Baby, Baby, Baby, Oooh....

Every so often in the UK, supermarkets up and down the country put on a Baby and Toddler event for parents to be, new parents, and those that have been parents for a while to pick up some bargains on the much needed essentials for caring for a child.

Since I already have a toddler, I usually peruse the shelves during these events for deals on nappies and wipes. However, now that I have a toddler and a new born soon to arrive, you can only imagine my excitement at finding out that the supermarkets have their events on again.

I am practically giddy.

Long gone are the days whereby I am eagerly awaiting the new arrival of the next album or single from my favourite boyband. Those days are very much left back in the early years of the turn of the century. Oh no. Since joining the world of parenthood, I find myself getting excited over the simplest of things. Practical things. Useful things. Not songs that I spend hours listening to, trying to interpret their meaning and then cross reference them to my life somehow. Oh no, these pleasures of mine now come from buying items for my child (soon to be children!) and at a good price.

"What's your favourite baby and toddler event?" I hear you cry.

Well, dear reader, it is the baby and toddler event that Aldi hold. I kid you not.

Not only do I like shopping at Aldi (their produce is always fresh and lasts forever), I am a big fan of their nappies. Since becoming a parent, I have found myself trying and testing all brands of nappies from the big supermarkets to the leading brands and I very often find myself quoting the following ranking system to friends and family:

• Aldi - good price, good quality, no leaks
• Morrison's - good quality, good fit
• Tesco - good fit and very often on offer at 3 packs for 10 GBP
• Asda - ok if shopping in Asda and need to pick up nappies to 'get you by'. I personally don't like the plastic feel to the nappies and the absorption isn't brilliant at times, either
• Sainsbury's - sizes come up too small. My toddler is very petite and very often the size that she fits well with other brands come up really small with the Sainsbury's nappies
• Pampers - shock, horror! I have placed a branded nappy at the bottom of my recommended list. I found that their new born nappies were perfect and, as with all new born nappies, they come with a wetness indicator. However, I found that as I bought the bigger sizes, they just didn't have the same absorption as the others plus, they were very expensive (especially towards the end of maternity leave!)

So there we go. There's my rundown of my favourite nappies (when my kids read this blog in a few year's time, they are certain to call me sad, or whatever word they will be using to describe a parent who is uncool!).

Now, back to that baby event I started talking about.

Aldi.

As I prepare for a new arrival and start to stock up on those essentials, imagine my glee when I bought a pack of 25 new born nappies for 85p. 85 flipping pence! That is the cheapest I have ever seen a pack of nappies for. And you know what I did? Not only did I buy enough the cover the bottoms of both my baby and other friend's babies, I texted my mom. I texted my sister. I texted my friends. Basically, I texted anyone I knew who would bother to listen to my excitement about this. And now, I am writing about it, for you!

Needless to say, I stocked up on nappies for both the baby and the toddler. I also stocked up on wipes. During these events, Aldi will often sell a box of 12 packets of wipes for around 6 GBP. They also will have deals on other baby related things so, I picked up some bibs, muslin cloths, a baby monitor and a step stool for in the bathroom.

I would say that my mission to get the last few bits and bobs sorted was well and truly accomplished!

That Awkward First Post

Hello and welcome to my new cosy corner of the internet!

Pull up a chair and cradle a cup of something hot (or cold) whilst I introduce myself.

I have blogged in the past and my main focus for that blog was to document my successes and failures in baking. That was a few years ago when my baking addiction/fascination was at a real high. It was also at a time when I had the time to spend trying out new baking recipes and design styles for cakes and treats, but sadly, I feel that that ship has sailed.

Nothing has changed work wise; I still work full time. I was very much able to do a day's graft at work and then come home and start baking and I have even been known to get up at 04:00 to bake brownies or cupcakes, ready to take into work for that same day, making sure that the goods I had promised to co-workers were as fresh as possible. And I do still take in the odd box of tray bakes or a Victoria sponge every now and then, but it is no way as frequent as it once was.

And the reason?

Time and priorities.

I became a mother just over two years ago to a daughter and, as you can imagine, looking after a tiny human is in itself, a full time job. I still get up very early but not to bake but to start getting myself ready for work before the little one wakes up. I sometimes walk the dog, too, before I head out to work but this job is usually shared between myself and The Hubs. By the time I get home from work, have completed the bedtime routine and then have had dinner, I am, needless to say, absolutely shattered! In fact, this last week, I have been known to go to bed and fall asleep before 20:00! How very rock 'n' roll I hear you say!

I can't commit the same time to baking and then documenting how well my latest kitchen experiment went online anymore but, what I can do and rather, what I'd like to do, is to jot down and document somewhere online, my thoughts of being a mother to a toddler and everything that brings with it. The highs, the lows, the terrifying experiences of soft play, the poo, the tantrums and all the fuzzy warm stuff in between.

If I do happen to dabble in the odd bit of baking or cook a meal I'm particularly impressed with, I will indeed note it down in this space to share with the world.

I'll also be chatting about books I have enjoyed reading; products I have enjoyed using; experiences of new places we have visited as a family and of course; and those people who are already out there in the big wide world of vlogging/blogging who have very much inspired me to start writing this blog.

I'll aim to write a post at least every two weeks and I hope you'll stick with me along the way!

Thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of your weekend! :)