Capturing Matilda

I spend a lot of my time recording little videos of Matilda as well as taking a ridiculous amounts of photos. Armed with a good camera, I am learning the techniques to get Tilly to smile (although it doesn't take much) and how to use the best lighting for photos and what to use as backdrops etc. It's turned into a little bit of a hobby to do photo-shoots with her for each month of her life and during special occasions like Christmas. 

1 month old

I also captured her first ever smile during these photos. Something I will always treasure.

2 months old

My photography skills had improved a little by this stage and I managed to capture some beautiful photos of Tilly, all in the comfort of her own moses basket! At this stage it was difficult to get her to sit up and stay still, although strangely she managed it at 1 month!

3 months old

These are my absolute favourite photos of Tilly so far, this one I have blown up and framed in our living room. I used her little letter names for a bit of a prop-the lighting was also fantastic that day so they barely needed editing!

4 months old

Whilst she wasn't actually 4 months for these photos (she was 16 weeks) I took them a little early because that day she just looked extra beautiful in her pretty smock dress and I grabbed the camera and started shooting! This is my favourite, her face is like a little dolly and she looks so cute! I will be doing her proper '4 month' pictures this week, I am excited! But choosing what she will wear may take a while!

When you have a baby, I think it's so important to capture as many memories as possible but also to enjoy those moments. It's hard sometimes when you think, "wow that would make a great picture!" and it just takes away from the moment. So I try and put my camera away sometimes because not ever moment HAS to be captured on film, it's there in your head and heart. I will say though I am so so happy I have these photos, videos, my blog, my baby book, memory box...all these things I am "logging" because I know they will be wonderful to look back on in the future.

Here is one of my favourite Tilly videos this week, I don't tend to upload many on Facebook because otherwise I would be spamming people ridiculously on a daily basis. However, I just love this one xxx

A wedding for under 1k...part one!

So we're getting married in May. Funnily enough this is also the month my maternity pay stops completely, great timing huh? The main reason we chose the date was because Michael has a week off work, the weather is normally lovely and not too hot and it means we can combine it with a nice honeymoon/first family holiday. Me and Michael don't earn a lot and have even less spare cash now we have a little Tilly to provide for so needless to say, my aim in organising this wedding has been to spend AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE! My goal is to get the whole sherbang for under £1,000 and it seems so far we're doing pretty well. Don't get me wrong, if I had the money I would love a lavish wedding (as you may know from previous posts, we originally planned to wed in Arundel near the castle) but when you break it down, the most important thing is that you are there with your loved ones and they get to share a very special day with you. To us, it's just a piece of paper...it doesn't prove we are any more in love, it's practicalities and of course, it will be lovely to be a wife and a husband. I am also excited to become a Dommett. It's all happening, eeeek! So how have I done it on such a little budget? Here's how so far....

Keeping the numbers small

We are getting married in a registry office and only inviting around 18-20 people, just family and a few close friends. I wish I could invite more people but this is where there has to be super money saving. The registry office is beautiful though and close by in one of our favourite towns. It has pretty gardens and we get to have our own music and vows, all for the sum of £160! Getting married on a weekday has saved some serious wonga.

Using Ebay and the 'high street' for my outfit

I've always wanted a gorgeous long glamorous wedding gown but as money doesn't allow I am sticking to a gorgeous dress from the high street (BHS) for £100, it has everything I want (lace and vintage style) and is simple enough so that I can accessorise with a hairpiece and jewellery. 

My veil was the bargain price of £7 from Amazon, my shoes are £12 from the Debenhams sale .All my jewellery I have bought on ebay! My flowers are artifical and also from Ebay for £15 (see below) so the cost of the total outfit is in the region of £150!

Calling on friends

My friends have been amazingly generous with my wedding planning and I've had so many generous offers of dresses, shoes, jewellery...it's been such a help when we are on such a budget. We have our wedding photography sorted for a fantastic deal thanks to my university friend Jennifer at http://jlrphotography.co.uk/

An old school friend is also helping with the cake,without the help of all these people, we'd be lost! 

Barter with people to get good costs

After lots of discussion with our reception venue, they agreed that they wouldn't charge us a hire fee because we're hiring mid week when they are very quiet (pub function room) and we will be ordering lots of food and drink. Also rather than a set menu they have allowed us to set our own budget per guest so that they can pick what they want from their menu. That way there is a big variety of choice for everyone and we can set what we can afford. The room we are hiring is lovely and we are able to cut costs by not having a dj and just using their ipod speaker system for our own music. Here is the room we are hiring, we get to use their garden too which will be lovely:

We will get all the chairs and tables re-organised so that we have a little space in the middle for anyone who wants a dance hehe! For the music, Michael and I are pulling together all our classic 80's and 90's CDs and will then transfer them to my Ipod.

Being creative

I plan on making my own favours to save money and there are so many gorgeous ideas on websites like Pinterest. Favours can be anything from some yummy chocolates to pretty candles! I haven't decided what I want to do yet but here are some gorgeous ideas:

Little plants

Retro sweet table

Homemade jams

I am very excited to get started and I'm really enjoying all this wedding planning business, even on a small budget! Will be back with part 2 soon.
xoxo

Matilda at 4 months!

I wish I could have kept up with my other blog about Matilda and recorded all her weekly achievements. At this age babies just grow and develop so quickly, one minute they are a newborn and the next they are rolling, sitting up, trying to crawl...these moments are just going too fast for my liking. Don't get me wrong, I love the newborn days but now Matilda is almost 4 months and able to interact with me more, it makes our relationship so much stronger. It's no longer just a cycle of nappy changes and feeds, it's pure and utter love between us and a bond that is growing day by day. The love I feel for her is just something beyond words, she makes me feel like I can do anything. She grabs my hand because she wants to. She smiles and laughs at me because she finds ME funny. I am her world and she is mine. It's touching. She has started to babble and coo and me and Michael love being able to pick out little "words" she says (don't worry I'm not claiming by daughter can talk at 4 months but it always sounds like she says 'mama'...so sweet!). She has now completely outgrown colic (which was awful from weeks 2-10) and her reflux is under control for now. Unfortunately she has bad eczema at the moment and she likes to scratch at any given opportunity!

One of my new year's resolutions was to take Tilly out more to baby groups, not just for her benefit but for me also. I am starting a new support group for mummies on the 13th Jan which is I am really looking forward to. I'd love to make some mummy friends and now she is at the stage where she can play with some toys and get some enjoyment out of it. This month I am going to continue to take her swimming (Michael and I recently took her and she loved it), playgroups and to the library for rhyme time. I think it's something we will both love. We recently bought her a jumperoo (yet to come out of the box!) and a bumbo type seat for Christmas. These are quite grown up toys for such a little bear but she has started to enjoy sitting her in seat for short periods. She can now roll about everywhere, from back to front and visa versa. She has developed her own cute little sense of style with pretty dresses with bows...all in pink of course.

It's been a rocky road for my depression recently but with the support of my family, friends and my health visitor I am feeling stronger and truly enjoying the bond I have with Matilda. I'm lucky I still have 9 months off with her to get even closer to her, this year is a big year for Mummy and Daddy as we get married and hopefully move into our own place at the end of the year. 2014 is going to be the best and I get to share it with the two loves of my life, how lucky I am.

xoxo