If you're after the perfect for gift for a mother/father or even a grandparent for a birthday or any other special occasion from baby why not consider a tomy talking baby photo album?

Find me a gift have the perfect website full of ideal gifts for everybody no matter what age and what occasion your guaranteed to find something. We love the idea of the photo album as a gift, I can just imagine being given it on behalf of my son would photos of us inside and a recording of him.

We got sent a Tomy Talking Baby Photo Album to review and had much fun sitting down together with the toddler to complete our 8 second recordings for each page, I love the fact it had bright engaging colours whilst Oli liked the fact he could easily turn the pages with the crinkly page tabs. I plan on displaying it in Oli's new bedroom when we move as stand-up double photo frame.



As well as being able to record your own sounds it also come with sound effects when the book is opened and shut. It holds 8 photos and some genius decided to include batteries with it so no tearing the house upside down looking for batteries to insert in it.

We cant fault this product when it comes to both suitability and value for money, it's been well played with ever since it arrived and it keeps the toddler entertained for more then 5 minutes which any toddler mother knows is a longtime!

It's currently on sale at the moment, from £29.99 down to £19.99 so now would be the perfect time to grab one.

Need it in a hurry? Then find me a gift have the option of next day delivery available if you order before 4pm on a normal working day.

No silly I'm not about William & Kate, I'm about me and Ikea. You know that big blue Swedish superstore which contains heavenly goods, mainly furniture at bargain prices and bags of little daim bars which is a necessary to buy every time you visit! I have a proper love/hate relationship with them, though it leans more towards the love side especially today. We decided to take full advantage of the fact most of the population was busy stuck to the TV watching the royal wedding to be shopping and out on the roads. Just look how busy the motorway was...




The boy also got treated to his first Ikea hot dog, despite a friend pointing out that we didn't have a clue what was in them or how come they were so cheap, we still wolfed down several of the things!



Of course I took full advantage of the storage options on sale and came back with many boxes and bags ready for moving day. I guess that's what I'll spend the rest of my day doing whilst the rest of Britain gets merry at BBQ's and street parties!



What did you do today? I'm guessing you watched the Royal Wedding or am I wrong?

Some doofus accidently deleted her technorati account! Doh!

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I'm probably not alone with what I've had hoarded away for the last couple of years, and if it wasn't for the fact I'm moving house I dread to think how many years it would of stayed up in my loft. For the last few years I've been building up a collection of items, it started after 9 months when I developed a attachment to certain items and just couldn't bare to get rid of them and then it's just continued right up until today where I'm still adding to it.

Can you guess what I've been hoarding?




Yes baby items! Some of these items collected are back from my pregnancy what with maternity pillows and clothes. I even have toddler items thrown into the mix. I wish I could say that was all of it in the photo but the truth is that it is about 5x the amount in the photo! I have kept all clothes, toys, feeding equipment and anything else you need when being a parent to a baby.

I don't know why I felt the need to hoard all of that, I could quite easily got rid of it on eBay/NCT sales as I went along but some part of me just wanted to keep it all, I guess that's the hoarder inside of me. I seem to do it with bags too, despite having ones that I no longer like or have long gone out of fashion I've managed to keep them in wardrobe and drawers just because I'm cant bare to part with them.



I'm going to be extremely nosy and ask Sally, Jen, Pippa & Vic.. What are you hoarding?

I promise that I will do my best:
to love my God,
to serve the Queen and my country,
to help other people
and to keep the Guide Law.

Does this sound familiar to you? Was you a rainbow/brownie/girl guide back in the day?

Reading a article over on the BBC website about girls overtaking boys in Scout admissions and Sally's post saying how she basically wants to be a girl guide bought back my own memories of being all 3.

I think it was every Tuesday night at the local church hall that I attended this youth organization for girls. At the same time as me going up to brownies, my younger brothers joined cubs and then later went on to join the Scouts. It didn't bother me at first until jealousy kicked in and I wanted to join Scouts, I guess I was always a bit of a tomboy and contunied to be one as I got older and went from Brownies to Guides. The 'boy scout' stuff sounded much more my kind of thing then what we were doing at Guides. I would of much rather of been roughing it in tents then some lavish indoor place where we had pj parties. I only got more jealous over time but because of the rules saying we had to stick to our groups I had to continue to be a girl guide whilst my brothers toasted marshmallows over outdoor fires.

Of course the rules went and changed back in 2007 which allowed all girls of all ages to join the Scouts but of course by then I had swapped girl guides for the delights of bars and cocktails. I know some areas of the UK allowed girls to join Scouts before 2007 but my area didn't.

Did you get to do what I couldn't and join the Scouts? Do you have fond memories of being a girl guide?

There's many things in life you just don't want to see or don't want to happen, accidents which involve peoples lives being one of them. This morning at exactly 10:30am we witnessed a collision between a cyclist and a motorbike, I remember the time well as I had just looked at the time on my phone before looking up and seeing a guy on a cycle and a guy on a motorbike approach one another at a fast speed. We can see they were going to collide, there were those few seconds where we helplessly watched it happen before slamming on the brakes just a couple of metres away from them.

I wont go into detail about what I saw and how it looked, I don't want you to have the vision which I can see haunting me for weeks to come. But something came across me which I don't think I've seen before, and that was bravery. I jumped out of the car at the same time as phoning a ambulance and did what I could to help, by this time others had came to help. I had helped to stop bleeding and got what I could of out the car to help, guess the fact we were on the way to the beach with towels in our bags helped.

The guy on the motorbike some how escaped with just a few scratches, he manged to stand up and walk over to the side of the road and sit down, it was the cyclist who was obviously worst off. A few cars behind was a doctor who came running over to help at the same time as the ambulance arriving. I went and sat with the motorbike guy, he was in deep shock and was staring at this cyclist who was on the ground just feet away. I could not begin to imagine how he was feeling and what was going through his mind. I somehow tried to take his mind off what was unraveling in front of us, until the police came. The cyclist was put in the back of the ambulance and I returned to the car, to my friend who was driving and to Oli who was in the back.

Then it hit me what I had actually just seen and what I actually did, I flew out of that car and reacted in a way I never would of thought possible. I stayed calm and did what I needed too, of course it was the right and only thing to do. Anyone would of done exactly the same thing, but it was me this time that did it. I guess I could of discussed it with my friend who was to stay in the car with Oli and who was to help but I knew his dislike of blood and the shock of having to brake so suddenly meant that I was the one to go.

We sat in the car and waited for instructions from the police, we were asked what happened and then told that they had to wait and see what was having with the cyclist. Most cars and other people who had responded had now gone, as we were at the slip road to the motorway this had been closed and cars were queuing behind the police cars which were all over the place.

The policeman which had asked us what happened came over and explained that the cyclists injuries had become life threatening and that we were to wait around to see what would happen next, photos of the scene needed to be taken and that we were main witness and needed to give full statements. Now it was feeling real, more real then what I saw when I was stopping the bleeding. he policeman said it how it was - life threatening. This had me jumping out the car to be sick. This was real life and not some crime program on the television.

The cyclist was rushed off to hospital, we were told that a policeman had gone with him and that we would know how he was doing when they knew. We could do nothing but sit and wait, we talked about what we saw, but nothing helped with the shock of what our eyes actually did see. It did look worse then it was, I wasn't expecting a pulse from either of them when I got out of that car. That's how horrific it looked from where I was sat.

Oli was extremely well behaved which I'm so proud of him for, cant of been easy for him stuck in the car for a couple of hours in this weather with lack of food and suitable entertainment. He didn't have a clue what was going on, he enjoyed playing with the policemen but I would of rather that of been at some summer fete and not the scene of a accident.

I wish I could explain that relief I felt when we were updated on the cyclist and told that he was out of danger. I'm not embarrassed to say I prayed, I prayed so hard as that ambulance pulled away that he would be ok. He was someones son, husband by the looks of the wedding ring and eve possibly someones father. My mind was all over the place what with emotions, thoughts and the playbacks. We gave statements and then after what seemed like forever we were allowed to go. We were on route to the beach after just viewing a house, we didn't feel like the beach after this. We didn't even want to be on the road or in the car anymore. We turned around and headed straight back where we sat and drank tea and tried to forget about the mornings events.

I don't know who's fault it was and if either of the cyclist or the guy on the motorbike were at wrong, I'm just relived that the cyclist was sensible enough to be wearing a helmet which definitely saved his life and that we were not caught up in any of it simply because of that little life which was in the back of our car.

Me and the boy are taking our next steps in life, we're taking a journey together - just me and him. The great thing about all that has gone on in our lives recently is how much closer it has bought us together.


We're in the middle of moving and changing our lives once again, but this time it's for us and no one else. So if I'm not around here much it's either because I'm without Internet or that I'm simply just enjoying this lovely weather. I'm putting the laptop away and instead getting out my bucket and spade, because we'll need it with where we are moving too.

The lovely Cass over at The Diary Of A Frugal Family had the fab idea of starting a little feature on her blog called today is.. and she even created a little badge.. and who doesn't like badges?

I like this idea, I can share with you what I've done today and of course it's been a lovely sunny day so we've spent most of the day down by the beach but this evening we've been having some fun in the garden.

So dear blog of mine...

Nothing can beat the thrill of receiving gifts in the post, gifts that were simply gifted upon you for no reason at all. These kind of thrills totally rock.

Thanks to the lovely over at I was treated to some goodies from Amazon, simply for just commenting on Mediocre Mum's post about her visit from the Fairy Godmother. The fairy Godmother has also been hard at work giving out chocolates, washing machines, HD TVs and even making donations to charity at the bloggers request.


Why not leave a comment sharing what your wish item from the Fairy Godmother would be or why not drop them a tweet .. You never know who might be watching!

Yep, I'm now a full fledged mother to one two year. I guess I can officially say I now own a toddler. Not a baby or a ordinary child but a toddler. I hear it's also called 'that evil stage'. We've already witnessed the beginnings of some rather delightful tantrums which involve a screaming child lying on the floor until he gets bored and forgets what he was tantruming about. He has a attitude too which involves a major lack of impatience. It's not all been tantrums and attitude though, he's turned into a proper little boy who has been learning the ways of the world he's still not speaking but he knows how to communicate with me to let me know what he wants.

At the same time as turning 2 he's dropped his night feeds, ever since a big life change several weeks back he's sleeping through the night. Which means I get a lovely 7pm to 8am out of him, sometimes even a 9/10am start! I can hear you saying lucky cow through gritted teeth. This is fantastic for me because of 2 years of having to wake in the night and give him a bottle of milk I now get to experience full nights sleep again.


We celebrated turning 2 by visiting a local farm to see some animals and see the lambs being born, Oli changed his mind about the lambs when he got there and saw the Chickens. They were much more interesting apparently then the cute baby lambs being born, so we spent a good hour pointing and following the chickens every move.

We've had so much fun over the last few weeks, totally making the most of our family time before we explore him going into nursery for the first time. I still cant believe the baby days are totally behind us, as I get his baby stuff down from the loft over the next few days I know there's going to be a tear or 2 shed.

I've been forced held at gun point brainwashed overpowered challenged by Sally over at Who's the Mummy along with Vic, Jen & Pippa to blog our fridges. Yes our fridges. She wants to know exactly what is in our fridge.

I've probably chosen the worse day possible to show you mine as it's the day before the big food shop and a day after a birthday tea party so it's looking rather sorry for itself. Thankfully the leftover Chinese is hidden behind the bacon but you can see tonight's lazy tea of chicken tikka slices over in the far left next to the out of date coleslaw and endless supply of children's yogurts.




After seeing Sally's fridge and seeing that her ratio of beer to food was greater, I realised that was way more shameful then my lack of food. Pippa's fridge made me crave cherries where as Jen's fridge has me thinking she's a big mayo fan!

So Tim over at Bringing Up Charlie, Claire at The life of the 20 Something Mum, Amy at And 1 More Means 5 , Jo at Slummy Single Mummy and notsupermum what is in your fridge??

This May returns to Birmingham’s NEC to offer must have products, free expert advice and an unrivalled shopping experience for parents and parents-to-be.

In just one day visitors can shop for everything they need from the widest range of products including all the baby brands mums love. Shopping at The Show means huge savings can be enjoyed on 1000s of must have baby and maternity products as The Baby Show offers tons of exclusive deals and unbeatable prices. What’s more, new and expectant parents can try before they buy ensuring peace of mind.

At The Show world-leading experts will be on head to offer complementary sessions giving out professional advice and tips. Breastfeeding specialist Clare Byam-Cook, nutrition expert Annabel Karmel and the British Red Cross will all be on hand to dish out their professional expertise. Plus, Next will be offering maternity wear consultations to ensure all mummies stay yummy before, during and after pregnancy. The Baby Show is great day out for all the family.

The Baby Show with Fisher-Price takes place from 20-22 May 2011 and is giving 5 lucky winners the chance to win a pair of tickets to attend.

For your chance to win a pair of these tickets simply leave a comment telling me which stand you are most looking forward to visiting from the exhibitoner list. Competition ends Monday 25th April 2011.

For a extra entry tweet : By tweeting this I'm in with a chance of winning @TheBabyShow tickets with @MeTheManAndBaby http://tinyurl.com/69jlvj9

The Baby Show takes place on 20-22 May, NEC, Birmingham. Tickets are on sale now for The Baby Show and are available from the box office on 0871 231 0844 or online at . Head to for full details.

I like getting sent random press releases because sometimes (just sometimes) they really are of use to us parents. I've blogged ones before in the past about special offers and camping but this one is all about flying with Heathrow this easter with the family. If you're off on holidays abroad this Easter (you lucky thing!) then these helpful tips may be of use to you.

Heathrow, which flies more people to and from the world's biggest cities than any
other UK airport, is preparing for its busiest month this year with more than 5.5
million passengers set to pass through the airport terminals this Easter.

To help make families' journeys as smooth as possible, Heathrow has lined up lots
of fun activities to entertain little ones this April. There are also plenty of
services which parents can take advantage of this Easter - and all year round - to
make travelling with children easier.


Free Family Fun

. Easter bunnies will be handing out over 100,000 free mini Cadbury Creme Eggs to
children across all four terminals

. Heathrow staff will be handing out free iSpy books and bendy pencils to keep kids
busy and entertained before their flight

. Much-loved cartoon characters, Peppa Pig and Humungousaur, will be roving around
the terminals to meet and greet kids travelling through the airport on the busiest
days in April

. Kids eat free for the whole month of April at Est Caffe in Terminal 1, Dining
Street Restaurant & Bar at Terminal 4 and Huxleys in Terminal 5. Firm family
favourites such as Giraffe, Bridge Bar & Eating House, Pret A Manger and Chez
Gérard will also be adding new kids dishes on their menus

. Fancy giving your kids a run around before the flight? Heathrow is setting up a
pre-flight play area in Terminal 5 over the busiest weekend of the holidays where
children can use up all their energy before the journey ahead


Heathrow's Here To Help

. The Heathrow Journey Team handle a range of passenger care needs from customer
service and shopping assistance to wayfinding. Dressed in purple uniforms they are
dotted all around the terminals and are on hand to help out with any passenger
request from pharmacy to food, they just need to ask!

. Unsure what you can and can't pack in your hand luggage? Heathrow has produced a
security leaflet giving families all the information they need to get through
security quickly. It's available to download from the website 

. We know having enough baby food and milk, as well as getting it though security,
are among the biggest concerns for parents travelling with young children.
Parents can reserve baby milk ahead of time from Boots stores airside and collect
it before they board. For complete peace of mind simply visit Reserve & Collect and
your order will be ready for you when you reach the departure lounge

. Plan your entire airport visit from the palm of your hand with Heathrow's free app.
This complete mobile advice service helps passengers locate and book the most
convenient method of transport to the airport, whilst providing up to the minute
information on check-in procedures, airport news and terminal details. Once at the
airport, the app provides detailed terminal maps, shop locations and even the latest
retail offers, linked to directly from Heathrow's Twitter feed

. Run out of battery? There are free charging points located in the seating areas
and at most gates across Heathrow terminals for passengers to charge their phones,
laptops and games before they board

. There are baby change areas and free drinking water fountains in each terminal
at Heathrow, both before and after security control - most of which are located
alongside the toilet blocks

We had our first trip to A & E today with Oli, he had fallen over into the hard bit of the sofa under the cushion and had managed to split his gum open. So not only did he has his first hospital trip but it was the first time I've seen blood come from my baby boy. I know come 4/5 years time, I'm going to be queen of the first aid box and come armed with plasters but to see him bleed at this age was a little upsetting.

He was in shock himself, he spent the whole car journey to the hospital saying 'oh no' whilst clutching his blankie tightly. When we arrived the receptionist told us that we would have a hours wait, great.. a hour westling a tired baby and trying to keep him in the playroom which really could of done with a stair gate to stop me from being a human stair gate.

It was so upsetting when we were called in and I had to hold Oli tightly so that the Doctor could look into his mouth, he was sobbing which of course set me off. This motherhood really plays havoc with your emotions. We were told his teeth were all fine but it will take a while to heal and then he was to avoid anything salty which we do anyway and that crisp might not be a good idea either. Pretty sure if he was able to understand that Oli would of been saying 'oh no' again.

We spent the rest of the day trying to stop him from knocking it which of course any parent to a toddler knows it impossible, bath time was like a scene out of a Dracula movie. He's tucked up in bed now bless him. I'm now sat hoping that today was the first and last time we visit A & E but something tells me we're just getting started.

Along with 25 other bloggers I was invited by Innocent to become a ruler of a letter for one of their funky letter magnets. We were picked to be Queen of i which I'm rather proud to be as i could of course be i for innocent. We're big fans of innocent in this house and count the yummy smoothies and fruit tubes are one of our five a day, we kindly got sent some of these along with a iceberg lettuce.. see i-ceberg lettuce.. clever..right!




We choose to represent our chosen letter by sticking it in the one place which the letter 'i' really reminds us of. The icebox! Though it was a close call with iggle piggle.


Why not submit your own photos of where you have stuck your magnets to the innocent gang by tweeting them and using the hashtag or by posting it in the . You could be in with a chance of winning a smoothie delivery and a special limited edition magnet t-shirt.

Keeping up with trend I'm posting a meme which I've been tagged in by Pippa over A Mother's Ramblings which has been circulating blogosphere since the lovely Michelle over at Mummy From The Heart created it.

I've not chosen a word for Pippa yet, how can I? There are way too many words to describe the wonderful Pips. She's one of my bestest friends in parent blogosphere and I had the great pleasure of spending my last birthday with her eating all you can eat spicy food. Thinking about it I guess I'll have to use the one word which gets chucked around a lot but has many different meanings such as awesome, wondrous, miraculous, pordigious, astonishing, amazing, astounding, phenomenal, unique, curious, strange. Which are all words which I would use to describe Pippa, the word is wonderful.

True meme tradition I am passing this on to some other fantastic bloggers in the hope that they will give me the chance to describe them in one word!

Musings of a Mum of 2 boys

Mocha Beanie Mummy

Mummy Musings

Whimsical Wife

2 Stars and a Swirl


So bloggers.. What one word would you choose to describe me?