A winter's Beach Stroll

We live in a beautiful place, sure, it has its faults but there is nowhere else I want to bring up my babies.  We have a lovely house with just about enough space for us all, and neighbours all around that we stop and chat to.  We have family and friends all around us. We have a park at the end of the road where the boys can run around, climb and kick a ball.  We have the promenade just round the corner, where they can ride their bikes, spot boats in the sea and watch the world go by.  We have a beach within walking distance that we don't take advantage of nearly enough.

I have seen lots of photos on instagram recently of people enjoying the sea, even as the temerature drops and it inspired us to do the same.  We often go for lunch down on the seafront, but we went for a wander afterwards at the weekend, to skim stones in the sea, chase the waves and build sandcastles (without a bucket).  The boys loved it (until Dylan got caught out and drenched to his knees) and the sun shone for us.  I had my camera on me, so took a few snaps, although with the sun so bright, it was hard to avoid the shadows. (Sorry about the photo spam)

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A September Summer Holiday - The Beach Day

In case you haven't noticed it has been a bit quiet over here lately, whilst we have been enjoying a family holiday.  The bloke, the boys and I flew to Italy, and landed at Rome airport for a week staying at a Canvas Holidays caravan.  There will be plenty more on that this week, but my first post is more photos than words (after all, we have only just arrived back in the UK and my 3am alarm clock means today has been spent feeling tired and working my way through a mountain of washing).

Our holiday was a bit of everything - Caravan park fun, city break and time on a beautiful beach.  This post is about our day at the beach.  A twenty minute bus ride from the site, on a scorching hot day and we found our own spot of paradise.  The sand was much darker than in the UK, the shores emptier and the sun stronger.  We rented sunbeds and an umbrella, and the boys had buckets and spades.

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Recently

May has brought with it lots of days off, a reason to start running again and of course some beautiful sunshine.  I haven't taken my camera out very much recently, but these are a few snaps from the times I did.

We have spent long afternoons in the park, have seen friends and family ever day and have had our fair share of parties to attend as well.  May has involved digging the shorts out the back of the cupboard, making suncream a staple part of the changing bag and plenty of sandcastles on the beach.  Even if the weather doesn't last, we have had the last couple of weeks and we have spent as much of it as possible outside.

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As They Change

These two boys are changing so fast that I am struggling to keep up.  Archie is reaching new milestones and mastering new skills, whilst Dylan is losing the baby side of his features, and getting taller and stronger every day.  Their relationship is changing as Archie becomes more adventurous and determined, but more fun as a playmate at the same time.

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A New Dynamic

Up until quite recently, Archie has been a baby, Dylan a toddler.  They have loved each other, cared for each other and enjoyed having a brother to spend the days with.  Dylan was the active one, bringing toys to Archie, entertaining him, looking out for him.  Archie is now well and truly mobile, comfortably cruising the furniture and crawling on his hands and knees.  He is climbing the stairs, exploring every surface and toy and causing mischief at every opportunity! 

The dynamic has changed, it is no longer a one sided show, but the boys are learning to play together.  They sit with the same toy pressing buttons or moving the characters around.  They follow each other, they giggle together playing their own little games. Archie is becoming a toddler before my very eyes.

The dynamic is always changing and it won't be long before Archie is the dominant one.  His personality is cheekier, his will stronger and I foresee all kinds of fun as they grow up together.

There are two sides to these changes though, and of course Dylan still needs his space.  He has puzzles to do, lego to build and books to read without a little brother trying to chew the pieces.  He wants to spread out and get stuck in like he used to, but Archie has other ideas and this can cause some obvious friction between them. 

 I haven't yet come up with a solution for when they are both demanding of my time, and they still nap together in the afternoons leaving me no one on one time during the days.

Mostly though, the changes are exciting to watch.  Archie is learning to play, and Dylan to share.  They are entertaining each other, growing a friendship and I have more and more moments where I can sit on the sofa with a cup of tea and just watch them smiling and playing together.  I knew that having the boys so close together with only an 18 month gap would have its advantages as well as its challenges and seeing the boys together now both are so clear.

I feel like they have the best gift ever in having a sibling to share their childhood with, a constant companion and playmate but there are times I just want to split myself in two.  Mostly though, I am finding this stage exciting as we grow alongside one another as a family.

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Making Over Our Living Room

We moved into our home in November and although it is looking incredibly full of 'stuff',  we have not got round to adding some of the personal touches we intended, and with two small children around getting the motivation to do these things doesn't always come easily.  Money supermarket have set a bloggers challenge to makeover a room or part of a room with £50 and it seemed like the perfect excuse to make those changes.

Here is the space I wanted to work with:

I love photography and whilst it may not be a skill of mine, we do have a lot of beautiful photos that I want to show off. I decided that the money would be used to create a photo wall behind our living room sofa.  I love the elegant white or wooden frames that many houses have, but our lives are all about colour so I chose some beautifully bright frames from ikea to add some personality to the room.  They were very reasonably priced and the smaller sized came in packs of two for £2.50.  I have also bought some cheap wooden frames from the poundshop which I want to paint with some leftovers we have around.

I found a brightly coloured photo-clock on Ebay which forms the centre of the wall (and is somehow the only clock we have in the entire house!) My final piece was a gorgeous glass bottle to go in the window which I picked up for 25p from a local bootfair and filled with some water beads that we have been using for messy play with Dylan.   

And voila! Our living room looks brighter and our gorgeous photos are finally on display!

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Two Little Boys

One of the great delights of having two little boys is getting to be the cruel mummy who dresses them in matching outfits and takes loads of photos! As Dylan is in 2-3 year clothing, they are generally in different departments now, but we have been sent a jumper for Dylan and matching romper for Archie from Cashmirino and I couldn't resist matching them up this week.

Both items are 100% Cashmere and beautifully soft.  The romper has buttons down the back which is perfect for my tummy sleeper.  Dylan's jumper is in age 4 (he is 20 months), and seems to be a good fit on him, although I think he will be wearing it for quite some time!  Archie's romper is sized 3 months.

I love the boys in their matching outfits and they were even better for cuddling being so soft!

Disclaimer:  We were sent the jumper and romper free of charge, but all thoughts, opinions and photos are completely my own.

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One Week In

We have now been a family of four for one whole week.  

A week of welcoming our new arrival, spending every spare minute watching him sleep, stroking his beautifully soft skin, checking his ten tiny fingers and toes and wondering how we got to be so lucky to have two gorgeous little boys.

A week of learning the logistics of getting out the house with two, getting them both up, fed and dressed in the morning before we go out, and a week of practice with a double pushchair - steering it round shops, putting it up and down and watching the admiring glances.

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18 Months Old!

Somehow 18 months have passed since the little dude entered my life.  I cannot quite account for where they have gone but looking through the thousands of photos I have taken it is amazing to see how much he has grown and changed and the amazing things we have done together.

At 18 months he is no longer the gorgeous newborn baby, but a cheeky toddler with enough energy for us both! He is always running around and has so many words (although I still don't understand them all).  He will soon be a big brother which is as exciting as it is strange!

To celebrate his half birthday, I decided to go back through my photos and showcase one from every month of his life to show how much he has grown up! Every photo is a memory and I remember taking every one and thinking how gorgeous and perfect my baby boy is.

0 months, 0 days, 3 hours!

1 month old

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First Walk in the Snow

Last year Dylan was too little to really understand anything about snow and seemed to spend the whole time outside fast asleep snug in his snowsuits.  This year he is very aware and after spending the morning watching it from the window, we took him out for his first walk in the white stuff.

My Boys

Our little corner of the country always seems to be the last to get any snow so it was lovely to wake up to a white road after watching my facebook timeline and twitter feed fill up with pictures of snowmen and wet wellies.  After getting all dressed up in our warmest gear, and

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Becoming a Father

The bloke and I were unprepared for pregnancy and I don't think the reality of having a baby hit us until there was a tiny little newborn in our arms.  I like to think we both adapted well and Dylan's birth will always be the best and most life-changing day of my life.  It was the day I became a mother, found a new purpose and realised just how big my capacity to love someone was.  I think being a mother, you find that love and protection is usually instinctual.  We have nine months to bond with this foetus growing inside of us and I loved feeling him kick knowing that nobody else knew what was going on - our own secret communication.  When Dylan was born I felt like I already knew him and that he had always been a part of my life.

The bloke took to being a father straight away too and right from the beginning would enjoy an hour of time alone with his son every night whilst I got some uninterrupted sleep.  He would pop Dylan on a cushion on his lap and enjoy him being there as he watched TV or played on his computer.  As the little dude grew he would change nappies, bathe him and feed him dinners and he loved pushing him proudly round in the pram. It wasn't until Dylan

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Capture the Colour

When I heard about this competition from Travel Supermarket I couldn't resist getting my travel pics out.  Back in 2009 I backpacked around the world, met some amazing friends and saw some amazing sights.  My photo albums have long been put away and it was lovely to reminisce and remember the people and places.  The competition involves picking a photo for the colours blue, green, yellow, white and red so here are mine:

This photo was taken on the Tongariro Crossing, a 26km hike in New Zealand.  Not only did the walk

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Albelli Photo Book - Review

Dylan's first birthday was big and colourful and I wanted a great way to capture that.  When Albelli offered me a photo book from their website I knew they were the right place to make my memories.  You can personalise your photo book in every which way imaginable and choose from a variety of sizes, shapes and page backgrounds.  

As Dylan's party was rainbow themed so is his book and the pages alternate through the seven colours as they share our memories.  I went for a large (30x30) square book so we could see the photos in all their glory and it did not dissapoint.

The book has a hard cover and I chose to personalise both the front and back with pictures.  The software is so simple to use although I did spend hours getting all the right pictures in and in the right order!  You can personalise your book either online or offline. I chose online as I thought it would be easier and it was great.  You can change each individual page layout and see the book as it will look when printed.  I found ordering it and understanding the prices very simple and the delivery service was great with emails keeping me up to date.

When the book arrived I instantly loved it.  The quality is fantastic and the pictures are clear.  I would definitely recommend Albelli if you want to make a special occasion into a physical memory.  Their prices are not the cheapest but the quality and service is exceptional!

Disclaimer:  I was provided with a £50 voucher for Albelli for the purpose of this review but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

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My Boys

The bloke is off work for a week and we are having a lovely time together as our little family of 3.  Yesterday the bloke and the baby wore their matching T-shirts.  The large one says 'It was him' and the smaller one says 'It wasn't me'.  They looked great together so I thought I would share a few pictures of my favourite boys.

It was him!

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A Rainbow First Birthday Party

I was very excited at the prospect of organising Dylan's first birthday.  I had seen pictures of rainbow cake and despite never having made a cake by myself before, I decided to base the party around this theme.

Armed with rainbow bunting, multicoloured plates and bowls and plenty of balloons, I set about decorating for our rainbow extravaganza.  I made some birthday bunting using 13 pieces of coloured card and sticking a photo of Dylan from each month on them.  I pegged them to a piece of string and made my very own memory bunting following Dylan from a tiny newborn to a mischievous one year old.

We had all the usual party food and for desert I decided on plenty of fruit as well as cakes so the little people could have a healthy lunch.  As well as plates of watermelon and assorted fruit I made a fruit rainbow using strawberries, slices of orange, melon, green and purple grapes.

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You make me Smile - Week 8!

We are now into week 8 of You make me Smile and I am loving reading your entries every week.  This week has been particularly exciting as it was Dylan's first birthday so I have plenty of smiles to share!

I may have mentioned (several times) on twitter that I have made a rainbow cake but I am still so impressed wit myself so here is the umpteenth photo of my Rainbow cake.

After what seems like months of worrying about Dylan's movements he spent most of his birthday pulling himself up on the furniture and confidently walking round, making me realise I have a lot of things to move higher!  He keeps letting go for a few seconds and his balance is great so he is finally taking some steps in the right direction!

And finally (as we seem to be on a birthday theme) it was lovely to have so many of our friends and family together and we had 50 guests as Dylan's garden party!  It was very busy but the babies loved playing together and it was nice to spend this special day with all the important people in our lives.

So why have you been smiling this week?  Post three photos with as many or as few words as you like, add the badge and link up!  Please share the loved and go and comment on as many of the other posts as you can. 

insert code</<a href="http://themummyadventure.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p482/mummyadventure/th_smilelinky.jpg" border="0" alt="You make me smile" /></a>>

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A Moment of History

The Olympic torch finally made it's way into our little corner of the country and we were ready to welcome it.  Armed with an inflatable torch of our own and a patriotic flag we joined the masses on Thursday morning waiting for the procession.  

Dylan may not have known what was about to happen but the

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You make me smile Week 1

I have decided to start a new linky with the intention of improving my photography and helping me to appreciate the great things in my life.  I will post it up every tuesday and you can join in anytime during the week.  The idea is you post three photos of things that are making you smile this week, whether they are a lie in, a piece of delicious cake or your babies first steps. You can add as much or as little explanation as you like.

Here are mine for the week:





Getting a new sling for Dylan.  He has sadly outgrown his stretchy wrap and I love baby wearing so I am really emjoyimg having a nice woven wrap to carry him in.










The upcoming  britmums live is getting me really excited and fulfilling my desire to write lists (insert picture of list of lists to write)
















The warm weather on Sunday really made me smile as we had a lovely afternoon down the beach.













If you want to join in then write your post and please back to this one so your readers can check out some more great bloggers.  here is a badge you can add to your post just copy and paste the html code.  When you add your link please leave a comment and try and visit some of the other blogs. I hope to see some fabulous entries!

 insert code</<a href="http://themummyadventure.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p482/mummyadventure/th_smilelinky.jpg" border="0" alt="You make me smile" /></a>>

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A whole lot of Red, White and Blue

We may not have spent the weekend attending street parties and watching the concerts on TV, but we have had a lovely long weekend enjoying time as a family. 

We decided cooking was not in the spirit of things, and went to Nandos for dinner.  Dylan has been perfecting his pincer grip recently, and loved getting stuck in with some peas!

That wasn't the only meal out we had, and a pub lunch meant Dylan had plenty of time to play with Daddy and read the cocktail menu

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