Auntie Buys : Aunties Little Princess Bib

So this is my second of my new series of "Auntie Buys" and the first one is HERE. It is just abit of fun and I rather enjoy buying my Nieces lots of gifts so I thought I would share. This one is something which is more of a sentimental rather than a "serious" gift but when I saw it I just had to purchased. It is this amazing Bib that says "Auntie's Little Princess" and doesn't she look so bloody adorable wearing it. 

I got this from eBay aka my favorite online shop.. This was a bidding item so I can't actually remember how much I paid but it was no more than £5. Here is the link to the Bib.

Bella Mai is my little princess. She is such a happy smiley laid back beautiful baby. Back to the Bib, it is actually good quality as usually novelty gifts like this are usually not that good in quality but this is good for the price. Have anyone else brought anything similar? I am tempted to buy Bella an Vest saying " I love my auntie Katie" from eBay haha. 

Love Katie x 

What Being An Auntie Means To Me

To me being an Auntie is the most wonderful, amazing and rewarding thing that ever happened in my life. Ava Lily and Bella Mai literally make me smile and happy no matter what and I'm so lucky to have them both in my life.

My Brother and I are only 12 months apart so we are very close and always have had a close bond and I wished our future children would have the bond with each other like we have. I always thought I would be the first to have a baby to be honest as I was older and been in relationships but due to my fertility and miscarriage problems that mean I wasn't the first. When Tommy & Bethany announce they was pregnant with Bella well I say announce but what really happened was myself and my Mother guessed then they confirmed it was true haha!! I was so over the moon and instantly making lists of what to buy my Niece/Nephew (didn't know what sex Bella was back then) and I was so convince they was having a Boy haha!!! 

Ava Lily is my best friend. She is the most beautiful, caring, intelligent, funny and understanding 3 year old and I love nothing more than having Niece & Auntie days out. Our trips to the park, shops and walks are some of my best memories. I have learnt a lot since being a Auntie and its defiantly makes you realise how much of a hard job it is and I put my hands up to any parents out there. Although Ava is a very good child and of course she has her moments like every child, I can honestly say I think Beth deserve a medal. When they lived here, I always offered to make her breakfast, wash her, change her ( although she does it herself as she is so independent), take her out, do her lunch and dinner, bath her and put her to bed and I love doing all of that. I know some Aunties are not hands on and I just don't get how. I guess it helps that myself and Bethany are very close but even if we wasn't I would still be hands on. 

Bella Mai has only been in my life for 4 months but it is like she has been here forever. That moment I walked into the hospital ward and saw her I just felt this feeling of happiness. Bella is so content, happy, beautiful and alert baby I have ever known. I admit I was scared to hold, feed, wind and change her as she is smaller for her age and looks so fragile. Once Beth helped and reassured me, I got more confident and now I love doing anything for Bella. I wish I lived closer as I would be there helping with the girls while telling Bethany to go and rest. 

To me being a Auntie is more than just the typical Auntie role. It has given me the confidence, it has shown me what happiness really is and what being proud really means. When I see Ava say new words, when she shows me what she makes at school and when she tells me " Auntie Katie I love you" it just feels me up with proudness. I guess most aunties don't live with their Nieces but I did for a few months and that did help a lot I think. While Bethany was pregnant and was rushed into hospital, I was beside Ava's bed on the floor holding her hand because she was worried about mummy and didn't want to fall asleep alone. I will and do anything for my Nieces. 

I want to thank my Brother and Bethany for giving me two best gifts in my life and making me a proud Auntie. It has made me grow up, more confident and has put life into perspective. I hope one day I can make Tommy into a Uncle and Beth into a Auntie to my child/children. I would love nothing more than to have my own baby. I see how much hard work it is but how rewarding it is. When Bella Mai smiles at me, when Ava Lily cuddles and says I love you, when Bella holds my finger and when Ava runs and gives me the biggest cuddle when I see her.. That is what keeps me going. Those girls have no idea how much they keep me normal haha!! My life isn't the best at the mo with health problems but having Bethany and My Nieces in my life makes things so much easier to deal with. 

I love you Bella Mai & Ava Lily, I promise to always care, love and always make you both laugh and smile. And I will continue to have a low bank balance as I can't help myself buying you both Cath Kidston stuff, Converses, books, Lush Bath Bombs for Ava (the robot one) and cute clothes haha!!! I've made Ava obsessed with Cath Kidston kids bags and Lush Baby Bot so you can tell she is defiantly my Niece :) 

Love Katie xx 

Blogmas Day Two

2nd day of December.. 

Yesterday my Mother put up the Christmas tree which is a crap skinny white tree so its safe to say she get 0 out of 10 for effort!! Because Im not feeling Christmas this year, I don't care about the tree!! If Ava was living here I would of went all out and got a real tree, hundreds of lights and decorations because kids make Christmas million times better. 

This is my Advent Calender this year haha. Last year in September I gave up Fizzy drinks, Crisps and chocolate so I had a Yankee Candle advent calender which was amazing but I didn't get much use out of the tea lights you get in there and mostly my Mother used them so this year I knew I wasn't going to get this years version but I left it too late to buy the Benefit make up one or the body shop one Damn!!! So I got this in the poundshop which came with a few chalk and its actually quite cute and is a nice decoration to my room. Im still trying to find a small Christmas tree for my room but they are sold out everywhere GRRR. 

And here are my dogs advent calenders hahaha!! I get them these every year and now after they go for their morning wee and water after they both wait in the lounge for me to open these haha!!! Im now on the hunt for some doggy xmas clothing because that is what Christmas and cute dogs are about!!!! DRESSING UP!!!! lol 


Not much has happened today. Last night I wrapped a few of Ava's Christmas pressies up and I thought I would have a quick hour cat nap because I was feeling pain from back but it ended up to be an 5 hours sleep!! Today, I've woken up in pain so nothing much has happened. Bethany had a scan today to check if Bella is okay and Bella was fine :) She now weighs 6lbs 15oz so now it is just a waiting game. I'm off to Beth's this weekend in Essex as it is Ava's 3rd birthday so Im hoping Bella makes a early appearance then haha!!! I spoken to Beth last night and she said she will be taking over Blogmas some days which will be good as I find Beth is the most creative person with her words and I'm more of the technical side of the blog lol. Also some blogmas will be done via our iphones and some by my laptop.You will tell by the content tbh but we will try our best to make sure each post are least interesting to read!! 


Love Katie 
xx 

This Week : Exhaustion/Emotion

This week by Katie..

This picture explains how we all including the dogs have felt this week..

Oh Jesus what are stressful week!! Exciting things happen like my getting an iPhone 6 (my upgrade) and getting more Xmas pressies for everyone but then Beth got rushed to hospital and then I found out my operation is on 24th December yes Christmas Eve.


Beth is now out of hospital and is alot better so now it is just a waiting game on Bella and Beth got to keep an eye on her breathing as if it continues she has to go straight back to hospital. It has been so weird not being close to her while she was in hospital as last time it happened she was living in Windsor, So I was around to look after Ava and had regular updates on Beth and Bella but it was quite difficult with the hospital being in Essex this time. 

My operation!!! ARGHHH. So I knew I was expecting to get a call or a letter to tell me when Im having it done but my Specialist did say it 80% chance of it being in the new year as its close to Xmas... Well I obviously was in that 20% of having the operation this year. Its nothing to do with my back and its abit too much detail to go into the actual op itself but I'm kind of glad now it will be before the new year so then next year I will just have my Back to concentrate on. I actually have zero plans for Xmas eve and day so the op hasn't bothered me but at first I was like OMG!!! Although it is day surgery, I don't get into hospital til pm so there a likely I might have to stay in overnight if anything goes wrong ect but waking up in hospital on Xmas day will defiantly be different!!! 

Getting an iPhone 6!!! Now my upgrade on my iPhone 5 was due over 2 months ago but I generally kept forgetting to go into a Vodafone shop to sort it out. I knew I wanted an Iphone 6 and also knew I would have to pay £99 for the phone as my Iphone 5 was abit old, the buttons were either broken, slow or on the way to die and also was full of scratches. So I saved up money to get the phone, but I didn't expect Vodafone buy back to want my phone for £70 so I only ended up paying £29!! Tbh the phone aint much difference from the 5 but the battery, camera and screen is alot better!! I got the spray grey one and have a lovely mint green case for it. 

I had a few gifts left to buy for Ava's 3rd birthday which is on 6th December, and while I had to wait for my phones to be sorted I had an hour to spare and luckily I found and got everything I wanted for Ava birthday gifts and also more stuff for her Christmas. Maybe I will do a blog post on how I done her birthday and Christmas as their only 2 weeks apart. I decided her birthday was peppa pig themed pressies and Christmas is Frozen themed pressies and it has worked out to be sooo easy and enjoyable to buy.


I did plan to get back into blogging a few times a week this week but I can't seem to find the motivation and passion for it lately. I might do a post on how low I've been feeling and how it has effect so much of my life lately. Here is just a quick update/this week kinda of post. I don't think Beth will be continuing her Pregnant update post as she isn't very well, shes busy and also Bella is expecting to come any day soon but I will speak to her and plan a blog post for when Bella is born. Hope you all are well and are getting into the Christmas spirit :) 

Lots of love
Katie xx 
  

A Blog Update

Where have we been?

So few weeks ago we had no other choice than to take a break on our blog due to many reasons which can't be said online. But Me and Bethany are not living in the same house at the moment and where Beth is, she hasn't got a laptop or WIFI so she has been doing her best to keep up to date with her pregnancy update via her phone and rubbish wifi. I obviously have got access to laptop and internet but past few weeks I have been extremely down, ill and lack of motivation to even switch on the laptop. I didn't want to write a blog post just for the sake of it. Hopefully in the early months of 2015 we should have our blog back it's normal 2 blog post a day but for now we will be trying our hardest to keep you up to date with Beth's pregnancy and also few other random post. 

With Beth being back in Essex and me being in Windsor it has meant we haven't seen each other at all over the past weeks which has been so so weird as we were so used to living with each other daily. Not only is Beth my soon to be Sister In Law but she is also my closest friend so it has been hard without her also not having my Niece and Brother around has been so lonely. So the post we use to write together will obviously be taking abit of a break but hopefully our separate updates and other blog post will start again and be back to normal in the new year. 


Essex To Windsor will hopefully and we hope will be back to normal in 2015 where we hope will a new fresh start for all of us and for our blog. We apologies in advance if some days or weeks there is no content and obviously with Bella due any day soon, Ava's 3rd birthday, Christmas and My operation/health there will be days/weeks when it's impossible to write. Sorry!!! 


Lots Of Love,

Katie xx 

Beth's Baby Shower - Planning, Theme & Budget

As soon As I found out Bethany is pregnant, I instantly started planning her baby shower in my head. At that time she didn't live in Windsor but I always planned to have the baby shower here in Windsor at my house. Then few months into her pregnancy, Bethany moved to Windsor. 


I admit I am a big planner and organised person when it comes to day to day to do list, to birthdays, Christmas and other events ect. In some way it's like a OCD, I have to have lists of what events are coming up and what decorations or budget to set for that particular event. Usually the Mother doesn't know much about the baby shower but in this case I wanted to let Beth have some involvement but have kept some things a surprise. 


LOCATION:
I've picked my home as We have a large front room/dinning area to host and seeing as it is a small private event I wanted to keep it homely and budget friendly.


DATE/TIME:
Weirdly we only decided on a date a few weeks ago. We picked the month November as in October was busy and Beth Birthday and in December is Ava's 3rd Birthday and The due date. We have pick 15th November which fits in perfectly with everyone we have invited as there is no football on that Saturday which is ideal as most of us are football lovers. It will be from 1 pm as most guest are from Essex so gives them time to get here and for us to set everything up. 


THEME:
"Afternoon Tea" is the theme. I chosen the theme before anything else was decided and I wanted to bring a theme into the baby shower to make it more interesting. Cake, sandwiches, tea, coffee and lots of patisseries items yum. 
    

BUDGET:
Im quite known for budgeting for anything really and I always plan ahead. seeing as this year has not been good for any of our finance I know we would keep the budget low but without it being cheap and tacky. There will be about 10 people so it makes it abit easier to get party games, favors and food without breaking the bank.



I will be doing a few blog post over the next two weeks about the invitations, decorations, foods, favors, gifts and how to stick to a budget. Seeing as there is only over a week til the baby shower, we are getting our bum into gear and getting things sorted. Obviously the cake and food cannot be sorted til the day before but everything else is nearly sorted just got to get a few bits and we are done. We cannot wait to spend the day with my side and Beth's side of the family as you know we don't live close. Keep your eyes pealed for the next baby shower post. 


Let's hope Bella doesn't decide to come before the baby shower!! 

Happy 21st Birthday Beth

Today it is Beth's 21st birthday. Beth has been in Essex since yesterday and is spending the weekend at her parents home with Tommy and Ava. While Myself and my Mother will be joining them very soon. Today is the day my family get to meet the rest of Beth's family who we haven't met yet so it is an exciting day for all of us. I truly hope Beth has an amazing day and gets lots and lots of beautiful gifts. 


Dear Beth, 

"Sister in law by chance, friends by choice". This quote is very true. I'm very lucky to have you not only as my sister in law (to be) but also as a very lovely friend. You listen when I have my random rants, you care when I'm ill, you always make us laugh with your funny random words and I'm proud at you for being a amazing mother to Ava and soon to be to Bella. Thank you for giving me two beautiful Nieces ( I know Bella will be beautiful lol ), and for making my Brother the most happiest man alive. You two generally are made for each other and I will always be here to support, care and love you all. Happy 21st Birthday to my amazing Friend. 

Love from your Sister in law, friend, personal organizer, beauty therapist and now my blogging partner.  

Can we all wish Beth a very happy birthday today and happy birthday to anyone who shares this day. Hope you all have had a super weekend.


Love Katie x 

Auntie & Niece Day Out

Today, Bethany had hospital in Essex so I took Ava to school, picked her up and had some quality time together. I love days when it is just Me & Ava as we just laugh all the time. 

Her new H&M Top and the finish look after she done her own hair

After Beth & Tommy left, I got Ava dressed and ready for school. She now gets dressed on her own but today she insisted on me doing her hair and wanted to do it herself. This ended up in her going to school with messy hair as she was so stubborn and every time I done her hair she would take it out. Off we walked to school to get there for 9, She sat in her buggy holding her school bags and was really excited for school. Soon as she see's her school she give me her dummy and got out of the buggy. Soon as she saw her key worker at school she ran to her and got ready to do painting. So I popped to Tesco and then walked back home to have a cuppa and some food before setting off again to get Ava. I left home to get Ava abit too early. So I spent 10 mins or so sitting in the reception area and could see Ava laying on the floor listening to a story. Another teacher came up to me and gave me Ava's "Spider Cupcake" she made. The teacher said out of them all, Ava's was the only one that copied the picture they was working from and really enjoyed it. 

Ava's Spider Cupcake She Made

Soon as the doors open for the adults to collect the child, Ava saw me and ran straight up to me. She got her coat on and off we went. On the way home we got a cone of chips each and a kinder barbie egg( she is obsessed with this eggs ). I let her walk half way home as she has a habit of walking sideways & with a cone of chips in her hands I knew it was going to end up in her falling or something so she sat in the buggy like a good girl. Half way home out of the buddy she went and walked all the way home. As we approached our driveway she ran and tripped over and hurt her knee. But she was more concerned about the lolly she dropped lol. We got in and sat down playing barbies which ended up in her giving some barbies to our dogs and chasing them around the lounge. 

Ava pushing her buggy

Her Peppa Pig Coat From George Asda

Buster refusing to give back the barbie Ava give him

,

Ava has been having problems napping and sleeping at night lately so I knew she wouldn't go for a nap but she was yawning away. I went upstairs in my bedroom to see if she would sit next to me. She had two dummies (its her kinda of comfort thing she has when she sleeps) and her juice and a blanket, she stayed still for about 5 seconds before getting her into nannies bedroom. Now she is downstairs with Nanny trying to take over the hoovering lol. Beth isn't back yet so I planned to sort her birthday pressies out but I realised I can't ( can't say what or how as she will read this haha), So I give upstairs a quick tidy and now am laying in bed as my back is playing up. 




Me & Ava was going to go to the park but now she has a poor poor knee which was bleeding, Ava said she can't go out and needs to stay in to get better. So we may sit and watch a film but her attention spam is zero at the moment lol. 



Auntie & Niece's days are my favorite :) 


Love Katie xx 

Ava's Cath Kidston Bag Collection

As an auntie, I LOVE buying and treating my Niece to stuff. Whether it be sweets, stuff from the charity shop or more expensive items Ava is very thankful and isn't a fussy child. When I heard Ava was moving into our family home and was going to be starting school in Windsor, I instantly said I want to buy her a Cath Kidston school bag as I wanted to buy her something that wasn't Minnie Mouse, Peppa Pig or anything character for a change. I didn't realise how amazing their kids items was and so much Ava has ended up with a whole line of Cath Kidston items haha. She adores them and so do we. Here is what myself and Beth brought her...  

THE SCHOOL BAG: 

When myself and Ava went into Cath Kidston store in Windsor, she instantly ran up to the mini backpacks and picked out the pattern called "Bramley" which was so pretty. For £16 for a school bag people may think that is way too overpriced but for the quality it is defiantly worth the money. At her school there are few children with the same bags and they all know that Ava has the set of Cath Kidston bags. When she grows out of that bag, We will pass it onto Bella. 

THE PURSE:

When Ava picked out the design, I wanted to get her the mini purse to go with it. She puts this purse in the pocket on front of her school bag and she uses this money for treats after school. For £4 this is honestly worth the money, not only is it good quality but it's a perfect size.

THE LUNCH BAG: 

This bag is called a "Mini Shopper" but we thought it was perfect size for her lunch. Beth actually brought this for her as it was the last item we brought. This was £8 which again people may say for a lunch bag is over priced but all these items came to £28, is used 3 days a week and still looks brand new. 

These items all are easy to wash, good quality and maybe overpriced for what they are for but in the long run they work out cheap. When she grows out of all these items, I know we would of kept them in good condition and ready to be used for Bella when she is around 2/3 years old. Ava loves Peppa Pig and Minnie Mouse but having something different was something we all agreed on and now everyone knows at her school whose items they are is even better because they will never get lost or accidentally taken home. 

I defiantly recommend anything from the Cath Kidston kids stuff is you're stuck on ideas what to get for Christmas or birthdays or to treat your little ones. I shall be buying her some more items for her Christmas stocking this year. Maybe a cheeky baby grow for Bella but don't tell my bank balance haha. 

Love Katie xx 

Friday Fun : Getting Prepared For Halloween

Today we decided to get on the Halloween wagon haha. Tommy ( Katie's brother & Beth's Fiance ) is currently off work so once we dropped Ava of to school off we went to Tesco. We purchased two pumpkins and a Halloween make your own gingerbread house and its fair to say Tommy was far more excited than he should be lol We came back home and Tommy got started building the gingerbread house and Beth helped. It needed 30 minutes to dry before you start decorating it. This was the point we got way too excited and went back to Tesco to buy more stuff to decorate it even though things are provided we wanted more haha!!! Back home we came, Beth & Tommy got back to decorating the Halloween Gingerbread House and We are very impressed so much we are already looking and goggling what to do for our Christmas Gingerbread house haha. Onto Pumpkins, obviously it is abit early to start carving them so we put them on the fireplace and we have a little Halloween fireplace theme going on with fake spiders and cobwebs. 

Katie & Ava Took a few Selfies today as Ava is now obsessed with taking pictures lol And not planned somehow we have ended up wearing the same dresses haha. 

Tomorrow we have Beth's Parents coming down from Essex to visit us for the day and football is back ( BTW WE ARE BOTH OBSESSED WITH FOOTBALL ). With Tommy being Leeds United, Beth being West Ham and Katie Being Chelsea FC. Over the weekend we have Baby Shower planning which was all planning along fine but past few weeks we haven't done much, we have most of the stuff and the date just haven't sent out invites ect so we will be on that this weekend/next week and also will be doing blog post as the baby shower is on a small budget and we have a theme which we would like to all share with you all. 

Here is a beautiful picture of Ava just before school, doesn't she look so grown up. Her dress is from Primark, Tights are from Asda (can't find online but here are some similar) and Her Shoes are Flossy Plimsole from Office. 


We hope you all are having a lovely Friday night and have a good weekend :) 

Love Katie And Beth. 

Introduction To Us

Welcome to Essex To Windsor. 

The lives of two normal girls brought together by the meeting of two soul mates, starting off as your normal sister in laws developing a true close friendship. Sharing secrets, advice, gossip, clothes and make up. Also battling ups and downs in areas of many and your normal everyday battles. Not only are we your average day to day girls willing to share with you our stories but the wonders and joys of motherhood and auntiehood and the exciting build up and life with a much loved newborn. We are Bethany Jolly and Katie Price a mother and expectant mother too another gorgeous girl and hands on auntie in our 20's look out for our story...



Love 
Bethany & Katie.