Competition: Win a Foam Alphabet Puzzle Play Mat from Soft Floor Kids

Before moving into our new house our old rental property was predominantly hard floors so I knew the importance of investing in a decent play mat when it came to letting Noah loose on the floor. 

Soft Floor Kids is a family run business located in the UK. They specialise in an array of different foam play mats which are high quality, odourless, non toxic which are easy to assemble, store and clean. All their play mats are bright, fun and attractive which is brilliant for children of all ages. With over 30 different play mats there is something for everyone and I highly recommend taking a look on their website.

My favourite from Soft Floor Kids has got to be the Alphabet and Numbers Soft Play Mat and it comes as no shock that this is one of their best sellers. This pack contains 30 puzzle foam mats which have pop out letters and shapes. Each mat contains a letter of the alphabet and have extra shapes too. This play mat not only provides a soft surface for our tumbling tots but also doubles up as a big puzzle game and can help teach your child the alphabet too. Fantastic or what?

Here are some of the fabulous features;

• Pack of 40 tiles (30cm x 30cm x 12mm)
• Includes A to Z, 1 to 9 with pop-out letters & numbers
• Covers areas: 1.5m x 2.4m (5ft x 8ft) or 1.2m x 3m (4ft x 10ft) or 1.8m x1.8m (6ft x 6ft)
• Includes straight border edges
• Medium-density EVA foam (55° shore density)
• 100% closed cell, non porous EVA foam
• Improved slip resistant surface
• Easy to clean and store
• Indoor or temporary outdoor use
• Includes transparent zip bag

What is even more fantastic is that I have one Alphabet Soft Play Mat to give away to one of you lucky readers. All you need to do is enter on the Gleam entry form below, good luck! 

Play Mat

- This is a PR Collaboration. 

Silent Sunday

This time last year

I have always loved the aptly named 'timehop' app but more than ever now that my son is one and I am seeing all these newborn photo's of him appear on my phone. Here are some of my timehops from Noah's first 48 hours. I can't believe he was ever that small. 

Our birth announcement

His birth announcement photo

Noah and Daddy's first photo which was taken in the hospital about half hour after he was born. I love how the are gazing at one another.

Leaving hospital. The pramsuit we bought him didn't fit so we ended up having to dress him in a vest, babygrow, fleece babygrow and blanket! 

Our first night home

Where did the year go Noah? 

Review: October Degustabox

I am already a huge fan of Degustabox having reviewed a number of their boxes earlier in the year so you can understand my excitement when I recently signed up to review the food subscription box for a couple more months. I couldn't wait to see if they were keeping their standards high.

When Octobers box arrived I dived right in and was very happy with the selection of products inside. 

Pasquier Brioche pains au lait and Pasquier brioche loaf - As a huge fan brioche and sweet bread I loved that these Pasquier products were included in Octobers box. We have all enjoyed the brioche loaf in the morning with some jam or nutella. 

Special K BBQ cracker crisps - At first I was a bit skeptical with the idea of these "crisps" but they were delicious. A nice change and healthier alternative from regular crisps. I must admit I ate almost the whole bag in one sitting, oops.

Dr Oetker extra dark chocolate and Dr Oetker extra dark cocoa powder - I have just started taking up baking again so it was nice to add these Dr Oetker products to my baking pantry. I intend to use these in an upcoming bake so I will remember to blog all about it. 

Solo Toasted Marshmallow Creme - This is really up my street. I had tried Fluff before which is a similar product but I much preferred this variety from Solo. Super sweet and very morish. 

Jelly Belly Jelly Beans - I thought it was nice to receive some "candy" in our October box because it seemed very fitting for Halloween. I did sample a few and they were as good as ever but my young nephew snaffled the rest. 

Bear strawberry and apple fruit pieces - Noah loved snacking on these and I think they would be a great snack for in a childs lunchbox. 

Bear Alpha Bites cereal - Another product Noah really enjoyed. Being a sample size it was perfect for my one year old. I softened them up in a bowl of milk and let him feed himself, they were gone in a flash! 

Enhance drink - This tiny little pot of concentrated juice makes a whooping 32 glasses of water a lot more interesting with a hint of orange and passion fruit. A great product if you struggle to drink a lot of regular water.  

Blue Dragon sweet chilli sauce x2 - I'm not personally a fan of sweet chilli sauce. I will eat it but I wouldn't choose it. My partner on the other hand really likes it and has gone through a bottle already. He's had it on many different dishes such as fish, chicken, burgers.

Kent’s Kitchen bengal meal kit - I am always wanting to be a bit more adventurous in the kitchen so this bengal meal kit from Ken't Kitchen is great. 

Degustabox fridge voucher - A voucher for Benecol yogurts which we are still to purchase. I'm always excited when I see a Degustabox fridge voucher inside my Degustabox, I think it gives an added bonus. 

I have to say this month is possibly my favourite Degustabox yet. It was full to the brim of such a diverse range of top brands and new products. Excellent value for money and there wasn't one product that I wouldn't use. I am very excited to see what is in Novembers box!

- I was sent this product for the purpose of this review. However all opinions are my own. 

Happy 1st Birthday Noah!

I can't quite believe it but Noah, you are 1 today! You have given us 365 days of love, laughter, happiness, tears, sleep deprivation and dirty nappies. It's been the best year of our lives and we love you unconditionally. 

Happy 1st Birthday baby boy! 

My baby is 1 tomorrow!

This very moment last year I was anxiously waiting to go down to the birth suite to have my waters broke. I had been in hospital for three days with my induction and had had 2 pessaries and 2 doses of gel in that time. The induction experience was a total nightmare but active labour was thankfully a different story. Anyway I won't go on, you can read about my birth story here if you want to know more. 

Fast forward a year and it's the night before Noah's first birthday and I feel really peculiar, I can't describe it. I feel totally overwhelmed and emotional and it doesn't really make sense why I feel this way. I'm so happy but my heart ache's too. I just can't believe it's been a year already, the year has flown by in the blink of an eye.

It's been the best year of our lives and Noah has transformed every aspect of it. We love him so so much and are ever so proud of him. He is such a cheeky, funny boy that is so full of character. Deciding to have a child was simply the best decision we've ever made. 

This time last year I was hours before active labour, hours away from meeting my baby boy for the first time and now he's turning one in the morning! Wow.