The Little Brews at Butlins

Hello!

We're back. It's been a while since the last blog post as I've found myself overwhelmed with returning to work and I started to lose a lot of confidence in blogging. But I took some time away and thought alot about it and decided I shouldn't care so much about what other people might think.Blogging is something I really enjoy and I'm so glad I've discovered the blogging community. It's full of some really nice and interesting people some of whom have been so welcoming and helpful since starting.

So we've recently had a short break to Butlins in Skegness Mon-Fri. We went with the In-laws and our  gorgeous Nephews. It was fun and  the kids loved it! Especially Zachary who was over the moon to see his favourite character on stage Tuesday morning! Thomas The Tank Engine  in the Big Top tent was a great show to watch.

We got up to so much during the week I decided to share a few of the best pictures taken.

 

 If anyone is considering break at a Butlins resort all of us would highly recommend it. Especially if you have young kids, there is no end of things to do no matter what the weather and the evening shows are fab. This year we watched Scooby Doo and Aladdin Rocks. Diversity are going to be there during the school holidays that would be amazing to see, but no more Butlins this year for us. Next stop Devon Cliffs!

The Little Brews Week 20/4/15-26/4/15

This week has been fairly quiet in The Little Brews household. Apart from our fab trip to Thomas Land we haven't done much else.

The Little Brews both had another settling in day at their new nursery. This time we left them for an hour. Zach got on great he's not overly bothered about leaving Mummy as soon as he sees other kids and toy's he's off without a second thought. Poppy cried at first but fell asleep about 10 minutes after I left her and was still asleep when I went back to pick her up. 

We've had a few accidents on the potty training front. One of which I never expected to be picking up of the living room floor. I am so thankful we have laminate flooring! I'm still super proud of how far he's come, Zach is a stubborn little sausage and will never do things he doesn't want to. 

We started trying to encourage Poppy to crawl this week. At first she starts rocking then her legs flop back down and she starts kicking them around like shes doing a front crawl. It's very cute, she seems happy enough just sitting and watching everyone.

Me and Gary went to see the new Avengers Age of Ultron this week with the Brother in-law and our Niece and Nephew! That was a good evening, has anyone else been to see it? I never used to be a fan of films like the Avengers. But since getting with Gary I wanted to make more of an effort to like some of the things he's into. I must admit I surprise myself sometimes and like things I never thought I would.

Has anyone else noticed an increase in the amount of dandelions in their gardens this week? Our lawn seems covered in weeds. We bought some cheap weed killer/lawn feed to try and tackle the problem but it doesn't seem to be doing the trick. In the past we had some stuff that left the grass with burnt patches. We definitely don't want to repeat that, but would still like to find a way to get rid of all these weeds!

Next week is my final week before I return to work. I'm feeling really anxious about leaving Poppy. When I returned after having Zach he was over 1 year so it didn't feel like he was a baby. This time Poppy will be 8 months , with so many more milestones for her to reach in this first year I just hope I don't miss them whilst I'm at work. I also hope I don't find it to difficult managing my time between work and being at home.

This weeks best buy!

I had a fab afternoon shopping and eating with a good friend of mine. We spent hours looking around the shops and all I came home with was a new jacket! But what a fab jacket it is, and to make it even better when I got to the till it came up as half price. I almost skipped out of the store!

The Little Brews xxx

Silent Sunday/ My Sunday Photo - 26/4/15

Thomas The Tank Engine Competition 25/4/15

 Competition!

If you've not already done so,please take a look at our trip to Drayton Manor- Thomas Land April 2015 post. Too see what a fab day we had!

Now we are spreading the Thomas love and giving away one of these fab Thomas the Tank Engine Stamp and Colour Sets!

All you have to do to win is fill out the rafflecopter. The more options you complete the better the chance. It's that simple. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Little Brews xxx

Drayton Manor -Thomas Land April 2015

So recently  Zach has developed an obsession with Thomas the Tank Engine. It came from nowhere with no influence from me (for once). So we decided we would take a family trip down to Drayton Manor- Thomas Land to see what the hype was all about!

There was no doubt that Zach wouldn't love it. After all he's always reminding us that 'Thomas he's our number one!' (Thanks Milkshake).

We had such a fab fun day out at Drayton Manor Park and Thomas Land here are some of our best pics! 

10 Things I Have Loved This Month- April 2015

I'm finding it difficult to write '10 things I have loved this month'. Even though it has been filled with so much laughter, I'm finding it's overshadowed by the fact this is my last month before returning to work *cry, cry*. I'm going to miss my babies so much, I wish circumstances were different but needs must!

Anyway let's see if I can write this and it cheers me up (channeling some positivity).

Wicked Wednesday 22nd April 15

These clothes had to be washed separately as they were all victims of major POO explosions!! (Toddler and Baby!)

The Little Brews Week/ Weeks 6/4/15- 19/4//15

Wow! The Little Brews have had such a busy couple of weeks I don't know where the time has gone. Last week I didn't get a chance to do The Little Brews Week update. So now here we are two weeks behind. So much has happened I've decided to highlight some of the best bits from the past two weeks with pictures that captured the fun we've had!

Sibling Cuddles!

Silent Sunday/ My Sunday Photo 19/4/15

Silent Sunday 12/4/15- My Sunday Photo

Wicked Wednesdays 8th April

That moment when the kids are finally in bed and all you want to do is relax....... (fat chance!)

The Little Brews Week 30/3/15- 5/4/15

The Little Brews Week

In the Little Brews household this week. We have been enjoying a mixture of bad weather, potty training stubborn toddler, trying to get the stubborn toddler to eat his dinner, eating lot's of chocolate and trying out the new meal plans!

So we have been looking forward to the Easter holidays even though Zach only goes Preschool two days a week. It means we can spend more time with The Little Brews cousins and have more time to go on little trips. The weather decided to be wet windy and cold! So it was a trip to the trusty soft play for us, In the nice warm weather resistant building -aahh warmth! When it comes to pleasing Zach nothing beats a soft play. He absolutely loves them and can play for hours on end without getting the slightest bit bored.

Potty training started this week- please see post- Potty Training In The Beginning

This week was also the first week of us testing out the new meal plans, these went along with Zach's reward chart to try and encourage him to eat. I've spoken about Zach's terrible eating habits before and how much his appetite changed when he reached 2 (A Toddler's Diet). So after following health visitors advise for some time with no difference. We decided on a different approach of offering a reward for eating a full dinner. As it stands he gets a star on the chart and a yogurt if he's eaten it all his dinner. We've not yet decided what to do if he fills the chart maybe a treat out somewhere or a new train? Who knows. 

I am pleased to say so far it's been pretty successful! Zach has made a huge improvement, starting with just having small tastes of different things to finishing some dinners. I cannot explain how proud I am of him. It's such a turning point for us compared to how he has been the past year just trying something other than sausages is a BIG deal.

As for the meal planning it has been a lot less stressful come dinner time. Not having to think about what to make for dinner and instead having it planned and whatever's needed ready. I also found it saved us a few pounds when doing the weekly food shop as well as having a lot less wastage come the end of the week. I'm looking forward to carrying on with meal planning and hopefully mixing it up with some new recipes soon!

The weekend started of with a lovely stroll around the park to feed the ducks. Was a really nice start to the weekend as you can see from the pictures.

Slide time!

Cheese!

Feeding the Ducks with Daddy x

Poppy's first time on the swings x

Not a lot else to report this week. Apart from having a fab Easter! I will be writing a post about our Easter as we have had a fab weekend and a great day trip out to the farm with lot's of pics to share.

Catch up with us again next week! Hope everyone else is having fun during the holidays :)

The Little Brews xx

Silent Sunday 5/4/15- My Sunday Photo

Potty Training The Beginning...

 Potty Training The Beginning..

Initially I was going to write about potty training the beginning in The Little Brews weekly post update. But I soon realised I was writing a lot about potty training even after only one week in. So here we are with a new post 'Potty Training The Beginning'.

Potty training is something all or most parent's go through. Our babies grow and nappies are to become a thing of the past as they become more independent.

We'd previously tried getting Zach to sit on the potty on the odd occasion just to see if he was [interested]. But never worried about if he would use it or not. He told us he didn't like it and even asking him to sit on it could cause a meltdown. So it just sat in the corner gathering dust for a while. Now with the Easter holiday's arriving it felt like a good time to try again but with a bit more encouragement.

I had been out and bought a toilet seat with step as a backup incase he preferred that to a potty then he had the choice. These are the thing's we had prepared to start our potty training journey.

•  Potty
• Toilet seat with step
• Reward chart
• Training Nappies
• Chocolate coins to bribe if necessary
• Stubborn Toddler!
  

The Little Brews Week 23/3/15- 29/3/15

The Little Brews Week..

So the start of this week began with me and Poppy still feeling under the weather (Not so great).
Zach had cousin Aimee over to play on Monday and what should have been a nice day, turned out to be a bit of a nightmare to say the least.
I started to tier of saying No Zach, Stop throwing your toys, Listen to Mummy, Do you want to go to bed? and Pick them up now!
Where has my sweet innocent 'oh he's always so good' little boy gone? I've never known him to be so naughty. That day bedtime just couldn't come quick enough, with me and Poppy feeling un well and then having to deal with this new version of Zach. I was happy to wave Bye Bye to Monday.

This week we decided that I would need to start back work sooner than we thought due to financial reasons. So in a bit of a panic we started the hunt for a Nursery. We're so lucky to have family who help us out with childcare , it means we only need a nursery to cover 1 or 2 days. It got me thinking a lot about what people look for when deciding on a nursery. For me I can't quite put my finger on it but after all the usual things you look for, I just have a feeling and know if that is the right place for us. Does anyone else know what I mean? Is it a Mummy thing or just my weird thing?




Zach had his Easter Bonnet parade at pre school this week. He was so excited to go and show off his creation, so when we got there he could not wait to put his bonnet on. It was so sweet watching him walk around the hall with all the other kids, he even gave me a little wave when he walked by me. They then sang a couple of songs and went into the garden to do a little egg hunt. He received a yummy chocolate egg for making his bonnet and I got a lovely handmade Easter card that Zach had previously made. It was a lovely morning and Zach skipped his way back to the car thrilled that he had a chocolate egg to enjoy later on.



I decided it was time to try and get organised before starting back work so we are trying out meal planing two weeks at a time. I stood trying to write out the meal plans and my mind went completely blank. I could not think for the life of me what we ate, what I cooked. Needless to say that took a lot longer than I expected it to but I got there in the end and we are now prepared for the next two weeks. I also thought that with the Easter holidays coming up, now would be the perfect time to try Zach on the potty. We have tried before but was unsuccessful. One of Zach's favourite things is STICKERS, he just loves them so of course a reward chart seems like a perfect idea. As you can see from the picture I got a little bit creative and designed his very own chart. One for the potty and one for eating his dinners, let's see if these help. I'm not feeling too hopeful for the eating one but who knows maybe he'll surprise us.




We had another birthday party to attend this weekend, which Zach and Poppy really enjoyed!  What's not to like? When theres a bouncy castle and cake, Zach's in his element he goes wild and wears himself out (That is the sign of a great day).

Zach and Poppy Partying!

Sunday was a nice relaxing day for us. Zach went out for the day with his Grandparent's, so Me, Gaz and Poppy chilled out and had a yummy Sunday roast.
We're looking forward to lot's of family time over the next two weeks  with it being the Easter holidays. Lets see what fun we can create for ourselves!


This weeks favourite buy!

After seeing Guardians Of The Galaxy come on the movie channels it reminded me how good the sound track was. So I jumped straight onto Amazon a purchased The Awesome Mix Vol 1.
It's made this weeks car journeys extra special and up beat! I love how music can brighten up even the dullest of days.

The Little Brews xxx

Wicked Wednesdays

Silent Sunday 29/3/15