Baby's 1st Birthday Present Idea #2

As promised I am back for the second instalment of 'Baby's 1st Birthday Present Ideas' Wahoo!

I shall be revisiting some of the lovely special gifts Finley got for his first birthday like this one and also his gorgeous timeline but also the little gifts mummys babies love that are just too cute and possibly a little bit cheeky!

Looking back aside from his clothes the majority of his presents could be for either a little Dolly Pop or a Rowdy Rascal - Finley very much being the latter.

After racking my brain for ideas I remember stumbling across a gem on pinterest, a little memory box frame filled with lovely newborn goodies. The one on pinterest was A3 and had the tinniest babygrow pinned in, after searching and searching all I could find was this A4 memory box one so I opted for tinier mementos. 

 I gathered all Finley's little newborn lovelies, from his little knitted hat that seemed massive at the time, his name tags and his first ever scan. Another cute touch would be to add the umbilical cord clip, I have put Finley's somewhere so safe I cant even find it...hopefully when I come across it I shall add it in. 

I love it, it ticks all my present loving boxes. And I'm sure when Finley is a little older he will love to see how tiny his little arms and legs once were for those tiny taggies to fit around.

You can buy your memory box frame from John Lewis, mine was £23 and came with all the little pins and printed tags. They do them in pink and blue too! Lovely Jubbly.

They would also be perfect for an 'after wedding gift', if you keep your invites, menu, a little handful of confetti and a photo of the happy couple I'm sure they would love it! 

I hope this has given you a little inspiration for your little ones 1st Birthday and if you do go ahead and make your own please let me know....I would love to see a picture.

Love Kayleigh x

Wet Wipes Top Trumps

Now I know this sounds like a really random post and I'm sure some of you will be saying "Kayleigh wet wipes are all the same aren't they" well I can confirm they are all very different. Some I love and some I am just not a fan of. 

The two brands competing in the face off today are the 'mums favourite' Pampers Sensitive and Simple Baby Moist wipes. 

First off I will just make a note of other wipes I have used on Finley but cannot rave about. 

1st are Huggies Newborn wipes, I know that some mums love these wipes but I just cant find anything I like about them. The wipe itself is very thick and not pliable when wiping little bums, also the sheet when unfolded is also smaller than the others I have tried. When I was pregnant I stocked up on these as they are usually buy 1 get 2 free (pretty good deal if you like them) and did use all of them but haven't repurchased since. However to end on a positive note, they were very moist and held the moisture well and Finley had no adverse reactions. Maybe these are best suited for sticky fingers when out and about. 

The other brand are Tesco Ultrasoft wipes, I didn't dislike too much about these but compared to Pampers and Simple they are very dry. The sheet itself does hold its shape well so no fear of it tearing which Huggies have a habit of doing. The redeeming feature for me was the packaging, the top of the wipes has a handy clip shut lid rather than a flimsy bit of plastic like the others. Overall nothing wowed me but I would buy again if I had too.

Lets crack on.

Both wipes will be rated out of 10 in a number of categories and the winner will be the one with the highest score at the end. Easy Peasy.

 Lets start with price

With wipes if you look around you will always find at least one brand on offer in one supermarket, when I see the promotion I usually stock up because Finley always needs a clean bum bum. Lets start with Pampers, right this minute at Tesco you can buy a box of 12 packs for £14.99 or 2 for £24.00. BUT don't be fooled by offers! In Asda they are just at there standard price of £10 for the same box. Great value! Simple wipes are different prices all over the place, I bought mine for a great price from Ocado. They were on a half price offer for 4 packs for £2.50, but now back up to £5. Then I had a quick gander on Tesco online and they are £2.48 for one pack - wowers that is expensive.

Score Time - Price

Pampers - 8

Simple - 5

Next lets have a look at pack size. 

In the Pampers pack you get a total of 56 wipes which is the least of all the wipe brands I have mentioned, making the price not so much of a bargain when you look at the cost per wipe. Simple have a massive 80 wipes per pack, it still makes them more expensive per wipe but it saves on having to stock up the nappy changing area for maybe one more day :) 

Score Time - Pack Size

Pampers - 6

Simple - 9 

My favourite

I have always been a massive Pampers fan and never thought to try anything else, they are great at holding moisture, soft to the touch and always on offer. I only recently tried Simple baby wipes because of the amazing offer at Ocado and found that they blow Pampers out of the water. I'm sorry Pampers! Simple are just out and out THE best wipes I have ever used, they are so soft, the sheet is big and supple and extremely moist. They are infused with chamomile and leave a lovely soft balm on Finley's skin. Love them!

Score Time - Mummy's Fave

Pampers - 7 

Simple - *10* 

Last chance to get some points, lets see what Finley thinks.

Both wipes are great for sensitive skin and Finley has never had any adverse reactions to either :)

At the moment he has become the worlds best wriggler when having his nappy changed so speed is key. It all comes down to how quick the wipe can well...wipe. Simple has the edge purely because they are a true wet wipe and get the job done quicker. 

Score Time - Finley's Fave

Pampers -8

Simple - 9

Final Scores

drum roll please......The winner is Simple with a total of 33 points! Pampers came a close runner up with 29 points.

Overall I would happily purchase either of these brands again, I will stock up when Simple have an offer and use Pampers in between. I would happily recommend either to any new mums out there. My advice is shop around for a great price and don't see an offer and think it will be the cheapest price out there. We all need those extra pennies, especially at this time of year.

This is what happens when you take pictures of wipes and a baby gets involved! Well, who doesnt want to see them cheeks!

 

Let me know what wipes you love or if there are any other brands you think I should try and then review. 

Love Kayleigh x

Online Window Shopping

So it's Saturday night, X-factor is on, Matt and I have had our ritual weekly takeaway and Finley is sound asleep snoozing in bed. I have been pondering all day on what to write about, there are just too many ideas whirling around in my head to focus on a review or update. So I have opted to deviate from the plan and go for a 'wish list' post. **It's now Sunday morning, I think I jinxed myself by writing the words 'Finley is sound asleep', and after 5 minuets he woke up**

If your anything like me when you browse online you will click 'add to basket' on loads of lovely items, filling your virtual basket to the brim with goodies galore then at the last minute you think 'hmmmm do I really need this?'  and click off the page leaving your basket of treats behind. *sad face*

After browsing for about an hour online at Next and then seeing the almost bank busting checkout price I bottled it and decided to post all my lovelies here instead. 

Here are a selection of what 'would have been' some of Finleys A/W12 wardrobe. 

As he is only just wearing 9-12 months clothes I think I may hold of purchasing until he gets a little fatter and is wearing 12-18 months, at least that way I know he is getting 6 months wear out of everything, especially if your spending nearly £72 wowzers! He has everything he needs until he hits 1 but I just cant stop myself swooning over beauties like these.

I'm not usually one for buying masses of brand new clothes for Finley but I thought I would share what I would get if we had the pennies sat in the bank. For now I will head back over to the much more bank friendly website Ebay to get a few baby bargains :)

Let me know if you daydream about all the lovely baby clothes online? Or if you stick to  mainly second hand like me? 

Love Kayleigh x

Clothing Christmas Haul

I have realised that I am much more Christmas obsessed than I first thought....another post in September.

The other day whilst browsing online I had a look to see if anywhere had any festive fancy dress in stock...I cant resist a bit of fancy dress. I didn't see anything earth shattering but I did find some Christmassy gems in Next.

The first thing I spotted were these snuggly sleepsuits

The Fairisle print on the left is far more up my street, I love the retro feel and if they made this in Adult size I would have it on right this minute. The second is a red and black stripey Christmas pud number, very cute and could be worn by little girlies too. 

 Both sleepsuits are in the size 9-12 months and came in a two pack for £12

By the time these were in my basket I went Christmas mad and decided to get Finley's Christmas Day outfit.  Here we have just a standard pair of jeans as he had none in his 9-12 month box of clothes, the best T-shirt ever and an adorable Christmas Pudding hat. 

Ignore all creases - They had just been de-parceled

The T-shirt has that wonderful Retro feel with the Fairisle heart, it is long sleeved for chilly December days but not too thick you can never let your baby wear it inside. 

The jeans are just a standard pair of denim elasticated waist band jeans...great feel and very soft for easy movement. I tend not to dress Finley in jeans at home, I always find them restricting so he is often seen sporting loungewear indoors....just like his mum and dad (Comfy pants are the way forward).

Finally there are not enough cute describing words (adjectives for you English teachers out there) in the world to go into detail on this bobble hat. Who wouldn't want to put this on your baby at Christmas, that's right nobody! I bought this is size 6-12months but because of Finley's 95th centile head it is a little snug, I'm sure if will be fine and I can always adjust if needed. It has a woollen knit look and a huge oversized red pom pom on top. I'm swooning already. 

I tried to get Finley to model the hat for you all but he was too interested in scooting in his walker so excuse the blurry pic. 

I still have two other things that are due to be delivered tomorrow but they are not Christmas related - surprisingly.

Let me know if your planning on getting any Christmas clothing? I would love to see it.

Love Kayleigh x

The cutest Christmas bag ever

Hi Everyone, as you probably know by now I have started planning for Finley's first Christmas and browsing ever website for anything festive and cute. 

One of my most favourite websites is notonthehighstreet.com I love how you browse through thinking "oooo that would be great in the bathroom, ooooo Matthew would love that" or "this is in the kids section but I want it for me". From what I have seen it is very similar to Etsy as in there are multiple sellers that offer some pretty cool stuff. 

As I browsed through the site one item caught me eye - this lovely little canvas Christmas bag from the seller 3 Blonde Bears :) 

I love the rustic feel of this bag, how his name is all raggedy and the Jolly Father Christmas just tops it off for me. I wouldn't say this is an alternative to a stocking as its around 20cm by 26cm, but I would say it is plenty big enough for your Christmas sweets and choccys or even better to put on your table for friends and family!

I think it will look blooming well lovely nestling under our tree all stuffed to the brim with treats - I'm getting so excited. I'm thinking of getting one for Matthew and I so we all match.

You can purchase yours here for £7 including delivery -  there are different designs to choose from and the seller offers allsorts of other lovely personalised items, including stockings, present sacks and babygrows.

I have added the business card info I got incase you want to get in touch with them - sorry its all crinkled, Finley got his hands on it tut tut tut.

Let me know what you have started buying if anything yet for Christmas? 

Love Kayleigh x

My Number 1 must have for baby.....

This might not be everyone's 'must have' but for me Muslin Squares are something that I couldn't have lived without.

From birth Finley has suffered from severe reflux and a possible milk intolerance which equals lots of sick! I could guarantee that during and after every feed he would be sick. Poor little Finners. 

One of the best buys ever were these Muslin Squares from Tesco. We have around 30 and trust me that is not over kill - we could go through 10 a day on a normal day. 

They are still in great condition after being washed over and over and over, however they do shrink slightly after the first wash but I dont think that is a problem....if anything is makes them much softer.

Finley showing off his Muslin squares

Even though Finley has got a little better with his reflux he is still sick almost daily and they are always on hand. However on another note I would not recommend the little burp cloths made out of fabric, they are tiny, not very soft and do not absorb anything. Dont waste your money on them as you will never get any use other than using them as a dishcloth.

I would rave all day about Muslin Squares so make sure if your pregnant you go out and grab them now - not the most beautiful baby purchase but definitely one of the best.

Let me know your thoughts? Do you have a baby that suffers from Reflux or a Milk Intolorence?

Love Kayleigh x