There she goes again.

Tradition though it may be to start long overdue blog posts with the earnest promise to try harder, be more dedicated to the cause - well I'm not going to do it. But you can read between the lines.

I've been a 'working Mum' for 2 months now and it has been busy. I'm enjoying the job to an extent. It's not where my natural talents lie. It's not where I thought I would be or what I would be doing. But all in all things could be a lot worse.
I feel a bit of a cheat calling myself a 'software developer' because I still have a lot of learning to do. Since joining my team I'm lucky if I know what people are talking about more than 20% of the time!

The boys have adjusted wonderfully and I'm so proud of them. Ben would probably be the one who took it hardest and he is still very clingy with me when I get home. He had his first birthday a couple of weekends ago. We decorated his bedroom with lots of lovely things from IKEA and it looks wonderful. A bit of a waste as he still co-sleeps but I've started putting him in bed for the first couple of hours of the night. He's normally back in with us by midnight though and I'm in no hurry to change it. I think he needs the extra comfort and attention.

Jack and Joseph are as entertaining as ever. I promised them a walk last weekend but it was such horrendous weather I had to put it off. Perhaps it will be bright enough this weekend. The temperature drop has been unreal. I know we're famous for unpredictable weather in this country but it's been quite a change - snow in October? I'm not sure I've ever seen that before.
Anyway on Saturday we made delicious oaty biscuits (which unfortunately caused serious upset with Jack when I would only let him eat one)and made trees out of toilet roll tubes and lots of messy paint. Funny little creatures that they are they actually really hate getting messy and were cleaning their hands every 5 minutes or so!
On Sunday we took them to see the Dinosaur exhibit at W5 in Belfast. Dinosaurs are a big favourite at the moment. Joseph was terrified of the T-rex (or sharp tooth!) but they seemed to enjoy themselves and I only felt a bit out of pocket for spending the £20!

Pay day tomorrow and I can't wait to get ordering some lovely Christmas presents. Aiming for cheap and cheerful this year so I'm making lavender bathsalts for our respective Mums and a black and white canvas print of that photo in the post below (which I LOVE). Can't wait to order the boys little wooden dinosaurs. Ben is getting a pull along frog and some rainbow stacking arches. I'm also getting them an easel and lots of new arty supplies. I also have plans to make salt dough Christmas tree decorations for everyone as a precursory treat. I'm really looking forward to it this year.

I also have some pre-new years resolutions. I've no excuses any more since I'm 2 months into this 'routine' so I need to be more organised and a little less lazy. Because it's so easy to be lazy and there's so much I want to do.
I need to start getting prepared for growing some yummy fruit and veg in the garden next year.
And remembering the fantastic dinosaur jumpers Grandma made for me and my siblings (and my Mum!) when I was a child, I want to learn to knit.

I'll have to update this with pictures when I get home. I'm still in work and really it's very naughty of me to be doing this...