We don't do Valentine's but if we did..

There is one thing that I love the Internet for and that is dreaming.

 

Mr B and I have never really done Valentine's day, except for the first year we were dating. So here are my picks of what I would like if money, time and greediness were no object.

 

1 / Valentine’s Heart Confetti Bonbon / £35 / bonbon balloons

2 / Swallow Necklace with Sapphire / £120 / Alex Monroe

3 / Typography Helvetica poster print / £35 / Yumalum

4 / Brown Distressed Leather Satchel / £122 / Zatchels

5 / Green Quartz Cocktail Ring / £830 / Tiffany & Co

 

Happy Valentine's day all!

Our favourite park

Well, I thought this might be the first weekend we didn't manage to get outdoors but alas our Saturday morning plans of newborn baby cuddles were cancelled and a quick check of the weather forecast later and it was decided, yes we were.

Our favourite walks of recent years have been at Bradgate Park. Less than 10 minutes in the car from our house it is a popular destination for what seems like the whole of Leicestershire. It makes up for this with a great path (suitable for all weathers), rocks for climbing, ducks, ruins and being in a beautiful village.

With Mr B and I having grown up in Leicestershire it holds many memories - rock climbing as children, picnics whilst dating and daydreaming, walks with a newborn and more recently walks with a toddler.

Today was a quick visit, whilst the weather held, which allowed us to don the wellies, get some fresh air and climb some rocks.

We ended off the trip with a visit to a new little deli (The Grey Lady Kitchen & Deli) in the village for a lovely lunch and cake. We will definitely be going back there for the great food, relaxed and child friendly atmosphere (there is even a dedicated playroom upstairs!).

Two hours later, once the hail storm had stopped, we headed home.

Another great day inspired by Country Kids!

September starts

There are two times during the year that I start to feel twitchy. I start to feel the need for lists, for new beginnings, that it's the time to take action. I get that little buzz from new ideas, new projects.

Photo: Taken by me (iPhone)

One of these times is the period between Christmas and New Year when the urge to start a list is just too strong to ignore. The other is now, the start of September. Now we all know I like a project and a good list but there is something about these times of the year where it is particularly strong. It probably has something to do with the weather changing, the start of the countdown to the end of the year, the fact that my holiday entitlement is fast being used up - but it is most likely to be the many years of returning to school after the school holidays.

In fact, I've just googled it. After not really knowing what search term to use 'back to school syndrome' seemed to do the trick. In an article on cosmopolitan.co.uk there is evidence to suggest that I am not alone. The article talks about exactly what I have been feeling, stating that 'essentially, after 16 years of school and uni, we’re mentally programmed to get ready for new beginnings in autumn' and that following the summer we are 'more focused and therefore more emotionally ready for change'. Apparently, and I could not find a source for this elsewhere but, stats have shown that more than 70% of us are still more likely to make a life-changing decision in the month of September.

Well at least I am not the only one going through this. I had started to put these feelings down to various other things. My 'baby' is growing up fast, I've been in my job for nearly 12 months, we have been getting itchy feet with our house etc, etc but this has probably just made things feel stronger.

All the talk about 'back-to-school' on the tv, radio, and in shops has after (a fair) few years out of the education system started to feel a bit too real. Children's friends are starting school and there are only a couple of years before it will be E's turn. School life will be here all too quickly I am sure.

So, I might have to embrace these feelings. Start a new hobby (urm, I may have tried that before!) or maybe I should just treat myself to some new stationery.

Does anyone else have these feelings? I'd love to hear your experiences and solutions!

[ . . Wonderful Week . . ] Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside...

Since little E arrived we haven't ventured very far, in fact we hadn't been out of the Midlands together as a family but this week that all changed.

Mr B's best friend has fairly recently moved down to Kent so we invited ourselves to stay were invited down for a long weekend. I have been craving the sea for a while now. It is the only real place I feel free and love breathing in the fresh air, looking out on to the vast sparkling water and hearing the relaxing waves.

It certainly didn't disappoint, which is surprising really as I had been so excited all week leading up to it, even the 6 hour journey down there couldn't dampen my spirits.

Mr B and I were very excited about it being E's first time seeing the sea and we were keen to go for a paddle. The weather was certainly on our side so off to Whitstable beach we went, gritted our teeth as we walked over the stones and in to the freezing cold clear sea. E obviously didn't know what was going on but was fascinated with the water, constantly moving and sparkling in the sun.

The following day we headed off to the south coast. We walked along Camber Sands with E in the baby carrier kicking away in his sun hat.

It was perfect. In fact, the time together we spent on Camber Sands beach was lovely, hearing all the children play, enjoying a good cup of English tea discussing how we could do it more often. Move to the seaside? Not really an option these days. Have a seaside holiday every year? Is that really enough. Rent a holiday home for 3 months a year? Now we're talking :)

So, after coming back down from cloud nine we made the long journey back home smiling that we had had our first family seaside break. We really can't wait for the next one now.

I'd love to hear your recommendations for baby family places to visit. x

[ . . Wonderful Week . . ] Firsts

            

I can't quite believe it is two weeks since I declared that I was 'back' and since then all I have managed to achieve are some Silent Sunday and The Gallery posts - frankly the ones I find the easiest. I somehow find time in between and during feeds, nappies and winding to find a photo and attach some words.

I am however still not finding the time to actually get all the thoughts whirling around in my head out into words and write actual blog posts. Something I really think I need to do for my own sanity. I first started this blog to 'give me something to do' and as something to focus on after getting made redundant but now I think I need it as my outlet. I need to get these thoughts and feelings out. I am currently typing this as fast as I can whilst E is asleep on the sofa next to me (you never really know how long these moments will last) and Mr B is upstairs catching up on his sleep. I am really going to try to make the most of every second.

One boost during the past week is that some lovely person nominated me for a MAD Award. Not probably quite as rude as you might think, it isn't a classification of madness (although that may be more fitting right now), the Mads celebrate the UK's best mum and dad blogs and I have been nominated in the Best Baby Blog category. There are over 40 blogs nominated in the category so I don't really expect to get into the five shortlisted blogs that will go forward but it is still nice to be thought of. If however you haven't nominated yet and enjoy reading my blog I would really appreciate it if you would consider theprojectlab - especially as next year we won't qualify for the baby category :). You can nominate your favourite blogs here.

Another first for this week has been E's first smiles. I say smiles as he had been doing it for a few days before Mr B and I would admit that it was actually a smile. Poor boy, he had learnt this new skill and we were just dismissing it! It wasn't until the health visitor saw him that she commented "oh he is smiling now then" and made a note in his little red book that I took notice. Seriously, how bad are we, one of those firsts that new parents long for and enjoy and we missed it. Oh well, I can safely say we are now enjoying every smile and every new gurgley noise that comes along.

So through the exhaustion, frustration and pain caused by the lack of sleep and the colic we are relishing every first whether we notice them immediately or not!

What were your favourite firsts? Let me know so I can keep my eye out and not miss any more :)

[ . . Wonderful Week . . ] I'm back!

Well you will have noticed that my Wonderful Week posts have been a little thin on the ground in recent weeks. Well four weeks to be exact. You will also no doubt have realised why this is. The arrival of Baby B who is now known as E. :)

E arrived on the 2nd March, only one day after my due date after all (full birth story to appear soon). Since then our world has been turned upside down. To the parents out there this won't be surprising, to those who are not parents you may be thinking 'oh that's what they all say' (like I did!). But it really is true, not just a cliche.

I can not believe that four weeks has passed since E was born, the time just disappears. What with feeding every 2/3 hours, changing nappies, sleeping and anything else we can squeeze in like the excitement of tidying the kitchen etc, there really is NO time. I was expecting to feel tired but the surprise for me is the relentlessness of the baby cycle - change, feed, wind, sleep...repeat.

This hit me hard at first. I soon lost all feeling of who 'I' was. There have been many conversations of where has Lucy gone. I felt as though I had no identity other than that of 'feeding/milk machine' and even that wasn't easy. So the reason this last week has been wonderful, is that I finally feel like I am on my way back. I have decided not to run away and join the circus, or to sell E on eBay. Well not this week anyway.

I am taking one day at a time, enjoying my new family and not pressurising myself to be the perfect mum. After all, does that really exist anyway?!

[ . . 30 before 30 . . ] 17. Take more photos with the digital SLR

You may have already read about my love for photography on theprojectlab but also that it is one of those things that I never really get round to doing hence it making it on to my 30 before 30 list.

My weekly photo post for the gallery has helped to reignite my love for photography but still getting out to actually take new photos is not easy - and it is not going to get any easier I fear. In an attempt to make it that little bit easier I have changed the title of this one on my list from 'spending half a day taking photos' (when was this ever going to happen!) to just 'take more photos'.

A couple of weekends ago the sun decided to make a rare appearance so we made the most of it and went for a walk around one of our local favourites, Thornton Reservoir. It was originally built in 1854 and is now owned by Severn Trent Water and there is a lovely walk around the outside which is just under 2.5 miles. Perfect for a sunny Saturday. I didn't take too many pictures but I hope you enjoy the ones I have picked out below.

Wishing you all lots of sunny days. x

The Gallery: Togetherness - in the sunshine

So for this week's gallery the prompt was 'togetherness' inspired by Valentine's Day.

Mr B and I have never really 'done' Valentine's Day, except for maybe our first Valentine's Day which was only a few weeks after we had met. Mr was still in 'impressing' mode and had booked a table at a local restaurant but when we arrived the restaurant had no record of it. I remember it clearly now, even though it was 9 years ago, his face dropped and he looked so worried. Anyway, it was all sorted and we had a lovely night.

Since then we always celebrated our anniversary in January which seemed too close to do Valentine's Day as well. Then this year, with all the baby craziness we both forgot our January anniversary so have decided to stick to OUR special day. Our wedding anniversary in June.

So for me togetherness is about our wedding but I couldn't choose a wedding photo as I hadn't taken the photo so teamed with going through some old memory cards I discovered photos from our honeymoon. We went to Singapore, Bali and Hong Kong and the two I have selected are from our relaxing time in Bali. I was going to choose just one but I thought they made a good pair.

So there we have it although we had been together for 6 years before our wedding, it really did formalise everything for me - true togetherness.

However, as the next few weeks progress and with the arrival of little Baby B I am sure I will have a new definition of togetherness.

Why not take a look at all the other entries for this week's gallery here.

[ . . 30 before 30 . . ] 8. See friends

I added this one to my 30 before 30 list because I always enjoy seeing friends (who doesn’t) but it is one of those things that can easily fall by the wayside as life gets in the way.

Over the past few months I have been quite good at seeing friends, some that live nearby and I see regularly and others that don’t live as close and it takes effort on both sides to see. Some new friends, some old. Some for lunch, some for dinner but most importantly all for a general chat and catch up!

So, as long as I can keep this up when baby arrives – I guess that will be a good excuse to see friends, or for friends to see Baby B – this one can be considered partially ticked off.

One of the best things about friends are the memories and laughs you can share. I have chosen some photos from the past few years as a memento and reminder for me of the fun times and me pre-pregnancy. Looking through my photos it's also made me realise that I have no photos of many of my friends. I really need to get the camera out at other occasions other than just weddings!

 
It also didn't seem right to have photos of friends and not have one of my best friend of 9 years (this month), Mr B, taken during our first dance at our wedding two years ago - despite the fact I am lucky enough to see him every day. x

[ . . Wonderful Wednesday . . ] winter wonderland

Following on from last week's posts I have been a busy bee.

I've had a good week enjoying seeing friends, getting some jobs at home out of the way and actually doing some paid work. All in all a good week! To be honest I am not sure where I used to find the time to go to work nine-to-five, five days a week?

In Leicestershire, we seem to have missed the worst of the snow and ice but I have felt very fortunate not to be having to travel very far in the freakish weather. I drove 30 miles to Nottinghamshire yesterday and it was like driving through a winter wonderland. It looked like a film crew had been in front of me painstakingly painting every tree and bush with white crystal powder.

So, the week ahead seems to be as full as the last with some more work, a visit to the midwife, possibly ikea, and to try and find the time to explore pinterest and finish my Christmas shopping. The former of the two, you will see I have yet to do!

Take care in this weather!

Very quick illustration by me!

An evening stroll

This is how I am feeling today...

x

June flowers

So last Saturday I awoke to this:




As it was our wedding anniversary the day after I put it down to that and thought how much I love my gorgeous husband.

But then this morning I awoke to this:





A girl could get used to this! Although soon there won't be any flowers left in the garden.

x

Ps. Sorry for the lack of posts, I decided to stop putting pressure on myself to do 'everything' but it seems I took that a little too literally - so... I hope to see you soon

Weekend

I am so glad that it is the weekend, time for relaxation.

I am leaving the ill husband at home to get better and going off to my friends house for lunch. I spotted this photo on the great website ffffound and it summed up how I feel today!

Sea shells on the sea shore

Bit late with this but at watercolour class this week we looked at tone.

This was great for me and I got some good practising at mixing colours. My biggest problem in previous weeks has been spending too long drawing items before painting so this weeks plan was to not draw it.

So, I painted some shells without drawing them first and to be honest I am pretty pleased with them!

Watercolour shells, originally uploaded by theprojectlab.

Next week is half term so I will have to try and do some practising at home.

x