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What Would I Do If I Won The Lottery? GIVEAWAY

lottery titleI’m sure you’ve all asked yourselves the same question. We all dream of winning a huge amount of money and living our dream lives.

Would you go crazy and spend it all? Would you invest? Buy property?

Personally I’d want my money to last, for our family to be forever out of debt and comfortable, but not splashing the cash.

As you know I launched my children’s clothing line last year and without investment it’s going to take a very long time to be profitable. So, if I won millions on the Euro Millions I’d probably hire myself a killer PR, buy a luxurious office space (with a crèche, I couldn’t leave the kids at home) and work ridiculously hard on designing the next few collections. The money would bring in the product in bulk, rather than mini collections, and I’d be able to offer so much more online.

So that’s my sensible answer. Which I would definitely do if I won. But as I’m talking millions here, I’d probably be able to splash the cash a little and treat myselves and my loved ones.

First up I’d buy my dad a Bentley. I’ve always promised him one of I got “rich and famous”. My Nanan and grandad (and Auntie May!) would get their dream home by the sea, my brothers would probably want new houses too. I’d buy my mum a boob job. Not to increase, just to enhance. She’s had 3 kids after all… 😉 sorry mum!

I would re stock my whole wardrobe. Considering I’ve worked in fashion for a few years it’s pretty awful. You’d probably laugh at most of the clothes I own. Especially as most of it is maternity wear.

I would fly first class to Vegas with my husband and renew our vows. Ok, we’ve only been married a year and a half but we really wanted to get married in Las Vegas but decided it would upset too many family members.

I’d definitely buy a holiday home in Cyprus. Why Cyprus you ask? Well, I’ve been 3 times and each time was incredible. The third time we even got engaged and conceived our first child. 😉 I love it there and would happily visit yearly.

The one thing I wouldn’t do is spoil my kids. I grew up with very little and have grown to be happy without having everything.

Lottoland kindly gave me £25 credit to play on their site. It’s the only place where you can play the lottery in every country! For a bit of fun I’ve bought a ticket for the Irish Lottery as well as the Powerball. I don’t do the lottery very often, but you know what they say ‘you’ve got to be in it, to win it’.

Money doesn’t buy happiness, but it can be a lot of fun.

What would you do if you won the lottery?

Lottoland have given me £75 credit for their website to giveaway to one of my lovely followers! Enter via the form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

~A~

*In collaboration with LottoLand.

*Image courtesy of fantasista at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Tips For Reducing Stress When Travelling With Kids

travelling with kids pinWe’ve taken Lamb on holiday abroad twice and in all honesty both trips went really well. We now have 2 kids and travelling may become a little difficult.

So what can I do to reduce stress?

Use Travel friendly Products

Not everyone has the budget to buy quirky products but there are some products out there that would really help when travelling with babies or children.

The Doona for example. What a clever idea! Whether you’re off on a plane or travelling cross country on a train, this fab infant carrier/pram means you can travel with your baby safely and not have to lug a pram around!

A car seat that turns into a pram. Genius.

Be Organised

Organisation isn’t a strength of mine, but when it comes to travelling it’s pretty important that I stay organised. I usually keep everything in one folder and print out all booking forms and confirmations even if it’s not required. My tip is to double check all dates and times of bookings/flights etc and log them into your calendar on your phone. That way if you can’t access/find your paperwork you can check your phone. If you’re travelling abroad make sure you check the expiry dates on your passports and that they all have 6 months left.

Have A Treat Bag

We all know how quickly kids can get bored so my tip is to have a little rucksack or bag packed with lots of goodies that you can distribute throughout your journey. Snacks/sweets, stickers and crayons. Oh and don’t forget surprise eggs. Come up with a way of letting them earn something out of the treat bag. Maybe they have to be quiet for an hour (yeah right), or eat all of their lunch. Or maybe they can choose something every half an hour.

Pay Extra For Sensible Flights

Ok, you’ve got a 3 year old and 8 week old, do you really want to get up at 3 am for a 7 am flight? Do you? No. So book an afternoon flight, give yourself the morning to pack up the car and make your way to the airport. Give yourself time for stops along the way – “I need a wee/snack/iPad/teddy”. You know what toddlers are like.

The sensible times usually cost more, but I know I’d prefer a pricey flight to stressful departure.

Stay Overnight At The Airport

If you don’t live near to the airport you are flying from, why not book a hotel for the night before? It reduces the stress of the journey and adds another little part to your holiday!

Hire A Car

Waiting for taxis with kids? Probably not the easiest of things to do. Now we have 2 children I think hiring a car would be sensible. I can organise car seats for the kids and know we will be travelling safely. Book a car with a reputable company before the holiday, perhaps ask the holiday organisers who they normally recommend. To save some pennies why not use a comparison site like Holiday Autos to see who’s offering the best price for what you need. When you collect your car make sure you get the car you paid for (I’m sure I read somewhere about a couple who were given a more expensive car and were made to pay a lot more when they returned it) and the agreement is correct.

Those are a few of my tips for reducing stress when travelling with kids.

What would your tips be?

~A~

*In collaboration with Holiday Autos

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What’s In My Hospital Bag? For Baby…

baby hospital bag pinI’ve finally finished packing my hospital bag for baby boy. Well, it was packed last week for our holiday in Butlins, but I kind of rushed it. I’ve now gone through everything again and I’m happy with what’s packed and won’t be opening it again until we are in the hospital, unless I triple check everything again which is quite likely!

baby hospital bag collage 1The bag I am using for baby is from toTs by smarTrike Voyage in dark grey melange which I’ve been sent to review. So far I genuinely love this bag. It’s so spacious and light weight and has the perfect amount of pockets and compartments to keep everything organised. I honestly really love this bag and definitely recommend it (from first impressions of course, I haven’t taken it out and about yet).

There are a few features which I love.

  1. The bag doubles up as a rucksack (perfect for hubby to help carry!)
  2. It’s lightweight.
  3. It comes with a very compact changing mat that doesn’t take up much space in the bag.
  4. It comes with a pull out smaller bag ideal for keeping essentials you need easy access to (I haven’t used this for the hospital).
  5. There is a pocket either side to hold bottles meaning they don’t take up space inside.

I’ll be reviewing this bag again once I’ve used it properly but really wanted to share my initial thoughts with you as I really am impressed with this changing bag.

Now let’s move on to the exciting stuff… what am I taking for baby?!

baby hospital bag vestsbaby hospital bag sleepsuitsbaby hospital bag trousersbaby hospital bag extrasbaby hospital bag toiletriesBaby’s Hospital Bag Checklist

  1. 2 first size long sleeve vests
  2. 2 newborn long sleeve vests
  3. 2 first size short sleeve vests
  4. 2 newborn short sleeve vests
  5. 2 first size sleepsuits
  6. 3 newborn sleepsuits
  7. 2 pairs of trousers
  8. 2 pairs of socks
  9. 3 pairs of mitts
  10. 1 hat
  11. 2 cardigans
  12. 2 large muslins/swaddles
  13. 1 peter rabbit comforter
  14. 23 size 1 nappies
  15. 1 pack of water wipes
  16. 1 pack of nappy bags
  17. 1 pramsuit/all in one (not photographed)
  18. 1 blanket (not photographed)

A lot of the clothes I have packed were Lambs when he was a baby, I managed to keep a lot of newborn clothes look pretty new!

The items which you can buy if you’re interested I’ll list below.

  1. Yellow/white cloud/stripe vests are from The Essential One.
  2. Grey/blue elephant print sleepsuit is from Sainsburys.
  3. Daddy & Me giraffe sleepsuit is from Next.
  4. Barcode sleepsuit is from Next.
  5. Yellow/white cloud/stripe sleepsuits are from The Essential One.
  6. Peter Rabbit comforter is from Marks & Spencers.
  7. Grey/white muslins swaddles are from toTs by SmarTrike.

If you are packing your hospital bags soon then I hope you found this post useful. If you think I’ve missed anything then please let me know! I’ll be taking a pram suit and blanket for him too.

Please note, I have packed this bag with the intention of staying in hospital at least one night. I had to stay in 2 nights with Lamb due to him not latching and this time I’m a carrier of strep b so we both need checks and to be monitored after he is born, so my guess is I’ll be in 24 hours.

Look out for my hospital bag checklist for my bag coming soon.

Ax

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Baby Number 2 – 37 Weeks Update – Full Term!

37 weeks update pinI can’t believe I’m saying this, but yesterday I reached 37 weeks pregnant and I’m now classed as full term! To celebrate being full term baby decided to give me a day of sharp, stabbing pains very low down, which I think is him engaging and nestling his head into my pelvis. All good signs, but bloody painful!

You may know already that last week we spent Monday to Friday on holiday at Butlins as we were chosen to be ambassadors this year. We had such an amazing week as a family of 3 and I thoroughly enjoyed spending one last holiday away with Lamb, before he has to share me with his brother.

While I was away I panicked that I was losing my plug (something I didn’t experience with Lamb) but nothing serious happened so I stopped panicking and managed to enjoy my holiday. Not easy when you struggle with anxiety!

We did lots of walking around on holiday which meant I was pretty achy and tired at the end of each day. My feet were sore and swollen and I had quite bad back ache, but it was all worth it to see Lamb having the time of his life on all of the rides. Poor daddy had to take him on everything as mummy wasn’t allowed to!

This week I learned that I am carrying the strep b infection, which was a big shock as I’m so close to the end of my pregnancy and it could of gone unnoticed. The only reason I was tested for it was because I went to triage for something else to be looked at and while I was there they took a swab of my lady bits. I had no idea they would test for strep b, but luckily they did because I now know I’m a carrier and baby would be at risk of infection during labour. Apparently I need to have antibiotics every 4 hours once my waters have broken or I’m in established labour via an IV drip in my hand. Not looking forward to this to be honest.

This also means I need to discuss my birth plan with my midwife, as I have no idea what is available to me anymore.

During both of my pregnancies I have been consultant led due to having an under-active thyroid. Earlier this month my consultant cleared me and said I could be midwife led during labour, as my thyroid levels had stayed normal for a few months. Now it looks like I’m back to being consultant led due to having strep b. I was really hoping to have a water birth so I need to discuss this my midwife in my next appointment on Wednesday.

All I care about is both myself and baby being happy and healthy once he’s born, but I can’t help but feel sad that I may not experience a water birth, as I didn’t have one with Lamb. I’m hoping that because I only need the antibiotics every 4 hours they will still let me use a birthing pool, even if it’s only for labouring and not delivery.

In general I’m feeling pretty good. Hospital bags are packed and in the car (I took them on holiday just in case). We still need to put together the SnuzPod, but I need to tidy my bedroom first! We have so much stuff and such little space it’s going to be a tight squeeze but totally worth it of course.

Baby is definitely running out of space in there, the kicks and pokes are becoming quite painful and the friction burn at the top of my bump is at it’s worst.

But hey, 3 weeks until my due date, baby will be here in no more than 5 weeks! No point complaining now!

Ax

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Happy Birthday Mummy!

happy birthday mummy pinToday is my gorgeous mums birthday and I won’t be celebrating it with her because we are in Butlins, plus she lives 3 hours away from us.

I won’t tell you how old she is (she would kill me as she certainly doesn’t look it) but it’s a special birthday and one that needs celebrating.

I spend way too much time worrying about getting old, I’ve even had minor panic attacks over the thought of not being here anymore, and I know my mum has always been the same.

The thing is, I recently heard about the poor young mum who was killed by a lorry, but managed to save her baby by pushing her out of the way. Even though there are stories in the news like this all the time, the fact this one was close to my mums birthday (that she is trying to ignore) it made me realise life is far too precious to worry about ‘getting old’.

We need to embrace life and appreciate every breath we take, because you never know when our lives can be taken at the fault of another.

Mum, you may not be excited about turning… I won’t say it ;), but right now, you’re the happiest you’ve been in a long time, living life to the fullest (with all of your luxurious holidays!) and soon to be a Grandma of 5 beautiful children.

That’s worth celebrating isn’t it?

Happy Birthday 🙂

Ax

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