Loving the outdoors

Now the weather is becoming milder and the sun is finally making an appearance we have loved getting outdoors and making the most of it. Wether it just be in our back yard, a walk to our local park or long walk around a nature reserve we love it. Noah loves to watch everything go by, especially the tree's. Little nature baby. I was sat on the park on Monday with my baby in my arms and the sun beaming down on us and it was bliss. I remember just thinking, this is the life! 

Have you been enjoying time out in the sun? How have you been spending it? 

I hope we are in for a lovely long Summer!

Our home - Kitchen ideas

With our big move and endless renovations and decorating just around the corner (which I blogged all about here) It's time we begin knuckling down and coming up with some idea's on what we want to do with the house and actually agreeing on them. Thankfully Nick is an easy going guy and lets me have a lot of say in the choices but I am extremely picky yet indecisive so I am struggling, already. I find it hard to visualise what I want without seeing it right there infront of me. I have been browsing the internet for hours on end to come up with some inspiration and I have found it has really helped. 

One of the first big jobs on our list is to have a new kitchen bought and fitted. So that is where Nick and I are focusing all our attention at the moment. Trying to decide which one we want to go for. I think we are both liking the look of white kitchens with wooden work surfaces but I am worried about the practicality of wooden work surfaces? They look good but are they practical?

This is my personal favourite. It's an off white wooden kitchen with oak work surfaces. I think it looks traditional without looking to old fashioned and it almost has a shabby chic/cottage feel. I think it would be a lovely, welcoming family kitchen. I think it's my dream kitchen. 

This one is Nick's favourite but we have agreed that we wouldn't have any glass doors, have different door handles and perhaps have a wooden work surface if we did go for this kitchen. I would be happy with this one but it pales in comparison to my dream kitchen. Both kitchens are from the same range but just have different finishes. 

Although we haven't signed on the dotted line yet the kitchen fitter in the family is going to come to the house with us next week so he can measure up. He is then going to design the kitchen for us. When the time comes he is going to buy it at cost and fit it for free. We are so lucky to have joiners, kitchen fitters, gas engineers, electricians and handy men in the family! All the blokes in the family are raring to go and see our house as their project too! 

Just hoping we can finish the paperwork off as soon as possible so we can start making the house our home. 

Baby Haul - Next and Mini Club

I am not the most organised of people when it comes to myself but it's a different story when it comes to my Son. I like to have everything ready, everything in it's own place, everything planned in advance. Noah is currently wearing 3-6m but I don't think it will be long until he is moving up into his 6-9m sizes. As I like to be prepared I like to buy and put together his next size-up wardrobe a few weeks in advance. Things have been tight this month with saving for our mortgage and house renovations but that didn't stop me having a little shop this week! Here is what I bought.. 

Our first stop was good old Next which has got to be my favourite place for baby clothes. They stock the best quality baby clothes on the high street at a very fair price. I had browsed what I liked online but decided to go into store to have a closer look. I absolutely love Noah in blue hues as you can tell by what I chose for him! I also like him in joggers as not only does he look adorable in them they are super cosy too. I think all this was around £50 which I think is good! They didn't have the middle two tshirts in stock though so I ordered them into store. 

Our second stop was to Boots! Boot's Mini Club is another favourite of mine as their clothes are such a lovely quality. They can sometimes be a little bit pricier but so worth it especially when you can collect points on your Boots card whilst spending! You can almost justify it! I picked up a pack of babygrows and a pack of vests in sizes 6-9. I went in hoping to buy some pieces in bright colours rather than blue again but there wasn't much to choose from really. I hope that Mini Club expands a little as it's such a fabulous little brand. 

I also discovered the pack of vests in the bottom corner in my baby drawer, which was a nice find! I bought them at an Aldi baby avent a few months back and had totally forgotten about them. Again more blue! I have bought too much blue by accident! 

A couple of days later my other half, Noah and I went back into town to pick up my Next order. Whilst we were in store Nick picked up another two tshirts for Noah. I was quite impressed with his choices, not bad for Nick! 

While they weren’t part of the haul, baby rompers are something that could be added to the wardrobe. Along with looking great year-round, there are a few reasons why a parent and baby or toddler might like them. They’re one of the easiest pieces of clothes to put on, as long as you get an appropriate size.

That saves some time putting them on in the morning. The normal routine of trying to get a toddler into proper pants can be skipped. You shouldn’t need much else with them, so there wouldn’t be a struggle in picking out an outfit for your toddler.

As they get older, rompers don’t go out of style. One thing about toddlers is that they seem to grow before your eyes. Once you get them something, it can seem like a few days before it’s too small. That shouldn’t be too big of an issue with rompers, regardless of whether you get them for your baby or toddler.

There’s a certain amount of stretch with most high-quality rompers. That gives a little extra time before needing them to be replaced. A toddler isn’t the only one who’ll benefit from toddler and baby rompers. Us parents have a lot to take care of with our kids. Laundry is a big part of that.

Using rompers means cutting out a lot of the laundry you’ll have to do. While that depends on the other outfits your child wears, a romper doesn’t need much else with it to make an outfit. Since there’s little to it, there’s little to clean.

Along with what we bought this week and what we already have I think we are pretty much done with Noah's 6-9m wardrobe and that makes me feel good. I love knowing that everything is ready for him. He is growing at such an alarming rate that it wouldn't surprise me if he was wearing them next week! 

Our home - Renovating and Decorating

Three months later we are still waiting to sign on that dotted line for our first home. The house we have bought needs a lot of renovating and decorating and is definitely a work in progress. This being said it makes us want to get in and start the work as soon as possible, the wait has been such a pain. Each week that passes is a week we could be in there and starting on the numerous jobs that need to be done. 

I am going to be blogging all about our house. From interior idea posts through to before and after shots. I'm going to be blogging every step of the way. I think it will be great to look back on where we began. 

Here is the list of jobs that need to be done:

Central heating & rewiring. The house has no central heating so we need to have a boiler set up and the whole system installed. We also need a complete electrical rewire - this is a huge undertaking and will be seeing professional services for electrical repairs. 

Room move around. The bathroom is rather large compared to the second bedroom so we are going to switch the two rooms around. We are having the bathroom in the second bedroom and the second bedroom in the bathroom. This isn't a huge job but again thankfully we have someone in the family who is going to do this for us. Both rooms will then need to be decorated.

New kitchen. The kitchen is okay but bright red. Not my thing. We are currently trying to decide on which kitchen to go for and then we are having the kitchen measured up, designed and fitted. We are finding it so hard to decide on which to go for. 

New bathroom. After the two rooms have been switched around we are having a new bathroom fitted as the one that is in now is Avocado green! We have just bought a three piece bathroom suite off a local buying page on facebook, of all places. It was a bargain at just £150. It's a large white bath, sink, toilet, over bath shower and they even included a free mirror. I want the entire bathroom tiling, floor and walls. We need to decide between a sandy coloured tile or black. Both looks I love.  

Decorating. Our bedroom needs redecorating cause at the minute it has a dated bright green floral wallpaper and green carpet! I am thinking of going for neutral colours and just adding pops of colour's here and there. Noah's bedroom also needs decorating once the rooms have been switched around. He currently has a warm yellow bedroom in this house and I am contemplating whether to have the same colour scheme again or just do something different. The front room also needs decorating too but the back room is okay, for now. A long long list of decorating needs to be done but thankfully we have lots of help and I am a dab hand at painting. 

Expanding. We are contemplating knocking the entrance corridor wall through to extend the front room. We need to have another look at the house before we decide to do this. We are still unsure. 

Front garden. The front yard is a good size, it's currently graveled with a little path. We need to dispose of bulky yard waste as the previous owner left a lot for us to clean up - thankfully, there are great services that can help us with this. I want to keep the path but lay down a lawn so then Noah has somewhere to play when he is a little bigger. 

Back yard. Unfortunately, we don't have a garden but a small back yard and there are numerous little outhouses out there. I want them all knocking down and perhaps decking the entire back yard rather than have slabs. I am trying to utilise the space in the best way that we can. This is a job that can be done futher down the line as there is no rush for this.

Attic conversion. We have been discussing the possibility of building up into the attic to give us another bedroom. The neighbours have done this too so hopefully it can be done. We would need planning permission of course. This is a future job rather than a job that needs to be done straight away. 

As you can see there is a lot to be done and it is so overwhelming when I look at this list. We are just going to take it one step at a time and try not to let it swallow us up! We are fortunate that we have so much help from our family.

Baby Diary: 5 Months Old

How has it been another month already. Watching you grow before my eyes is so so bittersweet. On one hand I love seeing you learn and grow every single day but on the other I am sad that you are no longer my tiny little baby and are becoming so big! I think this feeling is only something you understand once you become a parent as I never understood it before. 

Character
You are one in a million. You are such a good boy, well for Mummy and Daddy anyway! You really make other people work to gain your trust and you don't really give smiles away for free to people you don't know. You are going through a long phase of suddenly crying when you are in someone else's arms but once you are back with me you instantly stop. It's lovely to know that you just want me but it's also a bit awkward when you are crying your eyes out when someone only wants a cuddle! You are really cheeky and are always smiling. You have this really cute shy side smile that you do when you are feeling coy and it totally melts my heart. You are so giddy and chatty but really know what you want and how to get it too! If we do something you aren't happy with you aren't afraid to tell us.

Size

I'm a bad Mummy cause you haven't been weighed for a while, I'm going to take you down in the next week or so. I guesstimate you are around 18lb? You are still wearing 3-6m but I find the arms can be too long or fit perfectly yet the legs are too short. You have long legs like your parents. Everyone still comments on how big you are but I don't think you are otherwise you would be in bigger close sizes and you aren't yet. You have really bulked up this month though and are getting lovely arm and leg rolls! 

Health

You've had another good month. We took you for your last set of injections and you cried for about 5 seconds and that was it. By the time we got into the car you was smiling and babbling away. You have started teething a lot more this month though but seem to be dealing with it well, for now. You always have your hands in your mouth and you are constantly drooling. 

Feeding

I was making up 7oz bottles last month but we were wasting far too much milk. I now make 6oz bottles and you never drain it. You have around 30oz a day with two meals. Your puree's aren't really replacing any feeds though as you always finish a meal with a bottle! I tend to give you mashed banana or fruit puree for your breakfast with a bottle and then lunch of veg puree. If we don't have lunch we have a porridge supper. It all depends on how you are doing in the day. You have taken to solids like a duck to water and you really enjoy it. You make "om nom nom" noises and get excited when the spoon is coming to your mouth. Your favourite foods are mashed banana, porridge, butternut squash, pear puree and apples. We are going to carry on wish a mix of puree and mash until 6 months and then we are going to introduce finger foods.  

Sleep

You are still a brilliant little sleeper, we are so very lucky. You generally go to bed by 9pm and get up around 9am. Usually without a feed. We had about a week where you were thrashing about at night time and waking up for a feed, which was so unlike you. We took this as the "4 month sleep regression" and just took your lead. Thankfully it looks like it was a short phase as you are back to your usual ways now. Last night you slept for 14 hours! You are still napping great too, little cat naps here and there but they are naps none the less! 

Milestones

- Laughing. You started laughing last month but only when we tickled you but this month you now laugh at us, at what we are doing! You are still making us work for those giggles but when you do laugh its like music to my ears. The loveliest sound in the world. 

- You now know your Name! Which is pretty amazing considering how many nicknames we call you; Noah Noo Noo, Noo, Noo Noo, Noobie!

- Touch. You now grab and touch my face which is insanely cute until your little talons gore a hole into my cheek! Or you decide to grab my nose and try to pull it off! And don't mention my hair! I'm going to have none left you little monkey! 

- Coordination. You are a lot ore coordinated this month. Now when you grab for something you rarely miss. You can guide items into your mouth too. 

- Feet. You have discovered your feet this month. You lay on your back and grab your feet. You haven't figured out that you can put them in your mouth yet though. 

- Jumperoo. This month (in the last few days) you have learnt how to jump in your jumperoo. You have been going in it for a good month now and would just have a wriggle about but over night you seemed to learn how to jump in it and you don't half go full throttle when you are in it. Sometimes I think you are going to fly out! 

- Rolling over. You haven't mastered the roll yet but are slowly getting there. If I put you on your front you can roll from your belly to back (when you can be bothered) If you are on your back you can manage to roll on your side but you haven't achieved a back to front roll yet. We have wood floors so we recently bought you a huge play mat so you can have more space and freedom to explore and grow. 

- Sitting up. You are very strong and steady when it comes to sitting. You can sit with only a little bit of support from us. You are still a bit wobbly but you are getting there. I wouldn't be surprised if you learnt to sit before you learnt to roll over. 

- Standing. You now like to stand and bare your weight on your legs when we hold you. Last month when we did this you would just try and sit down. You have the cheesiest grin on your face when you are standing like you cannot believe what you are doing.

- Movement. You can be sat in our lap or on the play mat and if there is something you want that is out of reach you make attempts at trying to reach for it. When you are sat on my knee and spot something that you want you will lurch forward to try and grab it. I now have to have a firm grip on you at all times! 

- Playing. You have taken an interest in toys for a few months now but this month your fascination with them is growing. Now that you are more coordinated you are able to play a lot better. Even if everything just goes straight into your mouth. 

- Self soothing. You are getting the hang of self soothing, no thanks to me. I would happily sit with you until you fall asleep. Holding your hand, stroking your face, singing to you, rocking you etc. Which is for selfish reasons as I like to do it. But Daddy usually puts you to bed and has been letting you self settle and you have been fab. You sometimes thrash about but you don't make a murmur and if you cried we would be in there with you as we both don't feel comfortable with letting you "cry it out." 

Things you like

- Mummy and Daddy. It's safe to say you have favourites. You have always been a well socialised baby but often cry when with other people. You are at your most happiest, playful and loudest when you are in the company of Mummy and Daddy.

- When Daddy comes home from work. When you hear the front door open at 5:30pm you turn your little head towards the door and wait. When Dad appears and says his hello's you always give him big big smiles and then go all coy like you are shy. It's one of my daily highlights as I am sure it's one of yours and Daddy's too. It warms my heart.

- Food. You cannot get enough food. You are getting fed up of milk and often only drink 3oz to quench your hunger or thirst and then will whine for food. You now have two meals a day and sometimes even three. You favourite foods are porridge, bananas, apples and butternut squash.

- Comforters. I think you are going to be one of those children who carries one everywhere! You need to have one in your arms or one against your face when you are sleeping.

- Remotes/ Mobiles/ Gadgets. I think we have a geek in the making. A gadget geek! I am sure babies aren't supposed to be so interested in these things. You have all these brightly coloured, interactive toys and they could all be lead out in front of you but the moment you spot that boring black remote your eyes light up! You get so excited and will even push your body in it's direction to try to grab it.

- Kisses on your neck. One thing that usually gets me one little giggle is a big wet kiss on your neck! You also find it very funny when I whisper in your ear.

- Yourself. Nothing is more entertaining than watching yourself on video. I have this one video in particular from a few months back that you find hilarious. You flap your arms about and make the funniest of expressions. You also love looking at yourself in the mirror.

- The cats. You have really noticed them this month and when they walk past you will stop whatever you are doing to watch them and then give a big cheesy grin. You like it when I get your hand and stroke them, you get very excited. The cats are also warming to you too but are still a little scared. I wonder what goes through your head when you see them?

- Scout. I recently bought you an interative puppy called Scout who talks, sings, counts and plays music. You adore him. The minute I got him out the box you loved him. During the day we tend to use him for nap times. You self settle a lot now with the help of Scout and his lullaby music.

Things you don't like

- High pitched noises/laughs. A sudden change in anyone's voice seems to scare you and makes you cry your eyes out. 

- Getting dressed. You still hate getting dressed especially when it comes to tshirts! 

- Bibs. You don't mind your face being cleaned with a wet baby wipe but clean your mouth with a bib and we are in the bad books. 

- Not getting fed fast enought. If there isn't another spoonful of food at the ready, you aren't happy!

Noah Nicholas you don't fail to amaze us every single day and you are the best thing that has ever happened to us. We are so proud of you. We love you so so much. 

Review: Personalised Phone Case from Wrappz

I've always loved personalised goodies but even more so now that I am a Mummy. Anything with a picture of my son or his name on it whether it be a fridge magnet or a mug is a winner with me. So anyone stuck buying me a birthday present this year! Hint hint! 

When I was approached by Wrappz to review a personalised phone cover of my choice I was very happy to oblidge. I was contacted just at the right time too as I was thinking of buying one but didn't know which site to use. 

Thankfully I used Wrappz. All you need to do to create your very own design is firstly chose a skin or case, you pick your phone model or device, decide which photo you want to use and simply apply it. You can finish the look off by adding specific text or by editing the effect on the picture. The only issue I had throughout the entire process was which photo I should use! The website was so easy, straight forward and stress free to use. If I can do it, then you can too.

My phone case arrived very quickly and I couldn't wait to see the finished result. On opening I was very happy, the case is excellent quality and the attention to detail is fab! I've had so many compliments and everyone has been asking where I bought it from.  

The case feels great when held which is good because I have noticed some phone cases just don't sit right in your hand by feeling too bulky. It's not made out of the sturdiest of plastics but I think it's more of a decorative phone case rather than a protective one.

What I feel would improve the cases is if they sold them with a front edging which gives your mobile phone a little bit more security. I tend to always buy the phone cases with this feature and when I have dropped my phone it has been fully protected by it. I think that if they just included that little bit of extra protection on the front of your case then it would be perfect! That is my one niggle.  

The case costs £18.97 which I think is an okay price to pay for the image quality of the case. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Wrappz to anyone who is looking to buy a personalised phone or ipad case. 

If you would like your own FREE phone skin then select your design and enter code freeskin at the checkout. All you would need to do is pay the postage!