Yesterday, while we were celebrating at one friend's wedding, another beautiful friend and her husband were welcoming three daughters into the world. Triplets, naturally conceived; Florence, Livvy and Eloise. All doing well, with just a little help breathing all that was needed. These are three very special babies, for reasons it's not my place to go into here, and their arrival is greeted with so much love and joy. Liz and Chris are going to make such wonderful parents, a role they've been waiting so patiently for. We can't wait to meet these gorgeous girls. And we hope you love the Happy Circus knits Mama. They're teeny tiny, but are still likely to be far too big for now. It's also super impossible to find a triplet card, so we set Josephine to work and she produced the best card ever. A very special parcel for some very wonderful people.
Happiest of birthdays my love, my best friend. Your first as a Papa and the last of your twenties. We love you more than you could know, more than words can say, and we will do forever.Beautiful picture by the awesome Tori.
This week marks the beginning of a new adventure for me; for us. On Friday I handed in my notice at work. I'm officially a full-time Mama, and I can't tell you how happy that makes me; makes us.Before Ben and I decided to make a baby, we had discussed waiting for a time that would financially allow me to stay at home with our child indefinitely. People make all kinds of decisions when it comes to childcare and heading back to work, based on money and ambition and a whole bunch of other factors, but for us it was important for me to be able to stay at home for as long as I wanted to. And we knew that would be as long as possible. For us, becoming parents meant being the people who decided what our children would be doing each day, how to care for them and how they were taught those early life lessons. For us, handing our baby over to a nursery or childminder to make those decisions wasn't an option. But in reality, it wasn't as simple as that. Ben's doing really well in his job but despite some serious budgeting and planning, we quickly realised that without me working, money would be tight. Really tight. As the months of my maternity leave ticked by (here in the UK you're able to take 12 months of maternity leave, where you receive a small percentage of your salary for the first nine months) we weighed up all the options. Working part-time? Find an evening job? Going back full-time? The true expense of childcare and more. But no matter what, we still came back to the same answer. There are more important things than money and nothing more important than our little family and our baby. So here we are, living off one salary. Budgeting to within an inch of our lives, compiling some pretty strict meal plans to keep within our allocated food spend a week, saying goodbye to most treats. But it doesn't matter. We can do it. We can pay our bills and our rent. Keep our car and still eat good, home cooked meals using fresh ingredients from our local butchers and greengrocers (in fact Ben's enjoying and embracing the challenge of these financial restrictions as he plans our meals for the week). We've even got a teeny bit spare to enrol Phiney on the next level of swimming lessons. But don't get me wrong, a bit extra would make a whole lot of difference and over the coming months you'll see me taking the next step to make Happy Circus my new career. To bring in more than a bit of spending money. But that's for another post. You'll also see us getting seriously thrifty, making second-hand a priority, saving the pennies where we can and attempting a completely DIY Christmas. Bit that's for another post too. Money-making, money-saving, upcycling, recycling - it's all something you'll be seeing a lot of round here. We're more than up for the challenge of creating a loving home full of fun, laughter and adventure that isn't impacted by the restrictions of our financial situation and, as I know we're by no means the only ones trying to live on a budget, your advice, tips and support will always be welcome. This is a new period in our lives, and it's one we're so happy to be embracing. At times I'm sure it'll be difficult but being able to spend my days with our beautiful girl and for Ben to know that she's with me while he's at work, it's more than worth it, and worth sacrificing all those material things for.It's the little moments like these that I wouldn't miss for the world. Josephine learning how to use her beaker on her own but finding the lid far more entertaining. And then there's seeing that smile all day, everyday. Yes, I count myself so very lucky.
The first of October already. The last twelve months have sped by so quickly, it's hard to believe how much has changed. This time last year, my belly was getting bigger by the day and we were slowly gathering bits and bobs for the arrival of our new baby, trying to guess if it was a boy or girl.
Now here we are. Beautiful Josephine is crawling at high speed around the house, pulling herself up wherever she can, chattering about this and that in her own funny language.
Our lives last October were full of excitement and wonder and a sense of unknowing; of how things would change and what they'd be like in a year. Today, every day is packed with just as much excitement and wonder and a sense of unknowing. And it's awesome. Things have changed, of course, but absolutely for the better.
That Ben and I created this little one with our love is the most wonderful thing in all the world. That we now have the privilege to help shape her life is a role we cherish, and in turn she is shaping our lives too. Every day is an adventure, and I can't wait to see what tomorrow holds. ps. how amazing is the top Phiney's wearing? It's French vintage at it's best, and it will be going into the shop later in the month with a whole host of other fantastic vintage finds. I was trying it on Josephine to see roughly what size it was, and I couldn't resist snapping a few pictures of her modelling it. To be honest I was very tempted to keep it, but right now Phiney has enough vintage in her wardrobe...
Over the past few weeks, as the night draws in and Josephine's bedtime arrives, I've found moments of quiet time between the chaos. After a warm, lavender-scented bath and a story, we snuggle on the sofa in the dark; this little rabbit casting a magical glow across the room.Some nights I sort my thoughts: adding tasks to my (never-ending) to-do list, figuring out new projects, remembering the little things I want to tell Ben over dinner. Once Phiney's tucked up in bed, I climb the stairs and feel motivated and ready for action. Knitting needles start clicking, notepads get written in and The Boy and I make plans. And then, on other nights, as Josephine begins to feed and her eyes start to shut, I let my head fall backwards and feel my eyes closing too. I give into the quiet and the darkness and I switch off my mind. I forget about things that should have been done today and must get done tomorrow. I relax. This week, I've felt the same about this space. I've wanted to close my eyes and forget about the posts I've half written or the photos I plan on taking. Things are happening that have taken all my thoughts. I can't really blog about it yet, but it's difficult to write about anything else. So, until meetings have been held and discussions had, things may be a little sporadic round here. Expect plenty of posts labelled 'Random Bits and Bobs'...ps. apologies for the secretive tone and intrigue. Don't get too excited - for us it's a big deal and the start of a whole new chapter, but I'm not sure how interested anyone else will be! I'd just rather make it all official before I start chatting about it here :)
On Saturday we headed to a little airfield on the edge of Dorset to see my Dad take to the skies in a vintage Tigermoth aeroplane; the 50th birthday present the whole family gave him last November. When we arrived we weren't surprised to see him decked out in full Battle of Britain pilot attire, complete with uniform, flying jacket, gloves, hat and pipe. That's my Dad for you. Many moons ago I took Ben to meet my Dad for the first time, at the same airfield. He was given a similar gift for his 40th birthday and as we made our way there I prepared Ben once again about the man he was about to meet. About how it was very likely he'd be dressed as a World War II serviceman, would be likely to speak to him in a plummy English accent and would most definitely be pretending to smoke a pipe. I'm not sure how seriously Ben took me, but he soon realised that I was not exaggerating. At our wedding two years ago my Dad, in his Father of the Bride speech, recalled the meeting. No joke, at that first encounter, when we were just 17, my Dad asked Ben what his prospects were and his intentions for his daughter. It's crazy to think that it was nearly 11 years ago...
Josephine's Monthly Portrait. Taken in her nursery on the 18th of every month. In this case as the autumn sun streamed through the window. We thought last month was a crazy one, packed with new tricks and developments, but it seems to have been just as busy this month. The crawl is now perfected and there's no stopping Josephine as she scuttles from here to there at lightening speed. She's also pulling herself up and marches wherever she can when you're holding her hands. She's so steady on her feet I don't think it'll be long before our hands are no longer needed...We've also started swimming lessons, which Phiney adores. And so do I. Seeing her joy as she gets into the pool is a pure delight, and her smiles as she emerges from being under the water only cement our thoughts on this little bird being one fearless adventurer. As for the rest, there's been new words ('drink' being the most helpful!) and a real confidence developing. Josephine really is such a cool gal. The coolest. She smiles and chats to everyone she meets, happily explores her surroundings and gets up from falls and bumps without even a moan. Aspects of what we're sure will be Phiney's strong-willed, determined, happy, confident, loving and kind personality are shining through and it's a real honour to share my days with her. Plus those curls are coming through thick and fast now. Sigh! We love you tiny dancer. You fill our lives with the brightest of sunshine xxx
