Seasons change, times change, we change...

Hello blog.  You're still here!  Is anyone else?  According to stats people are still visiting this site every day.  How funny.  I last blogged in March.  Very early March.  And even before then my posts were sporadic.  So.  Why is that?  Where have I been?  What's been going on?  Does anyone care?

The truth is.. life.  Life has been going on.  2016 has been one of the most, if not THE most difficult years of my life thus far.  I won't and can't go into great detail on here I'm afraid.  It just isn't appropriate.  It's one of the reasons I've not been able to blog.  Not that I've felt much like it.  But the things that have been going on in my life have just taken over.  It wouldn't be right to write about them, at least not here.

I am hoping now that these issues will be taking a back seat and that life as I knew it will be returning to some sense of normality.  However, that's not really possible either.. because it's September, isn't it.  That well known month of change.  So many parts of my life have changed in the last week that I feel I no longer know who I am, where I fit in my world, what I do, when I do it etc.  Ethan has moved schools.  We moved house last September (almost a year ago!) and we realised that one of the other local schools was closer to our new house.  This school is a bit more outdoorsy which we feel  will suit Felix better when he starts school. Which is only a year away!  So.  Ethan has moved schools and is now in the juniors section (I can't believe I have a junior school child!).  Felix meanwhile has started at preschool.  Another change.  Even at his gymnastics class things have changed, he's now in the preschool class which means I have to leave him there.  All on his own!  My little baby.  Except he's not a little baby anymore, is he?  He's 3.  A preschooler.  Becoming independent.  And I'm watching from the sidelines, reeling from all the changes.  New schools, new uniforms, new teachers, new timings, new routines, new friends, new ways of doing things.

I now have more time to myself.. and as yet, I'm not quite sure what I'm doing with it.  I was thinking back yesterday, to when Ethan had just started at preschool.  When he started I would go to an exercise class after dropping him off and then go home, do some housework and blog.  That was about all I ever did bar meeting a friend for coffee sometimes, or popping into Bristol to do some shopping.  But shortly after he started at preschool I became pregnant with Felix and that meant that for almost the entire duration of his time at preschool, I was pregnant.  That was my real focus.  I found pregnancy with Felix pretty hard going and so was very glad of time alone to either blog or, let's face it, eat chocolate and sleep.  This time around I am not pregnant and I'm certainly not planning to be.  So I have to figure out what I'm doing.

I am a full time stay at home Mum.  It's pretty much all I know.  I last worked in May 2009.  Over 7 years unemployed.  Staying at home.  Looking after the house and children.  That has been my focus.  Being a Mum to my boys isn't a job that is going to end but it is a job that will change and it's currently going through a  huge change.  My boys need me a little less.  They are with me a lot less.  I now need to figure out who I am again and what on earth I do.  What defines me?  What do I like doing?  Am I going to work?  What work would I like to do?  What can I do realistically?  You see.. that's the thing.  I can't just go jumping into any old job.  For one thing, I have the chance right now to take stock.  My last job was unrewarding.  Badly paid.  Inflexible.  Boring.  Anything I do now has to work around the boys.  Yes, I have 15 hours a week when Felix is in preschool but that's from 8:30 - 1:30.  Ethan needs picking up at 3:20.  I still need to be available for them and I don't have the kind of childcare available to me to cover longer hours.  I would need something that's term time.   We all know how hard those gems are to come by.  No.  Right now is not the time to be taking any job that presents itself.  It's a time to think, evaluate.  At the moment we are used to managing on the money we currently have coming in.  It's the easiest time for me to take time to figure out what to do whilst we are used to managing on this income.  It's the best time to start my own business.  Choose a new direction.  Study.

Right now I feel almost frozen by choices.  I think I need a plan.  A simple plan to get me through the next few weeks, something that will allow me time to think but also feel like I'm not wasting time.  Like most Mums I often fall into the trap of feeling guilty for having free time.  As a Mum, or a parent, I should always be on the go, right?  Always with purpose.

So.  This plan then.  Something simple.  An exercise class one day.  Blogging (seeing if I can and want to get back into it!! And if anyone will read!).  Admin.  Going for a run.  Playing the piano.  Catching up with people.  Exploring business ideas.  Walking.  Yoga.

I'll take it from there.  Then hopefully, this time next year, when I am facing the fact I'll have two school children, I'll know exactly what I'm doing with myself when they are off making the world theirs.  I need to be an inspiration to them.  More than Mummy.

Trendy Tuesday - SCHOOL!!

I can't believe it.  My little man is having his first session at school today.  I'm not sure how I feel.  Apprehensive, excited, sad.  When I first started this blog, it was called Baby, Me & Fashion and it was a place for me to record Ethan's outfits, write about what we got up to.. He was a little baby, not much older than Felix is now, and today he starts school!  How can it be?

I'm not going to write a feature about school uniform today, after all, there's not much to say about it, but I can't not feature a photo of the boy himself, can I?  So, this is Ethan yesterday, trying out his uniform, backpack and lunch box:

What do you think of his lunch box?  I must admit this was a bit of an indulgent purchase at £30 but once I saw it on alexandalexa.com I couldn't resist.  Ethan had already chosen a new backpack for school with a lion on it so this seemed the perfect lunch box!  It's designed by Beatrix New York - check them out, there are quite a few funky designs!!

Last week Emma from They Grow So Quick featured a pair of lightening print leggings she bought her son from Zara.  I fell in love with them so was straight on the Zara site.  I managed to buy one pair, all they had left was 6-9 months so it'll be a little while before you see Felix modelling a pair, but I also spotted the most adorable retro style romper.  I am a sucker for retro/old fashioned baby clothes and just had to order it.  Personally I love it.  I think Felix looks cute in it.  The reaction has been good on Instagram and my parents love it.  Pete thinks it looks like he's wearing a dress and one lady did assume he was a girl when we were out at the weekend and he was wearing it, but whatever, I don't care!!  What do you think:

Bib - H&M

Long Sleeved Vest - Ej Sikke Lej

Romper - Zara Baby

Well, it's over to you guys now - link up below and please don't forget to visit others who join in and comment here!  Thank you! xx

Easing the transition into school with the help of books

Ethan, like many children, was starting preschool for the first time this September.  In the run up to him starting, I wanted to make sure he knew what was going to happen, that it was normal, fun and exciting.  I wanted him to know it was normal to be worried and scared about going, but that it would be an enjoyable experience   It was hard to get the balance right between informing him about what would be happening and going overboard and giving him more concerns!

Harper Collins very kindly sent us some books to review in August.  They couldn't have been on a better subject; starting school!  Now, I know Ethan wasn't starting "proper" school, just preschool, but as he'd never spent time away from me in a "learning" environment (even if it's learning through play) before, I knew that books on this subject would be helpful.  I honestly believe the two books we were sent helped ease his (and my!) concerns and made school something to look forward to!

So, what were we sent?  Well, we were sent a copy of "Come to School Too Blue Kangaroo!" by Emma Chichester Clark and "Foxy" by Emma Dodd.  Seems to me ladies called Emma are good at writing about starting school... sorry, lame!

First up, Come to School Too Blue Kangaroo!  This book was written by Emma Chichester Clark and is part of a series of books featuring Lily and her Blue Kangaroo.  Ethan and I hadn't read any of these, but we have read the Melrose & Croc books she wrote.  We borrowed all of them from the library and Ethan was smitten by them for a long time.  Such sweet books.

This book captured Ethan's attention straight away.  When I read this to him, he goes quiet and doesn't fidget, a sure sign he's looking and listening.  He loved the idea of a toy kangaroo who can think and gets up to all sorts of things.  What a lovely way to capture a child's imagination, it's just what they like to believe (to be honest, I still like to believe that.  Toy Story is real, right?!).

The story is simple. Lily is due to start school and wants Blue Kangaroo to come with her.  She believes Blue Kangaroo is worried about going, but in actuality, he can't wait!  It's lovely, it's a subtle way at hinting that actually, Lily is the one who is worried, just like most children are at the thought of such a big change.  For the reader, or the child being read to, it's wonderful because they can hear what Blue Kangaroo is thinking, which is of course that he is excited and looking forward to trying out all the new experiences school has to offer.  I won't spoil the story, but suffice to say Lily and Blue Kangaroo get on fine and adjust very nicely to school life.  Lovely.

The illustrations are gorgeous.  This book is enchanting and has me in a spell.  I often pick it out to read to Ethan at bedtime, it's just lovely.

Secondly, Foxy by Emma Dodd.  Foxy is a very unique fox with a large magical tail from which he produce anything he wants.  Although he's a magical fox, he often gets his magic a bit wrong with amusing consequences 

This book is a little more "out there" but the sentiment is the same.  Though school is new and scary, it is normal and fun too.  Emily is a little girl trying to sleep on the night before school starts.  Foxy appears at her window and helps her to get everything she needs ready for school.

This story isn't too wordy, so is quite good for the 3-4 age group, especially if you have one with a short attention span (Ethan likes longer books his favourites being The Lorax & The Cat in the Hat so we don't usually have that issue).  It's a little bit wacky, but it's still a sweet story.  I do find it a little confusing to read and often have to add things myself so I can be sure Ethan understands what is going on, but it's still a book we both enjoy and Ethan often chooses it.

The illustrations are very bold, very current.  Lots of eye catching bright colours.

The message is reassuring.  Emily is concerned that no one at her school will likely, but Foxy reassures her that she doesn't need magic to help her with that, everyone will like her.  A sweet message!

If I had to pick between the two, Blue Kangaroo would be my favourite, but they are both lovely books that we continue to read and I'm sure will become very useful next August in the run up to "big school".

***These books were sent to us by Harper Collins but all views are completely my own***

Bold stripes at the school gates

This week has seen me stomping back and forth from Ethan's new pre-school.  You can read all about that here.  I want to be comfortable for all that walking, and also in what I think of as "easy to hug in" clothes..  I know that might seem a strange requirement, but some of my more funky/adventurous looks involve more delicate clothing or massive amounts of jewellery which don't really work well when you want to hug and kiss your three year old - which obviously I want to be able to to unhindered when dropping him off at pre-school!  Sooooo... I've been in comfy outfits.  I don't want to look dowdy or boring though!  This is where this dress comes up trumps.

I adore this dress.  I actually fell in love with it when it was stocked in H&M a few seasons back.  I'm not sure whether it was last year or the year before, but I loved it from afar.  I never tracked it down in my size though, and eventually forgot all about it.  Until I stepped into a branch of Oxfam last week and saw one on the rack IN MY SIZE!! Whoop whoop!! I tried it on and was so happy.  It looked like it had hardly been worn at all, so without hesitation, it came home with me and we've been the best of friends ever since.

It's so comfy and yet so bright.  I feel happy, happy, HAPPY when I'm wearing it.

Dress - H&M via Oxfam

Uggs - Macy's

Bag - Marc Jacobs

Bracelet - H&M

Sunglasses - TKMaxx

Earrings - eBay

Necklace - Stella & Dot

It was so chilly here on Tuesday morning I teamed it with my precious short Uggs (bought on honeymoon in America 4 years ago almost exactly!).  I'm not sure they are the best footwear for this dress, but again, they are comfy and make me happy.  I don't think I'll ever be able to throw these Uggs away.  The fact I bought them on honeymoon, that they travelled through 9 states in America with us and then all the way back home. Nope, I'm never parting with them!

Someone pay for me to go back to America - I want to go back soooooo badly!

Linking up today with Transatlantic Blonde & The Pleated Poppy.