{Mothercare, St Enoch Centre & BabyK - a review}

Last week Mothercare opened it's new store in Glasgow's St Enoch Centre and it's now Mothercare's largest city centre store in Scotland.

The littlest and I were delighted to be invited along for the launch where we met TV presenter, singer and fashion designer Myleene Klass. Myleene designs the BabyK range for the store, which is now in it's 12th season.

Isn't Myleene just so glam! She was super friendly and we really enjoyed chatting with her.

The new St Enoch Centre, Mothercare is over two floors. The ground floor is focused on the fashion with the celebrity collections BabyL and Little Bird by Jools Oliver. The upper floor has all the baby gear that you can imagine - prams, baby baths, nursery bedding etc - as well as toys from Early Learning Centre. There are lots of offers in store at elc just now too as this year marks their 40th birthday.

Littlest and I love a bit of bling and this star embellished top is amazing. 

Can I have one in my size please!

And the jacket and boots too!! 

How cute is this t-shirt that features Myleene's two girls! Myleene has been looking at various stock photographs for the t-shirt and then decided to use a photo of her own girls instead. It's beautiful. 

We were allowed to choose one item from the BabyK range to take home with us, and the littlest picked this gorgeous swimsuit and hat. We love it. As soon as we got home she was insistent that it was put on so it could be tried out in the bath. And then it was worn the day after too for our swimming lesson! The gorgeous flower print is really colourful and I adore the addition of the 3D fabric flowers. The swimming cap is just the perfect finishing touch - so stylish! The swimsuit fitted the littlest really well and she was nice and comfortable whilst in it.

With her Cup Cake Lil' Cutesies Lulu Doll all ready for the pool!

@Glasgow_Mummy she looks absolutely fantastic! X
— Myleene Klass (@KlassMyleene) May 2, 2014

We received a complimentary item from the BabyK range and a Mothercare gift voucher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions, as always, are my own. 

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{Moo! Bedtime milk}

Today I decided that I was going to ditch the baby bottles and make the move to sippy cups for my children's bedtime & morning milk.

We bought two Cow Cups at the supermarket this morning and they both seemed really excited about their special new cups!

I had envisaged that the toddler (3 years) was going to be harder to persuade than the baby (16 months), however, it ended up being the opposite way round. My son drank his milk beautifully and even asked for the lid to be removed. My daughter on the other hand wasn't keen on the cup. I was determined not to go back to the bottles though, and I gave her some milk in a different cup in case it was too difficult for her to get the milk out of the Cow Cup. She didn't drink the same volume of milk that she would normally from her bottle, but she at least drank some and is now happily asleep in her cot. Result!

Moo! The udderly brilliant Cow Cup

I'm now going to head to the kitchen and hide away all the baby bottles. I won't throw them out just yet, just in case!!

Next up is getting rid of the toddler's dummies and my thoughts are that we'll give them to Santa!

Can't believe how quickly they are both growing up! I've no longer got two little babies... I've got two very independent, confident toddlers on my hands!!

Daughter in her 'coorie doon' pyjamas! (that's me in the background looking horrendous!!)

Say cheese!!

And look what I've just spotted... how cute are these little bird cups!!! They come in green, blue or pink and are suitable for 6 months plus.

Tweet! The highflying Bird Cup

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{Sleep Deprivation}

I used to have my children's sleep sussed. I was so chuffed with myself, especially after lunch-time when not one, but both my little ones took their afternoon snooze at the exact same time. I used to get two hours of blissful me-time!

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Note the tense here... yes, I used to! Now, I'm faced with the situation where if my toddler sleeps (even for 10 minutes) he fails to go to his bed at a decent time (now by decent I mean 7-7.30pm). Instead, he's up running about, carrying on and being a general nuisance until 9.30-10pm. This I can't cope with. It would be different if he then had a long lie, but he still insists on 'it's morning time' at 6am! My daughter thankfully still has an afternoon nap, she's just turned 14 months, and I do get a little bit of time to myself as the toddler can generally play quite happily in my vicinity but it's not the same. I used to be able to do one hour of housework and then one hour of relaxing, or if I was being particularly selfish I would have two hours of relaxing! This means my days are full-on. By night-time I'm ready for my bed at the same time as the kids (I'm not joking either, I've seen myself in my pyjamas before them!).

More recently I've been faced with multiple wake-up calls during the night, from both the toddler and the baby, but mainly the toddler. He's in a big boy bed now which means he can get up and come through to my room to get me. Last night for example, he was up at 1am and woke his sister (who shares a room with him). I then struggled to get her settled, but eventually she did. He on the other hand was a different matter and I ended up having to give him a drink of milk at around 2am. Even then he was up a few more times because he needed a tissue for his nose, or needed snuggled into bed. And occasionally I end up with the toddler in my bed from 3, 4 or 5am, which I really cannot cope with!

I need some help... what do I need to be doing to get him to sleep through without waking up?? I can quite happily cope with a 6am wake-up call, but when I'm being woken multiple times throughout the night these early starts are killing me! I get frustrated with myself because I'm not on top of the laundry or the place is disorganised, but come 8pm when I've finally got them both asleep all I can muster is a quick clean of the kitchen and then I'm in bed myself too!

Their daddy takes them on a Sunday night and a Monday night, so I do get two nights of proper sleep each week thankfully. However, I tend to be so exhausted from the previous week that all I want to do is sleep!

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The first thing I'm going to do to remedy this is to separate my son & daughter into separate bedrooms. I've got the space to do this, and I think this will help a lot because that removes the issue of them waking each other up. I put them into a shared room quite early on, I think my daughter was 6 months old. At the time they both slept from 7-7.30pm through to 7-7.30am and to me it made perfect sense to have them together.

I've got a Gro-Clock sleep trainer, but I've been lazy and haven't been persevering with the story each night. This is next on the list of things to do.

I've already got black out lining and black out blinds on the windows, so I don't think that's the problem.

I'm wondering if it's hunger... However, if the toddler refuses to eat his dinner then I point blank refuse to cook another meal for him. He does still get his bottle of milk before bed though. But then it's just a vicious circle if I then have to get up in the middle of the night and give him more milk.

If anyone has any suggestions then please do get in touch and leave a comment... I'd love to hear your thoughts.

{Packing away the steriliser...}

My little baby daughter turns one in exactly 1 week... just 7 days to go! The other day I gave her cow's milk in her bottle as I'm nearing the end of the box of formula, and today I'm packing away the steriliser. I was very much looking forward to reaching this milestone... no more formula milk and no more sterilising... but on reflection, I shouldn't have been wishing her baby days over so quickly and I'm rather sad that she's nearly a toddler (she's cruising round furniture now and I'm sure it won't be long until she's toddling about!) and not my little baby anymore.

Today was also another milestone - her first trip in a big girl car seat!

She's becoming very independent - wants to feed herself and desperate to get up on her feet to join in with her big brother. It's lovely to watch them play together, hide and seek is a favourite with my bedroom curtains!

On Saturday we are having an afternoon tea party for the birthday girl - do come back here to see the photographs from the day and find out more about the birthday cake (I'm making it myself, with a little help from Mrs Jones, as part of my 35 at 35 list).

I thought I'd share a few of her photographs from the last year...

An hour old!

First trip to Aberdeen to visit my family

First taste of food

Tummy time

Worn out after all the excitement at Christmas in her LBD

Sitting up unaided for the first time

In a trolley for the first time (not looking very impressed!)

First time in a swing

Making a mess with yoghurt!

Climbing up stairs last weekend for the first time!

{Merry Christmas}

I've been so busy lately with the run up to Christmas that I haven't had much free time for blogging. Coupled with the fact that my toddler has now decided that he doesn't need a daytime sleep, or if he does sleep it's normally much later in the afternoon once the baby is awake... meaning that I don't get any kiddie-free time until they are in bed at night whereas before I would get 2 hours to myself each day!

Anyway, thought I would do a quick post to share some of the photographs from my Christmas card this year seeing as they have all been posted now... I love my son's '75% elf' t-shirt which I bought last year from www.notonthehighstreet.com. I bought the Photoshop template for the card from Vol 25. 

{Fabulous Finds: Baby & Toddler Gifts}

With Christmas just around the corner I thought I would share some of my fabulous finds for gifts for the little ones.

I was shopping the other day, in person rather than on the net, and it just reinforced my love of online shopping... I just couldn't be bothered with finding a parking space, not finding the item you were looking for, the queues at the tills...bleugh!

Here's my lowdown on some gifts that I've recently bought or I'm planning on buying... they're all under £15.00.

I'm thinking of getting my son a kite for his Christmas. He recognises the letter 'k' already and says 'kite' and makes a whooshing noise - very cute! He loves the outdoors so something like this will be perfect I think for running about at the local park (it's always windy here!!).

Spirit of Air Diamond Rainbow Kite from Kidz Outdoors

I've bought a couple of these stamps for Christmas gifts and I'm going to team it with some bright coloured ink pads, some pencils and a book for a few of my children's cousins.

"This book belongs to" stamp from Cox & Cox

I've bought a lunch bag and matching water bottle for my daughter who is currently being weaned. This will allow me to carry around her purees, spoons etc when out on day trips. I'm hoping to ditch the baby changing bag soon, so it's my plan to have a lunch bag of snacks and essentials that can be thrown into my own handbag. Here are the ones I chose:

Skip Hop Zoo Lunchie Insulated Lunch Bag in Ladybird from Funky Moose

Crocodile Creek Ladybugs Drinks Bottle from Funky Moose

(she's obviously too young for the drinks bottle at the moment but I wanted to get a matching one whilst it was available!)

A good friend of mine recommended the Orchard Toy games, and when I spotted these in a toy shop whilst away for the weekend I stocked up on a few! I bought the shape snap game for my son's Christmas - he loves shapes. I also bought the Quack Quack game. I've just been having a look online at the Orchard Toys webpage and the range of educational games is fantastic. They are also offering free UK delivery on orders over £15!

Orchard Toys Quack Quack Game

I've bought a few of these fab popcorn bowls from Cox & Cox as Christmas gifts for some of the older kids we know. I thought they were quite quirky! They're a bit smaller than I anticipated, but I should have paid more attention to the dimensions on the website!!

Retro-designed plastic popcorn bowl from Cox & Cox

Another fab gift I've bought is this finger printing art set. There are various themes, I chose the fairy tale theme. I think it makes a lovely gift and everything you need is packaged in a beautiful little tin.

I want to point out that I've just stumbled across the website The Pea's Knees and it's lovely...they also offer free UK postage!

Finger Printing Art Set from The Pea's Knees

My sister bought these magnetic letters and a magnetic easel for my son's birthday this year and he loves them. He already recognises a lot of the letters and we write messages on the easel for granny & grandpa or Auntie Ali when they visit!

John Crane Magnetic Letters

This Fairy Cupcake Recipe Book by Think Pink is super cute and I've bought one for a friend's daughter who loves to bake. I also managed to find some scented pens in strawberry flavour from a local gift shop (to match the strawberry page marker in the recipe book) and I think it will make a perfect gift.

Fairy Cupcake Recipe Book

Strawberry Scented Pen

Another gift that I've bought in the past is a mouse in a matchbox. They are adorable and I know my son would love one as he's currently obsessed with houses, boxes, little people/animals and role play. This one is from the online shop Hop Toy Shop and again it's a site I recently came across and bookmarked because I thought it was lovely.

Matchbox Boy Mouse

As always, do let me know what you think :-)