Heartburn Is A Blog Killer

So I've let go another week and a bit without a post - although it seems to me like some of my favourite blogs have also been a bit quiet of late. Suprisingly enough, its those written by women who have either just had a baby ( shout out to Ames  ) or are due to be pushing one out sometime soon ( I'm looking at you Holly and Polly ! ). I'd say there is probably a whole lot we al could be writing about, its just the lack of physical energy that comes with pregnancy and/or a new baby does not equate to a plethora of blog posts.

So, in the grand tradition of pregnant bloggers everywhere, let me just talk about the pregnancy again shall i? Since my last post - a list of stuff i still need to get done before Miss Jelly arrives - i've actually managed to complete 3 things: the cot mattress and bedding is out of layby, the baby clothes are washed, dried, folded and in the tallboy, and i have conquered the Big W Toy Sale.

Mind you, i did NOT conquer it at midnight with the rest of the crazy mamas. Oh no - not only is sleep precious to me but i didnt really fancy getting into a scrag fight over the last Dinosaur Train " Interactive Boris " left on the shelf. No, i did my 9am - 5pm Thursday at work and went afterwards. I was quite pleased that it only took me 40 mins to find everything on my list ( though i did have to substitute one or two things ) and a miraculous 15 minutes in the layby line. Plus, no scrag fighting and i only stole one toy from a child, so i'm pretty pleased. ( Long story short, there was only of the particular Barbie product i wanted left on the shelf, and it was being played with by a little girl. When she squealed " i'm going to go ask mum if i can have this! " and run off to find said Mum, i scooped up that Barbie, threw her in the trolley and wheeled on outta there! )

So the next two things on the agenda are set up the cot and the rest of the babies room, and start and finish my second piece of wall art. All i need to do is nag my husband enough that he caves in and puts the cot back together, and borrow a staple gun from my sister builder boyfriend so i can get creative stapling fabric to a canvas. A pregnant lady with a staple gun? Watch out world!

Toys!Toys!Toys!

Oh yes, mums and daddies, its that time of year again - toy sale time! Catalogues with pages and pages of toys and games, crazy mums heading out to the shops at midnight, trolleys everywhere and lay-by lineups that go for hours. Oh the joy of it all!

Image from here

I have to say, i did well this year. Last i went to the Big W toy sale 3 days after it started, expecting that they would still have plenty of the toys i wanted. Uh - Fail! But i was a newbie toy sale-er back then... i didnt know abot the crazy crush of mums who get there bang on midnight and spend half the night in a lay-by line. So this year, a little older and a little wiser, i prepared. I scoured the catalogues and made myself a list of what we wanted to for Flynn and for our two neices and 3 nephews; i double checked prices and Googled the items i liked to make sure they were appropriate; and i did a scout around the store a day or two beforehand so i knew where the things i wanted would be. Genius Mummy!

We ended up getting our two biggest purchases from Myer which meant that when i went to BIg W today i wouldnt have to get as much ( which meant there were less things for me to miss out on ). I didnt go at midnight with the other pyscho-mummies ( sleep is far too precious to me for that! ) but i did go at 8am, after Flynn and I had had breakfast, showered and got dressed. There was hardly anyone there - all the hardcore toy sal-ers had been and gone; and the slowpokes and newbies probably didnt realise the store was open continously from midnight. We were in, shopped, lay-byed and out in 45 mins!

And yes, before i praise myself too much and someone else points it - yes i know you can now do the shopping online. However, not all items are available online and part of me actually likes the planning and the searching and the satisfaction of finding all the stuff on my list. And now we have all the presents sorted for Christmas and all we need to get in December is a present for each other. Cant get much better than that i dont think!
How about you - did you or are you planning to hit up the toy sales this year? Are you an online shopper or a hands on kinda gal like me?