Our bank holiday looked like this...

Carousel riding, garden centre visiting, tablet browsing, scone baking, mummy visiting, poorly boy snuggling, sister styling, project lifing, ice-cream licking, pram pushing, soft play tumbling, baby waving, daddy napping, sun lounging, football supporting, Chinese scoffing, traffic dodging, (hopefully.)

 

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Thanks for the format Sian

Friday Finds: Things I am Loving...

So here are some of the things I have been enjoying reading/watching/pinning lately...

1) This article on ten things that moms of boys must do. Some of them are already apparent (such as loving bath time, making messes and so, so, so much laundry) and some I still have to look forward to (such as 'the grab')! Check it out here. My sister shared it with me on Facebook - perhaps gloating that she has a girl.

 2) In line with my previous post I loved this blog post all about appreciating the little things and seeing the world through a baby's eyes.

3) I have been a bit obsessed with pineapples lately and so when I saw these bad boys on pinterest (thanks Kayleigh!) I was drooling. Plus they are healthy (or maybe healthier) and in the run up to summer that can only be a good thing.

4) We had a date night at the movies last night and this advert came up in the previews and we gave each other the knowing look that only parents of a baby could.

5) And lastly ladies aren't we glad that things have progressed slightly since this.

 Happy bank holiday fellow Brits &

 

                        enjoy your weekend the rest of you!

To my grown up son...

A few events have happened recently to make me appreciate what I have got.
In life it is so easy to moan and I have been feeling burdened recently with my return to work, all the silly business and admin and phone calls involved in buying a house, trying to maintain a household on little time and little energy, the little man is still not sleeping through the night and we have had some very tricky, long and exhausting nights too. Let's hope its teeth! 
Plus all these bad things are happening to people who I care about and being back in the teaching climate of moaning, stress and constant fear (thanks to Mr Gove) doesn't help when you're already feeling drained.

But I have a gorgeous little boy.

In fact as I left the house the other morning, feeling very sorry for myself after a fractious night which involved the baby being awake and crying from two a.m till five a.m, an old lady fell in step with me and was admiring his smile. I wished she hadn't picked this day to converse with me as I really wasn't in the mood for small talk. She asked how old he was and what his name was. I muttered my responses hoping that my tone was off putting enough that she would stop chatting to me. 
Then she said, "I wish I could have had babies. I couldn't and my husband wouldn't consider adoption otherwise I would have had a few. You're so lucky to have him." 
Wow! It was just the wake up call I needed to stop sweating the small things and to appreciate what I have.

A few months ago I had to speak at my friends' baby blessings. They have two gorgeous twin girls who were born three months early and have spent the majority of their eight months in this world in hospital fighting for survival. My mom sent this poem for me to read out and it's so poignant and a real tear jerker.

"To My Grown-Up Son" 

by Alice E. Chase

My hands were busy through the day, 

I didn't have much time to play 

The little games you asked me to,

 I didn't have much time for you. 

I'd wash your clothes; I'd sew and cook, 

But when you'd bring your picture book 

And ask me, please, to share your fun, 

I'd say, "A little later, son." 

 I'd tuck you in all safe at night, 

And hear your prayers, 

turn out the light, 

Then tiptoe softly to the door, 

I wish I'd stayed a minute more. 

 For life is short, and years rush past, 

A little boy grows up so fast, 

No longer is he at your side, 

His precious secrets to confide. 

The picture books are put away, 

There are no children's games to play, 

No goodnight kiss, 

No prayers to hear, 

That all belongs to yesteryear. 

 My hands once busy, now lie still, 

The days are long and hard to fill, 

I wish I might go back and do, 

The little things you asked me to. 

________________________________

I still can't get through this poem without crying.

It is so true.

That's why I have a messy house.

But its not always because I am playing with The Baby.

Often I am sofa surfing whilst he plays on the floor.

So this poem reminds me to make every second count.

Let's all hug our babies (big or small) a little tighter today.

A Day in the Life...

I joined in with the inspiring Ali Edward's blog challenge of 'A day in the life...' and was pleased that it worked out to be my day off as they are far more exciting than a working day. I like to pack in as much fun as possible to make it all worthwhile. I also dusted off the 'big' camera and so some of these photos are better quality too!

So it went like this...

 Favourite breakfast of the moment - Lemon Marmalade on toast

 A quick clean of the kitchen whilst The Baby munches on his toast

Special delivery from freeprintapp.com I highly recommend getting this app as you can get 50 free prints a month and they are really good quality and you can even get instagrams and just trim the border (don't opt for the pricier square option)

Catching up with Jill Sprott's latest adventures over at Two Peas - I love all her layouts and her videos. I feel a connection with her as she is an English teacher too and I love all her journalling and the little details on her layouts.

A bit of Project Life whilst watching the video as I always multitask. The Baby is having his morning nap. I am recording his first passport photo - it was a cute one!

Put my face on as I have a certain amount of make-up I have to wear every day to feel presentable. Basically some cover-up to paint away the sleep deprivation and some bronzer to put some colour in my cheeks.

The Baby wanted to do some hoovering but we had to run to my opticians appointment.

But first the ever tricky task of finding a matching pair of socks. Where do baby socks go? Really!

In the lift heading to Boots

In one of those dodgy little lifts in Boots where you have to hold onto the button till you have reached your floor. Don't you hate those ones?

Waiting for much longer than anticipated. Had to take him out of the pram as he was getting impatient and so he had a crawl around. He made a new friend who was saying to everyone, "this is Ellis. He is really curious and loves to crawl. Have you met him?" It was very sweet - I love it when anyone makes a fuss over my baby!

A quick snooze in the car for baby. We are doing well with naps today - that means he will sleep well tonight. Result!

Met these lovely ladies at Salts Mill (well I didn't just happen to meet them - it was arranged)

We shared the yummiest goats cheese, beetroot and chutney pizza

The tastiest chocolate and banana milkshakes - mine was chocolate (I say was as it didn't last long)

I had some newborn baby cuddles - my Baby didn't get jealous as he was too busy nosying at everyone else!

New mum looking great on a few hours sleep

Afterwards some fun in the kids book section

First taste of a raspberry - turns out he's not a fan!

They managed to get the cupboard open and Nancy managed to get in it at one point

Discussing world literature around the table

Hi blue eyes!

The rest of the evening saw me watching Sister Act and crafting.

I am still loving Project Life and have lots of layouts to share. It really is therapy for my as I love pretty paper, stamping, photos and the stories behind them and I love just capturing and documenting our everyday life.

What do you like to do on your days off?

One Photo & Twenty Words: Moving on...

"So you know we're moving house right? Well, just wondered if you are you going to remember to pack me too?"

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Linking up to the lovely Abi over at Creating Paper Dreams

Musings on Motherhood: My baby is nine months old!

This month:

• he is obsessed with buttons, zips, bangles and beads and puts them all in his mouth - in fact it is the only thing that keeps him occupied if he sits on your lap
• his favourite toy is his snail that lights up, moves and plays a song and his Jenga blocks for chewing on
• he gives open mouthed kisses (very forward) and then blows a raspberry to cleanse his palette
• he LOVES blowing raspberries and always at the most inopportune times
• he is super sociable and loves to watch older kids play at the park
• he loves to touch other kids like patting their heads and backs and going for their faces (not so sweet!)
• he loves swings

• he loves crawling into tiny little spaces - behind the sofa, under the move 'n' groove and under the dining room table
• he loves making an escape whenever I leave a door open he is straight into the hall/kitchen/bathroom
• he hates being restricted and isn't keen on getting his nappy changed, being strapped into his pram or high chair, getting dressed or being put in the baby bouncer
• his smile still melts hearts (especially mine)
• he had his first Easter egg hunt
• he had a ride on his first miniture railway
• he is cruising around the place like there's no tomorrow and still pulling up on every available surface

• a handful of times we have 'caught' him standing on his own for a few seconds at a time
• twice I have 'caught' him taking a few steps from sofa to sofa on his tiptoes - so funny!
• his favourite food are still yogurt, cucumber sticks, pita bread, rice crackers, chicken and pasta
• he is still super curious and always twists right around in his high chair to catch the action around the place
• he seems really tuned into noises like birds tweeting or trucks driving past the house
• he loves babbling and it can feel like your having a conversation when you ask him something or say his name he responds with 'da'
• he now has two teeth on the bottom and top and if you happen to put a finger in his mouth you will regret it as he can really gnaw down
• we love his smile where he crinkles his nose and the accompanying 'hee hee hee' as mentioned last month, still my favourite thing!
• still waking once or twice in the night, but we have had a few nights where he slept through till five or seven and it was heaven. He really is a creature of habit and so when we went away to my parents he gets out of the routine really quickly and hits the wall at bed time where he gets so tired he doesn't know what to do with himself. Poor thing! Poor us too - we used to love our sleep!

                       Still our gorgeous little ray of sunshine!

First week flying solo

So, because you were all so supportive and sweet when I shared my concerns about leaving The Baby and returning to work, I though I had better share an update of how we got on.

Well not only is my childminder great with the kids, she also appreciates capturing the everyday and has a special Facebook page where she shares what the kids are up to throughout the day. So perfect for a scrapbooker and anxious mother who is sat missing her little boy at work and then up pops a whole album to show what he has been up to. It is beyond amazing. 

So here is what he has been up to in just three days:- 

Lots of playing outside in the garden as the weather has been nice

Some sorting cups and looking at reflections

Some web surfing!

Some role playing

He even ate some banana (which was on the naughty list before)

Lots of giggling

Some falling in love (uh-oh!)

Making birds' nests

Chewing some toys

Munching on some toast

Napping (only the second and third day, clearly on Monday he was too enthralled by it all!) 

Playing with cars - apparently he was really trying to work out how the cars got past the bend. Future engineer?

Exhausted by all of the fun and asleep in the triple buggy

Making bird seed

Whole body painting!

Doesn't it look exhausting, but such fun! When I see these pictures my heart sings and I can see the benefit of it all for him. He loves his little buddies and follows the little one and a half year old boy around like his shadow. After day one he was barely crying and was eating and napping well. I am so proud of how easily he has adapted - especially since last week he wasn't very well and had been very clingy. 

Today (my first official 'day off') he has been clingier than usual and has napped a lot, but its been a hectic and slightly confusing week for him so I can fully understand that response. I now have five days off and plan to make the most of it.

I have enjoyed being back at work and it already feels like I've never been away (in mostly a good way); however I am totally exhausted in the evenings and have napped most afternoons or gone to bed really early. Dinner has been a really lazy convenient frozen pizza or tortellini and housework has been the bare minimum. I will have to find a happy medium, but for now I am proud that I didn't cry on Monday and the we're both enjoying our new ventures. 

What do you all have planned for the bank holiday weekend?