Barbie Saddle ‘N Ride Horse Review

Growing up, I would have given anything for a Barbie with her own horse and for one that walked, I'm sure my little heart would have burst!

My daughter has now got to live my dream, with her own Barbie Saddle 'N Ride Horse. Not only does this horse move but even better, Barbie jumps onto the horses back and off it goes. You simply pop Barbies gloved hand into the side of the horse and then pull her round until she clicks and stands up, you press the button which is the horses mane on the front of the head.

The horse is more steady on a flat surface, it falls over on our carpet, so this is something to bear in mind if you are thinking about getting one.

The excitement when we finally popped the batteries in and got her moving was just brilliant, my daughter was giggling and laughing and to be honest I was too. The way she flips round onto the horse is just amazing and you can tell lots of thought went into it. The horse has a brushable tail and comes with it's own little brush which attaches to the gloved hand.

My daughter loves brushing her hair and we even played with our other Barbies, they shouted from the sidelines as the Barbie and Tawny raced through the dining room.

We both love the Saddle 'N Ride horse, the horse itself is really cute and we love Barbies outfit, the cute little floral top and denim jacket combo is great and the fact she has hat for safety is also really helpful when trying to get my daughter to wear hers on the her scooter.

This would make the perfect Christmas present for any Barbie or horse loving child and for me this is something that will get played with over and over.

And finally if you haven't seen this wonderful new video from Barbie then I can highly recommend a watch, it certainly put a smile on my face.

NB: We were sent this doll to form a review, all words opinions and pictures are my own.

My Birthmarks and Me

When my parents bought me home from the hospital, they were as proud as any new parents could be of their perfect new baby.

After a few weeks though, some red spots appeared on my skin, one on my forehead, one on my fontanel and one on my wrist. As I grew older, they grew bigger, these bright red strawberry patches were called haemangioma.

The start of the marks...

Haemangiomas are raised strawberry coloured marks on the skin, they can occur anywhere and increase rapidly in size for the first six months, before eventually shrinking and disappearing by around seven years of age.

My parents obviously loved me, marks and all but that didn't stop the comments from strangers, the people who looked at me and asked my parents what they'd been doing to me.

Here you can see the marks on my head

Here you can see the mark on my wrist

I'm not sure what people thought my parents had done to me but comments like this hurt, it's partly the reason why I owned the worlds biggest fringe for much of my childhood. My mum trying to give me the best chance of not being picked on.

But why am I posting about this? Well it got better and I wanted to show how better, for those whose beautiful babies may be going through the same thing. Now you can't see much of my birthmarks, apart from a slight indentation and difference in skin.

Back in the 80s there weren't really any treatment options, other than removal at a later date, now though there are several options and I have seen first hand how successful these can be, one of the little girls at my daughters nursery has one above her eye and within a year this had shrunk massively during treatment.

People will always stare at anything that is different, it's human nature, it doesn't make it any less painful, but it can get better, I am proof of this. People who have known me for years don't notice my birthmarks, even those who know I have them, my children very rarely point them out.

I had never thought of writing about my birthmarks before, they are part of me and I love them but I was inspired by Jess over at Lilypod and Sweetpea who writes about her beautiful son who has a haemangioma on his face, I think you'll agree he is a sweetheart and I wish her and Jaspy all the luck in the world with their journey and treatment.

Black & White Photography Project Week 2

Living Arrows 21/52

My daughter loves dressing up, and I loved nothing more than following her into the garden dressed in her fairy wings. Beautiful!

Ayup Me Duck - Living Arrows 19/52

"Ayup Me Duck - Midlands Dialect Meaning, Hello There" 

Meeting some rather friendly ducks at the park, not quite willing to be stroked though.

Learning to Tie a Shoe - Childhood Milestones

This weekend my son got his first pair of lace up shoes, it is a momentous milestone for any child.

As I sat teaching my son to tie his laces it bought back memories of nursery and the wooden shoelace board that I learnt on.

I remember doing it for the first time and I got a big star sticker, it was such a wonderful feeling so I wanted to make sure he had the same experience.

As I sat behind him we slowly went through the process, he got a little frustrated but we persevered and eventually he had it nailed.

We had lot's of clapping and high fives, I hope that this made him understand how important it is to keep trying in order to achieve something.

I certainly was a very proud mummy,  I had managed to teach him something and he had achieved a huge milestone in his development, I am sure there will be a lot more practice required though ;)