Friday 29 April 2016

Our Week!

Another week nearly over, phew! Where did that one go to?! I can't even remember last Friday, oh wait, I was at work. Anyway once work was out of the way I had a great weekend to look forward to. 

Saturday was a trip to the theatre with my Mum. We've had these tickets booked for well over a year, how ridiculous is that. As soon as I heard that The Bodyguard musical was touring I knew I had to see it again. My mum had told me she had booked the matinee performance so I suggested popping out for lunch first. I did feel a bit bad leaving hubby with the kids, but he was at the pub the night before! 



We popped to Zizzi hoping that they would be quick to serve and that the food would be ok, we've always been pleased when we went before (that's my Mum enjoying her glass of wine in the picture, she will be moaning at me for featuring that ha!). Sadly this time the service was soooo slow and we were waiting for about 30 minutes for our starters to turn up, eventually we did have to mention the waitress that we were on a bit of a time limit so they did hurry up and as a compensation the manager took our starters off the bill which was nice. While we were waiting for our mains Mum decided to check the tickets to see what seats we were in and that it definitely started at 2:30pm. However it was then discovered that actually it wasn't the matinee we were booked for it was the evening performance. Doh! Ha, we did have to have a little giggle about it but then we wondered what they hell we were going to do for 5+ hours!! There was only one thing for it and that was to shop (we were in Milton Keynes after all and I love MK!), so I made a call to the hubby to break the news that actually I wasn't going to be home before the kids bedtime and that I'd be back late. So we made our way around the shops, had a good browse and I may have made a few purchases (necklaces in picture above, kids clothes, you know the usual kind of stuff.) Eventually it was time to head over to the theatre so we sat and had a drink before the show and then enjoyed the show. The lead was played by Alexandra Burke (from X Factor fame), I have to admit I wasn't t a massive fan of hers before this but honestly she was incredible and played the part brilliantly. Anyway I'm waffling on a bit now so I'll shut up about this!

I got back quite late Saturday night so it was straight to bed. Sunday we decided that we were going to take the kids swimming. Alfie has been a few times with Daddy but Elarna hasn't been since holiday last year (oops) and seeing as she loves her baths I thought it was about time that we took her. She loved it as I thought she would and Alfie as always had a great time. It was a lovely way to spend a couple of hours. The rest of Sunday was spent just chilling out with the kids. 

Monday as always came around far too quickly but it's never too bad for me as I know I have Tuesday off and that makes it slightly more bearable! My days off this week were spent blitzing the house, I have cleaned from top to bottom and it took me a while but I'm pleased that I got it done. The weather has been so bizarre over the last week or so that I've been putting washing out and then I'm taking it in again, rather frustrating! We managed to get out for a walk on Thursday before the heavens opened once again! The walk, as nice as it was didn't quite go to plan and all because Alfie never got to go on the swings (I did offer but he refused!), you know what toddler logic is like, so he then refused point blank to walk and instead decided that he was going to have me push him home in the buggy shopping basket so there I was pushing the pram  with one hand and carrying his  bloody motorbike in the other, plus Elarna was horrendously over tired so she just wailed the whole way home! Oh the joys! 

So this week as you can see has been a mixed one, but in a good way.  How has your week been? For more antics with the kids and other misadventures and randomness you can also follow me over on Instagram!

Thursday 28 April 2016

Finance and Babies.

Money, Coins, Stack, Wealth, Finance, Bar, Business
Image from Pixabay

Children are expensive. Fact. Did you know that according to this recent BBC news article to raise a child up to the age of 21 on average costs a whopping £230,000 (or more!). How crazy is that, you could buy a decent house for that! I never quite believed it before I had Alfie but once I started to buy things it didn't take me long to realise that actually, yes this is going to cost a fortune. It seems more so with your first child as you are starting from scratch, everything is new or pretty much. With Elarna I already had the cot, the travel system, a huge variety of toys and the car seat. The basics if you like. I did have to get new clothes (obviously!) and I bought a few new things such as bottles, dummies and some fresh bedding but 2nd time around I was definitely pleased that I'd squirrelled away several items, it saved us hundreds without a doubt. My husband did have to rein me in a bit however as I probably would have gone out and bought lots more for her but ultimately I'm glad he did that otherwise I could have spent a fortune! I know it can be really dull to think about saving money and all that jazz but in the grand scheme of things it will stand you in good stead for the future, trust me!

Piggy Bank, Money, Savings, Financial, Economy, Success




So how can you go about saving a few pennies ready for an impending new arrival? Here are a few ideas........

  • How about putting a pound a week in one of those cute money pots that you can't get it out of unless you break it. They can fit up to a £1,000 of £1 coins which would be a huge help in buying a decent travel system or decorating the nursery. 
  • What about setting up a special bank account just for baby? You could set up a standing order to leave your account each month for a certain amount, it doesn't have to be a huge amount just enough to save a little nest egg. 
  • Sell unwanted things! When I was pregnant on both occasions, I don't know whether it was nesting or I just had the urge to sort out but I went through my wardrobe and was amazed at just how much stuff I didn't wear. I whacked them on a selling site and was pleased with the money that I made! It can take a little bit of time but worth it if you want to make a few pennies.
  • Head to a car boot sale. It's not one that I've tried myself but if you haven't got the time or can't really be bothered to list anything online stick it in your car and head t your local boot sale. 
  • What about considering a debt consolidation loan? Prior to falling pregnant I actually considered consolidating some debts, I thought it was a good way of being able to manages my finance's a little better and becoming more in control of my outgoings and spending. 



These are just a few little tips that I hope might help you prepare for your little bundle of joy. Having a baby is a huge and life changing moment so trust when I say being prepared is a great idea. 

How would you go about saving for a new baby?

* Collaborative post.

Wednesday 27 April 2016

Best and Worst Linky #47

Beautiful Things
Run, Jump, Scrap!

Hi everyone and a huge welcome to the best and worst linky run by my lovely friend Sarah who blogs over at Run Jump Scrap and co-hosted by myself. If you're new to the linky we're delighted for you to join in, please do have a read of the rules. If you're a regular then thanks as always for the support. Sarah and I split the commenting now, it is working well doing it like that. You should have received a comment from one of us so if you are missing one please do drop us a tweet or email. We've had some great posts over the last few weeks!

This is the linky where you can tell us about the best or worst things that have happened in the last week or even the last year, this could in the form of a blog post, a photo or even a video. It can be an old post or a new post, we don't mind we just want you to share it with us. We want you to share your babies firsts, the crappy day at work you've had or a makeup disaster basically the good, the bad or the downright ugly! We want to share your excitement and tears, highs and lows no matter what it is.

Each week we will both choose our favourite posts from the week before and feature you on the next weeks Best and Worst, we will also feature you on our Twitter feed. 

I can't believe we've nearly been running Best and Worst for almost a year, it's gone crazy quick and Sarah and I are just deciding how to celebrate....... keep your eyes open for a giveaway soon (hopefully!).


Rules
  • The linky will open at 6.30am on a Wednesday and close at 23.55pm on a Friday
  • You can link up one or two posts each week
  • Please comment on the 2 posts before yours and have a nosey at the host's too. We've noticed that some people have just been link dropping and not commenting on the 2 in front, please do return the favour so everyone gets some comments and linky love, thankyou.
  • ***Please add the badge to the bottom of your page so everyone knows where you have linked up***
  • Tweet your hosts @helsy_1983 and @RunJumpScrap once linked up so we can retweet you. When tweeting and commenting use the hashtag #bestandworst so everyone knows where you have come from
Best of Worst





    

Monday 25 April 2016

Dry Through the Night.......Almost.

I feel like I have doubted my son. Over the last few months time and time again we've toyed with the idea of taking his pull ups off at night. He's nearly 4, has been potty/toilet trained for well over a year now and I had been wondering when was an appropriate time to take off the pull ups and aim for him to be dry through the night. I've been convinced that he's not ready for some time as everytime he wakes on a morning he is still quite wet. We had come to the conclusion that the reason his pull ups were usually wet on a morning was more him being lazy and just doing his first morning wee in them as they were never overly drenched. I've been worrying that we've gotten into a bit of a viscous cycle because I just kept dismissing trying as I was convinced that it wasn't the right time and we should just wait. It wasn't just me with these thoughts, my husband felt the same although he was more confident that we should just give it a go. You can spend hours on Google trying to find out when is the right time, what to do and how to do it but I think you have to go with your instinct in the end. 


It was my husband that suggested that we give it a go one night. I admit I was a bit dubious, although we'd been talking about it to Alfie for a while I felt we were kind of unprepared.......I mean we had the awful, crackly waterproof sheet that you put underneath the normal sheet, it wasn't that kind of prepared, I think it was more mentally for me that I hadn't fully got it into my head that we might be in for some disrupted nights sleep. However, I did agree to give it a go and we'd just see what the night brought. We got spare sheets, duvet and pj's ready just in case and decided to just crack on. 




We did the normal routine with him and then made sure he had a wee before bed. He went to bed just fine, it was just a normal bedtime to him......so far so good! We had read up alot online beforehand about what we should be doing, how we should be doing it, what we shouldn't do blah blah blah, as with everything when you start reading up for advice it's a minefield of controversy! Put pants on, don't put pants on, wake them up for a wee before you go to bed, don't wake them up before you go to bed, reduce their water intake before bed etc etc etc the list goes on! I think you should just do what suits for you. Anyway, we decided that the wearing no pants in bed made sense, apparently the sensation of wearing pants can feel like pull ups which may cause more accidents so we thought we would err on the side of caution and go with no pants. We also made the decision not to wake him before we go to bed for a couple of reasons. Alfie is such a deep sleeper, I hated the thought of disrupting his sleep and also once he is awake he is a bugger to get back to sleep so in all of our interests we decided just to see how how he got on without us waking him up. It is also suggested (in the million pieces of advice found online) that waking them up to wee can actually then become habit forming and harder for them to go dry through the night so it seemed sensible for us to just leave him be.


So we went to bed as normal on the first night and I really was expecting a disturbed night, I slept terribly thinking I'd be up changing wet sheets in the middle of the night. What I didn't expect is to be woken at 7am to Alfie taking himself off to the loo! I do not give this boy enough credit. What an absolute star, we had a successful first night and we could not be prouder. In fact to this day we have not had any disturbed nights and only 2 accidents in the morning! I am so proud of him for acing it, it's been almost a month now and 2 accidents in my mind is bloody brilliant. I so wish we'd been a bit braver sooner as I do think he was capable of it but never mind, we've achieved another huge milestone and I'm super pleased with how well he has done. Here's hoping it continues! So my advice would be if you think they're ready but you're not too sure just give it go, you might just be surprised. 

How did you get your little one to be dry through the night?  

Friday 22 April 2016

Our Week!


The last time I summed up our week was the 8th April, whoops. To be fair though I have been feeling pretty ropey and it's taken me a long time to start to feel relatively human again, I'm pleased to write that I do feel alot better at the moment and the antibiotics have definitely helped, thanks god.

It's been a lovely week, after the birthday weekend a quiet week was needed. As you probably all know by now Elarna turned 1, we had a busy weekend celebrating and a good time was had all round. Over the course of this week we have just had a really nice chilled out time. On my day off on Tuesday I didn't quite feel 100% (for other reasons than previously!) I was supposed to be seeing a friend but decided that it was probably best to cancel. We had a very quiet day, it was bliss. 

Wednesday I had a really good day at work, I was working with a fab colleague and we had a right laugh and generally I came home feeling pretty happy and top the evening off I had some lovely cuddles from Alfie on my return, gorgeous. 

Yesterday, my other day off was my blitz the house day. It was a gorgeous and sunny day, a perfect drying day (oh how times change when the weather determines a good washing day, ha!). I rushed through the house work so I could spend loads of time with the kids which I did. We bounced on the trampoline, read books, played hide and seek and had lots of cuddles. We also had fun playing on the tablet playing this cool color switch game, always fun to the pass the time for a bit! Alfie is being such a sweetheart at the moment, he's really growing up and I'm loving being around him at the moment. Things are much more settled between him and Elarna and it's a pleasure to be their Mum. 

This weekend I'm off to the theatre again....more about that next week! Sunday will hopefully be another relaxing day, although I have heard that the weather is supposed to take a turn for the worse, boooo. 

This has been my week, how has yours been? 

* Collaborative post.

Wednesday 20 April 2016

Best and Worst Linky #46

Beautiful Things
Run, Jump, Scrap!

Hi everyone and a huge welcome to the best and worst linky run by my lovely friend Sarah who blogs over at Run Jump Scrap and co-hosted by myself. If you're new to the linky we're delighted for you to join in, please do have a read of the rules. If you're a regular then thanks as always for the support. Sarah and I split the commenting now, it is working well doing it like that. You should have received a comment from one of us so if you are missing one please do drop us a tweet or email. We've had some great posts over the last few weeks!

This is the linky where you can tell us about the best or worst things that have happened in the last week or even the last year, this could in the form of a blog post, a photo or even a video. It can be an old post or a new post, we don't mind we just want you to share it with us. We want you to share your babies firsts, the crappy day at work you've had or a makeup disaster basically the good, the bad or the downright ugly! We want to share your excitement and tears, highs and lows no matter what it is.

Each week we will both choose our favourite posts from the week before and feature you on the next weeks Best and Worst, we will also feature you on our Twitter feed. 

Sarah is back this week, yey! I think she's all settled and unpacked now and is ready for the weeks best and worst, as always look forward to having a read of all the fab posts. 

I loved reading all of the link ups last week, it was fun but alot of work on my own. I did pick a couple of fab posts that really stuck out at me. The first from Thirsty Daddy, I've always enjoyed reading his blog and this post made me feel all emotional. Children really do grow up quickly, please go and have a read. 


Musings of a Thirsty Daddy

My 2nd linkup up that I enjoyed reading was from The Squirmy Popple, this post really made me chuckle as it is pretty much what happens in our household, do have a nose!

Squirmy Popple

Rules
  • The linky will open at 6.30am on a Wednesday and close at 23.55pm on a Friday
  • You can link up one or two posts each week
  • Please comment on the 2 posts before yours and have a nosey at the host's too. We've noticed that some people have just been link dropping and not commenting on the 2 in front, please do return the favour so everyone gets some comments and linky love, thankyou.
  • ***Please add the badge to the bottom of your page so everyone knows where you have linked up***
  • Tweet your hosts @helsy_1983 and @RunJumpScrap once linked up so we can retweet you. When tweeting and commenting use the hashtag #bestandworst so everyone knows where you have come from
Best of Worst




    

Monday 18 April 2016

Elarna Birth & Beyond - Update #12

It happened. My 2nd baby turned one. How can this be?! It only feels like yesterday that I was in labour and welcoming her into the world. The weeks have rolled by so quickly and it has been a truly amazing year. We've had our ups and downs, mostly ups and I've slowly become (what I hope!) is an ok Mum of 2. It's pretty amazing to look back over the last year and see how much she's changed, even since last months update she's getting much more confidence and is starting to want to explore all day long. In this update I'm going to share some photos of her 1st birthday weekend. It sounds terrible but I didn't want to make a huge fuss. When Alfie turned one it was a huge thing, we had a big party, we invited lots of people and generally it was quite stressful! We had a fab day but Alfie didn't really know what to do with himself, bless him. I decided that for Elarna we would have a quiet family day on her actual birthday and then a very small gathering with just close friends and family on Saturday. 


Bizarrely I didn't really know what to get her for, I'm so used to boys toys that buying for another gender was tricky. It was a tough job but I did get through it, ha! We now have a nice mix of some girly toys for her to play with as she grows up. I do still have quite alot of Alfie's younger toys which is good but she definitely needed some that were more girlyfied. Sorry if the sight of pink offends, I love pink and I do admit to buying her quite a bit of pink and purple gifts! As you can see for her big gift I went for a rather lovely princess cozy coupe, this was without a doubt a hit with Alfie aswell as Elarna! 





We spent Friday morning opening pressies and playing. It was really nice and chilled......apart from my husband being in some weird man mood for the best part of the morning but other than that it was great! We were originally going to head to the little zoo that's local to us but the weather was absolutely pants so that ruined that idea. My next idea was to head to a soft play over in Stamford with a lovely cafe, I'd heard lots of good things about it and it was really nice, quite small but perfect for having a coffee and being able to enjoy it while being able to make sure the children are ok. I loved that the baby area was right next to the seating area so I could pop Elarna into the ball pool while being able to sit close and watch her. We had a really nice afternoon and then finished the day off with pizza and pasta......at Alfie's request. 





Saturday I'd arranged a little tea party, I'm really pleased that I kept it small, it was probably the least stressful party so far and with only a few family and friends there it meant I got to chat to everyone. We massively over catered and had enough sandwiches to feed a small army .....needless to say I think we'll be eating ham sandwiches until they come out of our ears. 


I had some gorgeous little butterfly cupcakes made and they were so pretty. I actually bought the main cake from Tesco! I was pretty impressed with their selection and it tasted pretty good too. So if anyone is looking for a birthday cake I can definitely recommend popping to Tesco and checking out their range. 




As always forgot to take many pictures as I was busy chatting and the ones that I did to get weren't great! I wish I knew the trick to getting an almost 4 year old to smile for the camera. We only just managed to get these pictures with the bribery of being allowed a couple of sweets, this is the best of the lots, trust me!


Elarna had a great time, she was absolutely pooped when I put her to bed. Alfie on the other hand was running on haribo. We had a couple of friends stay over with their little boys so they were running riot around the house while the adults were just wanting to sit down and drink wine. Eventually at around 8:30pm our wish was granted and we were finally able to sit, have some adult conversation and enjoy some champagne. All in all a lovely end to a successful day. 




As much as I'm sad to say goodbye to the baby days at the moment I'm of course looking forward to the future and really excited to watch her meet her milestones. I think Alfie is looking forward to when she can actually play with him! We're still waiting for those first steps to be taken, she's so close but hasn't quite dared to yet.....I'm hoping that the next update I'll be able to share that she's walking but we'll see! So there is lots that awaits us and for the moment I'm just taking each day as it comes and loving my little family. Thanks for reading and I'm going to shut up now, all that remains to be said is here's to the next year!

Friday 15 April 2016

Happy 1st Birthday Elarna!

Well I can't really believe that I'm writing this! It has been a whole year that I welcomed my beautiful daughter into the world. Where has that time gone?! I'm not going to write a long post, I'm just going to share a few photos and wish my gorgeous, smiley, little ray of sunshine a wonderful 1st birthday. My life has been absolutely crazy over the last year, mad but fantastic, the best. I can't even imagine what life was like before 2! If you fancy reading my birth story then click here or if you fancy a giggle then have a read of the truth about giving birth by clicking here!




11 months of Elarna.




The day will be spent celebrating as a family of 4, hopefully at a local zoo.......weather dependant! On Saturday we are having a little tea party with close friends and family. 

So happy birthday my darling, thankyou for being in my life. Here's to the next year.

Wednesday 13 April 2016

Best and Worst Linky #45

Beautiful Things




Run, Jump, Scrap!

Hi everyone and a huge welcome to the best and worst linky run by my lovely friend Sarah who blogs over at Run Jump Scrap and co-hosted by myself. If you're new to the linky we're delighted for you to join in, please do have a read of the rules. If you're a regular then thanks as always for the support. Sarah and I split the commenting now, it is working well doing it like that. You should have received a comment from one of us so if you are missing one please do drop us a tweet or email. We've had some great posts over the last few weeks!

This is the linky where you can tell us about the best or worst things that have happened in the last week or even the last year, this could in the form of a blog post, a photo or even a video. It can be an old post or a new post, we don't mind we just want you to share it with us. We want you to share your babies firsts, the crappy day at work you've had or a makeup disaster basically the good, the bad or the downright ugly! We want to share your excitement and tears, highs and lows no matter what it is.

Each week we will both choose our favourite posts from the week before and feature you on the next weeks Best and Worst, we will also feature you on our Twitter feed. 

Sarah is taking a little break this week while she moves house so I'll do my best to comment on each and every post but please bare with me it might take me a few days!

There was some great link ups last week, I struggled to pick just one so I chose a couple! My first choice is from This Mums Life all about contradictions in motherhood, you're damned if you do and damned if you don't, no matter what you try and do there is always someone to judge or to say you should be doing it a different way. I loved this post, I am always amazed at how you can sometimes be made to feel crap for the choices made as a mother and this post sums this up. It's a fab post, please do go and have a read. 


 

The next post that I really enjoyed was from the lovely Natalie who blogs at Mum in Brum her post is all about how she won't be the blogger who posts daily. I completely resonated with this, I decided a while ago that I would not put pressure on myself to post daily on my blog for reasons that Natalie writes about. Go and have a read of this great post.

site logo

Sarah's favourite link up from this week was from the lovely Mummy in Training with a very special double announcement! Eeek! Congrats hun, do go and have a little read.

A Double Announcement!


Rules

  • The linky will open at 6.30am on a Wednesday and close at 23.55pm on a Friday
  • You can link up one or two posts each week
  • Please comment on the 2 posts before yours and have a nosey at the host's too. We've noticed that some people have just been link dropping and not commenting on the 2 in front, please do return the favour so everyone gets some comments and linky love, thankyou.
  • ***Please add the badge to the bottom of your page so everyone knows where you have linked up***
  • Tweet your hosts @helsy_1983 and @RunJumpScrap once linked up so we can retweet you. When tweeting and commenting use the hashtag #bestandworst so everyone knows where you have come from

Best of Worst




    

Tuesday 12 April 2016

Baby Sight Tool with Vision Direct.

Sight is one of the most precious things in life. We take it for granted every day and for me, to lose this sense would be catastrophic. I've always been intrigued by sight, how it develops, how do we see and how do we determine things like colours, shapes and images. Sadly my vision isn't brilliant and I've worn contacts for years after being very short sighted but I hope that my children's vision is better than mine throughout their life. 

When I had Alfie I had no idea about what newborns were able to see, in matter of fact I thought they could see alot more than they actually can. What newborns actually see to begin with is shapes, movement and light but all in shades of grey.....how fascinating is that! As the baby grows so does their sight and by the age of 12 months their vision is almost as good as an adult.

Vision Direct have created this amazing tool to enable parents to see the world as if through our children's eyes. It's pretty cool, by using a simple slider you can view just how their vision changes throughout the first year.

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For more information please see below where I have featured the official press release from Vision Direct, it gives a bit more insight into the tool and its designer. 

Vision Direct’s New Digital Tool Helps Parents Learn About Baby Sight

A new interactive tool from Vision Direct helps parents learn how their baby’s vision develops over the first year.

LONDON, February 2016. Vision Direct has launched an online tool to show parents what their baby’s sight might be like as he or she grows older. Using the simple interface, parents can quickly shift from a newborn’s first view to the fully developed vision of a 12 month old child.

·        Developed by opticians, this digital tool features a simple sliding scale to show the developmental stages of a baby’s eyesight.

·        Input your child’s age and the tool will give you some idea of what your baby’s field of vision, depth perception and colour awareness might be like.

·        As you move the slider, you’ll notice colours and objects become sharper. For instance a newborn will see only black and white while a two-month old will see only bright primary shades.

Brendan O’Brien, Vision Direct’s Head Optician and Chief Operating Officer, commented on the launch of the tool:

“We hope this will help parents understand how their baby’s vision changes during this critical time for development. The tool features helpful tips on how to support your child as they learn to focus, track objects and see colours.”

Vision Direct hopes parents can refer to this tool as their baby grows and use this resource to encourage healthy development.

As well as being the leading online retailer of contact lenses in Europe, Vision Direct is committed to being a leading resource for eye health and information.

For more information, follow Vision Direct on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

* Collaborative Post.

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