My Very First Product Review!

OK I'm going to attempt my very first product review. I'm not being sponsored for this (but really would welcome sponsors and freebies!!) so one things for sure.....you know I'm going to be honest.

Last night was pretty cold and I thought what a perfect opportunity to try out the new Uh-oh! Sleepwear Buggy Bags. These are a lot like the traditional sleeping bag or Gro Bag but with a difference.

Firstly they have arms meaning the TOG rating just increased from 2.5 to 3.0. For those who don't know what a TOG rating is, it's the Thermal Insulance (or equivalent to how many blankets or doona's you have on) rating given to sleeping bags. So according to the TOG Rating, in a 16-20'C room Emily would only need a singlet, nappy and the 3.0 TOG Buggy Bag on to keep warm.

The second difference is that the Buggy Bag has legs. It's like a padded romper that has a two way zip (handy for nappy changes) and the feet have non-slip rubber spots so your toddler can walk safely on tiles or floor boards.

The verdict is.......We Love It!

Emily slept all the way through. She woke at 6:30am this morning needing a nappy change which was easily done without having to remove the whole bag. She then played happily in the cot for half an hour while I had a shower because she could stand up and wasn't constricted like a sleeping bag.

When I got her up I thought about changing her straight away but decided she could lie on her beanbag in front of the TV while I made breakfast. The previous couple of mornings she's needed a blanket to keep warm at that time of the morning but with the Buggy Bag it was like she already had one on.

So I've ordered another one for her in pink floral and would definitely recommend them to any Mum who wants a good nights sleep and has a baby or toddler who's able to stand or walk.

No Rest for The Wicked

What a great weekend! I got no housework, cooking or washing done. But I did have a great time!

It started with Saturday morning coffee and a trip to the hairdressers. I was so scared because it was Emily's first haircut and I knew we'd be cutting off the last of her baby hair. Why is this such a big deal? I think after she started toilet training early and because she is so physically advanced and big for her age (at 20 months she's 15kg and 90.5cm tall), cutting off her baby hair means that she's now a little girl and I kind of want to hold onto Baby Emily for just a little longer.

My little girl is a bit of a loner most of the time. She can be shy and doesn't like strangers or big crowds. So our plan was to just sit and chat in the hairdressers and if she seemed comfortable enough we would cut her hair. It worked a treat. She even thought sitting in the big chair by herself was great fun and happily let the girl cut her hair. Then she stood in front of the mirror for ages checking out her new do.

The only thing she didn't like was getting her photo taken.

Since that went so well we went off to see my friend Mrs Doodlebug who's husband had gone away for the weekend to a music festival and she had the two boys and her 8 month old (also named Emily) at home. We decided to go for a short walk to the main street of Wodonga as the Harmony Carnivale was on and there were loads of live music, art and market stalls.

First thing Mrs Doodlebugs boys did when we got there was run off so we spent the next half hour searching for them, prams in tow. After finding the boys (I managed to sneak an Organic Olive Tapanade purchase in) and giving them a stern talking to about not scaring their Mum like that again, we sat down for coffee and scones and watched the local primary schools music group perform some singing and dancing. Emily thought it was awesome fun and even got up on her chair and did dance moves I've never seen her do before. See what happens in childcare!

We went home for her midday nap and she slept for 3 hours! Whenever she does that it means she'll be up late that night (usual bedtime is 7pm) so I suggested to hubby that we head back to the Carnivale for a curry dinner and to watch the parade. Emily had a ball and we ran into loads of friends. It was such a great family atmosphere and I definitely think we'll go back next year. Emily even had some butter chicken from the Indian curry stand.

Today was always going to be busy. One of my oldest friends is due to have a baby next week and I wanted to catch up with her before she went in for her scheduled Cesar. She has a little girl 6 months older than Emily and I thought they could have a play together.

Well they didn't exactly play, they wanted everything each other had and there was scratching, biting and a bit of slapping involved. How ironic though that because Emily used the big toilet my friends little girl had to use it too. My friend says she can never get her girl to use the toilet and it's great that she wants to copy what Emily did. On the other hand Emily has never really been very social with other kids and after the initial squabbles, my friends little girl came over and gave Emily a hug and a kiss. Emily thought that was great and reciprocated. It was so sweet!

I can see these two being great friends when they get older, just like her Mum and I were at school.

So after I put Emily down for her midday nap I headed back into town with my Dad for a fun filled afternoon of putting up new shop fittings and re-merchandising the shelves. We still have a long way to go but the beginning of the shops transformation is now underway and it's so exciting.

Showing off my new Gaia Organic Cotton range.

So tomorrow I have Market Day at QEII Square in Albury and it's going to be fine and sunny so I'm hoping for a huge day. I have a stall going and just finished packing the car withy everything I think I'll need. The shop will also be open so fingers crossed we get loads of people with kids looking for baby or children's clothing.

I'm trying to think of something special to do with Emily on Wednesday as it's our new day together. I'll be in Melbourne buying on Friday, then another market on Sunday (which I haven't even sewed anything for yet!).

So with such a busy week ahead I better go get some shut eye.

How was your weekend? 

A Very Angry Mum!

Tonight I'm seething! I picked up Miss E from childcare today and her face was grazed, small cut above her right eye, bruising and both knees grazed. Now I know accidents happen, toddlers run and fall, but no one can actually tell me what happened ad there was no incident report for me to sign. To top it off it's clearly a head injury and regardless of how minor it is, legally they are required to call me and report it.

About two months after we put Miss E into this childcare center I began to think it wasn't the best place. I don't know why, maybe it was other Mums telling me of the problems they were having, maybe it was the center director running around like she had ADD and making all her employees nervous wrecks, maybe it was because aftyer 2 months Miss E still cried and clung to me every time i tried to drop and run.

Childcare spaces are limited in my town so I put her on a waiting list for one a block from the shop and on meeting with the director and doing a tour, one I felt immediately comfortable with.

We have had several incidents in the past 3 months with our current provider. Actually I can count them, five to be exact. In each occurrence the she had scratches, cuts, bruising or head injuries severe enough to contact me however the call wasn't made. In each case the incident report couldn't be provided at the time because the casual who was supervising the children had gone home and didn't fill it out. Each time I could seriously question the amount of supervision given because of things like Miss E was eating strawberries from the garden and no one realised till they saw the white shirt she was wearing had red juice down the front. Come on!

So this is my baby after I picked her up today. She was very grumpy and the bottle was the only way to keep her settled. It's a pretty bad photo and you can't see the grazing that well. It's not even the severity of the injury, it's the balls they have in blatantly breaking policy and the law!

Anyway, I'm happy to say we've been accepted to the new childcare center and she starts next Friday. Tomorrow morning I am definitely going to make a huge complaint to the director, and then I'm making a complaint to the Departments of Community Services. Five times in three months is way too much.

Have you ever experienced anything like this and what did you do about it?

Dolly

So yesterday, since hubby was in Sydney on a "boys weekend" Miss E and I decided to do a little shopping. We were looking for a baby dolly as she's taken to playing with them at childcare (they play doctors and nurses hmmmmm). Now I don't know if you've been dolly shopping lately but on entering our local toy shop I was expecting to be hit with a wall of dolls to choose from. Not the case at all!

We had four choices.....

Lalaloopsy......a little too Coraline and unsafe for a 19 month old.

The Cabbage Patch Kid......They wanted about $80 for this ugly thing and it's half the size of the ones I had as a kid that cost $30!

Another ridiculously priced doll, hard plastic and not very baby-like.

I was getting really frustrated. What ever happened to a plain old plastic doll that looks like a baby?

We ended up with this one for $29.95 which we bought in the toy department at Myer.

Meet "Baby" or "Abbey" depending on what Miss E feels like calling it at the time. Since joining our family "Baby" has enjoyed several bottles, constant putting on and off of clothing, a few flights through the air, lots of kisses and some play dough meals. 

Hubby came home early this morning and we've spent the day enjoying each others company. This week will hopefully be a bit easier since we're all here until I go off to Sydney for the Kids in Style Expo. I'm so looking forward to it. Imagine every kids clothing label all under one roof showing off their wares for the following season! Hopefully it will give me lots to blog about.