I haven’t had a chance or the desire to blog much recently but I feel like putting a few reflective thoughts together, so here I am. I’m bound to miss things out as one single post won’t do a whole year justice but these are the things that come to mind.

Trips

This year saw an epic trip to Ireland to stay with family for a week. We nearly didn’t make it due to illness but I’m so glad we did. Such precious memories and I’m looking forward to making more in 2017. I also took my girls to Suffolk to celebrate my Granny’s 90th birthday. Despite the vomit in a tandem carry incident and train cancellations we had an amazing time.

Reflux

Reflux played a huge part in our year. My youngest girl had a massive flare up and underwent tests in hospital and at home. Thankfully she got the all clear and has since been weaned off all her meds – hurray! She’s enjoying eating tomato based foods again without being in lots of pain afterwards. Oh and I nearly forgot, she started walking this year! Sleep is slowly improving but sleeping through definitely isn’t consistent just yet.

New Job

One of the biggest changes this year for me has been starting a new job! The past couple of years have brought hypermesisis, maternity leave, redundancy and the sudden unexpected loss of my Dad. So it’s been a while since I’ve had to juggle work and family life. We’re definitely still trying to get the balance right but we’re getting there. My migraines have come back since I started but overall I’m really enjoying it. I especially love working locally (10 minute walk!) and term time only.

Birthdays

My girls have celebrated their 4th and 2nd birthdays and I have got into making number cakes. I have discovered that making a cake in advance and popping it in the freezer ready to ice the night before works a treat. Pinterest is also great for doing shapes without a fancy tin although I do have my trusty silicone stars as back up. Last year I found a super simple ganache recipe by accident and now use it every time. Melted chocolate stirred into extra thick cream is delicious.

Buckles and Buggies

We are still in our second floor flat which can be challenging with two young children. I still use my awesome Beco carriers and have just treated myself to the soleil. That said we also bought our second double buggy this year after the first one didn’t work out. We have a Phil and Ted’s which is a bit heavy and cumbersome but so much easier sometimes especially as I don’t drive. It was only £20 at the car boot too!

Dripsey Designs

Lastly I have made slow but definite progress with my business – Dripsey Designs. I have a long held dream of being a designer. I attended my first craft fair and people bought my hand made cards! I’ve worked on my website and have lots of work still to do on my Etsy shop including improving my photography.

I’ll leave you with some of my favourite photos. I’m guessing there are less from autumn as it’s been harder to take photos with my little one being on the move now.

 

 

Reasons I’m not keeping up with my blog.

“Come Mummy come”
“Mummy will you play with me”

All day long. One day she won’t need me the way she does now but this is where we are now.

So many ideas, such little time.

Now that preschool is out for the summer, we have more time for outdoor adventures but less time to write about then! My three year old loves flowers at the moment and will often stop to smell them. One of her favourite things to do is picking daisies. Yesterday I found a sparkly purple bucket in the charity shop which she used to collect them. Here are a few photos.

I’m linking up with Country Kids.

I’m late again with this post and the lighting isn’t great when I finally have time to take photos, but here goes.

I couldn’t resist this gorgeous jacket for my youngest daughter to grow into. The tiny flowers have strawberries scattered amongst them. It’s lightweight and has a fleece lining which I love. It’s by Next and cost about £1 at the car boot.

I managed to fill a whole wash basket with bargains from the car boot and this cardigan is one of my favourites. The seller said his Mum hand knitted it and was really pleased it was going to a good home – he could tell how much I loved it. This will be perfect for keeping my daughter warm in the winter. It cost less than a £1 as part of a bundle.

The most used purchase from the car boot so far has to be this lovely Elmer tabard. My 18 month old removes all bibs but now has a tabard just like her sister which she mostly keeps on. I bought it for £2 with the tags still on.

I’ve wanted a pac-a-mac for ages especially since my Mum bought one each for my girls. I picked up this lovely pink one by Peter Storm for 50p also at the car boot.

One thing that didn’t come from the car boot was a pack of silicone ice lolly moulds from Ikea. A pack of 4 cost £3. They’ve been perfect for the recent heatwave especially as one of my girls had a fever before and during all this hot weather.

I’ve picked up a few sale bargains so if I start writing now I might link up Julia at Rainbeaubelle on time next month!

Changing seasons when the words don’t come.

I’m a bit late with this post again but here goes.

My favourite drink at the moment is Rose Lemonade by Fentimans. They serve it in my local pubs and I enjoyed a glass on my birthday. I was really chuffed to find some larger 750ml bottles in the clearance section of my local Co Op for £1.09 each.

Two pairs of my pyjama bottoms needed replacing in the space of a week. This pair from Next aren’t my favourite colour but are so comfortable and were only £2 in the online clearance section. I love the cuffs at the bottom which stop me tripping up over the fabric as I’m not that tall.

Also from the Next clearance section online are two lovely sun hats for my 3 year old. I tried in vain to buy some from the last car boot but they had none in her size. This pack cost £5 and she loves them.

I love buying local strawberries from my greengrocers. They’re usually £2 a punnet and these were genuinely some of the best I’ve ever tasted. Apparently they were a different variety.

Finally we have the Anyway Up Cow Cup. They cost £5 but are really easy to clean and are completely non spill. My daughter found them hard to drink from at first but has no trouble now. We bought ours from Boots, Mothercare and EBay.

Next time I’ll be torn between bargains from the car boot and the Dotcomgiftshop sale.

I’ve linked this post over at Rainbeaubelle.