I thought.....

.....I'd have more time on my hands with being on maternity leave but it's not the case! The days go so quickly between taking Ethan to school then picking him up. Then some days he has activities after school, like reading club and computer club. Then there is everything else I do such as baby massage, post-natal group, exercise class, meeting friends etc. There are also Flynn's appointments for his injections and to be weighed. So I definitely don't have much spare time just chill at home - maybe soon!

I have to take Flynn for his second injections in a while and I'm just hoping he is not as unsettled after as he was with the last ones. He was very good when they did them last time and just cried after each of the two injections.

Tomorrow morning I'm meeting with a few friends who have babies too. I work with them and we are all on maternity leave at the same time. We haven't met as much as we'd have like with it being Christmas but hopefully now get together a bit more. Then in the afternoon I have the exercise class I've started going to which is held at the local hospital by the physio department. It's really good and great to get back exercising again.

I've managed to get a few layouts done over the past week or so which I'm really pleased about. It's great to be scrapping again and I have so much to catch up on. I have been using my Christmas Sweetwater papers for my Christmas layouts which mixed with last years Christmas kit is working well. My first Studio Calico kit arrived last week too so I have managed a few layouts with that, I'm just looking forward to doing more. I've kept the layouts quite simple and used a similar layout design for both Ethan's and Flynn's to save on time and help me catch up. I'll try and get some of them photographed and upload them - its been a while since I uploaded layouts :)

What else we got up to.....

Warning - lots of photos!

We enjoyed a walk along the canal and through the local Nature Reserve about a five minute walk from where we live. It was really cold but perfect weather for an afternoon walk. We really don't make the most of what's on our doorstep but I'm going to try harder this year especially when the summer comes. I can walk with Flynn whilst Ethan is at school and in the holidays Ethan can bring his bike or football. Here are a few photos from our walk:









We went to London for the day in between Christmas and New Year. Ethan hasn't been before so we thought it'd be nice to take him so he could see the sights. As you can see from the photos we had a lovely day and we were able to visit the main sights - London Eye, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Harrods etc. Ethan really loved going on the tube though and it was one of the highlights of the day. He enjoyed going on the Metro in new York but didn't get to spend long on there like he did on the tube. We finished the day with dinner at Pizza Express and a little shopping in Knightsbridge. Here are some photos from the day:










New years Day I had a family party. We usually go to my Grandma and Grandad's on Boxing day and get together with all my family. It is a lot of work though getting it organised and the food done etc so i did it this year but on new Years day. It was great and everyone had a lovely time, I'll be doing it again next year.


Here is Flynn getting a bit of sleep before the party - I love this photo of him.


Ethan enjoying the party food and Ethan with Flynn at the party.


Flynn catching up on sleep during the party - I think he looks so peaceful here.


Flynn spends a lot of time smiling now and it's lovely to see. It's especially nice to see him react to us and his favourite musical toys. Here are a couple of photos of him smiling.

Christmas

Well it's been a while since I posted but I'm going to try and get back into blogging on a regular basis - well when Flynn gets into a better routine in the evenings! We have had a lovely Christmas and kept very busy.

This is Ethan and Flynn visiting Santa the weekend before Christmas. Santa spent quite a while talking to Santa telling him what he would like and that Flynn would like some presents too :)



Christmas Eve Ethan watched a movie (Polar express) with John whilst i got last minute wrapping done! Then it was bath time and getting everything ready for Santa. I got the plate you can see in the photo just before Christmas and Ethan was able to write on it (it wipes off ready to use next year). We also put Santa's mince pie, beer and the reindeer's carrot's on there.



Ethan helped Flynn open his presents Christmas morning and was very good at showing Flynn them. In the photo Ethan is opening one of Flynn's presents from his stocking and showing it to him.



This is Flynn in his Christmas nightwear - a My First Christmas baby grow and hat. He only wore the hat for the purpose of the photo LOL - he looks very cute.



This is Ethan after opening his bike that Santa left in the conservatory for him. He was so excited when he saw Santa's snowy foot prints under the backroom curtains leading to the conservatory. He tore the wrapping paper off with such excitement to reveal his new bike.



Ethan enjoying Christmas dinner, there was so much that we had left overs on Boxing Day too.



Flynn playing under his new baby mat/gym that he got for Christmas. He absolutely loves it and smiles away at the toys above him.



Flynn fast asleep after a busy Christmas Day opening presents!!!



I will post more photos in the next few days of what we got up to over Christmas.