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February 19, 2015 by lambandbear 3 Comments

Home, sweet, home: Our new bed

When you marry the man you have been with for over 8 years, have bought a house with, had a child with, it becomes rather difficult to write a gift list when you finally tie the knot. So we didn’t ask for anything. We have everything we need (kind of) and don’t have the space for anything else. We also didn’t go on a honeymoon, so ruled out a honeymoon fund. That left us with asking for nothing. Neither of us felt comfortable asking for money, unless it was to go towards something in particular. It just didn’t feel fair.

We got the odd text from friends and family asking if we wanted money and we would always respond with some thing like “we don’t need any more items for our house, so if you would like to give us a gift then money or vouchers to put towards something in the future would be greatly appreciated”.

We were very lucky to receive a mixture of gifts and money from our guests and are extremely overwhelmed by everyones generosity. (I’m still writing thank you cards so if you haven’t received yours it’s coming soon I promise! Not easy to do with a part time job, blog and toddler to look after!)

Something I have wanted and needed to buy for a long time that was out of our budget is a new bed and mattress. Daddy Lamb had fixed our bed numerous times and it was getting pretty uncomfortable, but we finally had the funds to buy ourselves our dream bed!

Living in a 2 bed semi means we lack storage and space. We are very lucky to have a cellar which I have turned into my utility room (there are no longer piles of ironing around my house), I don’t know how I would cope without this space. The rest of my house is jam packed. I’m a teeny tiny hoarder. Only teeny tiny though!

With this in mind we knew we wanted to buy a storage bed. Drawers or ottoman? For us it had to be an ottoman. To utilise the space in our bedroom we have to push the bed up into one corners, so if we had drawers underneath 2 of them wouldn’t be used. So ottoman to was.

The bed we bought is from Homebase. We bought a mattress from there too as you get a 15% discount off the mattress if you buy both together. We also got another 20% off the total bill as they had an offer on furniture. It actually worked out that we paid for the mattress in full and got the ned for free – not bad!

So we chose our new bed and mattress, so it was only right that I got new bedding to go with it! I don’t normally like to spend a lot of things like duvet covers, but we were also lucky to receive some next vouchers for wedding gifts. We decided to spend these on things for our new bed. Here is what we got…

I absolutely love my new bedding. They cost a lot more than I would normally pay (I think £55 each) but you can really see the difference in quality. I can see myself getting slightly addicted.

I won’t show you a photo of my actual bed yet because our bedroom needs redecorating. There’s nothing special about it, and now we have our new bed I want to redecorate the whole room! So I think I’ll share some photos once I’ve made it look all pretty. 🙂

I’d love some recommendations on places to buy amazing bedroom furniture and accessories (nothing too pricey!) so let me know if you have any!

Alex x

January 14, 2015 by lambandbear Leave a Comment

Energy Saving Awareness

One of my biggest goals of 2015 is to save money, even more so now both my husband and I have been made redundant.

There are a million ways to save some pennies here and there, one major one being energy consumption.

Do you leave things on standby? Do you switch your computer off every night? Do you turn your lights off every time you leave a room? Did you answer yes, no, no? I did. Guilty as charged.

One simple change you can make to your energy consumption is the light bulbs you use. LED Planet have the solution for you, LED bulbs. Not only does using LED bulbs save you money, but is a really easy way of reducing your energy consumption, which in turn helps the environment a little.

Ok, so the LED bulbs cost a little more than other light bulbs on the market, but they are more beneficial long term.

Still need some convincing? Then take a look at this…

Alex x

* this is a collaboration with LED Planet

January 5, 2015 by lambandbear 7 Comments

Do you wanna bake a snowman?

I used to write posts titled ‘Sunny Sunday’, but let’s face it, we haven’t seen, nor will we see, sun for a while.

Sundays always seem to be the day I do activities with Lamb, whether that be arts & crafts, days out or visiting friends or family. Sunday really feels like ‘family day’ to me, so I make an effort to keep Lamb busy with all the fun stuff I can think of.

With the lack of sun, we are all stuck with indoor activities. Apart from yesterday, when Daddy Lamb took Lamb to the park in the torrential rain and watched him whizz down the slide like a torpedo (which Lamb loved of course!)

Today’s activity was baking. Lamb seemed super keen, especially as we were baking Olaf cookies. So off we went to the kitchen, Lamb in his high chair with his mini whisk and mummy armed with everything else (the mini whisk wasn’t necessary but he insisted on holding it).

Unfortunately Lamb’s attention span last around 10 minutes, so I was left baking on my own while he watched The Gruffalo and did some colouring! I’m really looking forward to him actually wanting to do all of these fun things with me…

The quick bake boxes are so good for making with the little ones. Everything is measured out for you, and they have the joy of decorating with their favourite characters.

I still like to bake from scratch with Lamb, but like I said earlier, his attention span is limited, so I’d rather use a box until he allows me more time to bake!

And at £1.79 in Aldi, you can’t really say no can you!

If you’re looking for something fun to do on a not so sunny Sunday, why not try a little baking and let your little one choose a bake in the box of their favourite character.

Alex x

November 8, 2014 by lambandbear 1 Comment

Improving our ‘perfect kitchen’

Last year we did some home improvements and completely refitted our kitchen. Believe me when I tell you, it totally needed it. Our old kitchen was exactly that, old. It was liveable but had minimal surface area and storage. The cupboards were hand made (which I loved) but very creaky and had limited life left in them.

Our old kitchen

We absolutely love our kitchen now. It completely fits with the age of our house and offers us everything we need as a family of 3. However, as our family grows there are a couple of things I would have done differently.

Firstly, I would change the tiled floor. At the moment our new floor is natural slate. Which means bumpy surface and sharp corners (you can see this in the photo above). Not ideal with a toddler running around. Luckily Lamb seems to cope well with the uneven surface but we still worry in case he falls on one of the raised tiles.

Secondly I would like a larger fridge (possibly a fridge/freezer). At the moment we have an integrated fridge which is just about the right size for us. Lamb is a fussy eater, so we don’t have loads of extra food for him, but as he grows up and will hopefully eat more, I’m sure we will find the fridge space more limited. As well as this, we don’t have a freezer in the kitchen. It’s in our cellar. Luckily for us we have a cellar, not something you come across these days. In our current kitchen we just couldn’t fit a freezer into the new design, so had to compromise and put it downstairs. Not a huge issue, but ideally I would love a large american style fridge/freezer that will hold plenty for our growing family.

Another improvement I would make would be to change my oven to a double oven. In our old kitchen we had a double and I loved it. Cooking a Sunday roast was so much easier with 2 ovens. While the chicken was roasting, I could roast the veg in the top oven. Or keep things warm in the top oven, while cooking in the bottom oven.

When we had our new kitchen designed we didn’t like the look of the double ovens available, so we went for a single oven. The one we have is great, but looking into the future I think it would be more beneficial if we had picked a double.

Finally, I would love to add some new small appliances to my ‘perfect kitchen’. I would really love a new microwave, but don’t have the money to buy a decent one. We love the one we have so are reluctant to replace it. It still works, it’s just in need of a little tlc. If we were to replace it we would definitely stick to the same brand, and perhaps buy a slightly larger one.

As our family grows I want to spend more time in our lovely kitchen. Making home made food, baking with the little ones. A ‘perfect kitchen’ is an key component to a happy house and I think with these minor changes I would definitely have the ‘perfect kitchen’. Saying that, I am not desperate for these changes. I can cope with my old microwave and small fridge, but there’s always room for a little improvement.

Alex x

*this is a sponsored post

August 28, 2014 by lambandbear 3 Comments

Dinosaur loving Lamb

Pregnant with a boy? Or already have a little man? Then you are most likely going to join the dinosaur loving club. Any parent of a boy will agree – dinosaurs are a fave. The thing is, how do baby boys know they love dinosaurs, especially before they are even born?! Well, they don’t. Us mums cause the obsession. We choose the clothes, toys, books. We are to blame for the dinosaur obsession.

Well, I’m guilty of that. Actually Joes parents are the reason for my dinosaur obsession. They very generously offered to decorate the nursery as our gift for the baby. They found samples of the most amazing wallpapers and fabrics by Harlequin.

Jolly Jurassic wallpaper

Jolly Jurassic fabric

I instantly fell in love with the wallpaper. The quirky sketches, subtle colours and the complementary matching fabric. It’s completely different to what I had planned, but that’s why I love it. It’s different to typical nursery colours and wallpapers and it will last for years. Lamb won’t get bored of it and we can accessorise it to suit his age. Perfect.

Joe really enjoyed decorating Lamb’s nursery. I was so impressed with his wallpapering skills, especially as it was his first time! His dad helped out quite a lot. I think they felt it was their daddy/grandad duty to decorate. I was a little too pregnant to help out, so I was in charge of making tea and providing biscuits. 😉

Completing Lamb’s nursery was one of my favourite parts of early motherhood. Preparing the room dedicated to the little bean sprout growing in my belly made it all so real. I ironed his clothes and organised them into his drawers, re- organised them, and yes, re-organised them again. And again. I just wish his room still looked as neat and tidy as it does in the photos!

Having this amazing dinosaur wallpaper kick started my obsession with all things dinosaur, and it’s only getting worse. I just see things with dinosaurs on and assume Lamb needs it. No Alex, he don’t need it. It’s not “essential”, it’s not “absolutely necessary”, it’s not “vital” that he has it.

I’m trying to control my addiction, I promise. But it’s difficult to control when every morning Lamb wakes up, points to his wallpaper and “grrrrrrrr’s”. It’s just too cute!

Have you found yourself becoming addicted to buying certain things for your little one?

Keep an eye out for my next dinosaur post – i’m sure there will be plenty!

Alex xx

Wearing one of his many dinosaur t-shirts!

Home, sweet, home: Our new bed

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Energy Saving Awareness

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Do you wanna bake a snowman?

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