Category: Family Life

Our Family Life – Life is hectic as a Mum of three, working part-time for the NHS and working as a Freelance Virtual Assistant. Not to mention keeping this blog going as well. Here’s a little insight into what we get up to……..

As a family, we like to be out and about with our dog, Charlie. We also love crafts, cooking, eating, and watching (Netflix for us and YouTube for the kids).

As well as this little corner of the internet, you can find us on Instagram and Facebook.

If you would like to work with us, then please drop us an email to mail@babynotincluded.co.uk or contact us through our social media channels

Our Money Saving Journey to Buying our First House

10/02/202116/01/2024 Lisa 7 Comments

Our Money Saving Journey to Buying our First House

Buying our first house has been on our radar for quite a while, but circumstances have meant that this hasn’t been something we’ve been able to do so far, but now it feels like we need to knuckle down and get this milestone ticked off our life To-Do List.

Currently we’re in a three bedroom house and we desperately need four bedrooms so that each of our children can have a room of their own. With big age gaps, it isn’t possible for any of them to share, and so Freddie is currently still in our bedroom. As you can imagine, we’re bursting at the seams and it feels like we shuffle a lot of stuff around just so that everything has a place of it’s own.

Help to Buy Scheme

In the beginning of last year we looked at the Help to Buy scheme and got very excited about a new build that was fairly local to where we are currently. The houses were to be built ready for moving in around June 2020 which seemed absolutely perfect for us.

The biggest factor of using the Help to Buy scheme was that we wouldn’t need to find a huge deposit as well as having a brand spanking new house that wouldn’t need anything doing to it. As an NHS worker, there was also an extra incentive with lots of the house builders.

The houses we were looking at were being built by Barratt Homes and they weren’t yet at the stage of having show houses available to look around, but there was another area being built near us so we booked an appointment to go and have a look at the kind of houses they offered.

The houses that we looked at were beautifully decorated, I would have happily packed up and moved in at first sight. There were two houses that we were taken around, and both of them were so lovely. One house had the perfect downstairs with an open plan kitchen opening out onto the garden with french doors, and the other house had the perfect upstairs with large bedrooms, the master being absolutely gorgeous.

If we could take the downstairs from the first and the upstairs from the second we would have literally found the perfect home.

The only thing we could fault was the really small gardens. Isabelle would have had to sacrifice her much loved 12ft trampoline which I’m guessing will be an epic battle.

chris had his sensible head on whereas I was already thinking about how soon we’d be able to move in!

We just had to wait for the site to be set up.

Then the whole coronavirus happened and building was suspended until who knows when.

We’d just have to sit tight, save up as much as we can and wait for the pandemic to end.

Then the building started and we waited to be able to book in for a viewing and start the ball rolling. We got a call from their sales team, and then the news that they were’nt building the four bedroom houses until 2022!

We were a bit gutted as the Help to Buy scheme is only available for newly built houses.

So it was back to the drawing board.

Thankfully we didn’t have to wait long before we found out about another development not too far from us and made enquiries. This time it was with Taylor Wimpey, but because of the pandemic we had to go through the eligibility process and accepted before we were able to go and view any of the show rooms.

We sat and went through the process over the phone and were given the news that we didn’t meet the criteria for the Help to Buy scheme.

This was because Chris has a job that pays a basic salary and the rest is commission based, but they can only take the basic salary into account even though he has proof of earnings etc.

This is the same for self-employed people, even if you have proof of earnings so it’s not accessible to all.

Poof ….. Just like that our house buying dream was taken away for the foreseeable.

We now have to go down the traditional house buying route which means we need a lot more money for a deposit, and so our saving journey begins. One thing that made me chuckle was that the mortgage broker kept referring to us looking at secondhand properties. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anybody calling a house ‘secondhand’ before!

I’m going to post regular updates about our journey and some insight into the things we’re doing to achieve it.

Wish us luck x

Our Family Life 2021 (5/52)

01/02/202118/06/2021 Lisa

Our Family Life 2021 (5/52)

Monday

Another week and today is another work day but I can’t concentrate one little bit. I have a funeral to go to tomorrow and it’s the only thing I can think of. Losing someone, particularly now whilst we aren’t able to see people is so hard. Working was a welcome distraction.

Tuesday

It was the funeral of my brother-in-law today. Taken far too soon. It was a shock and will be for some time.

The funeral was very different from the usual setup, but I’m glad that we were given the chance to say goodbye. It was very strange wearing a mask throughout. It was hot and your face underneath literally gets covered in snot. There was no wake, no drink to toast his life, but it’s something we can do when the time is right.

Wednesday

It was our lovely Charlie’s 7th birthday, and not a year goes by without cake and presents for him.

Making a cake and wrapping presents for him was a welcome distraction after yesterday.

We love how he knows when presents are for him. He throws himself into shredding the wrapping paper making so much mess, but it’s all part of the fun.

Much like children, I can’t believe that our fur baby is seven already (49 in dog years). As a labradoodle, he’s a bit of a nutter by nature, but he has slowed down over the last year or so. He too is craving the attention of people other than us.

Thursday

Let’s just say. Homeschooling, work, and a toddler – Day written off!

Friday

Our son comes home with his son which is always a lovely distraction. Freddie loves having his nephew here to play. Ryan’s currently working towards his A level in maths which he needs for his engineering course. I’ve no doubt that he’ll smash this if he puts his mind to it.

Saturday

was just a day of playing. I had intended for us to go for a walk but the weather is absolutely shocking at the moment.

Sunday

Was the first day of a week off for Chris. He works really long hours and so we don’t really get much time together so we spent the day chilling, playing, and being silly on the switch. We even roped him into a Just Dance session. Shame that I couldn’t sneak a video of him absolutely killing the dad dancing.

Like Christmas, everybody is looking forward to the back of January. It’s been a tough, long month……..

Our Family Life 2021 (4/52)

25/01/202118/06/2021 Lisa

Our Family Life 2021 (4/52)

Monday

Monday’s I would usually be at home with the kids, but I’ve had to temporarily change my workdays to Monday and Friday to fit in with Chris’ job.

We also had a delivery of rock cakes and chocolate cakes from Nanny which was a welcome treat.

Homeschooling will probably feature in these diaries quite a bit since it’s taking up most of our time.

To break up the day a bit Belle made us lunch today. We had a picky lunch which is a favourite of ours. It’s just loads of randoms like crackers, cheese, pickles, cucumber, etc.

As the days are long and stressful for all of us, we have to take the wind where we can and pick our fights and know when to just let things go. We finished up the day with a bedroom disco which the kids love and it gives me a minute to regain my sanity.

Thursday

Thursday was a workday for me, and I should confess that it’s one of the days that I wake up with a smile on my face knowing that I’m not the one homeschooling today. There’s definitely a spring in my step on the way upstairs for a day of hard graft. I think Chris appreciates that staying home with the kids isn’t the day off that he once thought!

I even took the opportunity to nip out to the shop ON MY OWN! It was lovely to be outside without the constant kid whinging noises or somebody wanting something. I’m not ashamed to say that I took my sweet time walking there and back!

Friday

Friday…..looking forward to the weekend and therefore the end of the school week. I don’t know if it was because Belle knew it was Friday, but she plowed on with her work so we finished off the day watching a couple of episodes of the Jurassic World cartoon series on Netflix which was really nice for all of us.

We also had a huge duplo session and made robots.

Saturday

We seem to be working on incentives at the moment. Using treats and activities as a way of getting through each day. Most of the time it works so for now we’ll keep doing this. It’s totally exhausting but we take each day as it comes.

Belle wanted to do some baking this weekend so fairy cakes were the simple thing to do. We made a batch of 12 and split them up so that they both had six each to decorate.

Isabelle spent ages decorating hers whilst Freddie was done in around seven minutes, but he enjoyed it all the same.

Sunday

Was just a day of staying in pyjamas until near lunchtime, playing and chilling. We need to get outside but the weather is shocking at the moment with so much rain.

Another week down…..another week closer to the end of the pandemic!!

Our Family Life 2021 (3/52)

18/01/202118/06/2021 Lisa

Our Family Life 2021 (3/52)

Monday

Another week of homeschooling to get through, but so far so good. We’re managing with a little bit of bribery, and lots of encouragement from Belles teacher who sends a video every morning just to say hello and outline what the kids are doing that day.

We had a bit of upset with Belle getting annoyed with the activities that I’m doing with Freddie. I guess a lot of mums and Dads must be in this position. I do activities with both of them when the school work is finished but she can’t help getting FOMO about anything we do whilst she’s doing schoolwork.

We did manage a bit of painting for my niece’s birthday which Freddie really enjoyed.

Tuesday

It was my niece’s 12th birthday today. Another birthday during a lockdown. We used our daily exercise to walk to her house for a doorstep visit since she’s so close to us. It was lovely to see her and my sister.

It was also a workday for me, and I’m not going to lie, I literally skipped up the stairs. No homeschooling for me today – over to you Chris!!

Wednesday

All the days seem to blur into one at the moment so I have to check my phone just to see what day it is. It’s hard to get pictures of Freddie these days since he never stays still. If lockdown goes on much longer maybe we should do away with our regular furniture and set up a soft play so he can burn off all that excess energy.

Thursday

HOMESCHOOLING

Friday

Friday was my Mum’s birthday. We ordered her and my dad a sweet and savoury afternoon tea from a local company that delivers. We also used our dog walk just to pop by and wish her Happy Birthday on the doorstep.

Saturday

The weekend our son was back with our grandson so it was hectic but nice that Freddie had somebody to play with.

Isabelle received a certificate which was hand-delivered through the door from school. it was such a nice thing for somebody to take their time to do it m, and at the weekend as well. It was for showing outstanding values throughout the school with a little well-done note.

Sunday

That’s another week done. Another week where not a lot has been happening. I keep thinking we’ll do some baking and then I remember that thing that’s taking over – Homeschooling!

Is anybody else feeling so so tired at the moment?

Our Family Life 2021 (1/52)

04/01/202105/01/2021 Lisa

Our Family Life 2021 (1/52)

So last year so the start of the Coronavirus pandemic and life as we knew it changed. I started the Coronavirus Diaries but I didn’t publish many of them as they all became a bit ranty as we grew less enthusiastic about how to entertain the kids, and FaceTime and zoom calls became something we dreaded. Our Family Life Diary is going to be a weekly catch up of what we’ve been up to, so that we can look back on how life was during a global pandemic as it already feels like we’re on rocky ground.

2021 had so much promise….

A new year and a fresh start is how it’s supposed to go. Setting goals and making plans for the year ahead.

Sadly it’s likely that the beginning part of this year is still going to be a time to live each day as it comes with all plans on hold or with back up options. We’ll await the next instalment from Boris on that one.

I thought that instead of a coronavirus diary, I would write a weekly update on what we’ve been up to, more for ourselves to look back on.

Christmas

Christmas for us was how we’d planned it to be. Us and the kids at home which is what we did. Obviously we would have liked to have still visited family instead of doing doorstep present deliveries but the actual day itself went as we’d hoped.

Boxing Day was a bit rubbish. Chris went back to work so it was just me and the kids. We would usually go to my mums and my brother and sisters would come over with all the kids so it was a bit of a low day.

We spent the next few days eating our own body weights in cheese, pate and chocolate.

The weather has been awful with lots of rain and wind but we did manage a nice dog walk. Freddie was happy walking in the ‘squishy mud’ and we found some amazing icy puddles to crack.

New Years Eve

New Years Eve was spent pretty much how we spend every year. We ordered a takeaway and had some nice drinks.

This year was slightly different as we let Belle stay up until the real midnight this year. For the last couple of years we’ve put the previous years New Years fireworks on YouTube on the TV at around 9pm and done our own countdown and cheers before happily packing her off to bed at around 9.30pm.

Harsh you may think, but we thought it was genius!

My Favourite First Job of the Year!

Is of course writing my calendar and starting to fill my Planner. I like to sit down with something good to watch and a glass of wine. I use my best pens……like a pig in muck!

Board Games

Freddie’s not really one for sitting down to play games or do jigsaw puzzles, but we’ve managed to play a couple of the Orchard games which are really quick to play and a good introduction to family games.

Buddy the Elf brought the kids Pull My Finger which is also a great game to play when you’re two years old! parp!!

The plan is to post our week’s activities every Monday so we can keep a diary of these odd times and all entries can be found in the Family Life link at the top of the page.

Coronavirus Diary 12.06.20

11/06/202011/01/2024 Lisa

Coronavirus Diary 12.06.20

I’ve been quiet on my blog for a little while now as this whole situation has me quite frankly raging.

Social Distancing

So we’re now allowed to meet up with other people up to a total of six people. This means nothing to us as a family of five. We can meet one person, but who do we pick.

It didn’t feel like progress for us with a toddler who is not going to social distance, so we aren’t in a better position that we were before.

It makes me mad that when we’ve been on a walks we’ve seen oodles of groups of people (way more than 6) and definitely not social distancing from each other.

I’m losing sleep (literally) over the pressure to join these people and resume normal activities.

Did you jump at the chance to meet up with people?

I’m not judging you if you did (unless you’re not social distancing then I’m totally judging you) but I’ve got to say that it filled me with dread that there would be an expectation to socialise with family and friends.

I would rather wait! The world doesn’t come to a standstill like this on a whim. Thousands of people have died and thousands more will die unless it’s brought under control or a viable vaccine is discovered.

I’ve been called silly, over-protective and ridiculous and every now and again I do feel these things, and then I look at my kids and I know I’m not over reacting, I’m being their mum and I won’t apologise on any level for that. It’s my job to make sure they’re safe so that’s what I’ll do.

Usually I would say that it’s up to individuals to live how they want, but actually thanks to this selfish attitude this whole pandemic is likely to last longer so thanks for your ignorance (not you, hopefully).

Shops I’ve noticed have taken away the staff on the doors making sure that it’s a one in, one out policy. Our local shop has hand gel by the door, but there’s nobody making sure that the shop isn’t too crowded. The staff themselves don’t keep their distance and people in general are not sticking to the rules.

The fact that shop staff feel it’s ok to stand next to you or brush past you is surely the biggest no since they’ve been in contact with how many people during their working day!

Now you can see why I haven’t posted for a while. I can feel my anger rising as I type.

Life as it is

Life at the moment doesn’t feel that great. The days are long and behaviours have changed. We’re struggling to do any school work with Isabelle and have to really coax her out of her room to do anything.

I feel exhausted, dog tired each and every day. There doesn’t seem to be anything to look forward to at the moment with most days becoming a mundane blur.

Video calls and phone calls are becoming shorter and longer in between as there’s nothing to talk about.

Daily walks

It took us a good few weeks to go outside, but once we did it was quite nice.

However, the walks we go on are really hit and miss. We’ve had some really lovely walks where we haven’t really seen many people so haven’t had to do anything other than enjoy being outside. We’ve also had some awful ones where the playing fields we go to have been really crowded and we’ve given up and come home.

We know to avoid around and after dinner time as there are always lots of people sitting eating takeaways or picnics.

We went out today and as the sky looked set for rain it was really quiet so we had loads of space to run around.

I’m going to leave it that but I hope you’re all staying safe in a socially distanced way xx

Corona-Diary 30.03.20

30/03/202003/04/2020 Lisa

Corona-diary – Our 14 days self-isolation is up

So our 14 self-isolation period is over!

Do we feel any different? Are we desperate to go out?

The simple answer is no! Obviously we would like to go out in the fresh air but I think we’ll stay at home where we feel it’s the safest.

Freddie developed a temperature the other day and the reality of one of the kids getting Coronavirus really scared me to the root. My kids get everything so I’d really rather not take the risk.

As long as we can get food I’m quite happy to stay inside our family bubble for as long as possible.

Going back to work

We’re both due back at work this week but hopefully we’ll be able to do this from home in some form. Things could get very interesting with the kids under our feet but we’ll just get on with it like the rest of the country.

#StayHomeSavesLives x

Corona-Diary 29.03.20

29/03/202029/03/2020 Lisa

What does Lockdown mean to you?

My interpretation of this is that you only leave your house if you absolutely have to for the purpose of getting essential food supplies, going to work as a key worker or for the purpose of exercise whilst abiding the social distancing rules.

It’s not going for unnecessary drives to the country for long dog walks or social calls to others houses because they don’t have any symptoms.

The whole point is to contain any likely spread which you may do before you start showing signs. Who knows how many places you’ve left a dose of Covid19 for others to pick up.

I think it’s irresponsible and selfish that some people think they’re above the rules.

The Vulnerable

This group containing the over 70’s age group, people with underlying illnesses and pregnant people should be particularly careful.

My mum falls into the over 70’s and has health conditions as does my stepdad who is also currently having chemotherapy, but my mum is still asking my sister to do food deliveries several times a week which is Non-Essential just to ‘break up the day’.

I know the guidelines of 12 weeks is a long time but the alternative doesn’t bare thinking about.

It’s better to be safe than sorry so stay at home, binge watch a few box sets, make plans for when this is over, sit and have a coffee in YOUR garden or take part in the endless online stuff that’s available for literally everything you can think of…….

But

STAY HOME AND STAY SAFE!

Corona-Diary 23.03.20

23/03/202024/03/2020 Lisa

Cabin Fever is kicking in

This is the first day that I’ve just had enough. What happens in your family when the going gets tough?

You pull together, right?

Not in our case and not this time. We’re at each other’s throats.

Chris is ill so he can’t help with the kids but he’s in that limbo stage of feeling better but not quite so he’s wandering round the house like a lost soul and quite frankly getting on my nerves.

He’s still coughing quite a lot and I’m getting really cross with him coughing and spluttering everywhere, where the kids play and in the kitchen.

My hands are raw and cracked from the ridiculous amount of hand washing trying to keep everything germ free so that the kids don’t catch whatever it is that he’s got.

Obviously we don’t know that it is Coronavirus but I’m not taking any chances.

Self-isolating

I’m currently on leave from my job and due back tomorrow but we’re self-isolating as per the guidelines due to Chris being ill. We’re currently at day eight so we have six more days until we’re considered not to be a risk to others. I’m part of the admin team at our local hospital so not patient facing, but I’m not going to lie that I don’t feel good about being in a hospital setting.

I feel that I should be grateful that like so many I still have a job but I do wish I could stay inside my little family bubble until this is over.

Homeschooling

We did our first PE session with Joe Wicks this morning which Isabelle really enjoyed, but I’ve got a feeling that she’s not going to be the perfect student for me as her teacher like she is at school.

Hats off to all the Homeschooling parents, I have no idea how you manage to give them the time and prep needed. I’m going to go easy on myself and do what we can, no pressure.

What are you eating?

We’re fine for food. We keep a pretty good stock of store cupboard essentials including herbs and spices which makes it easier to whip up something. We also had a full freezer. I do wonder though when things are gone what random meals we’ll all end up eating.

Currently we have a small Tesco near us which seems to be getting daily deliveries, and apart from not being able to get pasta, tinned tomatoes or hand wash they have pretty much everything including fresh fruit and veg.

Pleading with people to stay home

So despite all the pleas for people to stay home people have ignored this and have been going around in groups. The beaches, parks and public spaces have been busier than ever.

I’ve just finished watching the Prime Minister announce that all non-essential shops are to close. People should only be travelling if they are considered a Key Worker, for medical needs or collecting essentials. Only groups of two should go outside (once a day) for the purpose of exercise.

Essentially we’re on Lockdown going forward which has been enforced due to the stupidity and ignorance of so many, and will be reinforced by the police.

Jeez this has just hit another level of scariness. We’ve stuck to the social distancing rules and have only been out once for a dog walk aside from going to the shop for some milk once this week.

Lisa x

Corona-Diary – Mother’s Day & Supporting Local Businesses

22/03/202023/03/2020 Lisa

Mother’s Day

Mothers Day this year should have been a Cream Tea Cruise with my Mum, Sister and our kids. We would have eaten lovely little sandwiches and cakes whilst taking in the views around Exmouth.

Instead we stayed at home and I didn’t see my Mum today for the first time ever since both my parents fall into the vulnerable category as they’re both over 70 and have health conditions.

Isabelle was very concerned that she didn’t have any presents for me, but I would much prefer healthy kids than lots of presents.

I did get flowers, chocolates, cards and paintings from my kids which was more than I needed, but really lovely.

Supporting Local Businesses

Since we stayed at home we did have a bit of an unusual treat. As many local businesses are struggling given the current situation many are offering delivery services of food and provisions to keep themselves going as well as offering what they can to keep up community spirit. So with that in mind we ordered a take-away roast dinner from our local pub.

We did have to go and collect it but it was all within the social distancing guidelines. It felt good doing our bit to help a small local business as well as getting a nice dinner for ourselves.

The best place to find out about local food deliveries are Facebook pages and groups local to you. Have a look at the Facebook pages of places that you go to regularly to see what they’re offering. Lots of them are now closed to the public but are offering delivery services.

The same for buying your essentials. The supermarkets are being ransacked, but many independent or smaller ‘corner shops’ still have lots of stock available.

There’s a lot to be said for community spirit and pulling together in times of need. The more we support our local businesses, the more people get to stay in jobs and we benefit from what they have to offer.

Even when the Coronavirus outbreak is over it’s sad to think that lots of businesses won’t survive. There will be loads of people out of jobs and in general the country is going to take a long while to recover from this.

Lisa x