photo friday. peace

PEACE IS ........................... A SLEEPING BABY

Why?

Why is it that as soon as your baby heads towards 18 months you become horrendously broody for another baby. What hormone is this? I went from only having one baby after Lily was born . I was adamant that I was never doing that again.
Then I started thinking ...ok I would like her to have a little brother or sister maybe when she is 4. Now I think no ..I want one NOW!!!!

So perhaps my original dream of having 3 children will happen . hee hee (not)
I mean I don't even have a bedroom for the one I have now
Tips on how to squash broodiness will be much appreciated
xxx

If you are having a blue monday

heres something to lift your spirits.

my life size cut outs of him certainly do.

Mr Patrick Dempsey in Versace. Can you ask for better?

wobbly

I am having one of those evenings where I feel wobbly inside. Do you ever have them? Usually mine are hormone induced and sometimes lack of sleep. Being the mother of a 18 month old ,these occur fairly frequently.

We have just come back from spending a weekend in Bournemouth with Kristian's mum. We left on Friday and arrived about 5 ish. Lily had some dinner and a run around before bathing and going off to bed. we then had a lovely stir fry dinner and some champagne .

Next day Kristian and I went off by ourselves. this is very rare. you may have gathered as much from my blogging. We left our little baby with her nan and went off into Bournemouth to walk around the shops. We walked , slowly. Occasionally we held hands with each other (awwwwww) In the shops I could browse the rails in my own time. then we had a coffee in Starbucks. There we just bought the coffee and went to a table , sat down and chatted and drank the stuff. You really don't realise how much changed when a baby joins a couple. usually one of us gets the coffees whilst the other one locates a highchair and finds a suitable table where a highchair can fit comfortably. We then settle Lily , get out her juice , raisins , berries etc. coffees arrive and we gulp them between getting berries , picking up dollies etc... you get the picture

Not that I would change my life with Lily for the world just an observation. It is nice to have some time to yourself and as a couple. I think its really important.

anyhoo I digress

We then went to the movies...YAY!!!! we saw juno which i highly recommend . I loved it.

then onto wagamama the Japanese noodle bar. I love noodle places.

here we are having our noodlesIt was delish. We had a lovely evening. I feel so tired now for some reason (cue the wobbly)

On a very exciting note I am seeing some of you in 6 sleeps as Lily and I will be winging our way to the beautiful Cape Town next Saturday. I cannot wait to see everyone. I feel quite emotional thinking about it. I have a week to fill with packing. I hope it goes really fast.

Lily's little teeth and mouth are dong much better now after her awful fall. she has split the gum on one of them though which is horrid but I don't think its sore anymore. You have to have nerves of steel to be a parent I tell you.

Lily was 18 months on Wednesday. heading fast towards 2. Its mind blowing how fast it goes. She had her little friend Ami around in the week. Ami's mum , Leigh and I met when the babies were 6 weeks old. they are 2 days apart.

It was really funny seeing them play. Lily is quite timid and Ami runs around entertaining everyone. Poor Lily just stood at the wall clutching her beloved dolly staring at this little girl playing with her toys. It took a good half hour of getting her settle into it for her to start playing with Ami. eventually they were running into the bedroom together bring out books for me to read to them. It was ever so sweet....

Here's a few more photos of my munchkin on Blackheath and bouncing on my trampoline

So thats my news. Apologies as I think its a bit all over the place but I am tired

xxx

fridays photo

my contribution this week is taken in my garden.... haha no not really (I wish)

It was taken in April 2007 in greenwich park. they have a special section called the garden which has these stunning seasonal beds . they also have ducks and deer. its one of my favorite places.

here are some tulips (one of my favorite flowers) with some massive ,old trees in the background

and heres a picture of Lily in said garden later that day

fridays photo

Could I begin this by saying that I dont own a fancy camera but I like taking photos of interesting things. I was on my way out yesterday to take a photo at the top of greenwich park of canary wharf. However fate had other plans and my baby fell and knocked all her bottom teeth wonky. cue blood , tears.. and that was just me!!!

So heres my attempt for this week...

Taken in 2006 at the tate modern, London

A special exhibition. On the side is a young man "building" himself up to be a father

If you are my valentine...

You get heart shaped toast with vanilla and strawberry jam and a cup of rooibos tea for your breakfast

Happy valentines day to all... may your day be filled with all sorts of love

xxx

spring fever

Its very early I know, as usually I am shivering away and moaning about british winters at this time of year, but its quite mild this year and our beautiful tree in our back garden is startig to blossom. What a thing to see every morning as you lift the blind. I dont know what the trees called perhaps aunty Sandra can help me out as she told me what it was when she visited

Oh we went for a walk yesterday to M & S (where else) . I got the buggy out and off we went. Me pushing buggy helped along by Lily. I dont think I will be taking it along for short walks any longer!

Look what I did!!!!!!!!!!!

with help from my fabulous guru I got this skin . I did something to the HTML, I got rid of widgets and got this pretty new layout. I am on a high. I have come so far.....
Thanks C you are a star..mwah
xxx

my belt is tightening

So, We are getting married, this you all know. Weddings require money and a fair amount of it too, hence we are on a strict fiscal budget. Every penny and pound has been allocated and there is very little room for movement. I know I am making it sound awful but its actually been a really good thing to do, Like a financial spring clean if you will.
We know exactly how much we spend and we still have money to save for our wedding which is amazing I think considering I am not working.

So Kristian and I have a spring in our step now every time we underspend on something. I can see him literally rubbing his hands in glee.
We are well on our way now and I have begun to get excited about the wedding . I have a few meetings set up for March and I cant wait to see the venue again just to remind myself of it and its wonderful soul. We have decided on a colour scheme of deep reds and maroons and I really hope I can stick to this and not try and throw extra colours in as I am prone to doing. in fact my bridal horoscope ( yes , really) says taurus: your style : luxurious your colour: velvety rose your challenge : sticking with your vision . even as I read that I thought , hmmmm they say velvety rose.. I love the sound of that and I do like that colour. It also says in that same piece that taureans have an instinct for being brides. I do hope that this is true.

That brings me to traditions. I do love tradition but I am not a traditionalist where this whole marriage thing is concerned. If i was I would not have a little toddler running around. So We made a few decisions regarding the wedding. I didnt want to throw my bouquet and have a garter taken off. I mean I am trying to lose weight and plan to squish myself into some spanx pants and a corset. I dont want people seeing down there where my secrets lurk. I origionally was not going to have a bouquet but then my friend jenny asked me what I was going to do with the other arm and hand that was not attached to my dad. She thought it may swing wildly. So for the safety of all my guests I am having a bouquet and I am glad as now i have decided I want one. I love flowers.

My belt has tightened in more ways than one as I lost a couple of kgs this week too and went down to the next clothing sixe ( albeit a bit snug) Things are looking up.
I am off to surf the internet now and confuse myself even further.
PS If any of my SA friends know of a good DJ please let me know.

lots of love
the bride to be
xxx

one week later

aplogies for my lack of posts. shortly after my last post Kristian got the infamous norovirus(winter vomiting disease) , it has been all over England with a record 3 million people off work a couple of weeks back. I can only assume he got it whilst at the swimming pools. Thus I spent most of last week bleaching everything all the time and washing towels and bedding to kill any germs. I was not going to get this and I was very worried about Lily getting it as dehydration is such a problem. I succeeded in my attempts though and we avoided it. Kristian however was very sick and at one point I found him crawling along the floor on all fours ,trying to get to the bathroom I assume, telling me he was dying. the urge to take a photo was great but I resisted and helped him instead.

To get away from the sickness Lily and I met Jenny in London on Wednesday. It was a really chilly day and we met on the south bank under the london eye. we had a bite to eat and a warming drink before wrapping up and walking along the river in search of the borough market. The market was closed bar a few beautiful , fresh fruit and veg stores but it was great walking along the river and drinking in the sights. It is indeed true that when a man is tired of London he is tired of life , as there is always something new to see.

We then found a lovely patisserie near the market called patisserie Lila and had a lovely pot of tea with little warmed tea cups and shared naughty something. It was so quirky and beautifully decorated. I sat at the table with the huge bowl of tulips . divine. Its the kind of place that makes you feel like owning a little shop like that.

spring is making an early entrance again as our tree is starting to blossom and all the crocuses are popping up. I just hope they can survive any cold snaps . Spring is my favorite season here. It gives your spirits just the lift they need after the winter.

Little Lily is very well. chatting to me all the time and now even calling my name when she wants me to come and give her something. I can barely believe how quickly she is beginning to talk its quite staggering. We are both very excited to come to Cape Town and I tell her about everyone we are going to see and all the things we will do. I can't wait!!!!

I see tomorrow is super Tuesday in the states where the republican and democrat presidential candidates are voted for, but even more exciting and satisfying is the fact its shrove Tuesday. Yes, pancakes for all. I love pancakes and they hold a very lovely memory for me as my mum makes them every sunday for dinner. So those of you that are going to indulge along with me ....enjoy!!!! Lily and mummy is patisserie Lila Lily kissing simba the lion cub

Lily under the London eye with big ben in the background