Looking Back at 2015

I know this is a cliche but I cannot believe we are now in 2016!! The second half of the year absolutely flew by as we had so much on and Christmas arrived way too fast leaving me a bit unprepared.

It has been a challenging year with lots of highs and a few lows but here's some memorable points!

Pre-School

Elliot started pre-school in September and he is absolutely loving it! I knew he wouldn't have any issues and he proved me right, he runs on in so excited and I love the big cuddle and smile I get when he runs out at home time!

First day at pre-school!

Family Hols

We were very fortunate to become a Bluestone Blogger at the beginning of 2015 and we were able to try out one of their lovely lodges at the Bluestone National Park Resort in West Wales. We had a really fun short break and just looking at the photos is making me want to return!

Bluestone National Park Resort

Our next short break was in May and we went to Butlins in Minehead.  It was our second 'Just for Tots' break and we had a great time, so great in fact that we didn't even end up leaving the resort all week which is quite unusual for us. The highlight of the week was meeting Mister Maker who was performing there - what a nice man!

Just For Tots, Butlins Minehead

Our big family holiday was a two week break to Florida in September and something we'd been looking forward to all year. We stayed in a lovely villa in Kissimmee and had the best time visiting all the theme parks. My highlight was Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party -  Elliot loves spooky things and we had a great time seeing everyone dressed up and trick or treating!

Potty Training

After lots of failed attempts and wondering if Elliot would still be in nappies at 15, I stopped getting so stressed about potty training! He refused to sit on the toilet or potty and would get really upset if we tried to make him. In December I had decided to wait until the New Year to try again, think he just wasn't ready.

But one rainy day when we were home, I decided to have another go....and he only went and cracked it! That first day was rather stressful with a lot of tears (him and me) but by the end of the day he was actually weeing on the toilet - woohooo! We were even brave enough to go out to soft play without a nappy and all was fine. Within a few days, he was completely dry in the day and since then he has been dry at night too.

My only issue is poo :( He thinks its too scary to poo on the toilet so he'll only do it in a pull up! Will be tackling this so any tips welcome ;)

Blogging

My blog had it's 1 year anniversary/birthday in July and it's mad to think I've been blogging for well over a year now. Blogging for me is a hobby but I would like to take it up a notch.

I feel inspired when I see the great things fellow bloggers such as Sabrina at The Mummy Stylist and Laura at Life With Baby Kicks are achieving and it is giving me a kick up the bum to blog more!

Moving House

This has been the biggest challenge of the year because we had to move twice in 3 months which was just bloody hard work and the biggest stress we've ever had to endure!

After writing a list of things I'd learnt from moving, little did I know we'd be on the move again just a couple of months later. Unbeknown to us, our new landlord had accumulated quite a big arrears on his mortgage and the courts had issued the house to be repossessed! We really didn't expect to be receiving eviction notices hand delivered by the baliff and to say it was a stressful time is an understatement. We managed to extend the repossession by a few weeks but as the eviction date got closer and closer we had no choice but to accept the fact we were going to have to move house again....absolutely rubbish. Luckily we managed to get our deposit back and also luckily, we found another lovely house just a few minutes walk from Elliot's pre-school.

Our second move wasn't quite as stressful because we did it over the course of a week and had no-one waiting to move in on the same day! But I got a bit sick of packing and unpacking and even now, after we've been in our new house for 2 months, I've still got one room to unpack. Fingers crossed we'll be here for some time, I don't think I can look at another cardboard box for a while!

Although it was a stressful time in our lives and a really crappy situation, things have actually turned out for the better now. I love our new house and it feels so much more homely, we are back within walking distance of our friends and most importantly, Costa is just round the corner ;-)

Birthdays and Growing Up

Elliot turned 3 this year which I'm still trying to get my head around. We celebrated by throwing a spooky themed birthday party for his friends and Elliot dressed up as a zombie mummy...as you do! It was great fun - we had a bouncy castle, spooky music, enough food to feed the whole of Dorset and lots of noisy children in fancy dress!

I'm really enjoying Elliot being this age - I love our conversations and he's so bright, he asks so many questions and doesn't ever forget a dinosaur fact! At the moment he's into jokes so we bought him a joke book for Christmas. But actually he likes to make them up - they don't make any sense but he thinks he's funny!!

Wishing you all a Happy New Year and here's to a great 2016!