Dear Beautiful Boy

i heart my snap

2012-05-25T07:30:00.000+01:00

We went on a little adventure this week

to take some picture of my beautiful boy

in amongst some beautiful blue bells.

I think to say that he enjoyed himself

would be an understatement.

Check out that big grin.

The windswept air.

the very muddy trainers.

All signs of a good day if you ask me!

a dream come true

2012-05-24T08:34:00.000+01:00

. . . a key turns in the lock.
three sets of ears prick up:
one grey and furry,
one black and furry,
and one pink human pair.

. . . eight little furry feet are suddenly running

at speed

to investigate the noise.

. . . but one pink human pair of feet hesitate.

a little boy looks at his mummy . . .

for reassurance,

for confirmation.

his mummy whispers one word;

"daddy"

and the little boy's face lights up . . .

and he is also off,

at speed,

on his two pink human feet,

following the way that the eight furry ones went.

. . . "Hello?"
a voice says through a crack
in the freshly unlocked door.

the toys that the little boy had been carrying

are dropped where he stands.

"daddy" the little boy says . . .

and he runs . . .

in the direction of that first hello.

there is another "Hello"

but a different one.

a familiar one.

an I-know-you kind of one.

an it's-good-to-be-home kind of one.

a "hello" all wrapped up in love.

giggles erupt from the hallway.
. . . blind to it all,
the mummy smiles.

. . . she doesn't need to actually see it

because she can see it in her head.

she can hear the love in the hallway.

and she knows something special has happened . . .

a daddy dream has come true.

something that daddy has dreamed about

since before his beautiful boy was even a dollop.

daddy has been greeted at the door
as he returns home from work.
greeted with a smile
and a "daddy"
and a great big giggling cuddle.

. . . a dream has come true . . .

and as her boys come into the living room,

the mummy knows

that her dreams have come true too.

splodge and me at twenty-two weeks

2012-05-23T07:30:00.000+01:00

Splodge's Size:

Splodge is now about the size of a squash or marrow

and has more than likely broken the 1lb marker.

Splodge's Development:

Splodge has hair now, including eyelashes and eyebrows.

And he or she can see changes in light and dark now,

so we might have to crack the torch out and have a little play on my belly soon.

My Size:

My waist now measures in at 38 inches,

which is only an inch more than last time.

I have to say that I'm glad it's slowed down a bit,

because putting on three inches every fortnight would have left me massive by the end.

I think this is probably the last week that I'll be able to button up my normal jeans.

I will cling on to them until the last possible moment,

but by tea time the last few days they've been feeling really uncomfortable.

My Pregnancy Development:

Splodge kicks really well now

and it's finally got to the point where you can see the vigorous kicks from the outside.

He or she tends to get really active after my dinner in the evening

and has a really good fidget when I go to bed at night,

as if they too are getting settled in a good position for the night.

My Body:

My belly is definitely looking very big and round

and starting to attract the attention of strangers now.

Although I do definitely feel like my bump is smaller than last time around,

I was well out of normal clothes by this stage with the little guy.

My Appetite:

Rich foods are giving me nasty, nasty heartburn,

so roast dinner is off the menu,

and it sadly looks like my favourite dinner, risotto,

is about to go too.

Anything with mince beef was an early casualty of my pregnancy

so it would seems that my diet from here will be based on chicken and pasta.

And icepops still rock my world,

can't get enough of those babies.

What I really want is the blue ones

but can't seem to find them anywhere,

so if anyone knows where I can buy blue icepops then you'd make a pregnant lady very happy.

It definitely makes me smile now when ever I look at my pregnancy app

and the time done it bigger than the time left to go.

And the proper kicks and wriggles I can feel now are awesome.

fun {see it snap it love it}

2012-05-22T07:48:00.000+01:00

My beautiful boy always has fun outdoors.

He's a proper boy in that respect

and he loves to explore.

So what spring would be complete without a little fun adventure in a bluebell wood.

I have such fond memories of spring times in the woods near where my Nan lived when we were children.

There were blankets of purple bluebells.

The smell still takes me right back.

And watching my little man enjoying his adventure in the woods

was probably as much fun for me as for him.

He smelt the bluebells.

He felt the moss on the fallen tree.

He watched a spider run across the path ahead of him.

He sat on a tree stump like a king on a throne.

He got muddy shoes and muddy hands.

He had fun.

Last week's 'Reflection' theme inspired some gorgeous photographs

and yet again, I had a tough time choosing a winning picture.

But I decided on this one:

It comes from the lovely Lauren at Real Housewife of Suffolk County.

I thought her picture of her little boy Charles

splashing through an enormous puddle

was just stunning.

So she gets to show off the Photo of the Week badge if she wants to.

<a href="http://www.dearbeautifulboy.com" target="_blank">

<img src="http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll320/looby_boo/winnersbadge200.jpg" /></a>

Lauren has chosen the theme for next week

and she has picked 'Moment in Time'.

So get thinking about the theme for next week

and in the meantime get linking up your 'Fun' photographs.

Grab the badge so that people can find more great pictures,

tweet me your links to @dear_beautiful_ so I can retweet them,

and pop round to see the other 'Fun' pictures which get linked up when you get time.

<a href="http://www.dearbeautifulboy.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll320/looby_boo/SeeItSnapItLoveIt200.jpg" /></a>

so much to say

2012-05-21T08:56:00.001+01:00

As a self confessed chatterbox

I can honestly say that from the day I found out I was pregnant

that I couldn't wait until a time when I would hear my baby speak.

I was so excited to be a part of the whole process of language acquisition.

It's always fascinated me that children pick words up so quickly,

and how they learn a language from scratch

and I could wait to help in the process of teaching my child to learn such a valuable life skill.

In the last few months

our little guy has got really interested in talking.

Not only does he watch our mouths intently when we talk to him

but he babbles constantly.

He just seems to have a lot to say for himself,

although until recently none of it was in English,

so all we could do was nod along

and pretend to converse with him.

This resulted in lots of frowning from him

and lots of giggles from us.

But lately his talking has absolutely exploded.

And he is using real words.

Proper, English words

that we can actually recognise and understand.

He's still a long way from being able to really chat with us

but he can communicate

and I love it.

He loves animals

and enjoys pointing out "cat", "duck" and "bird" at every opportunity.

At the moment, his first instinct is to call a cat a dog

but once corrected he'll happily repeat "dog-dog-dog"

while we grin at him for being so clever.

Lately he's been trying really hard to say "frog" and "fish" at bathtime

and he really concentrates on making the f sound

until we end up with "fog" and "fis".

When we pick up the phone he will say "hiya"

and then will often say "nana" repeatedly
as he assumes that she is the only person I ever speak to on the phone.

In fact he will often start yelling as soon as the phone rings

as if to remind us that we need to answer it and start talking into it.

He loves repeating anything we say,

so all those silly little rhymes and sayings which we use to much

are starting to come back to haunt us.

I clearly say "Oh dear" in a particular tone of voice whenever things get broken or dropped,

because I am often pipped to the post on saying it these days.

And if anyone gets hurt and says "ow"

then they are met with a chorus of "ow"

while he toddles over to check they are okay.

His latest little trick,

which I have to say makes me one super proud mumma,

is saying please.

Yeah sure, it sounds more like "peeese"

but he says it almost instantly if you have something that he wants.

And it is possibly one of the most adorable things he does.

I can't wait until he adds "thank-you" to his repertoire,

mainly because I think once he's mastered "hello", "please" and "thank-you"
that he'll have the makings of good manners.

I think it would be fair to say

that I find him learning to talk every bit as exciting as I suspected I would.

I get a familiar and regular rush of pride

listening to him finding language

and enjoying communicating.

The look of total concentration on his face,

when people are saying something that he wants to learn, is totally gorgeous.

We've come a long way from those first initial babbles and words.

His first recognisable ones were "mum-um-um" and "da-da-dad"

but lately those words sound a lot more like "mummy" and "daddy".

And it quite honestly doesn't get any better

than hearing your baby call you that.

my week that was...

2012-05-20T21:34:00.003+01:00

On Monday

we went to a friends house in the morning for a catch up and to let the babies play.

We talked a lot about baby names

and how it's tricky the second time around because not only do you have the responsibility if picking a great name,

but at the same time you need one that sort of goes with your first babies name.

We think we've got our names picked out for Splodge

which is strange as it took us the whole nine months last time,

but that doesn't mean they'll stay that way.

I have a bit of reputation for finding it hard to make decisions

and baby names is kind of a big one.

On Tuesday

we went to our usual group in the morning

and then chilled at home in the afternoon.

The little guy had an absolutely huge nap from midday until gone three,

so I managed to get lots of blog posts written.

It was nice to get a big batch of me time in the week,

because it doesn't happen very often.

And ended up being very well timed

as the little man started coughing at bedtime

and by 10.30pm, just as I was going to bed,

he was wide awake and miserable.

I ended up sitting up with a very sad baby until 1am

and finally went to bed exhausted.

On Wednesday

we did a really good impression of zombies.

Both the little guy and me were exhausted,

and he was sad and moany all day.

I spent the day holding out hope that after a good sleep he'd feel better,

but he refused to nap

and by bath time he sounded tartly and wheezy

so we began to suspect a chest infection and that we were heading for another bad night.

On Thursday

we woke up after a lay in

feeling a bit surprised as the hubby and I had gone to bed early expecting a bad night with the boy.

He was clearly exhausted from his bad night the night before

and he slept until I was up showered and dressed.

He was still coughing badly though

and rubbing at his nose and ears a lot,

so I called the doctor to be on the safe side.

One visit to the GP and I was glad I'd rung.

Not only did he have a nasty chest infection

but also the beginnings of what looked like an ear infection.

My poor baby.

But as he was feeling quite happy in himself

we still headed to my mum's for our usual weekly play date.

It definitely perked up his spirits some more

and he spent a lot of the day playing in the garden getting some fresh air.

On Friday

we got packed and bundled into the car to head up to Preston to visit the in laws.

We spent most of our day in the car

as the hubby had to stop on the way for a works meeting,

but we got there in time for tea.

The beautiful boy was a bit upset and unsettled at bedtime

so he wasn't very easy to put to bed.

He's definitely a boy that likes his routines.

On Saturday

we all headed to the Trafford Centre in Manchester for a bit of a wander.

We didn't really have money to spend,

but I always like a good bit of window shopping.

We had a look at some double buggies

as we really need to start thinking about which one we are going to buy for when Splodge arrives.

And I also got some gorgeous new nail polishes which made my day.

Later in the afternoon we went to see the hubby's best man and his wife.

We haven't seen them since just after their wedding in October

so it was good to catch up and they couldn't believe how much our little man had changed in that time.

On Sunday

we had a big yummy brunch before hitting the road.

In the past we've had some bad journeys home on Sunday's

so we left at midday so we would be too late,

and then of course had an excellent run home in record time.

It was lovely to get back and see our fluffy babies

who were very pleased to see us.

The beautiful boy was so excited to be home

and it was adorable.

He emptied his whole toy box

as if he was checking everything was all still present and correct.

one beautiful year - our week in photos

2012-05-19T22:01:00.000+01:00

a lovely sunday stroll

my sleeping beauty

a poorly boy at nearly midnight

watching the world go by

spring time adventures

and we're off . . .

our little racing driver

You can follow my photo project

at One Beautiful Year.

i heart my snap

2012-05-18T07:30:00.000+01:00

So, we have a toddler.

A proper, fully fledged walker.

We were so excited about the prospect of him walking,

and now he's doing it.

And he seemingly changed over night.

He seems to have grown instantly.

But at the same time seems smaller.

I know it sounds strange,

but seeing him vertical all the time definitely makes him seem taller.

You could never really get a grasp of how big he was when he crawled all the time.

And now he is striding around at his full height like a big boy.

But at the same time,

he just looks so small.

Too small even.

It doesn't seem possible that our beautiful boy can walk.

Which is why I love this picture.

It gives my new walker some scale,

as he walks along hand in hand with his best friend.

Yes, he is still our little boy,

our little baby,

but he's a big boy now too.

I love how they both have one foot raised

as they stroll together.

I love how their bodies are sort of angled towards each other.

I love how small one hand looks in the other.

being a mother...

2012-05-17T07:30:00.000+01:00

Being a mother . . . is an honour.

Being a mother . . . is making sacrifices but actually not minding one bit.

Being a mother . . . is a full time job which never stops, which you can't switch off from and which lasts a lifetime.

Being a mother . . . is being a nurse.

Being a mother . . . is living under the spell of a person who will never know how powerful that spell is.

Being a mother . . . is being a teacher.

Being a mother . . . is being a giver of cuddles, a shoulder to cry on and a maker of magic.

Being a mother . . . is to forever walk the world while a part of you walks around it separately.

Being a mother . . . is being a confidante.

Being a mother . . . is entertaining and frustrating each and every day.

Being a mother . . . is about instilling confidence and strength and love so that one day you can let your little birds fly and know they'll be okay.

Being a mother . . . is about being confident and strong and loving even when you don't think you can.

Being a mother . . . is an absolute privilege.

Being a mother . . . is a beautiful thing.

two shoes, new shoes

2012-05-16T07:30:00.000+01:00

There was a time not so long ago

when we wondered whether we might be carrying our beautiful boy up to the school gates

for him to crawl around the classroom all day.

He loved crawling.

He was good at crawling.

And as a result showed absolutely zero interest in walking.

Why would he?

He already had crawling nailed

and it got him everywhere he wanted to be

and at warp speed too.

He liked to stand up,

to use his push along walkers,

to cruise around the furniture.

But he just wasn't interested in travelling at this height without holding on.

He could just drop down to his knees,

crawl to where he wanted

and then stand up again.

Why walk?

But then all of a sudden something changed.

I think I know the exact moment that it changed too,

we were at our local soft play

and he was playing with twin boys about his age.

They rolled balls to one another,

they giggled together,

they patted each other on the heads and grinned about it,

and then the twins got up and walked away.

Within seconds my little guy with no interest in walking had taken two independent steps.

Oh the wonders of peer pressure.

And once he'd worked out he could

its been a pretty fast process.

From me counting his steps as he mastered two, then three, then four, then more.

Within a week he was confidently walking between furniture instead of dropping down to crawl again.

Within ten days he was walking into open spaces to retrieve toys he wanted.

Within a fortnight he could change direction and move around quite happily standing up,

he is really properly walking.

We finally have a toddler.

And I'm left wondering what happened to my baby.

And wondering how long it will take for the novelty of seeing him walk to wear off,

because at the moment I feel like I could burst with pride every time I see him.

He wobbles and staggers like he's spent the day at the pub.

He stops regularly to find his balance again so that he doesn't fall,

looking like a surfer as he bends his knees to find his centre of gravity again.

And if anything distracts his concentration while he's walking

it's a matter of seconds before he has plonked back down on his bottom.

But he walks

and even has a little dance too if he feels like it.

So the lady who has cooed at baby sized shoes since she was a teenager

finally got to buy a pair of those precious little first shoes.

Our beautiful boy has had a large and varied collection of very trendy baby trainers and shoes

including a very cute pair of Converse trainers

which were so well loved and well worn that they are filthy and very tatty now.

But now he owns his very first pair of proper trainers.

Which means that now when he walks around,

I get to hear the satisfying "thump, thump, thump" of his proper grown up shoes on the ground.

And he loves his trendy big boy shoes nearly as much as I do.

reflection {see it snap it love it}

2012-05-15T07:30:00.000+01:00

It's me.

Taking a picture of myself

taking a picture of myself in the mirror.

And it would definitely be fair to say that not only is this physically a reflection,

but it's also a pretty good reflection of what I look like a lot of the time.

So there is my 'not terribly original' reflection picture,

but I'm pretty proud of it none the less.

And besides,

last week was a week all about me being a photographer,

or at least people thinking of me as being a half decent one some of the time.

With my exciting news of making the BiB and MAD awards finals for my photography

it seemed only right that I should have a picture of me like this really.

I was, yet again, impressed with the picture that were linked up last week.

'Love' was a really wide but cute theme

and the pictures were varied and adorable.

My hormonal and emotionally drained brain simply wasn't up to the task of choosing the winner this week,

so one of my big loves, the hubby, was enlisted to choose for me.

He chose this 'drimming with happiness' photo of a father and son

at Mascara and Mud.

It definitely screams love to me.

So here is the Photo of the Week winner's badge so you can show off if you desire Cerys.

<a href="http://www.dearbeautifulboy.com" target="_blank">

<img src="http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll320/looby_boo/winnersbadge200.jpg" /></a>

And your next theme as chosen by this week's winner is 'Fun'.

So get thinking about next weeks theme

and start linking up your 'Reflection' photographs for this weeks photography challenge.

Don't forget to grab the badge for your 'Reflection' posts,

tweet your link to @dear_beautiful_ so I can retweet you,

and try to get round and comment on each others photos when you can.

And I know it's very cheeky to ask

but if you'd like to vote for Dear Beautiful Boy in the MAD Blog Awards

then I will love you forever.

<a href="http://www.dearbeautifulboy.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll320/looby_boo/SeeItSnapItLoveIt200.jpg" /></a>

my week that was...

2012-05-13T20:04:00.000+01:00

On Monday

it was a bank holiday.

The hubby was away in Italy with work

but my mum and dad came to visit

because my village was having their annual May Fayre.

We had a lovely time wandering through the village;

watching morris dancers and samba bands,

bumping into friends

and eating yummy food.

It rained about half way through the day

which was a bit of a shame

but it didn't appear to stop anyone from having fun.

It's really lovely living in a village with such a sense of community.

I've always enjoyed going to the May Fayre even before I lived here,

but it's even better now it's on my doorstep.

On Tuesday

I went off to the hospital for my twenty week anomaly scan in the morning.

It was a real shame that my hubby had to miss it,

but fortunately everything is looking good and our little Splodge is cooking nicely.

When I got home I was greeted with the news

that I had made the final eight for the Snap award at the BritMums Brilliance in Blogging Awards.

It's so lovely to have been recognised for something that I absolutely love doing.

I just think of myself as a girl with a camera

who takes too many pictures,

but it's nice to know that some people out there think I'm sort of good at it.

On Wednesday

we chilled out at home for our PJ day.

Both the beautiful boy and I seemed to be suffering from annoying low-level colds

so it was much needed.

On Thursday

I woke up in the morning to a terrier timeline full of congratulations messages.

I assumed that people were still getting the message about my news of being a BiB finalist.

But no...

turns out I also made the final five for the MAD Blog Awards too.

And also for my photography.

I picked up my little guy and spun him around in a big cuddle while squealing with excitement and pride.

He looked at me like I had quite possibly gone insane.

My brother had come down to visit

so I went to my mums

and then we went out for a celebratory lunch in an American diner near us.

I had a very delicious milkshake to congratulate myself on my award nominations,

as it would have been very naughty to have champers!

We went and had a little wander around the outlet village near us afterwards

and I picked up an absolutely adorable pair of trainers for the beautiful boy.

His first 'proper' pair of shoes now he can walk.

On Friday

we popped round to my mums again

to see her and my brother

and the sun decided to grace us with its presence

so we spent most of the day in the garden.

My hubby finally got home as I was heading to bed in the evening,

and it was so nice to see him.

It's been a long time since we've been apart for that long;

certainly not since we've been married or had the monkey.

On Saturday

I got up bright and early to head into London for CybHer.

I got to meet up with lots of lovely blogging friends

both new and old,

and I had a fabulous day.

It's really inspiring spending time with bloggers

especially when everyone is so happy and passionate about what they do.

I came away with my love of blogging completely reaffirmed

and feeling so happy with where my blog is and where it's going.

I went out for a yummy dinner and a natter with Jess and Katie at Zizzi's afterwards

and felt well and truly exhausted but the time I got home.

On Sunday

we chilled out at home most of the day.

We took our beautiful boy for a toddle at the park just down the road,

and just spent time relaxing together.

It was much needed after such a manic and exciting week.

one beautiful year - our week in photos

2012-05-12T22:30:00.000+01:00

ball games

feeling the rhythm

splodge the wrigglepot

just relaxing on the carpet

artist in the making

toddling in new shoes

bag of goodies

You can follow my photography project

at One Beautiful Year.

the anomaly scan

2012-05-11T09:35:00.002+01:00

Today I had my twenty week scan,

to give Splodge the once over

to check for any physical anomalies

and probably the most exciting bit,

to get to see our little baby one more time before we meet him or her in the flesh.

It is really strange to think that's it now

and all being well

the next time we'll see Splodge's hands and feet and face

they will be in the real world.

The scan seems to go by so fast

and despite the grainy black and white image

I could happily stare at that television screen for hours.

That's my baby.

The one I'm growing

and that I get to meet in a few more months.

We were pretty gutted that my husband couldn't come to the scan.

He had to go on a work trip to Italy that he simply couldn't get out of,

so I had to go it alone.

It was scary for a while

to think that if they detected anything worrying

that I would have to go through it alone,

but fortunately everything is ticking along really nicely with Splodge.

Splodge wriggled the entire scan

just like at twelve weeks

and seemed determined to make it tricky for the sonographer to get her measurements.

He or she was also determined to flash their private parts

even though I had no intention of finding out what gender he or she is.

The sonographer found quite funny in the end

as she kept suggesting that I look away in case I saw anything.

I told her that I wouldn't know what I was seeing anyway

and I'm still none the wiser as to whether Splodge is a little brother or a little sister for our beautiful boy.

Just like his or her big brother before them

they are measuring with a 21 week head

a 20 week belly

and 19 week legs.

I remember thinking last time that this meant my baby would be fat and short,

but he's perfectly proportioned

so I'm not worried this time around,

I guess that's just the way my babies grow.

The freakiest part of the scan

was when she zoomed into the face

to check the eyes, nose, nostrils, lips and mouth.

It was genuinely like looking at the little guy.

Especially the nose and mouth.

It's incredible to think that Splodge may be born looking like our little man.

That being said

my husband is now convinced from the picture that Splodge is a girl.

At the beautiful boy's twenty week scan he started to refer to the baby as he

and he maintained for the rest of the pregnancy that it just looked like a boy.

This time he's thinking girl.

I've spent the last week feeling definite boy vibes

but then Splodge had a fast heartbeat at the scan

which is often said to be a sign of a girl

so now I'm not so sure.

But I spent most of my last pregnancy with no feelings either way apart from right at the end

when I was convinced it was a girl.

Shows how good my intuition is!

So that's it.

No more seeing Splodge til the big day in September.

Can't wait to meet them.

a lovely kind of week

2012-05-10T23:15:00.000+01:00

Well, I guess the best place to start is to say a great big thank-you.

It has been a super exciting week for Dear Beautiful Boy

and I still feel like I'm floating around on a cloud.

So thank-you.

Thank-you each and every person who has voted and nominated Dear Beautiful Boy

in both the Brilliance in Blogging Awards and the MAD Blog Awards.

Because the fantastic news

is that we are finalists in both.

In the Brilliance in Blogging Awards

we made it from the initial short list of twenty best photo bloggers in the Snap category

down to the eight finalists.
And all thanks to votes!

It's all down to the judges now as to which person wins it in the end,

but all you lovely people who voted to get me that far have made me feel very loved.

In the MAD Blog Awards lots of lovely people nominated their favourite blogs

in twenty different categories

and the top four in each category made it through to be finalists

along with one finalist chosen by judges.

And I made the top 5 for blog photography.

TOP 5!!!

Which makes me stupidly giddy with excitement.

When I started this blog

it was simply about recording my beautiful boy's life.

A collection of letters and memories for him and of him

and a timeline of him growing and changing

and being the best thing in our world.

Taking photos is easy with a gorgeous little muse crawling (and lately walking) around,

I'd take them all regardless

to capture him in all his glory.

But I feel so proud and touched and honoured that other people like what I do.

Who knew that a little piece of cyberspace could bring me all that in a little under 11 months.

So I'll say it again,

THANK-YOU

to every person who took a little time out of their day to vote or nominate.

It has to be said

that you have made an emotional pregnant lady very happy.

And after all my thank-yous

I have one little please. . .

Please,

if you love Dear Beautiful Boy.

If it makes you even a smidgen as happy as it makes me,

then consider voting for us in the MAD Blog Awards
for Best MAD Blog Photography.
All you need to do is click on the button below or in my side bar. . .

Thank-you so much!

my real cheeky monkey

2012-05-10T08:42:00.000+01:00

To me,

this little boy is so many things.

He is my son.
My baby.
He's my reason for everything.

He is my angel.

My little cherub.

My beautiful boy.

But he is also growing into a really funny and cheeky little person.

And I'm not entirely sure that the real boy really appears on this blog.

The angelic, cherubic, beautiful version of him appears here. . . a lot!
But not always his cheeky side.

And in a little spontaneous photo shoot

I think I somehow managed to captured the real him.

The cheeky him,

the naughty him,

the smile that will let him get away with murder,

the contagious smile and giggle,

the real 'little boy' that we get the priviledge to live with

and love

and watch grow every day.

I had just sat this very tired boy down on my bed for a second
so that I could close the curtains
before giving him his milk,
reading a bedtime story
and putting him to bed.

But someone had other ideas
and decided that a little adventure was in order.

You obviously can't hear it in pictures
but he was laughing so much
that I just couldn't stop him
even though he was already late for bed.

One of those whole body,
deep in the belly laughs,
that says "I'm having THE best time".

So this is him . . .
My real little monkey,
climbing my pillow mountain
when he should have been in bed.

splodge and me at twenty weeks

2012-05-09T13:21:00.000+01:00

Splodge's Size:

My little Splodge isn't so little all of a sudden

and is now roughly the size of a cantaloupe.

I figure that's some pretty impressive growing over the last few weeks.

Splodge's Development:

By now Splodge is covered in that waxy coating that protects the skin until birth.

And Splodge now has an up and running digestive system

which is starting to make meconium,

also known as those black, tar-like first poos that sticks like glue to everything in its path.

My Size:

My waist is now measuring in at 37 inches

which is another inch and a half from a fortnight ago.

I'm still managing to wear all my normal clothes at the moment

which is great

and I'm hoping that the summer weather will have appeared just as I outgrow my jeans.

My Pregnancy Development:

I'm half way!

Little Splodge is half cooked already,

which seems incredible

because it only feels like last week we were announcing we were expecting.

I can definitely feel Splodge wriggling around now

especially in the early evenings and around lunch time.

My Body:

Well, I think we're bearing up pretty well,

especially considering we went through a gruelling three dance shows in a day and a half.

My hips and back ached a bit after that,

and it wiped me out a bit,

but on the most part I'm doing pretty well.

I'm getting some stomach pains

which I had last time and which we're diagnosed as round ligament pains.

It's basically where all my abdominal muscles are stretching and moving out of the way of my uterus.

My Appetite:

My eating habits have, on the most part gone back to normal.

Certain particularly rich foods are giving me heartburn,

especially roast chicken dinner which I'm devastated about because it's my favourite.

And I've definitely got a thing about ice pops,

a day rarely goes by when I don't have at least one

and more often than not,

I need 2 or 3 to be happy.

It's pretty awesome to think that I'm half way there already.

Twenty weeks seemed to take forever to come around last time,

but it's been much quicker with this pregnancy.

love {see it snap it love it}

2012-05-08T08:00:00.000+01:00

Love is such a wonderful and beautiful thing.

A powerful thing

that you can't always see

but which you feel

and which overtakes everything else.

I love my beautiful little boy like nothing else on earth.

I love his daddy.

I love his unborn brother or sister.

But capturing that in one picture isn't easy.

I'm not sure that ten or twenty photographs could quite do the theme justice.

But I got this one,

of the absolute love of my life.

And how fantastically placed is that ornament?

Would you believe me if I told you that I didn't actually spot the 'love'

until after I'd taken the picture?

I just want to quickly say how much I'm enjoying looking at all your pictures each week,

and how glad I am that some of you have decided to join me on this little photo challenge.

I started it selfishly.

As a way of getting myself to take slightly different pictures each week

and to hopefully get a little better at using my camera.

I love that so many of you are getting your cameras out too

and finding ways to make the themes your own.

Thank-you so much for taking part and giving me a heap of inspiration every week.

Last week's theme of 'Water'

I think

resulted in some of the best pictures yet.

The pictures were gorgeous

and I had a tough time choosing again,

but this one won it:

by Vikki from Love From Mummy.

So she gets a swanky badge if she wants to show off.

<a href="http://www.dearbeautifulboy.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll320/looby_boo/winnersbadge200.jpg" /></a>

And she has chosen the brilliant theme of 'Reflection' for next week

which already has my brain ticking over with ideas.

Don't forget to grab the badge for your 'Love' posts,

tweet your link to @dear_beautiful_ so I can retweet you,

and try to get round and comment on each others photos when you can.

<a href="http://www.dearbeautifulboy.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll320/looby_boo/SeeItSnapItLoveIt200.jpg" /></a>

your fifteenth month

2012-05-07T22:47:00.000+01:00

We had been starting to wonder if it would ever happen.

But you finally decided to take some steps on your own.

The first time it was at the soft play centre with Mummy

and you took two steps before launching at her for a cuddle.

She made a big fuss and clapped at how clever you were

but you didn't see what all the fuss was about

and just pulled a confused face

and crawled off to play some more.

But you did the same thing two or three more times that day

including a special performance for Daddy

which included three steps.

And from there your confidence grew and grew.

We still wouldn't really refer to you as a walker yet,

but you were definitely on your way

and could walk across the lounge or between the furniture without any trouble.

You were developing a real sense of humour

and were starting to laugh if you dropped things,

or if you heard a funny noise.

You were also developing into a really cheeky monkey at times.

We knew that you would

because your smile had always been so cheeky,

but you now did things you knew you weren't supposed to

just to see what would happen.

Like standing up on your chair,

or banging the bin lid,

or emptying Mummy's candle box.

You'd watch us the whole time waiting for a reaction,

and when we said no you would smile sweetly

and shake your head for no

as of you never planned on doing it in the first place.

You were really improving with feeding yourself with a spoon.

It always made Daddy very twitchy because he didn't like the mess,

but you were definitely getting better

when you practised with a yoghurt or some weetabix.

And we were starting to refer to you as The Gannet

because your appetite seemed to have taken a massive increase.

It was probably from all the extra energy you were burning trying to walk

but you could often polish off more in one meal than mummy.

You were a real groover and a shaker

and some mornings it was like you had woken up

with a rhythm in your head that you just couldn't ignore,

and you would dance all day.

You liked to swing your body from side to side

while rotating your arms around

and bobbing up and down.

Mummy was already wondering whether you might like to follow in her footsteps

and go to dance classes

but Daddy was pretty sure you would only be interested in football.

You had finally dropped the second nap

and we're now having one really long nap at lunch time.

When nap time came around you would fall asleep wherever you were

including at groups or in the car

and could be easily transported into the bedroom and put to bed without waking.

We were always so proud of how good you were at sleeping.

You could be put in your cot

and just seemed to know that meant it was time to sleep

and you would very rarely disagree

and would simply roll over to cuddle a teddy or two.

my week that was...

2012-05-06T21:17:00.000+01:00

On Monday

we went to soft play to meet up with friends.

One of these friends has just announced that she is expecting baby number 2

so it was particularly exciting to catch up with her and give congratulations in person.

She's been off the radar the last few weeks

with horrendous morning sickness,

so we should have all guessed really.

And she definitely made me realise how lucky I am that pregnancy agrees with me

and that I don't suffer with sickness,

she said looking after a toddler has been a mission.

On Tuesday

we pottered along to group in the morning for a catch up,

and the beautiful boy played a fantastic tidying up game with some of the older boys.

He was giggling the whole time

like a real cheeky monkey.

On Wednesday

we went to my mum's.

I briefly left the little guy with her

so I could pop into town to print off some photographs,

and then we popped to my nan's for a little while.

She was really impressed to see my little man starting to toddle.

And everyone though it was brilliant that he took one look at her dog and said "cat".

On Thursday

we had visitors in the form of Katie and Mads from Mummy Daddy and Me Makes Three.

We had a lovely time chattering about blogging and generally catching up,

while the two children played and got to know each other.

We went to our local designer shopping village for a wander around

and had some lunch in Starbucks.

In the evening my mum came around to baby sit

so that the hubby and I could go out on a date.

We went to our favourite Mexican restaurant for a yummy meal

and had a lovely time talking about all sorts of things.

Financed mean that we don't get to go out for dinner very much anymore

but it really is better than a date night at home (which we try to do every week)

because you talk so much more without the distractions of the tv, the housework and cooking the dinner.

On Friday

we had a lazy morning

as we had a manic weekend headed our way.

I headed off to the first dance show in the early evening,

via McDonalds to pick up supplies for everyone who was coming straight from work.

I looked like the biggest pig ordering food for eight when I was on my own.

The show went well without any dramas

and all my four dances went smoothly.

On Saturday

we all mooches in our pyjamas until late morning

before I had to start the mammoth task of dancer hair and stage make-up all over again.

I left my lovely boys at home at lunch time

and headed off for the matinee performance.

We had a brief break in between shows

where we ordered a very healthy dancers meal of Dominoes pizza,

and then it was on to the third and final show.

To say I was exhausted was an understatement.

Three shows in 27 hours is tough going for anyone

but really tough for someone growing a tiny human.

I was very glad to see my bed.

On Sunday

the hubby left home really early to fly off to Italy for a week.

He was really unhappy about going

because he's never been away from the beautiful boy for so long before

and it's been a long time since he's been away from me that long too.

At a slightly more sociable hour

the little guy and I got up and dressed in our best

to head off to a christening for our neighbours little boy.

It was a lovely christening

and my little guy did me proud and was good as gold in the church.

I have a new respect for single parents though

because trying to watch a small child,

get a drink from the bar,

eat from the buffet

and try and actually talk to grown ups

isn't easy when you are on your own.

I got straight in my pyjamas when I got home

and had a very lazy evening

watching the television

and eating leftover fajitas that the hubby left for me.

one beautiful year - our week in photos

2012-05-05T21:58:00.000+01:00

lazy sunday morning

splash time

messy tea time

love real photographs

a gorgeous girl and a beautiful boy

on the move

laundry helper

You can follow my photography project

on One Beautiful Year.

the clippy london photo bag review

2012-05-04T14:29:00.001+01:00

When I got offered the opportunity to review a Clippy bag I couldn't believe my luck.

I genuinely couldn't think of a product that would be a better fit for me to review on my blog.

Clippy offer bags which you customise with your own photographs.

What girl doesn't love a new bag, right?

And as some one who loves photographs

and who takes A LOT of them

it seemed a perfect product.

They offer a huge range of different bags in different sizes, shapes and styles,

from smaller items such as wash bags and pencil cases

to bigger ones like handbags and beach bags.

I went for the biggest Large Tote beach bag,

mainly because I tend to like a bigger bag with all the baby stuff I have to carry around,

plus it meant I could include more of my photographs!

It's a really good size and as well as being useful for carrying baby paraphernalia

it would also make a great swimming bag, beach bag or laptop bag.

When it arrived through the post,

very quickly I should add,

I was really excited to get to work customising it.

It is basically a clear plastic bag with lots of pockets on the sides

which you then fill with things to customise it.

There is a gallery on the Clippy website

with lots of inspiring ideas as to how you can make the bags really gorgeous and really you.

My bag has a whopping 24 pockets with twelve on on each side which each measure 9cm by 12cm,

and the arty-crafty person in me immediately got excited about how I would customise my bag.

I decided to put some pretty patterned craft paper in each pocket

and to then put a smaller square photograph on top.

Picking the pictures wasn't easy.

But I decided on 12 pictures of my beautiful boy for one side

and then for the other side I chose a selection of photographs of my lovely little family;

wedding and honeymoon snaps,

photos of us with the boy

and the three of us together.

I think a Clippy bag would make a really great and personal present for someone

and I know I'd love to receive one

whether it had already been customised or not.

I'm so pleased with how my bag has turned out.

I think it's gorgeous and so different.

I've only been out with it a couple of times so far

but it's already received lots of compliments.

Plus I really enjoyed the whole process of designing it

and making it look beautiful myself.

And I love the fact that I can easily change the look of the bag

by changing the pictures and he craft papers;

so I'll be able to add to it when Splodge arrives

or make it look completely different by simply moving things around a bit.

I'm pretty sure with the size and gorgeousness of this bag

that it will more than likely be featuring on my arm at the upcoming blog conferences.

So if in doubt,

I'm the one with the gorgeous photo bag.

I was sent the Clippy Beach Bag free of charge for the purposes of this review

but all opinions and photos are my own.

my best boys

2012-05-03T09:06:00.001+01:00

I love to watch the beautiful boy.

When he was tiny I would watch him breathe,

barely remembering to breathe myself as I stared in awe at this little creature that I had made.

As he grew I enjoyed watching him look at the world around him.

I loved seeing him learn and discover.

And I would watch him sleep,

looking so small and peaceful and innocent.

But all along the thing which has always given me the biggest kick,

the warmest fuzziest feelings,

the sight most likely to bring hot prickly tears spontaneously to my eyes;

is seeing my beautiful boy with his daddy.

In the very beginning I think our tiny baby scared my husband a bit.

He was tiny, fragile and vulnerable

but also incredibly precious to us.

When he cried it was mummy and her magic milk and calming cuddles that soothed him the best.

And I think, in all honesty, that he longed for the day when his son was big enough to play.

But it still made my heart soar to see them together,

to see my big grown up man,

so completely in love with,

and completely at the mercy of this tiny human

who looked so much like him.

Right from day one my husband would do anything to make his little guy happy.

When we had a particularly bad night with a particularly unhappy newborn,

he took him out for a drive in the car

because he knew he liked it.

Once the beautiful boy started to smile

and then laugh,

he spent all his time trying to earn one of these little gifts.

He'd thrown his little boy in the air,

which resulted in squeals of panic from me,

and squeals of delight from the little air born baby.

And as our beautiful boy has grown

and become a little person in his own right,

the fun they have together has grown.

I am still the favourite person for stopping tears, for soothing and for cuddles,

but no one else on earth gets smile and giggles quite like Daddy.

It is Daddy that he calls for when he wakes in the morning.

It is Daddy who tickles him until he screams and then begs for more.

It is Daddy that makes the best ever human climbing frame and swing.

It is an honour getting to watch them together;

to see the man I love

and the boy I love,

enjoying each other so completely.

It fills me up with pride to see them,

as well as filling up my eyes with those tickly tears.

My husband is fantastic at all he does.

He is an awesome hubby,

who cares for me

and quite frankly let's me get away with murder.

But if it's even possible,

he is an even better Daddy.

I think it's a job he was born to do,

and I love that I got to be the person to give him that job.

Linking up with Finding Beauty In The Ordinary

water {see it snap it love it}

2012-05-01T08:51:00.000+01:00

My beautiful boy is a total water baby

and there is no other place guaranteed to make him smile more than in water.

He loves to splash,

to crawl around dipping his face in the water,

to play with his sponges and his toys.

He has done a lot of his firsts in the bath tub;

his first roll,

his first time sitting up,

his first time standing himself up.

It's definitely one of his favourite places

and therefore a perfect place to capture a water photograph.

This past week you've all been linking up your 'Eyes' pictures

and I have to say I've lovely looking at them all.

It wasn't easy to pick a winner this week

but with a little help

we settled on this picture from The Crumby Mummy.

Much as I have a big soft spot for big brown eyes,

I had to agree that this pair of sparkly blues are absolutely gorgeous.

And our lovely winner gets to show off this fancy badge if she wishes:

<a href="http://www.dearbeautifulboy.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll320/looby_boo/winnersbadge200.jpg" /></a>

And she also gets to chose the next photo challenge.

So your next theme is 'Love'.

With the recent weather

it turns out that our 'Water' theme was pretty apt.

Who knew that there could be so much water,

and in a drought too!

I can't wait to see your offerings this week.

Don't forget to grab the badge (which will hopefully be behaving this week)

tweet your link to @dear_beautiful_ so I can retweet you,

and try to get round and comment on each others photos when you can.

<a href="http://www.dearbeautifulboy.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll320/looby_boo/SeeItSnapItLoveIt200.jpg" /></a>

i heart my snap

2012-04-30T13:44:00.000+01:00

I rediscovered this picture over the weekend and have fallen in love with it.

It was taken in Cuba on our honeymoon

at possibly the most beautiful beach I have ever been to.

It makes me smile to think how wonderful our whole trip was

and how lucky we were that our lovely wedding guests contributed to it

so that we could have a little piece of paradise as newlyweds.

This weekend I finally set about the task of editing, designing and putting together a photo book of our honeymoon.

Considering that we went on our honeymoon in August of 2009,

I've sort of taken my time about it.

But I set myself a deadline of doing it this weekend and when I do that I am one determined lady.

It was lovely to look through all our old honeymoon snaps,

marvelling at how much slimmer/younger/more attractive/tanned we looked.

And as the weather was so terrible outside,

it was quite nice to have a little bit of Cuban sunshine lighting up our weekend.

So that's my I Heart My Snap contribution this week,

one from the archives,

but lovely none the less.