A year ago. X

Amazing what a year does. 

This exact day last year, we went for our 12 week scan at the hospital to see baby number 2.

We saw bubba wriggling & waving. It was so amazing to see a little moving thing in there again:). 

To go home & show Harry was so cute. Trying to get a picture with him wasn't so easy as hoped, but we did it for our annoucement to everybody. 

Scary to think this time last year I was 11 weeks pregnant. And this year we have a gorgeous 5 month old little girl x :)

8th May..

Having friends surrounding you makes all the difference. I don't know how I coped for the first year and half of Harry's life with no friends. I met them all at a walk around the village I live in, & gradually got closer & friendlier with everyone. We have a close group of about 12 of us that all have kiddies the same age as Harry (around 2). And some are now having kiddies around same age as Lacey or getting pregnant so the next age of kiddies will be around the same age :).its such a good little group of friends we all meet up rather regularly & just letting the kiddies play it's nice to be able to get a cup of tea in.    

There's a few lessons you need to learn about play dates though!: 

1. Don't tidy up until they've gone:

The kids will make sure they watch you put every single toy away, back in that box for the 5th time since it being out and just left because another thing caught their eye....as soon as you sit down the toy will be back out even messier than it was in the first place. Just leave it until the friends have gone home ;). 

2. The tele:

You will put cartoons on tele for some sanity; for 5 mins peace .. even though they won't watch it whenever they walk back in the room & you've turned that programme off that they didn't even watch, they will have a heartbreaking meltdown. Keep the cartoons on (I think I watch them more than Harry does if I'm honest). 

3. Don't discipline your friends kids. 

Okay, if they're doing something bad & their mummy hasn't seen its okay to tell them not to do it. But don't shout at them, don't feel like you need to tell them off. It's the mums time to deal with their own buns :). We all discipline differently and I would never want to have to leave somewhere early because Itd be horrible that they aren't being good and someone else told them off for me. :). 

4. Have fun. 

It's your chance to relax. Your out the house. With your child. Happy. Alive.

You have a few hours that your child will have fun & eventually (hopefully) run their energy out...and on the way home you may even be lucky for a nap too! ( the kids not you.) you are even able to sit down & have a (even a hot) cup of tea while each other's kiddies can amuse each other for a while. 

I do love having play dates. They're perfect if you really can't be bothered to leave the house that day, and then you feel bad for staying in with them all day...invite people over & your child is happy :):) 

7th May..

Being a mum & a wife; you need time for yourself. That's where I've gone wrong. I hardly ever go out on my own without the kids. When Harry was younger me & Mitch would go out once a month for a date night which slowly grew to being none existent. I preferred to being at home, watching tele and having a bath. I'm not one for being out, socialising & drinking.   

Since Lacey I've decided that it's a good idea for me to have some time out. I've started going to Bingo with a few of my friends that I've met through having the kiddies. 

It's so nice to literally not worry about the kids;where they are, why they're quiet, why they're trashing the bedrooms, what they're doing. Knowing that it's my night off and I can go and have a laugh being Fiona and not the mummy or wife for 3 hours is lovely. Not having the need to drink alcohol as I see that ruins the night...and just having me time. 

Me being selfish , yes.... But in my eyes you need that to keep yourself sane. :). 

My new outfit for my night out :) x 

6th May..

The bank holiday is over and fully under swing with the week ahead of ourselves. Which means we have to get back into a routine with the joyous house work that I put off when the hubby is at home. We try and do family days rather than tidying days. So then it takes me the following week to tidy. 

It's good when your eventually there and it's spotless everywhere and you feel you need to get out the house incase it gets ruined by your wonderful exploring 2 year old that wants to "just check right at the bottom of this toy box. Or the book that's right at the start of the piles because he read it a year ago and he now thinks it's his favourite"! 

We had a full blown tantrum earlier due to him wanting to shut the front door and mummy doing it too soon. But when I opened the door "it's already done and happened now"! 

I can tell the proper troublesome twos are  kicking in at full speed (y). 

Needless to say I was pretty looking dorward to my nice relaxed bath and bed tonight :) x 

5th May ... X

5th May. 

Being a mummy you hardly get any time to yourself. Especially being able to go out. Yes you may get a few nights out with the hubby, every once in a while. But I try and get out with my "mummy friends" that have converted literally into my "friends" atleast once a month now. 

We met from having the kiddies. And I wouldn't have met them if I hadn't have had Harry. 

But I don't just class then as my mummy friends. They are pretty awesome people with their lil bundles or if they're just on their own. 

I try and get to bingo atleast once a month with them; be it one other or 9 others. It is a very good laugh & I enjoy just sitting there and not having to worry what's going on indront of you. Why the children have gone quiet and what they're doing or destroying. Or what the hubby may be destructing and moving. 

Making sure holly city was on to keep the hubby happy i went out. 

Just not feeling like a mummy when you got out for 3 hours is so nice...but the first thing I do when I get

Gone is go into their bedrooms and give them the biggest kiss and squeeze(without waking them up!!) x 

You just have to remember to make time for yourself :). Xx 

4th May...x

4th May....

Our little lady, Lacey...turned a whole 5 months today! How our lives have changed in 5 months have been pretty dramatic. 

We've celebrated our second wedding anniversary, we've been on holiday for the first time with kiddies, we've learnt how to deal with two kiddies underneath our feet, we've felt like we've been the best we can for them & we've felt like we've failed. 

Tonight I am going to bed, happily, after having a lovely day spending time as a family of 4 ..

(ofc + the dog making it 5). 

Today I learnt that being a mum, you should never have to justify to anyone. 

You do the things you do, because you find them the right thing to do in that moment in time. No, it may not seem relevant, not worth it to others...but to you, yes it does. Having to justify why your parenting the way you do, just makes you feel guilty. And no! I've stopped feeling Guilty. My kids are happy & they are happier when I'm laying on the floor playing with them knowing that am every little thing is going to be okay.

They can't get up and just walk out the house...(even if Harry did try today because he couldn't put his wellies on to go to bed, and he thought nan would let him...so he was going to walk to nans house. .... 5 mins later when the bath was running he soon came running in arms wide open forgetting his tantrum! The joys of being two). 

It's been an amazing 5 months of being a mummy to two & I am excited with what lessons I get to learn throughout the next few weeks :) x 

Photoshoot.

I Having two kiddies for a whole week was such a difference. It was so amazing to see how good Harry was with enjoying a beautiful little sister. There was literally no jealousy and he was so excited to show her off to everybody that knocked on the door that came to see her. 

My friend came over to give my kiddies a beautiful Photoshoot so we had the pictures to keep forever. They were the majority of the families Christmas presents & was such a good idea. I'm so happy to hAve so beautiful kiddies xx 

Harry Being A Big Brother

 

Harry has amazed me so much!! With him only being 2 & a month when Lacey joined the family, he was still quite young. 

He has had our undivided attention for the past 2 years and all of a sudden a baby pops up & he has to share his mummy and daddy. We thought he would be so jealous and begin to behave badly. We'd heard so many bad things about newborns and they're 2 year olds acting up. 

....but he loves her!! So much!! 

Whenever he wakes up, he has to see Lacey. He has to have cuddles daily if not hourly. He has to have baths with her, she has to be there for his bedtime story. 

Whenever he goes to nursery or needs to say goodbye, he's always kissing her to say bubye. 

He is so gentle with her! It's like he knew this is what was going to happen. It's shocking tbh!:). 

Don't get me wrong, there have been some bad times & some hard times. 

There has been a few times he's been a bit too rough, or a bit too hyper...or when he decides he's had enough of being good and tests our patience...but what 2 year old is as good as gold every day ??! 

He is the most perfect big brother Lacey could ever wish for & being his mummy I am so proud to be able to say we've made him like that:) x 

He is (normally) a delight to take out & he acts so well...showing off Lacey to every person and dog !:) 

I just hope it lasts when she's taking all his toys away & running around causing arguments !:) xx 

Lacey's welcome into the world :)

Our beautiful Lacey Rose was born at 8.20pm after a long day of constant contractions. 

I woke up at 5am, with contractions, deep down knowing this could finally be it. 6 days overdue & I tried to make it all normal while Harry was just waking up to start his day.

I'd ironed the pile of clothes I had on the side & I did the washing up while I was in pain thinking I had just slept funny. I then had a nice bath which didn't help anything. I kept thinking deep down that It was all false alarms and it's just the beginning of a very long slow labour...my in laws picked Harry

Up for the day as he was due to go to shopping with them...& I rang my mum to come over and keep me company while the hubby went to work!  I ended up going shopping with my mum, matalan, dunelm, pets at home....meanwhile I'm causally having contractions through out the shops. Even going to McDonald's drive thru, not being able to eat properly and jump out of the car because I couldn't eat properly.....after getting home about 4pm, I started to jump up & down on the birthing ball..Mitch came

Home from work and Harry came home from his day out :). Come 5pm I couldn't walk properly & we have the hospital a phone all. So we get told to come up & get checked out..meaning we had to get Harry to the inlaws again & we went up hospital. 

Everything slowed down then...I got checked out & nothing was happening; then the genius husband decided we should randomly do lunges around the birthing room & start bouncing on the birthing ball. I got in the pool as soon as everything started getting that little bit more uncomfortable. .... 8.20pm we welcomed our beautiful 7lb11oz little gorgeous girlie into the world. 

Most perfect day, finished with a most perfect little girl. 

The happenings since last time

It's weird to look back and read about all our last memories. It's crazy to think that it all happened, and it's so lovely to be able to log in and just like that find all the pictures I've managed to lose or end up deleting. 

So since the last time I've been on, my baby boy Harry has turned a big 2! & also became a big beautiful brother to his gorgeous baby sister Lacey! :). We all celebrated Christmas together, the first year we had it at our house with the rest of the family coming over. We celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary which still only feels like months & we are slowly settling down into being a family of 4. 

Preparing for Christmas.

Every year the peperation for Christmas gets earlier and earlier. 
When I lived at home I started shopping in the term break we finished school...in december. When I moved out, It all changed. We started planning our first family Christmas all together so early on. Harry was due start of Oct and our wedding was booked for 12th Dec. We knew it was going to be manic.
So much so,  we put our tree up on 19th November.
Everything was ready before the wedding even took place. We blamed it on having Harry...making excuses that he will want to see the lights at only 10 weeks old when he had his first christmas he didn't know any different.
Last christmas we made it to 1st December. It was still early,  but I have a feeling every year we will be early doing Christmas. 
The lights, the tree, the cosey nights, the dark wrapped up warm walks, the brilliant memories.
Last year we had a 1 year old. Hed just learnt to walk & toddling around. Into everything. It was amazing to see his enjoyment over everything.
This year will be so so different. ... we are hopefully waiting for baby to arrive before putting the tree up. And making harry into a big brother.  It's so exciting to know he will be aware of everything as well as be a little boy and not have a clue really :)...its such an exciting time that we just have no idea what to expect.  :):):). }
I love Christmas & I love making beautiful family memories♡♡♡.

Baby Number 2♡

We also have Baby number 2 on the way!:):).
The day we found out was the weirdest day ever. Went to work like nothing had happened, but was still smiling & was so happy.
After many many lists of planning, many conversations with harry about him becoming a big brother...we had an early scan at 16 weeks to find out the sex of our baby was going to be another beautiful boy:)♡. We went shopping, got all of harrys clothes out of the loft, got the pushchairs ...chairs ...swing ..cot ..moses basket. ..literally everything.  We had planned to not paint the nursery as it is already blue from when we painted it for Harry. We were near enough all ready basically by the 20 week scan.
We went to this scan....to then be told that actually in fact we were expecting a beautiful girl, with long ballerina legs!. I havent been so shocked in my life. The phone call to all the family was fun as nobody believed us!!
We've had 3 more scans due to some complications and all confirming it is indeed a girl we are expecting.
Its so exciting to be able to have 1 of each; a beautiful boy & a beautiful girl.:).
So we've had to go shopping in the girl section of the shops,  we've got new everything even though we were ready for another boy....we had to change it all for pink bits:).
The nursery is the next thing to be painted. ..hopefully before she arrives:).
It feels so surreal that its going to be the first girl in either family for 20 years! !. Its such an amazing feeling...
Now just cant wait for her to arrive ....hopefully sooner than later & not follow her brothers footsteps and be two weeks late!. I cant wait, but every year at the end of the year will be busy as shes due only a month after harrys birthday and a few weeks before christmas :).♡♡♡.
Such exciting times. ♡♡♡

Catch Up Time.

I stopped writing on here for ages.  I stopped trying to update and analyse what I had done that week.
But reading through all my posts last night it made me think its such a lovely thing to do so we can look back at photos and memories that have slid my mind or have possibly got deleted.  Its so lovely to be able to see how Harry has grown up and all the times we have shared & what we've done together:):).

Scarily my beautiful baby boy turns a huge 2 next week.
Hes talking properly, learning new words everyday, making sentences, running around, reading, counting, being obsessed with tractors, cars, bikes; anything with wheels!!.
Im so excited for his mickey mouse birthday party thats half shared with a pirate theme for his cousins 5th birthday the week after:).
He goes to nursery twice a week & hes enjoying it so much. He comes home telling me what hes done. Brings a tear to my eye that he is growing up so quickly. 
We have made some new friends over the past year or so. Its been so lovely watching harry play with children around the same age and he seems so much older than he really is, when hes running around with friends having fun:).
Sometimes it can be a bit too much, & those days spent indoors just Harry & I are sometimes the best.
We play, we run, we colour,  we draw, we have fun & we have a beautiful bond:). 

Harry Turning A Huge ONE.

Harry turned ONE. 

A year ago we welcomed Harry,

A baby of our own,

Nervously and sleepily,

We took him to our home.

We figured out the nursing.

This goes how? and where?

We were told there would be crying, 

and how to show how we care.

A year has gone so quickly,

Yet we have learned so much.

We felt a love so strongly,

In a baby's gentle touch.

His laughs and smiles. His pouts and tears.

Wow! He can get so mad.

But we wouldn't trade a minute,

As a thankful mum and dad.

No Longer A Baby

We have learnt to walk. We have learnt to talk. We have learnt to throw things, and answer back. We have a toddler turning into a teenager. We have some absolutely beautifully brilliant memories happening and I am loving this stage of his life.
It seems like a lifetime ago that he didn't do anything, he layed there, couldn't move, then he learnt to sit up and he could only reach whatever was in his arms length. He learnt to crawl and we thought that was tricky...now he's walking, we dont have time for sitting down anymore. The television spends more time on mute than it does on a volume, for us to be able to listen out to what he's getting up to, if he's sleeping or whatever he is destroying at that time. 

It's an amazing time in life that he is learning, and its amazing to see his personality properly grow! 

Bubba and daddy

Nothing can ever break the bond between Father & Son:). 

It's so amazing the love between my two boys, and especially the love I have for my boys <3

Park Sun Days.

The weather has been a lot brighter recently, it's been absolutely beautiful. We've been trying to get out the house a little bit more than normal. 

We went down the road for a lovely walk, and also we took the dog to the park. The first time we tried without reins, without the pushchair. Harry even held the dogs lead ... :)

He walked, he ran, he laughed, he pointed at all the trees, he stroked every dog, he held conversation with every dog he saw, he threw the ball for missy, and he also got the ball he threw.. He was so happy! 

Times like these make me want summer here now, for all the great times we can all share outdoors :)