Time for a room makeover?

When we moved into our house nearly three years ago the whole house, and it’s bumpy 70 year old walls, was quickly painted with magnolia paint from top to bottom apart from Imogen’s room which was decorated in lilac and white. It has served it’s purpose but now that her curtain pole won’t stay up despite the Pollifiller’s efforts we have decided that it is time to take the plunge, have her walls re-plastered and re-decorate. That’s the easy bit, the tough bit will be deciding what to actually do with it!

Imogen was four at the end of last month and growing up very quickly, so I want to give her a bedroom that she will love now and for some time to come. So, as Joseph napped this afternoon Imogen and I sat down to do some browsing at the range of goodies available form Next in hope of some inspiration.

Here are just a selection of the bits and pieces that she’s picked out.

And a few pieces that have been marked as a must have.

Dress Mirror just because it’s glorious!

Table and Chairs Storage Set because it’s ultra practical.

Newhaven Furniture Range because it’s great value and will grow with her.

Why don’t you enter the Next Room Re-Style Competition over on their Facebook Page for your chance to win a room re-style worth £1500??

We’re on the move!

Me and my kiddywinks has now moved to www.meandmykiddywinks.co.uk please pop over and check us out!!!

The Wean Machine Review

Joseph got bored very quickly with his baby rice, so I decided that it was time to start introducing some different tastes.  I was delighted to receive The Wean Machine to review. 

My first thought was that it was something Imogen would love to squidge some play doh through, and essentially that is what it does. Squidge, just not play doh!!!! 

The Wean Machine works on the same principle as a garlic press, pushing squished food up into a “bowl” at the top.  It’s fully self-contained and comes with two grills, a small and a large, ideal for introducing more texture into food.  It also has it’s own spoon which cleverly clips on and a cover. 

Because it’s self-contained it’s great for travel, holidays, out and about as well as in the home.  There’s no need to carry a bowl or spoon, as baby can be fed straight from the integral “bowl” using the spoon provided.  It’s also noise free and if you have a small kitchen, like me, you’ll be pleased to hear that it fits nicely into the cutlery drawer.

One of the things I didn’t enjoy about weaning Imogen was constantly getting the blender out and cleaning the darn thing three times a day, with The Wean Machine there is no need.  It’s easy to clean, is dishwasher safe and suitable for all types of sterilisation (apart from microwave).  I have just been feeding Joseph the vegetables we have with our dinner.  Imogen, apart from the rare occasion, always ate the same as us and I really believe that this has helped her not to be too fussy now. 

The Wean Machine will squidge most foods including meat (lasagne, chicken, fish and sausages will work well) and it’s ideal for potatoes, and there is no need to peel,the skin stays on the other side of the grill.  The texture is just perfect for Joseph, anyone who has ever blended potatoes has to agree that they look like wallpaper paste!

The Wean Machine’s website is full with useful information, tips and recipes.  There is also a Squidge-O-Meter to let you know what is squidgeable.  We’ve tried well steamed carrot, potato, avocado, strawberries and bananas and they’ve turned out beautifully and gone down a treat!!

The Wean Machine is a great product, a must have for weaning, and comes very highly recommended.  Oh, and don’t just take my word for it, take a look here at all of the awards it’s won.

Is this the end of the terrible twos?

Over the past couple of weeks Hubby and I have noticed a dramatic change in Imogen’s behaviour.  She’s never been an evil child, she’s just very strong willed and will sulk and paddy if she doesn’t get her own way.  I really can’t think where she gets it from!!!!  

Imogen started with the terrible twos at about 19 months old and would regularly throw massive hissy fits, either in public or at home.  I still have a scar on my left forearm from where she bite me so badly she drew blood! 

She has always been an excellent communicator and has understood simple instructions from a very young age.  This has only improved as she got older and we’ve been able to hold long conversations and reason with her for ages.  I can only think that her tantrums were caused by her desire for independence.  Her nickname is Little Miss Independent and the phrase I hear her say the most is ” I do it all by myself Mummy!”  This sometimes leads to mess and disaster as Little Miss Independent comes a cropper.  I’ll always remember the time she decided to use the toilet without her seat or any help and ending up right in the bowl. We were both laughing so hard it took 5 minutes to ger her out!

Imogen turned three at the end March, so I’ve been dealing with the terrible twos for nearly 18 months.  I can’t tell you how pleased I am to see the back of them.

If you’re trying to deal with toddler tantrums have a look at this advice from BBC Health.

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Gumigem Teething Survival Pack Review and Gumigem Giveaway

Are you fed up of constantly changing your teething baby’s drool covered tops?  Are you worried about your teething baby gnawing on inappropriate things?  Does your baby look like this?…….

Then you need this….

The Gumigem Teething Survival Pack!!

Like many Mums I know, I haven’t worn jewellery since Imogen was born over three years ago.  I was worried about her tugging and chewing on my necklaces and concerned about what they were made of. 

Gumigem is an innovative solution to accessorizing and teething.  They are necklaces, worn by Mum, that will soothe your babies sore gums, keep them occupied whilst feeding and look ultra stylish.  They come in a huge range of colours and designs to match any outfit.  Gumigem are the only UK made Mummy neckalce which accommodates both the need for mums to be stylish and babies to teethe on for relief of symptoms. 

Made from a similar material to most teethers they are BPA, PVC, Lead, Latex and Phthalate free.  The silicon used also meets FDA standards.  They feature a long cord, so there is plenty of each of baby, and a breakaway clasp.  Gumigem can also withstand high temperatures, making it suitable for all types of sterilisation. 

The Gumigem Teething Survival Pack has been cleverly put together to provide you with a solution to the three most common symptoms of a teething baby. 

1. Chewing –  A Gumigem, so you can soothe on the move.  Chewing will help relive the pressure on sore gums.
2. Drool –  A Drybib Bandana Bib, an absorbent and stylish way to protect tops, necks and chins from drool and prevent rashes.
3. Discomfort – Nelsons Teetha, a homeopathic remedy specially designed to provide soothing relief for a teething baby.

We were very lucky to receive the Gumigem Teething Survival Pack to review and I was very impressed.  The Gumigem is beautiful and Joseph loved chewing and playing with it and certainly did relieve some pain.  It was great to be able to accessorize safely again and to also have a teether around my neck when Joe needed it.  You’d never know it was a teether!  He also looked rather cute in his Drybib, it kept me from changing his top 5 times a day and gave my poor washing machine a much-needed break.  The Nelsons Teetha provided Joe with pain relief and are conveniently individually packaged, ideal when you’re on the move.  Small tip, I found it easier to give these to Joe from a spoon rather than a packet. 

The Gumigem Teething Survival Pack is priced at £20.00 plus P&P and available from the Gumigem shop. 

Gumigem makes a wonderful gift for any Mum or Mum to Be, but if nobody takes the hint, treat yourself.  At £12.50 plus very reasonable P&P costs, it won’t break the bank and after all it’s for the baby!!!

For more information on Gumigem and Teething Support check out Gumigem’s website here.

Would you like to win a Gumigem of your choice?  Then follow these simple steps to be in with a chance.

1. Become a fan of Gumigem on Facebook here.
2. Become a fan of Me and My Kiddywinks on Facebook here.
3. Post the following into your Facebook status “I’d love to win a @Gumigem Teething Necklace with @me and my kiddywinks”    

Please make sure that you have tagged Gumigem and Meandmykiddywinks into your status and that they appear in blue writting.

Only one entry is permitted per person and the competition will close at 9pm on 31st May 2011.  The winner will be announced shortly after.

MAM Anti-Colic Self Sterilising Bottle

We received  a Anti-Colic Self Sterilising Bottle and a lovely Soother from MAM UK. 

With the holiday season fast approaching the MAM Anti-Colic Self Sterilising Bottle is a must have item for your babies suitcase.  It’s a genius product, as there is no need for a bulky steriliser and they need just 3 minutes in the microwave.

Here’s how they work –

Fill the base with 20ml of water.  (There’s a measuring guide on the lid)

Place the components of the bottle on top of the base.

Pop the lid on.

Place in the microwave for 3 minutes.

These MAM UK bottles are Anti-Colic due the ventilation holes in the base, which ensures a smooth milk flow and babies don’t swallow any air.  If you have or have ever had a baby with colic, you’ll understand just how important this is.  Believe me, I know!!!!

Joseph really loved these bottles and it certainly was easier to wind him after wards.  I personally found the fact the whole bottle came apart made it really easy to clean.  The MAM Anti-Colic Bottle is not only great for holidays it’s also great to promote the fresh feed guidelines.  They are also BPA free.

These bottles come in three sizes (130ml, 160ml and 260ml)various colours and are available to buy from the MAM UK shop.

As I mentioned earlier, we were also sent a very pretty soother from MAM UK.  unfortunately, Joseph is not a fan of soothers, so I am unable to provide a review on it.  The soother was donated to a friend of mine whose little girl was more than grateful and gave  it the thumbs up!!!

Hasbro’s Pop Goes Froggio Review

Pop Goes Froggio is another Hasbro game received from Mummy News to review.

Pop goes Froggio is for ages 3+ and for 2-4 players.

Inside the box there is Butterfly spinner, plastic tube, foam Froggio, lily pad launcher and 12 character lily pads. 

It’s really easy to set up, just connect the butterfly spinner to the plastic tube and then the lily pad launcher.  Froggio sits on top of the butterfly spinner.  Then spread all of the character lily pads on the floor around Froggio, face down.

The aim of the game is to collect the most lily pads.

To play Pop goes Froggio, spin the butterfly spinner.  When it stops all players look for the matching picture by turning over the lily pads.  If you don’t find a matching lily pad put it back, face down and keep looking.  If the picture does match put the lily pad on the floor face up, run to Froggio and stomp on the launcher to pop Froggio.  Catch Froggio before he lands on the floor.  If you catch him, you keep the matching character lily pad.  If not, the lily pad goes back on the floor face down.  Keep spinning until all of the lily pads have been collected.  The player with the most wins!!!!

When I tried to explain how to play to 3-year-old Imogen, she just looked at me open-mouthed!!!  However, there is a version for younger children.  Rather than placing cards face down, put them face up.  Also, rather than having to catch Froggio, they can pick him up off the floor. 

Imogen still seemed quite confused by this, but I thought we’d give it a go anyway and she wrote her own rules.  This is how to play the Imogen way.  Set up in the same way, spin the butterfly and then pop Froggio.  When Froggio has popped and landed on the floor, place him on top of the matching character lily pad.  Collect the lily pad and continue until you run out of lily pads.  It seemed to work well!!

Pop goes Froggio is a great game and it hasn’t been back in  the box since it arrived.  Imogen found it easy to launch Froggio into the air and loved matching up the cards.  I hope it will improve her catching skills over time too. 

Oh, and just in case you’re concerned about Froggio taking out your chandeliers or teeth!! He’s made from foam, so perfectly safe.

For more information on Pop goes Froggio including where to buy yours, check out Hasbro’s website here.

Lemon Meringue Ice Cream with Sargie’s Cornish Kitchen

OK, so I’m not a food blogger but when I was given the chance to review for Sargie’s Cornish Kitchen, how could I refuse?

Sargie’s are based in North Cornwall and produce a small but high quality range of hot puddings, seasonal desserts, hand piped meringues and luxury lemon curd all made with free range eggs and without preservatives or colourings. 

We received some beautiful hand piped meringues and some luxury lemon curd.  The two ingredients screamed Lemon meringue Ice Cream to me, so that’s what we did.  Here’s how:

Ingredients

600ml Double Cream

170g Greek Yoghurt

280g Lemon Curd

6 meringues

Method

1.  Whip the cream until quite stiff
2. Fold in the yoghurt
3.  Add the lemon curd and the meringues broken into small pieces.
4. Place in a shallow container and freeze for 40 minutes.

It seemed like such a crime to break up the beautiful hand piped meringues, that were so lovely and soft inside.  Yep, I ate a whole one before it went in the ice cream, it was gorgeous!!!  Imogen enjoyed the lemon curd (straight out of the jar) and I’ve saved her some to have with toast in the morning.

Hubby and I had ours with some fresh raspberries, Imogen was less civilized, had her in a waffle cone and was shocked when I said there weren’t any flakes!!  I found mine a little too sweet and would probably add a little lemon juice/zest next time, but we all throughly enjoyed it. 

Sargie’s also provide a Rent-a-Chef service, ideal if you need to impress and they’ll even do the washing up!!!

For more information on Sargie’s have a look at their website here.  Just a word of warning – it’ll make you hungry!!

You can also find Sargie’s on Facebook and Twitter @ChefSargie

Hasbro Monkey Dunk Review

We received Hasbro’s Monkey Dunk to review from Mummy News, and we’ve had great fun with it.

Monkey Dunk is for 2-4 players and for ages 4+.

Inside the box there are 16 monkeys, an Elefun popper, a backdrop, 20 banana tokens, 4 water holes and a lily pad blocker. 

It was really easy to set up, just place the water holes in the bottom of the box, put the back drop up and then place the Elefun Popper into one of the water holes. 

Once you’re ready to play push down on the Elefun popper and start flipping your monkeys into the water holes by pushing down on their tails.  Keep launching your monkeys until you’ve flipped them all or Elefun pops up.  When Elefun does pop up he bounces the monkeys around.  Collect a banana token for each monkey you successfully landed into one of the water holes.  Keep playing rounds until all of the banana tokens have been collected.  The player with the most banana tokens wins!!!  You can make the game more challenging by placing the lily pad blocker over one of the water holes, you don’t collect banana tokens for monkeys that land in this hole. 

As Imogen was only 3 at the end of March I was a little concerned that she wouldn’t be able to play, however she did well and really enjoyed the game.  She loved the anticipation of the Elefun popper and kept shouting “Quick, quick he’s going to pop!!”  She did struggle to get her monkeys into the water holes, but when she did manage was over the moon.  It taught her the very valuable lesson that sometimes things don’t go to plan.

We didn’t try “advanced” Monkey Dunk, with the lily pad blocker, as I didn’t think Imogen would understand that she wouldn’t get a banana token and seeing as she didn’t have the ability to aim them, there didn’t seem much point.  Three of us played, Me, Hubby and Imogen and it did seem to get a bit busy around the box but I’m sure that four children could manage nicely. As you play in the base of the box, it’s very easy to pack away at the end of play.

All in all, I think it’s a great game and one that will be played over and over again. 

For more information on Monkey Dunk, including where you can get yours, have a look at Hasbro’s website here.

Halos N Horns Review

Imogen has always had very sensitive skin and it’s been very hard to find something that satisfies her need for bubbles that won’t cause itchy dry patches.  We were given two lovely products from Halos N Horns to try, Gentle Baby Bath and Body Wash and Moisturising Lotion.

Halos N Horns have a lovely range of baby and children’s toiletries, including brightly coloured and fruity smelling shampoos and body washes.  There’s even a Toothy Fruity toothpaste, ideal if you have trouble getting your little ones to brush their teeth.

Halos N Horns have a very strict ingredients policy and are committed in removing as many dubious chemicals they can from their products.  Their products contain no SLS/SLES, Parabens, phthalates, Tricolsan, Methylisothiazoline or Propylene Glycol.  These nasties have been replaced with natural conditioners and plant-derived cleansing ingredients.  For more information on these unpronounceables and their effects please check out Halos N Horns ingredients policy.

We tried out the Gentle Baby Bath and Body Wash and I was very impressed with the amount of bubbles it created and you don’t need much.  Admittedly it wasn’t quite up to the bubble standard I like for my up to the neck bath, but still impressive.  It smelt gorgeous and even managed to remove the pen from Imogen’s legs, I really must buy the poor girl some paper!!!!!!  As it’s also a body wash, I used it to scrub them both all over – even Joe’s teeny tuff of hair.  Imogen has also used it in the shower and there was no whingeing when she got it in her eyes.  It left them both ultra clean and smelling as fresh as daisies.

Joseph always has a massage after his bath as part of his bedtime routine, so I decided to use the Halos N Horns Moisturising Lotion instead of his usual massage oil.  It’s a lotion rather than a cream and is not too heavy and very easy to rub in – ideal for a massage.  It’s easily absorbed and left Joseph very relaxed and even more squeezeable!!!  I also used it on Imogen’s face, as she tends to suffer from dry skin on her cheeks, and were very impressed when she woke in the morning lovely and soft.  It left my hands beautifully soft too, may have to steal some after my bath!!!

Halos N Horns Gentle Bubble Bath and Body Wash and Moisturising Lotion are available exclusively from Boots at £3.56 and £4.07 respectivly.  Check out Halos N Horns full product range  here.