Adventures in Blogging 2015 12/52

Another week of blogging has passed and I hope that I am more knowledgeable. In some ways, I feel that I did not accomplish as much as normal because my list of blogging posts I need or want to get done continues to grow. I do feel more relaxed about it this week. I received some insight from Donna of What the Redhead Said about how he deals with the balance between blogging and family time that really made me feel better about things. A couple times this week, I have set the timer or given myself an hour in the day to focus on blogging and then walked away from the computer to try to really focus and appreciate my time with my children. I am still staying up too late blogging. 

Me & Mine: A Family Portrait Project 2015 - March

This is our first month we are taking part in the Me & Mine - Family Portrait Project.  We wanted to participate in February but honestly we rarely have any photos that have all the members of our small family together.  I told my husband at the beginning of March that I wanted us to work on taking photos of the four of us together this month.  We keep looking for opportunities to take a photo.  This last week, we have managed to do a couple "selfies" of the four of us that were actually rather lovely.  Maybe next month, we will get a remote for camera and do a more scenic family photo.

The Week At Ladybug Home 2015 12/52

Sunday, March 22nd - Saturday, March 28th, 2015

This week, Little Ladybug (LL) was feeling better so she was less challenging and we had some very fun moments.  There were several "Firsts" for Bumblebee Boy (BB).

Our Sunday started with LL playing in the toy box again. She had her little people figurines in there with her and they were having a birthday celebration. We played around the house in the morning. Around lunch time, LL and Mr. L went to town for groceries. It allowed me to watch some tv and do some uninterrupted blogging. It was a sunny but a little cold in the afternoon. We went into the backyard and worked on sanding my daughter's doll house. Saving the "dollhouse story" for another day but involved sandpaper and taking lots of "before" photos.

{THE ORDINARY MOMENTS 15} Silence of the Night & Baby Boy

In the silence of the night is when I am most relaxed with my beautiful baby boy. I must admit that I am normally feeding him and checking out Twitter these days but I do try to stop and completely memorise his soft sweet head. Those little fingers that are often gripping on to my pyjama top or reaching out for warm skin are so special.

He is normally drinking his favourite milk with his eyes closed but once in awhile I look down and he is staring at me. He is smiling and chatting more these days and in the quiet of the night is when we have our best talks. There is no sister making noise or the humming of a children's TV program in the background. There is just him and I cuddling in the dim-lighted living room. Sometimes he wants to bounce up and down on my lap. Working on strengthening his legs and wiggling his bottom. Soon he falls back to sleep peacefully and I sneak back into bed. In the morning, I wake feeling tired but he wakes up and gives me a huge smile. The smile and look in his eyes says "Thank you Mommy for the warm milk and cuddles last night". I am trying to remember every moment of my son being a baby. I don't know if will have another baby in the future so I need to cherish these "ordinary" baby moments. I love you sweet boy.

29/03/2015

01/04/2015

#MySundayPhoto 2015 13/52

29/03/2015

My Liebster Award - LadyBug Home & Designs

I feel extremely honoured to be nominated for the Liebster Award this last week.  I have been blogging for a little over a month now so to have 2 of my fellow bloggers nominate me for award is very humbling.  

Thank you to Karis of Little Dorothy Makes for nominating for this award.  Karis lives in Norfolk where she is the mother two beautiful girls. She has a Folksy shop and on her blog does craft tutorials. She has been blogging since October 2014.  I look forward to reading her "Friday Craft Round Up" in the future. 

She can be found on twitter as: @littledorothym1

My Favourite Blog Posting: Easter Eggs Craft with Children 

Thank you to Eat.Love.Live for my 2nd nomination.  This mother of a gorgeous little girl is originally from Australia but is now living in London.  She started blogging early March but already has posted a yummy recipe for savoury muffins, articles about fashion and given some mothering advice.  

She can be found on twitter as: @eatloveliveblog

My Favourite Blog Posting: The Secret Mummy Society 

My understanding of this award is it is designed for bloggers that are just starting their blogging journey or have a small loyal following. This is opportunity to link up with other bloggers and pass the award forward. 

Mummy & Me - March 2015

The lovely Nicola over at Life Through My Eyes has started a new link up focused on capturing photos of mummy (mommy) with their children. I am always running around with my camera trying to photographic those special "Daddy" moments but don't have tons of photos with my children.

The photo below was taken on an ordinary day the beginning of March.  The sun was shining and my two babies were in happy and cuddly moods.

LOVE FROM LADYBUG HOME & DESIGNS

#ThroughMyChildsEyes 2015 12/52

By Little LadyBug 

#MySundayPhoto 2015 12/52

22/03/2015

26/03/2015

Wicked Wednesday - March 25, 2015

Mommy & Daddy Put Us In A Box - Shipping You to Nanny's If You are "Wicked".

Adventures in Blogging 2015 11/52

It has been officially 1 month since I have been blogging constantly.  I have moments of enjoying blogging and others times being frustrated.  I have loved reading and discovering new blogs.  There are so very talented women and men bloggers in the UK and Ireland.  It is encouraging that blogging can open up doors for new projects and new friendships.  I have felt frustrated with not having enough time in the day to accomplish all the different topics that I would like to write about.  There is some guilt that I sometimes blogging keep me from spending time with my "little ones". After reading the article "Finding Time to Blog" by Gemma of Gemma The Family Girl blog, I need to be more focused about creating a content calendar and focus being more efficient of writing posts.

ETSY FAVORITES: Easter Gifts 2015

The spring flowers blooming reminds us that winter is almost over and spring is coming.  It is time to start thinking about Easter baskets and gifts.  I love shopping for Easter presents for my children and myself.

Photo Source - We Heart It

Below are some of my favourite discoveries on ETSY.  I feel it is important to support British small businesses whenever possible.  Please make sure to check with Seller that items will arrive in time for Easter.  Enjoy!

The Week at LadyBug Home 2015 11/52

Sunday, March 15th - Saturday, March 21st, 2015

Sunday was Mothering Sunday in the UK.  Since I am originally from the USA, I get another Mother's Day in May.  We normally always try to go visit my in-laws on Mothering Sunday to celebrate my Mother-in-Law.  I am extremely lucky that I have an amazing mother but also mother-in-law.  Since my in-laws live an hour drives away from us, this was Bumblebee Boy's first visit to their home. He slept quietly in the backseat until about 5 minutes left of the journey and then he was very tearful. He got some extra cuddles and milk from me on arrival.  My mother-in-law's Sunday dinner is so yummy.  Maybe someday I will take the time to learn but it always extremely good.  Little Ladybug (LL) was not feeling very well.  She played a new game with her cousin, auntie and uncle but did not eat much.  She received a belated (due to not visiting since birth of Bumblebee Boy) xmas present of bike.  She will have fun riding it this summer.   We had a yummy Chocolate & Hazelnut Cheesecake after dinner.  My favourite and could gladly eat one all by myself.

{THE ORDINARY MOMENTS 15} Being Poorly and Skipping

I can not believe how quickly time flies but I must accept that I am mother of a 3 year old.  You are often warned of the "Terrible Twos" but I enjoyed the year Little Ladybug (LL) was 2.  My job situation changed and I got to spend more time with her.  She was my sweet and helpful little girl. She was very sweet and gave me lots of cuddles while my pregnancy. She loved talking to my "bump".  As her vocabulary increased in was enjoyable having conversations with her.  I loved she could express what she was thinking about.  She had fun baking, learning to use a scooter, and tea parties with Daddy.

Now Little Ladybug is 3 years old.  She has learned that she is allowed to say "no", she can choose to not do something and to fake cry.  She is still my sweet little girl but also can be very challenging.

My Captured Moment - Week 11

The First Time We Met

Linked Up: 19/03/15

Wicked Wednesday - March 18, 2015

Knights and Mice playing together - What a Mess!

Challenges of Motherhood - Sick Child and Baby

It is the middle of night and you hear the familiar sound of little feet racing into your bedroom. A sweet little hand reaches up to be lifted into bed.  Your first-born needs cuddles because she doesn't feel well. Half asleep you decide not to put her back in her bed but give her those extra cuddles because she is growing up too fast and these moments are precious.

One small concern is that you have a sleeping baby son in the room with you. Sleeping in a bedside cot, you need to make sure the baby is safe and not to close to his sick older sister. You lay in bed awake hoping that your daughter's wimping and cries doesn't wake her brother. Cuddles are available until baby wakes and he needs to be fed.  

Adventures in Blogging 2015 10/52

Nominated for "A Lovely Blog Award" from Alice of Toast for Tea?. Huge Thank You! I completely deleted my "Linky Love" page by accident but re-created it.  The Mothering Sunday Link Party had no submissions.

BLOGGING ADVICE/TUTORIALS

How to Embed Pinterest Boards on Your Website [Quick Tip] by Ginny Soskey of HubSpot Blogs 

The Ultimate HTML Cheat Sheet for Beginners by Dana of I Can Build a Blog

The Week at LadyBug Home 2015 10/52

Sunday, March 8th - Saturday, March 14th, 2015

The week at LadyBug Home has been filled with music class, birthday cake, running around the backyard, play dough, burnt coffee cake, and lots of cuddles.

Sunday was a lazy day around the house.  Bumblebee Boy (BB) and I had a yummy brunch with a Mummy friend and her son (6 weeks older than BB) while Mr. L and Little Ladybug (LL) went to the movies.  They saw Planes 2 for the 2nd time but when you can get 2 tickets and a kids meal for £7 it is a great deal.

On Monday, we started the day with giggles and tickles in the morning before Mr. L went to work.  We quickly got dress so we could go to our favourite music class. LL ran around with her friends.  The frogs came out to play and he monkeys kept jumping off the bed.  We got a Fireman Sam cake in honour of BB's 3 month birthday.  BB did not get to eat any cake but he liked poking it.

My Beautiful Mother

On an "ordinary" summer day this beautiful picture was taken by my father of my mother holding my sister and me.  My mother thought she was going to have a boy in January but on December 23rd she went into labour and was told 6 hours before we were born that she was having twins.  Everyone was very surprised.

I have always loved and respected my mother for our kind heart, ability to cheer up the greyest day, and her endless support but did not realise how truly amazing she was until I became a mother myself.  She has never complained or expressed how hard it was to be a first-time mother with twins.  I currently am adjusting to being mother of two and I find it extremely difficult so I understand now that it must not have been easy.  I am grateful to have two very loving parents in my life. 

I love you Mother!

Siblings - March 2015

This last month has been filled with lots of cuddles and smiles.  

• Little Brother has been smiling and trying to talk to his sister.  He thinks she is very funny and loves to watch her play.  
• Big Sister does not like it when her brother sleeps during the day so she is often found touching him to get to wake and play with her.  
• Little Brother has discovered his hand and likes to put it in his mouth. 
• Big Sister gets lonely at night and is often crawling into Mommy & Daddy's bed.  Even though the bed gets rather crowded, we have lots of fun in the morning laugh and playing before Daddy heads off to work.  
• Big Sister can not wait until it gets warmer and she can take her Little Brother go into the backyard. Not happy this last month that Mommy will not allow them both to play outside for very long.  

#MySundayPhoto 2015 11/52

By Little LadyBug 

Elmer, Birthday, and Monkeys #littleloves

This week we met Elmer (colourful elephant), celebrated Bumblebee Boy's 3rd month birthday, and had lost of fun new adventures including discovering Pippa Pig.  I am enjoying the process of maintaining a blog but wish there was more time in the week to explore some new topics besides motherhood.  Huge Happy Mothering Sunday to my fellow mums.  My mother does not have her official "Mother's Day" (USA) until May but I will still be thinking of her on Sunday.

#MotheringSunday2015 Link Party

In honour of Mothering Sunday on March 15th, 2015 (UK), I would love you to share your stories, photographers, or poetry that celebrates "motherhood".  You can share stories/photos of your mother, nanny or someone that was a very special person in our life OR you can share your experiences of being a mother.

I am very honoured to be celebrating Mothering Sunday thanks to my two precious children.  Since discovering the poem below I try to remember to cherish my time with my children.

My Captured Moment - Week 10

My Beautiful Girl

One Lovely Blog Award - LadyBug Home & Designs

Thank you Alice from Toast for Tea? for nominating LadyBug Home & Designs blog for One Lovely Blog Award. I have a long list of blogs that I have found very inspirational the last couple weeks. Some of my nominations may have more experience than other but they are all "lovely".

Here’s how the award works:

One Lovely Blog Award nominations are chosen by bloggers for newer or up-and-coming fellow bloggers.The goal is to help give recognition and to also help the new blogger reach more viewers. It also recognises blogs that are considered to be “lovely” by the blogger who chose them. This award acknowledges bloggers who share their story or thoughts in a beautiful manner to connect with their viewers and followers. In order to “accept” the award the nominated blogger must follow several guidelines.

The guidelines for the One Lovely Blog Award are:

Thank the person who nominated you for the award.

Add the One Lovely Blog Award logo to your post and/or blog.

Share 7 facts/or things about yourself.

Nominate 15 bloggers you admire and inform nominees by commenting on their blog

7 Facts about Me:

1. I was born and raised in Oregon, USA.  The weather in my hometown is very similar to England. It is very green and beautiful there.

2. I have a twin sister (not identical).  My mother did not know she was having twins until 6 hours before we were born.

3. My sister and I worked as lifeguards and swim instructors during the summers when I was younger.  My father was a lifeguard and springboard diver in university.  I once taught a beginning diving class but actually could not dive myself.

4.  Met my husband at a dinner party at a childhood friend's house. The party host asked me to pick this "guy" up from his hotel but I said "no" and went by the liquor store instead.

5.  I love lime candy but don't have any tooth cavities.

6.  I love to bake with daughter but am not a very good cook.  I am expert at re-heating prepared food but can't cook raw meat.  Hubby does not eat meat anyway.  Love my mother-in-law's roast dinner.

7.  Followed my dream and started a small business in July 2013.  I purchased hundreds and hundreds of yardage of ribbon from eBay.  I have a large collection of buttons also.  I make cute toddler bows but currently not selling due to being on maternity leave.  I have several new products to sell when re-open Easy shop this summer.

Nominated Blogs: