I heart IKEA

Christmas holiday cabin fever got to us all today, and we escaped along a scarily-foggy motorway to Cardiff, to spend the day in IKEA.  I don't really understand why people use the Marmite-principle to describe IKEA, I can't see what there is to dislike about it.

It is, in no particular order:

• inside
• warm
• well-organised
• pleasingly-laid out
• like looking around people's houses without having to talk to them
• aspirational (who doesn't want a library comprising Billy bookcases?)
• affordable

and it has:

• great storage solutions
• pleasing textiles and design
• simple children's toys
• useful children's equipment
• play areas all over the place
• indoor and outdoor playgrounds
• a free creche (free!  We haven't got to use this yet, "Maybe when I'm four," says J)
• all kinds of free crap for Family members (free fruit, cheap children's meals, free coffee, free ice cream, reduced other things)
• RIDICULOUS reductions on Christmas decorations (I bought a load of stuff for next year, which should have cost about £50, and cost me £4.50)
• a comfortable nursing area if you're shy about getting your baps out, and lots of seating areas all over the place if you're not (I made use of both today)
• amazing meatballs and cinnamon rolls

Essentially, it's like a great family day out, if you want to dress up a shopping trip as a great family day out.  If I lived in Cardiff, I'd be there all the time.  We spent nearly 5 hours there today, at least 3 of which were walking around, and I'm really feeling it in my legs now.

Following J's birth, I had some tests done on my 'offensive-smelling placenta' (oooh, there's a phrase you want to hear after forty hours of labour) and what first showed Group G Strep (not overly worrying) then showed up as Group B Strep (lots of panicky 'AWOOOOOGA!' noises from everyone and a readmittance to hospital).  This meant that (I'm going to try and be delicate here, I'm probably going to fail) my stitched-up lady-area also got infected with GBS, and caused me lots of mobility difficulties and unimaginable pain.  I got stuck in the bath, purely because I couldn't bear the pain of trying to get out.  I was prescribed rest, rest, and more rest.  I wasn't allowed to go for a walk round the block.  I went a little stir-crazy, but as I could barely get off the sofa, there wasn't much I could do about it.

When I started to feel better and could walk again, I went for a walk around the village, and ached afterwards as though I'd run a 10k (I say this, never having run a 10k.  I imagine your legs are quite sore on the following day).  That was a mere 3 weeks ago, and I haven't really built much stamina up since then.

Which all goes to say that a 3-hour walk round IKEA for me, is like running a marathon for your average person, and I'm therefore entering it as my exercise for today.  For good measure, I did 19 minutes of Wii Fit (according to which, I've put on a pound since yesterday) and beat my high score in the Hula Hooping.  I rock.

I'm off to devour my new IKEA catalogue while my delicious girl snores quietly in my ear.  Good night ;)

Bump watch - 20 weeks

Really missed an opportunity for an awesome photo here - I just need to turn and face the other direction...

Fetes are great

Having got over our yucky stomach flu, we headed off to see Jacob's future wife in Cardiff.  Our lovely friend Claire had made us some beautiful pink cupcakes to celebrate our pink news (I'd like to preface this by saying that whilst I'm happy to receive and eat pink cupcakes etc, I don't approve of gender stereotyping and the practice of making all girl's toys/clothes pink, so this child will be happily clothed in Jacob's cast-off clothes and as many non-pink outfits as I can find!  I'm sure some pink will creep in, in the same way that I wear pink as much as I wear any other colour.  It's the total head-to-toe pinkness that drives me crazy - I don't think I could cope!) and we discussed the impending babyness while Jacob and Amelia cavorted around and refused to eat any lunch.

We then braved a local Scout fete (Jacob's first fete), which challenged all Jacob's powers of Doing Something New (screaming fit after screaming fit, until he realised that he might actually Get Stuff if he joined in), and we had to give up on 3 years and 3 months of perfect parenting when Jacob was given his first sweet (a hard lollypop) and his first crisps (unsalted).  He was over the moon to win a puppy bag on the soft toy tombola - he'd just seen a child carry away a huge Winnie the Pooh (current obsession) and we had to carefully explain that he couldn't choose what toy he wanted, he would win one.  Despite this, as soon as he'd chosen his ticket he exploded into excitement over the potential to have a puppy (having seen a puppy toy lying around), and we breathed a sigh of relief when the girl handed him a puppy.

(I've managed to prise the puppy out of his sweaty grasp to wash it overnight [it didn't smell very clean] but otherwise, he hasn't let it go since.  And it took several hours for him to come down from the sugar high).

His fear of all things Fete was totally overcome when the loudspeaker requested participants for an adult tug-of-war, and Jacob ran at top speed towards the ring, screaming that he wanted to pull the rope ;)

We passed an ice cream stand on the way back, and stopped for some refreshing lollies (our fear of him having sweets doesn't extend to ice creams, for some reason.  I don't know what's wrong with us, really!).

... and Amelia practised her Zombie-tongue look ready for Hallowe'en.

Both of them crashed out on the sofa when we got back (note the puppy, still firmly grasped) with a bit of Ben and Holly, while we ate more cupcakes and drank more tea...

... and Amelia's marionette made friends with her cat.

We left there before tea time to make a quick stop (ha!) in IKEA on the way home.  We eventually arrived home at 8.45pm.  Pregnant ladies can't stay out that late, it wears us out.  And 3-year-old boys don't even protest when they're taken out of the car, plonked on the potty, then stuffed unceremoniously into bed.

It was Jacob's first full day out of the house in pants - not a pull-up in sight.  He coped admirably, going to the toilet whenever we suggested it and happily using adult-sized toilets and hand-dryers in public loos.  Just over 3 weeks, and I'm very tentatively saying that we have a potty-trained child :D

Good night.

Holy comfort, Batman!

A friend referred to the week between Christmas and New Year as 'Chrimbo Limbo' - hitting the nail right on the head (although I had my sister to stay, so it wasn't all bad).  The week since New Year has been more of the same.  Working right up until Christmas was a nightmare, and now having these two empty weeks with little to do has left us being too lazy for words - sitting around in our pyjamas all day playing with Jacob's new toys (not that that's a bad thing).

The daft thing is that I've got a million jobs that need doing around the house - I feel like the weight of all the clutter and mess everywhere is going to topple down on me at any moment.  And yet, being a perfectionist (and a perfectionist who doesn't like to expend any energy to achieve perfection, at that), I can't actually start any jobs, because then the reality of how much there is left to do will crush me.  At just the critical moment, I read this post on the lovely Whozat's blog, which suggested that you should pick the one most annoying/in-need-of-addressing thing in your house, and Just Do It.

Easy.  The springs on our sofa went about 3 years ago.  With a creak and a ping, poor Jamie was sitting in a hole.  The rest of it was saggy and stained and uncomfortable, and we slowly built up the cushions with more cushions to try and ease the pain in our aching backs, until we were essentially sitting on a pile of cushions.  (I'd like to emphasise that Jamie fell head-over-heels-top-to-bottom down the stairs during this time, and I'm sure the lack of seated support contributed to how long it took his back to heal.

For Christmas 2010, my parents gave us a contribution towards a new sofa, but over the last 12 months we haven't been able to scrape together the remaining funds to buy a new one, however cheap it was.  On Thursday this week, we went to visit Jacob's girlfriend in Cardiff, and stopped off at Ikea on our way to Jamie's hospital appointment.  For the first time, Jacob cottoned on to the concept of 'trying out sofas', and he merrily ran this way and that, clambering into chairs and onto sofas, sitting still for half a second, before shrieking "Now that one!" and running off to the next.  This meant that we could actually try some sofas properly, and have a chat about finance and colours etc.  And, we chose one.  But being the indecisive people we are, we had to go home first to talk about it ... until we passed the clearance corner on our way out and spied the very sofa we'd just decided on, reduced by £150.  Better still, they would deliver it and remove the old one, for the same price our council would charge to collect the old one, and they donate the used sofas to charity.  Sold.

We then had a day to clear enough space to get the old sofa out, and the new sofa in.  Did I mention that we hadn't put away any Christmas presents, and the decorations were still up?  In one day we: 

- took all the Christmas decorations down and packed them away.

- made a 'November Box' of things to get out of the loft pre-Christmas time - things like Advent calendars and Christmas crafts.

- dragged all of Jacob's toys out of their boxes, got rid of all the ones he doesn't play with, reorganised the ones he does and added in the new Christmas presents.

- labelled all his toy boxes (we have Trofast, and found that using the tray sized ones for things like Playmobil, animals etc with stickers on the side to denote what's in there means Jacob can tidy by himself - woop!).

- culled half his jigsaws to live in his bedroom, then they can rotate down here and we won't end up with 21 open boxes of jigsaws at the end of each day.

- cut open the back of the old sofa and found loads of hairbands and phones and disgusting tissues   

- emptied the hallway of everything, to aid the moving men, and actually cleaned the carpets and skirting boards.

And just 36 hours after we paid for the sofa, we had a sparkling clean living room and hallway, and a beautiful, comfortable, supportive new sofa.  Which Jacob has given his seal of approval to...

Thanks, Whozat, for the inspiration (I know you wrote an additional post decrying your organisational skills, but take the kudos, because you kicked our arses into gear and we're very thankful).

Day 26 - New toy storage

(Saturday August 14th)

As previously mentioned, we made our second trip of the week to IKEA on Wednesday, and bought some Trofast units to store J-cub's stuff in the lounge. His toys and bits and bobs were getting out of hand and we're fully aware that it's only going to get worse as he gets older, so we got some large units which will be suitable to move into his bedroom when he's older and has a proper sized room.

We didn't have time to put them together until today, but they proved very easy to assemble and we had them both done and up while he napped. He was very excited to come down and find a new climbing frame to play on (fixed to the wall, of course).

During his second nap of the day, we managed to get all the toys organised and put away, with lots of spare room for nappies and floor mats etc. Excuse the mess in the surrounding area, at this point I hadn't had time to sort everything else out.

J-cub got very excited (again) to come down and find he could just about spy his toys but had to learn a new sliding motion to get them out.

The bookcase which was previously in that corner has been moved to just inside the door, which makes it easier to access his books and easier for me to tidy them away again.

There was plenty of room for all his lovely nappies, with a small tray to hold a day's worth of nappies and wipes which I can take out each time I change him, meaning I don't have to run around gathering things up before nappy changes. Yay!

Mmmmm nappies....

Of course no trip to IKEA would be complete without a lot of associated unneeded tat, and Wednesday's haul included a fabric fruit basket filled with play fruit. We soon found that the basket made a perfect Davy Crockett hat:

IKEA Cardiff isn't quite as child-friendly as IKEA Bristol, as the play area has 3 separate exits, none with gates, which meant I was kept busy stopping J-cub from making a run for it. A little girl proved much more effective than I by enveloping him tightly in a hug and kissing him smack on the lips. He looked very shell-shocked ;)

Day 23 - Imaginative play

(Wednesday August 11th)

Another trip to IKEA today (inspired by our fleeting visit on Monday, which I'll write more about later). When we got home, J-cub was playing around when he came across my ring sling, and put it around his neck. He picked up his new IKEA cat and brought her to me, I tucked her in and tightened the sling appropriately.

He wandered off and played with his toys with the cat in the sling for ages, stopping from time to time to give her a kiss:

How cute is that?

Day 21 - IKEA rocks

(Monday August 9th)

Today was the last day of our holiday, and we set off on our journey mid-morning. We were making good time until the middle of Somerset, when the traffic on the motorway suddenly slowed down, then stopped. Jamie hastily found some traffic news on his mobile and it became apparent that 2 bad accidents meant we were in for a long delay. J-cub was already getting fussy so we came off the motorway and found an alternative route so we could at least keep moving. Our route took us through Bristol, and as we emerged from the city around lunchtime we decided to go to IKEA for lunch.

It was a brilliant idea. Not only were children's meals only £1.25, they were also small versions of the adult meals, rather than the usual crap-and-chips options. J-cub had meatballs, boiled potatoes and gravy. Yum. They were offering free fruit with children's meals, and we were given a banana, an orange and 2 apples. And free coffee for us.

There was a children's play area in the food area; an enclosed octagonal area with interactive tactical walls, dioramas set into the floor, and tons of soft toys and balls. Around the outside edge was raised seating for parents. It was fantastic. After our lunch, J-cub played in there while Jamie and I sat and drank our coffee. J-cub made lots of friends and took great delight in playing catch with the soft footballs.

We went for a quick wander through the children's IKEA section afterwards, and J-cub picked up a softer-than-soft cat and begged to take it home. He hugged it all the way to the checkouts, was parted briefly for the lady to scan it and then hugged it back to the car and all the way home. Awwww.

We've been to that IKEA before, but not for several years and I had a bit of a panic attack as I'd never been in one before and I didn't like not being able to see the exit. I'm a bit more seasoned now, having spent a lot of time in IKEA Cardiff, and it was much easier to cope with. At least half of our furniture comes from IKEA, and I fricking love it. If I lived nearer to Bristol, I'd be choosing it over a soft play centre anyday. Thank you, IKEA.

12. Replace bookcase in lounge with Billy bookcase and cupboard with doors

As I may have previously mentioned, we were supposed to be having a delivery from Ikea, of a TV table (with doors!) and a new Billy bookcase. We ordered well before Christmas, but they couldn't deliver until January 6th. That delivery then got postponed due to the snow, until the 8th, at a point at which I was going to be out. I rang to reorganise, they said they couldn't give me a different date, but it would be within 24 hours. Today, I realised that I will be in tomorrow, as it would be madness to take J-cub swimming in his current flu-ey condition, so I rang them back to see if I could have my delivery tomorrow after all. Not only was the answer no, but the re-arranged delivery was for January the 27th! Stupid Ikea.

I just can't wait that long, as it's one of the main things we've wanted to do since J-cub got mobile. Ordinarily, we would just drive to Ikea and buy the stuff ourselves, but a Billy bookcase will only fit in the car with the back and front seats folded forwards, so the passenger (who has to be present to help with lifting and carrying) has to sit behind the driver, leaving no room for J-cub's car seat.

So this morning we sat, and thought, and mentally rearranged furniture. Our house has no shortage of Billy bookcases, since we harbour dreams of one day living in a house with enough space that we can have a library, and all the Billy bookcases will be reunited in one room together. Our best option, we decided, was to swap the annoying designed-for-under-stairs sloping bookcase with the Billy bookcase in our bedroom. Then, if and when the Ikea delivery ever comes, the new Billy can go in our bedroom, and the old bookcase can get turfed out.

A couple of hours later, and the amazing Jamie had unscrewed the bookcases from the walls, taken everything off them, moved one downstairs and one upstairs. We spent the evening lovingly putting our books onto the shelves (if you think they're not very recessed, that's because we're doubling up the shelves with DVDs we don't watch very often) and tidying the cables for the thermometer, baby monitor, phone and lamp. It looks lovely and neat and, most importantly, baby-safe.

You'll note that the title of this item also specifies 'and cupboard with doors'. I would like to refer you here to see what happened to that. It was going to go next to the Billy bookcase, but now it's under the stairs, so that's done too.

Before (forgot to take an actual before photo, so had to search back through the archives. This one is not very good, you don't really see the shape of what was there, but you get the idea about the mess):

After:

Mmmm books:

Day 38: Mission complete.

90. Take down Christmas decorations

It seems like 5 minutes since we were putting the decorations up, and it's so sad to be taking them down again. We did our best to salvage a good time, but having my head stuck down a toilet wasn't really how I'd envisaged our first family Christmas.

At least J-cub won't remember it, and next year when he'll know what's going on will be like his first.

All the decorations are packed back into their boxes, and they'll go back in the loft tomorrow. It looks very bare in the living room, but it'll actually be quite nice to reclaim the Christmas tree corner, and start to move furniture round in preparation for our new TV table and Billy bookcase which is arriving from Ikea on Wednesday.

When that's all sorted and put together, then hopefully the lounge will be a safe, completely baby-proof area where J-cub can be left for 5 minutes while I do stuff in the kitchen or even manage to go to the toilet without worrying that he's going to come to some harm.

We have a sappy tradition in our house of writing messages to the 'future us' from the 'present us' on the Christmas tree box. If the 'present us' could write a message to the 'past us', it would say "Get baby-proofing now, it's a bastard trying to do it with a baby crawling around your feet". I don't actually think that baby-proofing occurred to us at all while I was pregnant, which just goes to show how naive we were. Clutter+baby really doesn't work, but I hope that by this time next week, it might be a whole lot more under control.

Day 34: Mission complete.