Naps, nativities, and baby's first Christmas tree 🎄❤️✨

Hello hello hello 👋🏻 I'm currently sat in bed in the middle of the day with a sleeping baby and a purring cat for good measure, we're huddling together for warm on this cold December day (the weather app says it's 1ºC outside but we haven't ventured out to check!) It's nice and cosy here though so don't you worry, and we seem to have a baby that always feels toasty warm so he makes a good hot water bottle. Juniper's fur seems to be extra thick and fluffy in winter too. The correct weather for this season has properly arrived now and it feels unbelievable that Christmas is just around the corner when surely Jethro was only born 5 minutes ago in the height of summer?! Time be flyyying.

The low winter sun creating cool shadows against the curtains.

It may be crisp and cold outside now but a few weeks ago it was verrry rainy indeed. We got the chance to use the pushchair rain cover for the first time which was exciting, and I enjoyed many a pavement rainbow 🌈 (oh and some of our drainpipe fell down in a particularly heavy downpour but that's all fixed now!)

Jethro update: he's now 4 months old! He can sit up for short periods, he is getting to grips with the door bouncer, and he has rolled over about 10 times but we never seem to catch it on video 😆 Most of the time he is a very jolly little fellow and will smile at anyone, we've had a few giggles too which are adorable.

Another new thing is facing forwards in his carrier, we've been for a couple of walks like this and he seems to love it 😭 he's growing up so fast!

Who looks more at home on the armchair? 😆

Family photo (watching the football!) ⚽

Recently Juni started to enjoy sleeping in her carrier box, it's good timing because she's got her annual trip to the vets tomorrow so it shouldn't be a struggle to get her in there! It's the same box we brought her home in so I found this identical photo from 2 years ago and isn't it sweet seeing them side by side! 💙

❗ Warning: it's about to get rather festive over here! 🎄🎄🎄

Firstly Ed made some spontaneous gingerbread one evening which we decorated in a highly artistic manner (spot gingerbread Jethro 😂), and then a couple of days later we went to get our Christmas tree! Ed was given a long measuring stick so that we could choose one the right height:

Here's a fun little video I made about our experience:

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Once we got home we tried to get Jethro down for a nap so that we could do the decorations but he was not having it (love that 4 month sleep regression). It turned out good in the end though because he napped in the sling and so was able to be part of decorating his very first Christmas tree 😊

When the Teletubbies visited the baby Jesus.

✨🎄✨❤️✨🎄✨

I found some mushroom decor and a Juni to hang on the tree so of course they had to come home with me!

A cosy afternoon nap underneath the Christmas lights:

And some very ~ on brand ~ gift wrapping 🍄🎁 I had my first wrapping session last night whilst Ed practiced his trumpet for the upcoming carol service so it felt extra fun and festive!

In this house we now have not one but two nativities going on! This one is a knit-ivity kindly made by a lovely lady at church 😄 (both Jesuses have now been hidden in the fruit bowl until the big day as per family tradition!)

And now we have the frosty weather to match the Christmassy vibes:

✨

I'm this excited about a dusting of frost, imagine how I'll be if it actually snows here! It's looking possible this week so we're keeping hopeful ⛄ friends and family in other parts of the country have been posting lots of snow photos and we're feeling a little bit jealous!

Misty morning on the way to church.

Soggy flowers and big chunks of ice in the garden:

We've almost made it to the end of the post but I think we haven't *quite* had enough cuteness yet so here you go...Juni sharing the lap:

Going one step further and just curling up on the baby, a double decker snuggle:

The girls.

The boys.

Not sure if I'll fit in another post before Christmas but if not, MERRY CHRISTMAS! 😄❤️🎄🎉🎁

Our little elf 😍

xxx

Pigs in the pumpkin patch 🐖

Another blog post, another overload of photos 😄 after 24 little and often posts in October I'm back to my old ways haha. November has been an interesting month because it was this time last year that we found out I was pregnant (6th November to be precise). It makes you realise just how much can happen and change in just a year. Towards the end of November was when I really started to feel ill and had to take time off work, so being at home again at this time of year keeps triggering weird flashbacks and for a second I almost feel it again. The dark evenings and being in my dressing gown have become associated with sickness and even things like the thought of decorating for Christmas are a bit tainted in my mind when I remember how I felt in this season last year. But I'm excited to replace those memories with new ones of Jethro's first Christmas and I can't wait to actually enjoy all the festive food this year! 

Anyway, here's a recap of the past few weeks...

Colour coordinating with the baby:

More fungus finds:

Shadows and reflections:

I made a blanket nest for the baby to lie in but Juniper decided it was for her instead:

November has been full of rainbows (and pansies):

I finally finished my 17th pair of socks! These have probably taken me longer than any of the others but that's understandable 😄 I made the first one in the final stages of pregnancy and then cast on the second one and even brought it with us in my hospital bag LOL, needless to say no knitting was done during labour and not for the next couple of months either! But I'm happy to have my needles back in action now:

The golden light bathing Jethro's room:

Juniper being a nutter:

Ed's sister came down for a visit and we walked across the field and into town for a coffee:

We made pizza, watched About Time, and Juni decided to befriend Kate ❤️ honestly this is the first time she has ever sat on a visitor's lap so it was pretty sweet and exciting:

Jethro is getting good at tummy time, and we finally ate our turban squash that I bought at the end of September:

The baby and I went for a walk nearby...

The plan was to get him to have a good long sleep but he's got to the age now where everything is so interesting and distracting so he stayed awake most of the time just watching the world go by. I was glad to have worn wellies as it was very muddy but I think I walked too far because my feet were so sore by the end! One day I'll invest in comfy wellies. 

I passed a man who was also wearing a yellow coat just as we were both walking under a big yellow tree:

Little snippets of the woods in November:

Some squashes for sale along the way, and a snoozing baby that evening:

Hugs with dad and helping him in the garden:

😌🌳⛅

The red orchid is still blooming like mad! 10 flowers and they have such a strong perfumey scent 🌺 also introducing my yellow trousers which I found in a charity shop and then forgot about for 2 months whilst they waited for me to take up the bottoms as they were too long for me:

💛 Jethro and my childhood favourite Teletubby:

Wearing the orange beanie hat that they put on him after he was born 😭 it can just about still squeeze onto his head:

Juniper is very much back to her old snuggly ways:

💚

Once I'd finished the socks I moved onto my next project which was this owl knitting kit! The instructions were easy to follow and before I knew it this wonky fellow had come to life in my hands 😆 I've put him away to give to Jethro for a Christmas present:

Last week I went for another walk with a sleepy baby, it was a lovely fresh, golden Saturday afternoon just before the sun was beginning to set. I stood next to this little waterfall in the stream nearby and the sound of the rushing water sent Jethro to sleep in about 2 minutes. I'll have to remember that if we're ever struggling to settle him down haha...

Fiery sumac leaves 🔥 and some pretty flowers which were growing up and over someone's garden fence (any ideas what the plant is?) 🌸

🌞 Mr Sunshine Boy 🌞 he was 15 weeks old here:

Juni loves to hang out in the baby's room, it has a good view of the sparrows outside:

Last Tuesday we decided to take a trip to Proper Job in Chagford. We enjoyed a car picnic whilst the rain hammered down outside and then had a good old explore once the weather had cleared up a bit. As usual we came home with a few goodies, including a Hairy Maclary book for Jethro 😄🐶

16th November 2022 shall go down in history as the day that Juni first snuggled up with Jethro 😭 she rested her head on his leg and everything:

💓

New second hand shoes + knitted socks, and happy Jethro in his knitted cardigan:

A visit to old boy Tom, and a dressing gown snuggle:

There's a pumpkin patch nearby and on the local radio I heard that once Halloween is over they let pigs into the field to eat up the leftovers. Obviously I had to get a look for myself! 🐖 As I approached they started oinking and coming towards me which was quite funny:

A quick visit to Dartmoor:

And finally, a Sunday afternoon stroll in the sheep field:

❤️🐑

That's all for today, hope you're all enjoying the delights of November. Next time I post we may or may not have a Christmas tree 👀🎄😁✨