Thursday, 10 October 2013

Amelia's 1st Birthday


I can’t believe our baby’s one already! This year has been so special and we’ve loved watching Amelia’s personality develop over the last few months. She’s such an affectionate little girl and has an amazing giggle. Her favourite things are puppets, books, blueberries, vanity cases, the cupboards in the kitchen, nursery rhymes, and puzzles. We had a little party for Amelia on Sunday. She was spoiled with lots of presents, a Rainbow Rob cake and endless hugs and kisses:























I’m not sure knew what was happening, but she certainly had fun as she was in bed for the night by 5:45pm!

Amelia's likes copying me:



She even tries to put my glasses on and brushes her own hair!

In other news, we’ve now got a dining room table, a new washing machine and a new tumble dryer. We’re very excited about them all!























Saturday, 31 August 2013

I only have 8% battery on my laptop, but I must update our blog while I remember!

Exciting things that have happened this summer:

  1. Holly, my little sister, got married,
  2. Amelia and I spent the week with Grandma Seaside,
  3. Grannie Jan spent a week with us in Farnborough,
  4. Amelia's started to crawl,
  5. Amelia's had two teeth come through,
  6. I've gone back to work, which was actually not as bad as I thought it'd be,
  7. We've seen lots of family and friends,
  8. We've finally settled into a nice church,
  9. My best friend, Harriet, got engaged, and 
  10. Mark's lost over two stone!
It's been all go. On the down side, I seem to have developed even more of a Baby Brain recently. If you have a baby, you'll know what I mean! I've been really scatty and keep making silly mistakes. I'm usually organised, so it's totally thrown me.

I'll upload as many photos as my battery allows!

A Dutch story:


Dressing up:


Sweaty:


Cute:


Bed time story and cuddles with Daddy:


Falling asleep whilst playing in the car:


A new very crazy smile:


New sandals:


As romantic as Mark ever gets:



Two peas in a pod:


Yeah, yeah, yeah... ? Southampton-ers, you'll know the drill:


Giggles:



Second cousin chums:


Tuesday, 30 July 2013

The time has come...


...for me to return to work - much to my utter dismay. I can’t believe it. Whilst I’m looking forward joining in with the staff room banter and seeing the lovely Music Department (and, to an extent, the children) again, I can’t bear to think about leaving Amelia. Thankfully we’ve found a wonderful child minder close to the school I teach at and I know Amelia will grow to love her and have lots of fun with the other children she looks after, but I wish I could just take Amelia to work with me. I think I’ll be counting down the days until the school holidays. As I’m feeling so down about it – and I know I’ll be feeling guilty every day I'm at work – I’ve made a list of good reasons to return to work to try to cheer me up. It’s almost working. If anyone has anymore they can add to my list, let me know!

1. It’ll be nice to see all the staff again
2. I’ll have a WHOLE HOUR to myself for lunch, plus
3. Lunch will be delicious and not just Amelia’s sandwich and fruit remains
4. I’ll have something to talk/think about other than toys, naps, baby food, nappies, etc.
5. I’ll be able to drink a cup of tea while it’s still hot
6. I can listen to something other than nursery rhymes
7. I can talk in a normal voice
8. I’ll be teased by Wilks again and will, in turn, be able to get my own back
9. It’ll be nice to have a sit down
10. I’ll have a role other than mother and housewife
11. I'll be earning again!

Here are a few photos of my nearly-10-month-old:







I love this one of Amelia and Lil!

Saturday, 6 July 2013

A February Resolutions update


As we’re now halfway through the year, I thought I’d review my February Resolutions to see where I need to improve!

Amelia
1. Read a book every week day. We’ve just about done this so far.
2. Go swimming at least once every two months. We’ve been swimming three times since February, but two of those times were on holiday and on consecutive days, so I’m not sure that counts!
3. Go on a walk every week. This has mostly happened.
4. Have a day out with Daddy at least once every two months. There aren’t enough weekends in a month! We’ve had a few family days out though.
5. Go to the zoo. We’re going at the end of July!
6. Sing more nursery rhymes. Is one a day good enough?
7. Listen to more music. We only listen to cheesy pop and classical at the moment. I’m going to see how Amelia likes grime next month.
8. Join at least one more baby group. At the moment, we go to one on Thursday mornings and do baby massage classes on Wednesday afternoons. We’ve done well with this one! We now go to a Stay and Play on Monday mornings, Jolly Babies (a music group) on Wednesday mornings and Caterpillar Music on Thursday afternoons.

Mark
1. Go on a date at least once every two months (once I’ve stopped feeding Amelia!). I’ve not stopped feeding Amelia yet!
2. Spend one of Amelia’s nap times resting instead of trying to cram housework/cooking/cleaning/crafting in, so that I’ve got more energy to have a conversation or play a game with Mark when he gets home. I’ve failed at this so far!
3. Mark wanted me to add that he is going to get into shape. I'd also like to say that he'll finish the bed this year, but I think that's a little optimistic! Mark’s doing really well with his diet. He’s lost over a stone in about a month.

Me
1. Lose two stone. I still have quite a way to go!
2. Make more of an effort with my hair and clothes. I’ve really let myself go recently! I think I’ve actually done pretty well with this. I try to paint my nails regularly and do something interesting with my hair at least once a week. I’ve been saving up clothes vouchers for when I drop a dress size too, so watch this space!

Around the house
1. Sort out all the wardrobes and cupboards, as we seem to have accumulated a lot of paraphernalia over the years. I’ve done this!
2. Keep on top of the ironing. I was doing so well, but then we went on holiday for a week and Mark found a suitcase full of creased clothes we’d forgotten to unpack during the move.
3. Clear out the conservatory (which is currently a complete mess). We cleared this out last month to make room for our new sofa and new dining table, but it’s now in a bit of a mess again.
4. Clean properly. At the moment I clean around everything! I’m getting better at cleaning, but there’s still room for improvement.
5. Cook at least one new recipe every fortnight, as I’ve become very unadventurous recently. Some weeks I do really well, but others I’m a bit lazy.

Other
1. Make at least one item using a sewing machine. I’ve selected a dining table cloth pattern, and will buy some material over the summer.
2. Go clubbing! I used to hate clubbing, but ever since Amelia was born I’ve had an irrepressible urge to go dancing. Would anyone like to come with me? I’ve gone off this idea. I will go though, as it’s too easy a resolution to fail on!
3. Take more photos. Yes!
4. Display more photos. Yes!
5. Go to church more often. I'm ashamed to say I've become quite lazy recently. I’ve been a bit rubbish at this.
6. Meet up with friends more often. I could do better.
7. Keep a prayer book. I’ve not even started one yet!
8. Do something for charity. I’m organising a concert to raise money for Cancer Research UK and the National AIDS Trust for December, January or February. I’ll let you know!