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It's hailing as I type this. I mean, hailing? Hello April showers. Ugh.

I'm fed up today. It's been one of those weeks where the weather has forced us inside every damn day of the week. We're bored. We're grumpy. And the house is cold. 

This is not the Spring I was promised!

Our week in pictures #2

Wednesday 26 April 2017


Ah the age old question. The long running debate. Should we be allowing children their own tablets, Ipads, phones? and just how much screen time is too much screen time!?

Obviously each family has their own ideas of what is the right amount of screen time for their child. Some wont allow any at all, some will allow lots and many fall slap bang in the middle. As always there's no right and wrong as a general rule, just what works for you and your family.

But for me, I've started seeing a massive difference in Lily's personality since we upped her screen time.

In a really negative way.

How much screen time should we be giving our kids?

Monday 24 April 2017


It's been a case of back to much needed reality this week after the Easter Break. I enjoyed having Lily at home with us for three weeks (yes three weeks, I know!) but it's been beyond hectic and it's nice to settle back into the routine of nursery runs, staying in with Archer and doing a whole heap of nothing (in between said nursery runs!) 

I guess I've just really missed the mundane

Egg hunts, Cactus prints & Pikachu obsessions | Little Loves

Friday 21 April 2017


I'm a big lover of Retro toys as well as toys that are quite simply just a bit different. After receiving a few questions about where items from Lily's room were from I've decided to start a long running series on my blog about the different toys and collectables Lily has in her room.

I wrote last week about my love for collectables and this week I'm talking about something a liiittle more retro. Some of the most long running and most popular collectables around are of course Hello Kittys. Having begun in Japan in the 1970s the Hello Kitty brand has grown to incredible heights and are still continuing to do so today.

The amount of Hello Kitty related items out there is insane.

Cute + Quirky toys #2 - Hello Kitty

Thursday 20 April 2017


The Easter holidays are over and done with for another year. Lily's back at nursery, James is back at work, the left over chocolate is in the bin (before I get too tempted to finish it all off. I have no willpower) and the house is back to feeling very quiet. Or as quiet as it can be with a teething one year old.

I really like bank holidays. Friday comes around and knowing there's still days stretching ahead of us makes everything feel a whole less rushed.

I like that we actively didn't make many plans too. For a change. Especially since it only would have been a wash out with the wet weather anyway.

Easter Sunday - Picture heavy

Wednesday 19 April 2017


Welcome back to #SundayBest - this linky is usually hosted by Hayley from Sparkles & Stretchmarks and Sian from Quite Frankly She Said, but as Sian is currently away ready to have her baby any day now (eeek!) they have a series of guest hosts helping them out over the coming weeks with this weeks being myself.

#Sundaybest - A linky for your best posts

Sunday 16 April 2017


Last weekend most of the UK was hit by a little mini heatwave and boy did we make the most of it. I meant to write this up sooner to be honest, but it's been one of those weeks and I'm only just getting round to it now. In typical UK style all good weather lasted no longer than 48 hours and this week we're back to being cold and grey and so I'm so glad we got out and made the best of it whilst we had the chance. 

Weekend Watch - A weekend of sun

Friday 14 April 2017


I am a serial photo taker. It's a bad habit. Or is it a good habit? I don't really know. All I do know is that every single week I end up with more photos than I know what to do with. 

They go into folders on my desktop and slow down my rusty old laptop with the sheer amount of space they take up and then they're not looked at again for god knows how long. It makes me a little sad to think that photos I've taken time and effort to take, of the people I love, are gathering dust and essentially going to waste. 

So much like with my through the phone series I'm going to make a concious effort going forward not to waste my pictures. Even if they're not the best. Not the ones I'm particularly proud of or ones that rub the photographer inside me up the wrong way. Too much light. Too much shade. Not crisp enough. blah de blah. It's not enough of a reason for them not to be featured on my blog. They're still representing some of my favourite memories of my favourite people. & so I wont be letting then perfectionist inside of me let them go to waste any longer!

Our week in pictures

Tuesday 11 April 2017


I love Easter. Flipping love it. Really, give me it over Halloween, Christmas, Valentines, Birthdays. All of it. (Okay maybe not Christmas.. but the rest of it!)

It's such an understated holiday and I think that's a big part of why I like it so much. Not everybody celebrates it, not everybody sees it as a big deal. It's not hyped up and overly advertised like Christmas is. It's just a lovely little holiday, that's nice for the adults because it represents spring along with religious reasons for many. Long bank holidays, the seasons changing and the days becoming brighter. And of course nice for the children because it means chocolate, Easter egg hunts and egg decorating competitions (if you're of school age)

I like decorating the house for Easter. In an understated kind of way, I do it every year. If you like doing the same then here's three simple and cost effective tips to give your home that Easter feel.

Easter Decor - Three easy ways to decorate your house for Easter.

Monday 10 April 2017


..It sure seems like it.

When I was pregnant I heard so much about 'second child' syndrome. Which is basically that your second child will always be more demanding than the first due to being the youngest and constantly vying for attention. Actually I always joked during pregnancy that because Lily was such an angel baby that our second child would be the devil child. Haha. No-one gets two laid back kids right?
I'll be honest though, I don't think any amount of wise cracks about second children from strangers at play groups, or even quips from myself, could have prepared me for just how high maintenance my second child is.

Second child syndrome.. is it a thing?

Friday 7 April 2017


I'm a little late with this months through my phone, but better late than never hey! 

Looking through the past month on my camera roll makes me smile. Like, literally beam from ear to ear. I spent most of last months update moaning about how I wanted more outdoor photos in my camera roll - and this month I got my wish!

In fact I'd say my camera roll in March is 75% outdoors. Most from Filey, and a fair few from the garden (yes we've actually been able to be in the garden recently, helloo little luxuries) and with the arrival of blue skies, the air seems fresher and my head feels clearer.

I started the year feeling, for want of a better term, pretty sluggish and although I'm not a hundred percent back to myself I feel I'm getting there. Energy levels, motivation, all of it. 

March through my phone

Wednesday 5 April 2017


I'm a big lover of Retro toys as well as toys that are quite simply just a bit different. After receiving a few questions about where items in Lily's room are from I've decided to start a long running series on my blog about the different toys Lily has on her shelves.

Unicornos are my current favourite collectables. I love blind boxes, I think I get just as excited as Lily by them, and there's just something really magical about Unicornos in particular. They're by a brand called Tokidoki who I just love full stop, honestly do check them out if you haven't already as they have a really varied range of collectables and the ideas behind them are fascinating.

Cute + Quirky toys for kids #1 - Unicornos

Monday 3 April 2017

'April hath put a spirit of youth in everything'

It's that time again! Time to look back on the month that's gone and forward to the one ahead. April just so happens to be my favouuuurite month. Not just because it's my birthday month (hurtling ever closer to thirty, ahh) but also because we're properly into spring now, everything comes into bloom and there's no denying that Summer will be making an entrance in the not-so-distant future.

I hate celebrating my birthday full stop as I'm not really a fan of the attention. But I do like using the day as an opportunity to do something family orientated. As it's later in the month it's almost always the time when the blossom is out, ie the photographers dream, and so we take our yearly trip to Harlow Carr on my day of birth because it is beyond beautiful this time of year.

I thought I would be oh so organised and separate my goals into blogging goals and personal ones going forward.

Hello April

Saturday 1 April 2017