So Christmas is over, booo but the sales are here YAY!

firstly I hope that you all had a lovely christmas and continue to have a happy new year! 

if you are like me and have a very active toddler and still love to dress him nicely then you probably obsess about Zara and if you dont then i recommend you do, or at least get to love it a little! the clothes are lovely,comfy, dont restrict masons movements in anyway and are also so stylish! and come in perfectly packaged parcels!

so this was my biggest zara haul to date a mere £75 worth of goodies! it would of been more if i ignored my good behaviour voice at 4am boxing day that told me to wait for hubbys approval but i listened and by the time he was up i missed half of what i wanted!*humph*

but never the less i still got some good'uns.

so mason needed jumpers so that what i aimed to get first! these were £7.99 were originally £10.99 and all age 5.why age 5 when you son is only 2 and a half i hear you say... well a) masons big! and very tall so i have to make sure tops aren't like crop tops on him! and b) zara sizing is.. lets say a little on the crazy size. the only thing that lets them down in my opinion! a 3-4 in one item is like a 1-2 in another so always size up.ALWAYS!  the thinner 'south city' top was only £5.99 originally £8.99 and can still be brought, along with the 'wildest' jumper but only in certain sizes here

next up was tops, not that he needed them but because they were only £2.99 each! and i love a plain top that goes with everything! these are normally £3.99 and they still have quite a few left in stock here

finally trousers! we love zara baby boys legging in this household but where my son is slightly giant we're kinda pushing it a little with the ankle grazer look! the material is so soft and comfy even masons says theyre soft! i also went with some jeans this time in an age 4 *arrrrgh* in dark khaki *heart eyes* 

TIP; you gotta be quick with the legging, they are SO popular they sell out quickly!

you see those light blue leggings they are from the girls section in an age 8! yes a bit big right now but girls stuff is always smaller and im sure come spring these will fit mason with a little trouser turn up! 

in addition to al this loveliness i managed to catch a few bargains in the sale in store too that weren't online! WINNING!!

im so happy i waited till christmas to do a big shop for mason! keep an eye out and i will be doing and outfit inspo post because we all love one of those! 

there are still lots of lovely bits left online on zara so go over and have a look then come back and tell me what goodies you bagged! have fun!

so that's it. Christmas is done and dusted. Christmas at number 24 is over!  


  

 This year is my first year in my life where I didn't wake up at home with my parents!*insert crying face* 

 In a way i was really excited,we have shared the last 2 Christmas' so its kind of been a equal thing but ive never had to wake up anywhere else as of yet! and it's the first year I've had to really plan things I've normally just let things run and my mum just says what's happening and I'm cool with that but this year it was kinda up to us what we did. As it happens it was just us 3 Christmas morning, and as most kids mason woke up early and we had to wait for daddy to wake up.


now before i go into what happened let me tell you about how I had the morning planned out... imagine those perfect Christmas adverts on TV where the kids are all excited and the parents are happily watching their children open all their amazing gifts in perfect pyjamas all sat around a beautiful tree,drinking hot chocolate and smiles on all their faces? yeah them ones??! now here comes my reality!

Christmas eve I tried giving mason his Christmas eve box... not a care in the world for it. we left snacks for Santa and Rudolf, he then had a fit because he didn't want to share "masons milks" with father Christmas so that didn't go down well either. I promptly put him to bed and had an alcoholic beverage! now Christmas morning... Mr R woke up moody because he had a cold, mason wasn't interested in opening any presents, he just wanted to play with his Thomas he already had and wanted to watch "trees" ie, the Lorax film! then there was me, who was hating not waking up at my mum and dads so i was slightly moody too! it was safe to say the morning wasn't great! i've never met a child so uninterested about opening presents! he cried! i had to open them for him and even then he didn't want them i felt so silly for buying him anything, and i just wanted to cry! I felt like i failed as a parent because he wasn't appreciating anything!!who was this monster we had raised! we gave up in the end and he still had presents waiting to be opened boxing day! he did however fall in love with a big dusty crop-hopper that shoots water balls everywhere so watching him have fun with that was a plus.
later that afternoon we headed to the fellas grandparents for dinner with the extended family which was lovely and made the day a lot better.


around 8 we all headed home and mason went off to bed. and as bad as it sounds i was so happy to just chill. I put so much pressure on myself to make Christmas "perfect" and it was nothing like i wanted or hoped. you really can't predict and reaction of a 2 and a half year old and to be quite frank mason would of been more than happy with 1 present, which really brings the day in to perspective. all i saw on Christmas eve was stacks and stacks of presents and don't get me wrong i done the same the last 2 years but what really made mason happy was his scooter,a plane, and playing and running round his grandparents house with all his cousins. and if im perfectly honest, that makes my soul content. Christmas really isn't about what's under the tree or how much you've spent, its about being around people that you care about and as moody as my two were (ray is the grinch i swear) i was so happy to just have them both around and us all together!



we're now all back at my parents, masons in bed, im blogging and mr Moody's playing some retro Japanese playstation 2 game! and i can honestly say i wouldnt have it any other way! bring on next year i will be organised by august and hopefully in our own place!

i hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and it was perfectly perfect!

2016 is 2 weeks away! i repeat 2016 is 2 weeks away!

when did that even happen, a year just gone! Im pretty certain that once you have a child your life flashes before your eyes and the next minute you're waving them off to uni! but like woah i didnt expect the year to go this quickly. Looking back on the year its been a good one, weve had 3 holidays, weve saved a little, spent alot but its been a good year. masons learning so much since he started nursery back in january, work is work but i love it and relationship wise me and raymond havent killed eachother, so thats plus! so with this year being so good it can only mean that i want the vibe to follow over into 2016 and only better our lives! and to do that im planning 5 things i want to STICK to! 

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Body

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Im always wanting to loose weight, get to the gym and try and be healthy, but my health and fitness kinda went out the window in 2015. with holidays and what nots i just found myself reaching for treats and takeaways,and if you know me i actually love my fruit and veg so its unlike me, and its all resulted in my putting on about half a stone in 6 months *gulp*.which isnt making me the happiest of people roaming the planet, so in 2016 im aiming to get back on track! my first aim is to sign up to www.thebodycoach.co.uk .

 Ive been stalking the porgramme on insta for about 6 months and ive decided im going to do it and stick to it! i will be blogging about it in the new year so keep an eye out! Id love to have my energy back, and look better for it!

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Saving

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yes, we are still 'saving' to move out. i have actually been quite good at setting out an amount to put away each month, and i have a standing order going into a savings account, which only my mum has access too so if i need money i have to go through her. this clarifies that im still not a fully fledge adult! BUT... yup theres a but, i have been dipping into the funds quite a bit. we set out this year saying we would have holidays and treat ourselves as when we move out and get settled we knew we wouldnt have the spare money straight away for holidays ect. so off we went to dineyland for masons 2nd and egypt in september!then you have car expenses birthdays, treats for yourself and then the dredded christmas that it turns out the savings pot is on the slightly skinnier side of the scale. So 2016 i will 100% be more strict. we want to be moved by june so no more pointless shopping trips to ikea and the range!booooo.

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Motherhood

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As a mum on social media i will be the first and probably not the last to admit i spent far too much time on my phone scrolling through instagram i mean theres only so many times you can watch toy story with your full attention right ?but this being said i need to cut it down, and leave it till masons gone to bed, which is 7.30 so i have plenty of time after that. so in 2016 i will be trying to leave my phone in my handbag alot more and taking more pictures while we're out on my camera! this goes the same for mason too, i will be cutting down his time hes allowed on the tablet too! he child knows how to use it better than most adults!

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hair

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am i negleting my crown of curls,no! not entirely. could i give them more of my attention... yes! 100%. my goal for 2016 is to focus on looking after my hair a bit more, invest in some quality products and treatments, stick to trims and wear braids maybe every 3 months or so. my hair seems to be stuck at shoulder length and it would grow longer but gets thicker! i need to over come my fear of trims and i think we might progress but ill work on it. thats what goals are there for right? 

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blogging

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bloggings new to me, and its going to take me a while to get into the swing of things, but my aim is to be more organised with it. ive asked for planners and notebooks for christmas so i can start to plan ahead a bit more. which i need to do in my life not just for blogging. im a kinda wing it and see gal! but after reading some blogs i can see that thats not entirely the way to go about it. so planning, planning and more planning is in order. which im looking forward to but i know im going to find it incredibly hard to stick to. i have the atention span of a toddler suffering from an attention divisite disordor so you can imagine how bad i am at sticking to things... hense the blog! 

I really am going to be trying my best to stick to these and hopefully 2016 will be a year of growth and a new beginings. and i will be sure to keep filling you guys in along the way! 

what are your 2016 goals, have you even thought about them yet!? let me know maybe we have the same ones and we can attack them together

  

For me it's all about getting Christmassy. 

So first thing I get is an activity to do in the afternoo of Christmas Eve and this year I've gone with a paint your own Santa! Found it in matalan for £3 

I'll be giving Mason his Christmas Eve box in the afternoon after lunch. 

Hope that helps any mummas that haven't done a box yet or are looking for a bit of inspo! 

What do you put in your littles Christmas Eve boxes if they have them?

-love Ashleigh 

 5.explore your garden, turns out I have a eucalyptus tree growing in the front of mine. So I went out and cute a free branches/twigs off. You could add anything really, and it's free.

6.lastly just arrange the flowers so they look pretty, keep the, away from heat like radiators and leave them in a window when no ones in the room. When I'm at work I put mine in my windows but when I'm home they sit nicely on my bedside table. 


what are your tips for creating beautiful flower arrangements? let me know!

So I love  monochrome homes. I mean who doesn't love the look of a pristine white home and stylish black interior, and they are everywhere I seem to look, mainly on Instagram, and sometimes I'm so jealous of the beautiful spaces people create when just using black and white but at the same time I love the look of the shabby vintage so im torn. Right now i love the look of whites and wood and blacks with pops of colour! a little bit of everything!

But what I really hate the most about the monochrome homes plastered all over Instagram is the pressure and competition it seems to bring. Who has the whitest walls and the coolest black accessories! I see so many that I feel like when I finally have my home it's going to have to be black and white or it's just not going to be "insta friendly" . Let me add that this isn't a dig at anyone at all, but more at society. I mean I should aspire to more than the perfect black and white room right?! and it doesn't just stop at home envy! sometimes I find myself comparing my whole life to strangers on instagram and I shouldn't feel the need too!

For the Past month or so I've been a little less than, shall we say enthusiastic.

I feel like I'm in a bit of a rut! don't get me wrong I love my life, always will, but its HARD I mean real hard. We went away for a family holiday at the beginning of October and since coming back everything has been a bit bluuurgh! surely holiday blues don't last this long right?!

but today, I had a moment of clarity! I'm very lucky to have a free membership at the gym across the road from my work, amazing right? and up until the holiday I was being good, going in my lunch breaks on my two days that I work but since then I haven't been able to churn up the encouragement to go until today and I actually feel amazing after going! I haven't been sleeping too well lately and I've probably gained a couple of unwanted pounds in the wrong places, the savings account should be looking more plump than me! so I gathered I would get into the swing of things again.

where do I start!?

So the idea behind starting a blog was simply for my own benefits, I need to be able to tell people what's going on in this crazy little head of mine. The Blog is going to be my digital diary and hopefully somebody out there might like to have a read and it may even end up benefiting them!

You will end up reading about how I tame my curly hair, DIY projects, home décor and lastly and mostly about my ever so slightly excitable toddler and the fun we have raising him!

ME.

Little, scarily getting old me! If you don't know my name is Ashleigh and I'm 22! I have a little boy called Mason Ray who was born in may 2013 and I have a fella and we're go him Mr.R. Weird as it might seem we actually don't live together, so right now I have two homes , classy I know! I spend half my time in a quiet little town in West Berkshire and the other half in the big smoke, okay granted the London borough of Sutton is hardly the big smoke but we're close enough.

Other than travelling up and down the country I work part time as a receptionist at a software firm, hardly the most exciting experience but it makes me sane! I love buying bits of home décor (yet to have my own house) DIY, baking, love baking!, bargain hunting, boys clothes and everything else us busy mummas have to do!

I really do hope that people enjoy reading and love my blog as much as I love some other mummas blogs!