oh this life. :-)

Well hello little bloggy o' mine! I've been oh so neglecting you and I feel sad about that. I miss just spewing my inner outers into the world of da interwebs. But hey, such be life, yes yes.

When you decide to have a baby, you don't really realise that it means that basically, in addition to all the love, you also take on another full time job. You sort of think; "oooh squee, cuteness love and beauty", but you don't see it taking up as much time (in your mind's eye) as it, eventually, does. Unless, of course, you send your babe to a nursery, which my heart can't take, so that ain't happening here! (no judgement of those who do btw).

Instead, we manage with a child minder who comes for 10 hours a week and me and Andy both working part time and the other time we look after this gorgeous little cherub of a child of ours, dylbeebaloo.

Lookit, he's 11 months old now, is crawling, cruising (walking along the furniture), growing teethies, and has just today learned to wave 'bye bye' although I don't think he understands it means waving 'bye bye'. He is nearly 1 year old, I can't quite believe it!! And he absolutely LOVES bouncing up and down and going on the swings, see;





We are organising a big party for his first bday, of course, he won't have a clue, but I keep saying; any excuse for cake, nibbles and a barbecue in the garden right? :-) My parents are coming over too, so it should be fun.

I made this bday invite for him:



Other than that, my art course World of Whimsy 2 has just started and I'm already feeling so moved and excited by what is happening with the guys on the course. Running these courses is always really fulfilling and satisfying for me, though a load of work also, but lots of fun and joy too! I'm giving away three places on the course as well, and I must say that some of the comments people have been leaving on the give away thread are just so moving and some are so sad. Like some people are saying how depressed they are and that they think the course would do them good! It breaks my heart in many ways, I wish I could give a spot to everyone on the course, and if I were a millionaire, I would!

I've had such amazing positive feedback on my latest youtube video: "There is Nothing Wrong with You" - again; I'm totally humbled and moved by everyone's responses. So many of us seem to go through similar things when it comes to our self acceptance.

I made this video on the new Mac with iMovie, I really love it. This Mac is rather awesome and it's doing exactly what I hoped it would do for me. And as much as I worried it was going to be hard to get used to all the different functions; it's really not that bad. Got used to it quite quickly. Very, no, SUPER, happy I invested in this Mac.

If you haven't seen my latest youtube vid yet, here it is!



and here are some images of the art journal entry;







Oh guess what? This morning I received this stunning bunch of flowers! I was totally surprised when the guy came to the door with the flowers, and didn't understand who had sent them and why? And then it dawned on me! It's the 20th of July - Andy and I got married (legally) one year ago. LOL!!!

See, we've always felt like we've been married for 5 years anyway, last year we married for basic legal reasons (we only had 2 witnesses there, no fuss, no wedding dress etc) and so the date 20th July doesn't mean much to me, lol. Anyhoo, Andy had remembered and sent me those flowers, so so sweet! :))

So, we are [legally] married for 1 year today! (We've 'unlegally' been married for the past 5.5 years though, ha ha!).

It's just quite funny to me that I don't remember my wedding anniversary (the legal one, I'd never forget the other date - 16th Feb, to me, that's our 'real' date). :)

Anyhoo, so, life is going by, it's beautiful, difficult, stinky, filled with daisies, baby dribbles, sunshine, stardust, love, understanding, avocados, paint messes, pictures, car trips, blue skies, swings, yellow stripy things, laughter, giggles, dances, chases on hands and knees, dylan giggles, art, connection, students, pretty things that go boo in the night, songs, apple juice and rhubarb cake, friends, fun and gratitude.

I am grateful. As hard as some of this stuff is, this life, I am utterly, irrevocably grateful to have this opportunity to be, to live, to love, to give, to receive.

Sometimes I want more, sometimes I feel I have so much that my heart is about to burst with it all, sometimes I'm stagnant, sometimes I'm able to just be ok with what is. Sometimes I struggle, sometimes I feel enlightened by a kind comment or gesture, sometimes I want to cry, sometimes I can't contain my inner joy.

<3

Love to you, if you are reading this.

xoxo