Instagram shops

which is why I have since  ordered a fab flamingo romper which I cannot wait to see on Thea on a quick trip to Newquay!

this company caught my eye on my insta feed and I browsed the page and saw a million short and matching head wrap sets that I loved I ended up buying two I do plan on getting a few more in bigger sizes, have to say the head wraps are a nice change from bows but still bows win a daily place in Thea's outfits!

the green one has to be my fave as its so summer time and the wrap is easier to tie than the blue floral one which is scuba material

AJ boutique 2017

I love this company a lot, the first item I bought for Thea was a pretty anchor skirt and headband set the second item i bought was a custom skirt and the lady who runs the company made Thea two beautiful headbands which are just the cutest things! i also really like finding lovely people on insta and the lady who owns this company is one of the loveliest mums I've found she often asks how Thea is and we chat and she always adds a personal touch to our orders which really is lovely!

its so lovely when the mum behind the brand wants to make your order perfect and takes the time to chat to you and get to know you it makes a big difference

Melie's tutu's

This store is the reason i started to buy tutu's having seen them on my insta feed and on other pages i loved how full and fluffy they were and all the colour combinations i had seen some beautiful greys /natural colours , there is a green and white tutu i really want to buy!

Babylaneuk

needing a cake smash tutu i found this company via tailored with loves page where I had bought Thea's one vest from i ordered a pink hombre tutu ehich was tiny as thea was tiny and its so pretty! i still have it and will keep it I'm sure! it looked beautiful in photos and looked great with the one vest and of course dotties bowtique bow!

since ordering the ombre pink tutu i then ordered a unicorn - luna -  one naturally haha its also beautiful this company are also super friendly and have great delivery and take custom orders

Hi! todays blog is about all things one!

I cant believe I'm writing this blog a year to the day Thea was born for a few reasons one I didn't think I would be brave enough to start a blog! and two because its just insane that a year has gone by!

its the eve of Thea's b day and it happened to be the day the  venue was free the same day for her party so Thea is for now fast asleep! as she partied all afternoon!

So this gives me time to write! pictures need downloading and cake smash needs to happen at this point but I plan to use tomorrow to take those pics and then add them in!

so lets start party wise we booked our friends pub which is a lovely local pub with a fab garden area huge function room and lovely staff!

I think I mentioned in a previous post about the decs our lovely friend shelley had her daughters first birthday not long before Thea's so massively helped us out and supplied a lot of the decs! the beautiful photo banner and the garlands and chalk boards and my personal fave the gold glitter letters!

I bought gold and pink  pinwheel decs for the cake smash background but they were dotted around the venue - I had intended to go down earlier to set up but that didn't happen so kate our friend who runs the pub actually did all the decorating!! you can tell she does kids parties often as I had left photos in the boxes and she knew they were for a 1 day 1 year board!

I love that they provided chair and table covers as this just makes me happy as it means everything looks matching!

the cake was made by my sisters friend which was beautiful although I did change the ribbon for lace as it fitted the theme more! my sister also asked for half vanilla and half chocolate which I think was a good choice! my cutting skills are not the best and I think I could have done with ordering a bigger cake! I am kicking myself I did not get a pic of the cake on a wall back ground only on the table that was facing a black area! I also did not get a photo of the chalk boards gift table or food table!!!



 the pictures above are random food ones I took to be honest the last thing on my mind was photos for the blog which I really needed! as what else will I put on this blog so I'm working with what I did get! the party was good fun and I hope our guests that made it had a good time Thea partied so hard she fell asleep on the way home!
The following day I did a DIY style cake smash which was fun! I managed to loose half the background in transit from the venue somehow so had less to work with but I'm happy with the pics they still need fully editing but I'm going to share them on this blog then if anyone wanted to know more I will have a cake smash blog up soon after this one which has taken me longer to write than I thought considering the lack of photos!! I also have so many lovely photos of friends and family but I figured not everyone would want to feature on the blog!

I feel really emotional writing this because our friends and family really made the day special for us and the generosity was beyond amazing we didn't ask for gifts just peoples attendance if they were free would in our eyes be the gift! as most friends and family are not that local to the venue, Thea is one lucky girl! she had so many beautiful gifts every time she opened one my heart melted! a lot of the gifts had a lot of thought behind them and a few were more maybe for me as I'm obsessed with putting Thea in headbands and my old managers and work friend bought for Thea the most beautiful headbands! along with some fab outfits which I have yet to photograph! Thea was lucky enough to get her very own unicorn and donkey! in the form of rocking horses which she loves! a fab unicorn balloon which she plays with and every time she sees it says me ha ha - I think she is letting us know its hers! as I happen to love unicorns to!



 I have learnt a lot about myself and I can say being a parent has made me a better person!
I will continue to take photos and be active on here and insta as I have found this blog and insta becoming a mum hobby for sure! there are many tutu and headbands to be photographed! easter is approaching!

thank you for reading cake smash blog and 1 year update pending and still skinny tan and matching mum and baby in the pipe line!

Hannah and Thea
xx

Thea in a max and molly romper the same company who are making a custom 1 year photo romper with a dotties bowtique custom headband

Hi, Today's blog is all about the big 1 birthday prep! 

yes i know its a good few weeks away still but i'm so excited if a tad emotional to!

i just thought i would share my plans for decorations and outfits - yes more than one!

photo sessions for cake smash and one year - i said photo wise i would document 1 year monthly and then after as and when so 1 year  photos will be on a photography background as i think i will frame one as i had a beautiful romper made for it! 

so decoration wise the theme is girly ombre pink mostly with a few hints of blue silver and gold 

for the cake smash back ground i decided to splash out of some more expensive decs which i would not normally do but these were the only ones i could find that perfectly matched my theme in my head! i had already purchased some candles, plates and napkins from the same brand in the jan sales so it also made sense as the colours match perfectly! as we all know im criminal for browsing pinterest for photo ideas so i found a couple i liked and went with similar ideas.

so going with the pink gold theme i found these paper fan decorations from ginger ray now is it just me or is 6.99 for 3 expensive?! i ordered two lots of both for the photography background, our lovely friend Shelley who's daughter turned one in Feb lent us a huge amount of decorations which has been a massive help! so amongst the decs she gave us to use was the same banner i would have bought in gold also from ginger ray not pictured which will go in the middle with the paper fans either side.
im in two minds still if i should by some other bits for the floor of the back drop maybe some pink and gold round fluffy balls or maybe some cheaper style fans if i can colour match them well enough!







For the table which will have the cake - my sister has a cake maker friend who has kindly offered to make the cake which is pink and white with a gold glitter topper, i'm keeping the cake part a surprise for  both her b day party and cake smash for the b day blog! i had intended to make Thea's cake myself but haven't even attempted to trial it and so prob not a good idea last min! our lovely friend Sarah is making a beautiful cake for the cake smash and frankly i'm going to feel terrible letting Thea smash it! Sarah is making the smash cake free from so Thea can eat it hopefully with no probs!

side tracked there a bit getting back to the table we are having the party in a friends pub which has a function room so she will cover the chairs and tables in white so i'm keeping it simple with a tassel banner Shelley lent us and maybe some sprinkles !
for cake plates i just bought a few pink and gold ones from ginger ray along with matching napkins i love the pink and gold combo!

For the rest of the room i have a 12 month photo banner which again Shelley lent us which will hang somewhere mixed with the fans from the photography back ground and i will be getting a 1 helium balloon and prob happy birthday also simple but i hope it will look ok!

For outfits i have ordered a one ballerina vest in pink with one in gold glitter from a company i found on instagram - tailoredwithlove along with a cake smash ombre pink and white tutu  from another instagram company - babylaneuk with a dottiesbowtique pink with gold centre medium bow!
our lovely friend Sarah bought thea some fab clothes for christmas one was a fab pink and gold skirt which i'm going to pair with the one vest pink bow , tights and a cardi and i had a custom white and lace romper made for 1 year photos which you will see on the b day blog which is from another insta shop max and molly all of this i will be flat lay photographing for the other blog!

all in all a short little decoration blog brief idea of what we will be doing hopefully we will get some fab photos im borrowing our friend nikki's  photography background and taking the photos on my i phone! we are super lucky to have such helpful friends!

thanks for reading
Hannah and Thea
xx

Photo by me on my i phone

Hi ! A blog on maternity photos ! 

So as we know I love a good photo why ? Because time goes so fast in baby world not so much bump world that feels like an eternity towards the end ! I joke a lot with the saying i take a photo a day! but i really do most days if i'm not at work take photos!

I documented my bump myself weekly and lost all the pics that were saved on my bump app but I do have some pics from my bump updates and random ones I took along the way and our lovely friend Ewa took so bump ones for us also! 

I love having the memories and I still having had Thea want as many memories as possible it really does go so fast before you know it your nearly at one year! 

I look back and I'm thankful my sister took pics In the hospital the are some of my fave to look back on, I'm also glad I took some bump ones along the way I was huge - if you asked me at the time I said I didn't think I was that big ha ha but looking back at baby shower photos and those last few bumps - I was rather big swelling had already started and later with the c section complications got worse where was I looking ! Totally in denial ha ha !

I wanted to have maternity ones done and by luck a friend of ours had started some photography and asked if she could come and photo the bump ! 

I wasn't feeling to brave as stretch Marks were getting bad and I felt like nothing fitted here's something you didn't see in the pics the dress I wore wasn't done up !

photo by Ewa Highland Photography

I really enjoyed our afternoon with Ewa and i would recommend documenting your journey! i had extra scans and so for me bump/maternity photos went with out saying! pinterest was something i looked at for home DIY bump pics along with photo edit apps such as Enlight and Afterlight great for filters and light settings.
most of my home ones are very easy to do and i'm only really happy with my name letter ones from a point of how they look photography wise! but i love that i have all the memories in a weird way i miss my bump!

i find the i phone camera perfectly good for photos but if your looking for professional photos then having some one else take them for you is better some of mine need cropping as back grounds are not clear and white or i had to hold the camera in a silly angle to get the bump fully in the shot- the name letter photos i took during some DIY in Thea's room so i had a unit in the middle of the room to hold the camera on! the basic i phone light setting i also find good for general picture editing

Photo by Ewa Highland Photography

The above photo was taken by Ewa but i added a phone app filter from Enlight for a previous blog on editing photos i do not do this to all my photos and i never used these filters for most of my of my DIY bump ones but it is so easy! as the weeks fly by now i take more everyday style photos of Thea playing or sitting less pose ones and of course selfies ha ha !
Even though Thea is only 10 months i look back at photos and i cant believe how fast they change in a short time! from not being able to sit to sitting even smiling or being able to hold a toy or even look at the camera!

photo by me with my i phone

Photo documenting is not for everyone of course but for me i will continue to take them and maybe by the time Thea is 18 would have managed to find the time to print date and put them in a photo album! i have mum friends who are so good at organising and printing their photos! how do they do it the only thing i am consistent with is uploading them to the laptop as my phone has little storage which isn't helped by the fact i downloaded season 3 of pretty little liars to watch in hospital when i was having Thea and still have not finished the season or as Dom keeps suggesting downloading it to the i pad to free up phone space! i am half tempted to just ask my sister what happens and be done ha ha anyone who knows the show will be wondering why i am still so behind its been out a long time!

one thing i have been terrible at getting is a family photo of us with Thea and Dom's 3 kids which would be really lovely to have anyone have any tips on how to get a good photo with 4 kids all at once ha ha i think i will be the really annoying mum who wants a traditional family photo every Christmas! i've already got carried away in excitement for matching mum and baby outfits! Instagram is dangerous! i always find my excuse for buying Thea outfits or matching things is i'm helping smaller businesses out and there are mum run shops for hand made clothing on there which are unique and amazing! yep you guessed matchy match blog / fave insta shop blog coming soon!

I also have a few half written blogs on skinny tan and Thea's most used items which have been in the pipe line for a while! and the big 1 blog will be live the week of  Thea's b day as i will have millions of photos from her cake smash and 1 year photo sessions here at home with the help of a lovely friend who is lending me a photography back ground! 

most excited for the outfits and our lovely friend is making a unicorn smash cake it will be to pretty to smash! and my sister is helping with a cake for her b day party that wont hopefully wont be smashed!

thank you for reading! we hope to write again soon lots of blogs pending on a plus i have some holiday to take from work so i can get writing!

Hannah and Thea 

xx