chest was sucked in and he seemed to be head bobbing. So they admitted us to the children's ward. He was struggling to breath and needed to be put on oxygen and kept in. I got to stay with him. We had a room with a cot in and bed and Rowan was kept on oxygen until Christmas day/ night and then discharged on boxing day. The staff where fantastic and explained what bronchiolitis was - It can be different causes most of which viral. Bronchiolitis is a common lung infection. It mainly affects young children and is a common cause of wheezing in children and difficulty in breathing due to the swelling of the airways which lead to the lungs. I had never heard of bronchiolitis before and the children's ward was full of babies as young as 4 weeks old. They kept a close eye on Rowan while in hospital doing checks every few hours. He did improve and was discharged on boxing day along with a inhaler and spacer. I did find that we had to use this for around 2 weeks after being admitted as the cough and wheeze did tend to linger. I must admit it was awful having him in hospital he was only months old and having him hooked upto al-sorts of monitors and tubes etc was horrible! But I was told it was just one of those things! And quite common. Rowan did have a lot of chest problems after this and does seem to get croup a lot too which requires steroids and a visit to hospital. I'm not sure if him being a little early baby is a contribution to the problems he has. 

Noah has also had bronchiolitis but not as bad as Rowan had it. Luckily he was not admitted to hospital but I did ring the 111 helpline for advice and was seen by a Dr at our local urgent care centre he gave Noah a inhaler and spacer. Noah didn't have low levels nore was struggling to breath, so there was no need for him to be admitted to the children's ward. To be honest he just seemed to have a bad cold and slight wheeze - which never got any worse but also didn't seem to get any better.I found with Noah I wasn't sure to ring for advice or just to wait a few day's, but knowing my past experience I knew not to just let it ride out and go and get checked or a opinion at least. As you can see off reading both storeys that bronchiolitis can be both mild and serious in babies / young children. I'm a firm believer in "mum knows best" and if you have a gut feeling then always act upon it.

After Noah being poorly with it i decided to look into it a bit more on the net and came accross a web site called more than a cold. Its really informative and well worth a look! Here's the link - 

http://www.morethanacold.co.uk/

Thanx for reading

Mummy T 

x

Happy New year!

After the madness of December, Christmas and New Year. We're finally in January! My boys are all back to school/nursery and the house is back to normal! Finally! I do love Christmas, but it's so nice to get back to normal! I hope you all had a good Christmas and New Year.!
Ours was hectic! I worked more shifts, and only had Christmas Day off!

We had some lovely days out though over the Holidays and in December. One of Which was the Polar Express. We booked up to go on the Weardale one. I live around 30 mins from the station so it wasn't too far from us. I booked us up in October on standard seats! We where really looking forward to it, it's based around the film The Polar Express and one of the best things about it is you can go in your PJ's ((which the boys did)). The train ride its self was fab, They serve hot chocolate and cookies while your on the train. The staff read/tell the story and show the book to all passengers while you head to the North Pole. It follows the story line from the Polar Express and the staff are dressed as the singing chefs as well as the conductor. It really is a magical experience. All 3 boys really loved it including Alex (who has started to doubt if Santa's real). Santa was great as was the North Pole and elf's. Santa climbs aboard the train and talks to each child and gives each child a bell from his sleigh  The staff also aboard the train where great involved all the children. They made time to talk to all the children asking what they wished for Christmas etc. We all sang songs and also played games (adults too). It was a great atmosphere and I'd highly recommend it! The journey lasts around 1 hour and we where entertained through out the whole journey. I will add some pictures on this blog of our day there's also some on Instagram too. I have been on the Polar express before around 4 years ago! This was the first year it ran and there was a big difference this time around in respects of crowd control and queuing for tickets etc. I found this time around a lot better then the first - We travelled first class last time (there was just Alex and me as Rowan was only 2 months old) I can honestly say that apart from the china keep sake polar express cup there is really no difference between First class and Standard travel on the train.

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and Santa was good to you all. Thanx for everyone support and reading my blogs! All the best to you all for 2016.

Thanx for reading

Mummy T

x

My experience of being a product tester for the Mother&baby awards 2016 -

After posting the pictures on - line of my product review for the Mother&Baby awards, I had a lot of people asking me how I had managed to get myself involved in it. So I thought I'd write a blog on how I did it and how I found things.

I remember being sat at home one afternoon towards the end of March and I found myself looking at Facebook. Noah was only a few weeks old and I was enjoy those newborn moments but also found myself looking for stuff to do when he slept (which we all know newborns sleep a lot.) Anyway I was on Facebook and a advert popped up from Mother&Baby which was about looking for product testers  for the 2016 awards - So I applied. In all honesty I thought id just get a load of spam sent to my email address and phone calls from gas and electric company's.

I didn't hear anything back and kind of forgot that I had applied until I logged into my emails and had one from the admins - this was around June/July time. I must admit I was quiet doubtful and thought that they may be hidden charges to do this, but I was so curious! I also googled Product testing for mother&baby awards which came up with a few blog's about it. So I read these blog's and carried on with the intentions of doing the reviews.

I was sent lists of what I'd be interested in trying there was al-sorts ranging from toys to bath products. I was more then willing to help so I put my name forward for as much as I could. The stuff started to arrive and I found it exciting to have a parcel and not know what was in it or who it was from. It was also lovely to get personal letters from company's with information about there product. I remember one company sent me a personal Congratulations card for Noah's birth.(which was a lovely touch.)

We had to use the products and play with the products. I had to observe Noah playing and watch his reactions towards things and note things down. I showed friends and family what I had received and also got there views on them - We'd also discuss things about the product. It was great and I really enjoyed doing it.

I had to forward my reviews to Mother&Baby, which was dead straight forward to do. It was quiet detailed about what to write for the reviews and I had to write a lot about the products I was testing. There was also a dead line to work through - but I never found this stressful being under time pressure as I had a while to put together my reviews,

I found It made me think about products in a different way. I used to be the type of person that would just go and buy something for the boys - I'd never look on-line at reviews or ask around if others had tried it and id just go ahead a buy it/ But now I tend to take more time over things and read reviews on-line.

As I said above I have really enjoyed the experience of reviewing different products. There was nothing hidden with the product testing for the awards (No hidden costs or spam messages/calls.) The experience on the whole was fab and I feel very lucky to of been chosen to do this. It's made me want to write reviews on product I was already using around the home for Noah, Rowan and Alex and I would still be adding reviews on this blog of my own.

The awards where held last week in London and there was a few products I used that won awards! (Well Done Guy's) I was blown away when I was looking on the Mother&Baby web site and found a few of my reviews to be published live on there. (I'll Add links at the end!)

I know they will start looking for testers again March/April time - so keep your eyes peeled, if your interested in this!

If anyone would like further information on product testing or would like me to product test for there company please email me at mummyttoo3@gmail.com. I'd be more than happy to help.

Big thanx to Mother&Baby for giving me the opportunity to do this and a massive congratulations to those company's that scooped bronze,silver and gold awards.

Some Photo's of The Products I Helped Test/Review 

 Links to Mother&Baby award reviews below.

Some Of my reviews on the Mother&Baby web site

 - My name is Rachel Robinson/Tingle -

http://www.motherandbaby.co.uk/reviews-and-shop/playtime/baby-toys-under-12-months/tiny-love-gymini-kick-and-play

http://www.motherandbaby.co.uk/reviews-and-shop/playtime/baby-toys-under-12-months/mam-teething-friends


http://www.motherandbaby.co.uk/reviews-and-shop/playtime/baby-toys-under-12-months/sophie-la-girafe

Thanx For Reading Guys

Mummy T

x

Sorry I've been away from blogging for a while......heres why...

Hi all,

First of all sorry I haven't been around on the blog much recently! I've been a busy bee! Been working more hours (20 hours per week) and also had Noah started nursery - the same one Rowan goes to. Noah goes 2 days a week, and I wanted to catch up on stuff that I've never seem to have time to do i.e. Housework/xmas shopping etc (playing catch up in other words) and it has worked! I seem to be really organised (for once.)

Noah is really enjoying nursery! Seems to of settled in fine! And enjoying his food there too. So its all gone rather well! I don't know if its just coincidental but he seems to of progressed a LOT in the last 5 weeks, not sure if nursery has been a strong factor in this! He's now sitting up unaided, has 2 teeth and is clapping his hands and walking around (in his walker.) I did have a few concerns about him as he's now just turned 9 months and seems a little behind in doing things, but hey- ho I know they develop in their own time and he seems pretty happy.

Rowan is doing well too, he's still at nursery and starts school next year he will be almost 5 when he does start, so I think he'll be more then ready for school at this time/age! He has a small part in his xmas play/nativity as a shepherd and were off to see him in it next week, at nursery. December sure is a hectic month for us as we've party's/xmas dinners/Santa visits etc.

Alex is also doing well. I'm dreading him starting secondary school next year! He is on the school council (and is taking the role dead seriously.) He's due to visit the houses of parliament in London, in January with the town major! So he's looking forward to that too! And he's started doing scouts also and he loves that as its typical boy things.

So all busy for us here! I will be posting a blog next week as were off to go on the Polar Express on Sunday (6th Dec) - which should be great fun for us (I'm more excited then the kids I think!) I have been on before with Alex but, this time where going as a family of 5 and I wanted to log what its like going on with a young baby etc.

Anyway Hope everyone is well! Don't forget I'm on instagram and facebook so please give my pages a "like" or follow.

Speak soon x