129. Chocolate Cake.

This cake was made with the help of my mum. She knows how to make a nice plump cake and this needed to be plump, as it's the top cake for Bryn and Sarah's wedding.
It is more chocolate than cake really, but they are chocoholics. 
It was baked, marzipanned and iced this weekend ready to be decorated tomorrow.

128. Tamara.

A photograph of Tamara taken today! Finally caught up!
This is my friend's 2-year-old daughter. She and Harriet had only just met when they started hugging each other. They got on brilliantly.

127. Filler 3. Baby Zia.

This was taken tomorrow too. It's a wary looking Harriet, a ropy looking me, and an absolutely gorgeous little baby called Zia.
He's my niece's 4-week+2-day-old baby.

126. Filler 2.

This was actually taken tomorrow. Boden is a very soppy and loving dog, but shies away from children.
Except Harriet. The two of them have always got on like a house on fire.

125. Filler 1.

Oops! Have been ridiculously busy so the next few photgraphs were all taken on the 28th - 30th November.
This is my beautiful dog, Boden, who I'll be seeing on Friday, at my mum's.

124. Harriet's Newborn Clothes.

There are so many things that I'd like to keep, such as this gorgeous babygro. I'm being firm though, and only Very Special Things are being stored away.

123. Clear out.

Today was spent sorting out Harriet's old clothes. I had kept loads thinking that they'd be useful if another baby girl should come our way, but the imminent baby is a boy, so a lot of turfing out must be done.

122. Ball Pit.

 
Harriet and her friend, Megan, having fun at soft play.

 
Daddy's lost and Harriet's helping to find him.

121. Pleasant Sunrise.

I cursed Harriet for waking me early until I saw this.
Very uplifting.
I love the golden light being cast across the grass.

120. The Boss.

Harriet in bossy mode.
Probably saying, "Put that bloody camera away and get me dressed."

119. Sad Face.

Another one of Harriet's faces. This is an example of a sad face. I presume it's sad because someone punched it in the eye. There's a desperately sad realness to that eye on the left.
Very sad indeed.

118. Another Family Portrait.

Harriet loves to draw faces. She likes to draw sad ones, happy ones, cross ones, surprised ones...
I drew three circles for her and she drew the details. We all look happy enough. Daddy looks a bit smug and Harriet and Mummy look like they're under the influence of something, but we're definitely more happy than sad.
You might also notice that Harriet has my eyes.

117. Scary Monsters.

Harriet told me she was going to draw monsters.
From across the room I heard, "I'm unna draw some monsters. I'm drawing monsters. Look! Is a scary monsters. It's a very scary monsters... It's ok Harriet. It's ok...MUMMY!"
And she threw down her pencils and took flight, screaming.

These are the monsters that scared her so.

116. Pointless Searches?

I found this on the laptop after my brother had left. Did he really expect any other answer?

115. Little Brother.

The morning after they came.
It was a gloomy and wet day so we stayed in, ate chocolates and played with pasta. 
LtoR: Linda (lovely Linda), Harriet, Paul (my little brother).
I hope Harriet gets on as well with hers as I do mine.
:-)

114. Family Portrait.

My brother, Paul, and his girlfriend, Linda, paid a surprise visit today. I look surprised don't I.
It was late in the day when I realised that I hadn't fulfilled today's 365 requirement so Linda kindly took this photograph to highlight the family resemblance. (Believe it or not, but there was no collusion. We just chose to pull the exact same face.)
I clearly need a haircut (and possibly a facelift).

113. Co-sleeping.

Yet another photograph of my sleeping child. This is either testament to the fact that I believe she looks adorable when asleep or it's proof that I'm frequently forgetful when it comes to taking my 365 photos.
Take your pick.
Tonight, Harriet and I were left on our own overnight, as Scott went out for some socialising. So the little lady slept with me and this is the last thing I saw before I dropped off.
Before this I had an hour of her whining and chatting about noses, followed by at least one hour of Braxton Hicks. Then I was able to sleep.

112. Face Biscuit.

Harriet has insisted that we add a new ritual to our Thursday mornings. We go to Toddler Group, which she knows as "Hop hop hop" (she named it after her favourite song) and then we must go to the bakery for a "face bicuit". A gingerbread biscuit with a face of smarties and melted chocolate.
She eats the face off and then when she's had enough biscuit I get the soggy leftovers! Mmmm.

111. Playing In The Leaves.

After a last minute change of plans, Harriet and I headed off to the library for craft activities, books, cake, and an impromptu rummage in the leaves.

110. Spider By Moonlight.

The moon was out full and early today and this beast caught my eye as I drew the curtains.
It's a crap picture really, bit blurred and out of focus.
The subject matter suits the mood though.

109. Muffins!

Today I have crippled myself bandy in the kitchen, baking 50 muffins for Bryn and Sarah's wedding. I need to bake 6 more tomorrow and whack them in the freezer and then that's that part of the job done.
Harriet was a great help. She helped with the "mixy mixy" and tapped the sieve to sift the flour.
I used: 2lbs 8oz flour, 2lbs 8oz marge, 1lb 14oz sugar, 20 eggs, and a bottle and a half of vanilla essence.

108. Aunty Sarah.

Our friends, Bryn and Sarah, dropped round this evening to discuss wedding cakes and to receive hugs for their recent bereavement. 
Harriet adores her Aunty Sarah. Here they are doing each other's hair. Harriet's a bit heavy-handed, but I think she shows flair.

107. Having A Ball.

Scott took Harriet to the soft play park again today. I stayed at home to bake cakes and have a long (uninterrupted!) soak in the bath.
Harriet had fun again, and actually looks as if she's enjoying herself this time.

It's a shaky picture taken by Scott with his mobile phone camera. I quite like it, as it's captured the moment and activity shots aren't spoiled by a bit of blur if you ask me.

106. New Nightlight.

Scott had some of his birthday money left over and, big softy that he is, he spent it on a Night Garden nightlight / torch for Harriet.
She loves it, but I'm not sure if it helped settle her or kept her awake.
Oh well.

105. My Little Town.

Had a miserable morning, which I won't go into, but this view cheered me a little. I was making my way slowly and reluctantly across town when I chanced upon it. It's precisely this type of view of the town that makes me suspect it might be twinned with Stepford.

The Hotel, incidentally, is where Scott and I spent our wedding night. I was 27 weeks pregnant with Harriet at the time and went to bed early while he stayed up with friends and family. When he eventually came to our honeymoon suite he found an elephant snoring in the four-poster bed and cricket on the TV.
Ah! Romance!

104. Mr President.

 
Harriet woke me at 6am (I didn't get to sleep until 3am) and I looked in to the living room where Scott was snoozing on the sofa and Barack Obama was giving his victory speech on the TV.
I gather the news of his victory broke at around 4am our time.
I snuggled up with Harriet for a couple more hours and had a very odd dream in which I was told my baby would arrive in two days time...
Watch this space!

I probably should replace this with a more personal photo later today, but I think I'll be a little too tired to perform even basic tasks. Photography may well be beyond me.

103. A Week Later.

...and my once neglected plants are not crispy brown stumps. They're looking more pert and green (one even has new shoots!), which is more that can be said for the trees in the garden.
The cold and the wind we've had this week have changed their appearance dramatically.

102. Keeping Warm.

It's cold. The house is drafty and the heating expensive so Harriet has improvised and runs everywhere all day long. She's always toasty, whereas as I am permanently cold.
It's hard to run everywhere all day long when you're nearly 34 weeks pregnant.

101. Private Viewing.

Scott and I went out to see Quantum Of Solace as a birthday treat for him. When we got there the only available seats were immediately beneath the huge screen so we exchanged our tickets and saw Burn After Reading instead. It was in a smaller cinema that was completely empty.
Felt rather nice having the place to ourselves, although another 8 people drifted in before the film started.
I sprang this photo on him somewhat and he's mid hotdog. He'll probably hate that the photo is here, but I didn't take any others today. I really should have, as Harriet provided a few opportunities, especially when she gave Scott his presents in the morning and then helped him eat his breakfast in bed.

(By the way, if you're a Coen brothers fan you really must see the film. I loved it.)

100. Juicy Fruit.

I introduced Harriet to clementines a week ago. She was unsure at first due to the fact that she bit into the skin of one and disliked the bitterness. Unsurprisingly.
I tempted her by pinning her down and squeezing the juice of a segment into her mouth. Heavy handed and not really 'tempting her' but it had the desired result and she's been a fan ever since.
Initially she ate the whole thing, but has today decided that the juice is the only bit worth digesting.
This is what I found deposited on the table when I returned from the kitchen this evening.