Margam Country Park

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My boy turns 1!

Yesterday my little man turned one!  I can hardly believe it has been a whole year since he came bursting into the world; but when I look back it also seems hard to believe that it was just a year ago that we were a household of only two. It seems like he has been around forever, he is so much a part of our lives.
We had a really great weekend with both our families.  On Sunday we had a retro tea party at home with sausage rolls, party rings and jelly!  Then we went to Beale Park which only recently re-opened for the season, it was lovely strolling around in the sun looking at all the animals, my favourite were marmosets, Orren liked the chipmunks. Later we all went our for dinner.  Unfortunately Orren wasn't very well for the whole day so spent much of it asleep or wrapped up in a blanket.  He was much better on Monday so the hubby and I took him to an aquarium and he enjoyed looking at the fish.  He still isn't 100%, had a bad cold that knocked him for 6, and made me think that actually he hasn't ever really been ill, this was definitely the first time he has ever had a high temperature and he had a terrible nights sleep, (which meant we had a terrible nights sleep), but at least now I know what to look for is he seems poorly and it is reassuring that my boobie milk is doing him some good in the immunity department! 
I am trying to not dwell too much on the giving birth bit of him arriving because I still feel pretty traumatised by it, and trying to focus on how lovely he is and how much I am enjoying life with him in it.  It is hard not to think about it though and I am reminded of how much I have changed in the past year, not always in good ways, I have definitely lost a bit of my self confidence amongst other things.  Hopefully time will help heal the emotional scars. 
Anyhoo, here are some photos of our special birthday weekend:

Opening presents from family and friends, he got A LOT of presents, think we might have to have them on rotation!

Everyone listened carefully and bought him some beautiful wooden toys sans batteries.

The fam in our living room, with Orren at the centre of everyone's attention, just where he likes to be!

His birthday cake that I made and iced, he loves balloons and the icing colours I used are those I chose for his bedroom before he was born.

Looking at the Emus, Orren is fascinated by birds.

Pidgy Goat!

Fast asleep.

Enjoying a delicious evening meal.

Scallops with cauliflower puree and pork scratching's, yes please!

All in all and lovely weekend, I felt very happy afterwards, not least because my sister came back from 3 and a half months of travelling, I missed her.

Holiday 2012

Last week we finally went on a holiday!  My first for nearly 3 years, and let me tell you, it was a looong time coming, and it was soooooo good!  I just RELAXED the whole time, wonderful!  And I am afraid I didn't really want to come back home to the hum drum of every day life, doing laundry and endless dished, tidying and stressing about getting to places on time. It was so nice to spend hours reading, and putting my feet up, not worrying about cleaning and tidying, playing with Orren, spending time talking to my husband, doing cross words, visiting lovely old houses and romantic ruins, walking on the beaches, not having to be anywhere in particular.  It was bliss.  

We didn't travel far, just to the North Norfolk coast to a little fisherman's cottage in a village called Blakeney.    Thankfully we had some wonderful sunny, if a little blowy days, and only one day of drizzle.  

On our holiday we:

• Walked along the Quay at Blakeney,
• Visited three National Trust properties; Felbrigg Hall, Blicking Estate and Oxburgh Hall,
• Visited two lots of ruins; Binham priory and Baconsfield Castle,
• Visited three seaside towns and walked on their beaches; Wells-Next-the-Sea, Cromer and Sheringham,
• Ate lunch at the Blakeney Hotel,
• Had lots of picnics,
• Laughed a lot,
• Took lots of photos:

My baby ate blackberries!

On Friday we took Orren to the allotment for a foraging session and gave him a blackberry to enjoy.  He examined it carefully the gently stroked it's shiny black bumps before squashing it into his little fist and slurping it from his hand.  He had juice all over his face, hand, arm and top, but a happy smile on his face!  I think he enjoyed it.

First time at the seaside!

Thought I would share with you some photos I took a couple of weeks ago when we ventured to the seaside on a sunny day in July (one of the few!) We drank elderflower champagne, and our little Orren dipped his toes in the big blue for the very first time.  He wasn't sure at first, then didn't seem to mind, he wasn't happy about the small waves crashing and the froth running over his feet and then he realised it was reeeeally cold, and got a bit upset!  Bless him.  

Elderflower champagne,

little toes on the pebbles, 

Having a little look,

First little paddle with daddy.

All these new experiences feel so special and I want to capture them all!  I didn't even get to have a photo with myself at the beach with him! We both felt so sorry for him when he got upset about the cold, and I desperately wanted to protect him from sunburn, keeping him shaded with a large umbrella and lots of blankets and muslins.  I was so focused on protecting his beautiful white skin that I totally forgot to protect my own!  Very bad sunburn ensued.  So bad that I had to fill the bath with cold water and kneel in it in the middle of the night!  Wear sunscreen folks!