A little while ago, we ran a giveaway with Almondella and since then, our baby blogger has had the chance to review one of their gorgeous boxes, here is what she thought.

I recently received a beautiful box of surprises for me and my baby boy from Almondella. I knew straight away that there was going to be something beautiful inside, even though I did not have a clue what to expect! 

Almondella tailor each box to the age of your child, providing you with monthly delights of organic, safe and hip products from small boutique labels mainly from Scandinavia. You can even preview the box before it arrives, so you can decide whether or not you want it that month.

In our Almondella box, carefully wrapped in tissue, I first noticed a lovely bright hooded baby towel that felt lovely and soft with a cute lion embroidered on the hood, perfect for my little munchkin! The theme of the box soon became clear that it was around bath time and included baby flannels, a soft bristled brush, some grooming products and creams. All the products are organic and seem extremely well made and luxurious but without being fussy. I think this is the Scandinavian influence of the products and design coming through. 

I love shopping for my baby boy and there are some great baby stores on the high street, but I must admit I do like something different too and this box of surprises just feels that little bit extra special. I think it would make a really wonderful gift but admittedly the idea of receiving a monthly box of carefully thought out surprises for me and my boy is very tempting too!

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We are delighted to be continuing our baby blog series and even more so with the opportunity to share gorgeous maternity wear. Our Baby blogger tells all ....

The Pudding Club is the brainchild of Alexandra Macleod who was fantastically underwhelmed with the maternity clothes that were on offer on the high street. Alex believes that pregnant women should be celebrating their changing body shape, should enjoy shopping for clothes to dress their bump and feel pampered in the process. (we love this ethos)   The Pudding Club was created to do just that. So when we were invited to review a gorgeous outfit from The Pudding Club, here is what happened  ........

Today I received something that made me smile and feel like 'me'. 

I am a mum carrying another little pudding in her tum, which makes me smile very very much, but it means I don't always have time to think about just 'me'. So when a gorgeous, and I mean totally utterly gorgeous, dress turned up at the door and i knew before I'd even tried it on that it was going to be perfect, I got very excited! 

When I was pregnant with my first baby, I attended two weddings at 9 months pregnant and to be honest it was a bit of a nightmare trying to find something to wear that was both flattering and glamorous; if only I had known about The Pudding Club back then! The good news is that I do now, as not only do I have another wedding to attend towards the end of this pregnancy, it's also a very special family one, so I want to feel extra lovely this time.

The dress is a beautiful sheer black lace cocktail dress. The stunning material overlays a soft lining, which of course has lots of stretch so it lays nice and smooth over all of my curves, and there are a few more this time around! I am just over 4 months pregnant at the moment, so the bump is fairly petite, but I can see that there is plenty of room to grow in that area, however I feel great in it now so I think that's pretty clever designing as I can see it will suit all stages of pregnancy. 

The sleeves are long but delicate, the length is perfect and there is a detachable satin sash which I love and will definitely wear, although if I wear this to something less formal it could be left off. The sizing seems about right, if not a little on the large side as I am normally a size 10 and this dress is an 8-10 and fits perfectly.

It's not a surprise that it has been worn on the red carpet as it hits the spot that I think some maternity ranges don't; women still want to look glamorous and stylish when pregnant (even if we do feel a little frumpy sometimes). 

There were many stunning dresses on The Pudding Club's online store that I could have chosen, I'm very pleased with my choice as it will be perfect for an autumn wedding, but I do rather fancy some of the other gorgeous designs too; anyone fancy inviting me to their wedding this year, just so I can justify it to my husband!

Lastly I look forward to seeing me 'flourish' in this dress as my bump and body grow, so watch this space for some updated pictures and thoughts....

In the meantime, if you want to be in with a chance to win a £50 voucher to spend at The Pudding Club, you can simply enter our competition below:

The Pudding Club

Every once in a while you come across a company that do things differently.

We love quirky.

So when we were approached to work with Ohh Deer, we *may* have got a little excited.

We are even more excited to be able to share an AMAZING giveaway with you to win ALL of the products below, totalling £125.00

1. A Bob cushion worth £34.95 

2. Artemis Cushion worth £34.95

3. A4 Hutan Print worth £19.95 

4. Rufus Greeting Card Worth £2.50 

5. Your choice between a Zhu II and Howard Phone Case worth £19.95 

6. Grumpy Cat Mug worth £12

So what are you waiting for?

Enter with our new giveaway widget below!

Ohh Deer Giveaway

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This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.

I have always been a fan of school dinners, not necessarily the meals themselves per se, more the variety they give the children and the lack of panic they give me every morning. So when my eldest daughter decided she didnt actually want hot dinners at school any longer, a slight fear began to rise inside, the pressue of the daily packed lunch was upon me! 

I have seen lots of of amazing Bento boxes on Pinterest and whilst they leave me in awe of the time, care and attention that has gone into those daily lunch boxes, my first question is "where on earth do they find the time" and secondly, "do the children actually eat them?". Does everyone not wake up in the morning and question what on earth they are going to fill the lunchbox with each day? Or is that just me?

So I thought we would have a trial run before school starts back next week and when I popped into our local Tescos, I picked up a box of each Capri Sun flavour on the shelf as part of my #collectiveBias #CapriSunSchool shop, as I knew this would be a good healthy start, as they have no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.

Tesco must have known how much I love a good deal too, as the Capri Sun was on offer, saving 95p per pack! 

I then started looking round for health lunchbox inspiration. Thankfully both girls love salad like cucumber and sweet peppers, so that is never a worry but neither have ever been huge fans of a sandwich or bread in general (unless they are feeding the ducks) so ensuring that they get the right balance of carbohydrates is essential too.

I had a look on the Capri Sun website and loved some of their suggestions for calming lunchboxes, here is one of their ideas for   

healthy lunchboxes

• Snack
  Yoghurt

• The main event
  Lean ham and tomato sandwiches, made with wholegrain bread Sticks of vegetables such as carrot, cucumber, celery and red pepper

• Fruit
  Banana

• Drink
  Capri-Sun

• Extras
  Sunflower and pumpkin seeds and raisins

I am not so sure mine would eat the pumpkin seeds as they are both getting older, they both have their own specific preferences and I think that while I may have to throw in some alternative options from time to time, the best thing to do is give them things they like (and they will eat), although if my tween is reading this, this doesn't mean chocolate and sweets!!

The littlest member of the family was more impressed than the tween, even saying that her cucumber piece looked like a sun. (A Capri Sun maybe??).

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And on a final note, if like me, you are not blessed with the creativity to make amazing, ingenius and down right cute lunchboxes every day, I will leave you with these Pinterest boards to inspire you .....