Splosh has pretty packaging!

Right sooo here is the box!!It came and I thought it was late but it turns out they delivered on a day I was out and had followed my instructions on the box to leave it somewhere. And there it was. Box nice and small. 

 Once opened you are faced with some very pretty packaging! Dunno about anyone else but I do have to admit to being a sucker for pretty packaging :-)

In each peice of packaging was each bottle. Here they all are standing together. The refills are inside each bottle.

Here is a quick view of the bottles behind with the instuctions on.

Glad they are on the bottles too incase you loose the instuctions! Todays task ... Put them all together and give the general cleaner a whirl! I will be back with the results ...

SPLOSH!!!!!!!!!

So I have ordered some eco friendly washing and cleaning products to trial. They come with a sachet of the concentrated cleaner so that you can dilute it yourself and also reuse the bottles they send you. This keeps cost down on the cleaner as it is concentrated you don't pay for water like at the supermarkets and you get to reuse the bottles so is good for the environment!

I have ordered Clementine and Lemon kitchen cleaner - Lime washing up liquid - and Chamomille and Lavender non bio detergent and fabric conditioner. When these arrive you just put the sachet in the empty bottle and add water! And thats it! It mixes and the detergant is ready to use. When it is all gone you can order refills that are just as cheap!

When you order you get given a code so that anyone else who orders gets the products half price. A 4 bottle set costs £7.95 and the 2 bottle set costs just £4.98 I think it is. I ordered with a friends code and got them half price as advertised. I will be writing a seperate view both when they arrive and as I use them to let you all know how I get on! Should you wish to join up and trial here is my code to save you some dosh! 9C2B25 This will give you £5 off your first order.

From the blog

Our £5 Recommend a Friend promotion will expire in just 10 days time - that's on 26th March.


 This is what the website says about the product ...

What is Splosh?

Splosh is the great to new way to buy your laundry, dish washing and home cleaning essentials. By utilising brilliant chemistry and the power of the internet we are better value, more convenient and miles better for the environment than everyone else.
Typically the main ingredient in home care products has been water. We think that’s unnecessary, so we took all that water out and just sell concentrates in neat little sachets.
Just pop a sachet into a Splosh bottle, fill it up with water from your hot tap – and in a minute or two you have a fantastic Splosh product in your hands. When the bottle’s empty – all you need do is refill rather than buying another one.
Our system is miles better for the environment than recycling. For a start we’re not transporting water around the country, so we cut transport CO2 emissions by up to 95%. And because our bottles are refillable you don’t need to throw them away, which means up to twenty times less landfill.
Splosh is also great value because we’ve cut out all the unnecessary stuff (like water, packaging and the supermarkets). You’ll be amazed at the prices of our naturally derived eco formulations.
Splosh happens online. On this website you find out about the latest Splosh products, check on our news and place your orders. Once you’ve set up an account, re-ordering will take just a few seconds.
We are based in the little town of Hay on Wye, in the Welsh Marches. It’s a beautiful place that inspires us every day.

 I will let you all know how I get on!!!



 

New Year ~ New Beginings.

Hello!! Long time no post! It is no suprise as to why I had a disappearing act. We had our lovley little baby in July. She never turned in the end and stayed breech resulting in a Cesarean section. There is a lack of pregnancy updates post 34 weeks due to how manic life suddenly turned! I was referred to the consultant for an attempt at turning the baby the first attempt was as painful as hell and left me feeling ill from the pain for the rest of the day and she didnt turn. Second attempt 2 days later resulted is much less pain - from a different consultant and a diff approach but again didn't work so we were booked in for Monday morning for our C section. I was disappointed but was fully expecting it. Still feeling bad to this day that I missed out on the chance to have a natural labour and birth. I feel like I have cheated somehow. Don't think it is something I will ever get over really. But I dont feel I did wrong as it could have ended up in an emergency CS or at worse a baby who has lost her life. So the decision was right. Anyone who wants to know more about either procedure I am more than happy to put my views/feelinfs/experiences forward. Just request and i'll put a post up for you. Should at some point do my birth story too. Actually can't really call it a birth - that upsets me too - It was a delivery. Never cried so many tears in my life! 

Moving on she is 6 months old now! And I am very proud that I have breastfed for 6 months!We had a lot of difficulties at first with mega sore nipples, having to use nipple shields, used formula for some suppliment feeds up until around 5-6 weeks old and then moved onto EBF (exclusive breastfeeding), we were also parted from each other at 9 days old over night when I had a hospital stay so this was hard work. I really wanted to make good use of the night free to catch up on sleep but I really needed to express every 3 hours or so to keep up my supply and deal with the engorgement. The hospital were fantastic at providing me with an expressing machine and little bottles to store it in and put the milk in their fridge. 

Jessica was born weighing 5lb 13oz little teeny thing. She now weighs 15.5 at 6 months old so is doing well :) She is a very content happy bubbly little thing and very rarely cries or screams. We settled down at around 7 weeks into a relaxed natural approach to parenting. I spent many times in tears over the whole refusing to sleep in her moses basket situation. Especially when everyone was telling us she should be and to let her scream it wont hurt her etc etc. And this all started when she was around 3-4 weeks old! Obviously this mostly came from the oldies who did it a different way. So worrying myself sick (literally I came out in eczema ...!) I armed myself with books and read up on sleep. I came across attachment parenting a little before Jessica was born and read this first. It was a big eye opener in taking us away from todays you dictative parenting approach and back to nature. This is how they do it in the likes of Africa and in the olden days. So I took to bed with Jessica and we decided to cosleep as nothing else worked. I breastfed her lying down for a few days during the day and slept with her on me. Put loads of pillows by the sides of the bed. Each time we slept together I gained more confidence in the fact that she was going to roll no where as a newborn ... yet lol. Previous to this we were taking in turns to do shift work at holding her asleep on our chests. I would go and take a nap around 8pm and when she woke for a feed Daniel would wake me up and I would feed her and then he would nap for an hour or 2 and then when she was asleep I would wake him and he would take her whilst I slept again. This went on all night and resulted in 2-3 hours each in the very early days to 4-5 a bit later. After we went to bed at 7 weeks we ended up in around 6-7 hours a night. I also took to carrying her in a moby wrap sling. This was fab for day time when I was just sitting in my chair all day and unable to make lunch or even go to the loo without screaming going on. We are not strict attachment parentning. More trying to turn it around to fit it into our lives. Had many reports spoiling her and creating a rod for our own backs. But so far all is well! I have found rather than having a slingy child who doesnt want to be away from us at all she is more independant. She knows that if she cries a real cry she will get attended to straight away so she doesnt have to go to screaming. If she is griping and just grizzley then I will leave her at times so she can learn to self settle and this has worked really well. But if we get tears then she is trying to express her feelings of frustration and needs our help. We have mostly dropped the sling - it gets used around once a week or so now so not as often as before as she is happy to be put down and play and explore whilst I do things. We are still cosleeping but have managed to get her in her basket for day time naps! This happened around 4 months old and thankfully she is still small enough to just fit in it! We have bed guards on the side at night incase she rolls but as yet hasn't learnt how to. Once we have our bed room sorted I will get a cosleeping cot that can go on the side of ours. I really dont want to put her in her own room yet or in a closed cot as we are really enjoying having her in with us. There is nothing more lovely than waking up to a massive smile as soon as you open your eyes and a little gurgling voice. I would like to progress to getting her in her own sleep area though and a king sized bed so that daddy can come back in with us. Anyway I could natter all day and bore you all to death but I won't! The next blog update will be non child orientated for variety! Hope you are all well. And happy new year! A chance for new beginnings and new adventures :-D X

Week 29-30:

Still in a lot of pain. Seems to alternate. When the hips aren’t too bad the buttocks are! And then I can’t walk far at all. The exercises do seem to keep it ok when I keep them up. But miss a few days and I know about it. Am doing yoga as well which seems to have me in some odd positions! Have now got the travel system so we had this up and down. Was fun learning how to put the thing together. As with anything there is a knack! Recent purchases include nappy stacker, duvet sets x 2 – 1 for cot, 1 for single bed, border for bedroom wall and I am looking out for the curtains to complete the set. Not going to bother getting a new wardrobe will just buy those shoe storage shelf thingies. Put her clothes in that and I plan to get a changing table with drawers. Preferably one that can be converted to standard chest of drawers later and has a removable top so I can put in a baby bath. But that bit is optional really. Should finish work within the next couple of weeks. Once that is done I can pack up my desk and work computer and finally start changing the room into a nursery! Right now it just looks like a messy office surrounded by piles of baby stuff.  Most of the baby stuff has been sourced second hand so far. This apart from some of the clothes sourced from the likes of Tescos and Sainsbury’s and my maternity clothes from earlier on. So how much have we spent on the baby so far?  Including maternity clothes and the like I would guestimate around £600-£700. The big bulk being the Moses basket, stand and the travel system which came to £350 for those. The rest has been clothes, nappies – reusable & disposable, and nursery equipment & decoration.

Weeks 30-34:

Everything is all blurring into one now that time is racing on! Baby is in the breech position and shows no sign of turning. I am still suffering with this hip pain although the buttock pain seems to be minimal now which is good. I do notice I am worse if I have missed out a few days of doing the exercises the midwife gave me. She was happy to refer me to the hospital any time for physio but I am one to put things off until I am about to die lol. And as it seems a bit better I just do a lot of sitting and rocking on my ball and also my daily pelvic floor exercises!! We have been planning the colours of the nursery and emptying out the room completely. I gave up work at a few days before I hit 32 weeks pregnant. Hubby has had the carpet up and tracing a floor board that gives the loudest creaks ever. Mending that was a must as there is no way we can listen to that racket when one of us is in there at 3am!It seems the noise was from the wall partition and on his googling and being on hands and knees he located the offending nail. Over an hour later and he had sat there with a mini saw thing wrapped in bubble wrap that went under the skirting board and he just sawed and sawed til it broke. Ah silence … but we weren’t prepared for our hypersensitivity to all other noisy floor boards in the house for a few days after!! Lol. We have purchased a changing unit that contains a built in bath under the changing mat, 2 shelves with 4 wicker baskets and liners – all for £50! This is a mama’s and papa’s make and in very good condition! It only just fitted in the car by a matter of an inch or 2! Was extremely annoyed at missing out on our nursing chair in the babysrus sale that was on. Annoyingly it’s still not back in stock either. The only other purchase we need is the cot which again is not in stock. It is the babysrus Winnie the pooh cot. Other recent purchases include a matching sleeping bag for both the Moses basket (0-6months) and the cot for 6-12 months.

Pregnancy diary catchup!

Week 25: Ready to start thinking more seriously about purchases now the 2nd trimester is coming to an end and we are viable. Have only brought clothes and small things up til now. Some days are mostly pain free now. But it very much changes. Walk more than an hour and I still begin to suffer in my right buttock stabbing pain. Exercises are quick and easy so can do once or twice a day depending on how I’m feeling/timing etc. Brought an exercise ball. I love it! Keep sitting on it to help posture a bit and also leaning over it on hands and knees which is very relaxing and takes the weight off my hips for a bit.
Finished watching my yoga DVD I brought this week so have started doing this so that should help too.
Now on to 2 day weeks with work. Using up my maternity leave before I go. I work 20 hours a week normally over 4 days so this is halved. My plan is to get a grip on the house. I just never seem to get much done and what days I book seem to have me being busy with family and going out.

Week 26: We have a travel system for £330 and Moses basket and rocking stand for £12. I have seen a really cute Winnie the pooh set that is in cream/light brown so brought this too for £16! Yes expensive but I’ve become obsessed! At least we will have spare bedding set with the one that came with the basket. Need to buy a new mattress for her but looks like this won’t be much more than £5-10.

Have been reading a book called three in a bed by Deborah Jackson. Not because I plan on co-sleeping. Barely enough room for us two never mind three!! But I would like the Moses basket by the bed for the first 3 months and then move her out. Whether this comes to fruition is a matter!!! I was reading it out of interest more than anything. And in this book she talks about how in small tribes all over the world the babies co-sleep and are offered the breast regularly throughout the night. Baby is never away from mum and always being held by someone day and night. We westerners are too busy for that lol. The children co-sleep up until the age of 5 in some tribes! But this reminds me to buy a sling. I would like to give it a go for a bit. So better get researching.

Week 27-28: Two new things popping up this week! Can finally feel her hiccupping. And sharp stabbing pain in pubic bone. This comes when she is doing a lot of kicking and squirming and leaves me feeling bruised for a day or two after. Washed lots of the baby clothes and got dry. Have started buying reusable nappies to try. We have bambino mio, Chinese cheapies, bamboo nappies, lollypop, bum genius, and cooler baby. Have 10 in total which should do us for a starter. Plan to use these after the initial two weeks mess but not to out do disposables completely as they will be more practical for when we are out or away. That and hubby isn’t on the reusable wagon yet! If I am even successful at getting him to change a nappy! Went along to the local nct sale. Spent £100! Got a lot of clothes from birth – 9months range. A door bouncer, my bambino mio nappy, towel, a stool for bathroom for toddlers, a lot of maternity clothes for me including summer dresses and skirts – gosh so much stuff. I will have missed some out. But it was a good spend and a good starter for us. Some of the baby stiff was brand new like 3 sleep suits for £2 from next! I will take lots of pictures are some point and post them up.

Long time no post!

Phew life is busy as you can imagine right now! I want to do a post away from the obvious baby stuff. I know lots of you like piccies and the garden news so I’ll try and concentrate on that this time. Not a lot has really gone on. Spring was bad in the UK. Very wet so this meant I was unable to get out in the garden and do anything until May. Once I was out I found it quite hard work due to my size and really needing to slow down. But I managed to dig over the old veggie patch, prepare the veggie boxes and start digging one border over. We went on a chicken course back in May which was fab. I got to hold a chicken, cut its wing feathers and learn how to put lice powder on it. Damn thing kept escaping but it was jolly good fun and we got a book to take away with us. The old veggie patch - which right now is a mess pile - will eventually become the chicken home. Maybe not this year with the human arrival but hopefully next year! Primary job in the garden this year is to finish off the pond and then we can move onto planning the chicken patch. I have managed to get all my veggie seeds in on time although some I had to give 2-3 sowings as they didn't come up. Wanted to get a water butt as we didn't have one - incase the hose pipe ban hit us! So we invested in a very cheap dustbin. Turned the lid over and drilled holes in it so that the water drains in. Clever hubby! Managed to get this in just before all that rain came too so it had a nice filling up. I've been trying to create a kind of netting frame out of bamboo that we cut down and some balls. Looks fragile so needs some tweaking. Also need to buy more netting as it's really not wide enough. Too long and not wide enough but will do for a starter. Enough nattering here's a ton of pictures from May!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well into the Second Trimester

Week 21: Life pretty much the same. Keep putting a 1lb or 2 on and then loosing it. Still not officially gained anything from pre pregnancy. Backache is here most days. Can’t walk for more than half hour to an hour max without getting sharp stabbing in my buttocks along with the lower backache. Finding knickers hard to wear now! The elastic is too high and cutting into bump. Went into primark and looked for some really cheapies. Got some with lace around the top band instead of elastic. This is much comfier. Brought 2 sets of bra’s but the sizes are just not right. Looks like I will have to invest in more expensive bras after all. Quite proud to have jumped up from a B cup to a C cup. And of course once milk comes in after birth I will probably go up another one. They advise to be fitted for feeding bras as late as you can after 37 weeks pregnant as you can keep changing size right up to then. The only way I can justify all this bra and maternity clothes expense is that we will just have to have another baby after to make good use of it!!! Hubby felt little lady again she was right down kicking on my right hip at 4am! So laid on my tummy and put his hand on the bed and laid on it so he could feel it. It’s quite cool being able to see my stomach moving! It’s like rippling jelly.

Week 22: Had 3-4 days of severe wind that just got trapped from top to bottom and heartburn again. We have looked at some baby names but nothing is really jumping out at us yet. So more work to do on that one! Collected more baby catalogues and have been researching pram systems and Moses baskets. So much choice! Collected another pack of free nappies from Tescos at the weekend. Really didn’t want to join up to any of these baby groups as getting the spam mail is a pain. But to get lots of free goods with it is worth it! We got lots of free nappies, free wipes and baby hat in one box from Asda. From Sainsbury’s we got shed loads of stuff ~ nipple cream, breast pads, nappy cream, free swimming with your baby guide, Persil and washing conditioner samples and a lilac changing mat with pockets in it for wipes and nappies! Anyone thinking of having a baby must join up to these! And of course it includes vouchers for free or money off on nappies and stuff too with them. I’ll post up the pictures of what was in them here. Also got a free bottle through the post from somewhere! Goodness knows where lol. Hubby had his head on my bump and got a good kick in the face this week. Was really funny! He has felt 3 movements this week. This should only get more. Finally put on an official 1lb over pre-pregnancy weight. 8st 13lb – go me lol.

Week 23: Put on another 1lb up to 9stone now. And a week later it’s gone again back down to 8.13.
Taking a lot of time on eBay looking for cots and prams now. Think we will go for the silver cross surf as this is very light, the break is dead easy to use and the handle comes up really nice and high for hubby. Not a chance I am paying £600+ though so will buy second hand on eBay. Going to look for a Moses basket and rocking stand too for the 1st 3 months. I am feeling mostly well. My biggest issue is the hip and buttock pain still. Will mention to midwife at next appointment. Still getting the wind and heart burn regularly. My taste has heightened much more lately. I can taste the wind from my stomach which is just weird as. All I can describe it as is being able to taste the smell similar to the smell of the gas you can smell when you open a fizzy bottle. Not yet found a cure for this either!! Drives me insane.

Week 24:  Saw the midwife this week. She is retiring which is sad. Just as I got used to her! All is well. Said there is no problems with this baby growing she was visibly stuck out the right side of my stomach when she was palpating. No measuring bump yet as I’m still tiny. Little ladies heart rate was a steady 145bpm which is about normal for her. Blood pressure about the same still low. Not really had an issue with dizziness which is surprising as I thought I really would as I have low bp naturally. So that is a nice surprise. Got given leaflet to book a breast feeding class. And got exercises for my hip and bum pain. If these don’t work she will refer me to physiotherapist at the hospital. So want to avoid that if I can! Mentioned not really putting on any weight and she wasn’t bothered. So long as baby is growing well and I eat when hungry then that’s the main thing. Happy to be in viability week. So if anything happens and she comes early at least we have some chance she will survive now.