13/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Your eyes do not deceive you, that is a patch of blue sky behind Elizabeth's head. It only lasted a few minutes but boy did we make the most of it (with an impromptu visit to the park. That's what you do on bank holidays when you can't go to the pub people). E is riding high on Matt's shoulders in this picture. I remember riding on my dad's shoulders when I was a child and feeling invincible. Reliving your childhood must be one of the best and most unexpected parts of being a parent. I bloody love it!

This week a sleeping angel, this stance, and these curls.

8 months old

Already? I know I sound like a broken record but really? Time is flying, I guess that's what happens when you're on maternity leave and one day drifts into another. Thankfully the troubles of last month are far behind us, this month has been really good. I think she has finally 'settled' or at least she now sleeps for good chunks of time and follows a routine of sorts. I can't tell you how amazing this is, I feel like a new woman.
This is the month Lizzie conquered crawling. She went through the awkward only-able-to-crawl-backwards phase (full of plenty of hilarious stuck-in-a-corner-under-her-cot moments) and then after lots of practice, coaxing and demonstrations started to move confidently forwards. Her main use of crawling? To find an appropriate spot to pull herself up to standing. She loves a good stand. I can leave the room and come back 10 minutes later to find her just standing there with a big grin on her face. Other physical accomplishments this month: pulling herself up to sitting from lying down, clapping and enthusiastic head waggling.
We have a tooth! After 5 months of teething a tooth has finally sprouted on the bottom right side. And it is sharp. I no longer offer up my finger for a chew and there is no way a nipple is going anywhere near her mouth ever again. Eating is going well, we're doing a combination of puree and finger foods. I try and make most stuff from scratch but the odd Ella's kitchen pouch sneaks in - we have a small freezer and I'm a bit lazy - what you gonna do about it?
She is a happy little soul, all smiles and out stretched arms, making friends wherever she goes. She learns the things that make people laugh - a silly face, a head waggle, a funny noise - and then performs them over and over to the delight of her audience. I love her so much. I've been on maternity leave for 9 months now and decisions around my return to work are looming. I've been thinking things through this week (hence lateness of this post and general lack of blogging...sorry) but I haven't reached any conclusions. Motherhood seems to be series of hard decisions and this is the toughest yet.

12/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Elizabeth in her bumbo seat, sitting by the kitchen door watching me cook dinner, perfectly content.

This week I loved Jessica's pink crown and colourful necklace and skirt. So pretty.

Giveaway

I ran a little giveaway over on instagram a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it so I thought I'd host another here on the blog. And what could be more appropriate for Easter than bunnies. I have one set of bunny brooches to give away to one lucky reader, just in time for Easter! You can choose which colour you would like, pictured is black but they also come in gold, silver and white (you can look at these here). They come in a beautiful gift box too. To enter just tell me which colour you like and why in the comment box below and follow Jules and Clem with google friend connect and/or google + (if you don't already). Easy!

And for an extra entry tweet:
I've entered the @julesandclem competition to win a set of lucky bunny brooches! Visit http://tinyurl.com/cp9t56h to enter. Happy Easter!

The giveaway closes at midnight GMT on Sunday 24th March and the winner will be announced on Monday. Good luck!

AND THE WINNER IS...

...Smiffysmrs! Congrats! A set of gold bunnies will be making their way to you tomorrow :) 

11/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013."

A close up. This is Elizabeth right now - cheeks red from teething, skin dry from winter, tongue permanently out, smiling through it all. She amazes me. 

My favourites from last week: Eve's eyes, Wilf's beautiful sleeping face, and oh Otto!

Me again

Having a baby undeniably changes your life, and for the better in my opinion. But there may come a day when you wake up and wonder where 'you' went.  This happened to me. I was so in love with my little one that I got a bit lost along the way. I found it hard to digest all the newness - new person, new life, new routine, new role - it was overwhelming just getting from day to day. I was happy, of course, how could I not be spending my days with little E, but I didn't do any of the things that used to make me me. One day, back in February I woke up feeling down and it didn't pass. I wrote this post about it. It took a while to figure it out but by making some changes I started to feel better. One of the most significant changes was creating time for myself. This is how I've been filling it.

1 - Jewellery. Making it, marketing it, selling it - I am excited about it all again. It's amazing what a good nights sleep can do - I feel like I have the energy to be creative for the first time since I can't remember when. Pictured is the pyramid necklace, the latest addition to my shop

2 - Reading. I already talked about this here but to recap: I love reading in bed. I treasure this ritual. Sometimes just the thought of my book, neatly tucked up by the side of my bed, is enough to get me through the day. Pictured is Heads and Straights by Lucy Wadham, part of the Penguin series celebrating 150 years of the London underground. I just bought this and cannot wait to start reading it.

3 - Fashion. Before I had Elizabeth I used to think about clothes a lot (possibly too much). I used to read fashion magazines and blogs, plan outfits in my head and actually look good (sometimes). The last 7 months have been spent largely in leggins and Matt's shirts. Elizabeth doesn't care, right? But I do. Something I used to get so much pleasure from has been almost completely missing from my life. So I bought Vogue, read my favourite blogs and went shopping. It felt SO good. Pictured are my new geomeric, monochrome GAP trousers. Two trends in one. Get in. 

4 - Not pictured - time with friends. This weekend I'm visiting my bestie down in Bristol. I'm staying the night. Alone. No husband, no baby. We're going out, we might have a few drinks, a good time. It's been so long. 

Happy weekend! What are you up to? I hope you're making some time for yourself whatever you're doing.

DIY Oskia lymphatic boost massage

Elizabeth has finally started sleeping through the night. Hurrah! However 7 months of sleep deprivation have left me with some pretty hefty eye bags. Step up Oskia's lymphatic boost massage. This is a little life saver. It only takes a few minutes and leaves me feeling refreshed which is almost unheard of these days. It's free, quick and more effective than the touche eclat. Win.

YOUR DIY MAGIC MASSAGE ROUTINE (Match the acupressure points in the diagram to the steps below)
1. Imagine you are typing quickly on a keyboard. Use this tapping movement around the eyes, temples and on the forehead for 10 seconds.
2. Place your ring finger on the first pressure point.
3. Move to arch of the eyebrow, apply pressure to the second point.
4. From here move in between the eye brows to the 3rd point.
5. With very light pressure, circle the eye area 3 times from inner to outer eyebrow, underneath the eye and up the bridge of the nose, with your fingers meeting again in between the eyebrows . Do not drag the skin.
6. On the last circle, apply pressure at point 4, pushing upwards towards the ceiling.
7. For point 5, apply the pressure inwards, towards to nose.
8. Applying a little more pressure, lift and slide towards the temples, lifting the eyebrow, gently circle under the eyes three times.
9. On the last circle of the eye socket, stop at the outer corner of the eye and apply pressure to pressure point 7.
10. Now, using your index and middle finger, use static circular movements to the temples three times.
11. Swap back to your ring finger applying pressure point

image and instructions: Oskia 

Flats

I am a flats kind of girl. I spent the last decade comfortably running about in converse and brogues, progressing to my first pair of churches last year (bought from Bicester Village of course) But it hasn't always been so. I had a brief dalliance with heels in my chav-y teens - a pair of wedge trainers and some 6 inch cork platforms - you can blame the spice girls for that. More recently I even bought a pair for my hen do. A sensible black shoe boot pair from Wallis. I've worn them twice. I just don't do heels well. Some women say they make them feel sexy, feminine, powerful, and when worn well they are all those things, but the most they have ever made me feel is a bit silly. Feminine in the wrong way. Self-consciously girly. So flats it is. They are having a bit of a moment right now and there's loads of lovely pairs out there. Some of my favourites, pictured below, are from tax-dodging Topshop, dammit. It's easy to stay mad at Starbucks with their shit excuse for coffee but Topshop do keep making such nice stuff...

Clockwise from top left - TOPSHOP MARNIE 2 Part Pointed Shoes £28, ASOS LAUNCH Pointed Ballet Flats £25, Dr Martens Johan Shoe £100, ASOS LONGING Flat Shoes with Metal T-Bar £28, Russell & Bromley The Club studded slipper £245, TOPSHOP MARTINA T Bar Geek Shoes £30, Bertie Molenta Coral Maryjane Flat Shoes £65, Women’s Soller (White) Leather Sandals | H by Hudson £80, TOPSHOP KONNIE Cage Cut Out Shoes £42

10/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Elizabeth's first ever go on a swing. I was definitely more excited about this than she was. She enjoyed it for 2 or 3 minutes then got distracted by a little boy playing near by and that was that. It was great to go out doors and play, now she's old enough and the weather is perking up we will certainly be doing more of this.

Rebecca over at Pomegranate and Seeds suggested sharing your favourite 52ers from the week. I dig a bit of link love and lovely Rebecca is my first share. She has 3 beautiful boys and yet somehow manages to find the time to blog daily with thoughts on life, inspiration, motherhood and gratitude. Here is her 9/52.

Free shipping!

To celebrate mothers day I am offering free UK shipping all weekend starting now! Mums - treat yourself!

What we're reading

Oh No George, by Chris Haughton, is the endearing tale of George the dog and Harris his owner. George wants to be good but it's hard - there's a cat to chase, a cake to eat, soil to dig - what will George do? This is one the last books I worked on before going on maternity leave and a favourite of mine.

The illustrations kind of remind me of Not Now, Bernard (a classic in my household - does anyone else remember it?) - they are graphic, minimal and fun. The expressions on George's face will raise a laugh with old and young alike (although don't stop Elizabeth from licking the pages - there will be tears) and children will easily identify with George's dilemmas.

Oh No George is just the right length for Elizabeth, any longer and she'd be fidgety. She is captivated by the bright colours and bold illustrations, but obviously the plot is a bit lost on her...she has that to look forward to. I'm sure this is one we'll read over and over again.

...and I actually completed a book not aimed at under 3s! Grace Grace Coddington's memoir. Grace is a model turned fashion editor turned creative director of US Vogue (basically Grace is Vogue), made famous by The September Issue. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's very fashion-y, but told from Grace's unique perspective, not too pretentious.  Her life has been incredible - traveling from a rural Welsh island to swinging 60's London to 80's New York, via Vidal Sassoon, Calvin Klein and Anna Wintour. It is a great, accessible history of fashion through the last half of the 20th century and, best of all, explains the creation of some of my favourite images from 5 decades of Vogue. Plus there are lots of pictures, good if you haven't read a book for 6 months...

9/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Elizabeth on my childhood bed. We went to visit my mum and dad this week. It was so lovely. There's something about my parents house that I find very relaxing. A few days in their company was just what the doctor ordered. Plus they have a really plush living room carpet - perfect for rolling and tumbling about on. My dad spent hours on all fours trying to teach E to roll in a line. It was priceless and I wish I'd caught it on camera. Next time Dad...

When I started this project I was adamant I would use my DSLR for every portrait, but the odd iphone photo has snuck in, this is one of them. I travelled to my folks on the train and I just couldn't manage my camera on top of the rest of the baby ephemera E now requires. There's something quite spontaneous about iPhone pics though, isn't there?