Hello Autumn

Well that's another Summer vanishing into the horizon, and in it's place are crisp Autumn leaves and subtle hints that colder weather is on it's way. I have to admit that as much as I love the Summer months, I also adore this time of year. There is something magical about the way the leaves change colour, the way the nights draw in invite you to cuddle down under a fluffy throw on the sofa with a hot chocolate to warm you from the inside out. 

There is just something satisfying about getting to wear wooly clothing and slip on your knee high boots for the season, and I think that is one of the aspects I love most about waving farewell to the sunshine for another year, it's the wardrobe possibilities.

My typical September wardrobe would usually consist of a pair of boots, dark denim jeans and a nice thick jumper with the potential for a thick woolly wrap around for that additional layer to keep the chill off my body. I feel the cold all the time, I am one of those people who would be sat in a room full of people with my coat on while everyone else is wondering what is wrong we me as they are all feeling the heat!

The last few months have literally been all about getting everything ready for the house move, so every spare penny that I have had, has been ploughed into everything that we need for the move, and of course furnishing the house to put our own personal touch on the place. Now we are in and the majority of the essentials list has been ticked off, I am looking forward to being able to update my wardrobe for the colder months ahead. Sometimes we take treating ourselves forgranted, and it's not until your in a position to not buy these things that you realise what a luxury it really is.

I absolutely love the Esprit clothes and in the time frame that I haven't been able to spend any money, I have been putting together a new outfit consisting of :

- Navy Ultra Stretchy Cotton Jeans - £45.00

- Bouclé Coat with Large Collar - £99.00

- Stripey Long Sleeve Top - £15.00

- Black Ankle Boots: £69.00

I cannot remember the last time I went on a shopping trip and allowed myself to splurge, all I seem to have done recently is count pennies to make sure that Leo and I have everything that we need. What we have wanted has had to be brushed under the carpet until we were in a position where there was some expandable income at the end of the long list of bills.

That makes this upcoming shopping trip an extra special one, because it follows a particularly hard year (there might be a post on this at some point, but the jury is still out), that has ultimately seen me stand on my own two feet and get Leo and I into our very own space, just the two of us. 

I have to say that I am feeling pretty proud of myself right now, I look around the house and although there is still so much to do, I can actually see it taking shape, It's already feeling like home to both Leo and I, which just makes the late nights and hard work to get here, absolutely worth it, and now I can get back to a normality that allows me to make a few purchases every now and then, because we all have to treat ourselves occasionally...Right!?

Hello September

The summer has been an incredibly busy time for Leo and I, the reception year passed in the mere blink of an eye and before we knew it we were hurtling towards the 6 weeks holiday. You may have noticed a few tumble weeds around the blog over the last few months, and that is because we have literally been on fast forward since the school bell rang on the last day of the Summer term.

If I thought that the Summer break was going to be a relaxing time, then I hope I can be forgiven for at least hoping for a few quiet weeks... Or even days for that matter. You see over the Summer holiday we got a puppy, moved house, Leo learned to ride his bike without stabilizers and we even attended a wedding!

In that order...

When I write it down in short bursts like that, it doesn't sound like we did all that much, but the move alone has completely knocked me for six. Don't get me wrong I am absolutely in love with our new home, I feel so incredibly lucky, and I finally feel like I can give Leo the space and time that he needs in order to flourish to his full potential. What I didn't anticipate was just how much time and money I was going to have to throw at the move, of course I had put some savings behind us because a move is always costly, but I had no idea just how expensive carpeting an entire house would be!

We had to work around the carpet fitter, and slowly but surely started to bring our worldly belongings over to our new home. It was so surreal packing our entire lives into boxes and black plastic bags, but thankfully as I had begun getting everything we needed together months before the move actually happened, I could pretty much get the kitchen up and running as soon as we had the keys! It was the other rooms I had to wait a little longer on. 

We are now in the house and it's all starting to feel a lot more like home, I still have lot's of work to do to my room as I am currently without a wardrobe, but it's not the end of the world. Leo's room is starting to take shape and the rest of the house is pretty much there, all I need to do now is add those essential finishing touches.

I am beginning to put together a home decor series that will be hitting the blog in the coming weeks ahead, I am just waiting on sorting a few last minute bits and pieces. My bedroom is still in utter chaos and will be until I can find the pennies to put a wardrobe in there!

It has to be said though, moving house with a puppy has been...interesting. Having Lux is like living with a naughty toddler who will not listen to anything that you say and is constantly hunting out mischief that quite honestly just seems to come oh so naturally to him, we wouldn't change him for the world though. He has spent his time un-packing boxes, taking the television remotes out into the garden, chewing all of our shoes and being a general pain in the bum, but it's been lovely seeing him settle in so well with us, and Leo is absolutely besotted with his pup! (I will be sharing a full month pupdate in the next week or so!)

The summer brought with it a new milestone and Leo lost his very first tooth. It was a funny turn of events because I just did not see it coming. One morning while I was brushing little man's teeth, his entire tooth just moved with the brush, to say it caught me off guard would be the understatement of the year, and of course my shock in turn scared Leo, who proceeded to smack me over the head in a panic. I soothed him right away, we had already talked about how it would start happening soon, and that it was of course nothing to worry about. 

Leo did not touch that tooth and it hung on by a thread for weeks, until the morning of August 2nd while Leo was eating his cornflakes it came away and was swallowed into the depths of his tummy, gone forever. I have to admit I was slightly disappointed as I had been planning on keeping his first tooth, just like I had his very first curl. We decided to write a letter to the toothfairy and let her know the fate of Leo's first tooth, and thankfully she took pity on us and left Leo a £1 coin along with a letter under his pillow.

Loosing one tooth over the holiday didn't seem to suffice for Leo however, and a couple of day's before the return to school, we discovered he had a second wobbly tooth! This time Leo didn't leave it alone, he wobbled it day and night. He wobbled it through my brother's wedding, even allowing his little cousin to give it a wobble too... Of course he waited until the night before he went back to school to pull it out. He had been in bed and asleep for hours, but at just gone 11pm Leo burst into the living room to announce that his tooth had fallen out and we needed to get it under his pillow as soon as possible!

The poor old toothfairy was caught so far off her guard that she had no spare change whats so ever. Instead... She placed a £5.00 note under his pillow. Here's hoping Leo doesn't expect this for each and every tooth!

If loosing teeth wasn't a sure enough sign that my little boy is growing ever bigger, then him suddenly hopping on a neighbors bike (without stabilizers) certainly told me! I was so worried and told him over and over to be careful. Of course he quickly brushed my concern off and pretty much told me to relax. In fact his exact words were these 'Mummy I bet I can ride without stabilizers! Watch!' and so I did... and he was right. Without any practice or guidance from myself or his Daddy, Leo took off on a bike without any assistance at all.

I couldn't help chuckling to myself as all the global delay comments trickled to the forefront of my mind during this proud moment, because when that boy sets his mind to something, you best believe he is going to smash it!

It is for this very reason I have made a pact with Leo in regards to his learning, and that pact is this. If Leo co-operates with me and tries his hardest, I will buy him the biggest Nerf Gun I can find when he learns to read. Now this is an especially big deal because I have always told him that he will never own a Nerf Gun, but it's something that he has desperately wanted for such a long time, and the greatest incentive I could ever offer him. Leo has been back at school for one whole week now, and he has read to me each and every afternoon without any objections and he has been really giving it his all.

So here we are at the start of Autumn, and here I am back behind the laptop catching up on all of my emails and the posts that I can't wait to write, and it's time to start smashing all of Leo's goals and give the teachers something to talk about!

The MatalanDirect.com Shimmer Rug Review

It's almost 2 years since I moved back to the family home with Leo, and I don't even really know where to begin with everything that has happened in the last 24 months. There have been up's and downs, high's and low's, but there have also been so many incredible moments that I just wish I could bottle up and keep with me forever. 

Right now Leo and I are preparing for a new adventure. Were in the process of planning a house move. A new home for Leo and I, so that we can finally take our lives off hold and start living again. To say that we are excited doesn't quite sum up that butterfly feeling that takes hold of my insides whenever I think about all that is to come. Leo alone is so excited that he cannot contain it within himself, and I don't think that is just because we have decided to add a puppy dog to our household when we are all settled in! 

The last couple of months have passed in a blur of getting all of the new items we will need for our new home, everything that we brought back from the old house has seemingly been tested by matter of time spent in the garage, and I have had to get rid of pretty much all of it. This meant that I was pretty much starting over, and we all know that house hold items don't come cheap when you have to purchase everything for every room...from scratch.

This is why I have started sooner rather than later, as I know very well that if I was to have all of the expenses coming at once, there is no way I could afford to get everything that we need. I only want to have to purchase everything once, so I want to buy the things that we want and like straight off so that we can just get in and start enjoying our new space. 

I have already mentally decorated our future home, I can see it exactly as I want it. I want it to be crisp, modern and ultimately monochrome with a vintage feel, with some nice bright colour's thrown in here and there to add some flashes of vibrancy. 

Our house collection is coming together beautifully now, and seeing it all here and ready just makes my tummy do somersaults all over again. We have some beautiful items already, from our black and white chevron cushions, the vintage console table I purchased and the bedroom set I found on eBay for a bargain £60.00! 

As I mentioned earlier, once we are out Leo and I want a puppy. We have set our hearts on a Dalmatian. I have always thought they were beautiful dogs, and I want a dog who is up to the task to come out and keep up with my daily exercise routine. Of course Dalmatians shed 365 days a year, so I am taking this into consideration when it comes to kitting the flooring in the house out. The entirety of downstairs will be laminate to make keeping on top of the cleaning an easier feat. 

In the living room I have a gorgeous Black MatalanDirect.com Shimmer Rug at the ready, because although I love the look of laminate, soft carpet or fur underfoot provides you with a luxurious feel that can't be achieved through laminate alone. This Shimmer Rug is absolutely gorgeous, it's thick and incredibly soft. It's the kind of rug you would want laid out before a fire place in the midst of Winter, as the fire burns and you snuggle up on the rug (think Beauty and the Beast). 

The rug is 100% Polyester Pile and is long lasting and resistant to stains (Think Dalmatian stains!), this is the precise reason I opted for Black as I know that it is going to be easier to keep clean (or at least looking it) over a lighter shade. As we have opted for a creamy corner sofa, I thought the Black would break it up slightly and create a nice contrast between the two.

When we are in our own home the rug will sit before the sofa, the images you see here are in the family home (I think that they will really miss it when we move). Leo has taken to laying down on the rug and loves how it feels when he rolls around on it after he's in his PJ's and is ready for bed. 

We have the 1200 x 1500 rug and it is the perfect size for us, I adore how the sun catches it and creates a gleaming shine, it really is a gorgeous piece. 

It arrived quickly from MatalanDirect.com and I was provided with updates of it's where about's for the duration of the shipment until delivery, it really was good for peace of mind, and it meant that I could make sure I was in for the delivery. 

When I first unrolled it I got that beautiful new carpet smell, I always loved that. I can remember being walked around the carpet shops as a child with my parents, and it brings back so many memories. 

The Shimmer Rug is available in a selection of colours:

- Champagne

- Mushroom Mink

- Olive

- Mauve

- Black

A number of sizes and prices:

- 800 x 1500 £55.00

- 1200 x 1700 £99.00

- 1600 x 2300 £165.00

Over all I am really impressed with the Shimmer Rug and of course MatalanDirect.com's fantastic delivery service. I have since been back online and ordered some more things from MatalanDirect.com for the house, they had some gorgeous porcelain Take Away containers for Chips and Fries (I plan and using them with my Sweet Potato Fries!)

 I can't wait to see all of our lovely new items in our new home, I will be sharing our home improvement series here on the blog when the ball gets rolling, so keep your eyes peeled! 

Disclaimer: I was sent the Shimmer Rug for the purpose of this post. All views and opinions expressed are completely honest and my own.

It Looks Like We Are Moving!

In the 17 months that I have been living in my privately rented home, I have always been aware that things could change in an instant. This home we live in isn't really ours, we could be asked to leave at any time. Over the time we have lived here we have done little things to make this house feel like our home, but I have always been aware that this house wouldn't be our forever home.  I resisted the temptation to decorate, I didn't do anything with the garden but I did put our family photos up and made it ours in other ways.

This home we have made for ourselves could be gone in the blink of an eye, and that is the reality of the situation. Over the weekend I found out that we had been served notice. The owner actually took the time to write a personal letter, and dropped it a door down from us to Luke’s Dad’s house.

The letter prompted Luke’s Dad to knock on our door, he was concerned and wanted to let me know right away. He looked worried and serious all at the same time as he handed me the letter and told me about the news. At first I was really confused, I thought it was a joke. I thought our letting agency had sent the letter to him, and that really baffled me. It turns out that Luke’s Dad actually knows our landlord to a certain extent, and they knew that his son was renting their house. All I can think is that they thought the news would come better from a family member.

The letter gave genuine reasons for them having to serve notice. Their son is going through financial difficulty, and is having to sell the family home. His parents, our landlords are helping him. Giving him a place to stay with his children. They are doing what any parent would do for their child. I know that I would if I had the means to do so, I would do everything I possibly could to make sure Leo was ok.

The news wasn’t shocking or a scenario I had never thought it about, it was just un-expected. It is something I have always thought out, it has always been a possibility and not an ‘if’ but a ‘when’. I really do appreciate our landlords taking the time to let us know about the situation ahead of the agency, it meant that I could spend Saturday night looking at housing options. It gave me chance to get my head around our situation. It also meant that when the agency called me at work today, I knew what they were going to say. It meant that I didn't feel my heart lurch and break down in the office. It meant I was prepared.

The thought of packing up our entire lives in boxes is a scary thought, I don’t know where to begin with it at all. How do you go about packing  up a whole house? We have 2 months, right up until July 1^st to vacate the house and find a new home for our little family. In terms of moving though, there isn’t very much on the local renting market at the moment and the rentals are much more expensive than what we currently pay.

I have told Leo that we need to find ourselves a new home, and he’s adamant that he is staying put. We seem to have reached a compromise now that he realises that we can take his car bed with him! A new home for us needs to have space, lots of space. A room dedicated for toys, a garden to play, nice sized bedrooms.

The next few weeks are all about finding our new home, and getting our bums into gear. Having spoken to the agency today it seems that if we get ourselves out before the 1^st July, then the landlord may let us out early. This would be really great for us as I expect we will be moving out by the end of May or some point in June. The sooner the better.

Right now it feels like we have so much to sort that the sooner we have a property sorted the better. 

The Big Move

This weekend we packed up our entire lives into boxes and transported them 2 minutes down the road to our new home, and Luke…Well he jus walked out of his Dad’s house and into ours, as our new house is just a stones throw from Leo’s Granddady.

I am truly amazed at how many boxes it takes you to fit your entire lifes worth, I hadn’t quite realised how many clothes I had, clothes that I have not worn in years but kept on the ‘just in case’ procrastinatio. So those clothes and I have now parted in preparation for our new beginning.

Luke and I went and collected the keys last Thursday securing our entrance to the house that I will be sharing with my two boys. I was then left in the house to get started as Luke had to return to work. In that time I gutted the cupboards and kitchen until everything sparkled and I began putting our mark on the place.

We encountered problems with the plumbing and household appliances discovering the sink leaked and there was no room for our rather large fridge freezer, but each of the hurdles that presented themselves to us have now been over come. It has taken us all weekend but last night, we spent our very first night in our new home.

We ordered a takeaway and gave Leo his first bath in the rather lovely new bathroom, and settled down on our bargain sofa (that Luke’s Dad and I hurled into the back of the van late Friday afternoon) to an evening of the XFactor.

I had expected a difficult night with Leo, but he was a super star going off to bed in his brand new room and I didn’t hear a peep until the early hours of this morning where he had some milk before going back off to the land of nodd.

I think the transition has been successful thanks to all of his belongings being set up in the room ready and waiting for him. All his clothes, teddy’s, cot and of course his blankie. Leo snuggled his blankie, needing it through his fingers and rubbing it all over his face when I lay him down. He just closed his eyes and went off to sleep.

So we are now in, we have done it!

I thought I may find it strange, and maybe even feel a little sad at leaving home. But I have felt neither of these emotions and I am loving all of this extra space for just my little family. The house is completely silent, there is no-one else shouting or blaring their televisions. It is just us.

Bliss.

Tonight’s mission is buying some slouchy pj’s for both Leo and myself as the house is actually pretty cold even with the heating blaring. So we both need new winter comforts in the form of slippers, dressing gowns and onsies.

How were your weekends?

Just The Three Of Us

The move is upon us, and everything is about to change.

I think I have got so used to being at home that it feels strange in-visioning my little family any place other than here.

I have lived where I am now for at least 15 years, this was the home I brought my 1 day old baby boy home to when we left hospital and it is where Leo has lived his entire life out so far. This is where Leo’s bedroom is, with all of the time and effort that we put into making it perfect and this is where Leo considers home.

Leo first moved into his bedroom when he was 12 weeks old, and I know that he settles better here than anywhere else. When we stay away at a hotel or go on a family break, he won’t go down to sleep in the travel cot like he does at home in his cot bed. He is familiar with his room, and he knows that he is at home.

It is all he has ever known.

So how is he going to adjust to a new house? A new room?

I get the feeling that the adjustment period for Leo take a while, he has to get used to a whole new room and a whole new house, with just the Three of us.

I know I am going to have to make it as familiar as possible, his cot and his blankie will help with the transition, but it’s still going to be different and completely un-familiar to him and to us all. I know that when you move house you have to put your mark in the new house and make it your own, it is you that turns a house into a home.

I just wonder how Leo will cope without all of the hustle and bustle from the mad house, just having Daddy and I for company, and just Mummy on some days of the week. Leo is used to the banging of his Aunt and Uncle and the thumps of Granddad as he gets ready for work, waking him up from his slumber, the shouting of Grandma when the kid’s don’t do as she says… But the peace and quiet…That is what I am really looking forward to.

I know everyone is just up the road so if we want the craziness of the mad house we know it is there, but Leo’s world is about to change completely as we embark on our own family adventure.

Just the Three of us <3 

What's that coming over the hill?

After over a year of umming and arhhging over whether we could in fact buy a house for our little family, we decided that it was far from any idea of realistic. Over the past few months we began to reluctantly look at rental properties, most of which were far from perfect.

I could be compared to Goldilocks at times with the reasons I gave for not liking homes, too small, too claustrophobic, dirty, smelly, but I am so glad I did not compromise. I am glad I stood my ground and waited...and waited some more.

Then out of nowhere we found the perfect house. 2 bedrooms with plenty of room to actually live, and the fact we can actually have sit down place to eat is all I have ever really wanted. I had resigned myself to the fact that I was asking for to much, and would have to accept life in a home the size of a postage stamp, but somehow we have landed on our feet.

We have got the house, and the keys will be firmly in our hand as of November 1st!

We even have a small garden that Leo can play in, nothing compared to the garden he is used to but I figure he will still be spending lots of time at my family home. All we need is somewhere he can burn off all that steam that he generates throughout the day, and of course somewhere we can call our own.

What I have found throughout this whole process is that everything seems to be happening so fast, there was no time to sit around and think for too long because everything get’s snapped up so quickly. We had to decide what we wanted as quickly as we could and get our applications in, of course we had no idea we would actually be moving out before Christmas so we have not really budgeted for the occasion.

On top of the deposit and first months rent, we still need to find money to furnish the house. Luke’s Mum has been completely amazing and far too generous; she has bought us a brand new Washing Machine and Tumble Dryer and also let us have the brand new fridge freezer that she had bought for their kitchen (that does not fit in their house). There are still a number of other things on our list such as a sofa and chairs for the dining table but we are getting there.

Although we are slowly getting everything together, it still does not feel real. With all of the disappointment we have had in the past on the housing front, I keep thinking our dream of a family home will get ripped away at any moment. But the applications have been accepted, the references our in place and we are all set to move into our new home, minus a couple of essentials….But we are really doing it.

This is it!