Here it is. The first day of 2016. 

Is it just me, or do the years go by faster the older you get?
Perhaps that’s morbid. I don’t mean for it to be. I love New Year. 

It’s just that last year, more than any other, time seems to have whizzed past in the blink of an eye. Yet, when I think back to New Years Eve 2014, so much has changed. 

It’s an exciting thought isn’t it? Where will we be 365 days from now?
Will there be new people in our lives?
Will we look different? Feel different?
Will our home, jobs, days be the same?
We have no idea what’s ahead of any of us.
The pages are blank, and it’s time to begin writing our story of 2016.
It makes me feel cleansed, re-energised, excited. 

As we said goodbye to 2015 last night, I reflected on what an incredible year I had.
It’s times like this that I’m so thankful I take so many photographs.
A snapshot in time that helps me remember the detail of days and moments gone by. 

I thought I’d share my 12 (well, 13) favourite photographs of 2015.
One for every month of the year, and the memories they hold. 

It’s a long post, more for me than anyone else, but super fun to do…

JANUARY

It had to be our very first picture of Ollie.
We found out in December 2014 that we were pregnant.
I had convinced myself that we couldn’t conceive, so Ollie came as a complete surprise to us. A blessing. We were beyond excited and utterly in love the moment we found out about him. We entered the new year knowing he was just the size of an olive, but praying he would grow strong. I was lucky that I didn’t suffer too badly with sickness, but this “feeling normal” made me anxious.
Announcing our pregnancy at 13 weeks, was exciting and very very nerve-wracking. It all felt real.
When I look at the scan pictures now. I’m amazed. Was that really my baby boy? Life is amazing, and pregnancy is such a gift. 

FEBRUARY

There was so many lovely pictures from this month. We had a pretty, sunny February this year.
Early blossom, baby lambs running about the field.
My bump finally started to show, and we were getting very excited.
I’d always wondered what it would be like to have a pregnant body. From the moment that horrid bloated puffy feeling had gone, I loved it. I could feel Ollie’s gentle kicking by this point. He was getting stronger and I was falling madly in love. 

MARCH

There’s a theme developing here. Clearly my year was dominated by this little man of mine.
After a lifetime of saying that we wouldn’t find out the sex of our baby. Colin and I broke at the last minute! We were desperate to know if these gentle kicks were coming from a boy or girl. 

After a couple of days away at Barnsley House celebrating Colin’s birthday, we headed for the scan.
I was SHOCKED to find out it was a boy. I don’t know why, but I’d convinced myself that it was a girl. I’m almost ashamed to share this, but it’s the truth. The night we found out it was a boy, I cried. Not because I didn’t want a boy. I love boys. But I was sure that it was a girl. I felt I was grieving the baby girl I’d began to love. It all sounds a bit crazy now. Hormones do the strangest things!! Colin was so understanding, and just let me cry. He didn’t panic. He knew I’d love being a boy mama.
The next morning I felt amazing, so thrilled about our precious little man. I can’t imagine having a little girl now. Ollie is perfection. 

Archie was the first person we told. We filled a cardboard box with a blue balloon and pretended it has been left on the doorstep. There was a note on the front explaining that the balloon would say if Archie had a baby brother or baby sister on the way. Blue for a boy, pink for a girl. You can see a little video of him opening the box just HERE. 

APRIL

April was a difficult month for me for many many reasons which I won’t go into. I kind of feel like it was a dark cloud in our otherwise ‘blue sky’ year. But we were so lucky to be surrounded by wonderful family and friends.
Colin’s brother and sister came to visit with their beautiful baby boy in April. They live in California and we hadn’t seen them for 8 months!!! It was so wonderful to see our nephew Joseph’s development and to have them around. We’re thrilled that they’re moving back to the UK in only a month!!
This picture was my favourite of the month though, and one that I will treasure forever. My amazing Grandpa, the Legend, and my big love, holding my hand tight. Oliver is named after him and is already like him in so many wonderful ways. 

MAY

Things were getting really exciting now. I was starting to wrap up at work. We were interviewing for and had announced my replacement. It was the last few weeks where the airlines would let me fly, so Colin and I had a little babymoon to the most beautiful part of Italy. It was heaven. I won’t go into loads of detail as there’s a full post about it HERE.
So many amazing precious memories. I really can’t wait to take our boys back one day. 

JUNE

The final countdown. I was getting bigger and heavier by the day.
By this point my midwife appointments were fortnightly and thankfully, everything was going smoothly. The house was sparkling from all the nesting. The nursery was ready and I found myself sitting in there after work most nights, just rubbing my belly and dreaming about what was to come.
Archie was a bottle of pop. So excited!
I finished work at the end of June, so was thrilled to be able to attend a final work trip. It was the last time I was able to fly and we had a big conference in Barcelona. Talk about the perfect send-off!! I loved those special days spent with my team before finishing work for maternity leave. Looking at this picture of my team makes me excited to go back and work with these beautiful, talented ladies again in March. 

JULY

The highlight of my year, of my life even! This whole month feels like dream. The nesting, the resting, the waiting for Ollie…
We were hit by a heatwave at the start of July. It was baking! I spent my days taking Halle for long strolls, meeting friends, and cooking. I launched my blog, something I’ve wanted to do for years. Made some wonderful new friends (Sally and Jules). The house was full of peonies, my favourite flowers. We were ready.
I cheated and needed two pictures for July.
The first is one of the final bump pictures I have. It was a beautiful July day and Colin and I were walking around the lake trying to get things moving. The flowers behind me smelled amazing. We were so excited.
The second is the very first picture we have of our baby boy. I don’t remember this being taken. I was dazed and confused, but utterly in love.

AUGUST

Another amazing month. With Colin on paternity leave and Archie staying with us for three weeks of his summer break, it was like a long sleepy holiday.
I spent most days nursing, nursing, nursing….. but we had a few trips out for walks, shopping, lunches.
We had Ollie’s “Welcome to the World Party” in our garden. There’s more on that special day HERE. 

SEPTEMBER

After that newborn haze had cleared, September feels like the month I got myself organised.
We had the news of Colin’s promotion at work, his talent and hard work was paying off, we were so happy. With him back at work for a while now, Ollie and I were finding our rhythm, and it was bliss.
We went to visit friends and family in Wales for a few days, found some new walks in the sunshine, had our morning and bedtime routines nailed.
We looked forward to the weekends though, when Colin and Archie would be with us all day and we could enjoy lazy mornings with all 5 of us in bed eating croissants.
This picture sums that up for me. Both boys still in their Jammies at 11am and couldn’t be happier about it. Ollie looks so much older than one month, already completely besotted with his big brother. It was a dream come true.
This is also the month my best friend Carrie got engaged in Italy! She’ll be married to the man of her dreams a year to the date exactly, and that makes my heart sing! 

OCTOBER

I love Autumn. It’s a ‘wannabe photographers’ dream!
This picture was taken on a walk in beautiful Tatton Park with Sally and Hugo, and it reminds me of the whole month. We spent so many days wandering through the park, enjoying that October light and all the crunchy leaves. I think it was October that I truly realised what fabulous company Ollie was. We moved him from his Pram seat to his push chair, so he could see me and look around. He’s such a happy, smiley baby (most of the time!). At just a few months old his zest for life was already infectious. I found myself chatting away to him all day. Nothing was lonely with Ollie.
Colin and I had our first little date in October (HERE) so it was the first time I’d been separated from Ollie since he was born. We all survived, and felt extremely proud of ourselves.
I also did a ‘keep in touch’ day at work which I really enjoyed. Colin did an amazing job looking after Ollie while I was away. I was so proud of him and It got me excited about my return to work in a few months. 

NOVEMBER

November is traditionally one of my least favourite months. I find the lack of day light challenging and tiring.
Not this year.
November was lazy. Ollie and I spent many guilt free mornings in our PJ’s until midday. The slow cooker has never been used so much, the house smelled of cooking the whole month as we filled up on soups, stews and casseroles.
The highlight of most days was that we had been for a long walk or baked a cake.
Cosy jumpers and afternoon naps are pretty much all I remember about November.
Oh! And we found out our best friends Steve and Anna were expecting their first baby…which means I’m (kinda) going to be an Auntie in the summer 🙂 

DECEMBER

Almost at the end of an incredible year. I found it difficult to choose a picture for December. These last few weeks have whizzed by.
Ollie isn’t a newborn anymore. He’s been rolling over for weeks, sits up on his own, chats away and copies our expressions and sounds. He wriggles out of his seat, jumps like a loony in his Jumperoo and laughs hysterically at Halle and Archie.
We’re going to start weening him this week. It feels like the end of a chapter. What an incredible chapter it’s been though. The best of my life.
Christmas and life in general has become so much richer with this little guy around.
He really is everything. 

So that’s it! What a year!! I really enjoyed doing this, looking back over pictures form the year. I would highly recommend you scroll through your photographs and pick your favourites. It’s sometimes easy to forget how far we’ve come, I’m certainly guilty of that some days.

2015 will be hard to beat, but I’m going to do my very best to top it!
From all of us, a very very HAPPY NEW YEAR to you, and yours! 

Much Love,