8/52 HELLO GERMS, GOODBYE PHOTOGRAPHY*

Cuddling up to your poorly brother

D's Daddy Love

Somewhere over the rainbow...

I'm hoping this rainbow is a sign that my little rays of sunshine are coming home and that the storm clouds of germs are passing.

*Apologies to my beautiful girl, for not seeming to have a photograph of her this week.

7/52 MAKING THE MOST OF YOU

There really is no running theme for this week's photographs.  I'm making the most of  being off work for half term as it means that we can slow down a little and I can enjoy some quality time with the children, particularly A&D who seem to be at school far too much for my liking.

 

This first photo is exactly what I saw when I walked into the living room on Thursday.  How did he learn to do this?  My heart was literally in my mouth while Teeny was just super impressed with himself. 

 

At the window!

We had A's dance class and two birthday parties this Saturday.  I'm not quite sure how or when it happened, but our weekends now seem to mostly revolve around our kids' social schedule.

Bubbles
At Freya's 2nd birthday party

 

In uniform
At Grace's 2nd birthday party

On Monday, as it was at half term, I finally got to take you to the new Library of Birmingham.  You went with Daddy one day when I was working not long after it opened, but I hadn't been lucky enough to go with you before now.  Today we decided to take Teeny to nursery for a few hours and then the three of us went into town on the train.  Our new library is such a lovely place to explore from top to bottom; to snuggle up on the story steps in the children's library downstairs right up  to being able see the view across the city from the top and then, of course, there all of the lovely vantage points and nooks and crannies in between to be examined.  It should also be mentioned that with all of the light being let through those floor to ceiling windows and all of the different shapes, angles and colours it is perfect for taking lots of lovely photographs especially when you remember to take the correct lens (which I did not.)

Holding Hands

Its a long way down.

Books, glorious books.

Pretty In Pink

Taking a break.

At the Top!

'Red' any good books lately.

Looking Up!

Twin Telepathy
(They chose the same books from different areas of the children's library,)

6/52 TOGETHER

I miss your babyhoods so much.  I miss the endless breastfeeding and you wanting to just snuggle up on my lap for hours and not being able to move from the sofa.  I miss watching the sun come up after a sleepless night and long daytime naps; your wrinkly rolls of chub and toothless gums.  It makes me sad to think that sometimes those memories will not be so fresh in my mind, but we are making new memories all of the time. Memories of the relationships between the three of you growing; the way you cuddle up on the sofa together and the way Teeny calls A and D from the bottom of the stairs and can't quite pronounce the 's' at the end of his sister's name.  I love the way our beautiful girl mothers her little brother (even if the fear of her breaking his arms because of the way she tries to lift and guide him makes me feel a little sick at times).  The way the three of you play together with our big boy's castle and his desperation to teach his little brother all of the things he knows. Our littlest always sucking in his cheeks accompanying his needs to kiss everybody special to him before he leaves the room and his repetition of the word "cud-tle" to those very people he adores so much. 

 

These tiny moments in amongst the chaos are what makes my heart sing every day. 

 

Thank you my little loves.

 

xxx

 

The best big sister

Riding home from school

Colouring Together
 

5/52

Logan's Birthday Party

Grandad's bodywarmer

I want to be just like my brother

Sunday Afternoon Snuggles

Quick kiss

4/52 YOUR DELIGHT

My blog mostly documents moments of delight that the three of you bring to our everyday lives;  those moments that most days are my saviour in a day that is often full of not so delightful moments.  

 

This week, though, I am mixing it up a little and documenting your delight; those instances where I have captured you doing things which have brought smiles to those beautiful faces of yours.



Enjoying your little brother's toys

Celebration Assembly
Using finger spaces and full stops

This little piggy...

Even girls who wear pink love Spiderman

Watching the world go by

Belly Laughter

3/52 A WEEK OF CUDDLES

When looking for photographs for this week's post there weren't that many, but there appeared to be a running theme of cuddles.  It wasn't a conscious choice, but it happened nonetheless and I imagine this has a lot to do with our youngest.

 

Teeny has always been a cuddly baby child, but since December his speech has come on at a rate of knots and with it a greater understanding of him by many of the people around him.  We have literally gone from understanding very little of what he says to being able to have conversations with him and it has become clear that "tuddle" (cuddle) is probably his favourite word.

 

He really is such a sweet and affectionate little boy and we are so blessed that he is ours.  He completes our family so perfectly and his love for those around him, especially his brother and sister sometimes make me feel like my heart might explode at any moment.

 

Beep Beep Dan'da (Grandad)

More beep beeping Grandad's nose 

Making up.

My Hero

2/52 THE OLD ROUTINE

I really enjoyed working less hours over Christmas and having you all home with me because, as much as I love my work and being a mommy, it can be quite isolating and hectic at times.  The Christmas break really gave us all the opportunity to recharge our batteries and I am so thankful for that.  Unfortunately though we are well and truly back into the swing of things this week and back to the routine of school and work, although I suppose if it weren't such a contrast we wouldn't appreciate the time we share together quite as much as we do.  We did, however manage to squeeze in a trip to the cinema to see Monster's University with your Auntie Dana as well as a lovely visit with some of our other good friends this weekend which included toys from my childhood (which you will note are neither pink or blue...see it is possible...) Christmas pudding and lots of cuddles.  What a lovely combination.

 

Lunchtime*

Sylvanian Families

Grimm's Fairy Tales - The 12 Dancing Princesses

Deep in conversation*

Aah, Har-wee (Harry)

 

*More black and white photos that I have established Google is "autoenhancing" via Google+ on upload except I don't even have a Google+ account so basically the only way to stop it is to set up a Google+ account...sneaky!

1/52 A NEW YEAR AND A NEW PROJECT

Those of you who follow this blog will know that I really struggled to keep up with my 365 project last year and that I still have what feels like a million photographs in folders on the laptop that I am still ploughing away at blogging so there was always going to be very little chance of me undertaking another one this year.  However despite my 2013 365 project not being what I had hoped it would be I hate the idea of not having a project to focus me on photographing and blogging the moments of delight in our everyday life and so this year I have scaled down the project somewhat to a 52 project.  This project will probably mostly be focused on the children, but certainly not limited to the children as it was last year; it will simply be one post at the end of each week containing some our favourite photographs and moments from the past week.

 

So here is 1/52.  Enjoy!

 

Happy New Year

Breastfeeding

Selfie

Brotherly love

Bathtime antics

Nigh' nigh'!

'Ello, I'm on the phone!

YOUR FIRST WEDDING

A - 365
D - 365
Teeny - 365

Today the three of you got to attend your very first wedding and what a wedding it was.  We were so privileged and honoured to be part of what was such a beautiful and touching occasion and I am so grateful to Alex and Claire for allowing us to share their day with them.

READY FOR BED

A - 365

D - 365

Teeny - 365*

*Another horribly toned photo courtesy of Google

QUIET CALM

A - 365

D - 365

Teeny - 365

I love you all so much, but sometimes being a mommy is hard for me, really hard and some days life is crazy, really crazy so creeping in and watching you sleep is often what brings calmness to those crazy, difficult days.