This Christmas I have neglected my blog a little. Normally every Christmas I am busy, stress and do not sit down however I wanted this Christmas to be different. I wanted to relax so I started planning ahead in October and had finished most of my to do list by December. Next year I will be planning ahead again as in the end we had a lovely Christmas which was mostly stress free.


In the run up to Christmas we didn't do anything "magical" as such with Maxwell due to him being ill. A few weeks before Christmas Maxwell went down ill with a cold which worsened and it meant a lot of sleepless nights. Because of this Maxwell missed a week of preschool and missed meeting Santa which he was very upset about as he had written him a letter, however there was very little we could do about it and in the end managed to get a video created for Maxwell from Santa which Maxwell loved.

With the run up to Christmas Ben managed to work 10 days straight which meant we had little family time to do much so me and Maxwell spent our days doing simple things like going to the park, doing crafts at home and more importantly playing with all his new toys which he got for his Birthday.

Christmas Eve was exciting. It was fantastic to see Maxwell's little face all excited due to the fact that Santa was coming. This year is the first year in which Maxwell has started to understand who Santa is and it was lovely to see how excited he was. He wanted to talk to Santa a lot before Santa arrived so took to talking to Santa on his mobile. Maxwell loved his Christmas Eve box and it is something which we will continue to do for years to come.

Christmas Eve saw Ben and I build Maxwell his very large kitchen. It took us 3 hours to build however Maxwell's face on Christmas morning was a picture. Maxwell did not want to open any of his presents as he was far to excited to play with his kitchen. Maxwell also obsessed over a toothbrush from the Disney store which was in his stocking as well as some toy cars. He was thrilled with his presents and is looking forward to using them all in the next few days.



Our Christmas Day was broken up into 2 parts - Christmas lunch at my sisters with my parents and Christmas dinner at Ben's parents with his Nan. We had a lovely Christmas and we enjoyed seeing all our family. Christmas dinner was lovely and it was a Christmas which I will go on to remember. We were all spoilt and came away with a lot of presents and money. Ben has already purchased a Ipad mini and Maxwell has managed to buy a few new toys for his kitchen however I am stuck on what to spend my money on so if any one has any useful ideas please leave a comment below.

Finally we celebrated Boxing day with my family but before seeing my family we also headed to the sales. Unfortunately there was not a lot in the sales which I wanted to buy. This was quite disappointing as I was looking forward to the sales however mid January I will have another look in the sales when stuff has been reduced again meaning I may be more tempted to buy something if it is at a better price.

For the next few days we will be catching up on sleep and spending more time together. I will start posting more and I am looking forward to seeing others Christmas posts. Did you have a lovely Christmas?

When it’s time for tots to self-feed, try the OXO Toddler Feeding Set. The OXO Tot Plate has a removable, curved ring and the Bowl features straight side walls, each designed to help guide food onto utensils with ease. Both have a non-slip bottom to keep them stable on the table. OXO Tot’s Fork and Spoon feature curved handles that are non-slip and easy for little hands to hold. Tines on the Fork capture food effectively and a deep Spoon shape makes it easy to scoop food and liquid. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wasgij (jigsaw backwards), the UK’s No.1 adult jigsaw puzzle brand*, has launched the must-have jigsaw puzzle this Christmas - Wasgij Christmas 10: Mystery Shopper!

The 2 x 1000 piece festive jigsaw puzzle will bring family fun and entertainment to every home and a distraction from our digital screens this Christmas. The picture on the box depicts a department store crammed with shoppers trying to pick up the best Christmas bargains - but what has caught the eyes of these busy shoppers? Piece together the puzzle to reveal the solution.

Wasgij, is unlike traditional jigsaws where you puzzle the image printed on the box instead you use your imagination and the clues provided to piece together a different image than what is shown on the box. But to make this Christmas puzzle even more special, you can also piece together the image printed on the box – making it twice as enjoyable.
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Christmas is an event which I think about all year. From January I set about making Christmas perfect. I have plans in place to ensure that December is mainly stress free. I find it important to have December stress free as not only is it Christmas but it is also mine and Maxwell's birthdays.

Present Shopping - Starting in the January sales I hunt for bargains. I shop instore and online and love to find the best deals. This year one of the best deals I have managed to get was for Maxwell and it was a play kitchen that I managed to purchase him. I decided I was going to buy Maxwell a play kitchen way back in August this year, I searched Amazon for one which I liked and I kept a eye on the price. The kitchen was priced at £150 and for day's I saw it being lowered however I did not give in to the lowing price. Eventually the kitchen was reduced to £65 which is below half price and I purchased it. Straight after purchasing it, it shot back up to full price and since buying it at £65 I have not seen the kitchen being sold anywhere else cheaper. When shopping for presents I always search around before buying and I will wait for the best deals. I do not buy things for the sake of buying them because they are a bargain. I often try and team coupons and vouchers with purchases.

Food Shopping - This year I booked my Christmas food shopping in November 2 days after the Christmas delivery slots opened. I did a meal plan of basic items which i needed to buy and stuck to items which we would need over the Christmas period. I bought food for 7 days - not including Christmas as we go to family. Our food shopping is coming on the 22nd December as this is the nearest slot I could get to Christmas, I can imagine by now most of the popular delivery slots will be booked up. I am able to amend my food shopping order up until the 21st December, this gives me plenty of time to think about what I may need to add to my shopping list.

Decorating - This year we moved into a new home and since moving in I have wanted to change things. In July we painted our living room as well as Maxwell's bedroom and more recently we have purchased new furniture for Maxwell meaning he has more storage for new items this Christmas. I do not tend to do any decorating or changes to the house in December. I like to plan ahead and get the house just right before December. If I could have changed one thing this year to the house, the change would have been buying a new sofa for our home. This is on the top of my to do list for the New Year.

Decluttering - I started to declutter in September. I started decluttering from downstairs and worked my way upstairs. Items were sold, sent to the charity shop, sent to Maxwell's preschool or given to family. I got rid of toys, clothes, items in the kitchen and items in our bedrooms. It was great to see it go and it was lovely to have lots of space again. Come December my house is pretty much clutter free and there is space for new toys, new clothes and any other items which we may be given to our family this Christmas. I often tend to do another declutter in January.

Present Wrapping - This is one of the things which I did not manage to complete this year however I have not struggled to complete wrapping Christmas Presents. I normally tend to buy all my Christmas wrapping paper in the January sales as well as Christmas cards. In November I write all my Christmas cards up and I start to wrap presents. I spread present wrapping over a few days, however this year was not the case and instead I have spent a hour a day over 5 days this December present wrapping.

Brother Max Ray Digital Bath and Room Thermometer

The Koala Brothers is an animation series for pre-schoolers and broadcast in the UK by CBeebies. It follows the adventures of Frank and Buster, two koalas living in the Australian outback whose mission in life is to help others. From their isolated homestead, they fly out on daily patrol in their yellow aeroplane, looking for anyone in need of help. The series shows the true value of friendship and caring for others and has sold to 150 territories worldwide, been translated into 31 languages and been nominated for four children’s BAFTA awards.

This Christmas Mummy To The Max has teamed up with Koala Brothers to offer one lucky reader the chance to win a Koala Brothers Frank medium plush and a backpack. To enter all you simply need to do is enter the simple rafflecopter below.

Good Luck!

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I was recently sent a Heat Holders Snugover Fleece to keep me warm in the cold weather. The snugover fleece is a soft fur fleece jumper and is the perfect item to put over your P.J's in the cold evenings or perfect to add over a tshirt in the day time. It has a 1.4 tog rating which ensures you will stay warm what ever time of day you choose to wear it. 

Have some fun with the delightful Lipstick Pop from SewLomax!

This gorgeous Lipstick shaped bag is such a handy size and can be used as a purse, a make-up bag or as a fun clutch bag on a night out. Beautifully created from embroidered canvas with a vibrant Nylon lining, the Lipstick Pop is sure to turn heads. Length: 29cm Width: 13cm Depth: 1cm
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Jelly Jamm is an animation series for 4-7 year olds, produced in Spain and broadcast in the UK on Channel 5 Milkshake and over 180 countries worldwide. Jelly Jamm can also be watched on Youtube which is fab if you are a busy family on the go. Jelly Jamm is funny, educational and has great music. Jelly Jamm launched a new soft toy range in the UK earlier this year. In the new soft toy range there are 7 mini plushes at £7.99.
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Baker Ross is a family owned business whose innovative ideas have led them to become one of the leading suppliers of arts & crafts to schools, playgroups and organisations in the UK. They currently offer over 4,000 items through their website and catalogues. Baker Ross has expanded its operations during the past few years by establishing Yellow Moon UK Limited.
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Cloudbabies – Fly Away Home
While the Cloudbabies are busy preparing for night-time, Bobo looks after the Skyhorseys by himself, but it isn't long before they escape! Will the Skyhorseys ever get back home? Find out in this classic storybook.
RRP £4.99

Cloudbabies: The Colour of Sun
When Bobo White finds a brush and some paint, he gives Sun a new colour. But a purple Sun can't shine properly. You see Sun isn't really a Sun unless he's yellow. Will the Cloudbabies put things right in time?
RRP £4.99

Cloudbabies: Look After the Sky! Sticker Activity Book
Help the Cloudbabies do all their special sky jobs in this fun activity book. With colouring, drawing and big stickers too, it's perfect for keeping little hands busy!
RRP £3.99

Cloudbabies: Little Library
This six book Little Library is the perfect introduction to the Cloudbabies and their friends. Meet Baba Blue, Baba Green, Baba Yellow, Baba Pink, Bobo White and the Sky Friends in this mini board book set.  Plus there’s even more fun for children as they piece together the books like a jigsaw to create a lovely stable scene from the programme.
RRP £4.99

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This winters shopping trolly essential, a range of vitamin-enriched drinks designed especially for children; A Little More. The range has been designed to help kids achieve an optimum benefit from their daily diet, in a tasty and convenient way.

The ‘A Little More’ range is one of the first drinks of its kind; the drink for kids is a refreshing blend of natural fruit flavours and spring water, making it an easy way to ensure kids achieve their daily vitamin intake in a fun and delicious way. For parents who struggle to get their children to enjoy fruit and vegetables, these multi-vitamin drinks are the perfect solution.

These fresh drinks not only contain the core essential vitamins to promote overall health and well-being, but they are also made with no added sugar and spring water – perfect for those thirst-quenching moments. Each drink is naturally flavoured – orange, citrus or mango & passion fruit - to ensure that taste is not compromised.

It can be enjoyed by children over 3 years of age. The small, easy-to-carry bottles, complete with a convenient sports cap, make it a perfect addition to any packed lunch, picnic or a simple daily nutritious treat.

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If you were to visit our house you would see that our kitchen cupboards were fit to bursting point. Our kitchen cupboards are not cluttered but they are full of gadgets which I like to use when cooking. Every gadget in our kitchen has a use and each gadget helps us in some way to prepare our meals. This Christmas I was sent an exciting arrange of kitchen gadget to test.

We were sent the fantastic Heston Blumenthal Dual Platform Precision Scales, Heston Blumenthal multipurpose spatulas and Heston Blumenthal  whisk which I was extremely excited to receive to review. Heston Blumenthal has joined forces with Salter and has come up with a selection of amazing kitchen equipment.

A few weeks ago I was sent a lovely email asking would I like to receive a surprise gift in the post. At the time I had no clue what the item would be and if I am honest I was a little worried what it would be. I had needed not to worry as last week a special box was delivered to my home and inside was a beautiful gift for Maxwell. Inside the box we were greeted with a Hooded Owls Towel.

The Towel was wrapped carefully in a sheet of green tissue paper, the  paper was held with a small Hooded Owls logo sticker. I carefully unwrapped the tissue paper to be greeted with a large white fluffy towel which had a unique ribbon trim around the hood. The unique trim which was on the towel was a lovely tractor design.

When I saw the tractor design and instantly thought it was suitable for Maxwell. Maxwell adores anything farm related and is a real little boy when it comes to moving vehicles. The trim was brightly coloured and the design was simple. I instantly knew that Maxwell would love using his new towel at bath time that evening.

Bath time arrived and when bath time was over I grabbed the towel to dry Maxwell with. The towel being 100% cotton meant that is was absorbent of the water and Maxwell managed to get dry quickly. Maxwell has recently been fixated on having a hood up after he has had a bath and without one he often gets teary. I have recently been using his towels which he has had since he was a baby however they have seen better days and have been getting on the small side for him to use. Maxwell put his hood up immediately on his new Hooded Owl's towel and was extremely happy. I laid Maxwell down in his towel so I could dress him and I noticed that the towel was snugly and was a great fit for my growing child.

I was extremely impressed with the Hooded Owl's towel. The design was well thought out and I have believe that the Hooded Owl's towel will last Maxwell a few years thanks to its generous sizing. I found that towel was unique and I will be taking the Hooded Owl's towel on our next holiday with us.

The Hooded Owl's towel which we were sent cost's just £25 which I think is a reasonable price for such a lovely, luxurious towel. I loved the idea of it coming in a gift box, this makes it a brilliant idea to gift to a loved one this Christmas. I think Maxwell will get many uses out of it our Hooded Owl towel and it will be a nice item to take out and about with us. If you are interested in purchasing a Hooded Owl's towel you are able to buy them here.

Maxwell was recently sent a Oobicoo doll to review. For anyone that has no knowledge of what a Oobicoo doll is, it is fairly simple. A Oobicoo doll is a cuddly soft toy which is made from a soft plush. The dolls stands at around 60cm tall and is designed to be dressed in hand-me-down clothes. The Oobicoo doll fits into 6 month clothes and can be used to make the perfect brother, sister or best friend for your child.

Maxwell was sent the Ollie Oobicoo doll. Ollie has short brown hair and when he arrived he had a Oobicoo vest on and was snuggled into a fabric pod. The reason he was snuggled into a fabric pod was because the people at Oobicoo love to minimize packaging so they use the fabric pods to get their Oobicoo doll's from A to B instead of using a cardboard box.

After Maxwell adjusted to having Ollie in our home, I allowed Maxwell to pick some of his old clothes and dress Ollie in them. Maxwell settled for a plain T shirt as well as a pair of jeans to dress Ollie in. Ollie fitted into most of Maxwell's old clothes however we did find that adding shoes to Ollie was a small problem. Since dressing Ollie on the second day we got him, Maxwell has continued to look after Ollie and care for him. Maxwell feeds Ollie, dresses him and loves to brush his hair.

Every morning I struggle to get up on time. This can often effect my day. If I get up late and have to rush around, I often end up missing breakfast which can leave me feeling hungry and tired throughout the day, however if I manage to get up on time I often feel energized, happy and positive. This Christmas I was sent a gift to review which would hopefully help me wake up in the morning. I was sent the Lumie Bodyclock STARTER 30 to Review.

The Lumie Bodyclock STARTER 30 is a gadget on the market which helps you wake up in the morning. The the Lumie Bodyclock STARTER 30 works by gently increasing the light level over a thirty minute period. The idea of the Lumie Bodyclock STARTER 30 is to give you, its owner the sense of being woken up by sunlight rather than a sudden, irritating alarm clock.

The  Lumie Bodyclock STARTER 30 is powered by plugging it into a wall socket. I find this feature to be handy as it means that the Bodyclock does not rely batteries. I often find batteries do not last long in these devices and it can often be expensive to keep buying batteries.

The Bodyclock is a good looking gadget and sits nicely on a bedside unit. The Bodyclock features a LED type display. If you find that the display interferes with your sleep you are able to use to the controls to shut it off.

The Lumie Bodyclock STARTER 30 can be used as a reading or bedside lamp. I love this feature as it means at night I can sit in bed and relax whilst reading, I am then able to turn of the Bodyclock easily when it is sat on my bedside table instead of having to get up out of bed to turn the light off.

If the bulb on the The  Lumie Bodyclock STARTER 30 fails you are able to replace it. A new bulb cost's just £4.99 which I think is great, normally when a light breaks on a gadget you are unable to replace it and in the end you have to replace the whole entire gadget. This is one of my favorite features.
Not only does the the Lumie Bodyclock STARTER 30 wake you up in the morning it also helps you get to sleep at night. The the Lumie Bodyclock STARTER 30 light gradually fades at night meaning you are able to fall asleep easier.

The only issue I have with the  Lumie Bodyclock STARTER 30 is that it is not a small object therefor it is not easy to take from place to place however if you plan to use the Bodyclock only at home it is the perfect gadget for you.

Since having the The  Lumie Bodyclock STARTER 30 I have noticed that I have been able to get up in the morning which has made a lot of difference's to my day. It is lovely not to get up to a annoying alarm clock. The The  Lumie Bodyclock STARTER 30 is available to buy at just £59.95 which I think is a reasonable price.

Kiddylicious offer healthy snacks in a bag that look and taste like a treat. Kiddylicious's main focus is creating delicious, fun snacks which are treats that kids love, and support babies and toddlers every step of the way on their eating and learning adventure. Kiddylicious are there for all of those many moments when mums need to get a little extra energy and nutrition in their little ones but are not in the right place to cut up apples or wash grapes. Kiddylicious snacks are made from simple ingredients and are all dairy and mostly wheat free, their snacks are also favored by mums with children who have food allergies and intolerances.
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Since before I remember, I have always been interested in music. At night when Maxwell is in bed there is nothing I love to do more than turn music on, relax, write blog posts or even tidy and clean the house up. In the day time I adore listening to music, I love to listen to it in the garden, the conservatory and even in the kitchen. This Christmas I was sent a pair of Jam Transit Headphones as well as a Jam Rewind Speaker to review.


Jam Transit Headphones
At night when Maxwell is in bed I tend to listen to music in headphones. There is nothing worse than distracting a toddler, waking them up and having to get them back to bed. Listening to music in my headphone means that I can have the sound on low enough to hear Maxwell however at the same time I am able to listen to my music in peace and not get distracted.

I was particularly excited to review the Jam Transit Headphones because they have so many great features included on them. What I did not know before reviewing these headphones was that they are not only great for music but they are also brilliant to use when using your smartphone device. Thanks to a built in speakerphone the headphones are great to move between music and calls. The Jam Transit headphones can connect wirelessly up to 30 feet to any Bluetooth device which is another great feature for them to include.

The Jam Transit Headphones are wireless free which in my mind makes them easier to wear. There is nothing worse than having a wire dangling down on your body and having to untangle the wire once a day.

There's a full on ear remote functionality: You can FF/RW/play/pause/volume +/- at the touch of a button which is very convenient and easy to locate and use. The headphones also have a rechargeable battery that provides up to 11 full hours of play time.

Born Gifted have kindly donated the Gund Christmas Take Along Elmo to our prize giveaway this Christmas. The Born Gifted story began in 2002 when founders Penny and Jim Wilson decided to leave behind their normal ‘9-to-5’ jobs and embark on the exciting new challenge of starting their own business. They chose to focus on e-commerce in the baby gift and toy sector because there was a real lack of exciting products available to the online consumer. Thanks to a lot of hard work Born Gifted is now one of the market leaders in online children’s gifts and toys.
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