Blogging has meant I have met a whole host of incredible people. Some of which I now count as firm friends.

The blogging community is a wildly creative place, and sometimes it feels like people's talents are never ending. I am completely inspired by the bloggers and stylists I follow, none more than Kirsten Butler, The Little Wedding Helper. 

I have had the pleasure of getting to know Kirsten over the last year and I feel like if we lived just down the road from each other, we'd be popping in and out, chatting over cups of tea, yummy treats and playing styling and snapping all day long!

Shooting with Kirsten is a ridiculous amount of fun. It doesn't feel like work! So we decided a while ago we need a Winter, 'Just for fun' day! Pomegranates, wooden textures, beautiful hand painted stationery and cake. Giant, berry laden, naked cakes.

Here's a peek from our few hours of faffing!

I love playing with natural light, and as the sun went down I took the opportunity to capture the beautiful cake in dusk light. Right by the window in a mini set up.

Happy Friday everyone! Happy snapping, happy faffing!

I grew up in a large, noisy family. 3 children, a close relationship with my cousins and that's what I always imagined I would have when I started my own family.

My sister is my best friend and confidante and I miss my brother since he emigrated to America a few years ago. We still have an incredibly close relationship despite the thousands of miles of ocean between us and Face Time has been a god send. 

Of course we bickered and argued as children, but I have extremely fond memories of my childhood. Mass games of 40/40 in the garden, birthday parties unlike any other, magical holidays in Southbourne with our cousins. And I love watching my boys follow almost the same path. 

They love traditional games, playing in the garden, having the freedom to roam on the beach in front of the beach hut. It's literally like a snap shot of my childhood and Sammy is so much like me in personality, I do sometimes worry how the house will be when he's a teenager. I predict some clashes!

We joke about having another baby all the time. Joke being the operative word. It sounds quite ridiculous to say we haven't had time to really think about it and make that definite decision, but we haven't. In a year we've launched a tea business, my photography work has grown beyond all my expectations and this blog has become a firm part of my working life. Not to mention the fact that we have lived in 3 houses in one year!

Then last week we had the pleasure of our little niece for a week. My sister's in laws kindly share her childcare with my mum and as they are away in The Philippines for 5 weeks over Christmas, I am helping mum cover off the time before and after Christmas. 

Suddenly parents to 3!

Yasmin is a delight. Now I know I am biased but it's true. She has the most beautiful colouring thanks to her Filipino grandmother and she has a tone of voice like a little excited mouse. People stopped me in the street, stroked her cheeks in the garden centre and she distracts all the check out staff in the supermarket. 

She has impeccable manners and knows how to use her girlish charm, "Oh peeeeeeassssse Auntie, more snack, more snack!" and I had to be really firm not to give in to her chocolate button, puppy dog eyes every time. 

And it was strange because although toddlers are undoubtedly demanding and tiring, she slipped into our life with ease. I mastered the art of carrying my little shadow on my hip and dressing boys, putting on washing, making dinner. Serving one more at breakfast didn't seem any trickier and watching them all laughing in the car on the way home from school was precious.

She sat with me each morning on the window seat next to me whilst I dried my hair and called to the horseys and the birdies out of the window. 

And it made me realise something. Soft play centres aren't that horrible. They are actually quite fun if you don't spend the whole time reading your phone like I normally do. Ollie adored shooing me onto a quite terrifying slide, Yasmin thought it was hilarious to bury her head in a ball pit and play hide and seek (Even though the rest of her was completely out of the balls!) and they were giddy at me chasing them kicking the footballs. 

A week with 3 made me play more, because work had to stop. When I put her down for an afternoon nap I would race around like a mad woman, setting up little shots to share on my Instagram feed, shooting a few photos for patient clients and replying to work emails. I am in awe of how many with young children at home during the day manage everything! I had grand plans of a little woodland photo shoot for a Christmas surprise for Natalie and Andrew but I literally took one photo on my big camera. ONE! Can you believe it?! 

Being an Auntie means you have the luxury of putting things on hold for a week. I get to do the fun stuff, spoil her, take her out 3 times in a week, just because. And I loved it. I loved that she was totally content at our house. The little bedroom is now set up with all of Sammy's old nursery furniture and pink bunting, which I guess will stay up for the next time she comes to stay and we eventually redecorate that room. 

I had lots of kisses, cuddles, sleepy snuggles at bedtime whilst she drank her milk and the best compliment of all, was when she saw my sister and my brother in law, she wanted them to come in and play, with no worry when my sister left again, after a few hours on her day off in the week. It was like she lived here.

It's an incredibly special thing to know you are trusted with someone else's most precious person.

A week was a long time for her to be away from home (Although Sammy protested that 6 nights wasn't enough!) We have left our boys for a few days and this weekend they are off to their grandparents in Poole for 2 nights, whilst we have Christmas parties with friends. But could you imagine yours being away for a week?

I know my sister and brother in law missed her terribly but I feel very lucky to have developed my little bond with my niece. Feel fortunate to have had had that intimate time with her, kissing her goodnight, hearing her say "I, looove, youuuuuu!"

And it's helped with that definite decision. 3 is lovely. Sammy, Ollie and Yasmin are lovely, and that's the 3 for us. A temporary 3 when we get to borrow a little pink one. But I don't have that broody feeling, instead I feel excited for what will come next. What adventures we can have with the boys now they are out of toddler routines and have an almost unquenchable thirst for life.

It was a treat to slide a clip into her whispy baby hair, and the tutu skirts are incredibly cute, but those are not reasons to have another baby! I was born to be surrounded by boys. Our boys suit us, suit our family dynamic and we are very grateful for them. Now I must go as I need to pop out and buy some slime, sticky slugs that will clime down the wall and something called a putrid pizza. 

But do you know what, I couldn't be happier! Because I know the little faces I will see on Christmas morning are going to be magic.

My only one from our week (bar the few iPhone snaps), a calm, contented, beautiful little girl. Beautiful Yasmin lu.

Linking up with Mummy Daddy Me and The Ordinary Moments

I started this blog to document the milestones and everyday moments in our busy family life. And almost 3 years down the line, I've realised there's something I have never blogged.

A first family holiday. Just the four of us.

We've have been lucky enough to have travelled on planes, packed "activity bags" and listened to endless children's songs, en route to new adventures, but we've always been 4 plus some.

Never have we been on our own. Ever.

We love our friends and family, and some of our most happiest memories of these last 5 years being blessed with our boys, is of playing a game on the beach, or lighting a BBQ down at the beach hut in Southbourne. 

But it would be quite nice to make some memories on our own. 

I've always documented our holidays. The passports all lined up ready to go, the queue to board the aeroplane down the chilly tunnel, whatever the time of year, the magic photo of your tiny one with earphones on for the first time.

You know you are not alone. That at least 10 other parents on that plane are doing exactly the same thing. Trying to snap those moments in time that are too easily forgotten, amongst the endless colouring pages, games of snap and snacks on demand. It's quite a skill to have a Mary Poppins travel bag of snacks, I can tell you! I love sharing where we've been, the beautiful skies and treats that are totally allowed on holiday.

And we all know first times are precious. They are the memories that stay with you forever. Before the days of social media on our mobiles in our beach bags, I vividly remember my Mum taking a mental picture. Holding out her fingers in the shape of a camera and pressing a pretend shutter button. 

But now we are lucky, we have the magic of Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, so the first time we travel together, just the four of us, the first time we check into a hotel who understands what families need, we will be able to capture those moments and share them. And we would be in trusted hands whilst we make some new memories.

A week of being looked after. All of us. A holiday that caters for everyone, from Ollie who would adore the wave jumping with the Mini Club and whose wish list includes face painting and races on the beach, to Sammy who wishes he could sail an actual boat, "Not a toy boat!" and who would relish the chance to perform in the Junior Club dance show. From Rich who wants to indulge his love of adventure sports, to me who wants to eat well, sleep well, enjoy my family and capture happy family times. 

But these are our precious times, right now. The times when Dada (as our boys still call Rich at 5 and 3) is the strongest man in the world, able to throw them up higher in the sea than any magical figure, with biceps bigger than Popeye and when cuddling your Mama under a beach towel on a lounger, in the afternoon sunshine, is the cosiest thing to do. The years before my small boys will grow up and favour holidays with their friends. A frightening prospect for anyone with boys who has watch the Inbetweeners movie. 

Magical things happen on holidays. Babies go to boys. Boys learn to swim. 

Little boys want to be like their Daddies, and this Daddy, or rather Dada, went on a Mark Warner holiday to Sardinia as a little boy. His love of sailing has stayed with him and we always talk of one day, buying a little laser for the boys to learn on. 

Being an Ambassador is about sharing the values of the company you are proud to promote. having the ability to captivate your readers and transport them to that exact moment where the sea is gently lapping at your toes, with the sand slowly wrapping itself around your feet like a grainy blanket. Or the moment when you are sitting on the side of the swimming pool, with the edge of the pool leaving little marks on your legs, because you sat just a little longer to watch your little one receive their certificate from the swimming coach. Seeing the droplets of water dripping down their hair which has parted into triangular dreadlocks and onto their big smile beaming back at you.

It's something quite special to share your intimate times. The moments that happen with no planning at all, because you have jumped off the daily treadmill of a hectic family life. The moments that become traditional family stories to tell to new girlfriends and recall year on year.

Being an Ambassador is just that. A special honour. Being one of the faces, one of the families, who have been lucky enough to enjoy what they have to offer, and retell what they have discovered. Share the times that are precious.

Times we think we would be very happy to share with just one, with Mark Warner. 

That would be our perfect family holiday. A real family holiday. 

Psst and you could come too via the magic of social media ;) 

This post is my entry to the Mark Warner Holidays #markwarnermum competition to be an Ambassador for 2015.