Toddler Boy Haul #1

Hi guys,

I do not know why but I have an obsession with hauls, I will happily watch and read them. I do not know why but it is a little pleasure so of course I wanted to write my own haul and show you what I bought for my toddler.

Everything I bought was from Next which I love for baby and toddler clothing. It is a little more expensive than some other shops we use such as the supermarket brand but the quality is amazing. There is nothing that I have had from Next that has bobbled or shrunk, most things can go in the tumble dryer and they are hard wearing too.

So I thought I would have a little gander after we were at the park this morning and although it was sunny, there was still a little chill in the air and I only have a winter coat that fits my little Angel which is a bit thick. Well that left me no option, Alfie needed a lightweight waterproof jacket. Who am I to let Alfie get too warm in a winter jacket?

So off to Next we go. Alfie immediately found a mini car which kept him happy while Mummy perused the shelves. I am like a kid in a sweetie shop in this store, it's so cute and trendy.

So here we go, the photos below show all the clothing that I bought. (It was all on 90% sale if my hubby asks) I have also linked every item so if you see anything that takes your fancy.

 Above is Alfie's new water proof jacket, it's a lovely material which is soft and light weight with a netting type material inside with Pineapples on. This is so cute and Alfie looks adorable in it. You can find it here for £22

 The above outfit is a grey pair of track suit bottoms that Alfie pretty much lives in and a rocket T-Shirt. They are either £6 each or part of the 2 for £10. Again great quality and the rocket has a little 3D part which is really cute. The rocket t-shirt cane be found here and the tracksuit bottoms here

 Alfie chose this 2 pack of T-Shirts because the one has lots of cars on it (obviously) These are £10 and can be found here

 These are a 2 pack of really light weight jersey trousers that will be ideal for Summer, they are not as thick as jogging bottoms but more comfortable than jeans. These were £14 and can be found here

The last item is a T-Shirt that Mummy just had to buy, it's just too cute and Alfie does tell me and daddy that we are his "bestest" friend so I could resist. This was only £6.50 and can be found here

I do love Next and I think that this stuff makes a good start to his summer wardrobe.
Any questions, please feel free to ask.

Take care
Adele

Getting Fit and Losing weight week 1

 Hi Guys,

So I have decided that I need to lose some weight and get healthier. I am making it my aim over the coming months to shift some lb's and generally start living a healthier lifestyle. I want to be able to run around with my son for a long time to come and I am sick of feeling self conscious about the way I look. So enough is enough I am going to get fit and I thought that if I write about it in my blog, it might give me a sense of accountability so I stick with what I am doing.

I decided to start straight away so I packed a healthy picnic for me and my poppet and headed to the park. The park I headed to does have  a playground but it also has acres of fields so its great for walking.

I have found it really difficult to fit in exercise with working and looking after a toddler. I realised that this is a poor excuse, I just need to find activities that I can do with Alfie that get me moving too. So the park is the perfect place to run round with Alfie and poop him out too. I downloaded an app called Endomondo which tracks distance, calories etc and its really easy to use. The app automatically finds your location and then tracks your movement, I just put my phone in my pocket. You can also pick the activity that you are doing so I chose walking and you can also pause your activity which I did when we sat down for our picnic. The app is great and free to download. It automatically stores your results on the app and I think its fab.

In total we walked 4.40km which is about 2.7 miles and this was achieved by running around the park, exploring the woods and we followed one of the easy trails too but I was still shocked at how much distance we had travelled. I was really chuffed about this and thought that me and Alfie could do this everyday but we will go to different parks and do different activities but still doing the same amount of exercise.

On top of this, I also joined slimming world last night. I did it before and had really amazing results after having Alfie. I maintained my weight and even lost a bit more for our wedding but since the wedding, I have had a terrible diet and put all the weight back on. I really like how easy Slimming World is and how it doesn't restrict you from having the things you like. I would suggest having your own area or cupboard in the kitchen where you can store your food that's not to be consumed by the rest of the family and keeping a food diary so you can track all what you eat. The biggest thing I like about Slimming World is that you get weighed each week by someone else, I think this adds to the accountability as you do not want to gain weight or fall off the wagon when someone else is seeing the scales. Now don't get me wrong, you are only weighed by one person and your weight is never shared and if you do gain weight there is never any humiliation, the are really supportive but for me it helps keep me motivated.

This is my walking summary with Endomondo 

This is the pack from Slimming World with everything you need to start the diet.

So I am going to stick to my diet religiously this week and try and get an hour of moderate exercise every day by taking Alfie out and running around like crazy for a while. By doing it this way, it doesn't feel like exercise, it just feels like I'm having fun with my toddler.

I really want this to become a whole lifestyle change, I do not want to be a yo-yo dieter forever. I want to lose the weight and have a healthy diet and take regular exercise as part of everyday life.

I will be posting weekly updates on how I am getting on and if I have had any weight loss/gain and how I am feeling about the whole thing. I am feeling very motivated and pumped by this whole process but it is only week 1 so by this time next week I may be pulling my hair out.

Wish me luck guys
More photos below from our picnic in the park

Giant Surprise Egg. Easter 2015

 Hi guys,

Unfortunately, this Easter me and hubby have worked nearly all of it, we don't get bank holidays off and have to work weekend shifts too. So although Alfie had a couple of Easter eggs off family, we didn't get chance to do anything fun and I love any event where I can plan and put something together.

So today, although I worked this morning, I  booked the afternoon off, came home to collect Alfie and took him to pick up his 4 little cousins and went straight to the park. We live pretty close to a huge park with tons of space and a really fun playground and Alfie loves to run free.

It was all going so well, Alfie absolutely adores his cousins and they are all so close that its like having siblings. And then.... Alfie runs in front of a swing and gets bumped on the cheek. The poor little fella was so upset and now has a big red mark which I think is going to be a huge bruise by the morning. It was one of those situations where no one could get to him in time but it also seemed to happen in slow motion. Poor little guy. He is a little trooper though and was soon running around the park playing football. We managed the rest of the day unscathed and we were all pretty pooped when we got home.

So, although it didn't go completely to plan, he really enjoyed himself.
On to the next part of our Easter fun day.

Surprise Egg

Now Alfie is obsessed with cars and transport but he also loves surprise eggs. He has watched these videos on YouTube where people open plastic eggs and there is a surprise inside.  He talks about these quite a bit and for his birthday I bought some of these eggs and put hotwheels in them. So for Easter I wanted to go one better, I had seen these giant plastic eggs on Youtube that were big enough for toys and chocolate etc. This is what I wanted to get but I could not find any in the UK and shipping from the states was really expensive. After a few weeks of looking, I managed to find a huge plastic Egg with 36 mini plastic eggs inside that you could put surprises in and best of all the shop was in the UK. Once I have an idea, there is nothing that will stop me tracking down what's needed. I'm pretty stubborn like that, I will not let it get the better of me lol.


So I filled the 36 plastic eggs with micro drifter cars and bouncy balls and a couple with chocolate M&M's. He has had more than his fill of chocolate for Easter.


While Daddy was bathing him, I made sure all the mini eggs were put back in the giant egg and put it in the living room. When he saw this giant egg, he was so excited and kept saying "WOW" and "Oh My Goodness" and "This is so fun". It was like his own Youtube video and it was like he was living a little dream.

The plastic eggs are great and we can keep it for next year too.

So I think overall Alfie had a good (late) Easter.

I have posted some pictures of his Easter present below and a couple from the park. I hope everyone had a fab Easter.

It all started so well, he loves the park

This is the giant egg next to a mini egg so you can see the size difference

The mini eggs

An example of the micro drifters in the eggs.

The completed giant egg

The eagerness to get into it

I think he was suitably impressed.

I am now well and truely pooped. Today has felt like it was 2 days rolled into one and running around a park with 5 kids seriously makes me realise how unfit I am and made me think I should probably start doing a bit more exercise so I can keep up with them all. Next on my agenda, get fit and drop a few lb's I think

Take care

Adele xxx

Terrible Two's and Tantrums

IHi guys,

So my little Angel, my contented little chap who is always happy has begun transforming into an Autobot!

We have been dealing with tantrums for a couple of months on and off. It seems to be worse when we are out in public, which means I am left red faced and feeling embarrassed while he is rolling round on the floor.

Now I have read all the research about tantrums and how it is all about being frustrated about not being able to communicate what they want. But you see,  Alfie has no problem communicating what he wants. He just does not like the word NO!

I have also read that I should look out for the signs of growing frustration and try to avoid a tantrum but I can honestly say his tantrums can come out of no where and the only way to avoid it is to give in and give him what he wants and surely that's a sure fire way of creating a spoilt little monster  boy.

So what to do?

I have found that ignoring him when he is having a tantrum really helps when we are at home, that's obviously a little trickier when you are out and about. By ignoring I mean I will walk out of the room that he is having a paddy in and ignore him until he stops. I also found that walking away and starting to sing also helps as he is clearly aware that I am not giving him attention and I have removed his audience.

I have also started going through with anything I say. This works well when we are out and about. This is something I have only been doing for a few weeks but I think when he realises that when mum means business, she means business it may prevent tantrums.

An example of this is that I took him to our local bowling alley and arcade last week, he was really excited and wanted to ride on the motorbike type game. I was happy with him sat on the motorbike until a guy wanted to go on and actually play the arcade game. I explained to Alfie that it was someone else's turn and lifted him off the bike. This resulted in him squeaking and crying and lying on the floor in the middle of the arcade. So I got him to stand up and went down to his level and told him that if he continues to have a tantrum, I would take him home. He continued to tantrum so I picked him up and explained that I had warned him and took him straight back to the car and we went home. He kept telling me that he was sorry and that he would be a good boy but I really feel that I have to go through with what I say or warnings will have no affect on him.

I must admit I felt awful, I hate to see him cry and I was really tempted to turn the car around. But this does seem to be working, he now seems to take head of my warning if he is not doing as he's told.

He is a very clever lad so I make sure I explain why I am doing these things so he understands that there are consequences to his actions. He has a very big personality, just like his mummy and I don't want to dampen his spirit in any way but he also needs to listen to us.

This seems to be the most affective at the minute. Other things I have tried include the naughty step but he would happily go and sit on it with a big grin on his face so I didn't feel it was having the desired affect.
He has such a good bedtime routine, I have never wanted going to bed to be a punishment as how can I then expect him to willingly go to bed of a night?

Here he is on the bike in the arcade, its like butter wouldn't melt, you would never guess we were moments away from a full tantrum.

He is generally a well mannered, gorgeous little boy and tantrums are not a constant thing and that could be why when he has one, it seems so bad.

If anyone has any more ideas about how to avoid tantrums, I would love to hear them.


Take care

Adele xxx

Potty Training a 2 year old

Hi guys,

I wanted to share with you our experiences of  potty training our little boy at 2 years old. Alfie is now 2 1/2 and completely dry day and night (I still do a little victory dance in my head)

I cant believe how easy it was. When I started researching, I found millions of posts and theories about how to potty train your toddler. Some were suggesting really extreme ideas of training within 3 days. Other posts were saying how stressful potty training was.

Now, we may have been really lucky and Alfie may have just taken to it really easily.

Alfie had been showing signs of "readiness" about 2 months before he turned 2, these included:

• Constantly taking his nappy off - we had a naked toddler for quite some time.
• He would follow us into the bathroom and was showing an interest in our toilet habits (TMI I know)
• I noticed that his nappy was dry after a 2 hour nap so there was obvious increased bladder control. 
• He didn't like being in a dirty nappy.

I know there are lots more signs of readiness but these were the ones that made me think that Alfie was ready for potty training. 

So about 2 months before he turned 2, I bought a potty and decided to give it a go. 

This resulted in a complete disaster, he was scared of the potty! We spent about 2 days with a naked toddler running round and trying to guess when he needed to go and then he was clearly anxious about sitting on the potty. 

So I stopped, I wasn't prepared to stress myself out and more importantly I didn't want him to be anxious about the whole concept. I must admit I was a little worried that potty training = stress. 

When Alfie turned 2, he had continued to show the same signs that he was ready and had also started to tell me that he was having a wee or a poo. So I decided to give it another go!

This time, I bought a new potty. The first one I bought was the really cheap old school ones pictured below and I think it was really uncomfortable for Alfie and that may have been why he didn't want to sit on it. Alfie is obsessed with cars and transport as you can see by his toddler car bedroom post so we found a car potty which is also pictured below. Alfie loved the new potty although it was difficult to explain that he couldn't "play" with it like his other cars. 

So I took his nappy off and put the potty in the room and asked him every 15 minutes if he needed a wee. I think this annoyed him more than anything so I left him to it. We did have an accident but this allowed me to explain that he needed to use the potty. I think this made him more aware and then he sat on the potty and did a tiny wee.

Mummy and Daddy started singing and dancing and telling him how clever he was, high five-ing him and generally really, really praising him. 

THAT WAS IT

He was so excited by the praise that he got, he kept going back to his potty every couple of minutes and doing a little wee and then screaming 'I've done it' and Mummy and Daddy would dance and high five each time. We didn't need to use any incentive like chocolate, the praise was more than enough. We really did go crazy though with the praise. 

After that he spent about 2 days going to the potty constantly and I think we had 2 accidents but then he just got it and was running over to the potty and doing a wee. We never needed to prompt him or remind him. He was a little bit nervous about number 2 and we had to look for the 'poo face' and put him on the potty. He did seem a little anxious but again when he did a poo on the potty, we went crazy with the praise. Another 2 days of this and he was happily doing wee and poo on the potty with no prompting or accidents. 

We went and bought him big boy pants and pull ups for the night time. I was worried that going from being naked to putting pants on might result in more accidents but he just told me that he needed to wee and we went to the potty. He was still peeing in the night and again because of his love of cars we bought the Huggies pull ups.

That was it! I was so shocked at how easy it was and had been warned that I was in for a regression but touch wood this never happened. 

Since we started, I never put a nappy on him again. If we went out I would take the potty with me and he would be in pants. The only time he wore a nappy was at night. I then decided to introduce him to the BIG TOILET as it was a pain having to take a potty everywhere with me. I bought the toilet seat insert and a stool and after talking to him about the big boy toilet, we gave it a go and as soon as he did a wee on the toilet..... you guessed it we went crazy mad with the praise. We did this about 2 months after we started on the potty. 

6 months down the line and Alfie is 2 1/2 and is using the toilet and is even standing up like daddy to do a wee now. 

I was told that to train throughout the night, I would have to wake him during the night and take him to the toilet. Quite frankly there was no way I was going to do that, once you wake Alfie he is ready to play. So I was happy for him to wear a pull up at night for as long as necessary. All we did was take him for a wee just before bed. Initially he would wee during the night but about 3 months into potty training, he would wake up in the morning saying he needed a wee and his pull up was dry. I put his potty in our room at night so he could have  a wee in the morning. 

For the past 6 weeks, Alfie has been completely dry in the morning, he does need a wee first thing and occasionally wakes up in the night needing one but that's no bother. There was no waking up and nothing has been forced and its been completely stress free. 

I really do think if you wait until they are ready emotionally as well as physically. Alfie was showing all the physical signs before he was 2 but he wasn't ready emotionally. I think I could have persevered at that time but I think it would have been really stressful on us all. This way it was fun and easy and who doesn't want that for their little one.

If there are any questions please feel free to ask me. Like I said at the beginning this is what worked for us and may not suit every toddler but I hope it offers some help with potty training. 

Thanks guys
take care

Adele xxx

Toddler Car Bedroom

Hi guys,

So after my son having a very bare room for some time (moving house and wedding) prevented us from decorating, I have finally finished decorating his room. Now, my little boy is obsessed with cars, trucks, bikes or any form of transport so it was easy to figure out what theme we were using.

I spent about a week obsessing  researching different ideas online and Pinterest became my best friend yet again. I just love that website, you can literally think of anything and someone, somewhere has created some masterpiece. I was then armed with some cool ideas and made a start.

I am so happy with the outcome and my little Alfie-James is thrilled with his room.

Please take a look at all the photos below and let me know what you think. I may also do a nursery room tour too if anyone wants to see it. Any questions please feel free to ask. Unfortunately I do not have any before pics to show.

 Firstly I ordered some decal stickers by wallpops which were £19.99 from Amazon. These were really easy to stick to the wall and you can remove them and stick them somewhere else too.
wallpops self adhesive road signs

The wheel bunting is from B&Q but I cannot find a link I'm afraid.

I also ordered these transport decals from Decowall as they have so many different types of transport and are all individual so you can put them anywhere and are also re-positional (not sure if that is an actual word)
These were also from Amazon and cost £13.95
Decowall transport stickers

I had already put up these stickers when we moved so I cannot remember where I got them from but we like to practise our letters so this is perfect.

These are Alfie's new curtains, I love the bright colours and the design. They really frame his window well I think. These were also from B&Q and were £16.
Transport Curtains

 We have bought 2 different sets of blinds but they do not fit, I think its because the window is so wide so we may have to have blinds made to measure. So if anyone has any recommendations for made to measure blinds please send them my way ;)

 The long pic of different transport across the window is actually a puzzle that Alfie had as an early Easter Present off his Aunty. I thought it fit perfectly with the theme of his room and fits perfectly on his window sill. I do not know where this is from so no link I'm afraid.

 I also displayed his Squinkies and his micro cars on his window sill as decoration and I think it all looks really cute. Although how long do you think all cars will be neatly lined up like that?

The window sill is quite large in Alfie's room so there was plenty of room to add little toys as decoration. The above pic is actually a little storage cabinet that I have had for years but Alfie now uses it to store bits and bobs and to fill his car with petrol, obviously.

The main attraction: 
This little bed is absolutely fantastic, it is a really solid, sturdy plastic that will last for years. It is only a toddler bed but claims to last up until the age of 5. It also takes a standard cot bed/toddler mattress and has a solid, slatted base.
I have never seen Alfie so excited, when he saw his bed he told me "It's the best present ever" It is a little pricey at a cost of £279.99 but it is a great little bed and is perfect for any little car lovers.
Roadster toddler bed

DIY Project

I bought a plain, black desk lamp and used acrylic white pain to create a road look and then super glued several hot wheels cars to it and there you have it. I cannot take credit for this idea, I found this on Pinterest which took me to a fab blog Bliss Bloom Blogs where a much better version of this lamp is made but I dont think mine is too bad for a novice arts and crafter.

 On his storage unit, I put some of Alfie's favourite diecast vehicles.  That includes his Disney Car collection and his military/tank collection. I think these look really cute.

 Alfie's storage unit is from Ikea and it is fab quality, it is really sturdy and heavy and comes with everything you need to attach it to the wall. The tubs are really deep and can get plenty of toys in them. You can also buy smaller drawers and change the runners to change the style. The cost of the unit and the drawers was £53 and can be found here.

 Here he is my little fella looking very pleased with his new room.

I have seen this idea loads on Youtube and I think its brill. These shelves are actually spice racks from Ikea and only cost £3 each but they make great book shelves. I put these at just the right height so Alfie can choose his story. You can find these here

This was actually my hubby's idea, this was an old train track that Alfie no longer played with so we attached it to the wall and glued the trains to it as DIY wall art.

 These canvas' match the curtains and just add further decoration and colour. These are also from B&Q and cost £15 but I cannot find a link.

I think these play mat/rugs are brill and Alfie loves running little cars around the "roads" This is also from B&Q and cost £12 and you can get them here.

His garage that he loves playing with 

I dotted some of Alfie's favourite toys around his room.

 This was a Christmas present Alfie had from his Uncle and Aunty. He is obsessed with this Mini and we regularly go for a cruise to the shops in this. It is from ToysRus and costs £69.99 which can be found here

I thought this little snow suit was a great little accessory to the room and makes it look like a right little racers room. This was also a gift so Im not sure where this is from.

DIY Project

I first saw this on pinterest as a way to store away your childs matchbox cars, the original post is from Lo and behold life blog and this very clever mummy is now selling these wall garages which are called 'Mom where's my car wall garage'. You can find the blog here. I wasnt sure if these were shipped to the UK so I thought I would have a go at re-creating this garage. I bought 2 cheap, slatted shoe racks and glued the 2 slatted racks together, one on top of the other. I then painted these a bright red and attached them to the wall with little brackets. I think this looks great, its super quick and easy and Alfie was amazed by it. 

Here are just a few snaps of the room as  a whole, I loved the whole process and this room has turned out exactly how I wanted it to and made my little boy a very happy chap. He has hardly left his room in the past couple of days so it makes it all worth while. 

Thanks for stopping by guys and if there is anything you want to know, please feel free to ask.

Take care guys

Adele xxx

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