Where did you go?

I know. It's been a long time. Months in fact. And the truth is, today is the first day in all those months that I've had the time, energy and inclination to blog.

I have missed blogging. I've missed by blogging buddies. I've missed pregnancy announcements, births, HUGE news and I feel awful, but something had to give.

I went back to work after maternity leave properly in September and the long and the short of it is that life hit me like a tonne of bricks. Being a working mum of two is literally 100 times more difficult and busy and tiring than a working mum of one. I'm sure of it. It's the first day of the Christmas holidays and it's the first day I've not had anything I've had to do for months. It's felt odd. I can't WAIT to clean my house, which is struggling in the "lack of time" category.

But here's the other reason I've run out of time...

I started my own business. 

That's it. I fell into it a bit and feel I am completely winging my way through but I am loving it. But it means the time I found to be at the computer for blogging has been replaced with advertising and promotion and photo editing. For clients. Not for my blog. That's because Hannah Hall Photography is official. 

Amazing and terrifying all at the same time, and 2015 will be the year that changes my life. I'm working exclusively by word of mouth and via my Facebook and Twitter pages at the moment, but I'm sure that's set to expand next year. I'd love it if you popped over and said hi! 

Work aside, life is good. Lowen is nearly 10 months, and getting ready to let go of that sofa and toddle off. She's a monster when it comes to food and doesn't stop eating. She understands far more than I ever gave a 10 month old credit for and she LOVES getting your attention by shouting "hiya!!!!" at the top of her voice. 

Effy is 2 years and 9 months and just incredible. She's dramatic; a performer, a singer, a linguist, a story teller. Her memory and her imagination astound me. She's hot headed, fiery and passionate... She reminds me of her mother... 

My new year's resolution is to blog again. Once a month at the very least. I promise.

Merry Christmas, bloggers. xx

Family Photo Friday

I've spent all week taking photos for other people and somehow managed to not get one single picture of ANYTHING for myself... So, I'll be back next week for a double post week.

Have a fabulous bank holiday weekend!

N is for...

Nosey.

This chappy was fascinated by my camera and what I was up to while we dodged hurricane Bertha on a maternity shoot on Monday! 

What a stunning creature!

Linking up with the #alphabetphoto project.

Family Photo Friday #32 - 15/08/14

It's Friday, I thought it was Thursday and I'm posting this before I run off to the park. 

The summer holidays are fabulous and we're loving being outside and enjoying the (mostly) good weather.

I took this the other day while we were out at Wicksteed Park. I just can't believe how grown up she is suddenly. She loves a good sand pit, although I suspect the other children don't appreciate her sandy play so much!

Thanks for continuing to link up and join in even while your host is being completely pants! 

Share a family photo from your week just gone. It needn't be a Family Photo Friday specific post, I don't mind you recycling! You can join in weekly, monthly or just whenever you can. It can be a formal portrait or a snap from your phone, something you posed for or something you caught when no one was looking. It could be from a day out, a gathering, an activity at home, it doesn't matter so long as it gives a snap shot of what your family looked like during the week that's just been. 

Give us a brief explanation of your photo. 

I'd love it if you could grab the badge to add at the bottom of your post and Tweet about it using #familyphotofriday - my Twitter handle is @oneformybaby12. 

Pop over to visit at least two other bloggers and see what they've been doing - maybe you can watch their family grow and change too! 

Leave a comment if you can. 

Happy photo-taking and memory-making!

<div align="center">
<a href="http://thursdayschild-fridaysthoughts.blogspot.co.uk/p/family-photo-friday.html" title="Family Photo Friday @ Thursday's Child, Friday's Thoughts"><img src="http://i1363.photobucket.com/albums/r718/oneformybaby12/cfd43ed3-81dd-4bc8-891e-83da05b4339a_zpse02e79b8.jpg" alt="Family Photo Friday @ Thursday's Child, Friday's Thoughts" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Family Photo Friday #31 - 08/08/14

We spent last weekend staying with one of my besties in the New Forest, which meant plenty of fresh air and enjoying the sunshine... And geocaching. Lots of geocaching... I'll make that my word of the week! Effy has really started to show an interest in searching for "treasure", which I love. Here she is with a cache we found by compass alone when GPS failed us with D, her godmother and Lowen's godfather after a very long walk and some excellent puzzle solving on her godmother's behalf! We've more than doubled our total of finds in the last 10 days, there's a bit of an addiction forming here!

Usual stuff...

Share a family photo from your week just gone. It needn't be a Family Photo Friday specific post, I don't mind you recycling! You can join in weekly, monthly or just whenever you can. It can be a formal portrait or a snap from your phone, something you posed for or something you caught when no one was looking. It could be from a day out, a gathering, an activity at home, it doesn't matter so long as it gives a snap shot of what your family looked like during the week that's just been. 

Give us a brief explanation of your photo. 

I'd love it if you could grab the badge to add at the bottom of your post and Tweet about it using #familyphotofriday - my Twitter handle is @oneformybaby12. 

Pop over to visit at least two other bloggers and see what they've been doing - maybe you can watch their family grow and change too! 

Leave a comment if you can. 

I promise to visit as many of you as I can and I'll pick my favourite photo to share next Friday. 

Happy photo-taking and memory-making!

<div align="center">
<a href="http://thursdayschild-fridaysthoughts.blogspot.co.uk/p/family-photo-friday.html" title="Family Photo Friday @ Thursday's Child, Friday's Thoughts"><img src="http://i1363.photobucket.com/albums/r718/oneformybaby12/cfd43ed3-81dd-4bc8-891e-83da05b4339a_zpse02e79b8.jpg" alt="Family Photo Friday @ Thursday's Child, Friday's Thoughts" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

M is for...

Mouthwatering.

A ploughman's lunch at the Cider Pantry in Burley on Saturday.

Linking up with the #alphabetphoto project.

Family Photo Friday #30 - 01/08/2014 / L is for...

I've been really quiet and I make no apology. It's the summer holidays, D is off, and it's been a really busy couple of weeks. His best mate got married, one of my best mates got married, another best friend had her beautiful baby and I had the joy of photographing her two hours new, I went back to work for the end of term and I've started a new business. It's been hectic. Good hectic, but my time for blogging is the scrapings of the jar at the moment. Huge apologies for not having commented, retweeted, popped over etc. Next week I have a date with my iPad and a bottle of wine to get up to speed.

So this photo is my Family Photo Friday picture. It's also my #alphabetphoto picture for L.

L is for loves. My favourite three.

Share a family photo from your week just gone. It needn't be a Family Photo Friday specific post, I don't mind you recycling! You can join in weekly, monthly or just whenever you can. It can be a formal portrait or a snap from your phone, something you posed for or something you caught when no one was looking. It could be from a day out, a gathering, an activity at home, it doesn't matter so long as it gives a snap shot of what your family looked like during the week that's just been. 

Give us a brief explanation of your photo. 

I'd love it if you could grab the badge to add at the bottom of your post and Tweet about it using #familyphotofriday - my Twitter handle is @oneformybaby12. 

Pop over to visit at least two other bloggers and see what they've been doing - maybe you can watch their family grow and change too! 

Leave a comment if you can. 

I promise to visit as many of you as I can and I'll pick my favourite photo to share next Friday. 

Happy photo-taking and memory-making!

<div align="center">
<a href="http://thursdayschild-fridaysthoughts.blogspot.co.uk/p/family-photo-friday.html" title="Family Photo Friday @ Thursday's Child, Friday's Thoughts"><img src="http://i1363.photobucket.com/albums/r718/oneformybaby12/cfd43ed3-81dd-4bc8-891e-83da05b4339a_zpse02e79b8.jpg" alt="Family Photo Friday @ Thursday's Child, Friday's Thoughts" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Real Mums of All-Bran Challenge

Three lesser-known facts about me:

• I am a notoriously awful breakfast skipper.
• I could happily eat chocolate as a breakfast substitute on the odd occasion, however.
• I don't believe in brand campaigns because I never think they'll work.

So, I'll eat my hat after I write this post.

Here's a secret:

Since I ate dodgy fish and chips 8 weeks pregnant with Effy while watching the Cowes Week fireworks, I have never had a happy gut. I spent both pregnancies either constipated or positively upset, and especially since having Lowen I've felt bloated, and somewhat irregular... Just not "right".

And this is why I was so keen to try the 5 day challenge, care of Real Mums of All Bran.

Here's the thing. I really felt better as a result of eating a bowl of All Bran for five days. I HATE to admit it, remember point three above? 

Suddenly my gut felt happier, less bloated, more comfortable, more regular and definitely more "right". And just when I was wondering if it were mind over matter, when I had finished every scrap of the joy I'd been sent, within a couple of days my innards were back to their usual tricks. Cue a trip to the supermarket and a more conscious effort to eat bran. Happy guts.

There's more to this than a happy gut though.

First off, when I think of All Bran, I think of my granny eating it and recall it tasting of flip flop or something equally unsavoury... Well, Bran has come along way in 25 years because all three flavours (Golden Crunch, Red Berry Crunch and Chocolate Wheats) we were sent to try were delicious. D and Effy loved them all too. There's no points for guessing which flavour disappeared fastest, however...

The Chocolate Wheats were a huge hit. Now, I know I said I could happily eat chocolate for breakfast, and this would fill that box. I'd consider it to be a weekend cereal. A healthier treat to start your Saturday. The Red Berry Crunch went down well and what I really liked about it as that you could really taste the berries coming through, and there was a generous quantity in every serving. The Golden Crunch was a definite week day cereal, but enjoyable despite it's slightly more "ordinary" demeanour. 

Needless to say, the other pro from this challenge is that I ate breakfast with Effy. Recently she's tended to mess around in the company of non-eaters at the table, so it's been easier to potter and leave her to it, but enjoying cereal with her on her non nursery days (she has breakfast with her pals at nursery) has made for a lovely start to our mornings once Lowen is back in bed for her first nap of the day.

And unlike other cereals, I didn't feel like I wanted a snack three minutes after breakfast. Just slipping that one in there.

So, I learned a lot doing this challenge, but most importantly I've realised how key my gut is to my mood... A happy gut makes getting on with day to day stuff easier, and I am really trying hard to not be a breakfast skipper any more but eating bran-based cereal daily. I really do feel All-Bran New! I've also learned that bran doesn't taste of old shoe. Hurrah! 

This post is an entry for the Real Mums of All-Bran Linky Challenge, sponsored by Kelloggs™

Family Photo Friday #28 & #29 - 18/07/2014 & 25/07/2014

Sorry that #familyphotofriday never materialised last week. Someone (!) forgot the schedule the post and then got wrapped up in getting ready for a wedding that D was best man at... Then I went back to work! Thanks for those who asked after me and wished me well.

Here's a double whammy of #familyphotofriday fun! Feel free to link up your posts from last week and this week...

Usual rules apply!

Share a family photo from your week just gone. It needn't be a Family Photo Friday specific post, I don't mind you recycling! You can join in weekly, monthly or just whenever you can. It can be a formal portrait or a snap from your phone, something you posed for or something you caught when no one was looking. It could be from a day out, a gathering, an activity at home, it doesn't matter so long as it gives a snap shot of what your family looked like during the week that's just been. 

Give us a brief explanation of your photo. 

I'd love it if you could grab the badge to add at the bottom of your post and Tweet about it using #familyphotofriday - my Twitter handle is @oneformybaby12. 

Pop over to visit at least two other bloggers and see what they've been doing - maybe you can watch their family grow and change too! 

Leave a comment if you can. 

I promise to visit as many of you as I can and I'll pick my favourite photo to share next Friday.

Happy photo-taking and memory-making!

<div align="center">
<a href="http://thursdayschild-fridaysthoughts.blogspot.co.uk/p/family-photo-friday.html" title="Family Photo Friday @ Thursday's Child, Friday's Thoughts"><img src="http://i1363.photobucket.com/albums/r718/oneformybaby12/cfd43ed3-81dd-4bc8-891e-83da05b4339a_zpse02e79b8.jpg" alt="Family Photo Friday @ Thursday's Child, Friday's Thoughts" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

K is for...

Keen.

I watched this bumble bee for ages as he went about his business!

Not going to lie, K was a real struggle!

Linking up with the #alphabetphoto linky.

Word of the Week

A whole range of emotions this week...

The end of maternity leave. Going back to work. New chapters in our lives. Exciting opportunities. Settling in at nursery. Reflecting on what has been. 

There's ouly one word for it!

J is for...

Jump.

I spent several minutes scanning this enclosure with Effy, looking for the little owls who were meant to live in it.

Owls all gone now, mummy.

Then I looked up and this little creature took me somewhat by surprise and really did make me jump!

Joining in with the #alphabetphoto linky.

Family Photo Friday #27 - 11/07/2014

Another week has flown by and I can't even tell you were it's gone. We've been quite busy and I feel like my feet haven't touched the ground! 

My girls just get closer and closer. Now that Lowen is slightly more robust, she loves messing around with Effy. Here was a moment of quiet in the chaos after their afternoon nap earlier in the week.

Thank you everyone who takes the time to pop over and link up - I love seeing and reading about what you've been up to!

Usual rules apply!

Share a family photo from your week just gone. It needn't be a Family Photo Friday specific post, I don't mind you recycling! You can join in weekly, monthly or just whenever you can. It can be a formal portrait or a snap from your phone, something you posed for or something you caught when no one was looking. It could be from a day out, a gathering, an activity at home, it doesn't matter so long as it gives a snap shot of what your family looked like during the week that's just been. 

Give us a brief explanation of your photo. 

I'd love it if you could grab the badge to add at the bottom of your post and Tweet about it using #familyphotofriday - my Twitter handle is @oneformybaby12. 

Pop over to visit at least two other bloggers and see what they've been doing - maybe you can watch their family grow and change too! 

Leave a comment if you can. 

I promise to visit as many of you as I can and I'll pick my favourite photo to share next Friday.

Happy photo-taking and memory-making!

<div align="center">
<a href="http://thursdayschild-fridaysthoughts.blogspot.co.uk/p/family-photo-friday.html" title="Family Photo Friday @ Thursday's Child, Friday's Thoughts"><img src="http://i1363.photobucket.com/albums/r718/oneformybaby12/cfd43ed3-81dd-4bc8-891e-83da05b4339a_zpse02e79b8.jpg" alt="Family Photo Friday @ Thursday's Child, Friday's Thoughts" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

I is for...

Inamorata.

My favorite photograph from a wedding I shot on Saturday.

Linking up with the #alphabetphoto linky.

4 months

It feels like days, not a month since I last wrote about you. I know I say this every month but I'm feeling a bit speechless about where time is going. A third of a year? It doesn't make sense.


What a month it's been! 

We celebrated your baptism last month and you weren't fussed by a face-full of water! You were as good as gold and loved meeting more friends and family. You even slept in your car seat while it wasn't in a moving car. Incredible! (Thanks Mummy Morkus for running my camera while I was busy...)

At 17 weeks you weighed 14lb 2 and you're very much in 3-6 month clothes. I only had two sleep suits from Effy's wardrobe ready for you though so we had to do a quick dash for some new ones! You suddenly seem incredibly long and increasingly robust, and you're starting to enjoy a bit of silliness with your sister; you don't mind if she accidentally squishes you!

At 17 weeks and 2 days you rolled from your front to your back and today at 18 weeks and 2 days you rolled from your back to your front. I missed them both. Last week you were in your cot and when I came to get you after your nap you were starring up at me. Today I came in from hanging in the washing, and there you were, cool as a cucumber on your front. Alas!

You have very little desire to stay still any more. You want to be sat up, stood on laps, in the jumperoo having a bounce or sat up in the pram so you can be nosey. You're more cautious of strangers now though, and you don't always smile at them because they smiled at you.

At meal times you are fascinated by what we're doing and you would probably shove your face in my plate given half a chance. You can't sit in the bumbo to watch any more as you can flip yourself out of it. So that got all of 2 weeks use! 

You've really found your voice and my goodness can you shout and squeal! You've also discovered your inner peace and you almost exclusively settle yourself at nap times and bedtime now.

You're so different to Effy. You're so you. I think you 'get me' a bit more than Effy did at 4 months old... She just used to look at me like I was a loon. You love a selfie and some silly coo-ey noises. Next week you start your settling in sessions at nursery and I feel confident that you'll just breeze through them. Me on the other hand? I'll have my tissues at the ready...

Word of the Week

A busy day out yesterday meant that I'm a bit late to the party.

Effy's eczema has flared up badly this week, I'm not really sure what's triggered it. But in times like this, we up how many times a day we apply cream. 

So, this week my word is...

Family Photo Friday #26- 04/07/2014

I make no apology for another gruffalo related photo, my second this week. I love this photo of Effy and I. It's SO rare that she "poses" for photos these days, even rarer that I'm in it with her!

Usual rules...

Share a family photo from your week just gone. It needn't be a Family Photo Friday specific post, I don't mind you recycling! You can join in weekly, monthly or just whenever you can. It can be a formal portrait or a snap from your phone, something you posed for or something you caught when no one was looking. It could be from a day out, a gathering, an activity at home, it doesn't matter so long as it gives a snap shot of what your family looked like during the week that's just been. 

Give us a brief explanation of your photo. 

I'd love it if you could grab the badge to add at the bottom of your post and Tweet about it using #familyphotofriday - my Twitter handle is @oneformybaby12. 

Pop over to visit at least two other bloggers and see what they've been doing - maybe you can watch their family grow and change too! 

Leave a comment if you can. 

I promise to visit as many of you as I can and I'll pick my favourite photo to share next Friday.

Happy photo-taking and memory-making!

<div align="center">
<a href="http://thursdayschild-fridaysthoughts.blogspot.co.uk/p/family-photo-friday.html" title="Family Photo Friday @ Thursday's Child, Friday's Thoughts"><img src="http://i1363.photobucket.com/albums/r718/oneformybaby12/cfd43ed3-81dd-4bc8-891e-83da05b4339a_zpse02e79b8.jpg" alt="Family Photo Friday @ Thursday's Child, Friday's Thoughts" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

H is for...

Hijacked.

There is such a thing as a gruffalo.

Linking up with the #alphabetphoto linky.

My Kitchen Stories

If I were posting about my kitchen in general right now it would be a tale of woes: How everything has packed up, one by one, while I'm on maternity leave. My washing machine and dishwasher included. Alas.

I had to pick one to replace with immediacy and that was the washing machine... Which left me with a packet of Fairy Platinum to write about and no dishwasher.

No panic. NCT antenatal friend to the rescue with the offer of her dishwasher and kitchen, her opinions based on her experience of her dishwasher AND a free dinner. Oh, and superb company, naturally.

Del's kitchen, much like mine, is the hub of the home. A place where laundry gets done, tums get fed, artwork gets hung and the world has been put to rights many a time over a brew. Like me, she dreams of a few more cupboards but muddles through and the fridge door masquerades as her office.

When she offered to cook me dinner, I asked what we'd be having. Her reply was "Lasagne, because the baked on bits are a great test of a dishwasher tablet". I'm inclined to agree. So dinner was prepped, the dog was tripped over (another similarity with my kitchen, only I have two of the critters fighting for the warm patch in front of the oven) dinner was baked, eaten, and a huge pile of dirty kitchen utensils and dishes generated. It was getting late. "We'll use the quick wash setting, THAT will be a good test!" mused Del.

You can see that the lasagne had indeed baked itself on well. We were both impressed with the result - particularly given the quick wash setting - everything came out shiny and sparkly clean and the only residue of lasagne was a tiny bit of pasta, that clearly just hadn't drained away as it was by no means stuck on. Del's response was "gosh, if it's that good on a quick wash then I'll seriously consider changing to these!" - high praise indeed for the Fairy Platinum dishwasher tablet... And I agree with Del, I think I'll make the change too when I'm eventually reunited with a machine...

So while my kitchen is still in a state of semi dis-repair, I have good things to report: Fairy Platinum will clean up greasy, baked on lasagne, even on a quick cycle, I love my new washing machine even if it is the only thing functioning right now, and the woman you thought was a smidge batty two and a half years ago at an antenatal meeting may well just be the saviour of your blog post. And sanity. Many hurrahs! 

This post is an entry for the "My Kitchen Story" Linky Challenge, sponsored by Fairy Plantinum.

Family Photo Friday #25- 27/06/2014

A week of being poorly and feeling sorry for myself does not a family photo make. But I have been reflecting.

This photo was taken a year ago this weekend. The same day we found out we were pregnant again! Effy looks so little. She's so grown up now, she's grown into her features and lost so much toddler chub... And now we are four!

What a difference a year makes. Do you have a family photo from this time last year to share?

With reflecting on the brain, I particularly loved Loved By Mummy's post about their "spot". Thanks for much for sharing! 

Usual rules...

Share a family photo from your week just gone OR a photo from this time last year. It needn't be a Family Photo Friday specific post, I don't mind you recycling! You can join in weekly, monthly or just whenever you can. It can be a formal portrait or a snap from your phone, something you posed for or something you caught when no one was looking. It could be from a day out, a gathering, an activity at home, it doesn't matter so long as it gives a snap shot of what your family looked like during the week that's just been. 

Give us a brief explanation of your photo. 

I'd love it if you could grab the badge to add at the bottom of your post and Tweet about it using #familyphotofriday - my Twitter handle is @oneformybaby12. 

Pop over to visit at least two other bloggers and see what they've been doing - maybe you can watch their family grow and change too! 

Leave a comment if you can. 

I promise to visit as many of you as I can and I'll pick my favourite photo to share next Friday.

Happy photo-taking and memory-making!

<div align="center">
<a href="http://thursdayschild-fridaysthoughts.blogspot.co.uk/p/family-photo-friday.html" title="Family Photo Friday @ Thursday's Child, Friday's Thoughts"><img src="http://i1363.photobucket.com/albums/r718/oneformybaby12/cfd43ed3-81dd-4bc8-891e-83da05b4339a_zpse02e79b8.jpg" alt="Family Photo Friday @ Thursday's Child, Friday's Thoughts" style="border:none;" /></a></div>