'One from the archives' by Me

One from the archives, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

I thought I'd show you this photo as it's one I took of my daughter when she was about the same age as my son is now. She's on her knees here but in fact she was just learning to walk. She first walked when she was ten months old and I've always been such a proud mummy about that. Trouble is my son is almost ten months old and whilst he's an expert crawler and very strong on his feet he's not walking and I doubt he will soon. I must admit I am finding it rather hard not to compare my two children. I know this is wrong and ridiculous, especially as one's a boy and one's a girl, but my four year old has set the bar really high - for example have I told you how great at reading she is? I need to remember that they are complete individuals and will have different strengths and weaknesses throughout their childhood and beyond. And you know what, whatever they do I know I will always be so incredibly proud of them both.

'Making Christmas cards' by Me

Making Christmas cards, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

I think I am going to have to give in and let my husband put the Christmas tree up. It is starting to feel rather festive around here. The festiveness really got underway last night when my hubby surprised me with a meal out, just us two. This was fantastic as we NEVER go out together on our own in the evening. We had a delicious meal in a lovely restaurant and it felt all Christmassy because we had turkey dinner and pulled crackers.

This morning it snowed, not for long and it didn't settle, but the flakes were really big and it did seem rather magical. Then this afternoon my daughter and I spent about three hours making Christmas cards. She worked so hard as she wanted to make the cards and write them all herself. Oh and whilst we were doing this we had the music channels on playing Christmas tunes.

So to conclude, I think Christmas is here and I like it.

'Birthday girl' by Me

Birthday girl, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

This week was a very special week for my children as my daughter turned four and my son was six months old.

I can't believe my baby girl is so grown up. The past four years have gone so fast and I really do love her more and more each day. She is so beautiful and clever and funny and happy and basically amazing.

Six months feels like an important milestone too. My son is a proper little boy now, not just a fragile newborn. Like all babies he has his grizzly moment but all is forgiven with one flash of that beautiful smile of his. He's already proving to be such a charming and bright little fella. And I also love him a bit more with every passing day.

I am so lucky to have such fantastic children who make my heart swell with pride. Here is a picture of my daughter dressed as a fairy chilling out after her birthday party! It was a fabulous day!

'Loves of my life' by Me

Loves of my life, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

I love my children so much. That's a given when you are a parent though isn't it? You are meant to love your children more than words. I knew I would, I've always known I wanted children and that I would love them unconditionally but it's not until you actually have children that you realise what that love feels like. There are no words really are there? Makes it a bit daft trying to write a blog post about it then so here is a photo which I am so pleased I managed to capture and that will always make my heart swell. My son and my daughter already love each other to pieces and this makes me so happy.

'2/365 Scooter' by Shelba

2/365 Scooter, a photo by Shelba on Flickr.

Yesterday I saw the most brilliant thing - a mum on the school run taking a scooter for her child to scoot home on. Nothing particularly unusual or brilliant about that you might think but instead of struggling to carry it (we've all been there) she simply rode it down the road herself. How fantastic and care free - I love it! We should all take a leaf out of her book and refuse to grow up!

I looked for a scooter photo to go with this post and this was my favourite and you can guess why. Yes, that's right I love the bright colours! The point of view and light are also pretty special. And I'd better not show this picture to my daughter or she's sure to want a scooter like this. Hers is pink but sadly there's no Barbie on it!

'Story fairy' by Me

Story fairy, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

Books have always been an important thing in this house. I've always loved them and now my daughter does too. She has loads and I love buying them for her. We always go to the library every three weeks and we have our favourites we borrow time and time again. In fact there have been times we've loved a library book so much I've just had to buy it. My daughter loves reading books as much as she loves hearing them read to her. She is always reading books to her baby brother and to be honest he is totally mesmerised by her. Of course she's not actually reading the words, after all she's only three. But that's my next challenge. I really want her to be able to read a little bit by the time she starts big school next September. She's doing well with her words and letters so far so fingers crossed.

I love this picture of my daughter. You can't tell because he's not in the shot but my little boy was actually lying on the floor next to her listening to the story. I also can't help but smile at the fact that she's dressed up as a fairy princess. So pretty.

'Little flowers' by Me

Little flowers, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

I am posting this photo tonight because I love it and what make it even better is that it is one of mine. As well as thinking it's really pretty I also love the story behind it. Basically my daughter is always presenting me with things she picks up when she's out. Usually I end up with a pocket full of twigs and stones but the other day when I got home I realised I had these pretty flowers (as well as an assortment of twigs). I popped them in a little shot glass and what do you know a really pretty display just waiting to be photographed.

'Brother and sister love' by Me

Brother and sister love, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

Couldn't resist a soppy one tonight as I've had a lovely day at home chilling with my little family in the sunshine. My husband, my daughter, my son - they all make me smile. Here is a photo of my kids having a cuddle. My daughter adores her little brother and has been so wonderful at helping look after him. I am sure they'll grow up to be best of friends and will always be there for each other.

'like mother, like daughter' by manyfires

like mother, like daughter, a photo by manyfires on Flickr.

I love my little girl so much and the past few years as a stay-at-home mum have been the best of my life. I'm happy to say she's really excited about becoming a big sister. I know I'll love this new baby just as much but I do worry how it'll change the relationship I have with my daughter. I hope she'll still feel as close to me and won't resent the fact that I have to look after a baby as well.

I think this mother and daughter photo is great. I want to take or have taken some pictures like this of us. I think all the matching colours are rather cute. I'm now off to look for more gorgeous mum and child shots now as I'm feeling all soppy.

'Autumn bike ride' by Me

Autumn bike ride, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

I am getting old! This afternoon my daughter and I were looking at photos of me on a school trip when I was about 17 years old. She saw a photo of me and asked, "Is that you when you were younger?". "Yes" I replied. Then she delivers the killer line, "Was that in olden times?" Errr..... Yes... I guess it was... Sob sob.

Oh well, I may as well accompany this post with a cute photo of my little girl. It was a special moment as it was the first time she went out on her new bike! As a proud mummy I took lots of photos and made lots of little videos. It's this one that I think is the most artistic though as I love the beautiful colours of the leaves. I bet one day she'll be telling her children this was taken in olden days!

'Afternoon stroll' by Me

Afternoon stroll, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

I want to dedicate this post to my beautiful little girl as this weekend she'll be turning three. I can't believe time has gone so quickly. How is she three already? It seems like only yesterday I was bringing her home from the hospital. But what an amazing three years it's been and I am so proud of the little girl she's become. She's so bright, funny, happy and kind. She makes me so incredibly happy and I know my husband feels the same.

Now I have to get ready for all the things we have planned to celebrate. I must admit I'm really excited! Definitely more excited than when it's my own birthday!

Here's a photo of the birthday girl herself which I took back in the summer. Nothing like a nice afternoon stroll in the sunshine.

'Sheffield Park' by Me

Sheffield Park, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

My daughter has been going to pre-school for over a month now and I must say that the school run is fast becoming my favourite part of the day. Not because I'm eager to get rid of her but because it makes me so happy and proud seeing her so enthusiastic about going to school. She really loves it and we've never had any issues with her not wanting to be left which is great considering her and I have hardly been apart for nearly three years.

I love picking her up after school as well. She looks so grown up coming out of the classroom in her uniform with her backpack on. And of course she'll often be holding whatever piece of artwork she's made that day. I love hearing what she's been up to and who she played with. She's gradually learning all the names of the people there. It really is a whole new and fantastic experience both for her and me.

This is a photo I took of my daughter and my husband at Sheffield Park Gardens in Sussex. It's a really pretty place and this was a fantastic photo opportunity. I like how well it works in Sepia, it looks really peaceful, which to be fair, it was.

'On the beach' by Me

On the beach, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

Today I've been sewing name tapes into sweatshirts and t-shirts as this week my daughter starts pre-school. She's already done a term's worth of short taster sessions which she loved but this week she's starting for real. Luckily she loves it so I'm not worrying too much about how she'll get on but I can't help feel a bit sad. It's like the end of an era. For nearly three years it's been me and her. We've done lots of things, met lots of people and she's always seeing her friends but we've always been together and had a really great time. I say all the time how she's a friend as well as my daughter. I know pre-school will be good for her though and I know I'll end up appreciating some time to myself. It also means that the time we do spend together now will be quality time. I can get all the boring jobs I have to do out of the way while she's out so when she comes home we can just have lots of fun.

I apologise for being a little soppy there. You'd think she was going away to boarding school rather than going to pre-school for just a few hours each week. I guess I'd not realised until now what a big deal it would be for me.

Here's a picture I took of her on the beach in Swansea. I like it because of the way she's standing. It makes me wonder what on earth she was was thinking about. It looks like it was something interesting. I expect she was considering the best place to build a sandcastle or something equally important!

'My feet taken by my two year old' by my beautiful daughter

My feet taken by my two year old, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

I'm dedicating this post to my daughter who's not even three yet but is already turning out to be a bit of a photographer herself. She's constantly stealing the camera from me so she can take some photos of her own. I know most toddlers probably do this but as I watch her I see she's so careful with the camera and you can also tell that she's thinking about every shot she takes not just clicking away randomly. For example today she was interested in trees and was looking up to take photos. She also saw a broken fence and wanted to take pictures through the gap it had left.

This photo is one of my favourites. Mainly because I'm jealous. Not that I love my feet or anything but I'm often pointing the camera at them as I reckon it'd make an intersting shot. They never quite turn out right though. However, this picture by my little girl is exactly the kind of thing I'm trying to achieve. This was totally taken by her with no involvement by me. I've just tweeked the colour a little bit to make it even nicer.

Now she's either rather artistic OR she's just taking the camera away so I stop pointing the bloomin' thing at her! I suspect it's a bit of both.

'And she's off' by Me

And she's off, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

Hooray it's summer! I know techincally it's been summer for a while but weather wise it feels like it's finally begun. I have had a lovely few days in the sunshine and a quick peek at the weather forecast shows me that it's meant to stay nice this week too.

Weirdly though I've not actually taken any photos in the past few days so I'm going to show you one I took a few weeks ago down on the beach. It can be really hard to get a decent picture of my daughter as she's not one to sit still and pose. In fact this one sums her up really well, especially when we're on the beach. My favourite bit of this has got to be her pigtails flying in the air.

'Up close' by Me

Up close, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

My little girl started pre-school this term and it’s been a really strange experience for me. It’s been so much easier than I thought it would be, after all neither of us cried, but it does feel so odd just leaving her there with people who are essentially strangers. As I’m a stay-at-home mum it means for the past two and a half years I’ve been with her pretty much all day every day and when we do get babysitters it’s always friends or family we know and trust. Also she’s going to be making friends with children I don’t know which is a new thing. She’s got lots of friends her age but that’s because I am friends with their parents too. That said I think I am going to get used to the little bit of alone time this gives me and I think the school is great and the staff seem lovely and very responsible (always a good thing).

And the photo? Well it's got nothing to do with my daughter or pre-school. It's just a photo by me which I liked and wanted to share with you. I hope you like it too.

'Father and daughter stroll' by Me

Father and daughter stroll, a photo by PhotoPuddle on Flickr.

It's Father's Day tomorrow so I am dedicating this evening's post to my husband as he's an absolutely fantastic daddy to our little girl. He was so wonderful to me through my pregnancy which had me feeling so ill, he was my rock during my labour and the birth which wasn't exactly easy and he continues to be just the best father I could imagine. There's nothing he wouldn't do for our girl. She's a very lucky little lady.

I am featuring this photo as I can't believe I've never put it on here before. I've always loved it, in fact I have it in a frame in our living room. It was taken when our daughter was about 11 months old and had only been walking for about six weeks. This has become the first of lots of photos I've taken of him and her walking together. I think it's always so incredibly cute seeing dads and their little girls hanging out together like this. I also thought it looked really good in the sepia, even though it was a lovely sunny day.

Happy Father's Day to all the daddies out there. Hope you have a lovely day.

'On the way home' by Me

On the way home, originally uploaded by PhotoPuddle.

As yesterday's post was about me wanting to take more people pictures I thought I'd post a photo of someone today and yes, it's my daughter again! This was taken on a train ride back from the seaside. She loves trains always loves looking out of the window. She's like me, I always like to have a window seat, even if it's on a journey I've done hundreds of times before. I like this photo because it seems to show contentment. We'd had a lovely time even though the beach was rather windy. You can tell that from her rather messy hair. Luckily for her she pulls off the windswept look, I just look more 'dragged through a hedge backwards'. Anyway, I hope you like this photo as much as I do.

'My grown up girl' by Me

My grown up girl, originally uploaded by PhotoPuddle.

I took this photo last week on my daughter's first day at pre-school. Where have the past two and half years gone? It's probably cliched to say, but she really is growing up so fast.

I love this photo because she looks so confident and mature. I also love how I've managed to capture a little dimple on her cheek which means she must have a smile on her face. And of course I love the pigtails. I've recently starting putting her hair up like this and I think she just looks so damn adorable!

Aw, I just want to go upstairs and wake her up for a cuddle right now but I think that would probably be a bad idea for all concerned!

'My daughter the photographer' by Me (well it's my camera but it was actually taken by my little girl)

My daughter the photographer, originally uploaded by PhotoPuddle.

This morning while my daughter and I were still in our PJs I decided I wanted to photograph the shoes I wore out on Friday night simply because I love them. Yes, I know it's Wednesday and I should have put them away by now. But anyway, I didn't get a lot of photographs taken as my two-year-old decided she rather be wearing them herself. She loves shoes - I've trained her well.

She also really wanted a go with my nice camera which I don't usually let her touch but today I decide to let her. It's quite a heavy camera for her obviously but she managed a couple of shots of me and some of her feet when she was sitting on my lap. When looking through the photos later this one really caught my eye. I think it's lovely. I haven't edited in any way either. This is exactly how it came out of the camera.

A toddler's eye view of her feet whilst sitting on mummy's lap learning about photography. It couldn't be more perfect!