38. Self Portrait Number Two.

This is NOT a tit.
I have spared myself the challenge of catching myself in a favourable light this time round and 'plumped' for a picture of my very spherical belly.
Its roundness made me chuckle when I caught sight of it this evening, so I thought I'd share.
There's a little limb sticking out slightly just NE of my (outy) belly button. I think it's an elbow or a knee.

ps. Just showed this entry to Harriet and Scott. She thinks it looks like an egg, and he thinks it looks like "a big tit".
I'm worried that it's too obscene for project 365 now! Should I draw a smiley face on it?

37. Cheers.

Happy birthday Dad.

36. The Boy - Now In 3D!!!

We had another scan today, needed to check on a little anomaly (that turned out to be absolutely fine).
We were lucky enough to get this pretty clear 3D image of the little man's face, although to the casual onlooker it could appear to be one of those magic eye pictures.
Either way, stare at the picture long enough and the face of a 24-week-old foetus will appear.
(He has his hand on his face, possibly sucking his thumb, but he looks in deep thought to me).

35. Leading Me Up The Garden Path.

Sorry, another photo of Harriet.
Shortly before I took this photo we had been sitting in the garden; her eating smarties (and chattering about flowers, the sky, ants, and dogs) and me taking photographs of a pair of buzzards.
Lovely, I thought, I can bring a bit of variety to my photoblog in the form of a wildlife photograph.
Unfortunately every single photo was utter crap. Two had blurred bird shapes in them, one had a crystal clear shot of one of the buzzards, but from an odd angle that made it look like a plastic bag being blown through the air, and the other 5 had nothing in them but out of focus scenery.

Have had a hectic day and failed to photo anything else so this will have to do. It's typical of Harriet and me at the moment. She powers on around the garden and I follow at an increasing distance, huffing and puffing, and whining for her to wait for me.
It's classic role reversal.

34. It's A Girl Thing.

The Bag: It's my new Ollie & Nic bag.
The Story: In a nutshell, ordered it ONE MONTH AGO and it arrived today (along with a replacement for the one 'lost in the post').
The Lesson: Don't buy online if you want the item any time soon.

I do love my new bag though. I'm not going to say that it's worth the wait. It would have to be stuffed full of £50 notes for that, but it is very nice.
Harriet thinks so too. She was drawn to it like a moth to a flame, but then she does have a thing for bags already (my girly 'bag gene' didn't kick in until I reached 30 so she must get it from her father's side).

33. Living In A Box.

Our neighbours had a new kitchen fitted and we thought we'd save them the bother of trying to find room in their car for all of the empty boxes by pinching this one.
As you can see, I am a master craftsman. The windows have been painstakingly stabbed out with a kitchen knife (NOT when Harriet was sitting inside - that's not the reason for her startled look).
She asked me for an ice lolly (a very watered down home made one!) and disappeared with it.
This is where I found her, happy as Larry, sitting in the dark.

32. A Promising Harvest.

This is the cooking apple tree in the garden today. It is absolutely loaded with pie filling.
The plum trees have let us down this year, but we're alright for apples. We bought ourselves an apple picker a few weeks back too. That should get a lot of use. (It's basically just a long pole with a cloth bag on the end, but it's better than anything we could have built).

31. Odd Socks.

About two weeks ago Harriet developed a habit of swapping socks with me. She doesn't do it every day, but often enough.
I can't decide which if us looks the most ludicrous. I'm fairly sure that it's me. I think Harriet gets away with it due to being cute as a button.
I'm happy with the arrangement, as my current pregnancy side-effect is uncomfortably hot feet! Plus I'm happy to read all sorts of sentimental reasons into why she would want to wear my socks and put me in hers...

30. Bernard And The Danios.

Had an odd day today. Harriet went to stay with her grandparents from 12pm until 6pm and I was planning on doing absolutely nothing. Needed to recharge my extremely flat batteries after a very full-on week, which saw me starting each day at 8am and not clocking off unitl 11pm at the earliest.
I didn't do 'absolutely nothing' in the end, but I did do 'absolutely nothing' with the camera. Not having my muse around meant I didn't automatically reach for the camera, and the only time I thought "I should photgraph that!" was when I had piled a huge dinner onto my plate (a mountain of lettuce, tomato, and avocado drizzled in dressing, with lasagne and a few chips for good measure). I was so hungry that I was a sizeable way through it before I remembered that I was going to photograph it for posterity. (It had taken me the very short walk from the kitchen to the dining table, eyeing up the platter and drooling all the way, to forget and plunge straight into it).

Anyway, long story short (too late for that) it was 11.30pm before I realised I hadn't taken a photo so I hurredly took this shot of Bernard and the Danois. They sound like a 50s doo-wop band, but they are in fact a huge Oranda and his tank-mates (The Danios, who have never been named individually).
It is a bad picture, but it was very late.
There are four Danios in the tank and I bet nobody can see them all.

29. Fruit Bat.

It's blurred, it's out of focus, she moved, but I love this picture!
I gave Harriet a little bowl of blackberries, a portion of our harvest yesterday, and this is the resultant mess! I had to snap a quick image of her (hence the poor quality!) before she spread the red onto every piece of furniture in the room. Her hands looked like they belonged to a butcher!

28. Striding Down The Garden!

Harriet and I headed off down the garden this afternoon to check on those brambles. We found plenty of ripe blackberries for a mid-afternoon snack with some left over for pudding tonight.
In this photo Harriet is wearing my favourite combo. The cardy, scarf, and wellies were all gifts from my sister. The hat is a bargain I picked up and is actually for 4-7 year-olds!

It wasn't my intention to have this photo blog solely based on Harriet, you know! It just seems to be heading that way at the moment. I just love photoing her and I am making the most of the handful of months we have left where it's just the two of us.
*sniff*

27. Balmy English Summer.

This was the view from our window today. It's very typical of this summer's weather, in that there's plenty of sun, but it's rarely without rain or cloud.

My picture is inspired by a fellow 365er's rainbow photo. She captured hers much better than I captured mine!

26. Second Night In The Big Girls' Bed...

This went decidedly better than the first! Harriet and I read some books, played with some stickers, and then she, the bump, and myself squished into that tiny little bed for a whole night's sleep (in Harriet's case anyway!).
The mattress is unforgivingly firm, which worked wonders on my pregnant pelvic bones, but played havoc with my 40-year-old hip bones! Still, my pregnant waddle has gone this morning and Harriet is being praised and treated for being a clever BIG girl. And I did get about 7 hours sleep, at a guess.

25. Pocket Junk.

If you look closely at yesterday's picture, you'll see that Harriet is not actually looking at the HUGE toadstools. She is in fact shoving crap into her pockets. Her little cardy has teeny pockets, but she still managed to bring this little haul home with her. Luckily I thought to frisk her clothes before putting them in the wash this morning.

I put my hand in the shot solely for the purpose of scale, but just look at those lovely nails! And I've never had a professional manicure in my life! I expect they'll split and splinter after The Boy's born and look as grotty as they did after I'd had Harriet. Oh well...

Oh I should add that, as well as bringing home this collection of gravel, sticks and dead leaves, Harriet had shoved four big stones into my backpack too.

24. A long Walk On Short Legs.

Harriet and I set off today with a backpack containing a bottle of water, my mobile phone, and a big tupperware box for putting blackberries in.
I had no idea where we'd find any blackberries, as I've not been able to explore the area very much, but we found millions of them. Just a shame that most of them were green! We did manage to scrump a few, enough to keep Harriet happy anyway.
We walked a good three miles I'd say, it could have been less of a distance, but I found it hard to gauge at toddler speed. Can't believe how well Harriet did, she loves to walk but that was a good, long trek today. She was kept interested by butterflies, flowers, grasshoppers, cows, sheep, a horse, and these HUGE toadstools.

23. Tryptic.

Anticipation...


The bubbles are on their way...


Now to catch them all.

Couldn't decide on one photo today so I chose this sequence from when Harriet and her Auntie Sarah were playing with bubbles. Bryn and Sarah drove a long way to see us and Harriet completely monopolised Sarah! We barely got more than a couple of sentences out to each other before Harriet dragged her off to play games. I was rudely shoved aside by Harriet, my presence being neither necessary nor desired. :'-(
Sarah is a great auntie though, and Harriet had an absolute ball (and I got to sit still for a change).

Don't know if you'll read this, Sarah, but if you do THANK YOU!!! My little girl adores you!

22. Constant Craving.

The current craving is for avocados. I can't get enough of them. I would peel them and eat them whole were it practical.
God, just looking at that picture is making me want the other half, which is calling me seductively from the fridge.

21. Another Photo Of Harriet.

She really enjoyed this little ride today, as you can see by the little smile. I'm not entirely convinced she knew who the plastic oddball next to her was, but I was entirely convinced (by the shrieking) that one 50p ride was not enough.
Twas all the change I had though.
You'll note that her jeans, at this point, are bone dry. Just outside the shop, however, was a row of deliciously big puddles...

20. Mummy's Little Helper.

Accepting help from a toddler has been one of the biggest challenges of my life so far. You have to be graceful and encouraging, when inside you're screaming. You have to accept that every job will take at least three times longer than it would ordinarily.
Washing up with the aid of a toddler entails an awful lot of mopping up afterwards, and the laundry will need sorting out several times to assure that no rogue items (such as red socks, stickers, and small plastic horses) have made their way into the machine.
The two jobs that are actually more fun with a toddler are vacuuming (because she shadows me with her toy vacuum cleaner, even holding the cable out of her way as she goes!), and pairing socks. It's lovely to see Harriet get so excited about two socks being "THE SAME!!!"

19. Not Taken Today...

I just noticed that there was a gap in my archive where the 12th August's entry should have been. I have checked my camera and it appears that I didn't take a single photo that day. It was a hectic one, I remember it well. Harriet and I were out and about, and then her Grandad arrived for a fortnight's visit. I had fully intended taking a photo of Harriet and her Grandad, but he's camera shy (hence why I still haven't posted one!).
I shall sneak one up somehow. Harriet loves having "Drandad" here so I really must commemorate the visit.
I am filling the gap with this photo taken of Harriet in the garden on the 30th July. It's a wee bit over-exposed but I love that about it. It's just how things appear on a sunny day to me, and Harriet looks gorgeous in it.

18. Cheesy Self Portrait.

Hmmm. I read an article about Project 365 and there was a suggestion therein that you should take a picture of yourself at least once a month, so that, when looking back, you can see how you looked in context with all the other things that made up your life.

So this is me at nearly 22-weeks pregnant (will do a bump picture next time), wishing that my hair was dyed to lighten it and cover the grey, but unable to change it until the little man has been born. Vain? Moi?
Harriet's bedtime antics and chatter have put the smile on my face.
About 15 minutes later I was looking a lot more stern...

17. Ice Pops Are Seriously Fun.

I had to post this today. Harriet looks so serious as she munches on her ice pops. These are a special treat that her dad gives her, usually just before mealtimes. *rolls eyes*
She is watching Toy Story on my laptop, as the TV is still broken (and she is still hooked on it).

16. Charlotte's Shoes.

Went to a fancy dress party dressed as Rosemary (from Rosemary's Baby). Nobody asked who I had come as so I gathered that they all assumed I was not in costume.
What I needed was just one item as knock-out as these fab shoes. People would have known that I was dressed up then, for sure.
Charlotte, the birthday girl, had planned to go as Dorothy (Wizard of Oz) and bought the shoes well in advance. There was a last minute hitch with the rest of the costume though, but rather than return the shoes (and who could do that???) she managed to get her hands on a Minnie Mouse costume at the 11th hour, and the shoes went beautifully.

15. Big Girl's Bed.

Today was the first day I have struggled to find an image. It got right up to Harriet's bedtime before something presented itself.
We bought Harriet a ready bed last week for when we stay over with friends, and particularly for tomorrow night after a fancy dress party. Tonight we decided on a trial run and Harriet was so excited. The last thing she said before falling asleep was, "Harriet's a big girl. In a big girl's bed."

14. Harriet Takes Centre Stage.

This is Harriet at her friend's birthday party. She is getting more and more confident these days. It's nice to see, especially when she performs like this (in a non-precosious way, of course), but it does have a drawback. She is not too shy to shout "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" in public any more either. *blush* Not too shy to cause a scene at all. Anywhere.
I love her mix of tomboy and girliness. She loves bags and shoes and her pretty tops, but she also loves her combat trousers (she calls them "Daddy trousers" because her dad has similar!) and often insists on wearing them.

13. To Infinity And Beyond!

It was Nanny's birthday today and Harriet snapped out of her day-long grump just in time for a party. She nibbled at the food then got everyone doing the hokey cokey, before settling down to a massive bowl of fruit and ice cream. This, rather worryingly, came after the massive bowl of fruit and ice cream.
She isn't actually being thrown across the room, despite how it looks in the photo. She is being her hero, Buzz Lightyear.

12. Shop Till You Drop.

Had a hectic day today. Dashed here, there and everywhere. Got caught in the rain several times but, as you can see, Harriet was dressed for that.
By the time we got to the food shopping she was pooped and inexplicably fell asleep as soon as her bum hit the trolley seat. I say inexplicably as it must have been very uncomfortable compared with the car seat she had just left, in which she was bubbly and full of energy.

11. Library Cake.

One of my favourite things to do with Harriet is visit the library. We go to the children's section where I choose books while she plays with the cushions and brings me DVDs.

Once she's had enough of that she demands "cake!" and we head downstairs to the café. They are very generous with their slices there and one chunk of victoria sponge is plenty for the two of us. These days I have a pot of camomile tea with my cake, but before the pregnancy I used to have a much needed mug of coffee. I miss my afternoon coffee and the irony is that I need it even more now that I can't have it.

Anyway, today Harriet thought that the library would be a good place to practice her squeaking.
Very embarrassing.

10. Thank you, Walt.

From the minute she wakes to the minute she drops off to sleep, Harriet is a blur of activity. Actually she's a fidget when she sleeps too. And come to think of it, she was a blur of activity from the moment of her conception. Ultrasound scans were always entertaining for us and challenging for our specialist, as he struggled to pin her down long enough to make useful observations.
However, thanks to Walt Disney and Pixar, Harriet has been known to sit still(ish) for the WHOLE DURATION of Toy Story. It's quite a marvel.
Buzz is her hero, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Woody is her first crush. (She went all coy when she realised that I had seen her kiss a picture of him!)
In this picture she is watching Toy Story 2 and calming down after a trip to the grandparents, and nursing a skinned right knee (which you may just see if you look really closely).

9. The things I crave.

Right now I can't get enough toast and marmalade or hot chocolate. I could happily drink hot chocolate all day.
The other thing I crave I can't have. That's my dad in the photo, and we lost him 9 years and 3 months ago. I like to think he'd be proud of me and happy with where I am today, and I'd love to be sharing my current experience with him. He'd be very happy at the prospect of another grandson and he may even have been able to help us come up with a name...
I really, really miss him today.

8. Self-feeding gone wrong.

Harriet is normally very good at feeding herself. She frequently helps herself to pots of yoghurt from the fridge, asks me for a 'foon' and then traipses off to tuck in.
Rarely do I have a mess to clear up.
Today though, she came back in to me quite distressed at the mess she'd made. I'm not sure how many 'foon'fuls actually made it to her stomach, but some at least did make it to her face.
In the photo she is simultaneously splattering me with yoghurt with her left hand and attempting to towel herself down with her right hand.