23/52

"A portrait of Queenie Valentine, once a week, every week in 2013."

She just loves the sea.

Joining in with Jodi's 52 project.

22/52

"A portrait of Queenie Valentine, once a week, every week in 2013."

Poor girl had three injections on Wednesday

Summer is officially here. We have had sunshine every day and have absolutely loved it! We've played in the garden, taken our dinner down to the beach, shared BBQ's with friends, taken long walks across fields. Pretty much any activity that involves being outside. One day we drove over to Helston and visited a barefoot trail (I'll explain more in a future blogpost) which Queenie loved. If she's felt a little down with teething, or post injections, all I've had to do is sit her on the grass and she's instantly calmed. What wonder nature does to our moods. On those moments where we've had to be inside, the windows have been flung wide and the sun has poured into our little house. We are all thriving in this sunlight. Our little girls milky skin is darkening and her fair hair has lightened even more, making those beautiful blue eyes appear even more wonderful.
Oh and she's sleeping! All this fresh air has given her a huge appetite and tires her out immensely, so finally our Queenie sleeps!

Joining in with Jodi's 52 project. Last week I loved seeing a happy Laura upon a skateboard, and these images of Dee's family gathering honey.

21/52

"A portrait of Queenie Valentine, once a week, every week in 2013."

Just look at that stance!

A whole week with Liam being home, she's utterly thrilled. She's standing loads and is five steps closer to walking. She's eating SO much, her favourites being yoghurts, honey pancakes, avocado and kidney beans. I'm so proud of how wonderfully she eats, no fussy eaters here! 

Joining in with Jodi's 52 project. 

20/52

"A portrait of Queenie Valentine, once a week, every week in 2013."

Queenie is so dorky, our little joker. She laughs loudly to herself while she plays. 

A long tiring week where we've taken things slowwww. The weekend brought her daddy home for good! And she seems much more settled to have him back.

Joining in with Jodi's 52 project. The beautiful Kate has given birth to the sweetest little Alba. What a gorgeous family!

19/52

"A portrait of Queenie Valentine, once a week, every week in 2013."

I love having a daughter.

Queenie and I spent another week with Liam's family. She was so happy. Their family cat was not quite so pleased, she was terrorised all week. Queenie followed her everywhere, trying to pull her into a cuddle. The first day we got there I took her out to the park and we spent hours in the sunshine, lazing around on the grass. I'm glad we did because the next day brought dark clouds and a strong wind. And on saturday she walked! My heart swelled as Liam held her out then she clearly walked three steps before throwing her arms around my neck. How can my baby be growing up so fast?

Joining in with Jodi's 52 project. 

Gazing out

I'm sat on the sofa under a blanket looking up and out the window, all I can see is grey. The windows are open a little and I can feel the breeze. Liam's off playing with Queenie and this is the closest to still I've felt for a good month. 

I spend a lot of time gazing out of our window these days. While I wash up of clean my teeth I look over the hills. Two ponies play in a field behind our street. We can't get to them from our road so we watch them from the window in our bedroom (I imagine they gallop along together because they are deeply in love), this is where I also stand with a teething baby at 5am. We watch the sun rise before pottering downstairs to make apple porridge. In the late afternoon, the sun pours into our living room and we lay on the carpet together and read books or play with toys. Out the window the ice cream van sings its way down the street, calling children out for '99 after their dinners. 

My favourite thing about these windows is the light. Our new home is naturally lit all through the day No matter how much I loved the garden flat, it was dark so during the winter my moods were quite effected.

So although this house is like a box, no quirks like our flat, it already feels like home. Little by little we are making it feel more like ours. Each weekend when he gets home, Liam is presented with a list of to do's*.

The village we live in now is really sweet too. I've done a little exploring with Queenie and I'm falling in love. The neighbours are friendly, and the old buildings are so beautiful. I've found some lovely little spots with wonderful views and a little plant shop at the side of the road!

*= His training is almost over. He's done seven of the nine weeks. We can't wait to have him home for good (obviously)

18/52

"A portrait of Queenie Valentine, once a week, every week in 2013."

Just woken and seriously kissable

What a beautiful sunny week we had. Queenie played in the garden, she loves feeling the grass between her toes and picking daisies and dandelions. When bath time comes round, her legs are stained with mud and grass. While she plays with her new boat, I wash the dirt out of her sunbleached hair, amazed at how rapidly time is passing.

Joining in with Jodi's 52 project. These photographs of Lola, Pearl and Stella are stunning. What lovely girls.

17/52

I'm slowly catching up..

"A portrait of Queenie Valentine, once a week, every week in 2013."

My sisters bought her this dress when she was born. I couldn't imagine her being that big, yet here she is, walking around our living room (with a little help from her daddy).

Queenie adores walking. She grins profusely whilst pushing around her little cart of bricks, frustratedly calling out each time it comes to a halt against furniture or a wall. So I turn her around and off she goes again. This week sleep went down hill again and she woke numerous times through the night, crying for her 'dada, dada'. I am a poor substitute for her beloved father. She's surprised me and suddenly dropped her feeds. Most days she only wants to breastfeed once during the night. I've noticed since this she's eating much more food, and I realised my milk was providing so much for her. Her favourite food of all are kidney beans. mm, mmm.

Joining in with Jodi's 52 project. 

16/52

"A portrait of Queenie Valentine, once a week, every week in 2013."

Basking in her birthday afternoon sun.

I cherished this week with her, her last days before turning one. Sisters popped in and out, Scarlett stayed for a couple of nights and Queenie loved having her company. The sun shined most days and each evening we lay here in the warm sun, making puppets with the shadows, putting off bed time as long as we could. We grew up a lot this week, preparing herself for her birthday. Liam was away on the day, so we had pancakes for breakfast, then delayed any other celebrations for saturday. A few friends and a handful of doting aunties came round and we ate cake. I made a sponge with cream and fruit which she devoured. She went to bed a very happy girl with a full tummy, utterly exhausted and a year older. Wow.

Joining in with Jodi's 52 project. 

15/52

"A portrait of Queenie Valentine, once a week, every week in 2013."

Our last night in the flat, she was brimming with excitement.

The week was manic, we packed up our life in a week. My sisters were wonderful, playing with Queenie, taking her out for a few hours. One afternoon she enjoyed skating up and down the flat with Scarlett on Liams longboard, collaping in fits of giggles everytime they veered off and crashed into empty boxes. It was such a blessing for her to be occupied. When it was just her and I at home, she'd follow me around unpacking everything I'd just put into boxes! On Saturday, when we moved, she played with her mate, Vinnie on the carpet, while all around them the men carried car loads of our things into the house, and I tried to seek out a teapot. After everyone left, we sat in the quiet house, in the very quiet road and sighed. Queenie picked up her kitty and explored the rooms, chattering away to herself, unaware this was now her home.

Joining in with Jodi's 52 project.