Monday 29 May 2017

My Two #5

Half term has rolled around again which hopefully means I will have a little more time to update my blog.  I love having this little slice of the internet, I just wish I had more time to work on it and I wish I knew what I was doing... I am not brilliant at the whole technology thing.

Anyway here are some some little words about my two littles. 

#1

Posey is almost three and a half years old.  I know it is a cliche but where on earth does the time go? When we move to Abu Dhabi will we be prepping her for starting school, I just can't get my head around it.  For so long I have been used to having two 'babies' as we had our two so close together but now I realise in reality I have an actual child,a proper little girl with her own thoughts and feisty little temper!  The threenager stage is still very much a reality for us over here but I know she is just testing the boundaries and that is ok. I need to remember to breathe and not let it get the better of me.  Despite this stage, she is sweet and kind.  She dotes for her little brother and although he drives her crazy at times she is fiercely protective over him.  
She doing really well at preschool and has recently been introduced to phonics.  She is desperate to be able to read all by herself! Slow down little one, you may be the eldest but you will always be our little girl. 

#2

Lochlann is almost 2 and a half years old. He is as cheeky as ever and thinks everything is ridiculously funny at the minute.  We have tried potty training a couple of times but after a poop in the garden without him even realising he'd done it we have decided he is just not quite ready yet, bless him.  In other news though his sleep is improving again and hes now had the side taken off his cot (emotional day for this mama I can tell you).  He is doing so well with that and is yet to fall out or scream at the gate on his door, although I bet I have jinxed that one now!  He is still very much a home loving boy, whenever we are out no matter how much fun he is having it's not long before he is asking when are we going home.  He just loves being at home with the three people he knows and loves the most.  It is just so sweet, he isn't quite as independent as his sister.  He likes being close to his mama and I am still flavour of the month, which in honesty I absolutely love... except for at 6am when I am the only one that he will let change his nappy! I do worry about our little boy and how he will cope with our move to Abu Dhabi.  In my heart I know he will struggle more.  I guess we just gotta keep that in mind and be patient with him.  He is a gentle soul and is still only 2 years old, after all.



Despite the ups and down and the constant guilt of being a full time working mama, these two littles have changed my world.  I honestly feel like before them and their daddy, my life was a little empty and I was never sure what my purpose was.  Now I know, I am here for them.  To be their mother, to learn and grow with them. With the events that have gone on in Manchester this week I cannot begin to describe how much I love them and how incredibly grateful I am to the universe for my two beautiful, healthy and most importantly safe children. The world around me has seemed blurred this as my only focus was these two little people that inspired this blog, I have wanted to stay home, safe with them in our house in Warrington but my I am still a teacher with a job to do and that job seemed all the more important this week. Especially as I teach in Manchester itself.  My thoughts constantly wander to the parents involved in the atrocity on Monday night.  I cannot imagine the depths of their despair and I cannot help worrying somewhat about the world our children are growing up in.  But what I do now is that children as resilient, they are strong and they can surprise us all.  

P & L, be strong, love hard and be forever grateful for your safety and your happiness. 

Lots of love from mummy xxxx 

Thanks for stopping by, 

Holly xx

Tuesday 16 May 2017

When you go down to the woods...

Last Sunday we woke up to beautiful sunshine and I was determined to get us all out to enjoy it.  So after breakfast Sam and I had a quick tidy up and packed a little picnic whilst the littles watched Beauty and the Beast (again),  Eventually we were all ready to go we bundled everyone into the car and headed to Delamere Forest which isn't too far from us and is lovely for a cheap day out in the fresh air!

When we arrived it was really busy, of course it was, the sun was actually shining.  This didn't phase us though.  We parked up and found a spot in the daisies to eat our humble little picnic.  I watched P & L play together and pick a daisy or two for their mama which was just lovely.


Then we headed off for our adventure (as the littles called it) through the forest.  I hadn't actually realised but Delamere has a Gruffalo trail. P was very excited about this where as L was a little scared, bless him.  He is a little more sensitive than his big sister.  Posey loved searching for the next clue or picture of a character. Lochlann stayed closer but was happy to join in when having a cuddle with his daddy.


Both littles loved looking at all the little dens other families had built and they even had a little go at it themselves.  P bossed her little brother about and he soon got distracted looking out for trains on the nearby tracks but it was still pretty lovely all the same.  There really is something special about just standing back and watching your family in the great outdoors.  The trees surrounding us, the sun shining through and the three greatest loves of my life running round like fools playing together in the forest.  A memory I hope to keep alive for a very long time.


We walked until our legs were tired and then we headed back to the car in search of ice cream.

A simple day.  A day in the fresh air.  The best family day we've had in quite a while.
We love you Delamere.





Thanks for stopping by.

Lots of love xx.

Monday 15 May 2017

Working on me

Recently I have been feeling really crap about myself.  I have never been overly confident but recently every little thing I don't love about myself seems to have intensified.  Some days I really dislike myself which is hard for me because I try desperately to hide it from the people around me and especially from my children because I don't want them to see their mama sad.  It is also hard for my husband as he tries so hard to make me feel better so it frustrates me when he feels like nothing he says reaches me.

So although it is not going to be an overnight change I feel like I need set myself little things that I want to do to make me feel better about me.  To give me chance to sort myself out just a little so that I can be a little more comfortable in my skin and I can therefore be a better teacher, wife and most importantly a better mama,

So here are the things I plan on focusing on (the theory being, if I write it on here then I might stick to it).

Here goes...

1. Drink more water

2. Go to bed no later than 10:30pm

3. Complete a Joe Wicks workout at least 3 times a week

4. Spend one night a week doing small things just for me (bath time, reading books, painting nails).

5. Spend less time in the mirror judging myself!

So there we have it 5 things I am going to work on.  What kind of things do you do for yourself when you are trying to make yourself feel better or feel more confident in your own skin?  Let me know.

Love to all the mamas, teachers and wives trying their very best out there!

Thanks for stopping by.

Lots of love. xx

Dear Posey...


My big love, my girl our little P,

Since you were 2 years and 5 months old you have been dancing with the Ballerina Bears at the JC Dance Academy.  My oh my how you have changed over that time.  I remember taking you for your very first class.  You were so excited but when we arrived you clung to me and would not let me leave you.  It took a few months before you would go in alone but starting nursery helped with that.  Since then every Saturday morning you and I head out to ballet (this is in no way relaxed, always in a rush) leaving Daddy and Lochlann to play at home.  You bounce off into ballet and I have a cup of tea watching you on the TV screen from the parent's room next door.  My favourite part is the end of the class when I come in to collect you and see your beaming face as I enter the room.  Ballerina bears is such a lovely class and I hope it will be something you remember enjoying when you were little. 

This weekend was more special than usual.  It was the JC Dance Academy show... your first ever ballet show.  You have been excited about this for weeks as you were dancing to, 'tale as old as time' from Beauty and the Beast.  I took you to rehearsals and we had talked about the fact there was going to be a stage and you'd be dancing somewhere new.  I had packed you a lunch and your ballerina colouring book.  I dropped you off with Freya (one of your dance teachers), waved goodbye and promised you that when I came back to see your show I would bring Mamar, Grandad, Nanna, Daddy and Lochlann back with me.  I held the tears all the way back to the car and then literally sobbed my heart out.  I was so nervous for you even though you were so brave.  I mean even as a I type this I have a lump in my throat.  Emotions are always getting the better of me! I'd blame motherhood and sleep deprivation but I think I have always been a bit of an emotional wreck! Lol. 

At 2pm the show started, the Ballerina Bears were announced, the familiar music started onto stage you came! Oh Posey it was just the sweetest thing, you were alittle bewildered at first as where lots of the other little ballerinas around you but you soon figured out your surroundings and joined in with the cutest routine you ever did see! I of course, balled like a baby! Your little brother stood eagerly on my knees watching you, shouting your name. Your daddy and I literally burst with pride. We could not be prouder of you we honestly couldn't.  

Well done little girl, you are already far braver than you mama ever has been.  We love you so much and cannot wait to let you watch your performance on the dvd we ordered. Super proud of you P, our little ballerina.



Love you to the moon and back & even in the morning when the sun comes up. 

Mama xx

Monday 8 May 2017

My Two #4

Still not managing to keep this a weekly thing! But anyway here we go...

#1
Little P's character is developing at such a fast rate at the moment and over the holidays she tested the boundaries and my patience quite a lot at times.  The word, 'threenager' springs to mind once again in this post but honestly I wouldn't have her any other way.  I know that it is normal to test me and for her to explore her own identity... even if she tells me on numerous occasions that I am a, 'naughty mummy.'   Something that was really lovely this week was that one of the sweet girls that works at Posey's preschool pulled me aside to tell me how wonderfully bright Posey is and that she had been making the girls laugh all day long! It is such a proud moment when you hear that your little girl brings joy to other people.  Princesses are becoming a strong interest for this little girl.  Ariel is the new fascination although Belle remains the firm favourite. Posey thoroughly enjoys belting out a line of, 'Tale as old as time' or 'Be our guest!'

#2
Little Lochlann is finally feeling better after Scarlet fever and it is so refreshing to have my sweet boy back.  Although as I write that the first thing that springs to me to write about him is the fact he is obsessed with saying poo poo and wee wee.  If he is mad then you're a poo poo, if he's excited everything is poo poo and wee wee! Apparently this sort of conversational language is pretty hilarious when you are a two year old boy! We are on the cusp on attempting potty training with him again.  Last time didn't go so well but I am hoping he will be more cooperative this time.  Whilst we were away in Ireland we had the opportunity to take P & L swimming a couple of times and it was brilliant to see that Lochlann's fear seems to have disappeared.  He is now rearing to get into the water and thoroughly enjoyed a good splash about! This makes me happy as we are certainly hoping fr lots more fun in the water when we move over the Abu Dhabi in August.  Should also mention the fact this boy has me wrapped around his little finger and everytime he says, 'I need a cuddle Mama' my heart literally melts and I become a soppy idiot... even at 3am! Nice work Lochlann.

Another lot of ordinary moments documented, time to get back to the grind,

P & L you amaze me, thrill me and test me every single day.  I love you both immensely and I am so, so proud of you.

Thanks for stopping by.
Lots of love, xx