I was very lucky to be chosen as the winner of Hollybobbs Pretty Little Things photo competition last week! This week the theme is the first photo after you welcomed your precious one to the world! It is being hosted by Vikki from Love from Mummy, so please join in on her page!

My boys had very different births hence the difference in me in the photos!

Big boy was born at 8.25am after a 23 hour and 55 minute labour. It was an awful experience and at one point I felt like someone was reaching in and ripping my insides out! Late epidural and forceps later our big boy was here! He was totally squished, bruised, swollen and looked like the most wonderful ugly bug!

Small on the other hand came into the world in a quiet controlled experience in the midwife led unit at Weston Hospital, at 3.15am. 3 and a half hours, just gas and air and I was kneeling up on the floor the whole time!

It may sound ridiculous but I felt fantastic. Of course it hurt, but I don't remember being in terrible pain just trying to use mind over matter! I also had false eyelashes put on a few days before my due date, so even though I looked a tired wreck, I felt like a glamourous Mama! Plus, I was over a stone and a half lighter with small boy!

I love that my husband's eyes are so red in his first photo with big boy. We didn't get one of him and small boy on their own until later when we went back to the ward, as he went straight under a heat lamp as he was a bit chilly. You can't win them all!

first

Mama and big boy 5 minutes old. Mama and small boy 2 minutes old.

first2

Collages25-1

Well it's started! The big boy has started sowing his seeds! I bought this wild flower meadow mix for £1 in a fab hardware type shop Proper Job and we have scattered them in some old pots outside Dada's office!

Who knows if anything will actually grow, but as the packet says just throw and watch them grow!

A cheap lovely learning activity for my boy, in a break from the monsoon rain that seems to have hit Weston super Mare this June!

wildseeds1

wildseeds

wildseeds3

wildseed2

I am taking part in a secret blog angel project started by Craftbotic. The idea of the project is that each month a new set of angels secretly help those bloggers, who have asked for a bit of advice in the blog world.

It doesn't matter if your own blog is new or old, it's all about a fresh pair of eyes.

I was paired with a blog which I would say is in a different category to mine, if I had to categorise!

The first thing I did was try and find some common ground. Luckily there was lots!

Being a blog angel has made me analyse the presentation of a post. I rarely post without a photograph or 5 thrown in as that is my 'thing', even though I hate that phrase. Plus I always use my own photographs unless I am linking up on a current crush post. Whether they actually need to be adorned with photographs I don't know, I know I just love looking at other people's!

I think good photography has a lot to do with confidence (and clever editing). There are lots of free applications and filters so you don't have to have a DSLR to take stunning pictures. I hope that I have been able to encourage my blogger to have confidence in their presentation, albeit with subtle and not so subtle hints.

The balancing act being a blog angel is making sure you keep in regular contact but don't over do it!

My obsessive personality is not so helpful with this project!

I am checking in on their blog daily but don't necessarily comment everyday. Somedays they post and somedays they don't. I definitely haven't got this balance right. As I have children I tend to blog when I have the time and try to post at least once a day.  But that means on certain days, when the children are entertaining themselves for a good 10 mins, I can type up a couple of posts, to finish off in the evening. I know this might be too much but with these 2 boys I never know when the chance will come again!

I think encouraging others to join in links that are relevant is a great way to spread their word!

The difficult part of being a blog angel is not being able to give direct feedback, even though that is why they signed up for having an angel in the first place! I am also worried that I might come across as a bit of a nosey parker asking leading questions or giving advice too freely. In theory, what blog qualifications do I have! (Well, rather proud of being BritMums blogger of the week!)

I have really wanted to get to know them, which is hard when some bloggers post everything but about themselves! I realised I am only in the minority of the photographs on my blog and maybe that should change! Do tell me if you get sick of the sight of me! Presenting the real you is important too not just the one with a vintage effect! This project has inspired me to post my first vlog which I recorded earlier and now need to edit. First I need to master iMovie!

Perhaps I am getting more out of the project than the blogger I am an angel for! I hope not!

I am totally convinced I have been sussed but I don't know whether that is because paranoia has set in!

The best reward for me, is knowing that despite being paired to my blogger by way of a blog link, we actually genuinely seem to enjoy reading each others posts!

Off to check in again and see if there is anything I can comment on, constructively and on the QT!