The Bugaboo Buffalo And The 'Bug A Boooooo'

As most of you are aware September ending up being a bit rubbish. A bad case of food poisoning wrote off a big chunk of the month.

The bug had hit me bad.

I thought I was recovered. I was back eating normally for about a week and had just finished taking a course of antibiotics. I had my strength back.

Then wham.

Out of nowhere it came back.

The first I knew about it was the early hours of Wednesday 2nd October. My stomach just didn't feel right and pain kept me awake a lot during the night.

Yummy Bugaboo cupcakes

The lovely people at Bugaboo had invited me and some other bloggers to a special event in Manchester that day between 3-6pm.

By 4/5am with very little sleep I didn't think I'd make it.

I was gutted.

But by 10am I was feeling okay, just mainly tired from lack of sleep so TC and I headed off there in the afternoon.

It was great to meet Alice and Julie. They are genuinely such lovely ladies. The Bugaboo pushchairs and products are amazing and I was totally in love. We were given a demo of the brand new Bugaboo Buffalo which was released in the U.K. in September and every one of us longed for it I think. There were cupcakes and bubbly (although I stuck to water) and it was lovely to see old friends and meet some new ones but I knew I wasn't right. I felt spaced out. I felt tired. I just knew something was going to happen.

We all filled out competition forms for the chance to win a brand new Bugaboo Buffalo. I almost didn't fill mine out as I never win competitions. As much as I wanted the Buffalo I didn't think I stood a chance of actually winning it.

TC loving pushing the new Bugaboo Buffalo

TC had a whale of a time though. He loved pushing the Bugaboo Buffalo through the showroom and he got to eat some cake too. So it was no wonder that he screamed when I put him back in his pushchair to come home.

"I think he's not happy it's not a Bugaboo" I joked.

I left early and after an exhausting 2 hour drive (it normally takes about 50 minutes!) I arrived back home and collapsed.

3 or so hours later I started to feel unwell again so I took to my bed.

By 1am the searing pain in my abdomen woke me up.

I spent the rest of the night on the sofa writhing around in pain. I didn't know what to do. I felt like I just wanted to rip out my insides. I quietly wept.

A lot.

When Matt came downstairs at 7am he went mad telling me how I should've woken him. I didn't want to though as I knew one of us would need to function the next day and he's dreadful if he misses a little bit of sleep. I think it's a man thing.

He rang the doctor at 8am.

Appointment for 10.30am.

By 11.30am we'd been told to pack a bag and get to hospital to check it wasn't anything more sinister.

Double drip

A drip of fluids and painkillers for the afternoon and I was sent home later that evening with some strong co-codamol to manage the pain. They, through blood tests had ruled out an inflamed appendix and diverticulosis thankfully.

Home.

Dosed up.

I still didn't sleep well.

Although the pain had lessened it still kept me awake.

Friday.

A new day.

I was out of it on painkillers and slept on and off most of the morning. There was a missed call on my mobile about 10am. No message.

I didn't ring it back.

I spent the day like a zombie.

5pm. My phone rings again. Same number.

"Ignore it" said Matt "You're not well".

I answered it.

It was Alice from Bugaboo.

She had news!

I had only gone and won the Bugaboo Buffalo!

There may have been a few tears in my eyes when I heard her tell me. I never really win anything and to win after the up and down few weeks I'd had was amazing.

I am absolutely thrilled and we can't wait to get it. They are in huge demand at the moment so we have to wait a few weeks but just knowing that it will be ours is fabulous! I will let you know what we think when we test drive it for the first time.

As for the 'bug'.... Well, about 2 hours or so after Alice rang me I ended up back at hospital on another drip as the pain came back worse than ever but thoughts of the Bugaboo got me through ;-) *

I don't want to talk illness anymore I just want to dream lovely Bugaboo dreams.

Isn't she beautiful?




* I'm actually feeling much better and at the time of posting this I've been painkiller free for over 38 hours and today I'm going to try eating some normal food. Thank you to all of you who sent well wishes. I will catch up on your comments and blogs this week, I promise.

Win With The Green Door Bookshop!

Packaged with love

As a busy Mum of two it's sometimes difficult to find the time to read myself but I always try and encourage my children to love books. Mini Cheddar has so many books and is now pretending trying to read them herself.

There are some truly amazing books out there and it looks like one independent online bookshop has cornered the market with the best of the best.

The Green Door Bookshop uses the tagline 'Where the best books live' and looking at their selection I have to say I agree with them.

Even when she's poorly she
loves Belle & Boo

The brainchild of wonderful husband and wife team Gary and Caroline Black, The Green Door Bookshop delivers quality children's books that you can tell have been hand-picked with love. They are truly unique and sometimes quirky but one thing's for sure, they are pretty much guaranteed to keep the kids permanently entertained.

We were lucky enough to be sent 2 fantastic books that Caroline chose for us to review. They arrived beautifully packaged (complete with bookmarks) and I could tell that, not only had the books been picked with love, they had been packaged with love too.

Both captivated by
The Noisy Book

Belle & Boo books are a real treat and Belle & Boo and the Goodnight Kiss is no exception. Mini Cheddar loved it and it's now become one of her favourite bedtime books. The words in it are so beautifully soothing and the story of Belle & Boo's bedtime routine is just so cute.

One of my favourite pages
from The Noisy Book

The Noisy Book is an amazing book for babies and one that will last a really long time. Not only was Tiny Ched delighted with it, MC loved it too. It's the first 'baby' book that I've seen that has lots of pages. In fact, the book has over 100 pages! They aren't thick cardboard but thin and coated in plastic so they are really sturdy. The book is really great as it's different pictures and noises will make any grown-up laugh, never mind a baby or toddler!

We loved both books so much and I know they will be treasured by the kids for a long time.


*** WIN WIN WIN ***

So, now it's time for a little treat. "Oooooh" I hear you all cry!

How do you fancy choosing them or some equally amazing reads courtesy of The Green Door Bookshop?

I don't really run competitions on my blog but it's TC's 1st Birthday this week and I thought it would be nice to treat my readers. So how's about the chance to win £15 to spend online with The Green Door Bookshop?

To enter the competition simply tell me what your favourite children's book title of all time is.

Couldn't be easier!

PLUS...in addition to this you can have up to 4 more extra entries to the competition by choosing to do the following:

Liking The Green Door Bookshop on Facebook
Follow The Green Door Bookshop on Twitter
Tweet about the competition
Sign up to The Green Door Bookshop's Mailing List

All you have to do is use Rafflecopter (*cough* I've never used it before so I hope it works!) to enter the competition.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


The Noisy Book is priced at £9.99 and Belle & Boo and the Goodnight Kiss is £6.99*

This is not a sponsored post.  

We were sent the books to review but all photographs, 

words, views and opinions are entirely my own.

*prices correct at time of writing

Pregnancy Patter - 36 Weeks And A Bumper HiPP Giveaway!

COMPETITION UPDATE: THIS COMPETITION CLOSED AT 9AM 19th MARCH 2012

The winner chosen by random number generator was:


Zoe Corkhill


Congrats Zoe :)

1.     Emmainbromley (comment)

2.     Jenny (comment)

3.     Zoe Corkhill (comment)

4.     Zoe Corkhill (tweet)

5.     Katherine De Riera (comment)

6.     Katherine De Riera (tweet)

7.     Marianne Whooley (tweet)

8.     Alison T (comment)

9.     Alison T (tweet)

10.  Gifts From Nature (tweet)

11.  First Time Daddy (comment)

12.  First Time Daddy (tweet)

My last update at 34 weeks was a bit of a low point. For that, I apologise.

I know I've thanked you all for all the support you gave me but I wanted to do something else to say thank you (more on that in a moment).

I'm feeling more positive about things now, although the feeling of anxiousness won't dissipate until our baby is in my arms, safe and healthy.

We've had our consultant appointment where we discussed whether it was to be another c-section or a VBAC. Well, after lengthy talks we came to a decision and all will be revealed in due course. You know me, I've kept the sex secret and now the birth...I just love surprises! All I can tell you is it wasn't an easy decision to make and I'm nervous.

Since the last update Matt has been away to America for a job interview which was extremely hard. I didn't realise just how difficult those days without him would have been. The time difference and distance was just awful being so heavily pregnant but he's home now and it's helped ease my feelings. He's still waiting to hear about the job but because they've kept him waiting so long he doesn't think he's got it. He told me again last night he'd be relieved as at least he wouldn't have to make the decision on whether to take it or not. We'll see...

Whilst he was away I've been busy 'nesting'. I've washed all the baby clothes and bedding, sorted the nursery (got everything ready for the new arrival and hung the new curtains) and I've made sure my hospital bag is completely packed. I've bought a brand new change bag which I absolutely love! I've also got all birthdays, anniversaries and weddings up until the middle of May covered by buying cards and presents in readiness so I don't have to think about it for the first month of the new arrival. How organised am I?

My heartburn is getting worse. A lot worse. I seem to be living on Rennie at the moment. Chocolate gives me bad heartburn. Does it stop me eating it? Hell, no! I'm not mad! Om nom nom.

So far *touches as much wood as I can* I haven't got the dreaded 'cankles' that I did when pregnant with MC. Also, I keep checking my stomach for stretch marks and so far, I'm escaping them again. Huzzah! However, over the weekend my hands decided to swell. I have been in total agony (even with ice cold water and soap) trying to get my engagement and wedding rings off. Thought I was going to dislocate my finger at one point and was close to tears it was so painful. Managed to get them off and I now feel naked without them.

Anyway, on to more important things. The very lovely people at HiPP Organic got in touch with me a couple of weeks back and offered me some goodies that I could keep for the new arrival or giveaway. Being the lovely and generous person I am *ahem* I'm putting them ALL up on here for you to have a chance to win the whole bundle as my way of saying thank you to all my readers.

I've always been impressed with the range of HiPP Organic products and I used to buy them for MC. I also joined the Baby Club online which is a great source of information. There, amongst other fabulous things, you'll find a wealth of information for your exact needs, polls, quizzes and superb special offers. What I loved most was the chat forums and the fact you could even 'ask a HiPP expert' a question. It's a fun and friendly place to be. Basically the club has everything for mums (and dads!) and mums-to-be. Make sure you sign-up.

So, fancy winning this bumper pack of HiPP Organic goodies for your little one?

2 x Banana Porridge Cereal

1 x Banana and Peach Breakfast
1 x Apple, Organge and Banana Cereal
2 x Apple, Strawberry and Banana Fruit Pouch
3 x Mango, Apple and Peach Fruit Pouch
1 x Coco and Vanilla Dessert Jar
1 x Apple and Vanilla Dessert Jar
1 x Spaghetti Carbonara Jar
1 x Spaghetti Bolognese Jar
1 x Celeriac and Tender Beef Hot Pot
2 x Little Nibbles Organic Carrot and Pumpkin Rice Cakes
2 x Little Nibbles Organic Apple Rice Cakes
1 x Little Nibbles Organic Apple and Blueberry Rice Cakes
1 x Little Nibbles Organic Tomato and Sweet Red Pepper Rice Cakes

Yes, this giveaway is worth over £30! I can also guarantee your little one will love it - as will you.

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment below saying you'd love to win and what you think your little one would like from the pack (if you win, you will receive the whole bundle). It couldn't be simpler!

For an extra entry, those of you on Twitter can tweet the following:

I'd love to win the Bumper HiPP Organic Giveaway with @SAHMlovingit & @HiPPOrganic http://alturl.com/nm3zb

I'm not asking for follows but if you wish to follow me, or HiPP on Twitter, please do so - my ramblings can be quite entertaining sometimes...even if I do so say myself (there are other ways to follow me... just look at the top of the side bar of my blog). It won't get you any extra entries though. Sorry!

One lucky winner from the entries below (and from Twitter) will be drawn at random. The closing date for the competition is 9.30am Monday 19th March so you have two weeks. Go!

Competition is open to UK residents only.

Competition closes at 9am Monday 19th March 2012.

Entries will be drawn at random after the closing date and notified by Twitter/Email as soon as possible.

Winner will receive the complete bundle of HiPP Organic goodies listed above.

As always, views, opinions and words within this post are entirely my own.

My Birthday Competition - Win My Dress With Ellos!

Photo credit: MAD Blog Awards

Well okay, not my actual dress as that would be a bit wrong but you can win a dress like the one I wore to the MAD Blog Awards OR choose any one item up to the same value of £39.00.

I thought it was about time that I offered you, my dear readers, a chance to get something back from my blog (other than my genius *cough* writing) and I didn't want to wait until my blogoversary as that's New Years Eve and you'll all be busy quaffing champers and celebrating. It's my birthday today though so what a way to celebrate my birthday and share it with you all!

So, the lovely people at Ellos and I are offering you a chance to win an item of clothing for your Autumn/Winter wardrobe.

Ellos are a brand new retailer in the UK but they've been established in Scandinavia for many years. As they say on their website, they bring Scandinavian spirit to their lines and their clothing is stylish, natural and sophisticated. They offer a great selection of womenswear, menswear and children's clothing in a range of different sizes.

All you have to do to enter is visit the Ellos UK website by clicking here and choose which item you would pick (up to £39.00 value) and leave a comment below with the item you would choose and a link to it.

For some extra bonus entries:
* Follow my blog/feed (click the link/s on the right, sign up to email if you would prefer.)
* Follow @SAHMlovingit on Twitter
* Like my brand new SAHMLovingit Facebook page
* Follow @ellosUK on Twitter
* Like Ellos UK on Facebook
* Tweet the following "I want to win something fabulous for my wardrobe with @EllosUK and @SAHMlovingit http://goo.gl/5JiSd"

This gives you so many more chances of winning! If you take advantage of the extra entries, please leave a separate comment to let me know what you have done.

Competition is open to UK residents only.

Competition closes at 8pm Wednesday 2nd November 2011.

Entries will be drawn at random that evening and notified by Twitter/Email as soon as possible.

Winner can choose any item from the Ellos UK website up to the value of £39 and subject to availability.