They love, We love: March 2014

Our Heidi - 12 months
She loves...
* Dancing - head bopping and wiggling her bum
* First birthday parties!
* Singing - with one hand in the air!
* Eating - daffodils, soil, grass, leftover food in her bib... you name it!

 Our Ava - 2 years, 7 months
She loves...

* Disney films (that's her TV face above! Little Mermaid and Lion King are the current faves!)
* Smothering her baby sister with love
* Milly Molly Mandy books
* Bedtime cuddles

He loves -
* Friday night football
* Endless cups of tea
* Jamming with the band
* Coming home for dinner with his girls

She loves - 
* Catch-ups with uni friends
* Being reminded over and over of God's faithfulness
* Mr Selfridge on ITV - so sad that it's over!
* Taking photos

Me and Mine: March 2014

March is a wonderful month. It's a month of birthdays and its the birth of springtime. We have savoured the first signs of sunshine, enjoyed lots of garden play and adventured out on a few family bike rides.

Our baby girls are growing up... they are slowly and surely turning into little girls - little girls who love to play dress up, cook playdough dinners and whose world is all about rainbows, butterflies and Disney Princesses.

Soon, Heidi will give up her morning nap and Saturday mornings will be ours, as a family, to explore and enjoy the summer months.

For now, we are savouring the quiet springtime mornings at home while baby sleeps and big sister cooks and cleans and cares for her babies in her little Hütte. 

This little home has been well used, loved and cared for... I can't wait to see these girlies spend many happy hours playing there. And, of course, Papa and I are not averse to a constant supply of tea, coffee and cake! Homemade by our little ladies!

So here is our March "Me and Mine" photo... sunshine, smiles and a Scandinavian playhouse.

Our March in a nutshell!

A Touch of Spring! Savouring the Season: Linky Party 27

Spring has sprung!

At long last, I have finally felt able to pack away our winter decorations and pull out the spring ones!

And suddenly everything seems so much more bright and cheery!

Happy to wave goodbye to the icy, cold, deadness of winter...

... and hello to the new life, beautiful blooms and hope of springtime!

 Everything feels fresh. Alive. New.

Come and let us seek together
Springtime lore of daffodils,
Giving to the golden weather
Greeting on the sun-warm hills.  

- Lucy Maud Montgomery -

So spring is well and truly here! Come and share your springtime adventures, crafts, recipes, activities, poems and posts at #SavouringtheSeason this week!

Please do go and read a couple of other entries, and leave a comment behind!

Happy Springtime!

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Milestones...

To our little H,

You've had a big few weeks little Heidi! You are hitting new milestones every day... new words, new achievements and lots of smiles and giggles along the way. You are such a precious bundle and we love you. When Ava sees you in the morning, you beam at each other with big smiles as she smothers you in kisses. You like it for the first few seconds and then shove her away with a whinge. She is having to learn to hold back some of her affection!

I counted your words this week. Fifteen! You are making yourself heard and are our little chatterbox. Every piece of food is a "ba-na-na", every stuffed toy is a "ha-se" (bunny) and every doll is a "baby" but you are beginning to follow instructions and are able to communicate what you want to me. You have started saying your own name on repeat... "Heiiii-di! Heiiiii-di!" you repeat over and over.

You are our little joker. At church on Sunday, someone up front made a joke and everybody laughed. Just as the laughter died down, you decided it was time for you to join in and burst out with this deep belly laugh. You got a few affectionate smiles for that one. You sure know how to charm people!

Your favourite place at the moment is my larder. You love to take out the squash bottles and cereal boxes and have fun just moving things around. Sometimes, when I'm trying to make dinner and you're hanging round my legs, I just carry you over there, plonk you down on the floor and open the door for you. You beam up at me in delight knowing you're allowed to rummage away!

You are hitting physical milestones too. This week, you are suddenly able to climb the whole flight of stairs. If I try and carry you up, you wriggle away until I put you down and let you climb up yourself. You love trying to catch Ava and often make your lion noise as you go, chasing your big sister as she giggles and screams! When you get to the top, you sit back with the biggest grin on your face and give yourself a big clap. It is very cute! You are not walking yet, but you are cruising everywhere, and nearly took your first step last night.

This week your little friends have begun dropping like flies to chicken pox. I should feel terrified. The thing we have so long tried to avoid is all around us. And yet I feel such peace. I know God is in this with us... he has protected you so many times already, our little Heidi, and I know I can trust you to him again. Of course, I'm praying hard, but I know he has this.

We love you Heidi S! I'm so thankful for every day I get to see a little bit more of your humour, your jolly nature and your beautiful smile. You are growing up too quickly... but then I have nights like last night, when you are up for over an hour at 3am, and just want Mama and milk, and I remember that really you are still my baby girl. I cherish every day with you darling girl, and so do Papa and your big sister.

What a week of milestones!

Lots of love,

Mama xxx

The #BIBs are back!

Last year, I was a bit of a blogging novice. I had actually been blogging regularly for around 18 months, but I was really only getting to grips with the "blogging world". I had no idea there were all these communities of bloggers who actually got to know each other, shared ideas, worked together to achieve incredible things...

So you can imagine my shock, last year, when I discovered that my little blog had been shortlisted for the "Inspire" category of the BIBs (Brilliance In Blogging Awards)...

I was truly choked up, and slightly in shock, that this little web space was that valued not only by people I know and count as dear friends, but also people I have never met and possibly never will.

In all the trauma and chaos with our Heidi that followed that shortlisting last year, it was wonderful to think that perhaps in all we were going through, we were perhaps able to help others, to know that when you feel like you've hit rock bottom, when life takes an unexpected and tragic turn, all is not lost. I can honestly tell you that not for one minute of our ordeal did I ever feel "inspiring"... I swung between extreme emotions and I fired questions at God. It was honest and it was real, and it was very, very uncomfortable. I was not inspiring. But God? He kept our gaze high even at the bottom of the pit. He lifted our eyes.

Life is very different this year. Our Heidi is still ill, but we are not in the deep pit we found ourselves in last year. We are learning what it means to get on with life with our little bundles of fun with the shadow of Heidi's KD rearing its head from time to time. Life is full, we are thankful... and we are very blessed.

This blog has been a journey. It has been a wonderful help to me... a place to untangle the thought-knots in my head... a place to find perspective.

This blog has been a record. A beautiful, treasured record of life with our two small girls. I am so grateful to have documented everything, and cannot wait to share it with the girls when they are older.

This blog has been a network... I have made new friends, been part of an incredible movement to make a change for the better, and had opportunities to do and experience things that never would have happened otherwise.

This blog has been a challenge... This year I have been seeking to improve in photography. I have been getting to grips with my camera, taking part in photography projects, and loving savouring the mundane, everyday, ordinary moments that normally get lost.

I love blogging. And I'm not ashamed to say so. And I love all your comments, and your words of support, and your challenges and questions too. At times, you have helped me to rethink what I think about things, and you have all helped me to become a better writer as I've sought to get across what I'm trying to say clearly!

So here's the thing. The BIBs are back... and it was such a privilege to be shortlisted last time; I would love the opportunity to be shortlisted again. Not because I think I have ANY chance at winning (there are some seriously amazing bloggers out there!) but because I'd love to have a go at being nominated for a category I actually think I belong in this time!

If you read the blog, and enjoy it... would you please consider nominating me for the Family Award...

These blogs that share the laughter and tears of family life, telling stories that elicit a-ha’s and understanding from all of us. They are honest and open about the realities of family life and we love them for it.

Just click the link and follow the instructions!

THANK YOU LOVELY READERS!

Mini Musicians!

"When will Ava start piano lessons?"

This question caught me off guard the other day. Probably because I've never even considered it! Somehow Ava still seems far too little to be thinking about any extra curricular activities and I'm just enjoying these home years. I know all too soon these girlies will be flying the nest, so I'm savouring the fact that right now, in this moment in time, they are perfectly contented to be at home.

Plenty of time for music lessons and dances classes and sports clubs.

But it is fair to say that music has always been a part of our family life. From the girls earliest days, David has played to them on his guitar; little hands reaching out for the strings while Papa strums away! 

Our house is always full of singing. We have songs for everything; teeth brushing, cake baking, spring walks, tidying up, eating sandwiches... You name it! We have a good night song, and a get-up song, an Ava song and a Heidi song... Songs for everyone and everything. And now even Ava has begun to invent her own songs... Her favourite English creation at the moment goes like this...

"We're having a merry Christmas Day! 

We're having, having, having, having, 

a merry, merry Christmas Day!"

Very seasonally fitting, as you can see!

And then there's the piano. My lovely piano. These photos were snapped on Friday as I watched this magic moment unfold. Two little girls having a marvellous time making music together! It was not particularly tuneful, but they are learning all about rhythm and discovering that music is just SO much fun!

My mini musicians...

... We'll hold off a little while on lessons, I think!

 

The day we hit the Country Living Fair!

A little while ago, my lovely Mum asked if the girls and I would like to accompany her on a trip to the County Living Spring Fair in London. We had gone together, with my sister, three years ago when I was pregnant with Ava and had a wonderful time. The opportunity was too good to resist.

Of course, it was only afterwards that it dawned on me that a trip with a two-year-old and a one-year-old in tow, might be a slightly different kettle of fish!

 

With Ava, at least, I could chat it all through in advance. Showing her the leaflet, and talking with her about all the prettiness of spring.

 

By ten o'clock yesterday morning, we were ready to roll!

The Fair was packed from floor to ceiling with stalls selling all manner of hand-crafted and vintage goods - homeware, soap-stalls, garden stands, antique sellers, vintage clothing, beautiful woodware, quilters, framers, artists... You name it, they were there.

We spent the first half hour, trying to figure out the best way to juggle with the combination of the girls and a single buggy. I'm not going to lie and pretend I wasn't wondering why we had bothered coming, but after a bit of manoeuvring around, we put Ava in the buggy and Heidi in the baby bjorn and there was happiness all round. Ava sat and played with her McDonalds toy, and Heidi took in her surroundings, pointing at everything and "ooh"ing and "wow"ing!

We learnt how to make a bird cake, how to set up a bug hotel and moseyed round the stalls at our leisure. A few purchases were made... Another pretty suitcase to add to Ava's collection, a pretty springtime plate (see above), a very cute owl print, and a beautiful handmade felt crown for birthday celebrations. I was tempted by a lot more, but at some point, you have to be sensible and realise you can't buy it an entire conference centre, however pretty everything is!

There were perhaps less homeware stalls than last time, which are always my favourites, but there was still a wonderful variety and everything was, as it always is, just so pretty and springlike.

I am so ready for this season!

  All in all we had a lovely time and returned home with two happy shoppers, and two exhausted girls. It was a lovely day out and I'm so glad we did it...

But I'm also so glad it's the weekend tomorrow!

Phew!

**I was not sponsored or given any incentive to write this post. The opinions are all mine.**

Spring has Sprung! Savouring the Season Linky Party 26

Does anyone else find that when the sun shines, you just feel so much happier?!

This past week, I have been walking around drinking in the sunshine, the warmth, the cloudless skies! Isn't it just wonderful?

However frustrating/endless/constant those months of rain seemed, I am so very grateful for them! They have made me appreciate this patch of sun so much more!

We have been making the most of this early spring weather and enjoying the garden. Soaking in the sunshine, sniffing the early blooms, playing in the playhouse. Two happy girlies just toddling around exploring, investigating and playing make-believe.

The garden is a whole new wonderland for Heidi. We spent a lot of last spring in hospital, and she was tiny, so this is really her first opportunity to stamp on soil, eat grass and explore snail shells.

I am having to watch her like a hawk.

 

The garden is NOT in a good state right now. My pots have been totally pummeled by the endless rain and a long winter, and the tree is still looking pretty skeletal...  all our garden furniture and decorations were stored safely away from all the gale-force winds, so the garden looks a little bare and lifeless.

But its wonderful to see that slowly but surely, signs of spring life are beginning to emerge. Daffodils reach out amidst scrawny, lifeless shrubs and the Camellias are in full bloom. They are beautiful and remain, every year, my favourite garden gift.

 Of course, these two girls head pretty much straight for the playhouse the minute the back door is open. There are always meals to cook, babies to put to bed and windows to clean...

So we are loving the great outdoors... what are you enjoying as spring sets in?

Link up your springtime posts below and lets get #SavouringtheSeason together!

Please make sure you go round and comment on other people's links. There is some great inspiration to be had!

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