31 Jan 2011

[ . . 30 before 30 . . ] 8. See friends

I added this one to my 30 before 30 list because I always enjoy seeing friends (who doesn’t) but it is one of those things that can easily fall by the wayside as life gets in the way.

Over the past few months I have been quite good at seeing friends, some that live nearby and I see regularly and others that don’t live as close and it takes effort on both sides to see. Some new friends, some old. Some for lunch, some for dinner but most importantly all for a general chat and catch up!

So, as long as I can keep this up when baby arrives – I guess that will be a good excuse to see friends, or for friends to see Baby B – this one can be considered partially ticked off.

One of the best things about friends are the memories and laughs you can share. I have chosen some photos from the past few years as a memento and reminder for me of the fun times and me pre-pregnancy. Looking through my photos it's also made me realise that I have no photos of many of my friends. I really need to get the camera out at other occasions other than just weddings!

 
It also didn't seem right to have photos of friends and not have one of my best friend of 9 years (this month), Mr B, taken during our first dance at our wedding two years ago - despite the fact I am lucky enough to see him every day. x

29 Jan 2011

[ . . Wonderful Wednesday . . ] Becomes . . . Wonderful Week

Again, I have missed my Wednesday post so I have decided to slightly tweak my regular Wonderful Wednesday slot and change it to become ‘Wonderful Week’.

Wednesday’s on theprojectlab have become more about The Gallery which although only in my second week I have been enjoying immensely. Giving myself the flexibility over which day I post the Wonderful Week post is also a little more realistic given the months ahead.


Eco-friendly 'I Will Get It Done Soon' NotePad available from Papersquid on Etsy

So, what has been wonderful about this week? Well, again it has been a lot about getting sorted for the arrival of Baby B. This week has really stood out as I finally feel like some of the ‘big’ things left to sort are finally getting there. This has been a big relief for me as to be honest I was starting to get a little anxious!

Entering this next week with the new car sorted and the nursery decoration fully underway (after the slight mishap you may have seen in my last Silent Sunday) makes me not only feel wonderful but also a lot more relaxed and that has got to be good for baby.

Hope you have all had a good week and here's to the next one!

26 Jan 2011

The Gallery: Children - what will mine be like?

Another interesting prompt from Tara at Sticky Fingers this week for the Gallery - Children.

With the birth of my first child 2 to 7 weeks away I have actually started to wonder what they (there is only one but unsure whether it's a girl or boy!) are going to be like. What is he/she going to look like and what type of personality are they going to have.

I have also thought about my Mum when she had me. What was she like, what was she thinking. So for this week's gallery I have chosen a photo taken of me and my mum at my christening 29 years ago (apologies for the quality, I have had to take a photo of a photo!).

Lucy Baby

Looking forward to seeing what you have all come up with!

21 Jan 2011

[ . . Wonderful Wednesday . . ] Being part of a tribe

I have (again) missed my regular Wednesday post. This time I am going to blame working for the first time in 2011 and the distraction of the Internet. I have recently found a very welcoming community of wonderful ladies and mums.

Image from Jennifer Ramos at Etsy where you can buy this lovely print!
I had heard about blogging mummy's before I became pregnant but never really had a reason to associate with it all. Then I found out I was pregnant. And then I thought, oh maybe that would be good for me. Being a first time mum-to-be I already had lots of burning questions in my mind. But was I really ready to be a public 'mum'?

Then a couple of weeks ago I saw a link to a blog post on Twitter. The post was called 'Mum blogger is not a 4 letter word'. Intrigued I clicked through ending up at the blog of British Mummy Bloggers. The post seemed to summarise all of my reservations and possible misconceptions of the so termed 'mummy bloggers'.
"Sure there are some folks out there who would define mum or parent blogging as nappies-and-school run content. There are also people who define being a stay-at-home mum as a bon-bon eating job. Why let those people tell us what kind of blogs we’re writing? Why should we let “mum” be a reductive description?

Rather it’s a category that’s useful for all kinds of things: finding a tribe, marketing yourself and finding readers, working with brands. It helps to have the mum blog label, but it needn’t be restrictive. Mum blogging is not a box, it is a window which opens out onto a whole universe of topics." (Full post)
That seemed to help me turn a corner. It was exactly what I was looking for.

So, here I am fully immersed in the 'tribe'. I have officially joined British Mummy Bloggers (and been accepted!) and you can see my shiny badge in the right hand column. I already follow a lot of inspiring mums on Twitter but this has introduced me to more. I have also discovered various blogging prompts including Sticky Finger's (aka Tara Cain) The Gallery and Mocha Beanie Mummy's Silent Sunday which I have been enjoying.

Next thing to conquer is how to attend the CyberMummy conference in June so I can actually meet some of these people in person. Oh, and work out how to get Mr to take me seriously :)

19 Jan 2011

The Gallery: Mother nature on a good day

I really enjoyed taking part in The Gallery last week for the first time and feeling part of a community. So I was very excited when I saw this week's topic posted, Mother Nature, and the encouragement to get out and really 'use' a camera.

I did a photography course a few years ago which introduced me to manual SLR cameras and their features. I loved it. I borrowed Mr's Dad's Pentax K1000 which got me back to basics. Shortly afterwards we decided to invest in a digital SLR, the Canon EOS 300D which is continuing to serve us well. Once we got it, to be honest, I got a bit lazy and started to use the 'auto' function more than I should. In order to spark my interest again last year I bought a Macro lense for it. It was nothing special, very cheap but is good enough for me. I hope to be using it, and the manual camera features a bit more this year as part of my 30 before 30 project.

So, to capture a photo for the theme Mother Nature - unfortunately, the weather has not been kind in the last week and has been very grey and rainy not making it great for photos. I used this as an opportunity to look back over old photos, it didn't take long as I have only recently been looking at the hundreds of photos we took in Japan last April.

So, with cherry blossom a plenty in Japan I went a little macro crazy :).

Blossom

I hope it brightens your maybe otherwise grey day, it certainly did for me. I'm now off to enjoy everyone's contributions here. Thanks for stopping by!

18 Jan 2011

Making things

I love making things but very rarely give myself time to do it.

Lately, when trying to find presents for friends I have been disappointed with the options. I usually end up walking out of shops thinking 'I could make that'. The reason I haven't made presents in the past is because I am worried about the recipient not liking them. So as part of my 30 before 30 list I have vowed to be more confident (No. 27) and this extends to this scenario.

My friend often wears beaded necklaces so I got out my pliers and beads and got set to work. Below you can see the work in progress and the finished necklace. I did try to get a photo of the complete necklace but they looked a bit rubbish so you have an 'abstract' one.

Work in progress    Finished necklace 

It's her birthday this weekend so I will have to report if she likes it. Arghh, fingers crossed!


13 Jan 2011

The Gallery: The body part I am going to miss

I have only recently discovered The Gallery after seeing it crop up on a few blogs. Set up by Tara Cain at Sticky Fingers it is a virtual art gallery of photographs which opens its doors every week for everyone and anyone to join in.

The first topic of the New Year is Body Parts and seemed perfect as my first entry. I already had an idea of what I wanted to capture. Being 33 weeks pregnant the one body part I am particularly aware of is my bump! I am already worried about how much I am going to miss it when it's gone but hey I'll have a little baby to distract me.

So, below is a picture of bump and a very wonky baby that loves to wiggle around when I lie on my back.

Baby wiggles, body pops and tickles me. I love him/her so much already.

Body parts, originally uploaded by theprojectlab.

12 Jan 2011

[ . . Wonderful Wednesday . . ]
We saw Baby B!

This week I am feeling very grateful for the opportunity to see Baby B again and counting down the days until we can finally meet.

We have been scheduled to go for a growth scan ever since the beginning, I have a low BMI so the midwife has always been concerned about how the baby would grow. Also, at our 20 week scan we discovered that the placenta was low lying so they wanted to check it had 'moved'.

Well, we passed on both points with flying colours. Baby B is bang on average - 4lbs 5oz. It's amazing to think the baby is already that big with 7 weeks to go. And the placenta has moved so no pre-planned c-sections needed. The most important part of it all is that the consultant also said that he sees no reason that we shouldn't have a normal pregnancy from now on and are officially classed as low risk. Hoo- rah! Low risk! After all the ups and downs this seems like the most amazing news ever.

I was sneakily hoping to get another scan picture but we had a trainee sonographer who was too busy concentrating and now that baby is so big you couldn't actually work much out anyway. So, below is a picture from our 20 week scan showing baby's heart which we have had the privilege of seeing since week 7.


11 Jan 2011

[ . . 30 before 30 . . ] 5. Visit a museum or gallery

This one off my 30 before 30 list is really something that I wish I got to do more often.

I always try to visit when I get the opportunity, on holiday for example or on the odd weekend visit to London and it is always something that I enjoy.

On our last London visit in October we went to see Ai Weiwei's Sunflower Seeds as part of the Unilver Series at the Tate Modern, unfortunately, it was just after they closed access to walking on the sunflower seeds. But it was still worth going.

So, this weekend we stayed a little more local and visited Open 22, Leicester's annual open art exhibition of artists from the county and region. I think we missed last year's but we have been many years in the past as it has featured some of Mr's friends and my aunty. It is a good mix of art, craft and sculpture - I must admit of varying quality. This year was no exception but it was the first year it had been at the New Walk Museum & Art Gallery rather than at the City Gallery which has been subject to the recent cuts. To be honest it was actually a really good space and showed the work a lot better than I feel the City Gallery has in the past. I wanted to try and get some photos to share but I got stopped by the security guard. I do think copyright gets flaunted most by those that don't understand it. Anyway, the image below should give you a taster.

Open 22 exhibition Leicester


So, although I have ticked another off the list, I really hope this is something we can try and do again when little Baby B makes an appearance. Babies understand art don't they!?

9 Jan 2011

[ . . 30 before 30 . . ] 24. Photo a day

So, I may as well try and start as I mean to go on and just get stuck in!

Number 24 on my list of 30 things to complete before I'm 30 is to take a photo a day. This isn't a new idea as many have acheived it in the past but I have never suceeded. There's a surprise.

However, I was recently reminded of the idea when I stumbled upon SuzieQ's Flickr account and the set 365. The interesting thing from Suzie's set was that it revolved around her new son. This naturally struck a chord.

So, I doubt I will acheive one photo a day. It may be none for a few days and then four on another. But that's fine. I am not going to get hung-up on the technicalities :)

Here are two to reflect my Saturday.
Charlie saying hello
Photo's by Me.

I will be continually uploading the new photos I take to my flickr account here.

7 Jan 2011

[ . . 30 before 30 . . ]
The list!

 So here is the list!
  1. Have a baby
  2. Become a mum
  3. Visit a country I am intrigued by
  4. Pay off one credit card
  5. Visit a museum or gallery
  6. Wear makeup/dress up at least once a month
  7. Go on a date with Mr B
  8. See friends
  9. Finally feel like the house is 'finished'
  10. Attempt to grow my own in the garden
  11. Bake some cupcakes
  12. Drink tea out of teacup more regularly
  13. Learn to play a song on the piano
  14. Read a book cover to cover
  15. Start our family history
  16. Sort and print digital photos that only ever end up on the computer
  17. Spend half a day taking photos with the digital SLR camera
  18. Have a French manicure
  19. Try an adult ballet class
  20. Paint a watercolour
  21. Do a cross stitch picture
  22. Make something on my new sewing machine
  23. Do some freehand tapestry
  24. Take a photo a day
  25. Knit something
  26. Stop being such a perfectionist
  27. Be more confident
  28. Blog regularly
  29. Go to the DENTIST
  30. Be braver with my clothes and style

I will be crossing things off as I go along on the master list here.
Everytime I complete something I will also be blogging about it. Stay tuned! Only 26 weeks to go! Arghhh!

5 Jan 2011

[ . . Wonderful Wednesday . . ]
Exciting 2011 ahead

2011 calendar
[ Found on h4ndz's flickr here available to buy on Etsy here ]

I am feeling very energised about 2011. If you are a regular reader you will know that it is going to be a busy year with the arrival of our first bundle of joy - Baby B.

The other big celebration (and I say celebration through gritted teeth) is that I will also be turning 30. This is fine, but becoming a mum and turning 30 in the same year has daunted me a little I must be honest.

In an attempt to take my mind off this fact, and as I haven't done any New Year's resolutions for 2011 I have decided to do a 30 before 30 list. I'm hoping this will enable me to focus, just a little bit, on me and make sure that my identity doesn't get lost in the mummy-craziness!

I was hoping to get the list completed to share with you today but that in itself appears to have been too ambitious as I haven't quite been able to come up with 30 things yet. Worringly I also worked out last night, that in fact there are only 26 weeks to complete these 30 things in - and of course that is to include the arrival of Baby B in February/March.

The list will include some of the normal things to achieve before a landmark birthday but others may just be those things that I never quite get around to doing. With the baby being due in the near future there are some clear restrictions. In another life things on the list may have included things like wear hotpants in public, dye my hair pink, or as Mr B suggested learn to surf but I have to be realisitic :)

So, I will share the list with you in the coming days. If you have any recommendations for me then please leave a comment below. I will consider them all (within reason!).

Happy 2011!
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...