this {relunctant} birthday girl



those who know me, will know i've been in a less than celebratory mode of late. in truth i'd written off my birthday before it had even happened.

two boys however, had not.

it's been a whirl of play dates, play group,date night, fizz and thai food. what more can a girl ask for.

thank you my dear boys.
thank you dear family and friends.

i am one lucky lady.

now time to say a final goodbye to a truly incredible woman.
Friday, 31 May 2013 Comments: 1
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this must be underwater love


oh yes that is caleb chops underwater!! i love his expression, it's a bit like..mama what the hell of you got me into!

we had been taking swimming classes and enjoying it so much, that when we had a chance to take part in an underwater photoshoot it was a no brainer. caleb had a great time on the day and was actually submerged three times. major respect son, seeing as your mama has to hold her nose when she goes underwater. 

this picture was taken a few months back now and i'm pretty sure his dive reflex has weakened significantly since, this really is a special moment caught in time. my underwater baby :)

today on this little house we are lucky to have the talented duo behind this picture, susan and sam from clear photography. 

photography is a skill i admire so much and i was curious as to how they found themselves taking such amazing shots of babes underwater, i got a chance to have a little chat with them and here is what they had to say...

can you tell us about your company clear photography.

clear photgraphy is sam and susan heaton, a husband and wife team, based in edinburgh. from weddings and kids through to commercial and editorial images, our aim is to create modern, natural images.

taking pictures of babies underwater is pretty cool! how did you first become involved?

when we had our baby girl, poppy, we were taking her swimming every week from around 4 weeks old and she absolutely loved it! we really wanted to photograph her in the pool and one weekend, while staying at a hotel, we hired an underwater camera and played around with it. the images we got were amazing that we wanted everyone to have one!

any advice to parents participating in the underwater shoot?

the main thing is to enjoy it! however, it is incredibly important that your little one is comfortable in the water and the submersion's. swimming should always be a fun experience and we don't photograph any child that is unhappy or uncomfortable.

any tips to photographing little ones (on dry land that is!)?

use natural light as much as possible and try to catch them 'in the act'...the minute you try to set something up, 9 times out of 10 little people decide it's time to do something else!

always having a camera to hand to snap little moments means you are bound to catch something really special. i also say to get in close (as close as your camera allows, blurry photos are not such a great keepsake!) - little hands holding their favourite toy, toes, long eyelashes behind a curl of hair - these are all precious memories that you will love to look back at when the little people are big people and no longer there in front of you every day to marvel at :)

where can you find clear photography?

we have a studio just off the links in leith but you can also find us online and on facebook where we keep followers up to date with regular blog posts, offers and competition.
Wednesday, 29 May 2013 Comments: 14
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this little footballer {& a social media crazed mama}


so when i awoke sunday morning (my turn for the lie in :) i was met with caleb in full football kit and michael who looked fit to burst with pride. now lets just say i'm no football fan (i try, god i try). michael was quick to assure me caleb only had the kit on for photographs before the big game and then i could take it off. here's the thing, i love caleb in a football strip! i mean have you seen those chubby legs in the football socks?! and anyway who am i to talk, i put the kid in braces for crying out loud. love me some braces.

so the kit stayed firmly on for the day while michael went off to the game, and here dear husband, is the proof. now only if this had brought the team some luck. one day boys. one day.

losing aside we had a cracking day holding the fort here back in edinburgh. we spent the day with grandma edinburgh and two of caleb's cousins, rian and lewis. there is nothing i like better than watching caleb play with his family. he's such a lucky boy. lewis and caleb are both happy and smiley souls so are a perfect match together. while rian, being the elder, is so sweet and so so patient with him. caleb was in his element with rian playing football , well in caleb's case hand ball. i'm telling you if the boy can dribble with his feet one day like he dribbles with his hands we will have one very happy daddy on our hands.

i'm so pleased caleb has a big family with lots of little ones about. it makes me think about how nice it will be for them all growing up together. i have to admit this does have me thinking about siblings for caleb too. ha ha and this coming from the girl who after giving birth proclaimed never again. ah how things change. don't get me wrong i'm not talking about right now but lets just say that broody feeling is slowly but surely creeping back in.

glutton for punishment.

*oh and did i mention i'm a social media crazed woman right now?! 
yep that is this little house now set up on facebook, twitter and instagram.
i'm not going to lie i am not entirely sure what i'm doing, especially with twitter, but if i can master a bit of basic html coding on this blog, damn it i will figure out twitter if it kills me!!

would love for you to come join us over on these sites, and we'd really appreciate the follows and likes if you enjoy what we do on this here blog. would be great to find out who's on which sites too so i can follow you back :)

pinterest, i know, i know i've not forgot about you. you're next. promise.

Tuesday, 28 May 2013 Comments: 4
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a {couple of} weeks in this little house


this little guy has been...

>>> the best comfort a mum and dad could ask for :)

>>> on fire with his walker. though did have his first proper fall, complete with bump on the head. caleb after  a minute of crying, non-fazed. us, scarred for life.

>>> getting his first proper pair of shoes. turns out you have super wide feet so only had the choice out of two pair in the whole shop, bless.

>>> obsessed with anything with buttons. if there's a button to be pressed you'll press it!

>>> crazed head-butting toddler. walls, floors, toys, units (thankfully not people!) you name it. mama is not a big fan of this.

>>> very cuddly of late. mama is a big fan of this :)

>>> loving all his time with his cousins and friends. watching you enjoy being a part of the action literally makes my heart sing.

>>> loving eating outdoors. pesto pasta is the firm favourite and the moment :)

>>> screaming. without warning might i add, and for no apparent reason, just like hey mum check out this noise i can make!

>>> laying down on the floor whenever tired. cutest thing ever.

>>> one with nature. which includes touching every flower you see, chewing sticks, oh and lets not forget eating grass and mud.


you're such a loving and social little fella. even though so little you have made us so so proud these last few weeks. i'm sure you've picked up that something has been wrong,  i was worried it might affect you and make you sad and confused but quite the opposite has happened, you've been the one who has given us strength. you've made us laugh and refocus on the good things in life. 

thank you my dear boy. we would be lost without you.

eh i'd like to point out michael and i do not own matching glasses! this was our little geek-off competition (of course). damn it he wins. now how much trouble will i be in for including that picture in this post....
Sunday, 26 May 2013 Comments: 6
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this little day. these little moments.

today was the first time in a long time that we had no plans. just the two of us. so first things first. time to get caleb domesticated. ladies i introduce to you the perfect man...


anyone need a hand fitting an ikea kitchen? i swear i could help after building this little baby. i'm not kidding this kids kitchen is hilarious how much it's like the real thing. it's been the perfect remedy for caleb's obsession with opening and closing our actual kitchen cupboards, now he sits happily at his doing the same thing. 

eh the metal pots and pans however maybe not the best move. caleb however is in love. 

metal pans + wooden floor =  banging that would make someone hard of hearing cry

note to self, don't always ignore the age stated on the packaging of kids toys.


okay so i maybe bought a rug while i was at ikea too. was i in the market for a rug you may ask? eh no. we had a perfectly lovely one. so how did i justify this purchase? well it is a summer rug of course! the winter one is now tucked neatly away in the garage ;) ah gotta love trying to justify a purchase to yourself. husband, not so convinced.


beautiful flowers to cheer me up from an equally beautiful friend. thank you lovely lady ♥


flowers go perfectly with my summer rug don't you think? ;)


we dined alfresco on our balcony for lunch, go scotland with the weather :)
i got stuck into cheesey wonder while caleb mostly took his hat off grrrrr




he was fooled for all of five seconds when i turned the cap around. ah the hat war continues.

we then hit the sunshine outside with caleb's walker. unfortunately i didn't take my camera just my phone and then of course my phone battery went. he is so funny with the walker, i must capture it next time. he does this funny waddle as his pushes it along. cute doesn't even come close.

caleb then treated me to a two hour afternoon nap! which i was grateful for as i've been pretty lazy since i've been back, i hadn't even unpacked my case from leeds and liverpool. i just haven't seemed to be able to muster up the energy. well thanks to my boy's siesta i got a lot of jobs ticked off my never ending list.

today has been so chilled and lovely just the two of us. we finished the day off with dinner with daddy and lots of fun chasing each other round the flat. i seriously don't know who's more childish sometimes. (michael's just read this bit and thought it was hilarious as it makes it sound as though it was just michael and i chasing each other round the flat, i can assure you caleb was involved too!!)

just as my tush hit the couch with an ice cold savvy b, thank you husband. i looked  out the window and saw this beauty...


now this might sound silly but i have a thing for rainbows. over the years there's been a few instances which have been quickly followed by the most glorious rainbow. i kid you not. i think this one is from my nana, and i don't care if that sounds daft. sometimes you need a bit of daft  in your life :)

perfect end to a lovely day.

Wednesday, 22 May 2013 Comments: 22
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just what the doctor ordered




this really is just what the doctor ordered. family time.

there is no time for grief with a little one about, and i'm thankful for that. that's not to say i'm not grieving, but having caleb's needs at the forefront has brought about a beautiful side-effect. everytime i feel as though i may just burst into tears right there on the spot, i replace those thoughts with a happy memory of my nana. you know what? it's working. it has me thinking of things that i've not thought about in years. it makes me happy. happy for those memories.

we've laughed so much these past few days which at times feels odd, but i know my nana would be happy about this.

caleb has been cracking us up with his oh so serious face at the zoo's play park. i mean have you seen that boy's face coming down the slide?? eh and lets not talk about mine ;)

oh and we're also learning to have eyes in the back of our heads. take your eye of him for a second and he's off. picnickers beware, if you leave your sandwich unattended...hell if you've got your sandwich in your hand just not in your mouth yet, you better watch out for caleb!

caleb, my boy. you are the best distraction a girl could ask for.

*thank you so much for all the lovely and thoughtful comments on sunday's post. the support we have received is so appreciated. this little blogging world is something else and so are you :)
Tuesday, 21 May 2013 Comments: 5
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