Monday Monday!

I am never ready for Monday. Whilst days don't really mean too much to me particularly,  it means andy ia back at work or college and that makes me sad.

This week is another busy week. We get to meet our friends new arrival on Tuesday!  I am so excited,  I am really hopeful that she and belle will be good friends! 
Then it's our weekly sign class, belle has  been going since about 6 months old and really enjoys the group.  It's one of the best!!
We start a new balance class on Friday which I am looking forward to,  I think belle will get a lot from it as well as burning some energy! 

Should be a nice week.  I am also hoping to get some craft done in all that but we shall see.  Nothing like a toddler and a house to keep a girl busy!!

A little view

One day this week when belle had fallen asleep in the car I had a rare moment of time to be quite still.
I was at my mums house so I couldn't clean or sort.  No one would be in for 2 hours.  I only had my phone.

It was bliss, I sat in the door way because it was a bit chilly but I still needed to hear belle when she woke.  So I sat, I liked things on etsy to hopefully make my Christmas shopping easier this year.
I also took some time to just look at the garden and appreciate where my life is right now. I am so grateful and humbled by this stay at home mum thing, I forget to take stock of my moments with belle and Andy.  Change is coming in a good way but I can still feel the uneasy lump in my stomach that does not always appreciate the unknown.

The difference a day makes

Well as the title says, I got my act together and sorted the house - downstairs anyway!

I managed belle without resorting to cbeebies. Which I do sometimes.  She was a star to be fair, she has such a beautiful personality that provided she is fed and napped is very easy going. 

I even baked a banana loaf! It is yummy and almost all gone! 

Sometimes a little perspective and admitting you need a rest meana you come back far more positive than when you left.

It's Okay blog hop

This is my first week linking up with Nugget on a budget, Kera is a blogger that I found through a blog hop a while ago and when her title this week popped up in my news feed I stopped by.

It's Okay #7. figuring out this mummy of two deal.

Obviously, expecting our second child is on my mind at times and I love hearing how people cope/adapt especially when she has a 2 year old which is a similar age to Belle when this baby arrives. So here are my it's okays!

It's okay ... that I don't think about being pregnant as much the second time around than I did with Isabelle. 

It's okay ... that I spend extra moments appreciating the three of us and Mummy Belle time. Because I know it will be different soon!

It's okay ... that I have made a real effort the last two weeks to stay on top of the house and now it looks as though a bomb went off again. Seriously, how much untidyness can 3 people make!?

I don't have many 'it's okays' this week. Hopefully I will link up again next week and have some more!

Butterfly and Otter Sanctuary

Over the summer, we did a few day trips with Belle. Mainly to see her level of interest in things and whether we need to change up our activities to continually interest her.

It was a lovely sunny day and we had decided that we wouldn't waste it staying in, we looked at a few farm attractions but the cost of them! I was shocked to see how much those places want adults to pay! Our budget allows for some treats but it was silly prices for a spur of the moment thing. Enough of the rant!

So anyway, we decided on the Butterfly and Otter Sanctuary, it was about a half hour drive and I had been there quite often as a child. I remembered it well.

There isn't a great deal to see as it isn't a huge place. However, we got the timings right for feeding time and it was great. The keeper knew his stuff and was a confident speaker which made it entertaining as well as interesting.

This little guy lives in the butterfly part.

I think it is somewhere we will go again once Isabelle is even more interested in things, we were certainly lacking her questions to keep us in there for a longer period of time!

DIY Frame wall

I am sure everyone has seen these all over pinterest or other blogs. But I knew 2 years ago (when we moved into our house) that I wanted to recreate one. I just love them!

It was also a push to put some pictures up - literally there were 2 pictures up prior to this wall!

I started with deciding my pictures, deciding frames. I chose a range of miss matched frames but with a few of each for consistency.

Then I made sized, descriptive patterns so I could play around with them in the space.

 As you can see I went for smaller gaps and a more intentional cluster.
Please excuse the airer. I was that lazy taking the picture I would have had to stand up to get around it!!!!!

So there you have it, I am in love with it and I really enjoy looking at it. I plan on adding to it but for now I am happy!

Baby turns 1

I realise this space is probably gathering cobwebs at the moment, I am hoping to change that soon! However, so so much has been going on I feel like I am finally starting to catch my breath.

Isabelle turned one on Monday. Such a bitter sweet thing for me, I love seeing her grow and I couldn't be more grateful to witness everything. But a year. Seriously?! I mean, I remember my labour and these first few days like yesterday.... not a year ago! I am just crazy proud of who she is, her personality grows each day and she is lovely, she gives kisses and can be gentle. Walks like she owns the place. Chats constantly. Is shy and hesitant with new people until she becomes the centre of the room (I seriously don't know who this comes from, neither Andy or I are particularly central people!!) She likes her space.Incredibly strong minded and determined already - I think we might have some fun here. Isabelle is just incredible.

Belle is also going to make an amazing big sister, come March 2014 we will be welcoming another phase of life. We don't know what this baby is just yet but surprisingly it feels pretty perfect either way and for different reasons. A boy would bring balance, another girl would bring hopefully a deep lifelong friendship for Belle. Andy and I can't really decide whether this is our last baby or whether we would like a third. I don't think we would have any more than three simply for practicalities. Honestly, I like the decision not being made. We hoped for this age gap but were still pleasantly surprised for it to happen!

Andy went away for a week with work and it was tough. Isabelle was pretty good - teething she has a molar!!!?! and for the most part I tried to keep our week the same. Except I couldn't shake this loneliness, it was so different to anything I had felt before. The rational part of me kept telling myself a week seriously! But the part I hadn't realised that had become so dependent on Andy wanted to sit and cry until he came home. He has only just gone back to work now after taking a few days out - which were really needed. I still welled up, I could see he wasn't exactly impressed either. I know it's totally silly to miss him that much and maybe its my pregnant hormones, but everything is just better with him around.

I did get a few projects finished though! As a result of trying not to sit still for too long to think and miss Andy! I will be sharing them over the next few days :D
Thanks for sticking around, hopefully it wont be too long again ....