Tuesday 31 January 2012

A duck feeding we will go...


With the arrival of Leo's new Quinny Zapp Xtra, we have been taking it for many a test drive on our walks around the area (In a bid for me to get comfortably back into my size 8's! Yes I am still TRYING to keep my New Year Resolution!)

We are very fond of our new Quinny (But that is another story...A review I will write up at a later date!) and I was wondering what Leo and I could do together while being out and about.

We happen to live a 15 minute walk up the road from the local town and the River Avon. What better way to spend a day, than to take a leisurely stroll into town for a Costa Coffee...and then taking the now 7 month old to feed the ducks for the first time!?



So that was our plan. On Saturday while Daddy was at work, Leo and I did just that. I was not sure how Leo would react...if at all he did react? Was he not to young to take any of the detail in?

Any doubts I had about him enjoying feeding the ducks were gone when he broke into a wide eyed smile and took in every detail. He loved the whole experience.

I had bought a loaf of bread so we could feed the ducks, and of course Leo took the opportunity to stuff the bread into his mouth, learning to share..or steal from the ducks.. Leo was excitedly kicking his legs and watching the Geese walk ever closer to us. My main worry was that the Geese may get a little to close and we would have to make a run for it!

The worries I had about the Geese increased when one took a snap for the other and ended up with many a feathers in it's beak! So I was edging further back...Yes I admit it...I was a bit of a nervous wreck.



It was a sunny but bitterly cold Saturday so I had to make sure that Leo was wrapped up nice and warm while we were by the river. I am so glad that I did take Leo to do this as it was something we both enjoyed doing together, and he has definitely proved my wrong...he is not too young to enjoy doing things like this.

I am most certainly going to be taking Leo to feed the ducks on a weekly basis. It gets us both out of the house and spending some quality Mummy/baby time together and of course...there is nothing wrong with fresh air!

We just have to get Daddy to come along next time!

It is safe to say that I am completely and utterly exhausted from all my walking, I seem to have abandoned my car on the pretence that I would rather walk...EVERYWHERE. I am quite impressed with myself, that and I am enjoying the Quinny. :-)

How have you all been and what was your first experience of feeding the ducks with your little ones?




Paid My Dues


I am a firm believer in karma, what comes around goes around. I am one of those people who never seems to catch a break and is always a by-stander...watching everyone else's dreams come true. When out driving in the car I seem to come across every Red traffic light. In fact they seem to purposely change upon my approach, like their main aim is to catch me out.

I have had some rather BIG exciting news and it seems that those traffic lights have been put in their place and will only be turning green from now on. I cannot go into detail but it seems that my dues have been paid. My big break has arrived and we are in good stead for our house hunting. The aim is to save hard and in the next couple of years, break out on our own.

I am still waiting for this news to sink in, and I am pinching myself hard to see if I wake up. My little family are on cloud 9 and when I return to work later this year we will be pushing forward with our future.

It is safe to say that we are all very happy, and our family unit will one day in the next few years, be HOME OWNERS!!!

We now just have to save very hard, find our perfect property and make it our own! Tonight we are having a celebratory Thai takeaway, so I am off to pour myself a very large glass of Pino Grigio...hehe..

Wish us luck!

Laura xx

Friday 27 January 2012

Laura...? Laura? Who?

When I began to tell friends and family I was pregnant, I could give you a list of 'friends' that would not be there anymore. I know it is wrong to assume....but my assumptions were correct.


I made the effort to tell all my 'close' friends in person. I met them for drinks and broke the news. These friends said they were happy for me and then after my announcement I didn't hear much from them after that. I knew what their opinions really were before I even told them, so to say I wasn't surprised is a under statement.


When I was 30 weeks pregnant, I decided that I would go out with Luke for a few non alcoholic beverages. I came across some of these girls who cooed about just how big I had got, one even went as far to say I would never get back into my old clothes again. A friend would never say that!


These girls are single, childless and have no real responsibility expect for partying and holding down a 9-5. So there weekends are full of partying, which of course I don't have much time for any more. In fact I can count the times I have been out on one hand, and then I have given myself a curfew to get back to Leo. 


I used to be very like these girls, I lived for the weekend and loved to go out. I stood by my friends though, especially through times when I knew they would need me.


Of course when Leo was born, the text messages rolled in congratulating me. Then the weeks rolled by and my birthday came around, and again the text messages came thick and fast. That was August....and the last time some of my 'friends' felt they should get in touch. Okay so maybe I have not contacted them...but I guess at best...I feel alienated.

No invites come from these girls for drinks any more, meals out. I know they all still meet....but you know what. I expected this. Like I said...I am not surprised and in all honesty...I don't actually mind.


My life has changed, it changed for the better and along the way I knew some people would not accept this and would fall at the first hurdle. In hind sight these people were never real friends. They were acquaintances along the way. I know for some people though, who go through pregnancy and then find their 'friends' suddenly dwindle...and are then gone, difficult to comprehend.


I cannot stress enough to get out and about, go to your ante-natal classes and meet ladies who are also going through the same things as you, and when you have your baby socialise and go to baby groups. It is so good to get out and about. Look into baby massage and do things to keep you and baby active.


I can count my real friends on one hand, and going through pregnancy and attending ante-natal classes. I have met some truly amazing people, that I do count as real friends, and it is nice to have some common ground...our babies.


With these new found friends I have attended groups, baby yoga and baby massage. We meet for coffee and keep each other sane on our Mummy hood adventures.


How many of you have experienced scenarios like this? Where you find yourself thinking 'Laura?? hmmm Laura who?


I left the party girl behind and became a Mummy, and I wouldn't change a thing xx


Wednesday 25 January 2012

Pushchair Addiction


I can remember wondering why women with children got in such a hype when it came to pushchairs, surely having one was sufficient and the main aim was to simply take the child from A to B?

Wrong.

OK.. so now I get the 'Pushchair addiction'....I have one...

Up until Monday night I only had one pushchair, the Mothercare Spin. This seemed sufficient to me until I got thinking about strollers. My one real love for the Spin is that Leo can face me and I can pull silly faces and have a random natter with him while on the move. This was the one aspect I did not want to say goodbye to yet, and I started hunting out parent facing strollers...and as I am not fussy (Yeahhh Right!!) it only had to be Red in colour, have 3 wheels and just be generally pretty.

See not fussy!

So I found the Quinny Zapp Xtra, and I am now sat here anxiously awaiting it's arrival! Of course the first thing I am going to do is set it up and have a play, maybe even go for a test drive, with Leo facing me of course!


You may be asking yourself, how does she have a pushchair addiction? Well as soon as I found this Pushchair, I had to have it. It wasn't a question of wanting it...it was a necessity.

I sat there with my finger over the button, and the thought of pressing it filled me with the excitement you get on Christmas Eve. See...Addiction is not a pretty sight. I tell myself Leo needed it...but maybe it was just because I wanted it, I guess we will find out.

Do any of you have any pushchair addictions and what do you do with the old ones that you no longer need?

I am now looking to sell my Spin, even though it makes me feel sad...It was after all Leo's first pram. I cannot justify having two...especially if I can make some of the money back, I am sure you know maternity pay isn't great!

I would love to hear all about your pushchair addictions!

Laura xx

Thursday 19 January 2012

Clap, Clap, Clap Your Hands!

My little lion cub has learnt another new trick this week. He has put his paws together and out of nowhere learnt to clap his little hands.


I should say he started last weekend, but me being cynical and maybe a little hard to please? Put it straight down to fluke. However Leo does not seem to take this way of thinking too lightly. Leo has made it very apparent that....he can clap his hands, and he is doing it to prove Mummy wrong!


It is very easy for me to pin point where this way of thinking stems from. I myself think this way and as soon as someone says...you can't do this and you can't do that. I do it! It seems that he is Daddy's little mini me...but he shares my fighting spirit!

Here is my clever little boy clapping his hands!


This morning Leo caught his very first episode of 'Waybuloo' personally...I am not a big kid's television fanatic and I only put it on to see his initial reaction. Leo was fixated and seemed to like the whole set up. He began to clap his hands in excitement :-)



When did your babies start clapping their hands intentionally?

Am I wrong in not wanting to encourage him to watch television? I am not saying he can't watch it, I just don't want him to spend all day glued to the screen, and I guess my approach to it, is just not putting 'Cbeebies' on so it becomes a 'habbit'. Today was a one off and even though Leo showed his approval...I shall not be encouraging it. Does this make me a bad Mummy?

I would much rather take Leo out and do things with him. Or even if we stay at home, I would prefer to do Arts and Crafts and just spend quality time with him. Yes there will be days where he or I are under the weather and cannot do these kinds of tasks, and those days I suppose we will cuddle up and watch a flick on the television.

What are your opinions on child television and how to you control/restrict viewing time?

Wednesday 18 January 2012

The Mothercare Spin Review




Since having Leo, I have been the proud owner of the Mothercare Spin, as the name suggests, the Spin can be turned to either face the parent for the much desired interaction or out into the excitement of the baby’s new world. The one hand spin mechanism to transfer the seat from forward to parent-facing mode makes this a easy transfer from either preference, and you can even do this while the baby is still seated!

In the Box you will find:
- The pram liner and pram apron
- Chest pads
- Mothercare Weathershield
- Cosytoe

It is a lovely touch to have the rain cover and cosy toes included in the price because more often than not you have to buy them separately for other pushchairs.

The Spin is easy to build, I found the instructions quite clear to follow. To fold down the pushchair you remove the seat and pull two clips to fold down the chassis. Both pieces are very light. To put the pushchair together you just open up the chassis and clip the seat back into place.

I used this travel system from newborn, and my son was very comfortable in pram mode, he had plenty of room to stretch out and was quite happy in it until he was about 4 months old. There was still plenty of room in pram mode, but Leo had decided that the time was right for us to convert it into the pushchair. He made this very apparent!

Pushchair mode is fantastic and the pram bed converts into the seat for Leo to sit very comfortably in. I still have Leo facing me so I can chat away to him when we are out and about, and he is coming up for 7 months old no! For me this is the best bit. I love being able to have him face me still, as with many other pushchairs this is not a possibility after the pram is finished with.

The cosytoe is really cosy. It's lined with fleece and has a thick waterproof covering which has been brilliant through out the winter months. Leo is always wrapped up in his snow suit and then tucked up into the cosytoe, and the bar across enables the cosytoe to stay up so he never ever gets cold.

It has been a real blessing to have the rain cover to quickly pull out at the first sight of rain, even with this cover on, it has still been easy to access Leo, due to the zip that falls across the front. You could realistically leave this cover on at all times.

We purchased the car seat to go with the Spin in order to have the complete travel system. This has made a real difference in how we do things as we can also clip the car seat on, which has been really handy if Leo is fast asleep, I will miss this feature when Leo outgrows the car seat.

The only downfalls I feel the Spin has is that the chassis seat is relatively small, Leo sits comfortably in it but I am sure if there was a bit more seat space for him it would make his journeys a bit more luxurious. The age range for this pushchair is guided by a weight restriction up to 15kg.

This pushchair is very easy to push with one hand (something I do quite a bit) and is nifty around shopping aisles. Although I have to say I personally find the fact that the front wheels are more streamlined a bit of a mission when it comes to judging spaces to fit through, as the back wheels are more protruding, and you may think you have squeezed through…..until you get caught by the back wheels and have to find a more suitable space to position yourself through.

I have lost track of the times people have told me I need ‘L’ Plates when I have misjudged a space….but I do like to put this down to the back wheels!

We have taken the Spin on many a walk, all be it on gravel tracks but it has served it’s purpose, however it did not take well to the sandy beach in Tenerife! It's definitely more 'urban' in my mind - both for looks and design.

Over all I have been very impressed with the Mothercare Spin and I would definitely recommend this to other mums. I stand by my original choice of pushchair and think it has really made life easier over the last 7 months, although I do think at some point I will invest in a Stroller as Leo is growing very quickly!

Tuesday 17 January 2012

Time is a Hurricane

I can't help feeling like I have been swept up into a hurricane wind, I can see time just fluttering by...hours...days...weeks...it is all just going sooo quickly. I know I have touched on this before, but it just doesn't seem to be slowing down. Time really is relentless and something that we can never gain back.

Since having Leo, this has become so apparent to me. Seeing how much he changes from week to week, really puts time into perspective, and part of me feels like I am missing some momentous development, even though I know I am with him 24/7, so that is a ridiculous assumption on my part.

Is it just me that feels like this to a certain extent? Or is it natural for all new Mother's to feel like time is just being snatched away from them?

I write this while I have put the little monster down for his morning nap, I can hear him chattering away on his baby monitor...He is a different baby to the one I brought home from the hospital almost 7 months ago. I thought pregnancy flew by, but nothing prepared me for the first year of Leo's life...seeing it fly past me....and soon seeing me being sat behind my desk at the 9-5 job I have occupied for the last 3 years.

I really wish I was established and we could afford for me to not have to go back to work. I wish we owned a house and had the financial set up for us to live comfortably, but the fact of the matter is. I have to go back to work for us to survive. I have to work to help bring the food home and give Leo everything he needs.

I also want to be able to take Leo on holidays and days out. When he is 3 or 4 my plan is to take him to Finland where we will stay in a log cabin with a roaring fire where we will go on sleigh rides and see the Northern Lights. To do things like this...I need money...I need to work.

I have also never been comfortable taking money off Luke, even now with me on maternity leave I budget my own money so I don't need to ask him for handouts. This may be me being proud, but I love having my own Independence and knowing I can get myself or Leo something without having to get the funds from Luke.

I guess I have answered a number of my own reservations about returning to work. It is a necessity...but not something I look forward to doing. However for us to buy our own house, and for me to continue with my Independent approach to life....Work is where I am headed.

I just wish time would slow down. I wish Leo would stay smaller for longer. I don't wish any time away. I don't wish milestones would come along quicker than they do. I am quite contented enjoying them as they arrive and watching my little lion develop in front of my eyes.

We now have his second bottom tooth! It popped through yesterday! I am pretty sure he is trying to clap his little fists together, and he is loving the Gummy Bear Song, he demonstrates his liking for this particular video by kicking his little legs...grinning from ear to ear and squealing with excitement. My boy is growing up....



Judging from the baby monitor going quiet, it sounds like my little man has finally given in to the temptation of sleep...So I am going to take this time to enjoy a hot chocolate <3



Have a lovely day all

Laura x

Thursday 12 January 2012

Leo's First Tooth


It has been apparent to me for many weeks that Leo was well into the teething stage and sooner or later I was going to be faced with the fact that, my gorgeous boy's gummy smile was going to be gone, and in it's place would be a guppy toothy smile.


Last night I found Leo's first tooth. I could not believe it! Leo is 28 weeks old (6 months) and the first tooth to arrive is his front bottom left. You can just see that is has broken through his gum and is sharp to the touch! Thank god I am not breast feeding!



Many emotions were running through me last night. Happiness, excitement and also sadness. You may question the last - sadness, but you see that now his first tooth is here, it is another milestone that has been laid down and I don't think I am ready for Leo's baby days to be numbered. It is now only a matter of time before more teeth pop up, and my how I love his gummy wide smile.

The discovery of his tooth occured when Leo woke up after about an hour of me putting him down last night, he must have known that I wanted to sit down and watch One Born Every Minute. I was looking forward to watching the water birth. So Leo was sat with me while I was watching and reminiscing the day he swam into the world, and Leo was sat watching us in the mirror that is adjactent to where we were sitting. I grabbed some teething gel and began to rub it around his gums and there it was...just sitting there waiting to be discoverd.


I am very excited that his very first tooth his here, and as soon as I can get a clear shot of his mouth I will make sure I take a photo. I don't think I will get much co-operation on this front however. I am fighting a losing battle, but Leo knows by now that I do take many, many pictures. He may even think that the camera is part of me!


All the changes that have come around recently have got me thinking about how amazing they all are. They all occur in such a short space of time. One minute they cannot do anything for themselves and the next they are wanting to sit on their own, and then bam...there's a tooth. The next step I guess is crawling....my oh my!


When Leo was born, Luke and I discussed the best way in which we could capture Leo's facial changes. We decided that the best way to go forward with this was to take a weekly photo. We now have 28 weeks worth of pictures that show Leo right from newborn to current day. Now Leo has a tooth this is going to be one more change that comes into the aspect of these photos.


We have not discussed how long we intend to take these pictures for, but I will carry on for the foreseeable future as it will be lovely for Leo to see these changes for himself one day. I plan on sharing these pictures around Leo's first birthday.


For the last few weeks I have been trying to get Leo to use a tippy cup, I have tried 3 now and had no luck at all. He did not want Tomee Tipee....He did not want anything. So I resorted to using a Doidy cup, and he decided that this was fine and allowed me to give him water through this.


Today I found another beaker that we had been given, and thought that I would give it a try just to see what happened. At first it was a failure just like every other attempt, but then....Leo decided that he would drink it! He was holding the handles on either side so I let go...and Leo drank from it all on his own!

It is times like this I am so glad I created my Blog, It is already a record of Leo's life. When he is older I will sit down with him and show him all of the posts and pictures, and I hope he will be proud.


When did your baby's get their first teeth in and decide they were happy to use a tippy cup for the first time?

I am sure like all of you are when it comes to your babies, I am one proud Mummy <3

Laura xx

Monday 9 January 2012

I want my Mummy...


Since Leo turned 6 months old, he has been on mission GO.
He seems to be going through a 'Mummy' phase currently, which is just lovely for me, but I cannot help wondering about Luke and how it makes him feel. Obviously it is perfectly normal for a baby to want his Mummy, and it is very rewarding when Leo reaches his arms out for me to come and get him from whoever may be holding him.

Yesterday we paid a visit to Luke's Mum's, Leo's Nanny took him away for a cuddle and for the first couple of minutes he was fine, all smiles and no problems. Then he looked straight at me and his bottom lip started to drop, his arms stretched out and he wanted to come back to his Mummy. His Nanny quickly brought him back and placed him in my arms, as she had observed Leo was quickly becoming a Mummy's boy. As soon as I had my baby boy closed tightly in my Mummy huggle...Leo was silent and contented once again.

I am determined to enjoy all the attention Leo throws at me, as I know there will come a day where all he is going to want is his Daddy, and Mummy wont be good enough to do things that only the 'boys' can do together. I know Luke is looking forward to the day where Leo can join him on the Kit Bikes and when they can go on boys only camp nights. For me though...When this time comes, I am going to miss my little baby that just wanted his Mummy.
I was shocked when I realised Leo was reaching out, I did not think this development would come for a few more months. Luke is in awe when he walks in from work and Leo lunges forward to get into his arms. When bedtime comes around, this is our time and only Mummy will do. I hope this lasts for many years to come.

Leo's sitting is getting more steady and he is starting to roll more and more, when did my little baby stop being my little baby? When did he turn into a 6 month, 18lbs 6oz little monster? I seem to have blinked and the time has just swept past me so quickly.

It is now only 6 months until I return to my 9-5 job, and the thought fills me with dread. How can I even consider leaving Leo? Yes he will be 12 months by the time of my return, but I can't help feeling I am going to miss out on so much being a working mum. I love my role as stay at home Mummy, but that role is going to time out. Some how I am going to have to split my time between two roles, when really...I just want to be with my little lion.

I would love to know how you working Mum's managed to tear yourselves away from your maternity leave and your baby? I would love some advice.

When did your little munch kin's start reaching for you?
Laura xx


Saturday 7 January 2012

Me, Myself and I

I think all Mummy's will join me when I say, it is just lovely to spend some quality time with just Me, Myself and I. I used to be very well acquainted with these once very close friends of mine, we would spend hours just doing things for..well.....us!


I had no one dependant on me you see...well apart from Luke...but he can look after himself to a certain extent. I just have to make sure he is being entertained with his kit bikes, his MK1 VW Caddy...or the gym and he pretty much takes care of himself.

These days it is so hard to just spend any time on my own. Don't get me wrong, I love every moment with Leo but I try to time bedtime so I can have just one hour to myself while Luke is at the gym. This very rarely works out. I just have to blink and the time is gone, and I have spent the whole time getting Leo down and doing Mummy jobs.

Me, Myself and I have become strangers, by the time I have got Leo and every job on my list completed, Luke is home and any chance of time on my own has gone up in smoke.**POOF**
The other night I implemented bed time early, in the hope that Leo would be down for 7:30pm and there would be an opportunity to do...Nothing! Bliss!
Leo of course had a completely different agenda. Consisting of taking 40 minutes to drink 2oz's of an 8oz bottle. Deciding then he had a second wind and started to beam gummy smiles through his bottle and giggling like he knew I would succumb.

Of course I am a sucker, I love those moods where he is being playful and mischievous. I waved an evening with myself off there and then and proceeded to take him downstairs, I knew he would not go down until he was ready, and boy...he let me know he was not ready.


To be honest, I am glad he woke up and I shared that time with him. Leo as you know has been rolling from back to front since he was 20 weeks old. He has on occasion been known to roll tummy to back, but I have been waiting for him to perfect the 'Continuous Roll'.
That night he did just that, he rolled for a toy and then proceeded to roll again, and again. With these next two enthusiastic rolls he successfully took out two vases of flowers, full of water. I through, fits of giggles moved him away from the scene of the crime, so he decided there and then to roll into Granddad's shoes for a little munch...oh my son.


Leo had a lovely evening, and before I knew it, an hour had elapsed and it was coming up to 9pm. My 'Early bedtime' implementation had obviously failed and my next impossible mission was to get him to bed. AGAIN.
You may be thinking that I should have a more strict regime, and maybe I should have stuck to my original plan and not brought him back down stairs and essentially wound him back up all over again.

Mistake or not he did go down just after 9 with no fights and no giggles. He was happy, and I was happy to have spent a lovely evening with my gorgeous baby boy.

I think every Mummy needs an hour to herself in the evening, but sometimes that hour can be spent valuably with that little person in your life. Me, Myself and I will have to wait but I would not change that hour with my little man, nor do I believe I need a stricter regime. What we do works for all of us and while we are both happy, I will continue to put my best foot forward.

Leo has his dinner at around 5pm each evening, and when he is substantially messy enough, food smushed up his nose and in his hair, I make the call and take him for his bath. He thoroughly enjoys his baths, he will splash and whale kick until the cows come home. After he is all kicked out it is time to get into his babygrow, this takes us to about 6pm, and he can use this time to play and have quiet time with me before having his bedtime bottle and going to bed for 8pm.

He will wake up once in the night for around 15 minutes, in that time he will have a 5oz bottle and then he will sleep through until 9:30/10:00am if I let him. So I am not sleep deprived and we seem to have our own special understanding. This makes me wonder about other peoples bed time routines and how they accomplish such a mission each night.

So what are your bed time routines and how do to you implement them? Do you get that coveted hour in the evening to yourself, and how?

Last night I was lucky enough to get that one hour to myself. Some how Leo was down and asleep by 7:30, and I began to write this post. Before I knew it, that time was over and Luke was home....and this post was left in-complete. I write this now while Leo is asleep in his push chair and Luke is off fixing up both the car's tyre pressures (A job that is beyond me completely).

So I may not always get this time in the evening, but at some points in the day it is still just Me, Myself and I, but I would not change my little family for the world.

To top off my half hours peace, my ring also made an appearance this afternoon. In a Tesco bag no less. So I am now re-juvenated and also wearing my bling pride of place on my finger.

Enjoy your weekends everyone!

Laura x


Friday 6 January 2012

What a Topsy Turvey Day

So my day today is not shaping out as planned, first thing this morning I received a letter from the bank.
A letter informing me that due to a security issue on my card I have to call them A.S.A.P. I had a feeling there may be a problem yesterday, when I was trying to purchase songs off iTunes, and to my horror, my card was being declined.
So this morning I pick up the phone and dial the numbers, hoping to resolve everything and finally get my new tunes. After a short interlude on hold and a quiz on my password details. I am informed that the reasons behind me not being able to use my card are....because they have cancelled it.
Yes...cancelled. I guess I should be counting my lucky stars really, they were forced to cancel the card due to insights their end that my card has been copied and could potentially be used!
I don't know who these fraudsters think they are robbing...they would be very sad to see the current state of affairs in my account. Being on maternity leave does not make me 'In the money' to put it matter of factly. HSBC have been very efficient on this occasion, my card is no longer valid and a new debit card should be with me by next week. Being cut off is actually a god send, as now my money is safe and secure...even from me.
Now this is where I am really in the dog house....For my 21st birthday, Luke got me a fantastic white gold rig, with 4 diamonds encrusted. I absolutely love this ring.
Today I realised it was no longer on my finger. It was gone.

I cannot even begin to tell you when it made it's departure and jumped off my finger. All I know is I have re-traced each and every step I can think of...I have even made a special effort to put the mountain of washing I did yesterday away in the wardrobe in the hope that it fell in there.
It didn't.
My only other thoughts are, that it is going round and round in the washing machine now...or maybe it has somehow fallen into Leo's nappy's...in which case it is in the bin...
I guess my afternoon is going to consist of bin diving....and then if I do not locate it, explaining to Luke, that my beloved ring has gone.
How has everyones day gone so far? Any advice on where it could possibly be, that I maybe haven't looked? Or how I break the news to Luke?
The ring was similar to the ones below....


Laura xx

Wednesday 4 January 2012

January Sales Tips From a Women on A Budget

So we are now into 2012, 4 whole days to be precise. I am sure I am not the only one who is guilty of revelling in the January Sales!? Am I? No....I did not think so.

If like me, you like to get really stuck in and get as many bargains as you can at this time of year, Save.co.uk have some tips that may be of use to you.

Check online first: Always research before making your final decision on where you buy the item from. Scour the Internet and make your comparisons online before hand, find the best deals for the item in question and then locate the high street shops that have stock, if indeed you want to experience the sales in person.

It is important to research your purchases on the Internet ahead of time, as you may be missing out on deals that are available only to online shoppers. In addition, you have to pay for transportation to and from the shops. If you do go to the shops, you are more likely to find other essential buys along the way, especially if you bring your children with you, they can be a BIG distraction. Plan to do some of your shopping online to reduce your stress levels and maintain your all important budget.

Go with a list of what you want: Don't just turn up and look at everything or like me you'll be overwhelmed with choice and you'll end up the entire shop! I tend to do this, get the items home and then think 'Why did I buy this???' Sometimes a bargain can look appealing even when wouldn't normally buy it.... Simply because it feels like a bargain. Don’t be tempted by a pair of shiny leopard print trousers JUST because they’re reduced by 75%!

Head to the shops early:  With your list and your vouchers in hand you’ll most certainly be prepared to take advantage of the great savings that shopping this time of the year can bring. My biggest regret is not getting up extra earlier on Boxing Day and heading with the crowds to Next. I did eventually get there, but by then...the crowds had been and left only the crumbs for me to pick at.

Back in December Save.co.uk provided us with some excellent tips for Christmas shopping, get in the know for Christmas 2012.

Happy New Year all, and Happy Sales Shopping!