A new royal start

QueenJess

Should have said - thanks @themadvix for the advice. Going ethical is certainly time consuming from a research perspective!

QueenJess

Totally exhausted today and can barely keep my eyes open!

DD has decided she needs to walk (won’t crawl) and spends almost the whole day standing. She loves the footstool as it’s at a great height for her and she can let go and balance for a little bit before holding back on. Means you can’t leave her for a second. She is working herself so hard that she’s eating twice as much (it really is unbelievable!) and I’m going to run out of food before her new lot arrives. Will have to go on an early morning A@da raid tomorrow to make sure she doesn’t run out.

DD has stopped teething for now (I’m sure it’ll be back soon enough), so we’ll be trying to get her to fall asleep on her own again. I know she can do it, but she prefers cuddles and since her last development phase she struggles to go to sleep as everything is fascinating. Will be a looong evening, but have convinced DH to give it a go tonight as it’s always me.

DH’s birthday is in a couple of weeks and he will want a steak from M&S for dinner (food snob…). So my challenge before then is to see how many vouchers I can cash out before then to offset the cost of that trip and maybe pick up a couple of other treats whilst I’m there (DH is addicted to the sourdough bread from there). I’ve already found £5 I didn’t know I had which I can take out in vouchers.

Dinner is roast chicken with potatoes, hm Yorkshire puddings, sprouts, parsnips and carrots. Plenty of leftover chicken for another two nights and maybe a lunch. Pudding is more crumble and custard (or cream as I’ve got some that needs using up).

QueenJess

Just sat around waiting for my food delivery to arrive.  It's the rest of the monthly shop (branded stuff I can't get in A*di).  Should only need fresh stuff/bits and pieces now for the next month or so!  I've managed to cash out £10 for M&S already for DH's birthday goodies.  Hopefully I can cash out a bit more before I need to go.

High jinx here.  A mix of going back to school/work and DS managed to wind up both himself and DD.  DD then found it hard to go to sleep despite being knackered and DS was in tears for no reason.  DD is now asleep and I have calmed DS down by making him sit nicely next to me doing an activity book.

Not looking forward to this month given DH will be doing silly work hours and be all stressy.  Trying to not think about it and just take one day at a time.  Attempting to keep up with everything, so the house is still tidy (now a necessity up to DD arm height as she is about to walk), washing up to date and I've even wrapped DH's birthday present.  DS's presents are arriving for the start of next month.  I'm trying to think about spring cleaning, but don't really want to.  I did order some plastic boxes for the main cupboard so I can store some of DD's larger size clothes until she grows into them.  I need to slowly clear the last corner of her room (and get rid of the double bed) before we can get DD into her own room.  Not in a huge rush as she still feeds in the night, but I am expecting it'll be in the next few months or so and I don't want to delay the move because I haven't cleared the room!

I need to tackle the rest of the large cupboard, but not sure I'll ever be able to fit everything in there that I want.  I have got DH to agree to take out his tat from one shelf and shove it in the attic so I can store DD's clothes.  Will do just that shelf and then consider the rest bit by bit.

Need to seriously work through the freezer food now as I can't fit anything else in it.  In order to do that, I just had a lovely piece of key lime pie.  Well, someone had to do it   Just one piece each left for tomorrow and then that'll be another box gone from the freezer.  Also made cookies with DS earlier, so we have a massive box of those to get through!

Dinner was the last of the roast chicken leftovers with chips and veg.  Lunch today was roast chicken salad sandwiches and grapes.

QueenJess

Not been achieving anything from lists whilst I try to convince my brain everything is back to normal now with DH at work (upstairs) and DS back in school. Been trying to get DD into a routine for naps etc now so I can have some certainty in my day and regain some level of sanity. It’s been going ok at the moment, but she’s been waking up every hour overnight and I’m exhausted. I think she’s trying to increase the milk supplies as she’s trying really hard to walk.

DD is still asleep for her morning nap, so I’ve had breakfast and prepped the lunch ready. It’ll be spiced roasted sprouts with roasted onions and baked eggs (all three things I need to use up). My new favourite recipe! Hopefully she’ll be good for her afternoon nap so I can prep dinner (leek, pea and cheese orzotto). Puddings galore here still - probably chocolate brownie and ice cream for dinner and after lunch will be yogurt (I have a new vegan one to try too).

Better get back to my lists this week so I can make sure I’m ready for the onslaught of birthdays (including my own I guess…) as well as very slowly continuing the spring cleaning for the rest of the house.

Getting closer to cashing out more vouchers for M&S.  Need to get on with it as DH’s birthday is coming up! Will then decide the next thing I need, which is likely vouchers for DS or DD’s birthday. I also need to replace some sheets and duvets covers this year as they are on their last legs. Will have to start saving vouchers for those too once the birthdays are gone.

QueenJess

I have realised that I randomly save recipes into my bookmarks and then can never find anything (plus sometimes the sites are not there anymore). This year I need to transfer the ones I want to keep into an app (found one I paid for years and years ago that saves recipes from the web for you).

Will slowly get that done this year. I’m still working through my massive list of passwords. I’m down to about 400 from 600! There’s always something to do!

QueenJess

So tired today. I’m teaching DD to get to sleep (and get back to sleep) on her own and the temporary interim effect is that I get less sleep. Almost fell asleep in the chair yesterday waiting for DD to fall asleep. Seemed like a long week and it’s only been 3 days 😬.

After stocking up so that my freezer and cupboards are bulging, I’m now trying to use up what I have and spend as little as possible for the rest of the month. I had a big bag of mixed frozen fruits DH bought ages ago, but he got the wrong ones and they had strawberries in - frozen strawberries are horrible. I was sick of seeing it and it was starting to get freezer burn, so I made the whole thing into compote and we had some of it mixed with yogurt for a healthy pudding. Still got tons left to use up. Dinner tonight was spag Bol from the freezer and lunch was fish finger sandwiches with sweet potato chips.

I was trying to save up M&S vouchers so I could buy DH’s birthday meal at the end of next week plus a couple of goodies. I cashed out £5, then I won £10 which I also cashed out (but waiting for vouchers). I was close to another £10, but got a £50 voucher from my work (Xmas gift that went awry in my emails), so now I unexpectedly have £65 (if they arrive in time). That’s loads! I’m trying to decide what vouchers to get next - either something for DD’s birthday or for new sheets that we could do with. I wonder if DH will be prepared to use his voucher (from CC points) for DD’s present instead 🤔.

Right, I’m knackered, the kids are going silly and DD is off to bed soon. Better go!

QueenJess

Got up this morning and rushed around putting all the dry clothes away, made the beds, put the washing on, hung it out to dry (inside), tidied around a bit and made DH some flapjacks to keep him off the expensive bars for a bit longer.

Made pasta in a mushroom and garlic sauce for lunch (had mushrooms to use up).  DS had a sandwich and fruit instead as he doesn't like cooked mushrooms *sigh*.  Dinner will be a cheat roast - turkey, red cabbage and yorkshire puddings all from the freezer (leftovers from Xmas) with roast potatoes and veg.  Pudding is still compote (I have loads still!) and yogurt or for fussy DS, probably a chocolate brownie and ice cream from the freezer.

I'm currently sitting down with a hot chocolate as a weekend treat (DD is napping).  I'm craving some sort of biscuit though and our cookies all disappeared, so I've put the butter out on the side to soften and may make shortbread later.

It feels weird not to go weekly shopping anymore.  I bought so much food it was unreal and now I'm seeing how long I can go before I need to next pop out.  I will have to go by the end of next week as DH/DS will run out of milk then and I'll need to get DH's birthday meal stuff for the Monday after that.  I have a target of £575 this month, but would hope to be under £500 (£100 a week) and would love to be closer to £400.  However, there is a lot of month left, my veg box is expensive and comes next week and I'm sure something will come along to scupper all my plans at some point.  I have a feeling my 2-3x yearly order of toilet rolls/tissues/kitchen rolls (don't ask me about the latter as it's a bone of contention in this house... I DO NOT use it...) is due fairly soon.  Maybe I can delay it until Feb - must check how much I actually have left.

Dropped a hint earlier re: DH's gift card that he doesn't know what to do with, but would cover DD's birthday present I planned.  Hint not taken, so I guess I need to save my vouchers for that before I use them for new bedding.  My parents also gave me £25 of book tokens and I still need to figure out what is best to get with those ones.  They feel wasteful, but I would like some more activity/sticker books for DS as he actually sits down nicely to do them and they are useful to calm him down, do something different, practice pencil control and will be great for the cold Feb half term.  Will have to see what is around.

What a miserable grey day it is today.  Definitely one to stay inside.  Hoping it'll be nicer tomorrow so we can get to the park.

themadvix

We went without kitchen roll for a long time but now use it rarely - its best for mopping up fat from pans. It’s WGAC and I’m still on my only order of it (so 14 rolls) from about 3 years ago. So I feel it’s ok. Kudos to you though with small children for not using it - my friends (even the eco-minded one) couldn’t imagine coping without it with small children.

QueenJess

themadvix said:

We went without kitchen roll for a long time but now use it rarely - its best for mopping up fat from pans. It’s WGAC and I’m still on my only order of it (so 14 rolls) from about 3 years ago. So I feel it’s ok. Kudos to you though with small children for not using it - my friends (even the eco-minded one) couldn’t imagine coping without it with small children.

To be honest, I find they are a bit rubbish for kids. I have cloths which I wash regularly and would only need one compared to about 3+ kitchen towels. The only time I sometimes use them is to grease a pan for cakes etc as the cloths tend to leave behind bits of fluff (unless I’ve remembered to save the paper from the butter to do it). DH gets through so much of it, but once DD sleeps properly I’ll be taking over the kitchen again and it won’t be used anymore. I glare at him when he uses it out of laziness…

I also use the same brand. I can’t seem to stop him using it, but at least that one is a bit better.

QueenJess

DH dried DS with some kitchen towel earlier. I mean what the..? He was in the bathroom right next to an actual towel. Bizarre. No wonder he seems to eat the stuff…