Wordless Wednesday... The Toy Alternative... Part 2

(P.s. Link up to the blog hop I'm co-hosting HERE!)

Little Lamb Nappy Review

At the weekend there was a large explosion and fire at a Japanese chemical plant who make the chemicals that go in to disposable nappies. The chemical plant responsible for around one fifth of the global supply of nappies and rumours are there could be a GLOBAL NAPPY SHORTAGE! (Full story and my thoughts are with those killed, hurt and injured in the explosion.) So what better motivation to boast my latest nappy purchase...

Littlelambs. I already use a two part Littlelamb bamboo nappy for night... It's freaking BOMB proof and she can go an easy 12-13 hours in it without the slightest leak. Fabulous. Late night nappy changes? Not in this house. So I was excited to see that Littlelamb wanted to do a warehouse clear out and put a MEGA sale of their One Size Fits All (OSFA also known as Birth To Potty/BTP) pocket nappies. 

The deal was EIGHT (EIGHT!!!!) pocket nappies for £32, no delivery charge. That's £4 per nappy. Normally £10 each, what a saving! Considering a quality pocket nappy can go for £13-£25, this is a great deal. 

There were 4 colour options; white, pink, aqua or lime. You can have any combination of these colours. 

The nappy... First thing I notice is they are SOFT. Silky soft. Having experienced their bamboo two-parters I expected this as they are also beautifully soft. Littlelamb seems to brand itself as having no fuss, no fads, no trendy patterns, just natural, quality nappies that are all about the fibres used. They didn't disappoint with these. They also come with two inserts which are equally soft.

The colours are bold. The stitching and overall workmanship is very neat. Impressive.

The fit is just as I like it, popper fastening, high waisted and adjustable. They give you a lot of options with the popper placements. No leaks. Very comfortable.

Overall a fantastic bargain. I would have been happy (at £4 a nappy) to just receive some half decent "stash fillers" (stash fillers I use on stay at home days and days when all her "best" nappies are in the wash). What I actually got is a HEAP of GREAT quality nappies and Littlelamb have soared to the top of my nappy charts with the likes of Charlie Banana and Bumgenius. I thoroughly advise a click over to Littlelamb site as they have this and a ton of other deals going on, especially if you are new to cloth as you really can't go wrong with these for the price!

(NB: If all this is utter gibberish to you read my intro to Cloth post) 

Lessons:

1. Cloth nappy forums are a great place to get the heads up on nappy deals.

2. Love a cloth bum.

Winter Wardrobe Shopping!

Very quick post to boast Euna's new super cute winter hat! I found it on eBay but the seller also has their own website (Lilly Design), it was £8... For me that's a premium price for teenie tiny baby hat, but it's a staple of her winter wardrobe and the quality speaks volumes. Happy Tuesday!

The Blue Owl

A friend of mine told me about a shop up the road from us called The Blue Owl, she mentioned the words "homemade", "baby clothes" and "crafts" and predictably I was sold on checking it out.

Basically this shop is all about stuff I love. Essentially it's a children's second hand clothes shop. There are two good parts to this, I can buy really high quality, hardly worn children's clothes AND I can sell my outgrown baby clothes (that I don't wish to keep for Alexander 2) through them!

I had made a personal pact with myself during pregnancy that I would get on the eBay selling wagon. My newfound inner eco-warrior that cloth bumming has released, demands it of me. One mans junk IS another mans treasure. Secondhand is not just for the frugal, it's for EVERYONE. Now I'll be honest I haven't got around to selling on eBay as of yet, the listing, the horror stories of tedious complaints and the drive to the post office all put me off. With my new discovery of The Blue Owl I needn't bother! I just take my old baby clothes us there (providing they're a half decent brand) and they will sell at roughly half the price of the original RRP and I will get half of that! Brill!



What else does The Blue Owl do? BEAUTIFUL handmade taggies and baby blankets. Quirky greetings cards and wrapping paper. Some home decor bits like bunting, ornate notice boards and bookends. Also super nice smelling candles and bath bombs which make the whole shop smell divine.  Finally they have a little table in the middle of the shop where you can sit down and make your own jewellery! I NEED to take my niece, she will love this.

The whole place is, in a word, charming. The whole place looks good with it's vintage, country cottage atmosphere. Smells good thanks to the strawberry sorbet candles. And it just IS good with it's responsible approach to recycling children's clothes, sourcing locally made products and generating creative outlets for children. I had to post it up.

So what treasure did I find? Well, as rarely as this happens in any shop least of all a second hand shop, I found EXACTLY what I was looking for! A gorgeous John Lewis snowsuit. Immaculate condition, £10 and suitably roomy to last her the entire winter. I am over the moon with it!

Lessons:

1. Go to The Blue Owl.
2. Recycle.


In other news I thought I would share, as it will probably feature further, that I am officially enrolled on to a photography evening course! I am so excited about this. Of course, already, I am light years ahead of myself planning the decor of my at home studio and wondering where we're going to fit my dark room. But in reality this is something, it's a first baby step and who knows... I'm nothing if not an optimist.

A Little Nap Time Post...

Like I said last night, I am back in love with my 100mm lens. It's less practical to take out as it's bigger and heavier... But I dug it out yesterday and had a little play! I am loving this picture at the moment, not only is her skin tone just edible but also if you zoom in you can see me taking the picture reflected in her eye!!!

Tomato Sauce and Roasted Veggie Dippers

I've done this a few times now, so considering nothing spectacular happened to us today nor did anything remotely profound occur to me today here it is... 

Now I make this sauce and pour it over pasta for the grown ups. Then I make roast batons of veggies (today it was just courgettes but I usually have red and green peppers too) and throw them in the pasta too and baby girl uses them as dippers. I have given her the pasta before but she's not bothered about it much. 

So the sauce... Sweat a finely chopped white onion and two sticks of celery on the hob with Olive oil. Throw in (no particular order) two garlic cloves, two tablespoons of tomato puree, a tin of chopped tomatoes, black pepper, bay leaf and oregano. Cook on a medium heat for 20 minutes. 

Tomato sauce and roasted veggie dippers... BOOM.

 Lessons:

1. You don't need jars. This is way nicer and you don't notice the missing salt.

2. My baby is cute! SEE! >>>>

3. I am back in love with my 100mm macro lens... Adorable balloon and tea cup pictures to follow.

Tuesday 10

Before I start I can confirm sanity has been restored. A good sleep and an afternoon of friends and brownies and I'm back. 

Sharing a linky with Mummy Rawles today... It's called Tuesday 10 and I guess they pick 10 of something every Tuesday.

This Tuesday is 10 things I wish I'd know 10 years ago. 10  years ago I was 18. JUST an adult. A few months off University. 

So to 18 year old me...

1. You don't have to be "broken girl". I thought it'd be cool to be a tortured soul. It's not. It's just depressing.

2. Lighten up. Cheer up. Think positively.

3. Practice being on your own. Get comfortable in your own company. That took be a while.

4. Your parents are HUMAN BEINGS. Don't be alarmed.

5. Hardly anyone is thinking about you. Most people are always thinking about themselves. SO stop worrying about what other people think of you.

6. You are skinny. In 9.5 years you are going to be 9 months pregnant and look at pictures of 18 year you and think are positively slender. Enjoy it.

7. Do what you love doing. Not what you would like to love doing.

8. If you have to try, he's not right.

9. Be humble more. You're not fooling anybody.

10. Give your friends compliments. You don't sound stupid.

Moody Black and Whites from a Moody Mummy...

On the off chance you did not read my last post, I had a bad day today. So I blogged it up, made a mantra, baked brownies and took some pics to while away a miserable rainy day... So here are some moody black and white from a moody Mummy...

Listening to the rain on the conservatory ceiling, it's a great sound.

Her EYES.

I love that she can smile herself in to a double chin. I know I'm in trouble the day this doesn't cheer me up.

My Hopes for Her...

You may have read that on Saturday we celebrated Euna's birth with a little blessing-esc party. We didn't have ceremony but instead my Dad, Steve and I spoke some words and I thought I would share what I read. Basically I said some thank yous and then I read this, it's a little snippet from my pregnancy diary about the things I hoped for little Prawn (our name for the bump) before she came to meet us...

"Prawn, in a Johnsons Baby advert dream-like fuzzy montage here are the things I hope for your childhood...

I hope you laugh till it hurts everyday. I hope you are silly daily. I hope you have fresh air, scabby knees and dirty finger nails. I hope you have a real compassion for animals. I hope you have Alexander family "in jokes" and names for things that you remember until adult hood. I hope we have Christmas and Birthday traditions. I hope you enjoy good food and a great appetite. I hope you have a passion for being creative. I hope you have a (measured) portion of your Dad's enthusiasm for sport. I hope you have music that reminds you of your childhood the way "Footsteps of the Dance Floor" and Simply Red reminds me of my Dad's car. I hope you have a real interest in reading. BOOKS! PAPER ONES! I hope you ride bikes so far and so fast you surprise yourself. I hope you have access to wide, open spaces. I hope you love school.

Things I hope for your adulthood...

I hope you have an unshakeable body confidence. A curiosity for the exotic and new, including places, people, art forms and FOOD. I hope you experience love in at least a few of it's many forms. Independence and a pride in your independance. I hope you have a good sense of work/life balance. A love and loyalty for your family, past, present and future. I hope you have decent taste in coffee. Career ambition that fulfills you where it counts. I hope you have children. A childish sense of humour. An appreciation of your fortune and health. Confidence, self-assurance and respect. I hope you have friends of all kinds; ones that challenge you, ones you nurture, ones you talk to, ones you have fun with, ones who teach you about different warps of life, ones that get your professional life, ones who make you think "what would he/she do?" and ones who just think you are brilliant. I hope you love books. I hope you enjoy outdoor activities and creative outlets.

And through both your childhood and adulthood I hope you are happy."

Lesson: None today. Today I chilled and learnt nothing. Felt good. Tomorrow I go shopping with some friends and I'll learn how to appease buyers remorse with a calorific lunch.

An Experiment in Blog Hops...

I think I'm at a stage in this blogging business where I am reasonably happy with what I am doing here and I'd like to share, get a few followers and generally get "Learning Lessons in Mummyography" out there... Up until now I have been REALLY shy about the whole business and only really been writing for me. But no more!

So here I am attempting a "blog hop". Here we go...


So bring it!!!! Hoards of new adoring followers inundate me with comments... GO!!! I mean it... GO! Oh... Go on... Just a few new faces... Or one...? Please...? Pretty please? Reckon my Mum would follow me if I emailed her?

Crawl Report

Short post as my brain is still on party wind down but we had a big development in the mobility stakes today! With the help of a new move I like to call the "carpet belly flop" baby girl is moving forward!

My Button Blessing Crafting Efforts... Condensed.

I get collage envy when I see these on Pintrest so here's my "Cute as a Button" themed baby girl blessing crafting collage! I have to say I am a little smug and proud...

Lesson:

1. PVA glue is the source of many a wonderful thing.
2. I adore that "I did that" feeling and I LOVE that "I did that for my baby girl" feeling.

Euna's Big Day

I have to write this now whilst I'm high as kite on love and all things warm and fuzzy from yesterday. But where to start without just exploding a gigantic dribble of gushy noises all over the page? I mean I was anticipating having a lovely day but I was not anticipating it being one of the happiest of my life...






























We had sun. We had bunting. We had chilli. We hung all things pink and girly all over the walls. We spoke some words from the heart. We spoke about how blessed and happy we feel. We toasted with champagne and ate strawberries and cake. And we did it all surrounded by our nearest and dearest.

It was everything I wanted it to be, I just anticipate it FEELING so wonderful to do. To welcome her officially, to share her with our loved ones and to celebrate what a wonderful journey we have been blessed with. It was a blessing in itself and the sun shone for us.

Here's a few pictures from around the party of the bits we added. A cake by a very clever friend of mine...

Balloons and favours bowl...

Just incase people weren't clear on the button theme...

Sweetie favours in a picnic basket and a little photo collage just to accentuate precisely how scrummy the girl of the day is...

Birth announcement piece...

The baby handprints on to mini canvas' went down a treat! What a spend of a quid...

The adults after party... Comfy clothes, curry and champagne...

It was perfect and it went too quickly.

Lesson:

However you do it, celebrate your blessings.