dawniebrown

dawniebrown

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Posts by dawniebrown

Dressing Up Fun

2
14 years ago
by dawniebrown in ,

This post is a entry in Mummy Loves Tutus and Superheros competition which she is running with Appliances Online Washing Machines

I’ve been trying to find my favourite photo of Zara and Oscar dressing up, we have photos of Spider costumes, Owl and Pussycat costumes but the one photo that I absolutely love (and was used for our family Christmas Card this year) is this one….my little snowman and elf :)

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1
14 years ago
by dawniebrown in , , ,
P340

There is something so cute about them playing together whilst the bath is running!

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Graco Nautilus Car Seat Review

0
14 years ago
by dawniebrown in ,

As you may know, we’ve been looking for a Group 1+ car seat for Oscar for a while now as he was fast becoming too small for his infant car seat. With thanks to my lovely sister over at Mummy Loves who is a Graco Ambassador, I received a Graco Nautilus car seat to review. The Nautilus is great as it is Group 1, 2 and 3 (9-36kgs) – so this is the only car seat that we will ever need for him now!

Graco Nautilus – The Details

Safety

  • Side impact protection
  • 5 point harness
  • Lock-off mechanism
  • Group 1 Stage: 9 to 18 kilos with in-built harness and harness protect
  • Group 2, 3 Stage: 15 to 36 kilos – please remove harness and use with a seat belt
Ease of use
  • Direct-access recline handle
  • Intuitive belt routing
  • One-hand adjustable head support
Comfort
  • Height adjustment (grows with child)
Convenience
  • Machine washable cover- Integrated cup holder
  • Storage compartments

My first impressions on receiving the Nautilus was that it looked lovely and spacious and extremely sturdy looking.

Oscar's first time in the Nautilus

Oscar certainly seemed very happy in his new seat though he was a little perplexed with suddenly being able to see forwards.

When it came to fastening the car seat into the car (we use it in a Kia Sorento) I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to install. With all the media going on about how so many car seats aren’t correctly fitted, it is nice to find a car seat which really is easy to fit and doesn’t move an inch when I test it.

I also like the fact that it has a drinks holder and a couple of handy storage compartments in the arm rests. Now Oscar is a little young for having drinks in the car yet but I know from experience with Zara how annoying it is trying to pass drinks back to a toddler and trying to reach for dropped cups.

Oscar in his big boy seat

I have to admit I’ve not quite figured out the recline feature yet as it doesn’t recline quite as much as I like but at least it has one, the seat we have for Zara doesn’t have a recline and I always feel sorry for her when she falls asleep bolt upright. Oscar at least has a little recline to make his snoozing easier.

The Graco Naultius can be bought from various places, the cheapest I’ve found this morning was on Amazon for around £125 here >> Graco Nautilus Group 1/2/3 Car Seat
which although it seems expensive at first, considering it will be the only car seat I need from now on, it’s not a bad investment.

The Graco Nautilus also comes with a FREE childrens play centre ;) – as you can see from the following photos, the box provided hours of entertainment for both Zara and Oscar lol

So Oscar gets a car seat and I get a new den - great!

Plenty of room for me and all my toys in here!

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What Happens If I Don’t Buy Car Insurance?

1
14 years ago
by dawniebrown in

Car insurance costs are peaking at a time when wages are feeling the squeeze of austerity. However, that’s no excuse for cutting corners. If you get caught driving an uninsured vehicle or are involved in an accident and your insurance is not up to date, the consequences will be severe.

Annual premiums in the third quarter of 2011 hit an average of £921. When you consider that the price will be much higher for younger drivers, car insurance can be prohibitively expensive for some.

Counting the cost

Although the thought of driving without adequate insurance cover is unthinkable for most motorists, the Motor Insurers Bureau (MIB) report that it deals with around 30,000 claims each year from people involved in accidents with uninsured and hit and run drivers.

The Bureau estimates that at any time around 4% of cars on our roads are uninsured, costing honest drivers a total of around £500 million a year – that’s an extra £30 on the price of every law abiding motorist’s premium.

But a much heavier price of this criminal activity is the 160 deaths and 23,000 injuries on our roads each year caused by uninsured and untraced drivers.

Crack down

Since the police were given new powers in 2006, they have managed to drive down the number of uninsured motorists by some 13%. The chances of being caught driving without insurance have risen significantly because the police now have access to the national Motor Insurance Database, which is maintained by the MIB.

Armed with information from the database, the police will seize an uninsured vehicle and put six points on the driver’s licence. The fine for having an uninsured vehicle on the road is £200 and the fee for towing it away is £150. The vehicle won’t be released until the owner can provide proof that it is insured. There is a further £20 payable each day for storage and failure to pay up will result in the car being crushed – a fate which has befallen some 160,000 vehicles since the scheme was introduced six years ago.

Should an uninsured driver be involved in an accident, the penalties can be very much higher.

So if you are looking for ways to economise, not paying your car insurance is not an option – you will be committing a criminal offence, and could end up far worse off.

*This post is a guest post by Sainsburys Finance

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1
14 years ago
by dawniebrown in
P333

Ahh, it’s not very often I get half an hour to put my feet up and watch something on TV so for now I’m making the most of it :)

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Win a £50 Experience Days Voucher

56
14 years ago
by dawniebrown in

Sometimes it’s nice to have a treat and the lovely people from Experience Days have offered a £50 voucher to one of my lucky readers.

Maybe you fancy a Fashion Makeover and Photoshoot, a 4×4 Driving Experience or a Helicopter Buzz Flight. There is loads to choose from to suit pretty much everyone so why not enter and see what your £50 voucher could buy you :)

How to Enter -

You can do all of the actions below or just 1 of them but please make sure you leave a separate comment for each action you take or your entries will not be valid & please make sure you leave a way of contacting you either email or twitter, Thank you x

* Leave me a comment telling me what you’d spend your voucher on

* Like Me on Facebook http://facebook.com/kneesupmotherbrown (there is a link on the right sidebar!)

* Follow me on twitter @dawnie_brown

* Tweet the following “I’d like to win a £50 Experience Days Voucher with @dawnie_brown in this FAB giveaway at http://wp.me/pWTCL-Vj ”

Good luck! UK entries only please. The winner will be drawn by random.org on Sunday February 5th at 8pm x

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3
14 years ago
by dawniebrown in
P328

Sleep is something that isn’t really happening this evening. I’m currently stuck under this grumpy lump!

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2
14 years ago
by dawniebrown in
P321

It’s 9:20pm and realising I haven’t taken a photo today, I looked at the clock and realised I had my subject. We found this clock in a tiny shop in Lindos, Rhodes on our first holiday together back in 2006. Since then we make a point of buying a piece of unique local art from every holiday destination. Unfortunately our last holiday was our honeymoon back in 2007 lol.

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2
14 years ago
by dawniebrown in
P313

Sometimes I look at her and she seems so grown up. I love her so much at this age, wish I could press pause for a while so she doesn’t grow up too fast.

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3
14 years ago
by dawniebrown in
P307

Hello Mr Guinea Pig!

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