A look back over 2013

It snowed.

Evelyn's first Christmas

I didn't spend as much time behind the camera as I usually would so I have no artsy photographs but I do have a few snaps of Evelyn. They're not set up, or posed, or beautifully lit - they're just honest & I love them for it.

Baby Christmas Photoshoot - Blogmas day 22

I've been saying for a really long time that I would write about our photography session with Emilie Sandy but I hadn't before now because I wanted to wait until a little closer to Christmas to share all of the photos.

Tomte - Blogmas Day 21

We have a few Tomte scattered around the house, watching over the presents until Christmas eve & looking rather adorable while doing so.

Pepparkakor - Blogmas Day 20

Yesterday afternoon, between looking after baby Evelyn & a poorly George, I managed to bake some Pepparkaka hearts. My mamma made a big batch of dough a while back & a portion of it has been waiting in my fridge for a free hour, which doesn't come very often.

Evelyn's 9 month update Blogmas day 16

While writing this Evelyn is in her door bouncer twirling round & around in circles. She's become obsessed with making herself dizzy. If she's not twirling then she's shaking her head from side to side (like she's telling you no) until she gets a drunk smile on her face. It's pure comedy genius.

Our Christmas Tree - Blogmas Day 9

I've fallen head over heels in love with our little tree that we bought yesterday. It's dressed a little more than I've shown in these pictures but I wasn't sure that I wanted to share it all decorated because it's such a personal thing.

Picking our Christmas tree - Blogmas Day 8

This morning George & I went to buy our very first real Christmas tree from a farm local to us. We were recommended them by our friends & as we have the truck we offered to take them along so that we could pick our trees together.

On our doorstep

Evelyn & I are just about to walk to her swimming lesson & I realised that despite writing about a lot of local places I've not blogged about the walk that we do every day that's right on our doorstep.

Our garden project - Rowlinson Woodvale shed review.

I've been a bit slow on publishing this post; partly because I wanted to see how our shed weathered 'the storm' & partly because I'm not 100% sure how I feel about it yet.

Wooden Gromit - Westonbirt Arboretum

Back in August I wrote about visiting Wesonbirt Arboretum for their Treefest & we went for another stroll there a few weeks ago on George's day off. The sculptures that I wrote about were finished & on display so I wanted to share those pictures as well as a few other snap shots with you all.

Evelyn's 8 month update

This month has been so lovely, I've been surrounded by friends & family, & we had great fun celebrating my beautiful mum turning 50. I also met with my really talented photographer friend Emilie to take a few snap shots of Evelyn (including this one): I'm going to write more about that in another post next month but I had to include her angel shot as a little sneak-peak today. It is just the perfect representation of Evelyn at 8 months & I especially love that her little toes are on show because there's just something so scrummy about baby feet.

Wig Party - ebay purchase

Yesterday my lovely mum turned 50 & she decided that to celebrate she wanted to have a wig party at a pub local to us.

30th Celebrations - Fireworks

After saying yesterday that we wouldn't take Evelyn to any fireworks this year we ended up taking her to see some tonight for Noahs Bike Shop's 30th anniversary BBQ.

Halloween Baby

 

Halloween was over really quickly this year, we didn't even carve a pumpkin which is so unlike us. I think it's because Evelyn is too young to get involved with normal activities so we didn't really bother too much. I did want her to celebrate somehow though so we grabbed some costumes & took a few snap shots.

Last Minute Halloween - Skull Bride

I'm usually really organised with my Halloween costume but this year I didn't want to spend any money so I got a bit trigger-happy with my makeup instead. I decided to take these pictures at the end of the night to see how well my face would last so there's a little bit of smudging here & there but it's all pretty similar to how I started the night. Minus the sweat. Sorry about that.

Two Front Teeth - NCT Shoot

A few weeks ago I got the NCT mums from our group together to talk about having a professional photo taken of all of us as a memory. I had personally taken a few snap shots here & there (like this one) but I hadn't managed to get one of all of us so I thought the nicest way would be to go to a studio. I was booked in to get Evelyn's portrait done at Two Front Teeth so I thought, if I was impressed, I would ask John the photographer to take our NCT photo. Obviously I was impressed & so I managed to find a time that we were all free for John to squeeze in a group shoot.

The White Room - Minchinhampton

Last week I started the search for my wedding dress. It may sound a bit silly starting the search before we've picked a venue but doing it this way around was perfect for me because I wanted that 'kick' to help me feel like the wedding was real & nothing will do that quite as well as seeing yourself all in white. We spent the morning at The White Room in Minchinhampton & I couldn't have asked for a more incredible experience to start off my search.

Evelyn's 7 month update

This month has been lovely & this week George has taken time off of work to finish building the shed so it's been really nice spending more time with him. I didn't have time to get Evelyn weighed this morning (I will try to remember for next Wednesday) because I was busy trying on wedding dresses, which was amazing. Today is also my cousin Alexia's 24th birthday & little Matilda's 3rd birthday so I want to say happy birthday to both of them, all in all today's been a good one. I hope you've all had a lovely day too & I hope you're enjoying Autumn as much as I am.

Our garden project - Super base

I cannot believe it was a month since we cleared all the soil ready to lay the shed base - thank goodness we're not doing a bigger project. The main reason that we didn't do anything sooner is that Jo & Andy popped off on holiday & we didn't have the confidence to do anything without them so we had to wait until the 1st October to get all cementy.

In to the woods - SVA Goods Shed

At 1:30 this afternoon Evelyn & I went to watch my littler brother (& the rest of the lovely cast) in a performance of in to the woods at SVA Goods Shed. Usually I steer clear of youth theater - even my brother was surprised that I went along - but I am so glad that I got over myself & watched the show. The cast were all brilliant, Rachel (the director) did a great job working with the space & the musicians were phenomenal. I loved the atmosphere, the attention to detail & I especially love how pleasantly surprised I was.

Cotswold Wildlife Park - Keeper for a day.

This blog post is long over due but here it is: My first ever throwback Thursday post.

Baby friends

Amarah, Olly, Evelyn & Freddie

You know when you're young & you plan out your life to the year: "I'll have started a career by 23, be married by 25, have my first baby at 27 etc"? My plans went further than that: I decided at a very young age that I wanted to be pregnant at the same time as my best friend. Obviously, real life doesn't work that way but being the first couple in our friendship group to get pregnant still really scared me because I wanted to know someone that was going through the same thing as me. I wanted to compare notes, check that certain things were normal & part of me wanted our child to have a baby friend or two right from the start.

Our garden project - 2 feet under

It didn't take as long as I said in my last update that I thought it would to shift all the soil from the bottom of the garden, in fact we're about 2 weeks ahead of my very pessimistic schedule. It did, however, take more loads that I predicted: It took 13. We never loaded the truck more than was safe to drive so we may have been able to do a few less trips by overfilling it but it's more important to be comfortable than speedy. We ended up moving around 200 cubic feet of soil using spades & a wheelbarrow.

Evelyn's Christening

Yesterday at St George's church in Cam our baby girl was Christened. The Church is one that George's mum has a connection with so we were lucky enough to have her Christening during one of their children's services which meant planning was minimal & it was less formal than it might other wise have been. I haven't been to church in a long time & I don't think that I've ever been to a service in a church quite so traditional so I was a little nervous, but the atmosphere was friendly & everyone was so welcoming. The vicar, Sophia, who Christened Evelyn was so kind & made us feel really comfortable.

Spice Racks in the Bathroom

I bought a few Ikea Spice Racks (RRP £3) a while back with the intention of having them in the kitchen but they didn't look quite right & I'm pretty fussy about the way my kitchen looks because I spend so much time in there. They ended up staying on my window sill for a few weeks before I decided that I didn't want to return them anymore & went about trying to find them a home.

A day out - Westonbirt Treefest

Today we took a little trip to Westonbirt for the arboretum's treefest. The last time I went was a few years ago so I was really looking forward to going this year, it might not be everyone's cup of tea but I love it. We were there for 4 hours or so: We listened to some music, watched demonstrations, looked around the shopping tents, bought 2 apple trees from this guy, ate hog roast, ate churros & wandered around the silkwood.

Our garden project - Retaining walls

After starting the foundations we had to wait a week for the cement to dry properly before laying the breeze blocks for the retaining wall. They're hideous but they're sturdy. Eventually I'll buy something more aesthetically pleasing to cover them up but that's not what this part of the project is about. Nothing is particularly gorgeous right now.

Evelyn's 5 month update

I've had a super busy 5 month 'birthday' with Evelyn: I'm utterly exhausted. I fell asleep on the living room floor two hours ago & only just realised I hadn't written today's post. I'm not really sure why I'm so tired but I apologise in advance if very little of what I type today makes sense. My brain is porridge. 

A day out - Slimbridge Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust

On Sunday my lovely parents invited us to join them for a stroll around Slimbridge WWT. I'm a bit of a animal lover & the center is somewhere close by so I've visited it a few time before. This was the first time I've taken Evie however & although she's a bit young to really appreciate everything it has to offer I think she enjoyed the new sounds & smells & when she was awake she seemed really happy looking at the vibrant colours of the plants & birds. I try to take her on a daily walk so we can both get some fresh air & it's great to have places like this nearby that are beautiful & pushchair friendly so that I can have a change of scenery every once in a while.

Baby Outfit - Evie's Favourite

I know that it's not particularly sophisticated but there is so much that I love about this photograph: Evie's chubby thighs, how snug she looks, the fact that she's asleep & obviously her little outfit. I don't buy a lot of clothes for Evie by any means but I do have some that I've had to stop myself from buying in every size & what she's wearing are some of those items so I thought I'd share them with you.

Water babies - Evelyn's first swim

Last Friday I took Evelyn for her first ever swimming lesson with Water Babies. A friend of mine had enrolled her daughter on one of their courses earlier in the year so I had been told how good the classes were but I hadn't wanted to commit to paying such a large course fee before finding out if Evie actually enjoyed swimming.

Everything & the Kitchen Sink.

I've absolutely loved the process of making our house a home, although we're no where near finished there are some bits that have our personal stamp on them & I want to share some of them. Partly because I'd love to be able to look back over the years & see what we've kept the same & partly so you can all have a cheeky nose around our home a snapshot at a time.

Our garden project - Starting the foundations

Last weeks project was starting the dig - this week we began filling in where we dug out: Yet again it all feels terribly backwards & George has remarked how much he wishes we were just "putting the damn shed on the flat part of the garden" but I love it & I know it will look awesome when it's all done.

Evelyn's 4 month update

It feels like a lot longer than a month since I last wrote one of these, I really look forward to them. As silly as it sounds I don't think I would keep such a strict record of her development if it wasn't for these updates & I know I'm going to be grateful in the years to come.

Our garden project - The big dig

Because the weather's been so gorgeous we've spent a lot of time outdoors & we decided it would be a good time to start the long process of landscaping our garden. We lived in a flat for a short while a few years ago & we really missed having somewhere to burn burgers & sip pimms so I've been super excited about having an outdoor space to personalise & prune.

Evelyn's 3 months update

It feels like such a long time since Evelyn's 2 month update but somehow I also cannot believe she is already 3 months - isn't it funny how that works?

A trip to Sweden - 50 year wedding anniversary.

George & me (how did I get so lucky?)

Sorry I haven't been blogging much lately; I've been unbelievably busy. We got back from Sweden on Tuesday & since then I've been buying, building & unpacking things for the house (I've quite literally been making Ikea furniture from 6am until 10pm.) There's also the small problem that our internet is not up & running yet & wont be until after the 16th (pretty mad about that really) so I've had to sneak back to mum & dads to post this.

Flying with a baby.

So we're here in Sweden & I can happily say that flying with my 10 week old daughter was as easy & stress free as driving the half hour journey with her to the mall. Babies enjoy travelling; there seems to be a comfort in the movement & white noise that I would imagine reminds them of their time in the womb. Most parents that I've spoken to will tell you that a car journey works wonders on their crying child & our experience was that the plane was no different.

Nostalgia - Flashback to the 90's

"yummy toes"

We're moving house on Friday which is tres tres exciting, but with moving comes packing which, let us be honest now, is really rather dull. I do try to see the positives in situations though & one of the things I actually rather enjoy about packing is finding items you hadn't looked at for a long time & I've got to admit I have wasted a good few hours this past week staring at photos. So I thought I would steal Zoe's (Zoella) idea & share some of my baby photos with you.

Evelyn's 2 month update

Evie has been experiencing several blue spells in the last few days. We were admitted to hospital on Tuesday afternoon after her first two spells. Blue spells are a result of apnoea - where she stops breathing. The doctors have explained that she is fighting to cough up mucus when she needs to take an in-breath: Her skin goes grey & her lips go blue. Generally she will take a deep breath after a few seconds but there have been a few spells that have lasted a lot longer.

Bank Holiday #1

I'm sure everyone gets a bit excited about bank holiday weekends. Even now when I'm not working I look forward to them, it's kind of replaced the "summer holiday" excitement I used to get when at school. Chuck in a bit of sunshine & I get so excited I nearly pee my pants.

Baby & Me Yoga.

Yesterday Evie & I took a stroll down to Stroud Yoga Space for our first ever baby & me yoga session. Before you try to picture a 6 week old baby in the warrior pose I should clarify that the babies do not partake in the actual yoga, sometimes they act as a weight but mostly they lay on your mat while you 'yoga' around them. (Gutting I know.)

Making an album - photobox prints

I have a 'to do' list on my phone that I wrote just after new years, it's sort of like a resolutions lists but I add & take away from it when I fancy. One of the first things I wrote was: To start a baby photo album. I bought a pink linen traditional photo album (RRP £25) & some photo mounts (RRP £2.25) from Paperchase & I've been taking photos almost every day since Evelyn was born.

Sudeley Castle - spring grand sale.

On Friday mum, Evie & I took a little road trip to Sudeley Castle in Winchcombe which is a 50 minute drive from where we are. Neither mum or I had ever been there & to be honest with you I didn't even know it existed (shameful I know, but I do live in a bubble). The town looks like a really cute Cotswold town & I would like to have a nose around there sometime but Friday was all about the spring grand sale.

My postpartum life - 6 Weeks

I figured that after all of my pregnancy updates I should probably speak a little bit about my postpartum life. It may be the most uninteresting thing you've ever read but I wanted to type something up anyway, just incase it's not.

House update - April

Hi Everyone! I have some rather exciting news... We FINALLY have a completion date & a move in date for the house! Yay yay yay!

Evelyn's 1 month update

I wasn't entirely sure wether to do a four week or a month update, but I figured less is more & went with the latter. They'll be monthly from here on out, I don't want to over-kill :D

Evelyn's 3 week update

Sorry for the lack of posts this week, it's amazing how difficult I find concentrating on writing a new post when there's a baby anywhere near me. I find myself quite literally just staring sometimes - I've become a bit of a creep :D

Rings & Things

I mentioned in my last post that I received my engagement ring last week & as it may seem a little bit confusing that this happened months after George & I have got engaged I thought I should probably explain why: When George proposed (very romantically, may I add) he gave me a gorgeous ring that was a gift to his mother when he was born. I love it & I love the history behind it, but clearly his mother doesn't share my sausage fingers so it is a bit snug.