Would you just LOOK at this Betty the Bunny newborn gift set by Olive & Moss? *meep!*

The romper is 100% cotton,  and is Far Too Cute, really.

One size only, sadly, which is a generous 0-3 months – but what a perfect newborn gift! Not to mention the fact that it’s half prize in the sale, down to just £16!

Betty the Bunny newborn gift set, £16, is available from the gloriously named  Burp! Boutique…

The penultimate batch of our advent calendar competitions close tomorrow.

Do it now – enter – go on!

Click here for our Babes with Babies Funky Cow Washbags competition.

Click here for our Verbaudet Children's Coats competition.

Click here for our Luxe Tie Maternity Sweater from Isabella Oliver competition.

Click here for our Aspace Oak Newbury Dresser competition.

Good luck!

*squeee!*

Talk about comfy… and LOOK at those orange planes!

Mala blue airplane baby pants for a propeller under £15 (only in size 0-2yrs) from the fantabulous Tootsie & Fudge.

We have got five packs of three new Skylanders characters to give away in our new competition! Squeeee!

Skylanders Dino-Rang!

Skylanders Hex!

Skylanders Wrecking Ball!

Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure is the video games success story of 2011. A massive hit with families, this is the first time a video game and toy have combined to provide a brand new innovative way of playing. With more than 30 characters to choose from, players can explore mysterious new worlds, battle enemies and solve fiendish puzzles. And, now sees the arrival of Skylanders Spyro’s Universe, an even more imaginative way to play, even if you don’t own the game.

Click here for further details and entry form.

Yes, it’s been a while, but this is the very last in our Carless Whispers series, in which Keris went from two cars to no cars inside a fortnight – and so decided to save the money and remain carless. You can go back and see the series here if you’ve missed it – but here’s the Very Last One. *sob*

I’m not sure whether it was the week with the Skoda Roomster, the relentless rain, or the prospect of another snowy winter, but I finally had to accept it was time for our carless experiment to come to an end.

We lasted out for over a year, which is much longer than I ever would have imagined we could manage without a car and I am actually glad we did it. You could read back over the columns to find out why, but I know you’re busy so I’ll just summarise:

- The boys got used to public transport. It was often a massive pain in the backside, but I think it was good for them to have the experience of waiting. And of other (sometimes unpleasant, sometimes drunk) people.

- Walking the school run made me fitter, but I didn’t actually lose any weight. Possibly because I often stopped at the newsagents. In both directions. On both journeys. Ahem.

- The conversations with the boys while walking the school run made the whole thing worthwhile. We talked about everything, we laughed, we sang, we even danced. And we saw lots of wildlife and other things (like the plumber’s van with a trompe l’oeil door featuring the  bottom half of the plumber sitting on the loo) that we probably would never have seen from the car.

So we bought a car. Second-hand obviously – and sadly not a Skoda Yeti – but it’s rather lovely all the same.

There were a few teething problems: the inside lights didn’t go out, the back wiper didn’t work, the battery ran out as I was driving home and I mounted the kerb while squeaking out a swear, but it was all sorted out quickly and easily (albeit expensively) and now we’re fully mobile again.

And honestly? It’s so much better.

Aren’t these brilliant? JUST the thing for small chilly toes. Handmade in the UK from soft stretchy fabrics (which make them easy to put on and the “sock” part makes it very difficult for babies to kick them off!), they will keep babies  and toddlers feet totally cosy and warm.

The baby sizes ( 3 and 6 months) are all fabric (and machine washable), and the bigger  12, 18, and 24 months have a leather sole.

Just the NICEST baby and toddler slippers we’ve seen in AGES…

Rather keen on these fab spotty ones too!

A range of Tiny Tulip Booties is available from the brilliant Bubbahub, all priced at £17.

Contrary to popular opinion, I am not currently pregnant (yes, sadly, that baby belly is all me, me, me). But fortunately the lovely Nicole (rather unwillingly, as you can imagine) stepped up for us, and offered us the use of her delicious 34 week bump to drape the Isabella Oliver review over…

When I was asked to review the Isabella Oliver Luxe Tie Sweater  I immediately went on their website and emailed a picture of it to my husband – could I, too, look as elegant and poised as the lady wearing it on the website?  I had glamorous images pervading my mind of lovely days out in the city, and coffee with the girls…  This vision I have to say rapidly crumbled when I took a look around me at the washing that needed doing, and the children that needed feeding…  However I continued to look forward to my parcel with high hopes.

The day it arrived I eagerly opened the package and came across a lovely box with tissue paper – isn’t it funny how much you already know you’ll like what’s inside when something arrives wrapped in tissue? Any expectant mum would be delighted to receive such a package (a point to remember for the husbands!).  I then took the sweater out and modeled it in front of the mirror.

WIN me by clicking here!

The luxurious wool was so soft to touch, the large neck was sumptuous, and I looked forward to being able to show off my new item of clothing to my friends.  Unfortunately this is where my lack of girly shopping days in lovely cafes was at fault…  The weather turned cold and dreary, and this delicious piece of clothing did not benefit from being paired with paint splashed dungarees, frequent downpours of rain on the school run and the weekly Sainsbury’s trek.   I substituted, and showed my family instead, safe in a warm house, and got a lot of oohs and aahs (they’re very good). Truly, the sweater simply looks and feels fantastic.

I have since come to see this as my ‘ John Lewis’ attire – and indeed it is lovely for wandering around the shops. For me, it’s far too lovely for a practical day to day piece for dashing in and out of cars and managing a family.

Having said that, naturally THOSE  mums who are able to look glamourous in the playground (you know who you are…) would carry it off with style, so please don’t take this as the fault of the tunic – just me!

It is perfect for spring and autumn type weather, an instantly glamorous touch when things get chilly.  I have washed it and dried it as per instructions (purely for review purposes, and nothing at all to do with an accident with a dunked digestive… *ahem*) and it looks as good as new.  Overall a lovely item to have, and to make you feel even more special throughout those precious months of pregnancy.

The Luxe Tie Sweater is currently reduced from £115 to £80.50 over at Isabella Oliver – but if you fancy a free win you can be in with a  chance to win one if you click right here…

Another four of our fabulous advent calender competitions are closing tomorrow.

Don’t miss out!

Click here for our Flexibaths from Whitestep competition.

Click here for our MiniLineLights Pirate Ship Ceiling Light competition.

Click here for our £75 Spin Collective Wall Stickers Gift Voucher competition.

Click here for our Children's Wigwam from The Gifted Penguin competition.

Good luck!

Oh, just look at these gorgeous organic cotton butterfly PJ’s from Lush Baby. Reduced to £20 in their sale, I love love LOVE them. Sadly they’re only available in size 1-2yrs though… But if you have an appropriately sized small person, I suggest you scurry on over to Lush Baby and snap a pair up quick!

Organic Cotton pink butterfly pyjamas in size 1-2 yrs, available in the Lush Baby sale for £20.

I admit it – I have a bit of a thing for Hares.

But look at him – how could you NOT want him?

And look at the price! *WANT*

The Huey Hare Sculpture is £32, and available from Candle and Blue’s rather excellent shop over on not On The High Street…

We’ve decided that as a large proportion of our readers are NOT bloggers, it would be a nice idea to run a series where we introduce you to a new blog every Friday (we’re struggling for a catchy name for the series though – feel free to send any ideas our way…). To kick the series off we’d like you to say hello to Jo…

Jo Middleton is a freelance writer and marketing consultant, and mum to two daughters. She writes the award-winning blog, Slummy single mummy .

Name three things you like that start with the letter B.
This is one easy peasy, as both my daughters’ names start with B – Bee and Belle – and they’d never forgive me if I didn’t choose them! Just getting one free choice makes it harder though – books or biscuits or bed?? I think biscuits, but that could be just because I haven’t had lunch yet.

Tell us one beauty product you can’t live without.
My charming boyfriend very helpfully suggested ‘a paper bag’ for this one. He is a lovely man. I don’t actually wear make-up much, or use loads of lotions and potions, but I ALWAYS moisturise. I like the daily fluid from Olay as it’s really light and has SPF15.

Tell us about your pet(s) and/or share a photo.
We don’t have any pets at the moment. We did have a goldfish, but he died about three months ago and I carried him up to the toilet in an empty fishfinger box. I thought it was fitting. I never actually even wanted a goldfish – my mum bought it for Bee when she was about seven and the damn thing lived to be nearly ten years old. He jumped out of the tank twice, and always looked fairly miserable, but he just wouldn’t let go…

What are five of your favourite books?
I love books, and have fairly eclectic tastes, so it’s really hard to choose five! I’m going to be cheeky and include collections as one choice…
- The Chronicles of Narnia
- The Time Traveller’s Wife
- The Adrian Mole diaries
- Silence of the Lambs
- Nancy Drew

If you could cross-breed two animals, which ones would you choose and why? What would you name your new hybrid?
Blimey, what a question! I think I would cross a cat and a parrot that could talk. A carrot maybe? It would look like a cat, and be able to sit on my lap for cuddles, but it would be able to chat back to me.

Share a photo you’ve taken that you’re proud of

I’m really proud of this photo of folk singer and musician Seth Lakeman, which I took at Glastonbury festival a few years ago. I’m normally rubbish at photography, so this was a really lovely surprise! I was there with Bee, who was then about 13. She was a massive Seth fan at the time, so we’d arrived about two hours before he was due to start, and stood through the act before him, so that we’d be in prime position ready to get to the front. He’s an amazing live performer. We’ve seen him about ten times and he’s brilliant every single time.

Do go and visit Jo’s blog, it’s a fab read. Don’t forget to say hello, and tell her we sent you – she’ll no doubt put the kettle on…

LOVE this shabby chic little heart (£1.95)

Little Patch, who make the most beautiful and charming high quality printed stationery from Kelly Martin’s original watercolour and textile designs.

And right now there’s a sale on her Christmas cards, which I sincerely suggest you go snaffle up, pop in a drawer and hold on to till the end of the year (you’ll be SO proud of yourself when you re-discover them!)…

Fabulous Christmas pudding for £1.95

This SWEET little robin is just ninety-five-pence. 95p!!!

Walk in the Park Teapot

To celebrate the launch of the new Emma Bridgewater designs for Spring 2012 we are delighted to be giving away a £50 Emma Bridgewater Voucher!

Sampler 1/2 Pint Mugs Gift Set

Click here for further details and entry form.

Four more of our fantastic Advent Calender competitions are closing tomorrow.

Enter now!

Click here for our Mark Warner £100 Holiday Voucher competition.

Click here for our Munchkin Toys competition.

Click here for our Months Supply of BEAR Nibbles competition.

Click here for our Cookbooks, Oven Gloves & Tea Towel Bundle competition.

Good luck!

Four more of our fabulous Christmas Advent Calendar competitions are closing tomorrow.

Don’t miss out!

Click here for our £100 Little Sunflowers Gift Voucher competition.

Click here for our Limited Edition Liberty Paisley Raggy-Tag competition.

Click here for our Oxbridge Baby CDs competition.

Click here for our £75 Emma Bridgewater Gift Voucher competition.

 Good luck!

Working with artisans, designers and manufacturers, Topsy Toesy hand-pick a unique selection of quality hats and shoes for both boys and girls, providing a stylish range of headwear and footwear for children from birth upwards. A number of products in their range have recently been featured in Vogue, Tatler & The Daily Telegraph.

We ourselves stumbled across the Topsy Toesy site late last year… and just fell. in. love.

I mean wouldn’t you?

They sell hats like THIS (called 'Edith' *happy* ) for under £30...

...and Hootie here is just adorable, and only £18...

...not to mention the sheer awesomeness of this Boys Fedora (£27)...

And that’s just the HATS! Don’t get me started on the shoes…

These leather bowling shoes are so darn cool they make my hair hurt... (only £33 too)

So – get you over to TopsyToesy fast. But take biscuits – you may be some time…

We love the range at Mummy & Little Me - and when they have one of their sales one we love them all the more!

Just take a peekety-peep at these bargainous lushes:

Paisley Tunic by Noppies reduced by FORTY pounds to just £19.99

This fabulously versatile Maternity Cardigan from Noppies is half price at just £25!

Or maybe you'd like a whopping £25 off this pretty Maternity Bra by Anita, now just £9.99

So – we suggest you take a rather rapid meander over to Mummy & Little Me, and see what you can nab for yourself!

Ahhh, Christmas is over for another year and we’re all slowly getting used to putting 2012 on our dates…

The feast of competitions from our Christmas Advent Calendar are drawing to a close. The first batch will end tomorrow so if you missed out on any, there’s still time, if you do it now, to get an entry in….

Click Here for for our Cosatto GoLightly Yo! Pushchair Competition

Click Here for our TrayKit Traveller Competition

Click Here for our Bibaloo £80 Gift Voucher Competition

Click Here for our Baby Joule Nursery Marvellous Cot Mobile Competition

(And no, don’t you dare click away in boredom at a CAR review – this was written by Keris so you just KNOW it’ll be worth a quick squizz through…)

After falling so much in love with the Skoda Yeti, we were all very excited about the prospect of the Skoda Roomster. As wonderful as the Yeti is, we thought it was maybe a bit too big for us and that the Roomster would be more fitting. We looked at it online and squeaked about the big windows and the concept of separate “rooms” for the grown-ups and kids (I may have over-played this in my head – I practically had it as a little house on wheels).

So when it arrived, we couldn’t wait to test it out. I picked Harry up from school and he said, “How about we go for a little drive in the country?” So we did. And we really liked it – honestly – but it just didn’t compare to the Yeti for a few reasons:

1. No map. The Yeti has a built-in satnav that Harry and Joe adored. They loved watching the progress of our car and when the Roomster arrived the first thing Harry asked was “where’s the map?” No map.

2. It was roomy, yes, but it didn’t seem any roomier than the Yeti. Also I didn’t really get the rooms concept. It just seemed like, you know, a car.

3. It was noisy. Now that Harry is really tall, he likes to sit in the front so one day I let him sit in the front while David was driving, which meant I sat in the back with Joe. And I couldn’t believe how noisy it was. I do think we were driving on particularly rattley roads, but even so.

Like the Skoda, there were lots of things we liked – huge boot with a pull-down handle and little “fireplace” for stopping the shopping rolling around. The extra-big windows in the back were great – on the night I sat in the back I noticed how bright the stars were and we drove to somewhere completely dark to let the boys have a look. I never would have noticed that with normal-sized windows. (In contrast, I found the windscreen really small. I’m only short, but I found myself leaning forward and peering over the steering wheel like a mole.)

(no Keris post is complete without the obligatory Cute Factor from her boys...)

So all in all, we enjoyed it, but we didn’t LURVE it like the Yeti. In fact, when it went back Harry said, “Bye, Roomster. When are we getting a Yeti?”

(Skoda Roomsters start at £11,775.00 ‘On The Road’)

–
Keris Stainton

OUT NOW! Jessie Hearts NYC <http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jessie-Hearts-NYC-Keris-Stainton/dp/1408304287/containsmil04-21>
“A breezy summer rom-com, with oodles of New York glamour.” The Bookseller

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