Some exciting news!

Hi everyone, so after several weeks of 'umming' and 'aaahing' we have finally decided to take a step into the unknown and begin a family Youtube channel where we will regularly upload videos about our lives as a young Catholic married couple with a baby. This is a project that I have wanted to have a go at for a really long time! My inspiration, coupled with Eddy's love for editing video's has brought the past few days to life!

We really hope you like the videos and appreciate all your support. If you are a Youtube fan, please 'subscribe' to our channel and give our videos a 'thumbs up' as this will really help us to determine which kinds of vids you guys prefer seeing from us!

Our channel will come under the umbrella of my blog at BuntyLiving, but we are aiming to create separate series where Eddy and I can create videos about our own personal interests. For me this will go hand in hand with my blog and for Eddy his will mainly be around tutorials for his music studio equipment. Hopefully there will be something for everyone on our channel and we just want to take a moment to invite you to come along with us!

We will have our first video up for you guys later today and I will share the links with you all then. So make sure you have the kettle boiled, put your feet up and enjoy some silly family antics!

Love Bunty

xXx

New Hair!

Hello lovlies, I took myself along to the hairdresser's this afternoon and decided to have a good bit of the length taken off my hair. I opted for a graduated long(ish) bob with plenty of layers for that 'va va voom' full look. I'm beyond pleased with the results, more so because maintenance-wise, this is going to be so much easier to style and look after.

Recently I've found that I just haven't enjoyed having long hair at all. In the mornings i've tended to pull it up into a top knot and leave it there all day- just because I get so annoyed at it being in the way when I'm chasing after a certain little monkey. It's just not practical at the moment! But as we are heading towards summer, I figured shorter hair would be a good option, easy, fresh and light! What do you think?

xXx

Tissue Pom Poms

Hey everyone, in yesterday's blog I showed you Noah's new nursery interior and one of the things I made to go in there were some tissue paper pom poms. These are such a cheap but effective way to add a pop of colour to an interior, particularly a child's bedroom as they love looking at bright objects. 

I thought I would give you a step-by-step guide of how to make your own. They are extremely versatile and can be used to decorate all kinds of things: parties, weddings, domestic spaces, etc. 

To begin, you will need tissue paper, for my large white one I used about 9 sheets of A1 white paper. You will also need some sharp scissors and a bobbin of invisible thread (If you are hanging your pom poms.)

Line up the sheets and begin to fold about 1cm down

Now do the same again, but fold in the opposite direction...keep doing this folding motion until you end up with one strip left.

When you have finished folding, your paper should look like this.  Where my finger is pointing you should tie some of the invisible string to secure the fan shape. If you want to hang your pom poms make sure you secure a long loop of invisible string, attaching it at the centre so that you don't have to fiddle about trying to locate the centre when the pom pom is made!

Now, using sharp scissors, cut the two ends into an arrow shape.

Now layer by layer, pull the tissue paper out until each layer is separated from the rest. (Note, on this pom pom I have not cut the edges into an arrow shape)

Once you have finished separating the layers, keep adjusting and pulling them until you are happy and they should resemble a pretty ball!

And that is it guys! Super easy! I think this would also make a cute activity for children to have a go at, maybe you could make a 'playdate' of it?

Love Bunty

xXx

Splish Splash time!

My little man has recently got extremely into his bath time and for us it has become a really special part of the day. I used to bath Noah every other day until I realised how much he was enjoying bath time and looking forward to it! As he gets towards the end of his evening meal he will now look up in the direction of the bath and start pointing. If I dare mention those words 'splish splash' he explodes into a series of excited noises and demands to get out of his high chair to crawl at top speed towards the bathroom.

It's lovely to recognise that Noah is making little decisions for himself all the time now. Bath time has become part of his 'wind down' evening routine and Eddy and I love to sit with him as he splashes around and tries various new tricks in the tub. His latest game is to try and grip a slippery bar of soap for as long as possible, and when it finally plops out of his grip he breaks into giggles and chases after it again.

Sometimes bathing can feel a bit of a chore after a long day, especially when I know Noah might not necessarily need a bath, but seeing how much enjoyment he gets out of it makes it so worth it! It relaxes him and puts him in a good frame of mind for sleep, which in turn relaxes tired out parents!

I'm starting to really sense that it is all about the little things when it comes to raising babies. The small details in the day, which can be easy to overlook, are often the ones that bring us closer together as a family. 

I hope you're all enjoying your evening!

Love Bunty

xXx

Noah's Nursery

As promised countless times, I have finally gotten around to taking some snaps of Noah's new room. It's pretty much finished now in terms of decor and furniture and so I thought I would give you all a little 'tour' of his den!

 As per usual, I took a lot of inspiration from Pinterest which was so much fun to scour! Incase you're intersected to know, the wardrobe is from Ikea and the cot is from Amazon.

I hope you like! 

I love this bunting- we bought it at the weekend at BCDO . It's handmade by the lady who had a stall in the main tent. She had every letter of the alphabet in various different colours and styles. We liked the taupe and navy colours best and so opted for a mix of the two. The letters just slide onto the twine string to create a simple but effective garland! I can definitely see myself having a go at making my own!

Love Bunty

xXx

What happens when mum leaves the boys alone!

This week we have had my younger sister Rosie staying with us as well as one of my oldest friends, and Eddy's 'best bud' John. It has been really nice hanging out and spending time with all of us together. Naturally though, whilst the boys were plotting new adventures and projects together yesterday, Rosie and myself seized an opportunity to take ourselves off for a couple of hours and have some retail therapy! The boys kindly agreed to keep Noah at home so that I could have a couple of hours of 'me time.'  


(This is culprit no.1 John)

I left John and Eddy with some simple requests, nothing too demanding or difficult..."Please feed the baby and make sure he has his nap!" They both agreed to this and so I put my mind at ease as I left, knowing all was fine, baby was happy, and I could shut off my 'mummy radar' for a little while and just enjoy the rare opportunity for quality time with Rosie.

And I must say it was bliss. If you are not pushing a pram around town trying to shop whilst keeping a little one entertained, please do not take for granted how easy your life is! haha! I felt like a teenager again perusing the shops without a care in the world! Whilst trying heaps of clothes on with Rose, time seemed to vanish and we fully indulged in all the wonderful colours and fabrics we were viewing. It was so much fun, and a real rare treat for me to have that opportunity! 

After shopping till we were worn out, we decided we better head back and catch up with the boys. I have to say I still find it hard to go more than a few hours away from Noah without allowing worries to creep in, or just missing him. Sometimes this tendency does make me my own worst enemy though! 

Anyway, we finally made it home and as I walked through the front door I immediately clocked a few things out of place...it wasn't until I reached the lounge that I could really survey the full extent of this 'baby sitting' situation:

Toys absolutely everywhere and remnants of food strewn across the carpet. 'Lunch' must have happened at some point as the tell tale pizza crusts were scattered along the dining table with used mugs decorating the near edges of the surface. The dishwasher had been on a cycle and was now finished, still fully loaded of course, with the next pile of dirty pots lining just about every flat surface we have. There were socks and shoes muddled into this new floor layout, a bin that had overfilled...onto the floor tiles. I was sure the daybed sofa was still present...if i were to do a little rummaging! And just to top it all off, two grown men and one baby, all sitting on the floor grinning up at me as I walked into the room. I tell you, those 'puppy eyes' have never worked on me! 

After hearing lots of excuses amidst plenty of laughter, Eddy thought he would point out a moment of productivity that had taken place in my absence. After asking me to "check out Noah's ears", I hastily did so half thinking 'surely not another accident?!' But no, seeing the grin on Eddy and John's faces, that seemed unlikely. 

No, the boys decided that whilst Mum was away, it was as good a time as any to give Noah his first haircut. Modelled on a cross between Friar Tuck and Spock from Star Trek... Nice one lads! Apparently Noah's hair was far too long around his ears and needed shearing in a straight edge cut! Wow!

This preceded more apologies and laughter, followed up with a casual "but don't you think it looks better?" 

Anyway, you get the picture! Eddy and I have very different ideas about how a domestic day in the house with Noah should pan out and how to 'organise' the chaos that can easily ensue. We are polar opposites in this way as I am an extreme OCD clean freak! But, I have to say on days like yesterday, I am proud to be! haha!

Family life is never perfect and rarely easy. A photo can be very deceiving and having a blog has made me feel a bit responsible to ensure I don't paint an untrue representation of my own family life. There are days when it is messy, chaotic, noisy and downright unpleasant! And these days are all part of the larger fabric of our lives, they shape our learning and the choices we make to strive to be better spouses, better parents and generally nicer Christians! 

Does anyone else have days like this, come on, be honest?!

love Bunty

xXx

These are a few of my favourite blogs!

Hi guys, I've decided to introduce a new 'series' of blogs which I will post about every so often. These will be single posts about some of my favourite blogs I read. I do think us bloggers should stick together and help to spread the word on each other's blogs as far as possible and it's also lovely to have the opportunity to read more blogs and discover new people along the way.

 At the end of the day, no matter what topics we choose to blog about, or what made us decide to blog in the first place, we all want our blogs to be places which bring people pleasure and entertainment. 

There are so many reasons why people love to read blogs. Whether to bring a little ray of sunshine to a 5 minute work coffee break, or to just enjoy a moment of peace at the end of the day, it's lovely to think a blog can help to lift someones spirits or educate them on a topic they might be interested in. 

I am an avid blog reader and as much as I am inspired to blog about things in my life, I am equally inspired by the things I read in other blogs. The people behind my favourite blogs deserve recognition for their hard work and talent and I'm looking forward to helping to spread the word!

Without further ado, today's favourite blogger is Hannah Maggs. I am endlessly inspired by her and especially the involvement of her family in her blogs. I love how family oriented her blog is! I guess I feel I can relate to many of the topics she covers, particularly as we have both married relatively young and have babies of a similar age. I've picked up all sorts of tips along the way regarding baby products, general baby care and one of my all time favourite blog subjects, makeup! I am always checking to see if she has uploaded another post because I know whatever the topic, it's always going to be right up my street!

If you want to read something completely refreshing and beautifully presented, check out her blog people!

http://www.hannahmaggs.co.uk

https://www.facebook.com/alittlebeautyspot

https://twitter.com/hannahmaggs22

http://www.pinterest.com/hannahmaggs/

https://www.youtube.com/user/alittlebeautyvlog

http://instagram.com/magsy24

Love Bunty!
xXx

Big Church Day Out: Day 2!

Hello everyone! I meant to post this last night but we got home very late after another jam-packed day of fun at Big Church Day Out and I literally crashed into my bed! Sorry!

The weather was amazing yesterday, I realised after I got home that my face had burnt-even though I was shaded by my sunhat and had sunglasses on all day! But it was so good to get some proper sun on our skin, chilling out with some awesome bands and eating far too much 'fast food'! Noah was understandably a little bit tired today but he was smiley and happy all the same which made it easy for us to relax and enjoy the festival vibe.

I couldn't not show you the beautiful home that has hosted the event. Isn't it gorgeous?! Not to mention the stunning views across the countryside...I felt quite at home here!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend...I don't know about you guys, but the weeks seem to be flying past at the moment! Is anyone hoping to go to any of the music festivals this year?! 

Love Bunty!

xXx

Big church day out: music festival!

Good evening guys! It's a bit of a late post tonight- we  just got back from our first day at Big Church Day out and I wanted to share some of the photos of today with you all. 

Just to give you some background scoop, BCDO is a huge Christian music festival that takes place every year in the beautiful grounds of Wiston House near Brighton. Some of the world's leading Christian worship bands, along with up and coming talent, gather here to praise and enjoy the festival atmosphere that takes over acres of fields for one weekend each year. 

It was actually our first time here as last year we couldn't make it as I was nine months pregnant and it would have just been too long a journey from Lincoln. 

We had a lovely day walking around all the pop up shops and displays which featured handmade home accessories, printed t-shirts and a healthy dose of classic festival merchandise! 

Noah behaved like a dream today! He took such interest in seeing all that was on offer from the flashy stage lights to the thumping base that shook your insides! The festival took great care to ensure there was plenty for kids to do and even dedicated a 'kids zone' where there was a 'petting zoo' with various farm animals to see and   fair ground rides for the little ones. It was lovely to see Noah interacting with strangers, laughing, pointing and grinning his toothy smile at anyone who would indulge his cheekiness! 

The rain did come down on us but it didn't break our spirits...I just pulled on my 'granny mac' (Sorry, no photos of that stylish look!) and we bundled Noah under his waterproof pram cover and made the best of the typical English Summer weather! 

Noah and I tiptoeing through one very muddy tent! I tried to keep my outfit simple and practical today. Knowing the weather was going to be changeable, I wanted to be able to pull layers on easily if needed. I thought a little nod to 'traditional festival fashion' would be fun, hence the hat- My new favourite accessory! Also, i'm so relieved that I wore wellies today! Life saver I kid you not! Haha, these are from Joules about a year ago, I think they're still sold online if you're interested. I love the pretty bows on the front...anything that makes the world's most boring footwear look a bit more feminine is a total win! 

Look at this squashed little face! We purchased some baby ear defenders on site as the music really was very loud for Noah. He looks like such a munchkin with these on! 

Daddy and son rocking out to Rend Collective!

Eddy's youngest brother Gabriel really enjoyed his day. He is always so chirpy and full of energy. It was so good to spend quality time with him as well as his youngest sister, Ella.

Well what a day it has been! I better get to sleep because we have another day of festival action tomorrow!

Love Bunty 

xXx