Baby bluebell

When I was pregnant I had all these niave thoughts of dressing our child in the most perfect outfits and taking the most beautiful photos to decorate our home. Now I'm just thankful if there's no sneaky poo stains on Elin 's vests and if my 'burping' shoulder is at least dry, if not stain free. And no one ever tells you how babies really don't care much if you want that picture. Nope, that doesn't matter much in their world! But we still found time (thanks mostly to James) to get some of the photos I know I would regret not taking. It was his patience that led to these of Elin as our little blue bell. 

We were very lucky to have her during a beautiful spring full of gorgeous sunshine so we could really make the most of the outdoors. That helped her jaundice massively too! Thankyou Mr weather man! But from a more frivolous perspective we also took advantage of the countryside which was bursting with life at the time to get some beautiful (in my opinion) shots of our daughter.

I can definitely envisage a series of photos like these throughout the years, for as long as she'll let me, or as long as my mum will keep knitting bluebell hats! Its going to be mad next year taking our little one year old to the same patch and recreating these. I get so excited imagining who she'll become but also sad that that will mean she's no longer this diddy baby.

Taking these really reminded me of this time last year. James had just proposed and we took some cheeky engagement selfies among the bluebells that later became our save the dates. That feels like yesterday and how a whole year (and a pregnancy)  has past is beyond me. We've promised each other that by the time the bluebells come up again next spring we won't have had any more life changing events take place and we can just enjoy the fleeting flowers without documenting some massive development in our lives!

Just as we were packing up and popping Elin in the car seat she decided to show us those amazing eyes of hers. I managed to get this incredible image of just how blue those saucers really are. Instantly I made the decision to dress her in blue more often. Who says its just for boys? Because we were team yellow our whole pregnancy a lot of Elin's clothes are neutral or even leaning more to the boy- I was utterly convinced after all that we were Maximus, not Elin!  Its pretty sad that people see grey or navy and think we must be a boy. Hello? Stop the stereotypes! I do get a bit bored of all the pink too- she's a baby not a marshmallow. Pink is lovely but there's a whole rainbow of colours to enjoy. And this photo made me just love our girl in blue. She's gonna be a heart breaker one day no matter what she wears. Pretty sure her Daddy will be locking her up until she's at least 25, and considering everything I got up to as a teenager I have to agree! Sorry girl!

Have any of you enjoyed the bluebell season and got some lovely photo's to share? I'm so excited for the bluebell walks when we're older and would love to see pictures of yours! It really is a beautiful time to live in the countryside.

Love, Tess

Bringing home baby!

We were very lucky to have only a two night stay in hospital following Elin's C-section delivery. My biggest fear when facing a section was that I would need caring for when I should be doing the caring. However I was incredibly lucky in that I bounced back fast. Perhaps walking laps of the maternity unit before even having the catheter removed helped or maybe I am just lucky but I have had no complications since for which I am so grateful. Especially in that I was fully able to throw myself into the demanding task of caring for a newborn. In the end our stay only extended into the second night because of Elin's tongue tie. She was unable to feed but once her tie was cut (pinging like an elastic band so I'm told) she certainly made up for it with a cracking latch much to this mummy's relief!!

No matter how long or little you stay in hospital its still incredibly exciting to bring your baby home for the first time. Just walking into our house as three instead of two was quietly wonderful. It feels like a milestone. This is how life will be from now on. And then that quiet bubble is burst with an onslaught of visitors, family friends and even one or two people you can't even remember how you are related to seem to come flocking. We were pretty strict and I don't regret that one bit. Our guests bought food or hoovered or washed up. My Dad provided a pretty cracking Chinese takeaway and Mum did lots of laundry. Cheers 'rents! This seemed a fair trade off for cuddles with our brand new baby! One thing I'd do differently? Provide cardboard cups for everyone. I honestly have never made so many cups of tea over those first few days and the constant flow of visitors meant we had a draining board permanently stacked with mugs. So next time i'l stock up in some cardboard ones, but that's a looooong way off yet!

In those early days I'm fairly certain we did nothing other than watch our little bundle. I know I didn't sleep for fear of our girl needing me. Obviously hindsight is a powerful thing and I realise that was incredibly counter productive but it felt logical in that post baby haze. Pretty much those first weeks were spend covered in breast milk and caught between gazing at a peaceful sleeping baba and frantically bouncing that same baba when colic took a hold during the witching hour! I don't know how we ever remembered our own names let alone anything else. One thing I am grateful of is that we did somehow think to get Elin's hand and foot prints taken. I know one day we'll both utter those clichéd words of 'I can't believe you were ever that small' and its nice to have a real document of her teeny tiny-ness.

While buying baby clothes and dressing our daughter in the most adorable little outfits is a wonderful thing, there is nothing like a little naked baby. The smell. The tiny chicken legs. The super soft skin. Those little creases and folds. Its so beautiful. James and I were loving skin on skin with little Elin and even now when we're having a hard time or bad night I'l strip her down and let our bodies sooth each other. Its a beautiful and powerful thing having the most tiny, vulnerable yet strong baby on your chest.

Its so much fun looking at photos from those early days. I'm still rocking a spectacular pregnancy double chin but my hair is also still thick and full from all those hormones. There's the Ying and Yang of it for you! Everyone says it but those days fly by in a haze. Make sure your a little bit selfish and make time for baby and Daddy, even if that means the granny's have to wait back a bit. And take photos. Then take some more. Even if you can't think of anything worse it will make you so happy to see them in years to come. I'm so glad James step mum had the foresight to take a shot of Elin, James and myself as that hadn't even crossed our minds, yet that photo is so treasured.

How about you? How did you feel bringing home your new baby for the first time? Anything you would do differently? Or anything you plan to do when that day arrives for all you expectant mummy's out there? I'd love to here your memories of those life changing few days.

Love, Tess

Welcome!

Welcome to my little corner of the internet.

I made the pretty impromptu decision to start this blog to document life with my beautiful (in my entirely bias opinion) little family. There will be endless talk about all of us; myself, my lovely partner James and our handsome man of the feline variety Billy, but really, Its all about Elin.

Elin.

Our daughter.

Turns out everything they say before you have your first baby is true. Nothing can prepare you. It does go just too fast. You really must treasure every moment. And like every parent I wholeheartedly believe that my baby is simply the smartest most beautiful baby and all round best human being to have ever been born. So naturally I decided to share all our little adventures, make use of sleepless nights and start a little world where I can write about all those things that make her just so special.

In 8 weeks she has changed so much. She does so much now that she couldn't before but also so many of those brand-new-baby, fresh out the womb things she did she doesn't any longer! I think this whole growing up thing is possibly the most beautiful bitter-sweet thing imaginable. I am so incredibly excited to see who she will become and watch her spirit grow and personality blossom, but at the same time I get so sad when those poppers no longer stretch over her bottom or I'm cutting toes off of the sleepsuits I can't part with just yet.

I just want something to look back on in years to come and remind myself of these incredible days. Remind myself just how much we lived and loved. I want something to show Elin when she's older so she can see how much she changed our world. I just want to share how absolutely beautiful our life is with Elin in it. So stick around to keep up with our little adventures, explosive nappies included! And have a wonderful day whatever it brings you!

Love, Tess