Jessica Ennis-Hill: ‘My son is my motivation’

What’s that I hear you say? Another celebrity trying her hand at designing?

Well, yes – but in a good way. This time around the one doing the designing is Jools, the wife of celeb chef Jamie Oliver and as the mother of four kids, you’d hope she’d have a pretty idea of what makes for a good baby and toddler clothing range…

And thankfully she does, both myself and my two year old daughter instantly fell in love with the samples we were given to test out – a vivid yellow cardigan, some ribbed tights (one pink, one navy blue), a pink and purple striped top and a beautiful vintage style white shirt.

Jools follows in the footsteps of fellow celebrity mum Myleene Klass, who has also put her name to collections at the high street retailer, but if my memory serves me correctly the Little Bird range is slightly more affordable than Klass’ Baby K collection.

The pictured pink/purple top is about £8, the shirt £13. A cardigan from the range is about £15. There wasn’t a piece that I didn’t like, but my note with the tights would be that as my little one has been blessed with long legs, I’d probably go up a size from the age 2-3 I was given to try out.

The quality is that which you would expect from Mothercare, with words and phrases like ‘eclectic mix of traditional prints and vintage novelty’ and ‘a timeless look’ to describe the range for little ones aged up to five years, these elements have helped create a hit with customers, with pieces flying out of stores.

I’m sure Jools will be glad to hear that it’s also a thumbs up from The Media Mummy!

www.littlebirdbyjools.com 

One of the nicest ladies in showbiz, it’s always a pleasure to catch up with singer, Britain’s Got Talent judge – and most importantly, fellow working mum Alesha Dixon.

Bumping into her at the Little Black Dress cocktail party, in the glamorous surroundings of Piccadilly’s Hotel Café Royal, she broke the news that she’s joined the online retailer and fashion brand’s board of directors.

Fresh from releasing her latest album Do It For Love, Dixon spoke of her desire to see Little Black Dress develop into ‘more of a lifestyle brand’, for the company to forge links with charities such as domestic abuse charity Refuge and plans to create her own collection early next year. And so, yet another string to add to her bow.

Dixon, who’s mum to daughter Azura Sienna (who recently turned two), was all smiles as we discussed our little ones, using the words ‘it’s great, isn’t it?’ to describe parenthood.  Well, I couldn’t have said it better myself! Juggling motherhood and the world of work is never an easy one, but it always helps to do it with a smile!

www.aleshadixon.com     www.littleblackdress.co.uk

 

AS a parent in the age of technology, it won’t be long before you’re debating how much ‘screen time’ to allow your child.

For some parents it’s not a real issue, while others prefer to limit the amount of time their little one spends in front of a screen to the bare minimum – each to their own.

But when choosing WHAT they watch it helps that it’s both fun AND educational, which is what the launch of Learning Time with Timmy seems to have achieved.

Created by Aardman – the Oscar-winning animation studio behind classics Wallace & Gromit and Shaun the Sheep – in partnership with the British Council, the interactive online series is aimed at making learning English fun.

And while my boy has just turned one, he took an interest to the preview episodes we were shown, in particular trying to join in with the animal noises and the dance at the end of each episode with Timmy the sheep. It also helped that there was popcorn – and a giant-sized Timmy in the auditorium…

The episodes are also short enough to deal with a toddler’s attention span!

You can watch the series on YouTube at www.youtube.com/LearningTimeWithTimmy

When I heard about this film I thought it would be the perfect film to review for my blog – with an all-star cast including Jennifer Lopez, Matthew Morrison, Cameron Diaz, Chris Rock, Chace Crawford, Elizabeth Banks (the list goes on) – it covers everything from conception to childbirth, in all its glory!

I really enjoyed the film, directed by Kirk Jones, the ensemble cast and different strands to the storyline gives it a kind of New Year’s Eve/Valentine’s Day feel to it.  A comedy with some laugh out loud moments, the not so happy aspects of pregnancy are also covered, so be warned that it’s not all smiles and without giving anything away, there may be some tears…

But the thing people seem to want to know about is Cheryl Cole’s cameo in the film. But to be honest it’s a moment I’ve tried to block from memory, as I always have an irrational desire to scream or lash out whenever I see her or hear her voice. But for those of you interested, she said about two lines, appeared as herself – so no real acting involved – and was on the acreen for less than five minutes.

Also, the film is definitely not just a chick flick, the cinema had its fair share of guys in the audience when I saw it, who were laughing and cringing in equal measure. As Vic, Chris Rock leads the pack of fathers making regular trips to the park with their broods, providing several of the laughs as they try to convince Alex (Rodrigo Santoro) to join their world of parenthood.

I’m not gonna lie, this isn’t the movie to see if you like hardcore action movies, but for a couple of laughs and several soppy moments, it’s definitely worth a try.

 

Media Mummy rating? 3.5 stars out of 5