You can't see what they are doing but this is a typical morning playing with dollies. They are putting her to bed with a bottle and muslin. Loving seeing them interact and grow together.

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I feel the need to jot down a few thoughts about the past week. It has been a whirlwind, or perhaps even a tornado.

Husband turned 31 last Wednesday and last year our precious Little I was born on his birthday. So she shared her first birthday with him this year.

5 days later my eldest, Little E, turned 4. She shares her birthday with my Mum. Clearly I like giving birth on days with meaning.

Oh and I forgot to mention my Dad's birthday is in between the two. I know, my timing is shocking! We should have abstained from sex for the whole of May. At least my birthday is 8months later...

This year gave me a real eye opener as to what each February will be like from now on.

Manic.

I have never known a week like it. After a meal out for Husband on his birthday with the In-Laws (there was 17 of is so more like a party) we had a joint party for the girls which I thought would be simple.

Wrong.

I made 2 birthday cakes (3 if you count Husband's), cut out 70 paper snowflakes, made 6 loaves of sandwiches, cooked 150 sausage rolls, rolled out 50 snowflake cookies, chopped more crudités than I thought possible to eat, somehow found an Anna outfit for a 1yr old (from China), trailed the high street looking for white tights for Elsa, bought sparkly colour coordinated candles then forgot to take them to the party, filled 33 party bags with age appropriate treats for 4 age brackets of children and wrapped pass the parcel at 1am.

And of course this week the baby (can I still call her that now she is 1?) decided it was time to start night waking again...

I'm not sure I have been this tired since the early newborn days.

But I guess at least it is done for the year now. Next stop Sister in Law's wedding at Easter. Hen do #2 is this weekend...

*weeps silently*

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Today I am sharing some abstract art created by Little E for her uncle's 40th birthday. Watercolour is clearly her medium.

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My beautiful baby on her 1st birthday.

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The final week before the big birthday. Little I has been equal amounts cheeky and poorly this week. A trip to the doctor resulted in diagnosis of 'a virus'. Surprise, surprise. So we spent a couple of days like this...

My favourite shot of the week has to be her new TV watching position...

There has been some spoon action going on as she learns how to feed herself. This has come about due to her refusing to let me feed her anything. Fair enough but she gets angry and cross when she can't get enough in at once so she needs to work on her technique!

She has started saying 'Da' and will repeat it back to you like a parrot. I think she is also saying 'Ta' as we've been saying this to her when she takes things and of you say it to her she will give you what she is holding.

Next time I post baby girl you will be one!

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Who said the romance dies once you have children. Love you Husband xx

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This New Year Husband and I set ourselves a challenge. We were going to drop a stone by his Sister's wedding in April. Our strategy: High protein, low carb, low sugar. The complete opposite to our healthy yet high carb pasta and risotto packed menu.

No sooner had we begun this way of eating (I refuse to call it a diet as there is no calorie counting, points, sins or shakes) when Upbeat contacted me and asked if we would like to try their Protein Challenge for a week. Perfect!

We were sent a week's worth of protein rich foods and a recipe booklet containing some yummy breakfast, lunch and dinner ideas - and of course some Upbeat protein rich dairy drinks.

So what is protein and why do we need it?

Protein maintains healthy muscles and bones whilst also keeping your hair looking healthy. Overall it makes us feel at our best.

It is the most filling of foods but our bodies cannot store it the way they can with carbs and fat, so we need to spread it regularly throughout the day.

How much do we need?

The rule of thumb seems to be roughly 1g of protein for every kg you weigh. So if like me you weigh around 70kg you need 70g of protein per day. Husband needs about 100g a day.

Which foods contain protein and how much?

Lots of foods contain protein but here is a handy little chart featuring some of the best:

As you can see the little Upbeat drinks contain about 20g of whey protein which is roughly the same as 3 eggs. Perfect if you need to boost your protein intake at breakfast or you need a little mid afternoon pick me up. The taste reminds me of fruity probiotic drinks.

So far so good. Cut down on carbs and eat protein at every meal. Why else did we need to do. Well we needed to avoid sugary snacks which leave us feeling unfulfilled. This includes all soft drinks, even diet ones, as they trick your body into expecting sugar, and end up causing cravings for junk food! This was hard for Husaband as he is a real fizzy drink addict. Also alcohol was a no no again because of the sugar so we pretty much cut it out but we don't drink a lot so it wasn't an issue.

The big switches for us were swapping starchy white potatoes, which we ate a lot for quick easy meals, like jacket spuds or Spanish omelette, for sweet potatoes. Also losing pasta from our diet! I shed a small year... Swapping rice for couscous and quinoa was probably the easiest adjustment.

But within a few days we were surprised to find we weren't missing the heavy, starchy carbs and actually felt more energised and less tired. Bit of an eye opener as we would never have considered ourselves unhealthy eaters before we cut down our carbs.

The recipes in the Upbeat guide were very easy to make. Breakfasts of yogurt porridge with banana and berries or omelettes were super filling. Light lunches made with quinoa or couscous were satisfying and delicious. Dinners using lean protein like Turkey or fish were scrum my.

The biggest difference for me is eating protein at breakfast. Previously I was a cereal and milk girl and would always want a 10am snack. Now I feel much fuller until lunch. Sometime I forget it is lunchtime and Little E has to remind me! I tend to stick to porridge oats with quinoa and berries or eggs on brown toast. It is easy because the kids eat them too!

Husband has found cutting out sugar an issue but he followed the advice to ignore his cravings during the challenge and now he's out of the habit he doesn't miss it. In fact he hasn't had one headache - proving they were down to sugar peaks and the protein has evened out his energy levels.

So how have we done overall. We continued the challenge well past the week we were set by Upbeat and in 5 weeks we have lost the following weight:

Me: 7lb

Husband: 1st 7lb

That is a whopping 2 stone between us!

I'm not gonna lie, I was annoyed when Husband started losing weight quicker than me despite us eating the same foods. I was reminded that is because men burn everything faster than women so they are predispositioned to loose weight faster. Plus I lost a stone before Christmas just cutting my portion size down and not eating carbs in the evenings so he began with more excess weight than me, so it was inevitably gonna fall off faster!

I still have a bit of work to do in the next 6 weeks before the wedding to drop the next 7lb but staying focused on the protein challenge should get me there!

Upbeat is available in three flavours. We bought ours from Tesco priced £1 a bottle. You can find out more at feelingupbeat.com

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This time last year I was a beached whale on the sofa, virtually unable to move from internal bruising caused by this little back to back monkey who had been so easy to carry (unlike her big sister) up until we hit the last few weeks of pregnancy. I don't miss being pregnant, I counted down those last few days wishing it all to be over. But sometimes I do miss my bump. Little I was such a neat little bump!

This week is all about independence. She no longer wants to be fed, insisting on putting everything in her mouth herself. Fair enough. Rice has been fun!

And she took her first unaided step at Bestie's house. Husband's training with Milky Bar buttons is paying off but I don't think she'll be properly walking on her first birthday like her big sis was.

She has also discovered the one cupboard in the kitchen we aren't able to childproof...

And had a lot of fun when I left the pan draw open. She's been gagging to get in there for weeks...

We have also been playing more with Little E trying to find games and toys which both age ranges like. Bricks are great but Little I does have a habit of destroying everything Little E makes!

She has begun saying 'no' shaking her head to indicate her displeasure. But most of the time she is smiling at everyone. Super happy baby (I won't get away with calling her that for long!)

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Loving the Valentine's feel to these cute foam glasses from Baker Ross! There is 6 in a pack, all different colours.

We used some Baker Ross Love Bug Foam stickers to decorate the glasses. The pack is huge so we had plenty to choose from. They are perfect for this time of the year with lots of cute characters and hearts on.

For some of the others we used our sparkly ceramic and porcelain pens which worked a treat, especially on the white glasses. Little E went rather freestyle with her decoration.

We were going to pretty stick petals on a pair to make wings but we couldn't find any glue! Next time...

The glasses were a super fun activity and they are pretty durable so they will last a while. Hopefully she won't make Husband and I wear them on Valentine's Day!

We reviewed these products as part of the Baker Ross blogger network but all opinions are our own.

Baker Ross Foam Heart Glasses £3.96 for 6, Love Bug Foam Stickers £2.99 for 120. Find out more at bakerross.co.uk

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What a busy week! Following hotly on the heels of last week's tooth #7, tooth #8 has appeared so she now just needs the canines to complete her front teeth.

I went away on a long Hen weekend Friday morning so Husband was in charge for half of the week.

He braved soft play again which was a hit.

And she saw her first snowflakes fall...

This is my favourite picture of the week. Little poser!

Linking up with #maternitymondays at becomingastayathomemum.com

Linking up with #MMWBH at superbusymum.net #sharewithme at letstalkmommy.com and #maternitymondays at becomingastayathomemum.com