Window Shopping in Ikea

Window shopping in Ikea is never a good idea, because I walk away wanting everything. Hubby saw an advert on the TV this morning and suddenly decided that despite our shortage of money, he wanted to have a wander around the wonder that is Ikea.

I don't know if I've explained our housing situation already, but I'll tell you again. We're applying to buy a flat which is currently occupied by Hubby's grandmother, and is leased from the government. They allow long-term residents, and their family to purchase the flat for a cut-down price. The flat in question is on the third floor, has two bedrooms and is ideal in every way for us to raise Baby C. Hubby's grandmother finds the stairs hard to contend with now she's becoming less confident on her feet, and she doesn't need the extra bedroom, so wants to move to a small, one bedroomed, ground floor flat, preferably nearer to her daughter (Hubby's mother).

The flat we're currently living in is all of those things, so we're hoping to swap. For that reason, we're kind of in limbo with our living situation at the moment; we don't want to change this flat too much, because we know we will be moving, and it will have been a waste. But on the other hand, we really have no time frame as to when we can move, because the paperwork is taking it's sweet time to come through.

So when we go to Ikea (I don't really know what we were thinking), all we can do is window shop and dream of the future and what we might be able to have. We did fall in love with this item though:


Now, I realise it doesn't look like much, but it's exactly what we need. We have a little round table in the corner of the room, but because of the amount of things we have, we can't get it clear of clutter. We want a desk to be able to work on our laptops, because let's be honest; your lap is the last place you want your laptop when it's 35c outside. We would also love to raise Baby C to see that having dinner around a table (even if it is a small one) is normal.

And of course the massive shelves allow us to store some of said clutter. They also sell boxes which fit into the shelves, so that they look a little tidier. We're thinking of using red boxes to contrast with the white.

It took a lot of will power not to buy it there and then. But it was made a little easier, because I was looking forward to our next stop, where I was about to make my next purchase:


A BUMBO!!!

For those of you who haven't seenn these before, they are basically little chairs that you can sit your baby in for feeding, for playing, or just so they can sit up and look around. They take up less space than a highchair (which was my main reason for getting one), they're lighter, and they're just so cute. I have been after one of these since before Baby C was born, and believe me when I say it's been no easy feat.

I have looked high and low, near and far, and enquired in all the franchises around here that I know should stock it, but to no avail. Nobody has even been willing to order it in for me, even when I offered to pay extra for shipping and taxes. So it's taken a little shop 2 hours away from Hubby's Homeland to be able to find it. And they only had this scary bogey green colour (it's the colour of Shrek), and I paid well over the odds for it, but I don't care, because it's a Bumbo, and Baby C likes it!