Lake District

We have just got back from a wonderful holiday in the Lake District! We stayed for a week in a cottage in Glenridding, at the edge of Ullswater.

Here is a selection of photos for your viewing pleasure.

My uncle Bill came over for a day, as did my cousin Jen and her family. It was lovely to catch up with them. Bill brought a play tent for Emma, which she really loved and spent most of the holiday in! It became a bit of a hidey hole for toys, books, remote controls, etc. Bill was pretty dismayed when he found out we had come all the way to the lakes with no walking boots or waterproof coats. We rectified this very quickly though, and I ended up getting an enormous waterproof that went over both me and Emma! Lucky we did - it rained a lot during the week. It didn't stop us having fun though.

On one of the dry days, we took a walk suggested in a book we had borrowed up Glenridding Dodd and over Sheffield Pike. The book described it as "steep at first"... but that actually should have read "death defying!!!" It was sooooo steep on both the way up and down, and really hard work. It was totally worth it though - the view was wonderful. If the weather had been better we would have done a lot more walking because we really enjoyed it.

We also visited Ambleside, Windermere, Lakeside, and lots of other places. We managed to fit a lot into just a week! Emma really enjoyed herself and...

... she finally started to walk on her own!! I am so proud of her. My little baby suddenly seems so much more grown up. I guess this means I should buy her first pair of shoes now!

Dog!

Emma is normally a bit a chatter box, but just baby talk rather than real words. She does quite often say something that sounds like "book" when we look at picture books together, but it is more of an "ook" than "book"! And she always calls herself "baba" when she sees herself in the mirror.

But I turned the TV on just now, and there was a puppet dog singing a song. Emma went straight up to the TV, bounced up and down, and shouted "dog, dog dog" over and over! Now please don't tell me that was just coincidence!

Lots to do

Wow we have been busy lately! We went over to the Netherlands to visit my Dad for a few days which was brilliant. We managed to catch up with some friends (but of course not everyone - isn't that always the way!) and spent a lovely day at the beach.

Emma is really enjoying all the sunshine, and is growing like a weed. She still (still!!) isn't walking on her own, apart from the odd few steps here and there, but to be honest I like it like that. (Don't grow up too fast!!) She is into everything at the moment - the world is a big place and every nook and cranny needs to be investigated!

I have been really busy recently. Its funny - when I stopped working I was worried that I would find full time motherhood boring. But how wrong could I be! I feel so lucky to be able to do it this way, and to be honest I have never been busier! As well as looking after Emma, I am working on a few websites, and the garden is taking a load of my time up (in a good way!) I don't seem to have a lot of news to blog about at the moment. That doesn't mean that life is boring in the slightest - we just seem to have settled in a nice rhythm.

We had our June Oxford Sling Meet last week, which was really lovely. Photos are up on our website here!

And finally, here are a couple of photos I managed to get at lunch time today. Em always manages to get her bib off while I am not looking. Not such a great idea when she is eating tomatoes!!

Happy Birthday Mum

We have had a lovely family weekend. My Dad and brother came to see us on Friday, and it was the first time they have seen the new house. We went into Oxford for the afternoon, and had a wonderful time. On Saturday we went to stay with my Mum because it was her birthday this weekend. The whole family was there, and it was lots of fun to see everyone. Emma enjoyed being the inevitable centre of attention! My brother took some great pictures of us.

Naughty face:














Dancing in the garden:














Family portrait:














Looking at flowers:























Big blue eyes!

What is it about a hat?

We have been taking full advantage of our gorgeous garden and all the sunshine this week! I was in town with Emma a few days ago and realised I had not bought her a summer hat yet. So, I popped into one of the kiddies shops on the High Street and came out with a little pink number. What is it about children and hats that makes them so sweet! :-)

Emma is not completely comfortable being out in the garden yet. She doesn't really like to venture beyond the blanket, and if I show any sign of moving away she gets very upset. I guess these are her first little steps into the big wide world.

Speaking of steps... she did some all on her own a couple of days ago! She is getting more confident about standing without support, and is now sometimes able to take a few steps. She has a little walker that she wizzes around the house with, but she seems to really enjoy playing games where she stands and lets go of my hands at the moment.











































And here she is being very helpful, and unpacking the shopping and tucking into a courgette. We were running a bit late with dinner, so I guess she thought she would just help herself! :-)

Fabric Fairy

Yesterday, the postman came just as I was heading out of the door to the La Leche League meeting, so I took it all along with me. I thought there was nothing exciting - a couple of bills, and what looked like a sling donation for the Oxford sling library that I am helping to set up. So I just shoved it all in my handbag.

Anyway... when I opened what I thought was the sling, I was in for a heck of a surprise. It was in fact a yard of fabric that I have been after for ages. It is out of print and hard to get hold of, especially in this colour. With it was a little note saying it was a present from the fabric fairy!! I have my suspicions about who sent it to me, so if you are reading this thank you so so so much. It put a smile on my face all day to think that there are such lovely people out there!

Here it is, with its little note!

Small news

I have entered a competition to win a free Ergo baby carrier here:

Cross your fingers for me!

Wildlife park

We had a great day out at the Cotswold Wildlife park today. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, so we took full advantage of it. Emma really enjoyed herself, but her favourite part of the day was messing around in the park rather than looking at the animals! She is growing up so quickly now. She is getting more and more confident with standing, so I guess she will be walking on her own very soon. Mind you... I have been saying that for weeks!

Photo overload

OK... it has been a while, so here are a few great pics of Emma that Brett and I have taken over the last few weeks.

Forget April showers - we had April snow!

I was so pleased on Sunday morning when I opened the curtains to see everything covered in snow! It snowed on the day that Emma was born, but I haven't seen any since then. It was surprisingly warm outside, so it didn't last long. But I did get a chance to show it to Emma before it all thawed. She was not quite sure what to make of it!!