Dear Beautiful Boy is one whole year old.
What started as a series of letters to my little boy
some how turned into what you see today.
To say that blogging has somewhere along the line
become and big and important part of my life
is an understatement.
My instinct now is to write and to record.
When things happen to me
I want to document them,
to get my feelings down in words
and to get a photo that captures that moment.
And that makes me exceptionally glad.
One thing is for sure,
when you become a parent life suddenly starts to move at high speed.
Things change on a daily basis
and time suddenly seems so precious.
Blogging has given me a tool that allows me to grab hold of time
and catch it
and keep it.
It's been one heck of year
and blogging has taken me to places and given me opportunities I couldn't have imagined a year ago.
I've seen the photography on my blog get me nominated for two blogging awards,
and I even stood up in front of 500 people and shared one of my posts
as part of the Blogger Keynote speech at BritMums Live.
I've been in my local paper, twice! Including a picture on the front cover.
But more than all that
I've become part of a brilliant and supportive community.
I've made some fantastic friends through blogging
and I consider some of them to real life friends too.
I honestly don't know where I would be without it now.
So to celebrate my little blog's first birthday
I thought I would share the posts I am proudest of,
the little pieces of time that I am most grateful that I have recorded for posterity.
Don't read them all, but perhaps click through and see if there are any you missed.
Thank-you lovely, lovely readers.
It sounds terribly cheesy and cliche
but I really do love you all
for the time you all take to read my posts and leave comments.
June 2011
It would be wrong not to include my first ever post in a round up of my year.
It was copied from a diary entry I had typed up on the day of our first scan,
and its where the story starts.
How could I not include this post about my beautiful boy's birth day?
The weekly and then monthly updates on what my little guy was up to
have always been the backbone of Dear Beautiful Boy.
They are the posts that I hope to look back on in years to come
as a diary of my lovely son's early years.
July 2011
I started a series of posts on significant songs to the little man's life
with one very close to my heart.
I started joining in with this simple linky
and an obsession with posting photos was born.
August 2011
Another month and another photo linky found and joined in with.
I couldn't think of a more perfect The Gallery theme to join in with for my first time that 'birth'.
And I chose to focus on my own birth as a mummy.
I documented my feelings on a very emotional day
as we approached the day we would introduce solid food.
My beautiful boy turned six months old
and I celebrated it on the blog with a whole series of posts on his first half year.
I wrote a post dedicated to my favourite animals on the planet,
my fluffy babies.
September 2011
For this The Gallery theme I talked about my very favourite day ever,
the day I became a wife and married my lovely Mr.
This post was written in response to a BritMums writing prompt.
Reading it through now and it all still rings true for me.
I gave a little tour of some of my home,
showing off the places I love best.
October 2011
Especially for anyone still wondering about my favourite colour.
Apost dedicated to the very best parents that a girl could ask for.
My mum and dad rule!!!
I started to post my birth story.
It ended up being a fifteen parter . . . oops!
I tell a good story, but I'm not always so great at editing.
This is still one of my favourite posts ever.
I sat down and I just typed and typed my thoughts on the future.
I still mean every word.
November 2011
It would have been easier to talk about what hadn't change in a year
than what had changed.
But I wouldn't have had it any other way.
Did you know that I can sew? I make a really good baby too!!!
December 2011
I love Christmas like nothing else, it is truly magical.
And with a new little person, it was time to think about our family traditions.
Two photos I was really proud of and why.
I went to my first proper blogging event,
which also happened to be the beautiful boy's first holiday.
It was wintery and festive and magical
and I made a best blogging friend.
A post with some lovely old photographs
and stories from Christmas past.
January 2012
A new year and I set myself a new challenge;
to take a photo everyday.
This is one of my most popular posts as far as google is concerned
and its all about the inspiration for my little guy's first birthday party.
Our lives were changes forever by one word; pregnant.
This is the story of how we found out.
My marriage is one of the best things that has ever happened to
and it's made me a real advocate of committing to someone for life.
I wrote to myself, a younger version of me, who just found out that she's pregnant.
February 2012
My little man turned one year old,
which meant that I had been a mummy for a whole year too.
The blog started as a way of writing letters to my little boy,
so no birthday would be complete without an extra special one.
A little post in honour of my long suffering husband,
it was Valentines Day after all.
We celebrated my beautiful boy's first year in style
with a rainbow themed birthday party.
March 2012
We had big news to share so we decided to do it in style.
The response I got to this post still astounds me.
A post that I wrote in secret when I found out I was pregnant,
with all the initial feelings and emotions I was feeling at the news.
Family time is the absolute highlight of my life,
its the happy moments that make life worth living.
April 2012
We took an Easter break to visit family and meet lots of animals
A post all about our decision not to find out our baby's gender.
A photo that I love,
linking up to a site that I help run called I Heart Snapping.
Having started a new photo challenge link called See It Snap It Love It
I snapped this photograph which I am really proud of.
May 2012
The bond between my son and my husband is a joy and an honour to watch
and it makes me happy everyday that I married one and made the other.
It was time to show the real beautiful boy,
the cheeky, silly, naughty one
who makes us smile and laugh out loud.
It's been a roller coaster ride, but the very best thing that I've ever done.
A little story about everyday life and why it makes us smile
Sometimes I just take some beautiful photographs of my beautiful boy.
June 2012
I turned twenty-eight so I gave my readers a gift;
lots of useless information all about me.
A recent post but one very close to my heart,
the little things make life worth living and I grab them at every opportunity.
A post that I couldn't decide whether to publish or delete,
where I opened my heart on my worries about becoming a mum to two and having to share my boy.
Wow!!! What a year.
Wow!!! What a year.
Happy blog anniversary Lucy and beautiful boy :)
ReplyDeleteI think I discovered this blog through silent Sunday - enjoying new photos of your little handsome boy.
What a year it has been for you and well deserved as your blog is a beautiful thing to look at.
so will you change the blog name once Splodge is born?
Congratulations again xx
Thank-you. I think I found a lot of my favourite blogs through Silent Sunday, and The Gallery. Where would we be without a good linky.
DeleteI'm still undecided as to what I'll do when Splodge arrives with regards to the blog name. I think I'll just see how I feel, plus I guess if Splodge is a boy I can get away with just adding an s. x
Happy Blogday! and what a year! can't wait to read the next years worth! xx
ReplyDeleteThanks. Can't believe its been a year, kind of feels like I just started, but also like I've been doing it forever. x
DeleteHappy Blogversary! It's been an absolute pleasure seeing Chops grow up whilst being away. So thank you. xx
ReplyDeleteAhhh, well I'm glad it's been useful and helped you to feel connected with all his goings on. x
DeleteIt's great to have discovered your blog. I love your pictures and your words often ring so true to me. With our boys being the same age it's good fun to note the similarities and the differences between the little guys. Happy First Birthday!
ReplyDeleteThank-you so much. I think you do naturally find an affinity with bloggers who have children the same age because the experiences are so similar. x
DeleteHappy Bog Birthday!!! x
ReplyDeleteAww Happy Blog Birthday PIC. It's lovely to see how far you have come and I look forward to revisiting a few of the posts I haven't read before. x
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you've probably read most of them. But I had a lovely time reading through my old posts as I put this together, it was a great little trip down memory lane. x
DeleteHappy Blog Birthday! I cannot believe you have only been blogging a year! x
ReplyDeleteYep, one year. I'm still a baby really. x
DeleteHappy Blogaversary! I thought you had been around longer! :-) X
ReplyDeleteNope, lots of people say that. But I'm still a big newbie really. x
DeleteHappy Blogging anniversary - we were 1 on the same day! *spooooooky*
ReplyDelete