Feeling crafty!

So I have been meaning to so dome crafty posts. I tend to have random bursts of craftiness cravings, and then get fed up with my projects for a bit (usually when I have ruined one!) Unfortunately I don't have the patience to make tutorials for all the things (sorry!), but most of them are pretty self-explanatory :) I just like to nose at other people's ideas and personally don't have the patience to follow instructions. I'm a bit of a free spirit when it comes to all things crafty!


So I thought I'd start off with my daughter's bedroom, which to be honest I have been trying to finish for a long while! I made a huge number of applique designs which I framed last year, and am quite proud with, seeing as I am really useless as sewing! Luckily with these I could get away with hand-sewing, so it was all good! I just bought loads of fabric remnants for ebay, and had a play!

I have placed bunting abundantly around the room, as I am a big fan! The alphabet blocks we got off ebay (sorry, I'm not that good yet!) One day I will make my own bunting :) But for now, we have good old ebay.

I managed to hunt down a cheap wardrobe for the bargain price of £30!! Solid pine too! I have learnt my lesson from flatpack IKEA furniture! So this is the before....

And after a lick of paint and a couple of heart stencils (which you can barely see!);

Ta da!!!!!!! Although Lizzie seems convinced it is her den. If we ever lose iggle piggle or her dummies, they are always stashed in there :) I got a bit carried away then and started painting her chest of drawers and bed so they would match;

I also nicked an idea off a friend's blog (myhandcraftedhome) to put labels on all of Lizzie's baskets as people are ALWAYS putting things in the wrong boxes! I am very OCD about this :) Well chuffed with the result!

How awesome is that! Still have stuff to finish in Lizzie's room, like the chair mummy lovingly covered in expensive fabric that Lizzie decided could just do with some permanent pen. Lets hope my other crafty projects are safe! Or mummy may just cry!

Mum

Being a mum is awesome. It is something I wanted to be ever since a little girl. Before I had children, I remember my mum referring to having children as a miracle. And I always wondered why -I mean most people can have children. But since having Lizzie I can totally see what she means. (Sorry for the cheese.)

Now I'm not a fan of valentines day; its mostly just an over- commercialised way of getting people to spend £30 on a bouquet of roses or £15 on a fluffy teddy bear.  But mothers day, is just necessary. I always insist though that Ryan does not buy flowers or spend money. Because it's the home-made things that I love.

Even though Lizzie to too small yet to fully understand the concept of mother's day- (after all, isn't every day Lizzie day?) She does show she loves me, in her own personal way;

-Big snotty kisses in the morning.
- Waiting till daddy comes home to poo in her nappy (present for daddy-going to the potty is for losers!)
-  Taking all that messy wet washing off the dryer line and putting it on the floor
- Making mummy's new fabric covered chair pretty with some biro
- As above, but with our duvet cover, and our side tables
- Ripping up her books (bad mummy for giving her paper-backs!) and throwing them into a neat pile all over her bedroom floor
- Tearing down that nasty Laura Ashley wallpaper in her bedroom. (I mean, who like pretty flowers on their wall? So 90's.)

Oh, and this;

How cute is that!

My first every mother's day present!

(Ryan overdid it on the chocolate biscuits during his paternity leave!)

 Happy mother's day everyone!

I heart ♥ sleep....

Lizzie has always loved to sleep. As do we. As an insomniac, I absolutely found it the hardest thing ever having a newborn. I used to feed Lizzie and spend the next couple of hours not being able to sleep because I knew she would be getting up again shortly. In fact when she was born, I didn't actually sleep for 4 nights in a row! I mean literally, nothing. We sleep-trained her from an early age which was an absolute god-send to a very tired mummy. I found Babywise one afternoon after some desperate internet searching for tips. Of course, I could not expect her to sleep through the night at first, but I could not believe how quickly it started to work. Not to deny that I spent some time crying outside Lizzie's nursery door listening to her heartfelt screams at being left alone to sleep; but it was worth every second.

And now we have had almost 2 years of uninterrupted sleep (utter bliss!) - apart from the very occasional bout of poorliness. Me and Ryan fight over who is going to go and tuck her in every night, as she without fail falls asleep in the strangest of positions and on top of all her toys. Cute! Oh, and we occasionally still get the old 'bum in the air' position too. Wonder what they dream about..

Special Moments

'Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.' - A.A Milne.

There are moments in life which change you. I love photos so much, as they can capture so much. I present to you..my life in pictures so far ...

What are yours?

Aye up!

We love York. We lived there for 3 years after we decided we didn't like Leeds. We saved up like crazy for a deposit so we could move. When we pulled up outside our new flat in my dad's work van with all our stuff from our bedsit in Leeds, I felt like I had come home. I remember it was a beautiful sunny day, one of those days when life seems so good. We couldn't believe it! We had FOUR rooms all to ourselves! AWESOME! For those of you who have lived in a bedsit like ours, which smelt like weed and had mould growing on the walls, you would understand! Ryan even said he saw a mouse in there once, but decided not to tell me. Although sometimes I must admit I miss having the kitchen cupboards a step away from the bed...but not having to wash in the kitchen sink! (If you had seen the communal shower you would have done the same!) It took me a long time to stop feeling so happy about being able to go to the loo without taking a bottle of bleach and loo roll with me in the night!

Some of our loveliest memories so far are in that flat. It will always have a special place in our hearts because it was our first place together. Plus it was right next to a kebab shop. Nice!

Since having to move back to Birmingham (my homeland), we realise how much we took York for granted. We go up there regularly to see Ryan's family, so Im well happy we have an excuse to go back every couple of months! We all have a place that feels like home, and to us its lovely Yorkshire. We are currently saving up to buy a lovely house somewhere in that region in the next few years. Hurrah!!

 

Woof!

Ever since Ryan and I got married, we always wanted a dog. I have always had dogs growing up, so our newly-wed house didn't feel like a home without a smelly, hairy companion to greet us at the door and lie at our feet by the fire . We all have pets we will never forget. I have a few in doggy heaven. Pets, especially dogs, are faithful to the end. To them, you are the best thing in the world, nuff said. We decided to get a dog for my birthday back in 2009 when we were still living in our first flat; not the most doggy-friendly home. We called her Charlie, and she was an alsation cross. She loved us and we loved her, but for the love of God we could not get her to wee and poo outside. Our next-door neighbour (she who shall not be named) started to complain about her barking occasionally so we had to send her back to the dog home. Very sad day :(. I had to send Ryan to take her back because I could not face saying goodbye. I still think if we had given Charlie longer, she could have settled in.

Anyhoo, a year later we bought our first house and even before the contracts were exchanged, we were on the A1 to Doncaster to look at a puppy. When we got there, there were only boy puppies left. We fell in love with Ben straight away. He was right at the back of the pen, pushed aside by his brothers and sisters who were all nibbling our fingers and barking. Ben however, couldn't stop licking us. I don't know why me and Ryan are attracted to runts, but we had to have him. He is still a licker now. And loves licking Ryan's feet :) We love him even more because he is a Yorkshire lad. That's all of us born in the shire of York, except me! I will be SO gutted if we have any more kids born in Birmingham before we move back to the promised land.

So, we have had Ben for 3 years now. He is our hairy, smelly, firstborn. He has been through life's up's and down's with us, and hopefully will live through many more.

Like I said...runt of the litter.

An Ode to Duckies (by Ben)

I love you, Duckies

Me and you are best friends

Even if I eat you,

We can always make amends.