Camping as a Morrisons Mum

The first May Bank Holiday is usually spent in a field camping somewhere celebrating hubbies birthday.  Last year do to my expanding bump we gave it a miss however this year we were back with a vengeance.  With our bell tent erected and our home sorted for the long weekend we set off in search of supplies at the Morrisons 15 minutes down the road.

We knew roughly what we needed to get (enough food and drink to last 3 days and nights). On entering the store we were immediately drawn to the sandwiches,  feeling a bit peckish after setting up camp. Next on to the fruit and veg where we grabbed a lot of bananas for not very much money (bananas are a firm favourite with Little Man).

We loved the little displays of nibbly bits of food throughout the store, which we thought would be perfect to graze on whilst sitting around the campfire. A great selection of bread and baps to enjoy as toast and to house our hotdogs in (the first nights dinner for speed and ease!). We could also pick up a yummy looking chocolate birthday cake (which went down a treat!).

Next we had a little look at the drink selection (both soft and alcoholic) to see what we could buy to toast hubbies birthday with (although LM would stick with milk or water!). I picked up a big bottle of iron brew for only 50p - such a bargain and tasted exactly the same as the brand name! A great price on own brand wines meant that two bottles of red didn't break the bank at £4.99 each.

Great quality lean mince was bought to be turned into meatballs for the following nights dinner, along with items to make a rich tomato sauce with pasta - who says you can't enjoy good quality homemade dinners whilst camping  - and at only at a cost of £1.50 per person a feast fit for a king but not at a kingly price :)

With a selection of healthy snacks and not as healthy treats we were sorted for food and drink until we went home on Bank Holiday Monday (we also had some snacks for the car journey home).

When we came to the checkout our two reusable bags were clearly not going to house all our shopping. We under estimated the amount of food we would buy and we also over estimated the cost and found the shopping far cheaper than we imagined - a real bonus considering the extra birthday treats we bought (all the shopping came to only £64.23)

A big thumbs up to Morrisons for making our camping weekend a haze of yummy food and drink at a very reasonable cost!

Disclaimer : Working with Britmums and Morrisons I was given £80 of vouchers to experience Morrisons cheaper prices. These are my own opinions.

Carry on camping!

Very soon Little Man (LM) will be experiencing the joys of outdoor living as we are going to take him camping!

We have been camping for many years and were thrilled the first time we took our dog camping and she loved it as much as we did. We are hoping LM will take the dogs lead.

The only niggly concern I have is how I will keep LM warm when the temperature drops at night. Initially we were going wild camping with no facilities - however due to me being a ridiculously over concerned mother we are now going to a site with electrical hook up. I am now feverishly reviewing the best type of fan heater to buy and use in the tent to keep us warm and toasty.

My other concern about the night time chill is the fact that LM is still regularly breastfeeding throughout the night. So I am concerned that a very delicate part of my body could freeze and fall off ;)

Anyone else camped with their little one? Any top tips you would like to share?

Make mine a sandwich

Today Little Man (LM) enjoyed the sensory experience of sand. LM enjoyed the feel of sand on his toes, sand in his hand and of course sand in his mouth.

LM feels that you can't fully embrace new experiences without mouthing / eating them. I expect to find sand in the house for the next week at least, I am also on tenterhooks to know what his nappy will look like.

However, LM doesn't realise whatever he does will never top our dogs ability with sand. Pup loves sand, loves to dig in it, roll in it, bark at it. For at least a day after her beach visit she will poo sand. Also when she shakes her coat we have the delightful sound of tiny grains of sand scattering everywhere, be it in our tent, our car or our house.

Pup is truly the sand master, padawan LM has much to learn.

Tummy time for mummy?

Little Man (LM) has mastered the art of pulling himself up. He hasn't yet mastered the art of picking stable objects to pull himself up on - so I am his constant companion on all aspects of pulling!

I must say that I appreciate LM continued work to help me tone and shape my arms with the many varied stress positions I end up in. If I could just work out how I could tone my tummy at the same time that would be perfect ;)

Co-sleeping - I can't stop!

Last night we thought we would try the gentle progression of Little Man (LM) sleeping in his own cot in his own room - GULP!

At the moment LM sleeps in our room in our bed, so its quite a change.

With LM out for the count, full of breast milk, I carried him into his room and carefully placed him in the cot. Went back to my bedroom and immediately checked him on the video monitor. Looking forward to my first night sleeping without LM, I got comfortable to go to sleep (after checking the monitor again). I closed my eyes, heard a noise and checked the monitor again (LM was fine). Pulled the covers up to get warm after checking the monitor again.

It was at this point I felt a pang of "I miss my baby". What a ridiculous situation! Our house is not the biggest of houses and LM and his room is but a few steps away, but I felt lost without him near me. Trying to ignore these feelings I turned to get some sleep (after checking the monitor) and at this point LM woke up.

Me and Hubby (H) watched as he grumbled and rolled onto his front, sat and then grabbed onto the bars crying and complaining. I sat up to go and get him, H laughed and called me a soft touch.

I walked into the bedroom and there was LM in his sleeping bag, standing up in his cot holding onto the bars (that's quite an achievement I don't think I could have done that!). Bringing him back into the bedroom and our bed he soon settled down and both of us slept like the proverbial baby.

So rather than LM not being able to sleep unless co-sleeping maybe its me with the problem! We will try again tonight - if I can handle it!

Legs that would give Chewbacca a complex

When I was pregnant something magical happened to my legs, the hairs on the them hardly grew and those which did were sparse and barely noticeable. This was great and made maintaining them a breeze even with an ever growing bump.

Once I had had Little Man (LM) they continued in being kind and still hardly any hair grew.

However in the last month or so my legs have turned against me and hair has come back in an abundance. So now my legs are being needy and I have to somehow fit them in with everything else in my life and with less sleep than before.

Hmmmmm wonder if I can get away with wearing jeans and trousers for the rest of my life?

Did anyone else have interesting changes in their body whilst pregnant?

Stressful few hours

Well yesterday started with a bang, well a thud actually. Little Man (LM) had decided that overnight he would work out how to pull himself up and over the side of the cot. The day before he was able to just about sit up - he had moved along in his development milestones at an increasing rate!

He does't sleep in the cot (he co-sleeps with me) and I only placed him in there whilst I popped to the bathroom. So after a call to NHS Direct and a visit to the doctors LM was given a clean bill of health. Not a mark on him - he must have pulled off the perfect wrestling move of landing on his back and therefore saving his precious head.

I spent most of yesterday a teary mess feeling like I must be the worse mother in the word, LM on the other hand was his usual cheery self. After a call to my mum and a chat with some friends I was made to feel a little happier and told that unfortunately these things can happen and the more mobile LM becomes the more the risk.

So not the best of days, topped off with the nursery (we thought we had sorted for when I return to work) no longer able to provide care on all the days required. I'm not in the mood to sort this out today!