As with most of my blog posts, I tinker with them over the space of a few weeks. This one has been no exception, and I’ve been adding things here and there, little highlights of my month as they happen. Last week when I sat down to write about my friend’s baby shower and the Easter Egg hunt at Church, I reflected that this has been a really lovely month. However, just a few days later, the tragic terror attacks happened in London, and I think it would be remiss of me not to mention them here within my March Liked and Loved.

Of course, this event most certainly isn’t something to be liked and loved. It’s something that has brought me to tears as I’ve watched the footage and coverage on the news – particularly when I saw the groups of school children being led out of the Houses of Parliament; how their parents must’ve felt waiting for news of them, I do not know – and my thoughts are with the victims and their families, the emergency services and all of the people that ran to help.

A very young Baby Lighty and I have stood on that very bridge, with Big Ben towering behind us, and the only positive I can possibly take from this horrid event is that it’s a reminder that we need to live life every day like we might not get another. I love the Liked and Loved series as it makes me focus on the little moments which are actually rather big, all-singing-all-dancing moments in the scheme of things, and so for March, I have liked and loved the following:

Soft play fun

Now I know that I’m probably in the minority among mothers but…I actually don’t mind a little bit of soft play! It wears Baby Lighty out and he gets to have fun whilst doing so. I might even be lucky enough to have a cuppa and a chance to catch up with some of my mum tribe!

This month we’ve tried out a couple of new soft play venues. One was your standard soft play but on a big scale (with a separate gated toddler section, which meant that we could leave the littles to their own devices to a certain extent!) and the other was a toddler gym session at our local leisure centre. The latter was like an epic cross between soft play, a gym class and a toddler group, all rolled into one! We loved both, and it was great to be able to catch up with my NCT group and a couple of our baby group friends respectively.

Three Little Words

One of the most magical moments of this month – of this life, quite frankly – was a Baby Lighty milestone. For a few months now, when I’ve told him that I loved him, he’d give me a kiss in return. But one night this month, when I kissed him goodnight and said “I love you”, he gave me a kiss as usual then replied with “Love you!”. Best. Feeling. Ever!!!

Oh I do like to be beside the Seaside…

We’ve had a couple of days out to the seaside this month. These two trips were the first times we’d been to the seaside since Baby Lighty had started walking properly, and both times we walked a long way along the promenade, even if it did mean that on our first outing we had to stop and chase seagulls, and Baby Lighty decided he would have a little ‘lie down’ (no tantruming, just a lie down; trust my boy to be different!!) every time we said that no, he couldn’t go in the sea.

After a lovely lunch in our favourite café under the pier arches, we enjoyed…yep, you guessed it, even more soft play fun!! Well the pier was shut, so what better thing to do on a not-so-sunny day with a toddler?!

Our second trip to the seaside this month was a bit more traditionally ‘seaside-y’; we ate lunch on the beach, Baby Lighty had a little play in the sand and collected shells, before we walked up to and along the pier and had a go on the two pence drops, too. Baby Lighty loved it! He enjoyed joining in with the penny drops, and was completely fascinated by the fact that the sea was under the pier!!

A Beautiful Baby Shower

It seems slightly extraordinary now that I look back and think about it, but for the first time in March, I saw my awesome mummy friends minus the children. For the first time in 21 months!! It was in order to celebrate the imminent second baby one of my friends is expecting, and so we did a little bit of a DIY tea party for her. It was lovely, both the beautiful spread and the time to sit and chat and laugh with these wonderful women that I’m now lucky enough to call my friends!

Early Easter Celebrations

I’m excited for Easter this year, as just like Christmas last year, Baby Lighty will have more of an understanding that something special is going on. Ok, so that something special is likely to be eating lots of chocolate as far as he is concerned, but one of the things that we’ve enjoyed this month is the little Easter party at our Monday baby group.

As well as having a few extra touches during the normal play session such as a bouncy castle and party games, they also had a little Easter egg hunt around the main church and a toddler-friendly Easter service, which was lovely. I wasn’t sure that Baby Lighty would understand the concept of the egg hunt, but he did actually get into the swing of things, and definitely would have tried to get more than his quota had Mrs Lighty not stopped him!!

Back to Work Blog Success

This month saw my year anniversary of my return to work, and as I wrote in my recent back to work blog post, I’ve really enjoyed my first year back, and am lucky enough to have a job that I love and which affords me a great work-life balance. It would seem that many mums have related to my post or have found some comfort in it, as it has been shared by LovedbyParents, Mumsnet, and in the BritMums’ Working Mums Round Up, and I couldn’t be more proud of that. The very best part of blogging is when someone turns round and says that they can relate to your post or that it has made them feel better in some way. It’s what keeps me going in this very competitive mummy blogger market, and that’s why I’m so chuffed that people seem to like this particular post.

Mrs Lighty: a Digital Awards Finalist!

Something that came as a bit of a shock this month was finding out that, having entered on a bit of a whim a couple of month’s back, I’ve made the finals of the Essex Digital Awards! I couldn’t be more shocked and chuffed, and it all feels a bit surreal at the moment. I’m in good company though, as the inspiration for my back to work post – the company that I work for, Blue Serif – are also up for two awards for their fabulous work on various websites! I have absolutely no illusions that I’ll get any further than this, but it’s lovely to have made it this far!

Mother’s Day is…overrated!!

March can’t really go by without a nod to Mother’s Day, but as I’ve decided that Mother’s Day is Overrated, I’ll just mention the lovely visit we had to Lee Valley Farm Park and the Lee Valley White Water Rafting Centre the day after Mother’s Day instead!

And so that’s March done, although we’ve still got birthday drinks for Baby Lighty’s Godmother’s birthday tonight, too! I’m looking forward to April, the month of Mr and Mrs Lighty’s anniversary and this year, Easter too. Have a good month and I’ll see you back here soon!

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