January - Colour

Happy New Year!  I trust you all had a wonderful Christmas time?

I can't believe it was only two weeks ago that I was looking forward to completing two more days of work before the holidays, seems like so long ago!  We've had a wonderful family Christmas and we managed to catch up with a lot of good friends too.  We had a quiet new year at home as Phoebe is still so young, it was lovely to just chill out with some champagne, watch the festivities on the telly, then be snuggled up in bed just after midnight :)  And of course a quiet night in means no new year's day hangover to contend with!

There's still a full FOUR days before Lillia goes back to school though, I have to admit I'll be glad when she does!  It's been utterly lovely to all be together but she needs to get back to the routine, as do we all really.

So here we are in January 2012, I've always rather loved January.  Yes it tends to be cold and wet, and nobody has any energy, money or liver function remaining, but it does signify the start of a brand new year, the time to make plans for a brighter future in the year ahead.  Even in this post last year, in the thick of post-natal depression, I managed to feel optimistic in January.

So to celebrate my love of January as a month of new beginnings and positive thinking all my blog posts this month are going to be about COLOUR...

Lillia strolling with her Aerial doll, pink boots & her "gregoire" bag (still to be blogged about!)

Phoebe put together this ensemble by herself

I've been playing with an app on my iPhone called "coloursplash", it's a lot of fun, especially with my two girls and the array of girly colours they adorn themselves with on a daily basis!

In the park on Christmas day

 

I especially love Phoebe's blue eyes in this last picture.  The app converts your photo to black and white and then you select the areas to turn back to colour, so this is her actual eye colour it's not a tint or anything.

So that's my first dose of colour for you, there will be much more to come throughout this grey yet optimistic month!  Happy New Year!

xx

Another Christmas

I love Christmas, it is my most favourite time of the year.  From October onwards I am usually planning and looking forward to the big week of festivities, eating, drinking and gift giving.  This year therefore has been rather tough.  I am not used to feeling down during what is usually my happiest time.  Depression, I am discovering, is a bummer.

Christmas day was undoubtedly the toughest.  Trying to engage in the fun, desperately wanting to play with Lillia and all her presents but instead sitting glued to a chair breastfeeding for hours, exhausted beyond description, with a dark sensation pushing down on me the whole time. 

Definitely not a Christmas I want to revisit.  Though I will, over the years, many times I am sure.  I will look back and remember and be grateful that I no longer feel that way, that I never again will feel that way at Christmas again.  This depression will be behind me, I will make sure of it. I've come through a lot in my 33 years, I can get through this.

Lillia had a wonderful Christmas being thoroughly entertained by her (now thoroughly exhausted) aunt and eating far too many pink smarties whilst watching far too much television.  But that's what Christmas is about, a little time out from the usual rules :)

I hope each and every one of you enjoyed wonderful Christmasses, and are still enjoying the Christmas week.  I was lucky enough to receive many new books so as soon as baby Phoebe starts feeding a little more easily I am looking forward to getting some reading done during those long wakeful nights. Amongst others I received A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle, read many times years ago and then lost, I am so glad to have a new copy to re-read!  I also got Kirsty Allsopp's Homemade Home book, a couple of novels, two cookbooks and a book on seasonal gardening (is there any other type of gardening..?)  So there's plenty to keep me going should I ever get the chance.

On another note - despite all the doom and gloom and the apparent lack of productivity over here - I have actually been indulging in the odd bit of crochet time.  I have a plan you see, a Big Project.  Something that will play a part in dragging me out of this post-natal depression.  More on this in a day or two...until then, Merry Christmas xx