2017

Well it's been a bloody long time since I last made a blog post so brace yourselves as I have a lot to catch up on! So 2017 is here already - & we are three months in, what's that all about? So far it's been amazing, but lets jump back to some things that happened in 2016 first. November 19th, our gorgeous little boy turned 1! It was such a special day, we celebrated with a party in Cefn Mably Farm Park with all of our closest friends & family and it was just perfect!

READY FOR THE BIRTHDAY BOY

EZRA IS ONE!

AMAZING CAKE

MY BOYS

Then we blinked & it was Chrismas! It was honestly the best one I have ever, ever, ever had!! We had so much fun, laughter & made so many memories I was so sad to see it pass so quickly; I suffered so badly with the January blues afterwards. 

It was just so, so special to me. It was our first christmas as a family & last Christmas was really hard for me. This year was just everything I'd hoped it would be & more and I'm just so thankful! It's funny how when you go through something painful, it really changes your outlook on life. I know what it's like to feel broken, so I appreciate it a million times more when I'm happy and feeling very loved. I love these two boys more than I could ever put into words! It was so lovely that Ezra could be so involved this year too & he could open his presents Christmas morning. Christmas 2016 was also our last Christmas in this house, June 2017 we are moving!! I'm already super, super excited for this Christmas!!!!

January 2017, Lloyd, Ezra & I booked a little 5-day stay in Center Parcs, Longleat Forest! It was SO amazing & the perfect way to start the year!

 


In February, we celebrated my Auntie's 40th birthday & I was spoilt bloody rotten on our first Valentines day together! 

VALENTINES MEAL AT THE OLD COTTAGE

 

 I can't believe it's now almost April! (I'm turning 23!!!) It's been such an incredible 2016 & an amazing start to 2017 and I just can't wait to see what this year holds for my little family! 

Amber xo


GOALS FOR 2017
- Move into our family home
- New job
- Graduate with my LLB Law (Hons)
- Be happy
- Make memories with my boys
- Summer holiday 
- Have lots of mummy & ezra days
- BLOG MORE! 
:)

LITTLE FOX COTTAGE

This past weekend, my family & I stayed 3 nights at a beautiful cottage in Herbrandston, Milford Haven. We had the most amazing time and I've come home feeling all cosy, relaxed & in the most autumnal mood! It was a 70th birthday present to my lovely nan, she enjoyed every minute & loved having all her family around her. When we arrived we had a tour of the cottage and myself, Lloyd & Ezra nabbed the best room! 

 

The cottage had three bedrooms and every one had an ensuite with robes and slippers! 

 

My little cousin, Brandon, was busting to get in the hot tub from the moment we all arrived & I was frequently pulling Ezra away from the edge because he wanted to get in so we decided to get into our bikinis & swim shorts straight away and crack open the wine & ciders and start the holiday properly! (Yes, I did have a spray tan beforehand!) We turned the temperature right down before letting Ezra get in & he loved it!

We all cuddled up in our robes & slippers and I got Ezra into his halloween babygrow & we had a few drinks and my mam got a curry going! It was so nice to just relax and spend some time together, I loved every minute! After we had food, Ezra was shattered so I put him down & thankfully we'd brought the monitors with us so we could relax downstairs in the hot tub & see that he was okay. Lloyd & I were the first ones to go to bed as of course we knew we would be up with the baby at 7. We had the best sleep ever & spent the majority of the weekend saying how much we need to get a super-king sized bed! 

My little ghost didn't wake us up until 7:45 so we went downstairs and had a chilled morning on the sofas catching up on the X Factor. My mam made us bacon rolls & we just enjoyed having a lazy sunday morning!

 My mam had booked a table for sunday lunch at 2pm so we all showered & got changed to go out. 

EZRA ALL READY FOR AUTUMN

 We went to The Harbourmaster on Milford Haven Marina and had an amazing roast! We had a little stroll afterwards and just enjoyed the view. I really love it down Milford Haven, especially along the marina, I always get a warm feeling when I'm there as we spent some time down there back in August with Lloyd's parents and I just have good memories of being there with the people closest to me! Lloyd could only stay one night as he had to be back for work Monday so we went back to the cottage so he could grab his stuff & sadly had to say bye! Sunday night we ordered a pizza and sprawled out on the sofas with the log fire going & watched Sunday's X Factor.

On Monday, we went to a place called Brooksgrove Farm as they have a pumpkin patch & allow you to pick your own pumpkins! I had been hunting online for places to go to pick your own pumpkins and there aren't many places in South Wales that allow you to pick your own any more so when I found this farm 15 minutes away from the cottage & saw the patch was opening this Monday it just seemed meant to be! 

It was so amazing & I felt so autumnal and excited for halloween afterwards! I got Lloyd a large pumpkin, a medium one for me & a little baby one for Ezra so we can carve a little family of pumpkins. I absolutely loved it & made a promise that we would make the trip down every year to do it, I was just sad that Lloyd wasn't with us as I know he would've loved it but we will continue the tradition next year! On the way back to the cottage we stopped for a pub lunch (one of my favourite things ever) & I got what I always get if it's homemade - lasagne! We got back to the cottage, put our pyjamas on and just relaxed. The following morning we were up early packing ready to leave. We were all gutted that our stay had come to an end but we enjoyed every moment! We had breakfast at a cafe on the marina, called Foam, and it was delicious! 

EZRA'S FIRST BABYCINO

 It was such a lovely mini break for this time of year and I feel so refreshed & excited for the next few months! Little fox cottage, we will definitely be back next year!

Amber xo

THE BIG 30

EZRA 12TH SEPTEMBER 2016

This isn't really a 'mum & baby' post, but I want to document all of our memories & special times on here! This week my lovely partner, Lloyd, turned 30! It was his birthday on the 13th so the Friday before we went over my Mam's boyfriend's house for drinks & they treated us to a chinese! Ezra loves to sit on the bike every time we go up! haha! 

 On the Saturday we went out for a meal with our friends & their kids to celebrate. It was so lovely to have us all together - everyone is so busy with work, children and life in general it can be so difficult for us to find the time to get together as a group so we really made the most of it! 

THE HANDSOME BIRTHDAY BOY

 

EZRA & OLIVIA

EZRA & UNCLE STU

We got Lloyd a ninja turtle cake because the boys are all nicknamed after each turtle - they even have a group chat called 'we are the turtles' - I know I can't believe they're all in their 30s either! hahaha! As we were down in Blackwood which is where Lloyd & all of our friends live - me & Ezra live around 30 minutes away - we decided the best thing to do would be to stay at Lloyd's house that night and I also had a bridesmaids dress fitting at Laura's house the next day so it didn't make much sense to drive back to Aberdare. I have obviously stayed at Lloyd's a lot since we've been together but I only stay if Ezra is with my mother or at his father's so this was his first time to stay over! Lloyd's parents were kind enough to lend us their travel cot because I am an idiot and couldn't fathom how to collapse my mam's travel cot and get it in my car! Ezra was amazing, he slept in our room in the cot and only woke once because he lost his dummy - I was one proud mama! We spent the sunday chilling on the sofa & watching films. Ezra made himself at home, he was crawling all over the place & exploring! I went to make us breakfast and came back in & Lloyd was lying on the sofa doing his sudoku on his phone & Ezra was lying with his head resting on his shoulder watching what he was doing & they were chatting! My heart literally melted!! It means everything to me that Lloyd is so good with Ezra and now he's getting older he is responding to him with smiles when he sees him & he reaches out for him and is showing affection back - it's so lovely to see! They see each other almost every day and I have loved watching how much their relationship has developed the past 4 months & the growing bond they have between them is so special. 

At 4 on Sunday, me & Ezra left Lloyd's and we went over Laura's to have a bridesmaid dress fitting! It was really successful and Laura & Stu picked 'the' dresses! I am so excited for this wedding, they're getting married 20th August next year & Lloyd is also an usher. Laura & Stu are the reason me & Lloyd even met so it's so special to us that we get to be a part of our best friends' wedding and they're the ones who introduced us! 

On Monday, Ezra & I got up early and went to town to get some bits to decorate the house ready for Lloyd's birthday! 

 

He came to my house after he finished work and was so grateful bless him! After I put Ezra to sleep we had tea and watched a film in bed. He then had me up at 6am before he went to work the next morning so he could open his cards before he went! Ezra had gotten me up 3 times through the night so I could hardly open my eyes!! haha! He had his cards from me, Ezra & my family and I gave him one of his presents from us.

He was so chuffed! He went to work and I had another surprise up my sleeve! Ezra's Nanna has him on a Tuesday so she dropped him home a little earlier and we headed down to Lloyd's parents house. Lots of his family were there so we had a lovely evening catching up & Ezra was passed around for cuddles & played with the kids! Lloyd's sister-in-law made him a cake so we sang happy birthday to him - Ezra ate a whole slice!! I gave Lloyd his other surprise - a PS4 - he was absolutely over the moon! I definitely got top girlfriend points for that one!! hahaa! We then came back to Aberdare and put one sleepy Ezra James to bed & Lloyd and I weren't far behind, we were shattered! 

 

So, Lloyd had a lovely birthday & it was lovely to celebrate with all our friends and family. He deserves to be spoilt and I can't wait for our night in Cheltenham a week Saturday! This weekend Ezra & I are going to Devon with the girls and their kids while Lloyd and all the boys go to Bristol to celebrate his birthday - god help the state they will all be in coming home sunday! haha! My nan is turning 70 on Tuesday so we will be doing plenty of celebrating once again and I have my first day back in university for my final year next friday! So many exciting things coming up - i could not be happier! 

Amber xo