Win Nip +Fab Products!

I was asked to review a new range of beauty products being launched TODAY! at Boots called NIP + FAB. It didn't take much to convince me! As a mum yes I have the dark circles under the eyes, cellulite around the old thighs and lines starting to creep up all over my face! That's what two babies will do for you so every girl needs a helping hand to at least attempt to look half human.



The NIP + FAB range sounds fantastic......

NIP + FAB, a new collection from Maria Hatzistefanis, beauty expert and celebrated creator of global bestselling brand, Rodial launches.



Tipped to be the hottest launch of 2010 and with a growing list of celebrity fans (Denise Van Outen, Olivia Palermo, Alexandra Burke, Kimberley Walsh, Diana Vickers and Ellie Goulding), Maria created the range of mass market skin care products, with premium credentials for customers who want measurable results but at prices that don’t cost the earth.



The clinically tested range for the face and body delivers 11 targeted treatments from eye brightening and skin plumping to cellulite and nipple smoothing, and is crammed with breakthrough natural and technologically advanced skin smoothing, boosting and firming ingredients.



Each hardworking, no nonsense product “does exactly what it says on the front” and will deliver exceptional ‘targeted results and instant fixes.’ Housed in fresh, stylish packaging and with brilliant product names like Tummy Fix, Lip + Nip Fix, Bust Fix and Eye Fix, this ‘must-have’ range already has a growing waiting list of people desperate to get their hands on these savvy buys.



To celebrate the launch in Boots, we’ve got 10 x NIP + FAB Eye Fixes, worth £14.95 to give away to 10 lucky winners. So if you fancy winning just become a fan of the NIP + FAB Facebook page and quote on it’s wall ‘rockandrollbabyworld’. The 10 lucky winners will be picked at random and contacted by NIP + FAB via Facebook.

I'm looking forward to receiving the products to review and will be reporting back to you all with my findings!

My two girls FIRST ever 'Smile' - The Gallery

I have been absent from The Gallery for the several weeks, shame on me and I so enjoy the weekly prompts but life has sort of got in the way, however this week I am back!

This week's Gallery theme is 'A smile'. I have chose two pictures of the girls and these pictures were their first smiles caught on camera, both were around 4 weeks old.

With pop princess (in the pic below) I remember running to get the camera when she first smiled then coming back and waiting for ages whilst I pranced around in front of her to try and get her to smile again. The result was this picture:



We loved it so much we used it as our new birth announcement cards.

The second Picture was Rock Baby's first smile. This was caught using my dad's camera when we were staying over his house and she was laying in her moses basket chilled out as usual and I was cooing over and then this lovely little beam came back at me. It's not the greatest shot picture in the world but it did catch the moment.



Don't forget to visit Sticky Fingers to check out the other entrants!

Another year another birthday party to plan!

It’s that time of year again when party season begins and with that it brings the pressure each year to put on a party for pop princess. I really thought the whole party thing wouldn’t start till they reached school age but when she was 1 we decided early on that we would just have family over for a little tea party for her, but then we got invites from all our NCT friends to their children’s parties and these ranged from large gatherings at their houses to people hiring out halls!

I couldn’t quite believe the huge effort and planning some of my friends put into these parties after all they were 1 and would not remember. Then I ended up feeling guilty, perhaps I was a bad parent for not making the same effort and not having that same thought process to do anything big for pop princess.

Then last year when she turned 2 me being the rubbish organiser that I am hadn’t even thought what we were going to when invites came flooding in from her friends. These invites ranged from a party on a farm, a hall with children’s entertainer, pottery party etc etc. So not wanting PP to miss out and determined to plan something we went ahead and decided to book a hall and got a little bouncy castle, had music, colouring areas, food, and a lady called Coco came along and did songs on her guitar which was great. It was a lot to organise but PP just loved it, and thank god we had her grandparents to help who dutifully helped set up and clear away. It did end up costing a lot of money but we thought it was worth it as she hadn’t had anything big the year before.

Next Month PP is 3. So far we have been to two of her friends birthday parties who both had a bouncy castle, which seems the most popular choice for 3 year olds and we have also been invited to a soft play party and a swimming party. It seems each year the parties get bigger and there feels like pressure to keep up with her friends so she doesn’t miss out and if you don’t have a party you feel like you have to explain you’re not having one for fear your friends think that their child hasn’t been invited!

So this year PP is having 6 of her closest friends over in our very small house to enjoy a birthday cup cake themed tea party with her. We are going ‘old school’ and having pass the parcel, sleeping lions, a little buffet and music they can dance along to. Plus some cup cake themed games like pin the cherry on the cup cake and I am going to make a paper Mache cup cake piñata! It’s the sort of party I used to have when I was younger and I always enjoyed them!

There will be no pottery, farm, swimming, pony grooming big party this year. Just yummy food, good friends and family and hopefully no stress! Although I’ve already started to worry about it, will PP enjoy it? will it be special enough? and I know I am being stupid because of course she will enjoy it but I just want to do a good job for her, do you know what I mean?






(Above)PP enjoying her party last year

Rock Baby's Strawberry birth mark the progress so far

On Friday we went back to the hospital so that Rock Baby could have a check up, they showed me the picture they took of her on her first visit and in just 7 weeks since we started the medication there is a great improvement in her birthmark.

It is less red and now seems flat against her head where as previously it was very raised. They are very pleased with her progress and after all my worrying I feel so much better as I am now confident the choice we made to go ahead with the new procedure was indeed the right one.

Rock Baby was not born with the birthmark it gradually appeared after about 4 weeks after being born and then gradually got bigger and bigger as she got older. So I have put a series of photos together below so you can see the difference.



The pictures above are from birth up to about 4 months, the ones below are from 5-7 months, the second one in was taken on the day she started the medication.



The picture below was taken over the weekend and you can see the difference very clearly.



Rock Baby gets weighed and has her blood pressure checked on her monthly reviews at the hospital. Thankfully she has has no side effects from taking the drug Propronal and its obviously doing the job it's supposed to.