Monday 30 March 2015

Buggys & Bad Service



I have to admit, like all parents I want the best for A. When I say the best, I mean the absolute best! 
Her clothes are nothing less than next, I love next, the quality is so good and the quality is what I look for. When your washing clothes and soaking food stains out of their tops every day, you need quality that will last. 
Zara is also another favourite of mine, her coat at the moment is Zara and it's beautiful. Zara come up small I find, when it comes to children. I'm lucky though as A has a small frame and little legs! 

So quality for me, is everything and I look for it in everything. This wasn't compromised when I was looking at buggys, even her 'cheap' holiday buggy! 

When I was pregnant, everybody wanted to get in their two pence and try to tell me what buggy to go for and I honestly wanted to go with the opposite of the majority! But when I saw it, that one seemed to be my ultimate fav! 

I think everyone has different ideas when it comes to a buggy but I knew I'd get what I paid for. I'd heard a lot about the bugaboo and the Icandy, so having NEVER even pushed a buggy before, I went in and asked to see both! 

Mmmm... About that, I didn't find zebedee in Southend at all helpful or grateful to my spending the best part of a thousand pounds in their shop. 
The young girl who served us was sweet enough, she obviously didn't know all there was to know, but I appreciate we all have to learn. It was more the owners, stepping over the buggys on the floor with a slight inconvenienced look on her face, that didn't at all seem encouraging or even pleased we were in her shop!

The fact that I could use the icandy peach2 and I loved the colour, my Mum and I were sold! So after this we were advised that the besafe car seat was the way to go and we said we'll take them. As quick as that.

Even with the total amount above £1000
I think of all the mummy's I know that have shopped in Zebedee, I am the only person who didn't get a free cozy toes, cup holder or even a sunshade!!! I got nothing at all thrown in. 
This I obviously discovered later on when I advised my neighbour where to go for their pram and they came home having had a great deal on nursery furniture too, even told to cancel their order at mamas & papas because they could beat their price! 
You can imagine my horror! Especially since after my wonderful morning of pram shopping, in the not so happy pram shop, for my first born, I got stung by a wasp at 24 weeks pregnant, spent the rest of the weekend in hospital, taken by ambulance and pumped with steroids after an an anaphylactic shock! 

To really add insult to injury, when ringing back Zebedee to ask if I could also have an isofix base to go with my car seat that I would pick up with my pram 4 weeks before A was born, she had the audacity to tell me she couldn't reserve one unless I paid for it right there and then on the phone. So, you've already had all that money from me, two recommended customers who also spent lots of money and my pram I'm due to pick up and you think I'm going to leave you with a £129 isofix base and not pay for it? My custom was soon appreciated at John Lewis. 
I LOVE John Lewis. I bought a beautiful sheepskin liner to go in my beautiful pram, which Zebedee also didn't advise or recieve anymore of my money for! 

This sure enough wasn't the last time I was to be disappointed by this so called family run, independent baby shop! 

To sum up though, after 15 months of everyday use, my Icandy is my pride and joy! I walk with my bubba with pride! We love our wheels! 
I'm also VERY excited to learn that when bubba 2 comes along, I can send my icandy off for a total refurb with Icandy IService!!! 
Yes, IService!!! With bronze silver or gold packages to choose from, for a very good price they come and collect your Icandy, spruce it up (details found on website) and bring it back to you, like brand new!!!
Check out their website, I was amazed when I saw my friends, she even had a wheel that had fallen off and hers looks like a new buggy now!

Well done Icandy, you have outdone yourselves, as if the buggy itself isn't good enough, now I get to have the new wheels feeling the next time too!!


LOVE ICANDY ❤️

Until next time, love to all my mummy's 💜
xxxx

Tuesday 24 March 2015

Getting back on track!

A is almost 15 months now and I can honestly say, now, we've got it together! 
Since she turned one we have just figured it all out. Well, almost all of it! 
Don't get me wrong, some days we've totally got by on the wing but mostly I'd say we've got there. 
I know a little bit more of what she does and she's figuring out how to communicate with me a little better.
It's still tough some times, no one said it would be easy! I'm not one of these mums that's afraid to ask, nor am I afraid to say it's hard and some nights during teething and colds I could have rang a grandparent! But I think that's normal, everyone I speak to has these moans, I think it's why we meet up for coffee with friends and sit near the door when Daddy's due home! 
I'm back into the gym again, I started personal training when she was 10 weeks old and I did really well but the lack of sleep drove me to the nearest sugar fix and that stopped me really achieving my goals. Sometimes it just has to be that day you get up and think, right, today I change. For me it was The new year, I decided I didn't want to feel tired and sluggish, I didn't want to feel like my jeans were too tight or that a bikini this summer wasn't an option!
I still have naughty days, today was one of those days! 
I drink green tea religiously, no more Yorkshire for me! I actually don't like normal tea at the moment? Not to say that won't change but it's not my cup of tea right now! I drink protein shakes for breakfast, they have to be at least 300 calories to get you through till lunch, none of these slimming shakes you pick up in the supermarket.
I don't snack on bad food either, I found myself having lots of biscuits and the biscuits obviously accompanied the tea which also had sugar in so without the tea alone, I'm down at least 5 sugars a day and God knows how much less from the biscuits! Once you get on that train it's easy but giving up your favourite things is hard!
I feel better in myself now, that's not to say it wasn't easy, the first week I hit hard, shakes for breakfast and lunch and a proper dinner, no snacks just water and green tea, my stomach thought my throat had been cut! The second week got easier and so on.
I'm 6 pounds off of my goal weight but I'm ok with that, I'm training hard, lifting and doing weight training at least 3-4 times a week and loving it, my shape has changed, my jeans fit nice and I've tried on some old dresses and they fit like a glove! I'm ready for a night out and bring on my summer holiday! I still have a way to go but things can only go up from here, right?
The tough times come when we're going through teething or colds, lack of sleep isn't good and it knocks our ability to function as we usually would like, so to all the mummies that find it hard, your not alone and your time to lose weight and eat well, will come, but don't expect it to with sleepless nights looming, your body needs energy and that's where the sugar comes in!
People ask all the time if I'm having another one, I will, just not now. We are pretty much there now and I'm feeling good with my parenting and with myself so to stop that now would be silly. We will expand our family and A will have a brother or sister but in due course and when I feel ready to dedicate everything I have to two children. I feel confident that my life with A is balanced well and we just got here, so we're staying here for a while! 
Don't be afraid to remember who you were before and bring her back to fit in with your new life as a mum, she's still there.

Love & tired hugs x x x x