2013

We started 2013 as a family of three, with a new arrival imminent.  Dylan was newly walking and starting to talk, slowly losing his baby fat and turning into a little toddler.  I was growing daily with another little boy in my tummy and our life was quiet yet perfect.

After a year of broken legs, birthdays, days out and days in, a year where we welcomed another baby into our life and saw our little man become a big brother.  After a year of learning, enjoying, growing and giggling, we find ourselves leaving 2013 behind, and beginning the new year as a family of four.

Dylan has left behind the baby days, and is slowly changing from a toddler to a little boy.  His language is amazing and he gets funnier and cheekier by the day.  Despite a month spent in hospital, quite literally tied to a bed, he has not stopped spoiling and he remains the laid back little dude he always was.  2013 for him so the end of being an only child and he has adapted to life as a big brother with ease, helping make room in the family for Archie.

Archie is hurtling towards the toddler years and is desperate to walk having now mastered a push along walker and his first birthday is looming.  He is the polar opposite to his big brother in every single way, with an inability to sit still and a curiosity that extends especially to anything with buttons and/or wires.  

2013 was a year of growth, physically for the boys, as a family and as people.  We have learnt seperately and together and we are now a unit of four, a little team, we are buddies.

2014 will be a year of change, with Archie becoming more independent, Dylan turning 3 in August and staring part time pre-school and myself returning part time to work after 11 months of maternity leave.  It will be a year of calm as we continue with our ordinary life as a family of four.   It will be a year of family, as we look forward to a week away in March with my parents at Butlins.  It will be a year of Birthdays as we celebrate the littlest one's first and then the bloke turning thirty.  

I hope it will be a good year, where we are so busy making memories that we don't even notice.  Here is our last family photo from the year, taken on Christmas Day at my parent's house.  All in our cheesy Christmas jumpers, enjoying time with family. This sums up our year pretty well.

Happy New Year!

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A Family Christmas

Christmas is full of sparkle, lights, good food and gifts but the most important part is definitely family.  I have grown up with big family Christmas, generations all coming together, joined by board games and Quality Street and this year was no exception.

This year was Archie's first Christmas and he loved tucking into some turkey, lots of attention and crawling and cruising round the room.

Dylan really understood a lot about Christmas and was very excited that Father Christmas had come to visit.   He was loving the fact that every room had chocolate in it although he may have eaten his body weight in apples!

This year the rule was Christmas jumpers, the cheesier the better and everyone joined in.  I got a great opportunity to put my new tripod to good use.  

The boys were utterly spoilt (as were the bloke and I) and we are lucky to have so many thoughtful friends and relatives.  Uncle Oli bought them a slide and both boys had fun playing on it over the 2 days we were staying with Grandma and Grandpa.

Christmas was everything it should be, full of fun, love, chocolate and card games.  How was yours?

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Merry Christmas!

I haven't been online much recently, and I have quite enjoyed the break.  It wasn't planned, but we have been so busy catching up with friends,  spending time as a family and going to Christmas parties, that something had to give, and living life is more important than recording it at the end of the day.

Our month has been jam packed, exciting and amazing and we have loved the lead up to the big day.  From festive crafts to the delicious food that it is totally acceptable to scoff at this time of year, we have embraced Christmas well and truly and we are all excited for the celebrations.

Today we have enjoyed opening our Christmas Eve box and after the Christingle service, we snuggled in our new pyjamas, enjoying hot chocolate and mince pies and watching The Snowman and The Snowman and The Snow Dog.  The boys went to bed dressed in penguins and dreaming of reindeer and the big man in red.

To all my readers, Merry Christmas!  I hope your day is perfect, full of magic, laughter and memories.

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10 Months in.

Archie is now 10 months old and suddenly he is becoming less of a little baby and more of a little boy.  At 9 months and 2 weeks Archie was still smiling his gummy smile but by the day he turned 10 months there were 4 little teeth poking through his gums!  We are skipping the rather adorable two bottom teeth look and going straight for the centre 4.  They aren't yet fully grown but they all cut within a few days of each other.  All the signs say this teething malarkey is getting worse though and I wouldn't be surprised if there were some more before the next update.

Unfortunately teething and a bit of a cold have seen a major sleep regression and we are still all over the place.  On a good night, Archie will only wake once but a bad night sees him sleeping like a newborn again which is rather tough on us all.  He still has one nap now straight after lunch which is anything from 1 hour to 3 hours.

Breastfeeding is still going well and although I decided to try and cut down his feeds, teething and illness have had other plans so he is still fed relatively regularly throughout the day.  I am not too worried yet but there comes a point where I am less comfortable feeding out and about so I would like to cut him down to only 3 feeds a day quite soon.  He loves his food though and happily eats three big meals (we are still doing baby led weaning) and snacks throughout the day.  He has also learnt to drink from a straw (thanks to me forgetting his water cup on a number of occasions)

Archie is a baby on the go and is now commando crawling comfortably and sometimes crawling on his knees too.  He learnt to pull himself up to standing a couple of months ago and he is now cruising round the furniture and attempting to let go, although he always falls down on his bum.  He wants to be standing all the time and seems to need to push on his feet, which is rather amusing when I am feeding him as he tends to stand over me!  He loves walking holding onto my hands and he is desperate to be off on his own.  He has started walking with the wooden walker up and down the room now and he looks so small!

Archie is still definitely a mummy's boy and he is happiest when he is climbing on me.  He is cheeky and has the most beautiful smile.  For the first few months he seemed to spend life on the boob or in a sling following his brother round but he is really coming into himself now and showing off his cheeky personality at every opportunity.  He loves poking things, knocking over towers and anything with buttons.  He watches Dylan with delight and smiles whenever he catches his eye and he gives so many kisses.  He may be growing up fast but he is still my tiny baby really.  We finally got him weighed this month and a 20lb 7oz he is pretty average for his age but still exceptionally tall.

It is terrifying to think that in 2 months I will have a one year old but we are looking forward to celebrating Archie's first Christmas this month!

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I Love Christmas

I love Christmas

I love the magic, the trees, the excuse to do almost anything, from wearing pyjamas all day to listening to cheesy music.  I love shopping and choosing the perfect gift for someone, I love writing cards and wrapping presents.  I love the music, the films, the books.  I love the countdown and opening a tiny little door every day.  I love our traditions, ones that have been passed down through the generations and ones we begin this year.  I love the novelty socks and jumpers, the tinsel and the fairy lights.  I love watching my children's faces.

I love coming downstairs with the boys to find that the Christmas tree has appeared in the living room, and inspecting every element of it with Dylan.  I love him telling me that he loves each bauble individually, like it is his new favourite toy.  I love the excitement every morning that the tree is still there, the lights still twinkling.  I love the red and gold, the baubles we have picked out individually or as a family, new ones joining us each year.

I love Christmas candles leaving a festive scent.  I love keeping in touch with old friends.  I love beautiful roses that brighten the house, all tied up with Christmassy ribbon.  I love eating chocolate every night once the little ones are in bed.

I love the excitement, the magic, the suspense, the build up, the big day and all the days that surround it.  I love Christmas.

Disclaimer:  I was sent some gorgeous flowers, chocolates and a teddy from the people at Prestige Flowers but don't they just look gorgeous and festive!

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Milk and Mummy

During summer, I tended to stick to the vest under a T-shirt rule and when Archie needed to feed, one went up and the other down, keeping my tummy covered. Now it is a bit chillier, I am not so keen on leaving my poor tummy so exposed to the elements and so I have started wearing more breastfeeding clothes.

Archie is nearly 10 months but still feeds in the day and I prefer to be discreet for my own sake.  I was sent a beautiful nursing top from Milk and Mummy to try out and it is perfect for winter.

The fitted top comes apart to expose just enough breast to feed with, and the top hangs in a flattering way to cover that post baby bulge which just does not want to shift.  This is a top I will wear once I have finished nursing as you can't notice the hidden access at all.

The material is soft and stretchy and this goes with almost anything.  Milk and Mummy also have some gorgeous breastfeeding dresses, perfect for winter as most dresses are off limits when you are breastfeeding.  If you are looking for something to last and to feed discretely with then I would recommend checking them out.

Thursday 19th is the last day to order if you want something gorgeous to wear on Christmas day so order quickly!  You can even get 10& off until the end of the month as well with the code MUMMY10

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My Funny Little Boy - December

I love recording the little things my babies do and say, and Dylan makes me laugh on a daily basis at 28 months with the funny things he comes out with.  Here are a selection of the last month's funnies as I don't want to forget them!

Lady: Be careful of the baby

Dylan: It's not a baby, it is MY baby (about Archie in soft play)

Look mummy, a gingerbread man!  (see pic below)

Pointing at a random man in the street - (very loudly) look Mummy, it's postman pat!

We are singing wheels on the bus, and Dylan chimes in with a new verse:
"The conductor on the bus goes fart, fart, fart"

We are walking over a bridge and I try to tell him about rivers to which he relies:
'The river can't climb up on the bridge mummy, it's got no feet!'

"I can't sleep in my bed, I need to sleep in a duck pond"

Dylan, what do you want to be when you are a grown up?
"A fire engine, no, a Robot, so I can have robot arms!" (Cue an odd robot dance)

"I need to give Archie a cuddle because I love him."

Me: Shall we sing Archie a song?
Dylan: No
Me: I think he would like a song, what shall we sing him?
Dylan: Nothing
Me: I don't know that one, how does it go?
Dylan: (To the tune of twinkle twinkle) Nufin, nufin, nufin nufin . . . .

D: Mummy, I'm hungry
Me: Would you like a sandwich then?
D: no, I'm not hungry for a sandwich
Me: How about some crunchy peppers?
D: No, I don't think I need some crunchy peppers
Me: Well I am not sure what you can have then Dylan
D: I am hungry for some pudding, maybe some of Daddy's chocolate?

"I did a burp!"
Are you sure that was a burp Dylan?
"Yes, it was a burp from my bottom!"

That's not baby Jesus, it's baby Archie! (About the baby in a manger in our nativity)

Stop doing that with your food please
*keeps doing it and giggles*
Dylan, it's not funny, stop doing it please
Dylan: "It is a little bit funny though!"

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