What I would tell them....

WHAT I WOULD TELL THEM:

(If I knew what to say.)

You are a miracle.

And I have to love you this fiercely: So that you can feel it even after you leave for school, or even while you are asleep, or even after your childhood becomes a memory.

You’ll forget all this when you grow up.

But it’s okay.

Being a mother means having your heart broken.

And it means loving and losing and falling apart and coming back together.

And it’s the best there is.

And also, sometimes, the worst.

Sometimes you won’t have anyone to talk to.

Sometimes you’ll wonder if you’ve forgotten who you are.

But you must remember this: What you’re doing matters.

And you have to be brave with your life so that others can be brave with theirs.

And nurturing the good in this world is nothing short of a privilege.

That’s why I have to love you this way.

So I can give what I have to you.

So that you can carry it in your body and pass it on.

I have watched you sleep.

I’ve kissed you a million times.

And I know something that you don’t, yet:

You are writing the story of your only life every single minute of every day.

And my greatest hope for you, sweet child, is that I can teach you how to write a good one.

I love this. 

{I totally stole it from here who got it from this blog!}

Embrace the Camera 25th August 2011

We went to Bristol Aquarium a couple of days ago...on our third year anniversary don't ya know!  It was a bit of a last minute plan, but trying to make the most of hubby being on holiday for only a few more days (he's back at work today *sob* ) we packed a bag and headed off. 

We had a ball..such a fun place and with an IMAX theatre with a 3D show too! 

Avie started out freaked out that the sharks we were telling her she was going to see were suddenly going to be able to escape...but by the end, once she had seen them, she kept telling us how she liked them now and they were her "favouritest animal" (last week zebras were...i must keep up..)

Anyways...with my phone's humble camera (damn forgetting my snazzy camera on a day out!), I managed to get a few shots in between chasing Lily from fish tank to fish tank....

The obligatory "me" in the shot!! 

The hubby and Avie

At the IMAX..check out Lily trying to get the glasses on behind Avie!

On our walk from the car park to the Aquarium, we passed a load of gorillas!  They're on display all over Bristol trying to highlight Bristol's tourist attractions.  They were brilliant and Avie demanded she have a photo with a few of them....and Avie is really off having her photo taken at the moment, so who was I to argue?!!  Plus they are so colourful!

We had a lovely day.  How fun to able to share our wedding anniversary with our girls! 

Linking up with the lovely Emily Anderson over at the Anderson Crew with my Embrace the Camera photo! xx



The world of Peppa Pig!

Lily loves Peppa Pig

She eats, sleeps and dreams Peppa Pig!

When I need 5 mins to do something without her 'help', I put Peppa Pig on (please don't judge me!)

 


 



 
So months ago when we heard that Paultons Park in Hampshire (where I used to go every year as a child when we lived near there) was opening "Peppa Pig World", we vowed to visit in the Summer before Avie started school (she's a bit of a fan too!)

So on Sunday, we drove the hour and a half to Paultons Park,

getting there just as it opened and all i can say is

WOW!

We had a fantastic day.. one of those rare days out where everything goes 'to plan',

even though you don't really have a plan. 

Where there are no tantrums, no whining or moaning,

 no bumped heads or scraped knees.

Where the weather was fab (after an initial ten mins of drizzle!)

Queues were few and far between and where there were some, the girls just soaked in the atmosphere.

When we had 'done' Peppa Pig world, we ventured into the rest of Paultons Park and cooled off in the water park!!  Avie got over her dread of getting water on her face for this one..we couldn't have been more proud!



VERY PROUD OF MY BIG GIRL!



Avie was such a good big sister..she kept making sure Lily was okay
 and took her hand to play in the water with her..
so precious!



We loved it, and we will definitely be going back!



Fights & Friendship

My girls are growing and growing

and they are getting closer and closer

but they are also bickering more and more.

But what I love is when they 'play fight' - the shrieks and giggles that echo from the lounge is gorgeous..wish I could bottle it!  Whatever mood i'm in...I can't help but smile and run and watch them!!

(By the way they don't hurt each other...much...well hardly ever..

I do always end up saying the words "this'll end in tears...just like my mum did!)



I am LOVING lily's pulled up stripey socks!  She insists on wearing socks a lot!!

The two of them love being together, even if they don't show it all the time!

I love that the two of them are becoming friends. 

They will always have each other and I am so grateful for that. 

I have a lovely close relationship with my sister and really

 hope and pray that my girls will be as lucky as I am.

World Photography Day (The Gallery)

Second week in a row, i'm managing to link up with The Gallery's photo challenge this week which is World Photography Day.  I'm going back in time with this picture...back to July 1st of this year - my cousin Liz's wedding.  Lovely day, amazing service (although missed most of it after having to remove a screaming Lily from the back of the church!) great food etc etc!

But...best-of-all-was-this....

Cardboard cut-outs of the happyland royal family!!  What a brilliant thing to have at a wedding!!  And it caused much amusement - with many adults having a go too (well into the early hours!!)  Here are my girls letting me capture them - apologies for the quality of the photo though - rubbish camera phone!!

I love a good wedding! x

The love of my life

My hubby and I have been married for THREE YEARS today!!

Our story...


It was 2002 and I was on a cheap (remember..very cheap!!) girls holiday to Majorca with my best friend Lucy just before we were about to start our final year at Uni.  We were staying in Palma Nova and whilst most of our evening's were spent experiencing the culture of beautiful Majorca, a couple of evening's were spent in Magaluf and this is where I met the love of my life...


*cringe*


 I still shudder at the fact that i met my soulmate....the-father-of-my-beautiful-daughters...in such a seedy, meat market place!! Oh how i wish i could say we met whilst backpacking around Australia!!


But hey ho...let's move on!!


Lucy and I weren't even going to go out that night...we were tired, so I don't know what made us go...but go we did!  And we ended up dancing in a bar called Carwash.  I had been dancing for hours and decided to take a break and sit on the side...right next to the one and only...Mr David!  He told me to get back on the dancefloor... I told him i was just having a break, but he continued to badger me, so i agreed...but on the condition that he joined me!!


Over the rest of the evening, we danced for about ten mins, then spent hours talking at the bar and shared our first kiss.  When the bar closed (at about 2am) we walked Lucy back to the hotel and continued down onto the beach where we talked till about 6am whilst lying on sunloungers looking at the stars!  It was very romantic and i would love to re-create it one day (just NOT in majorca - maybe mauritius or the seychelles...i'm not fussy!).


We met up again the following night and got on really well and lightly touched on the fact that back in the UK we lived 4 hours away from each other...but didn't want to dwell on it.  Lucy and I then flew home the following day.  When Bryn (there I've said his name..think it's the first time!) got back into the country, he rang and we spoke every night that week...for hours!  We learnt so much about each other in just that one week - we felt like we'd known each other for years!  He took a train and came to visit me at Cardiff Uni that very next weekend...we were both SO nervous, but after a couple of glasses of vino, we became so comfortable and things just "clicked".


We continued to see each other most weekends..taking it in turns to do the journey and we spoke on the phone every week night in between. 


After about 9 months we broke up...it was the worst time of my life.  But i won't dwell on that...it had to happen for us to realise that a long distance relationship (and the difficulty that it adds to a relationship) was worth it.


For another TWO years (gulp!!) we carried on with seeing each other every weekend and holiday and talking on the phone ALOT!!!!!  During this time I had moved back in with my parents to do a post graduate course to convert my degree to Law and then the Legal Practice Course to qualify as a solicitor.  As the LPC was nearing to an end, I managed to get a job with a law firm where Bryn lived!  We rented his brother's flat and moved in together!  It was fantastic...and then I started work...where I was sent to cover a fraud case in the law courts...in CARDIFF!!!


Ridiculous doesn't even cover it!!  So we were back to long distance!!  For seven months anyway....


Whilst on the pill and drinking heavily on night's out with friends, I started to throw up every morning for 3 morning's in a row....on the 4th morning, I arrived back for my weekend with Bryn and even though I stressed to him that there was NO WAY i was pregnant, he insisted he got a test...and it turns out..


I WAS PREGNANT!!!


The second after we saw those 2 pink lines, our world's kind of collapsed...for a little time anyway.  Shock was the main culprit - turns out I was actually 7 weeks pregnant!!  And I continued to be sick every day ALL DAY with Hyperemesis till I was 30 weeks..but that is a whole other blog post!!


Fast forward a little....we got over the shock and we ended up buying a house and moving back near to my family when I was 8 month's pregnant, then Bryn started his new job 1 week before Avie was born in September 2006!


The rest they say is history..... we went to New Zealand with Avie in a campervan on our honeymoon in July-August 2008, then 10 days after we came back we got married on the 23rd August 2008 (3 years ago today, hence the blog post!!)


We do thing's SO the wrong way round...baby first, then honeymoon, then wedding??!!!!  There were very good reasons why we did hioneymoon/wedding though!!


Then after 8 months of trying....I got pregnant with Lily just after we moved into our second (and current) home...and she was born in November 2009!


WOW....Lovely memories!!!  I love that I have shared all of this with my soulmate.

Bryn...I can't wait for all the memories we have yet to make with each other, as a family.  We have such plans and with you by my side I know we are going to achieve so many of them...I am so excited about what our future has in store for us!  I am so grateful that you work so hard so I can stay at home and raise our girls and I cherish every moment I have with them and hope I am doing a good job.  I love you and our girls with all my heart and can't wait to grow old with you. xxxxxxx

Embrace the Camera Thursday 18th August 2011

Well seeing as we are back from our hols and finally unpacked and a bit more back to normal (whatever that is?!)....i have managed to get with the program this week and join in on Embrace the Camera over at the The Anderson Crew...heck, writing it this early in the day, I may even make it towards the top of the list...shocker!!!

I think it helps that I am mid-sorting through holiday pics at the mo - so i have a few pics where I managed to actually be in them with being on holiday and all - seems to be one of the rare occasions where it's a given that I'm in at least one photo!

So here we all are...on a boat trip down the Dordogne River in the South of France last week...my perfect little family...

I have got to make sure I get more family pics like this...love 'em!

But it was hot and very sunny, so pretty soon the boat trip turned into this...

So once off the boat, we went to the park....

Amazing, what a bit of a slide and a swing can do!!

2011 Holiday to France

Holiday in pictures.....

POOL TIME



COUSIN TIME



MEDIEVAL SHOW TIME!




SISTER TIME

 

AVIE'S DAY OUT

 

Spinning top made from scratch (we bought 2!)

Doesn't need more explanation than that really does it??  But when time allows.........i will be back to give a round up of the holiday...I just can't help myself!  

Black & White

Seeing as I am mid photo sorting from hols, it seems appropriate to get involved in all the link up's this week....and today it is my first ever link up with The Gallery and their Black & White theme.

Seeing as I have a love of putting my photos into black and white mode (I just think photos come out a bit more dreamy in b&w...plus in pics like this they make me look slighly less crusty!)  here is a snapshot of my littlest lady Lily last week on holiday in the South of France.  We were having dinner in a restaurant in Domme overlooking the Dordogne river...magic.

Right, I better get on with the unpacking...i hate that unpacking takes longer than packing and you don't have the holiday to look forward to...see you next week! xx

A little bit about my gorgeous girls...

My girls....my life...my purpose...

Avie Grace

My firstborn will turn 5 in just over 3 weeks..............she is about to start school..........

I love her

I am amazed by her

I smile because of her

I am surprised by her

I am encouraged by her

I am inspired by her

I am so so proud of her

Avie is becoming such an amazing person.  She makes me laugh and cry (with joy and frustration!) on a daily basis.  I love seeing her character change all the time.  The last 4 years have flown by and bit by bit, all too quickly she has needed me less and less.  She is learning to do so much on her own and is so pleased with herself when she achieves something by herself.  She instantly wants to improve and i love that she has that drive.  But if she doesn't manage to do something she accepts it beautifully and is confident she will achieve it soon.
She loves playing by herself..she has such a vivid imagination and copies things she sees around her and on tv and acts it out with her barbies, polly pockets or various figures!  But she is starting to love playing with others too - mainly boys at pre school.  This bodes well because she will be one of only 6 girls when she starts school next month and there will be 19 boys! Yikes!

Avie is incredibly bright...i know most parents think this of their child, so I won't brag, but she hit all the milestones way early and her writing especially amazes me daily.  She has only just shown an interest in drawing, but she has been hiding a brilliant creative streak that I can't wait to see more of!

If i could, i would keep her at home with me all day every day and play with her, teach her and learn from her. 

But i am happy and excited for her to go out there and learn about the world and create a path for herself.

I am just so honoured to be joining her for the ride.

 

I love you Avie, so much...you will never truly know how much until you your self become a mother. 

You are my Little Twinkling Star...xxx

Lily Fleur

 

Well what can I say about this little munchkin - she is certainly testing us at the moment with her cheeky independence (and throw in a bit of a violent streak of late...where she laughs uncontrollably as soon as we tell her off!  Yep..it's a fun stage!!)  But once again, I am experiencing what unconditional love is.  I love hearing the sounds you make from your cot in the morning - very content with life, but gradually you get louder and louder and I know that's my cue to get out of bed!  Opening your door and seeing your reaction - well it is just hands down, one of the top favourite moments in the day!  It is close to the reaction you give daddy when he gets home from work - so excited as if you haven't seen him for weeks!!

You are already showing how clever you are and soaking up words and tasks like a sponge!  You have a wicked sense of humour and have us all in fits of giggles every day - you are so bright and sunny!  When you cry we know there is really something wrong...because you very rarely do it.

I love you Lily,so much too....

You are my Littlest Twinkling star...xxx



More of the photoshoot...

It feels a long time since the dreaded, difficult fabulous photoshoot of the girls I had done for Mr David's father's day pressie.  Here are a few more of the photos for memories sake.......

I love being married to a teacher!

It is officially the holidays!  Mr David is off for 5.5 weeks...that means no more work, no more pre-school - no more routine!!!!!!!  And it means....we are abroad!  Bonjour from France!!

Once again my parents (who are THE best parents in the world) have taken pity on us and paid for a villa in France for 2 weeks and all we had to do is get here!  We are in the south of France in the Dordogne region  and it is beautiful!  My sister and her brood are here too and the girls are thriving - they are loving the sun, the pool, having their cousins and granny and grandpa on tap and having treats at least twice a day (in the form of ice creams, sweets, pain au chocolat and the odd toy too!!  It is holiday time after all!)

Why on earth am i blogging when I am in the south of france with my wonderful family i hear you ask....?!!!!  Well.. after a few 33 degree days, we had a rainy day!  It worried me...that after almost a week of being here, i had not got any resemblance of a tan and feared the rest of the holiday could be a washout so i decided i needed to make the most of any sun that may appear.  Yesterday afternoon was really humid and the sun appeared every ten mins or so followed by spells of cloud for the net ten mins and so on and so on....i (stupidly) decided not to put any suncream on...and because of the cloud, the true extent of the suns rays was deceptive...and who am i kidding with this babble...I was silly and didn't put suncream on and literally fried the whole front of my body.............Ouch was not the word!!  I've truly learnt my lesson...because today is a right off and I don't want to do anything outside at all and I'm feeling very sorry for myself!

But at least it gives me an excuse to catch up on blogging!!  I've been feeling really guilty about my lack of blogging...i'm going to have to learn to blog just "moments" and not feel like i need to do day to day documenting!  Each time something big happens...i think "oh i must blog about that" but then remember the millions of things in before that major event that i need to blog about first so that everything is documented chronologically.  But that just is not possible in my crazy life - so i just need to focus on the big stuff as and when.  And if i have to blog about something 3 weeks after the event then that is just the way it has to be!!!

Right..back to the holiday....it has so far been lovely.  We've still been up between 6-7am most mornings, but thanks to the GENIUS who invented portable dvd players, the girls have come into our bed and watched dvd's till we come round!!  So mornings have been lovely and lazy.   Lily has napped for 2ish hours every day giving us free time to swim with Avie or read or sunbathe or just have a relaxing lunch!  And then in between we have had lovely outings to villages and medieval towns for a drink and ice cream and exploring!

Avie is loving playing with her cousins, but to be honest we are missing her a little bit....when they are around she doesn't have any time for us (or lily) - and rightly so!!  I remember getting together with my cousins every christmas and have the best memories of those times.  We had brilliant imaginations and let them go wild when we were together and played from the minute we woke up till lights out at bedtime.  We were exhausted by the time our visits were over!  I am happy for her that she has cousins on both sides to play with and enjoys getting together like this with her family...they are like extended siblings for her!  But it will be nice once we are home to catch up on my cuddles and chats with my little munchkin!  I think i'm struggling more recently because she starts school in a few weeks (gulp!)



On holiday in the village of Sarlat having a drink at a cafe
just after we'd treated Avie to these tiny medieval figures!



Rightyho...back to catching up on blogs and soothing my skin!  I wish I was one of those people who would turn brown by tomorrow...but sadly the pink will fade and then i will peel and be back to the white person I arrived here as!  Ah well...pale and interesting???!!