Me, The Man & The Baby: December 2011

Thursday, 22 December 2011

A Christmas Feast 2011

Appetizer

This post what I'm looking forward to most about Christmas from Adventures of a ordinary parent just has to be the ultimate starter.

Oh how right Curly Mum is about it being a stressful time of the year in curly mum on Christmas, though you cant help but to feel slightly less stressed come the end of the post when she talks about forgetting those Yorkshire puds and what the 25th really is all about.

Trying to think of ways to keep the kids entertained in the Christmas holidays? Mummy's Space has the solution in the form of play-doh Christmas trees. We're going to have a go at making a snowman with ours.

Hands up who's jealous of Life, Ninja Killer Cat and Everything Else who went to Santa Lapland and met Santa.

Do you have any Christmas Traditions? Mummy Musings talks about the Christmas traditions she has so far for her own family.

Main Meal

Are you a tad bit of a expert when it comes to cooking that Christmas dinner? If so, why not pop over to looking for blue sky who needs some help with how to make the perfect Christmas dinner.

Find out how Susan K Mann celebrates a Christmas Eve birthday. What would you do if your child's birthday fell on such a day?

Letters to various Christmas people over at from Fun to Mum in her Christmas edition of dear so & so. My toddler very much liked her Rudolph photo.

Love this post from Sign and The City on Finding the balance at Christmas. Really made me take a moment to actually think about what Christmas is all about and what actually does matter.

Thinking about visiting a Christmas market in another country next year? The Five Fs blog visited the Cologne Christmas markets and have provided a fantastic insight into what it was like.

Why do you blog? JoJo's So Called Life talks about why she set up a blog and what exactly her blog is in my mam's a pioneer and further tales part 2. This post made me both sad and smiley at the same time.

Dessert

Domestic Goddesque has me reaching for the chocolate biccies with her quick and easy Christmas pudding biscuits.

Please say I'm not the only who cant help but to stare at the deliciousness of what is these Christmas Snickerdoodle cookies from two become four. I've really got to get my hands on some edible red glitter!

Now I know why I told myself not to buy one whilst shopping yesterday, Mari's World has a recipe up for us to try making our own Christmas Chocolate Log. It actually looks much yummier then the shops and I bet it was probably much cheaper to make.

Biscuits are always a winner in our house and I'm sure they are in yours too! How about trying out these home made Christmas - festive biscuit lollies and Christmas tree biscuits from Cherished By Me.

Sandy over at Baby Baby has shared her new favourite Christmas song. It's such a heart warming song, you may need to grab the tissues.

Keep the tissues out! You'll need them for this Christmas tree shaped poem in from one year to the next from Jude Wharton.

After Dinner Drinks

Before you settle down with those drinks and about to clear the plates why not read A Mother's Ramblings advice about what to do with those Christmas leftovers.

Stuff the party games, get the craft box out instead and attempt something from how to have a frugal Christmas - fun stuff to do together with The diary of a frugal family. Cant wait to see my toddlers face when I make his his own Christmas video from Father Christmas.

You cant help but to giggle at this Round Robin from Him Up North, it reads just like a Eastenders script.

Online mum has been inspired by the film Muppet Christmas Carol to think about the Christmas past, Christmas present and Christmas future in her So this is Christmas post.

Wednesday, 21 December 2011

20 Week Scan

Tuesday, 20 December 2011

Holiday Inn/Timmy Time competition

Timmy and his friends have teamed up with Holiday Inn to celebrate the special half-hour Timmy Time which will premiere on CBeebies this Christmas!

It's Christmas Eve and everyone is busy getting ready for Christmas. It's not until home time they realise they are snowed in and will have to stay at the nursery - it's a sleepover! But will Santa know where to find Timmy and his friends?

Visit www.timmytime.tv to sneak a peek at Timmy's Christmas Surprise.

We have a very special family sleepover at a Holiday Inn up for grabs for one lucky winner - plus copies of Timmy's Snowy Fun on DVD and redemption codes for the Timmy Time App. To be in with a chance of winning all you have to do is leave me a comment telling me about your little ones favourite Timmy Time episode. For a extra entry tweet 'I'm in with a chance of winning a stay at @Holidayinn with Timmy Time & @methemanandbaby http://tinyurl.com/bn7493f'

We also have Timmy Time DVD's and 5 redemption codes for the Timmy Time App as runners up prizes, so get commenting/tweeting!

Terms & Conditions - The prize is a 2 night sleepover for a family of four at the UK Holiday Inn of their choice. Prize is to be redeemed by 31st March 2012. Competition ends 6th January 2012.

Monday, 19 December 2011

Toddlerisms #4

Future Van Gogh

Thursday, 15 December 2011

New Home

For the second time this year we've moved, I know – how crazy. Especially when half way through a pregnancy. Thanks to work commitments and various changes in life plans we decided to move house again. I'm sat writing this blog post now as I wait for the delivery of our stuff to arrive. Who knows when I'll be able to post it online though as a delivery of equipment from a certain phone company never arrived last Thursday, despite being told twice it was. Meaning I stayed in from morning to night waiting for it. They can jog on if they think I'm paying for that delivery fee and the days I'm without the service I'm currently paying for. I can live without the internet. Honestly.

I cant tell you how much I love my new house, it's smaller then the last which is a big relief to me as keeping the old house tidy with all those rooms was a nightmare! Especially when you're not the biggest fan of housework. We do have a bigger garden though which was a winning factor when choosing this house, we're currently having the footie pitch as I've nicknamed it, re-turfed and the patio redone.

Anything else which needs doing can wait until after Christmas as the only decorating I want to be doing is Christmas decorating. We've already got everything right down to the tree chocolates, just need to get it all up. I guess this is going to be my motive for getting all our stuff unpacked and put into it's new home as soon as possible.

I did wonder how Oli would take to moving again, but he seems to be ok. Excited if anything, cant stop running around the place and enjoying all the room he has before the furniture arrives. I'm guessing bump is excited too as he/she has been joining in with its brother and moving around lots. Before you worry I am taking it easy, I'm not doing any heavy lifting at all and I actually think I'm going to find the unpacking part rather therapeutic. Nesting starting to kick in maybe?

*Edited - We have furniture! We now have Internet, though am wondering when this infinity speed kicks in! And we also have a Christmas tree up! Yay!

Tuesday, 13 December 2011

This baby is a health freak!

I thought baby was easing me back into eating gently after that non-stop sickness by making me consume nothing but salad and fruit. But several weeks later I'm still eating salad and fruit by the bucket load. Again total opposite pregnancy to the first, by now with Oli I was consuming spicy food like it was going out of fashion. I couldn’t get enough curries inside of me quick enough! This time I'm not really feeling the spicy food, baby would much rather have me chomping on a good pasta salad followed by a apple or two. Yeah Oli had me reaching for the cola hubba bubba where as this one wants me to eat apple after apple, after apple. I wont want to see another apple for a lifetime once this pregnancy is over.

Have been eating some fatty stuff though, just the other night we had a McDonalds as we had been out and couldn’t be bothered to cook. It went within minutes like most food has been lately, but I had nothing but guilt because it wasn’t a salad of any sort. Lesson learnt, will stick to Burger King in future – they always load it up with salad.

On the exercise front though me and bump have not done much, we put all our energy into playing with its big brother and into work so that pretty much is our exercise at the moment. When I pull my finger out I will hunt down a decent maternity swimming cossie and go to a full aquanatal sessions. Once I'm more settled in the house and know my left from right, I'm going to have a go at some pregnancy yoga. I was sent some videos and I have a couple of yoga DVDs from my previous pregnancy, still in the wrapper so that says just how active I was with Oli.

I'm a bit of a novice with this salad lark, have been buying prepared salads but this is all adds up. Feel free to send any yummy salad recipes my way. I'm even eating salad cream and I never used to like the stuff before I was pregnant. Let's hope baby continues to want to eat fruit and veg like a fruit loop when it's older.

Wednesday, 7 December 2011

Horoscopes

I always say I don't believe in Horoscopes but I just cant help but to glimpse at my Horoscope whenever I see them listed anywhere. Horoscopes.org.uk have all your Horoscope needs in one place. Say for example you're a Gemini then head over to the Gemini Horoscope section where you can see a full description of a Gemini and even get a daily and weekly Horoscope.

If Horoscopes aren't enough then they have a direct link to psychics who can offer you great advice depending on your star sign. Why not take advantage of the Telephone Psychic Readings on offer, they have a range of different highly skilled Psychics available so you should be able to find one who is right for you.

The website is simple to navigate around and not busy looking or crammed which enables users to get to their choice of horoscope or section which is clearly labelled, easily and smoothly.

Would love to know your thoughts on horoscopes, are you a believer and avid reader of them each day? Or are you like me and just cant help but to glaze over them to see what your star sign says?

This is a sponsored post

Tuesday, 6 December 2011

Shhh! I have a secret!

I'm pregnant! Well yes I know that you know. How can you not? I blog about it nearly every week! But my employers don't know that I am, despite having a bump which nearly poked my eye out every morning I manage to keep it hidden and keep it a secret that I'm carrying around another little human being.

I don't think I manage to do another blog post (busy with a house move!) after saying about going for a job interview and then being invited back for a second. I didn't get the job, I will never know if it's because I'm pregnant or just because they found someone else more suitable for the job, I hope it was the second. But I didn't give up job hunting, just decided that this time around I wouldn't say anything. After all, it's not like a disability or anything. I legally don't have to declare I'm pregnant until 15 weeks before I'm due.

At the moment I'm just going to enjoy having a job and actually getting the house and having some me time, I'm working my little pregnant bottom off so that they cant question my work even when the time comes for my little announcement. I don't feel I'm deceiving them as I'm turning up doing the job, so what if I am pregnant. If I already had the job and fell pregnant then I still don't have any rules which tells me that I have to tell them. I wouldn't put myself in a place of work where there is any risk to me or baby, so I'm safe and have no worries.

Saturday, 3 December 2011

Garden Games - Wigwam

The guys at Garden Games sent us the ultimate children's play tent to try out, I say play tent but it's actually a Wigwam. A proper little Wigwam for little boys and girls. I don't know who was squealing more with excitement as the Wigwam was being put together, me or the boy! Cant help but to imagine games of Indians and other imaginative games being played with it. It's a great alternative to the usual play tents you can buy.

As you can see from the photos, we set our Wigwam up indoors as it was a little wet outside and we thought it would be just as much fun to watch TV from the comfort of the Wigwam. Oli and his Cousin thought it was brilliant having a little space of their own under this tent. The Wigwam has Velcro fastenings allowing them to hide away when they wish.

We were impressed with the service we received from

the moment the Wigwam was ordered, we were kept up to date with when the item was being picked in the warehouse to when the Wigwam was being shipped.

Putting the Wigwam together took all together just under 15 minutes, we found easier putting it together with two of us because of the poles.

The instructions we followed on the side of the box were clear and enabled us to put the Wigwam up without any problems. It's made out of a material which is sturdy and can withstand any toddler tantrum they may throw. As you can see from the photos the poles slot in making it safe and strong.

It would make a great Christmas present for the little boy or even girl in your life. The Wigwam is currently available online at £49.99.

Friday, 2 December 2011

Idealo Stocking Challenge

We got set a challenge by Idealo, a UK price comparison website who compiled some research in the run up to Christmas regarding the average spend of parents on their children at the festive period. They found that the average children's Christmas haul is up by 63% (which includes inflation) from £75 in Christmas 1995 to £168 in Christmas 2010.

Our challenge was that we were set was that we were given £75 by Idealo and we were to spend them on the perfect Christmas stocking for Oli. Of course we checked out Idealo and got hooked, I've never used a price novelty website before so it was a bit of a novelty to me. I'm a huge fan of saving money (who isn't) and to see the price differences compared on a few different websites on one page was a right treat. I'll talk you through what we got and how we managed to save money on our chosen Christmas stocking items.

World Apart Thomas Wendy House - When we picked and viewed this item the other website listed was showing it at a couple of pounds more then what it is listed at now. So at the time we saved ourselves money despite it now showing the same price as the other shop. The handy option is also being shown that we were entitled to free delivery. Always a bonus. £14.00, saving £2.00.

Disney Pixar Cars 2 Siddeley The Spy Jet - Was really chuff with the savings difference that we were able to make on Siddeley, the toddler is a big fan of Cars and I know it's going to be a popular choice amongst little boys this Christmas. The cheapest place for this spy jet was John Lewis and we even had the option of saving on the delivery by choosing the free click and collect service. £14.00, saving £6.00.

Scooby Doo Fort Playset - We did something different with the playset, we had a look at a few other toy websites and then came back to Idealo and used the search option to see if we could find the playset and save money. And we did! The supermarket website was quoting the fort playset at £10 more then the site we found using Idealo. £14.00, saving £10.00.

Thomas And Friends Jigsaw Puzzle - Something the toddler has recently got into is jigsaws so we thought we would include some of these in the stocking. Seeing as he's a Thomas The Tank Engine fan we thought it apporiate to get him some Thomas jigsaws which we found via searching 'Thomas and Friends jigsaws'. Big price difference between the cheapest option and the more expensive one thanks to the delivery price which we saw on the website. Amazon was only charging a £1.00 delivery where as Argos wanted £8.95 for delivery. You can guess who we clearly went with. 70p saving on the actual jigsaw price but we really did take delivery charges into account with this item. £4.50, saving 70p.

Worlds Apart Thomas The Tank Engine: Storytime Go Glow - Didn't really get a price comparison for this item but we found rather cool Thomas item via just looking through the list of toys on the Idealo website. We looked through Thomas items and used the handy menus to the right of the site to pick out Oli's age to see what toys were recommended for him. We were swayed by the free delivery too which makes it just like going to the shops for some Christmas shopping just without the stress of it. £15.79.

The Pink Panther Show: Season 1 Volume 1 - For some reason the toddler adores my childhood favourite, Pink Panther. Ever since he caught glimpse of it on TV he's been hooked. We know he's going to love opening this up from his stocking on the big day. I simply just typed in 'Pink Panther' into the search option and found this gem. Now he can watch Pink Panther whenever he wants too. £5.49.

Total using price comparison website to get the best savings = £67.78 , saving £18.70. As you can see that saving enabled us to get another toy using our money allowance. Obviously we allowed money for delivery charges. Idealo is a handy website especially at this time of the year to have saved in your bookmarks. I plan on using it for any future purchases to see what money savings I can make.

What do you think to the research Idealo did? Can you really believe that in 15 years we're spending £75 more on our children? I wonder it's because the price of toys have gone up or if we're just treating our children to more. Either way I'm quite pleased about what we got with our £75, that's quite a lot of toys and fun for one 2 year old. Thank you Idealo for setting us this challenge and for the Christmas presents.

Toddlerisms #3

Time for his Advent Calendar along with his cousin

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