• book review - competition - days out

    Meet Henry Hugglemonster

    Disney Junior’s brand new original 3D animation for preschoolers “Henry Hugglemonster”, will premiere on the channel next week on 8th February. The series follows the adventures of fun-loving, five-year-old Henry Hugglemonster, the middle child in a happy, close-knit monster family – The Hugglemonsters of Roarsville. The series was developed from children’s book “I’m a Happy Hugglewug” by Children’s Laureate award-winner, Niamh Sharkey, published by Walker Books. We were lucky enough to meet Niamh Sharkey last week and have a personal reading and art masterclass with her and a couple of other lovely bloggers. My toddler absolutely adores “Henry Monster” as…

  • parenting - school

    Food allergies in children

    Last week we were invited to a breakfast briefing to discover more about children and food allergies and why early detection can make a huge difference to a child’s well being at school. Now I know my children aren’t at school but I’m always happy to learn about things which might affect their health. Food allergies in children Dr. Hilary Jones, one of the country’s top allergy experts, told us about a new report released by the EAACI (European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology) which has shown that life threatening allergic reactions in children increased 7-fold in the last…

  • blogging - Cath Kidston - crafts - handmade - Orla Kiely - vintage

    A grand day out

    Today was my birthday! It’s very strange having a birthday when you have children – no lie in and no leisurely opening of presents for me! However, I enjoyed opening my gifts with the little people and their infectious smiles and giggles. My son may have even opened a present or two for me. A grand day out I had a lovely day. This morning we headed to Covent Garden for a lovely crafty blogging event to learn more about Stampin’ Up. I really enjoyed learning about paper craft and was able to make two beautiful cards whilst the children…

  • days out - playing - reviews

    In the Night Garden Daytime Sleepover!

    Edward was invited to the Rainforest Cafe to help celebrate the launch of a new toy range which includes Good Night Friend Upsy Daisy. He’s a huge In The Night Garden fan so I knew this was one event we couldn’t miss. When we arrived at the venue we found a lovely area filled with plush Upsy Daisy and Iggle Piggle’s to play with. Edward was in his element and happily played until lunch arrived. After lunch Upsy Daisy arrived and Edward, initially shy, was very happy to pose for photos with her. In fact he was having such a…

  • playing - reviews

    Rocking with Elmo

    A couple of weeks ago Edward and I had the best invite in town – lunch with Elmo! Apparently Elmo loved London so much last year that he decided to come back. Rocking with Elmo Elmo wanted to see all the sites he didn’t get to last time, like Big Ben, Tower Bridge, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and the London Olympic Stadium. Edward loved meeting Elmo despite Elmo tickling his tummy and trying to eat his socks! We found out that Elmo had been on the tube and on a bus whilst in London and was enjoying his stay in…

  • days out - Gingerbread house finds - playing - pregnancy - shopping - toddler - vintage

    Gingerbread house finds

    Last week was a bit crazy. It started with Edward’s first trip to the cinema, his first photo shoot for Mother & Baby magazine, a trip to the Gurgle blog awards (where I came third in my category and won a £250 Mothercare voucher) and ended with lunch with Elmo. Crazy, amazing and quite tiring for a toddler and a mummy with a big bump. But somehow I managed to squeeze in a trip to the shops. Oops, I couldn’t help myself but I came home with two more vintage jigsaws at the weekend. I just couldn’t resist their round…

  • competition - days out

    Winnie the Pooh

    Do you know a child who doesn’t like Winnie the Pooh? I have fond childhood memories of the Winnie the Pooh stories so was delighted to be asked to a special screening of the Winnie the Pooh film at Disney HQ yesterday organised by HUGGIES. When we arrived we were greeted by very big models of Pooh, Piglet and Tigger which Edward spent a happy time running around. He’s never still for a second these days so I haven’t uploaded any of the photos I took of him which were all blurred. We were ushered into a screening room for…

  • days out - playing

    Bob’s Big Build

    On Saturday we were invited as VIP’s to Bob’s Big Build, a special event for little builders at Fixham, otherwise known as the O2. Our VIP tickets included transport to the O2 on the Thames Clipper which we were really excited about as we had never taken a trip on the Thames before. Bob’s Big Build The Thames Clipper is a great way to travel and as we boarded, Edward was given a goody bag stuffed with Bob goodies. We breakfasted on some yummy croissants and fruit and before we knew it we had arrived at the O2 where we…

  • Local Review - London - shopping

    Shop ’til you drop

    I’m not a girly girl but I do enjoy a look around the shops so was very excited when I was invited to visit The Bentall Shopping Centre in south London. Edward and I regularly go to our local shopping centre where we are experts in navigating the shops with aisles wide enough to accommodate the buggy, clean baby changing facilities and great coffee shops with helpful staff. How would The Bentall Centre compare? Shop ’til you drop It’s a bit of a journey from our patch of London  so Edward and I set off on our epic journey early…