Mother's Day gift ideas

This year will mark my first Mother's Day as a mummy and I am really looking forward to spending the day with the Mini Grumpy Egyptian. While March 30 is about so much more than gifts, I think all mum's will admit it is rather nice to open something gorgeous on the day so I searched the internet and picked my top eight gifts for Mother's Day.

1. Handmade two peas in a pod necklace by Muriel & Lily. Notonthehighstreet.com £125

2. Spineless Classics Pride and Prejudice print. IWOOT.com. £33.99

3. Chocolate letter with smarties by The LetterRoom. Notonthehighstreet.com £9.95

4. When life hands mum lemons print by Wink Design. Notonthehighstreet.com £16.50

5. Six month membership to The Cake Club by The Cake Nest £39.99

6. Tassie bag by White Stuff £65

7. Michael Kors watch at John Lewis £209

8. Mandarin and Tangelo scented candle by The Body Shop £10

Now I don't know about you, but I would be so happy to receive any of those on Mother's Day. How will you be celebrating Mother's Day? Any exciting plans?

Review of The Baby Show 2013 - Kensington Olympia

The MamaBabyBliss stand

Well after a very long and tiring day, we are back home from The Baby Show. First off I have to say I was really impressed with how things were organised as at around 11.30am when we arrived it took just minutes to get through into the hall itself. First tip: make sure you grab a hall map as not all the aisles line up so you could accidentally miss something good.

The first thing we did was sign up for the British Red Cross First Aid for Babies and Children. It is free and there are sessions throughout the day that give you basic, but essential knowledge on what to do if your child chokes, is burnt or unconscious. Make sure you sign up on arrival as sessions fill up quickly.

The next stop for us was the Mothercare stand where we snapped up some clothes for the Mini Grumpy Egyptian that were discounted. The VEtech and Chicco toy areas were also great and I got some good ideas for Christmas.

The Babies R Us area was well discounted and on the way there visit the Prima Baby stand where for £20 I got a years magazine subscription and choice of 4 Tommee Tippee free gifts. They are also selling goodie bags for £2 that have October and November issues of the magazines as well as a load of products.



A selection of the Funky Giraffe bibs we bought

Sadly I missed the talks I wanted to listen to, but did visit the speaker's respective stalls and get some good tips. After the Babies R Us area, make sure to keep an eye out for the Fisher-Price life-size rocker that adults can sit in!

When it comes to the smaller brands, it was nice to put a face to some of those I follow on Twitter. I got to meet the guys behind The Gro Company and see the product in person. I didn't get one in the end but on reflection wish I had because with these cold nights the MGE will need it. My favourite item was the travel bag that could safely be worn with a car seat.

Another brand I enjoyed meeting was MamaBabyBliss who launched their new CDs for both expectant and new mums as well as a birthing kit at the show. They kindly gave me a copy of their CD for new mums (The Mama & BabyBliss CD) that along with other things teaches you about baby massage - something I've struggled with in the past. A review of the CD will follow shortly. They also have a gorgeous range of products that smell fantastic. Holly Matthews, who acts as brand ambassador for them was even there to sign CDs.

I did make good use of the Tommee Tippee feeding area with breast pads and rocking chairs, as well as microwaves and free Plum baby food. There is also a baby changing area (ran by ASDA) that has changing tables, free wipes and nappies as well as talc/nappy cream.

On the way out we stocked up on Funky Giraffe bibs - 5 for £10 or 12 for £20.

The only downside related to public transport and the lack of signposting telling those wanting to go in Clapham Junction direction that there wasn't a lift to the footbridge and they had to walk all the way round, but that wasn't really the fault of The Baby Show!

All in all we had a great day and really had to work hard to keep our cash in our pockets! Hope you enjoy it as much as we did and see you next year.

*DISCLAIMER* I did win tickets to The Baby Show in a Tommee Tippee Freebie Friday competition on Facebook, but was not required to write about the show

Baby toiletry essentials

When I reached my 35^th week of pregnancy I realised that I really should start buying some toiletries for the Mini Grumpy Egyptian and myself in case I went into labour early. Walking around the shops, I was amazed at how much variety there is and a quick Google search showed every mum had their own favourite brands. After a couple of bad product tries... I have come up with my top picks for babies and will do a post later for mums.

Nappies

I chose the disposable route and after some horror leaks with other brands, a friend recommended I try the Tesco Loves Baby ones and we haven’t (touch wood!) had a leak yet.

Wipes

To be honest we are still changing on this one as the ones we used to get in Oman for some reason cause a reaction on the little one when we got them in the UK. Currently trying out the Tesco Loves Baby sensitive wipes and Huggies Pure wipes as they were on offer. Loving the fact the Tesco ones have a proper lid to them instead of the useless peel/restick one many wipes seem to. When it comes to nappy bags I have been using the Mothercare ones as they are scented enough that if you are somewhere without a bin and need to do an emergency change that is going to be stuck in your bag for a while, it isn’t going to get offensive!

Nappy Rash cream

We have been lucky with Mini Grumpy Egyptian that she hasn’t had much issue here, but when she did seem a bit uncomfortable I tried a couple of products and found Boots Baby SensitiveBottom Balm was the way to go on this one. It acts like a barrier cream and helps sooth any sore bits so two big ticks there.

Bedtime routine

The Mini Grumpy Egyptian has never been too keen on bedtime, but loves the water so it was really important for me to try and introduce a bedtime routine that included a nice warm bath with lots of bubbles. Currently we use Tesco Loves Baby Bath Bedtime, but it can be quite hard to get hold of so have been known to use the Johnson’s bedtime bubblebath. However worth seeking out the Tesco version as it is cheaper, has a lovely relaxing smell and gives lots of bubbles for grumpy princesses! We follow her bath with Johnsons Baby Bedtime Lotion because it smells AMAZING.

Extras

When needed we use Boots Baby Sensitive Moisturiser on her face and (for when the sun shines in the UK) a bottle of Nivea Sun Kids Caring sun lotion at 50SPF+ keeps her skin safe.

So there are my favourites. What products do you consider your essentials?

The Egyptian Mummy