2011

I know I've done my year in pictures, but just wanted to really remind myself of some of the highlights of this year! We've been incredibly lucky to have such a good year. Thank you to everyone who's helped make it so good :)

In January we went for our 3D scan, and got to see our little girl for the first time. I think we picked her name about this time too, which seemed to lift a massive wait off our shoulders! I started to get massive.

In February we went to watch University Challenge being filmed, as my brother was on it, which was amazing. We went to see Boyzone for free and ate an amazingly expensive indian meal, courtesy of Chloe winning a competition!

In March I finished work which felt amazing. We got the last few bits and pieces ready, and Mitch had some time off work with me to just spend time together. We tried to appreciate just being the 2 of us, but in hindsight I think I was just too impatient to meet baby! We also got engaged :)

In April I had a baby. It was a ridiculously warm April and we spent lots of time outside in the sunshine. We spent all of Mitch's paternity leave doing nice things and it was lovely to be a little family. We weren't that tired yet. We had a party for the Royal Wedding and started to get the hang of breastfeeding.

In May we were tired! We went to Newstead Abbey and practiced going out and about more. I picked out my engagement ring and we told everyone our exciting news. I don't think we got a lot else done in June. I think we may have cracked feeding a bit more.

In June it was sunny and lovely. We went to BBQs and spent lots of time outside in the sunshine. We picked the church and hall where we were getting married, and booked it for in a years time - 16th June 2012. Mitch went away with work for almost a week and I didn't like it.

In July we moved house, and rented our flat out. We managed it over the course of 1 day mainly, with the help of lots of people and their cars and hands! We sorted out the house but lived in chaos for a while.

In August we took our first holiday, to Ely near Cambridge. Alice paddled in the sea and we had lots of giggles. It was Daddys birthday when we were away, plus mama's big 50! We went punting in Cambridge, and ate too much food. Nom.

In September Alice went to her first birthday party, and started rolling around. Alice started eating food, and we started with purees etc., but ended up changing to baby led weaning quite quickly when she flat out just wanted to do it herself!

In October we went on holiday for the weekend to the seaside, and had a lovely time. Alice really got a hold of this food stuff and went for it big time. We went to a Halloween party and all got all dressed up. Mitch cut holes in a sheet and went as a coast.

In November Alice started crawling which was a terrifying moment! Mitch grew a moustache and I graduated.

And finally December has been busy! Alice had her Christening, and we got all decorated and prepared for Christmas. We had a lovely Christmas, and saw lots of lovely people and got lots of nice things. We organised the house a bit more, and put Alice into her own room (*sob!*). We bought a dishwasher.

So, we have had a busy year! This has been, without a doubt, one of the most incredibly happy and lovely years of my life. I have an amazing family, a lovely house, and fantastic friends. I can only hope 2012 is even half as brilliant. We truly are blessed.

With love and light xo

2011 A Photo Diary

So after doing one last year, I thought I'd give it another go!

With love and light xo

Dear Alice - 8 Months

Dear Alice,

This month you are 8 months old - and it seems like everything has clicked in all in one go!

The last post I added was a few weeks ago, and you'd just started crawling. Apparently you decided that's not enough, and you promptly learned standing supported and pulling yourself up to standing! This terrifies me as it's now a long way to fall. It's also lovely waking up to you standing in your cot singing to yourself, or watching you at the stair gates smiling while I cook dinner.

For Christmas you also got a baby walker and managed to pick up walking a few paces assisted, which you keep getting better at. For now, you stick to crawling because it's quicker and you're good at it. We've had to babyproof everywhere and I'm considering wrapping you in cotton wool.

You are talking away to yourself and to us a lot more, getting frustrated if we don't reply ASAP. None of your words mean anything but you're happy to just have a little chat!

You smile and giggle and react to songs and faces. You also now dance to music if the mood takes you!

Eating wise we've moved onto Ready Brek for breakfast, and we've tried some new things - scrambled eggs is a favourite, as was Christmas dinner!

You are currently getting over being sick for first time as you picked up a cold over Christmas. It's not very nice and we've all struggled a little bit, but you have been a trooper really. Hopefully you're coming out the other side of it now.

Today we shifted into mostly 9 - 12 month clothes, and organised your room. How does one small baby have so many clothes?!

Along with crawling and standing we've finally got the hang of sitting unsupported - that seemed to come almost after everything else! I think you were just too eager to be on the move before that.

You love playing with your toys, and your personal favourites at the moment include Sophie the Giraffe, your walker, and a fairground thing you got for Christmas. You have lots and lots of toys - I have no idea how we would have coped in the flat, as we seem to struggle for room in a 3 bed house!!

Sleep wise - we were getting better. However this cold has set us completely back! But I'm confident we can get back on track. Who needs sleep right?

It's amazing watching you learning - you use trial and error and I can literally see the cogs in your brain ticking over. You are amazing!

I'm torn between wanting you to grow, and stay tiny forever. You're certainly not my tiny baby anymore.

With love and light xo

Christening

I also completely forgot to mention that we had Alice's Christening on December 11th. We had a lovely day - Alice was incredibly well behaved and smiley. It was just so lovely to have such a wonderful day surrounded by people who love and care for Alice. It made all 3 of us appreciate just how lucky we are really.

A few photos -











With love and light xo

Walking!

With love and light xo

Instagram - December 2011

My life lately according to my iPhone! Follow me on Instagram @evenstarx :)

With love and light xo

Crawling

So I keep forgetting to write about this, but as of a week and a half ago - we have forward motion!

This was right at the beginning and we're now crawling like a pro. I also realised my house is basically a baby death trap and I need to sort things out ASAP!

Alice is a smart baby and generally only crawls towards:

a. Phones and laptops. The value of the items is proportional to the speed of the crawl

b. Knives and paracetomol. The danger of the item is also proportional to how quickly she can get there

c. The cats. They are most pleased about this.

With love and light xo

Dear Alice - 7 Months

Dear Alice,

You are now half way through your 7th month! When every anyone asks how old you are I really have to stop and think about it - I'm so used to you being a teeny tiny baby and you just seem to have changed all of a sudden!

This month you are now really big on food. You love it, and we get the most smiles at lunch time! We started with purees and ended up moving to baby led weaning - you love to pick up the chunks of food and play with them but generally eat a bit of everything.

Your favourite food is orange, but you also really like chicken, fish, yoghurt and broccoli. Although not all together.

We also had Halloween this month where you had 2 costumes! You were my little penguin, and a beautiful witch. You really didn't think a lot to my costume though and cried whenever you saw my face!

You have been standing with support for a while now, and this past few days you've started standing supporting yourself with the sofa. A very scary thought for me!

You are sitting up in bath and loving to splash and play with your ducks and bath toys.

Your talking has really developed into babbling, and you like to make the "dadada" sound, much to your daddy's pleasure! We never get "mamama"!

You've started reacting more to games and songs, and you definitely seem to recognise certain games and toys. I only have to start to say "Where's Alice?" and you're giggling away already! This means I get nothing done as I just want to play with you all day!

As well as your standing, we're so nearly there with the crawling. You rock on your knees and want to go forwards so much. You're better at backwards, and can do a sort of army crawl forwards.

Daddy says we also have to include the bad points in here, so your sleep at night is still rubbish. It's better, but it's still rubbish! Everyone's baby seems to sleep for like 20 hours a night and it can get a little wearing but you also have a knack for smiling at just the right times to make it all seem ok!

You weighed 16lb 9oz a few weeks ago.

This month has had many firsts, including first go on a slide, first ball pool (you love that!) and first fireworks, albeit you were inside.

I have tons of videos of you that I'm going to try and edit together this month before it becomes an impossible task.

We love you so much. x

With love and light xo

Instagram - November 2011

With love and light xo