...dressing up for the Dorset Blind Association

My friend Jaya is charity manager for the Dorset Blind Association. When she asked for Sam and I to attend to help as a table host for her masquerade ball, we donned our masks and headed to the Cumberland Hotel to meet Julian Fellowes.

It was a really fun evening where lots of much needed funds were raised to support partially sighted and blind people throughout Dorset. 

We had a blast, hanging out with our friends that we don't see nearly enough of these days. I must admit the end of the night was very hazy. My tolerance for tequila is not what it used to be and my hang over acted as a massive "I told you so!" the next day.

...Taking Baby's first passport photo

Taking photos of Jesse for his first toddler passport was interesting. After sitting still for a few seconds I resorted to waving a biscuit over Sam's head.
Just had to share the outtakes...

...back to work

Just before Jesse's first birthday I returned to work part-time, three days a week. To quote Justin I am loving it! The perfect balance of mummytime and getting to write and work with my fab LLPR girls and great clients again.

Another bonus is that Jesse is thriving spending a day each with his nanny, nonna and Zia Danni. Its so good to see him come home with a new word or skill he has learnt from all these new experiences. I do know how blessed I am we live close enough to our families to be able to do this.

And I get to do Teddy daycare on a Monday so the cousins get to play together. Its not all sunshine and rainbows though....Jesse has also learnt to assert himself but only to me and his dad (temper tantrums ahoy, lucky us!) he's as good as gold for the grandparents and zias, and long may it last.

Here is a photo recap of the last four months:

My hero Sara got married to her fine man Sam at Orchardleigh House. She is my hero because not only does she save lives working stupid hours all the time but she does all this without a cleaner either. It was Jesse's first wedding and he feel in love with the strings...

Rocking nanny's knitwear

So Jesse is walking, talking, saying please and ta, negotiating and tantruming. During bathtime he chucked water over my head and before I could open my eyes he kissed me, little charmer.

Fish face 

Easter egg hunt with friends

Obsessed with Nanny's watering can, carried it around everywhere for days

 He ran up the drive crying 'Daddy' when Sam went to work one Monday, broke my heart 

For nanny's 60th we went to Lime Wood Hotel

 Both the boys want to be a Hearn

This photo reminds me of an old pic of his Zia Danni playing dress up at his age. I need to dig it out and post it.

Messing about on the river

...cocktails in Chelsea

My clever best friend Nikki Moore has another naughty novel out today. 

Here's a little bit about it for those bookworms among you...

Nathan Black is on a mission to prove himself. His family may be upper class and his cousin Matt might be a famous music producer, but he’s going to make it on his own. So as soon as he has enough money set aside, he’s quitting his bar-tending job on the King’s Road and opening up his own cocktail bar. He hasn’t got time for love, and definitely not with the spoilt Chelsea Princesses who flirt with him shamelessly every night. But is there something a bit different about the pretty blonde who’s just walked in?

Bournemouth girl Sofia Gold is reluctantly visiting old childhood friends in London for Easter weekend. Keenly aware she’s not part of their glamorous world, she’s more comfortable riding a surfboard than wearing designer dresses and towering heels… although she’s always had a soft spot for cocktails

It’s never really bothered Sofia that she’s ‘one of the boys,’ and that her romantic experiences have been amazingly unspectacular, so when she meets gorgeous Nathan, why does she find herself faking an accent and pretending to be a London socialite? It can’t be anything to do with impressing him, can it? After all, she’s only in the capital for a few days…

But one impulsive kiss later, they both find themselves wishing for things they didn’t know they wanted.Spring in Chelsea – will love blossom?

...an afternoon at Farmer Palmer's Farm Park

Can't work out which one Jesse loves more, his first dippy egg or Zia Carly?

On his birthday, we took him and his cousin Ted to Farmer Palmer's Farm Park. The goats there are pretty little kids and had a good nibble on little fingers.

Despite the cold all the boys had fun in the adventure playground. Jesse introduced Ted to the swings.

And he was flying!

There was lots of playtime with Daddy...

But the birthday boy's favourite bit was playing on the tractors. Boys and their toys. The little dude got a bit too comfortable and started taking his hands off the wheel. I guess you can get away with it when Mama is doing all the driving...

The website talks about kennels for dogs but we were glad we left Badger at home when we saw a couple of metal boxes in the car park, not exactly what he's used to.

...celebrating Jesse's first birthday

This week we celebrated Jesse's first birthday. Cue cliches of where has the time gone...believe me I'm very surprised as the first few months of life with a baby crawled past.

We threw a very politically incorrect Cowboys and Indians party and he loved it! 

To have all his family in our house simply blew him away. He's not used to seeing all the people he loves together and he was so overwhelmed. He cuddled up on daddy's lap and took a second to take it all in, just like he does in all new situations. 

Jesse has been like that since he was a newborn, when I take him into a new situation (even a room he hadn't been into before in our house) he goes all quiet while he takes it all in. As he's a real sociable baby you can really notice the difference. 

My family chipped in to buy him a fabulous teepee from the Land of Nod. I didn't realise he would love it as much as he does, he's obsessed with it. Constantly crawling in and out of it. We often hear shrieks of laughter coming from the depths of the canvas, it's a big hit. 

 Here are some party photos:

Teepee cake made by Daddy's fair hands