ENTERING 2O17 WITH A BUMP

Back in early December I not only found out that I'd secured a second contract with Marks and Spencer after completing my 3 month contract with Princes Trust, I also found out one of Daisie's wishes was to become true.

She's finally going to be a BIG sister not only is she going to be a big sister her little brother or sister is due to join us 9 days after her birthday!! 

My due date by dates would have been her birthday but our first scan switched things up a little, I am however getting some dejavu with this pregnancy my due date by scan dates is the same due date I was given with Doo's those many years ago.

As much as we weren't trying to prevent a pregnancy it came as quite a shock after coming back off my pill and my period disappearing we didn't get our hopes up as at the beginning of last year the same thing happened with every pregnancy symptom going and we were very hopeful but after a scan it turned out to be hormone related.

This time my period disappeared but along with no pregnancy symptoms, BUT 4 tests and another 2 each day following finding out and testing my tap water to be sure it wasn't a dodgy batch of tests it's safe to say this little one was on board, that didn't stop me testing to double check the morning of my first midwife appointment tho!

I've been to Manchester and back with my brother, been doing big equipment and stock moves at work and attended friends get togethers while enjoying the very very rare jager bomb all while this little one was on board and I had no clue.

Other than sleeping for the 4 of us which I can do when I'm not growing a human, randomly having an emotional day which all makes sense now, my pregnancy has been pretty symptomless, We had quite a scare new years day but after an emergency scan it came to light I have a subchronic bleed beside my placenta/pregnancy and it's likely I may experience some more bleeding through out my pregnancy.  

THEMED PARTYWARE ON A BUDGET

Party themes are so much fun to have but can also be very pricey, for items your going to be using for a matter of hours before they are binned or shoved in the junk drawer because they cost that much you tuck them away in hope you may end up using them again one day. 

This year I went for an alternative to the branded themed partyware available, Daisie's party theme was My little pony and her table cover alone cost £2.79 (which is pretty good but it took a lot of hunting down as most were being sold for £4+) Now maybe I'm just a major tight arse but I find those prices a little steep for something that will have all sorts spilt on it until it's eventually rolled up and binned once the parties over. 

So this year instead of going for the themed party plates, cups, decorations, party bags etc 

I went for the colour scheme of each pony on the table cover, We had a ceiling of crepe paper running from each side of rainbow dash hair colours, a tassel garland of Twilight sparkle colours and plates in the colour scheme of Fluttershy.

Thankfully a few of the children picked up on the look I was going for and it saved me a good few pennies which I was able to put towards another present for Daisie.

You can do similar with most loved programmes, I've used Avengers Assemble as an example above using the colours from the Hulk, Captain America and Iron man.
Coloured partyware can be found pretty much anywhere from Asda,Tesco and eBay for as little as 99p.

THE BIG ONE | ANXIETY & ME

If you've followed my blog for awhile you'd have noticed my little series of Anxiety & Me posts, In my last update I mentioned having a 6 week course of CBT therapy and how well things had turned out despite my doubts at the beginning.
During that time one of my aims was to get myself a job or at least apply for a few without having a total meltdown, well since then I have applied for many jobs confidently sadly nothing came of the majority of them and the 3 interviews I had didn't mount to anything either.
After a little while the job centre told me about a work programme with M&S through the princes trust.
I went along to the first information day not showing any major enthusiasm not knowing the experience would be absolutely life changing for me, With all the information in hand I went along to the second information day and a taster day at one of my local M&S stores were I met an amazing group of people. We had a run down of what the next 4 weeks would involve and done some group exercises something which a few months earlier would have sent me into a complete meltdown.
Then came day 3 where each of us had to wait for the phone call to see if we were successful with getting onto the programme I was one of the 18 lucky people to have made it onto the programme  and had secured a place in my first choice of store to complete it in.
My time at M&S during my work experience has been an amazing journey, I've made some amazing friends, I've had hands on experience with the general day to day of retail, Things my heart was always in and already doing but my mind was so scared of doing.
Finally being given the chance from a company that saw my struggles and saw something in me I didn't entirely believe I had myself.
(I covered my background of anxiety in my small interview before leaving the taster day for them to narrow down the 30 to 18)
4 weeks of great work experience and an emotional celebration day with everyone involved. I returned back to the store in which I completed my work experience in. Sat in Enrica the store managers office along with Nina who has been my work bestie (who was also part of the programme) and two of our amazing coaches Angie and Jon. Where both me and Nina got the news they had decided to keep us on!!!

Your now reading the blog of a newly working mummy who can be found in the GM section of Marks & Spencer.

SUMMER HOLIDAY FUN | FAIRY HUNT

With the six weeks summer holiday in full swing the challenge is on for parents everywhere to find things to do to keep the little ones busy with it costing as little as possible.

First on our hit list was the free fairy hunt at our local Ruxley Manor garden centre, We collected our Fairy Hunt booklets from the main reception which had a beautiful fairy on each page, in total we had twelve fairies to hunt for and find their names, once you found them all you could hand in your completed booklet into the Mulberry Tree restaurant and get yourself a FREE cupcake with any hot drink purchased.
After finding the first two fairies the girls did get bored of filling out the booklet and it was left for me to do but they still enjoyed wandering around spotting the hidden fairies with their little friend.

Not being one to drink hot drinks and not to mention the price of said drinks we missed out on our cupcake but we did enjoy a lovely lunch before heading back for the bus home. It was the perfect thing to kick start our things to do this summer holidays.
Next on our list is a Dino day in one of our local shopping centres.

LUSH | FATHERSDAY EVENT - GOODIE BAG & PURCHASES

You've read all about the recent LUSH fathers day event I attended, if you haven't you can do so 'here', Now for the goodie bag!

The LUSH staff were very generous with our gift bag contents, I was so happy to see my name and my blogs on my bag label (it really is the little things) 

Not only did we get to take home our creations of Sunny Side bubble bar and a Big Blue bath bomb but we were also lucky enough to take home a Super Dad bath bomb, Smugglers Soul facial scrub and a Smugglers Soul shampoo bar.
Also included in our bags was a Fresh Thinking catalogue and a Spa Treatment menu (everything's so tempting)

I didn't purchase a lot as it was the dreaded bill week, the week every adult despises!
No matter what I was set on buying Andy the Lush Mechanic cold pressed soap, He's now fully stuck in with motorbike building with requests coming out of his ears which means oily dirty hands near on every day, which never mixes well with my white door frames, white tiled bathrooms or pretty much anywhere touchable.
I grabbed myself my first Lip scrub I know, I know where have I been?
I'm an awful Lushie.
I also grabbed myself some Tea tree toner tabs, I need to find a time where I am home alone because I know the girls or Andy wouldn't ever let the chance of the perfect opportunity to wind me up and me not being able to do much pass them by.

LUSH | FATHERSDAY EVENT

Recently I was very kindly invited to my second LUSH event in my local store, Who can say no to a night full of LUSH goodness? this time being for this years Fathers Day range.

Bloggers were welcome to bring a male along to this event be it dad, brother, partner or friend but  Andy was looking after the girls so I could attend but next time I'll make sure I have a baby sitter on stand by (If you've stumbled upon my blog mumsie you are more than likely the chosen one *flutters eyelashes*)

Although it may not seem it LUSH is very much a unisex company and this event was based all around products for the special men in our lives, all of which can also be used by women too of course.

(The lovely Emily from fashioneyesta.com adding one of the very important ingredients to sunny side)

On arrival we were offered a drink and a selection of fruit to help ourselves to given our name labels, checked in with Raif's register and our bags/coats were taken ready to get really stuck in.
In true LUSH fashion our drinks were served in the little pots some LUSH products come in, 

First up we were introduced to our lovely hosts for the evening and given a little run through of how the evening would go, to warm us up we got to make our own Sunny Side bubble bar before getting stuck into any of the sections they had prepared for us, There were 4 different sections Shower, Hair, Baths and Skincare.

Each section packed with the perfect pamper for any special man in your life and even for yourself.

We were put into 4 separate groups, I had the lovely Emma from emmainbromley and Nat from beautyboxobsessed in my group, as a group we all got on really well which is always something I panic about before attending events there's nothing worse than arriving on your own and spending your whole evening on your own. I wish I'd grabbed a snap of all of us together but theres always next time!

We were talked through the barbaric history of Sandalwood which features in a lot of the Fathers day range, Giving each item that manly scent the sort of scent that makes you think of your own dad and how safe one of their hugs makes you feel.
After each group had rotated and been talked through each section of products, to wrap up the evening the LUSH staff had gloves at the ready for us to get messy again when each of us got to make our very own Big Blue bath bomb.
Once each of us had successfully made our bath bombs we were free to shop if we wanted and handed our goodie bags, I was so excited to see my name and blog written on the label on my bag.
I'll save the contents of my goodie bag and my purchases for another post!

A huge thank you to everyone at LUSH bromley for inviting me and for holding such a fun packed evening. It was great to catch up with some familiar faces from my first LUSH event back in October as well as meeting some new lovely bloggers that I hope to catch up with at future events.

 One of my faves from the October event couldn't make it this time and her pretty face was missed very much! 

 (Yep, I'm talking about you Christina if your reading this) 

CLUBBERCISE THE NEW WAY TO KEEP FIT

For quite a while now I've been talking about wanting to join a gym or at least get a fitness dvd to follow at home but each idea hit a brick wall, Gym memberships are a little to pricey for me and with a fitness dvd I was in control of the pause button and that's likely to be how half the work out would end up before I eventually just gave up and turned it off.

I was still determined to keep fit in some kind of way and while scrolling through Facebook a few people on my friends list had liked a local clubbercise page and I done exactly the same as well as tagging a few friends in a post to see if they would be interested in attending a session with me. 

As well as mentioning it to anyone that would be likely to come along with me, with the next session approaching I was determined to go wether a friend came along with me or not and purchased a sports bra as my boobs may not be the biggest but boy do they fly all over the place when going down the stairs let alone a energetic work out.
Since attending my first session I've been out and got myself some sports leggings, sports trainers, a top and even some snazzy little sports socks!

Clubbercise isn't your usual boring work out and with it being in the dark you don't feel conscious of other clubbers seeing you and if like me getting all the moves wrong but enjoying yourself none the less, with the hall lit up with disco lights and glow sticks, it really is just like a night out without the heels or hangover.
After my first session I really felt the work out in my legs for three days but after a second session I don't feel as achy and even managed a little jog home.

I highly recommend anyone wanting to give some kind of fitness a go while having fun to look for any clubbercise sessions running local.