Emma's nursery

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I finally got around to hanging the remainder of the Royal Doulton Bunnikins plates in Emma's room last week. It's only taken me a year to do it! We didn't have the time or the resources to redecorate this room before Emma moved into it, so we had to work with what was there when we moved in to the house. Luckily it was quite neutral, so despite my underlying desire to paint everything pink and put roses everywhere, I felt I could live with what was there. I decided on a Bunnikins theme because the colours work very well with the wallpaper border that was already there, but they also contain pink tones that I could pull out. Plus, what can be cuter than little rabbits in jackets and dresses in a baby's room?

In addition to the plates, the canopy over Emma's cot has lots of little Bunnikins-style rabbits all over it and there are several toy bunnies around the room. The drawers under the cot are full of toys. Emma already knows where to go to get to her things! I can't bear to put the Moses basket away, so it houses two of Emma's stuffed rabbits. It also contains Emma on occasion when she climbs in to play in it!

There are still a few things I would like to do to this room to finish it off, but I think it makes a rather sweet little nursery for my littlest Podling. I have to say I have found the laminate floor tremendously convenient with Emma's recent illness too!

 Three of the Bunnikins plates that hang above Emma's cot (you can click on the photo to make it bigger). I plan to fill in the tear in the wallpaper border by copying the pattern with felt pens. From a distance it shouldn't be too visible.

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 Emma's Sarah Louise bibs were too pretty to hide in a drawer, so I have them out on display. The bear is wearing one of Emma's newborn dresses.

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Baby girl's clothes are so pretty! I have several of Emma's prettiest newborn dresses on display around the nursery. It seems such a shame to hide them away now that she has outgrown them.

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Lily's holiday

Lily, packed and ready for her holiday with Nanna and Grandad.

During half term, Lily went to stay with her Nanna and Grandad for a few days. It was the first time she has been away from home without us, so we started off planning for her to stay away for one night. On her second day, she still didn't want to come home and she ended up being away for three nights. I'm not sure she was too keen on coming home even then! She had a fabulous time with her grandparents and clearly enjoyed the undivided attention. We had a little period of adjustment when she got back as she got used to sharing the attention again!

We had lots of tears for Nanna on the night she came home. She was briefly distracted by doing the milk protein experiment from Tom's science book with Tom and Daddy, but the tears were back at bedtime. I had to sit knitting on the end of her bed until she fell asleep. She was back to her bouncy self again the following morning and I suspect that Nanna and Grandad will be getting lots of visits from their little grandaughter in the future. I rather think she would move in with them if she could!
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Poorly Little Bear...

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Just another day at the office

The children are on half-term this week, so yesterday we took them to visit Daddy's office as a special treat. Mark works over an hour away from where we live, so it was the first time we have been to see his office. The Podlings had a great time 'working' with Daddy's biros on paper and playing with dry markers on the white boards. They had a fabulous time and didn't want to leave. They are very keen to go again, but I'm not sure how much work Mark would get done with these little office assistants!
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 'Hold my calls, I've got to finish this report.'

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'This way!  I've been here five minutes and I already know my way around.'

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It wasn't the first time Tom has visited Daddy at the office. Here is Tom at two months old at Mark's old office in Torquay. He's grown a bit since then!.

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Baby Love!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Emma wasn't giving up the dummy for love nor money, sorry folks!

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Our Valentine's party

We have a terribly romantic trip to the dentist planned for the family after school tomorrow, so we had our Valentine's party today instead. Lily was incredibly excited when she saw the table and told me it was the nicest party she'd ever seen, bless her! Tom was over the moon with the chocolate ladybirds, though I think they are more likely to be played with than eaten! We invited the Podlings' Nanna and Grandad to share in our sweet tea and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. I certainly enjoyed putting it together!

Happy Valentine's Day!

 I can't claim the credit for this cake, it's a bought one. Tom loves ladybirds, so I couldn't pass it by when I saw it in Tesco. Other sweet treats on the table included foil-wrapped chocolate hearts and ladybirds,  Love Hearts and heart-shaped fruit treats. We had pink lemonade cooled with heart-shaped ice cubes and many other goodies besides.

These biscuits look so effective and are so simple to make. You will need two sizes of cookie cutter and you need to colour half of your biscuit dough pink. I sprinkled these with pink sugar before baking as a finishing touch.

I made heart-shaped fairy cakes with my Miniamo silicone moulds. I iced them with pink buttercream and used Love Hearts and pink sugar for decoration.

 Tom and Lily had a selection of Valentine's chocolates on their plates. I made a cone from a doily and filled it with a chocolate lollipop and heart and ladybird-shaped chocolates.

The Bad Red Ladybird stealing fruit (it's an in-joke, I'll explain it at some point)

The best picture I could manage of the Podlings enjoying their Valentine's party. Tom was not co-operating for photos today!  Emma had a good time with the chocolate lollipop I gave her after she had eaten her tea.

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Pigtails!

Emma has always had a lot of hair. Although I've cut her fringe several times, I've never touched the back and it is now quite long. For want of a more interesting diversion, I thought I'd see if I could get it in pigtails today and here is the result. I didn't think she could get any cuter...I was wrong! The pigtails are quite messy as it was just an experiment to see if I could get her hair up, rather than an attempt to produce anything portrait-worthy. They didn't stay in long, although not because she pulled them out. She is just so active that no hairstyle stands a chance! I think this one is destined for a neat little bob at some point. I'm just not ready to get rid of all that adorable baby hair yet.

Finger in mouth, drool on dress. She is teething methinks!

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The first snowdrop

Mark and I bought some snowdrop bulbs in the green last year and spent a chilly evening in late Spring planting them around the garden. Our efforts were rewarded this week by the appearance of this pretty little flower. It is the first of the snowdrops to open completely. There are plenty more in various states of emergence under the trees at the back of the garden, but I can see this one from my kitchen window. We're hoping the bluebells we planted at the same time will show us their pretty heads in abundance in the spring.
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A chilly walk in woods

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We've been a bit cooped up lately, so on Sunday afternoon we decided to go for a walk. It was a dry day, but bitterly cold, so we wrapped up warm, filled a flask for tea and headed to the woods. The girls, particularly Emma, love to be outside in the fresh air (just like their mum), but Tom...not so much! He feels the cold, poor thing, and hates it. Four out of five of us enjoyed our winter walk, but Tom couldn't wait to get back home again. We mollified him with chocolate Digestives, but we skipped the flask of tea we brought in the interests of getting back in the warm again. I am so ready for Spring...Winter seems long this year.

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