My 36th birthday

I often get upset that my birthday is in that limbo period between Christmas and New Year, being the day before New Year's Eve people don't tend to want to go out then and/or are skint.  Last year a few friends were going to be coming round for some cocktails but then the twins both got chicken pox and I had to cancel it anyway.  Nik was at work as it was a Friday and I was having a pretty rubbish day caring for two miserable 2-year-olds on my own.  But then some lovely friends each popped around with some treats for me and the kids, hugs and wise words, it ended up being pretty fab, thanks to my awesome friends!

This year was quite different, I decided not to bother with a party (and after a last minute change of heart found everyone was indeed too busy anyway) so on the day, it was just Nik, the kids and I as it was a Saturday and it was perfect!  It started off with a lie-in for me, I hadn't even noticed Nik getting up as I was so tired!  I woke around 9 and could hear them all downstairs but I lay in bed waiting to see if they'd come to find me.  They soon did.

It was lovely being woken by Kalyan all excited telling me it was my birthday tomorrow, lol.  I got kisses and then he climbed into bed with me to hide under the covers from Daddy and Priya who soon turned up with a bag of gifts and cards for me to open :)

2 years to the day

I missed out on booking Laura for the twins' birthday this year.  I left it too late, having been convinced by Nik that we didn't need any more photo shoots since the bump-newborn-one package.  A week before, I panicked, I knew I'd regret it forever and got in touch but I was already too late.

Turns out I was right and immediately regretted not having got in sooner.  Laura has had a super busy November but luckily she had one morning where she could fit us in.  It was 15 days after the twins' birthday.  So the same day she first came to meet them 2 years prior.  We decided to start with another home shoot as we did for their newborn session and then go on our favourite walk down to our new favourite cafe at Oast Farm.

For the very first time, we had sunshine on the day of our shoot.  The sneaky peek images are stunning, I cannot wait to see the rest, but I'm not nervous, I can honestly say I trust Laura completely and can totally relax on a shoot with her, she's so talented and I know I'm going to love the photos no matter what.  It helps that she's also an amazing person who I'm lucky to also call a friend (although she may rethink our friendship after reading my utter fan girl cheesy comments!) and my kids adore her!  Even K who is extremely fussy about who can talk to him without him either hiding behind his hands or just having a full on meltdown.

Anyway, here is a little before & after (you know how I love those!) of the twins, newborn to the toddler years.  Two years apart.  To the day.  Thank you Laura!

Also how funny that they are on the same sides.  Entirely coincidental I swear!  We only have a few sneak peek images so far but as soon as I receive the rest in a few weeks, I will undoubtedly be putting them here with yet more girl crush thoughts I'm sure!

I've officially booked Laura for next year already.  I've worked it out and although it can seem a total luxury to pay for someone to come and take photos of you, the sheer pleasure of having the best family photos that we're all in, as well as being proper art, it's so worth it.  Plus, over a year, it works out at less than £25/month yet will last a lifetime.  I love that we will have at least one set of amazing photos to record each year (ideally their birthday) with us all in and without me getting stressed trying to take ALL the pictures ALL the time.

If you're thinking about booking a photo session, particularly with Laura, I cannot express strongly enough how much I think you should go for it!  You can always make more money, although I do know we are very lucky to have pretty secure jobs.  But you can never get these moments in time back.  You may have heard the saying, you don't regret the things you do, you regret the things you don't and in this case it is so true.  You won't regret booking Laura to freeze time for you.  I adore the memories Laura has captured of our family and know with certainty that I will treasure them forever.

To see more from our sessions with Laura, here is our maternity shoot, our newborn shoot and the twin's first birthday at the aquarium and on Brighton Beach.

Twin Love - Family by Bex

Tonight I lay down on the sofa while Iggle Piggle was entertaining my kids.  I shut my eyes after a long day at work and listened to the Tombliboos twittering away.

Next thing I know, I hear some heavy breathing next to my face.  (Priya is the heavy breather.)  Then I feel a knee next to my face.  She's climbing on to the sofa.  Not a squeak or a word.  She snuggles down into my front.  She's the little spoon.  I put my arm around her.  We lay there together.

For about 2 seconds.  She is two.

2 minutes later, she clambered up again, this time taking hold of my hand and pulling it around her.  Still not a word.  I still have my eyes closed.  She touches my cheek.  I look at her and she smiles, the kind that makes a noise and lights up her eyes.

Next thing I know, Kalyan has realised what is going on.  I hear his little feet, pad pad padding in his fast little wriggly run.  He crashes into the sofa and us.  Starts trying to squirm his way in.

These are the moments I adore.  What I live for.  The closeness, the way they love to cuddle and be close to me.

When I walked in the door after work, they were in the kitchen with Ma & Dadaji.  They both exclaimed and ran to me.  K was first, he threw his arms wide and squeezed me as I crouched.  Huge grins all round.  He then did what makes my heart skip.  He took my face in his hands and planted a kiss on my lips.  No prompting, no asking, he just kissed me and giggled.  Before being shoved out of the way for Priya to get in for her cuddle, she climbed on to my lap and sat down snuggling in to my chest.  This is life with twins.

Not long after K snuggled in on the sofa and tried to climb up, Priya began to kick, she didn't want to be ousted.  He started moaning and complaining, trying to find his space next to Mummy.  I controlled the kicks and helped him in, he laid back into my tummy and Priya protested until she realised she still had my head.  Cue prodding.  It didn't last, it never does.  They compete for their spaces, often wanting to be "dup" (up - Priya adds Ds to the beginning of most words, Dapple, Dummy = Mummy not dummy).  It can get very frustrating, with a ratio of two to one most days.  But we make it work and everyone gets plenty of cuddles.  Of course, I can cuddle them both together but that would be logical and two year olds do not do logical!  I sometimes wish for some space, especially when they won't let me make dinner and start going crazy, but really, I wouldn't have it any other way because without the desire to be held, I wouldn't get to experience the moments like I did this evening.

God, I love being a twin mum.

(Someone please remind me of this the next time they have a tandem tantrum.  Sometimes you don't want sound in stereo.)

Cycle 2 results - 90 day SSS by Bex

So, Cycle 2 - I've actually really enjoyed this cycle, even more than Cycle 1.  I found the food so much easier and hardly prepped at all in advance.  I started to remember the quantities of which foods I could have since I mostly stuck to the same ones as I had a few recipes I particularly enjoyed with a bit of variety.  I have started writing a post on my recipes for anyone who's looking for ideas!

I was so worried about the longer workouts (more than double the time in Cycle 1) but have loved catching up with my Netflix series while doing my weights.  It hasn't been easy by any means though.  I have definitely felt more tired on this cycle, maybe as I have to get up even earlier, maybe as I'm having more carbs and feeling sluggish as a result but I haven't had as much energy generally.  Nik has taken up more slack at weekends, feeding the twins and getting them sorted in the morning when I couldn't bare getting up at 5:50am on Saturdays so ended up working out while everyone else was getting up.  (Thanks hubs!)

I haven't missed a single workout though and have again been pretty good at sticking to the food on plan.  I have to admit though I have had more cheats this time, not least because we had a Baking Club meeting which I wasn't going to miss out on, although I was much more restrained than usual and just had baked turkey with my broccoli for dinner that night I saved my carbs for the cake!  (They were SUCH good cakes too!)  I've also felt the need for more treats and had a square of 85% chocolate on a few days, as well as a cheeky extra shot of honey or passionfruit curd in my yoghurt occasionally.

However, I have still managed to get great results and am delighted with my overall weight loss now of 1 stone (6 kgs) in 8 weeks!  Again, the photos show the big difference since the start.  I didn't want to share my side profile before as it was SO bad, but now that there is a much bigger difference (there was a noticeable change before but not to this extent), here it is... Eeep, scary biscuits sharing this!

Start of C1 - End of C2
(8 weeks)

Start of C1 - End of Cycle 2
8 Weeks

Although my inch loss doesn't really show much change, just 2.5 inches overall this time, I've lost 2.5" from my waist and you can see my stomach has now shrunk massively, I'm finally back in my old clothes!  I can't tell you how excited I am to be back!  It's like having a whole new wardrobe as I haven't worn these things for about 2 years!!  I'm enjoying my fun, colourful clothes again and enjoying getting dressed in the morning.

Fingers crossed for more improvement in C3!

If you're interested, you can read more about my whole weight loss (and gains) journey, where I shared lots of pics.