Me and Mine September 17

It has been some time since I posted on here. After taking a break all the way back in March I have been focusing my time on my YouTube channel and neglected my little blog. But I do still want to capture our family memories like I always have done so I thought I would write a little round up of the last few months to try and capture what has been going on with us.

The summer was relatively busy, despite me trying to rest as much as possible. We spent the first two weeks in Gran Canaria and it was lovely to be all together, switched off from the world and just enjoy each other's time. We made some lovely memories and the children loved the slower pace, daddy all to themselves and spending every day in the pool! When we got back it was a quick snap back to really as I juggled the school holidays. We had days out, trips with friends, saw family and tried to make the most of the summer without overdoing it, which is always a challenge.

Since then the children have returned to school and the transition has been pretty smooth. Jack is in year one and Holly has moved up to year two, which makes me gulp a bit as it is her last year in infants. It just seems to have gone by so quickly. And she already acts like a diva, so who knows what's to come as she gets older!

Mr H started a new job in July so has been busy whilst he adjsusts to his new role and the pressures that come with it. I'm also adjusting from the summer to autumn, which is always a harder time for me as September hits and my body just seems to go into shut down. I'm trying to not to let it affect my mental wellbeing though and just looking on it as a time to rest. So that's  pretty mich what we've been up to, in a very quick nutshell! Here is a video from our summer holiday, which now seems like such a long time ago!

Me & Mine February 17

Hello and welcome to this month's round up of our family. February has been an up and down month for us all and I think we are all definitely looking forward to Spring and lighter, warmer days. Half term flew by without much upset, the children enjoyed their time off and I appreciated spending time with them. Both are flourishing at school, both academically and socially and Mr H and I enjoyed a quiet Valentine's exploring a bit of our local area we hadn't visited before, finishing with a cream tea.

Holly

Me & Mine January 17

2017 has arrived and already we are one month in. Here is our update for January.

A photo posted by Hollybobbs ❤️💙💛💚 (@hollybobbs) on Jan 25, 2017 at 11:27am PST

Me & Mine August 16

Here we are, the summer is gone and we are ready for heading back to school and get into our usual routine. This time it's my boy's first day at school and everytime I think about it I get little butterflies in my tummy. It just doesn't seem time, and yet it so is.

August has been lovely to us and I honestly can't believe how fast this summer has flown. The children and I wrote a list of all the things we've done over the last few weeks and I was surprised how much we'd crammed in. We visited London with my mum and sister, the childrens' first time in the capital and they were overawed by it all. Mummy and daddy had a mini break all to ourselves, celebrating our ten year wedding anniversary, and then the children went to Wales with daddy for a couple of days to give me a bit of peace and quiet. There's been lots of firsts - first train, bus and boat, first blackberry picking, first time at golf, first time flying a kite, first summer holidays.

Holly

Me & Mine July 16

Ok, so I'm about three months overdue with our 'monthly' update - I'm just so inconsistent! In my defence the days seem to fly and before I know it another month has been and gone and I've missed posting about it. So with that in mind, I'm pinning down July and what we've been up to.

It's been a great month and lots has happened - Jack had his selling in session at school and despite initial reservations he loved it; Holly had her reception graduation and final day of her first year at school. Now that HAS flown. We have visited my in-laws caravan for a few days, taken a trip to Drayton Manor with friends and spent lots of time with our close friends now the summer has arrived (without the sun). Here's a little update on the children for July:

Me & Mine April 16

May has arrived and with it brings our trip to London for my sister's 30th and Jack's fourth birthday. Finally the weather has turned and summer looks like it may be around the corner, but of course I will  believe this when I see it. Here is a little round up of our last month.

Me & Mine: March 2016

March has been a pretty steady month, which is good for us as we all seem to get upset when things aren't routine for us, particularly Jack. We enjoyed daddy's birthday and Mother's Day together at the start of the month, did a bit of geocaching with friends and Holly showed off her Easter bonnet at school. Now the Easter holidays are here and our family holiday to Spain just around the corner, which we are all more than ready for.

Me & Mine: February 2016

March is here and supposedly Spring, yet yesterday we saw lots of snow covering the arrival of the happy, yellow daffodils that had just started peeking through. It has been a cold few weeks and I am definitely ready for our holiday in April.

February was a relatively quiet month for us, with half term, valentines, one friends twins' birthday and another's little boy's christening being the main activities. It was, however, a big month in terms of work for me as I head down to London at the start of the month to film with Mumsnet and Lidl, and then began a new job which sees me returning to the office for the first time in six years. To get out of the house, take on a new role and make a contribution to the household finances gives me such a sense of purpose and I am so grateful to my new boss for enabling me to do this whilst still managing my energy levels and be there for my family.

Me & Mine January 2016

Dear Holly & Jack

Today it's February. The second month of this new year is here and yet I can't really remember much of the first. It felt like the longest month in the world and yet looking back I don't know if there's much to take away from it apart from cold, illness and low moods. Let's just say I am welcoming February and a month closer to our holiday in April with open arms.

But this post is a reflection on the last month and what happened over those 30 days, so here's a few words to sum it up.

Holly

My big girl, you returned to school after an exciting Christmas, only for you to then be off a week with chickenpox. Caught from your brother, you seemed to get a stronger dose than him but coped really well with them and surprised me.

You've always been a great sleeper but lately have been upset occasionally at bedtime saying you didn't want to sleep on your own. I decided to let you borrow my old teddy as he had always protected mummy when I was little and he would do the same for you. It seems to have done the trick and as long as he beside you, you will now happily drop off.

You seem to be getting so tall now, with long slim legs. You're more than half my height, which is no big surprise and I know before long I'll be looking up at you rather than down!

Jack

Baby boy, with you starting school this September you will be a baby no more. After having the chickenpox at Christmas you seem to have been back and forth with a temperature and cold ever since. You don't really let it affect your mood though, and apart from being a bit quieter than usual you have been just as crazy as ever.

This month you saw your first snow since you were six months old. You absolutely loved it, and insisted on smashing it all to pieces with your new 'Hulk Smash' gloves - just typical you. You seem to be slowly becoming more ready for school, although I still don't feel you're as ready as your big sister was - you much prefer running around and chasing balls to sitting and writing your name!

This month's photo pretty much sums up our month - a few tears, laughter and craziness! Definitely an up and down few weeks.

Me & Mine May

This month has been pretty special for us as we spent a beautiful two weeks in Rhodes at the beginning and then the last few days saw our little man turn three. The holiday was amazing and really gave us all chance to be a family and enjoy each other's company in a way that every day life doesn't seem to have time for.

Me & Mine April

April has come to an end and we are heading off to Rhodes to kick off May. We are all so excited for our holiday - it's our first one as a family of four for a couple of years and this time we are in a hotel so everything will be taken care of for us. I'm hoping it will give us time to relax and regroup, as things are still pretty hard at home at the moment.

Me & Mine March

It's the end of March and already a quarter of the way through the year - how fast does time fly?! Only six weeks until our little guy is three and four short weeks to our family holiday to Greece, which was are all so excited for! So here's this month's update:

Me & Mine January

So, it's a new year and once more I'm going to attempt to join in Me and Mine every month. It's such a great linky and I love seeing everyone's posts at the end of the year with all their photos, so this year I will try my best to keep up!

Me & Mine: November

Ok, it's a few months since I joined in with Me and Mine - I just never seem to get around to taking a family photo of us all, which is really the point of this linky! Well we managed to get one this month, so I am back again!

Me & Mine: June & July

Unfortunately I have fallen a little behind and so missed last month's Me & Mine, so here is a double catch up of our activities!

Miss H

Our little lady is becoming more grown up by the day. She now has proper conversations with me and I sometimes feel I'm talking to a child much older than she actually is. She seems to have dropped all her baby-isms - the last one being 'lellow'. Although I've encouraged her to overcome these milestones, it still makes me sad - soon she will be telling me she's not going to say mummy anymore!

Me & Mine May

I can't believe May is behind us and we are nearly half way through the year! It has been a busy month for us, ending with Baby J's second birthday, so here is a quick update:

Little Miss H

Our little madam is still exactly that, a bit like the girl who had a little curl in the nursery rhyme - when she is bad she's a nightmare, but when she's good she's such a delight.

This month she has gone into her 'big girl' bed - a mid sleeper decorated with a pink and purple tent and full-on fairy bedding, she absolutely loves it! She tells us the fairies brought it - with a little help from Daddy! She had her first sleepover with one of my friend's little girls and they ate popcorn and watched a film, giggling away at each other. It was so lovely to hear.

She also had a review from nursery this month and we were so proud to hear how well she is doing, they even told us she is ready for school this September, unfortunately being a December baby she will have to wait another year.

Baby Little J

This month saw our little man go into a toddler bed and turn two - the baby days are officially over.

Just like H, he is both a delight and a terror, he is extremely strong willed and stubbornly refuses to do as he is told over and over, and yet one little cheeky grin and my heart melts. He can easily wrap anyone around his little finger and he knows it!

He also is doing very well at nursery and is also ahead in a couple of areas - climbing and feeding! Myself and Mr H couldn't help but laugh as we know what a huge eater he is and he is definitely one for climbing into, over and onto anything he can. Everyone around him cringes with every leap, but I have got used to it now. 

We visited the in-laws caravan in Wales last weekend and took both children swimming and he was in his element, throwing himself in face first without a care. It was both terrifying and hilarious in equal measures and definitely a memory I will treasure!

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This month's photo is a bit of a silly one, but I have been persuaded by Mr H it's a keeper! We all decided to pull funny faces, of course Little J wasn't quite sure what that meant!

Me & Mine April

I seem to have missed a month of Me & Mine and am also late on April's update, but here it is, better late than never! I actually managed to kind of stage this photo, a little at least! It certainly doesn't meet a lot of other bloggers standards but it was about to rain so we had to get it in quick!

Here is this month's update:

Little H

Now my little lady is three years and four months and seems to grow up more and more each day. She amazes me sometimes with the things she comes out with and she soaks so much up around her. We are having to be more careful about what is on the TV or what we say as one of these days I know she's going to come out with something - I've already heard her say 'this is rubbish' and 'you're doing my head in' which makes me hang my head a little, but also try and hide a smile as it just sounds so funny coming from her!

Bed times are up and down, some days she goes without a word, some days I am up and own the stairs ten times trying to placate her. My mum watched them on Saturday night for us and so H was up at 7 with her, and then daddy let her out of her room early on Sunday to stop her screaming, so this morning she didn't want to stay in her room until her Gro Clock came on. She gets out of routines so easily we really have to try and stick to them, otherwise she just melts down.

She is absolutely loving being in the garden with me and has become my little helper. We go out most evenings to water the plants and she has helped me plant some bulbs and flowers. She watches me intently when I'm trimming plants and tidying things up and I think as she grows she will explore this more, and I am so pleased about that. As a little girl I spent many hours in the garden with my dad, watching and learning and it makes me happy that she seems to love it too. The other day she spotted a ladybird on our butterfly bush and was so excited, moments like that make me smile.

Baby J

Not a baby for much longer, our little man is two in just three weeks! He is definitely well into the terrible twos, though, much more than H ever did, and he certainly makes his presence known! For a long time he was so chilled out and content but recently he is all over the place, demanding this and that and paddying and screaming when he doesn't get it. I know he is just testing his boundaries and this is the time for us to be firm and set the rules down now, but he really does test our patience!

He absolutely dotes on his big sister and follows her everywhere. She bosses him about but he doesn't seem to mind, and doesn't hesitate to stand up for himself when he needs to. He does know how to wind her up already though, and I am often settling disputes throughout the day whilst he shouts  'no' at her and she screams 'mummy he's saying no!!'

His interest for Fireman Sam has turned into an obsession over the last two months! Woe betide if there is anything on the TV except Sam, he now has a full range of figures and fire trucks as well as a soft toy Sam, magazines and puzzles. So of course his birthday party will have to be fireman themed in some way just for my little hero next door! It is very cute when he is stood in front of you demanding 'Am' or 'Tam', he's not quite got used to saying his S's yet!

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This month's photo was taken in our lovely garden in front of the tyres which I am so proud of, although they are a bit hidden. Last year we spent a lot of time and energy transforming our garden ad the children absolutely love being out there, so this month's photo is to celebrate that!

Me & Mine - February

I'm starting to get into this linky and thinking more about what photo I am going to share and so taking more family photos of us - which is the whole point! As yet I've not got a whole lot of choice, but I'm hoping this will encourage us to take family photos a lot more often as we go along.

I also want to use this linky as a regular update on H and J, so I can look back and see how they have progressed.

Me & Mine - January

As last year drew to a close I decided I would commit to join in with the Me & Mine linky, sharing a monthly photo of our family. This month's was actually taken this evening, so I have cheated a little bit, but we are yet to get into the habit of taking photo with all four of us in!

Me And Mine - December 13

I heard about this linky right at the start or last year and always thought what a great idea it was. Run by several of my favourite bloggers, it is a monthly post where we all share a family photo taken in the last month. However, I never felt I could really commit to it regularly and by the time the first month passed I'd already missed one deadline!