LITTLE BUTTON TALES

Cake time again - and again x

The icing came out again recently for another family birthday in our house - my little Ava turned 4 (who stole my baby and replaced her with a four your old!!) and i knew exactly what cake she would like - a princess barbie cake. I had made one a few years ago for my niece so it didn't take as long as i'd thought it would - the prevoius cake taking hours if not days.

Despite asking if she could eat barbie's head ( no Ava mummy's not that clever to make an icing barbie!) she loved it and i got several requests from her little friends to make theirs - always a good seal of approval. 

The following week it was the other half's birthday and as i consider myself to be a golf widow i felt it was only right that i make a golf cake. After googling for a while i found some great ideas and had a go myself - after a slight hiccup realizing i had no green icing or food colouring the night before, i raided Ava's craft cupboard and improvised with tissue paper (luckily no one knew my little mistake - ssshhhhhhh)

My only criticism of these two cakes ( as i always have to criticize my own work ) is that i really must buy some proper cake boards and spend the time icing them and decorating them and not not not just cover and old one with tin foil - how naff!!! Oh and take better photo's!!

x hope you like them x

Time flies ......... x

Time certainly has flown around our house ( even though thats no excuse for my very very bad lack of blogging!) and last week our little smiley Ivy turned One - oh my in a blink of the eye her first year has gone and Ivy has gone from a beautiful little bundle to a beautiful big bundle (with the occasional temper tantrum - oh yes already!!) She has slotted into our family like a missing jigsaw piece and the loving relationship i see growing between her and Ava is truly heart melting (oh how i hope this will last)

Along with a second child comes the guilt of not spending the same wondrous quality time as i did with Ava, of not going to all those baby groups, and endless trips to the park, of not letting her have a good sleep without being woken to rush off for a pick up or a drop off and of delaying letting her use her own spoon because its so much easier and quicker for mommy to do it - and we always have somewhere to be!! Having said all of this Ivy seems to be getting on just fine and the things she may have missed out on are far outweighed by the joy of having a doting older sister - someone who makes her squeal with delight daily.

We celebrated Ivy's first birthday with a lovely family gathering at home and although i may have let some things slip i was determined that i was going to put as much - if not more effort into Ivy's birthday cake as i did for Ava. I trawled (and drooled) over endless cake pics on the web and decided i was going to do a Fairy Toadstool cake. Having never baked in glass bowls before it was indeed a leap of faith as far as my baking skills go - but it was a success and i just loved loved loved decorating this little house (the Interior Designer coming out in me!). 

Yes it would have been easier ( and cheaper!) to buy a supermarket cake, yes i wouldn't have been so stressed (or up till the early hours rolling icing two nights before her Birthday!) and no Ivy wouldn't have noticed if i'd stuck a candle in a fairy cake but i wanted a cake that Ivy would look back on in years to come ( when she asks why there aren't as many photos of her or why her baby book is not as updated as her sisters - ahem!) and know that her first birthday was so so special and that she is truly loved beyond words.

Happy birthday little Ivy you make our hearts sing xxx

December time x

I leave you this year with a few images of our life in December - knowing full well that christmas with young kidlings will be some of the best we will ever have. I am almost finished with the preparations and am looking forward to sitting back, relaxing and immersing myself in all its magic and sparkle.

German Christmas Markets

Baking cookies

Nativity Angels

A letter to someone very special

Playing in the snow

Enjoying the beauty of winter

And sharing our first Christmas with this smiley little lady

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and New Year 

xxx

 

Ghouls and ghosts x

Happy Halloween - hoping you have had a scary day full of all kinds of tricks and treats x

 

Smiley x

Our little smiley Ivy will be four months old on Saturday - oh my - how quickly time flies with no. 2 and how i must must must soak up all these beautiful gummy smiles before they are gone x

Conkers and cousins x

We are very lucky to live in a road lined with horse chestnut trees so tonight Ava went conker hunting with two of her girly cousins and what better way to dress for such an occasion than with their best princess gowns,handbags and scarves - oh how i'd love to do the weekly shop in such a way!

Knitting or spaghetti !! x

Someone wanted to know how to knit today and then decided it was far more fun to pretend she was eating spaghetti, maybe i'll use a different colour wool next time !

 Oh and we're loving stripes at the moment - in case you didn't notice x 

Birthday cake exhaustion x

Little Ava turned three last week ( where oh where have those years flown to) and she put in a special request for a birthday cake shaped in the letter A. Easy i thought until i spent a day cutting, icing and decorating it ready for her party at a soft play centre. I had already baked and decorated another cake for our family gathering three days earlier on her birthday - so by the time i had finished her party cake i felt i had cake exhaustion ( i'm sure this must be a medical condition!).  

(cake no.1)

(cake no.2)  

Each year i make sure i make her a cake and usually enjoy the process however this year i don't think i was as successful as previous years but Ava loved the cakes all the same. However it did get me thinking that she would have been just as happy with a smartie cake from a supermarket and that it is me who puts the pressure on myself to make a 'super' cake that gets applause and adulation from party guests - child and adult alike. My friend ( who has also suffered cake exhaustion) says the same, however i think that i secretly love the sound of 'did you make that' and i know i wouldn't get that from a smartie cake! So selfishly i shall continue to try and make a 'super' cake each year - except now i will have to make one for Ava and one for Ivy -- double exhaustion x   

Happy happy birthday little princess xxx

10 little fingers and 10 little toes x

 

Little Ivy Violet finally arrived on Wednesday 9th June at 6.41am weighing 9lb 8oz after a brisk 3 1/2 hour labour and she's just perfect in every way. I've only just been able to see my way through the glorious baby fog which has descended on our house to finally share her arrival into the world - so please forgive me as i've been enjoying all that is perfect in a new born baby and savouring every fleeting precious moment.

I know how much i enjoy reading good birth experiences and now i can happily share my own. Having had a tiring and difficult first birth with Ava i really wasn't looking forward to going through it a second time and had researched all types of pain relief knowing that i had made a promise to myself that i would never go through that pain again. I had laughed at my initial birth plan and had become slightly obsessed with hearing about other friends birth experiences. I even became slightly hopeful of a c section when there was a possibility that my baby was lying horizontal for a few weeks - knowing full well that a c section is major abdominal surgery. However as time went on i resigned myself to taking each step at a time and not making any decisions until the time finally arrived - if i could do it naturally then great - if i needed pain relief of any sort then great also. 

I had started to have twinges on the Sunday night but it wasn't till 3am Wednesday morning that my waters broke and i awoke with contractions being 2-3 mins apart. Luckily Ava had stayed with her grandparents overnight so we made the call to the hospital and made our way straight there. Unfortunately the hospital was short staffed and i was asked to wait in a waiting room which luckily was empty and i stayed there for another half hour on my hands and knees with my tens machine until i summoned a midwife knowing that things were moving quite quickly and that i needed some gas and air and indeed a room and bed! Once in the room i was examined and found to be 9cm dilated so i got dressed and made friends with the gas and air - taking in endless deep breaths and feeling rather drunk. I had hoped to use the birthing pool however it wasn't available and despite things going well i asked for pethadine and a epidural ( knowing that things had gone this well with Ava and then things had taken a turn for the worse when i couldn't push her out) Neither was apparently available and i think this was due to the midwife knowing that i didn't have long to go - and she was right as about 1/12 hours later i delivered our beautiful little girl kneeling up over the back of the hospital bed after only a few pushes. After having Ava i was in total shock as to what i'd just been through but this time i was in shock as to how much easier and quicker it was. As Ivy started to feed well straight away i was also lucky to be able to come home in the afternoon to an eagerly awaiting big sister who has showered her little sister with love, hugs and kisses from the moment she was carried into her new home. 

Things have gone so amazingly well since Ivy arrived and she has been a placid, wonderful little sleeper day and night who has been loved and adored by all. So these precious early days have been just wonderful and i cannot believe she is 1 month old already - i am so more aware at how fleeting baby time is but also that i don't have the same one to one time that i had and adored when Ava was born - so i must now put this laptop down and make the most of my evening staring at Ivy whilst daddy is out celebrating the birth of his little girl with friends and big sister is tucked up in bed.  

                    Oh happy precious precious days that i wish i could bottle and save for ever x

  
  

The Waiting Game x

Well i haven't blogged for a while (despite a promise to myself that i would try harder) however i've been busy preparing for the new addition to our family. Due on 31st May the little one has decided not to face the big wide world just yet and is quite happy to be tucked up inside mommy - mommy on the other hand would like her ankles back and is really not enjoying this "beautiful' sunny weather we've been having in England recently. But hey ho the waiting game continues and little Ava is very much looking forward to being a big sister and has loved re-playing with her old baby toys which are washed and ready for new fingers to explore and new teeth to chew. Wish me luck - i'm looking forward to meeting our baby but not the labour x