My January Update

I've decided to start doing little monthly updates to share what I've been up to and to keep a record for myself as I often forget small details. These will be nice to look back on at the end of the year. I'll separate these into life and blog updates. So here they are:

Blog Update

- I made it into the top 500 of the Tots100, a ranking system with over 8,000 parent bloggers. I am so excited! I've been lingering just outside for the last few months and am finally in, yay! I'm also ranked at 70 in the Trips100.
- I was highlighted in the #LittleFierceOnes community on Instagram. I take a lot of photographs, they are all over my blog and I love using Instagram so it's nice to have a photograph recognised. Thanks very much Amy at Mr and Mrs T plus three for choosing me!
- I have received many requests for sponsored posts this month, more than ever before. Other than the money element it's always nice for an email to drop into your inbox from someone that wants to work with you. It's made me wonder if I could potentially make a full-time living from blogging.
- Other opportunities have been coming out of blogging, one in particular which is very exciting indeed! I'm not sure if it will go ahead but watch this space, haha!
- My letter to my two year old was featured in FabFridayPost linky. The letters to my little boy are my most enjoyable posts to write so it's lovely to have one featured.
- I started this year with my post about my one word theme: 'change' and have been incorporating that into my life.
- I decided to take part in the #take12trips challenge and explained why in this post. The first trip of the month was to Devil's Dyke on a rather cold & wet day. I've discovered many inspirational travel bloggers that have travelled the world with small children. It gives me a bit more confidence in doing it myself.
- I wrote about my dad for the first time, remembering him 17 years on, a very personal post.
- My social media followers are growing to about 9000 with nearly 5000 on twitter.
- I've read so many blogs this past month but the posts I've enjoyed the most are those from Jade at Captured by Jade with her stunning photography from Wales, Alice from New Young Mum on her outdoor adventures with little Amelia, Tony at Papa Tont on thought-provoking posts including honesty and how much we decide to share and this beautiful and inspirational post from Larger Family Life giving 50 amazing reasons to travel with kids!
- Last but not least I've started a new travel/photo linky #MyFavouriteTrip for trips big and small! If you've written about a trip please do link up. I'm excited that Truprint are my sponsor and are giving away a £20 gift voucher each week to my chosen winner :)

Silent Sunday

Photo Friday: Dusk

© Our Seaside Baby

I took this photo yesterday afternoon. It's been pretty cold & windy these last few days but skies like this make up for it. There's no editing in this shot apart from cropping, it looks exactly as it did here. Isn't it beautiful? This is the view from my little boy's bedroom. We admired it for a while before the clouds changed their shape, the colour faded then disappeared as darkness fell. I took a few shots and this was the best one I think although it was taken on my phone so not the best quality. I love the silhouette of the roof tops, the detail in the branches of the tree and the contrast this creates with those bright colours in the sky. 

Have you seen any similar skies lately?

Linking up with Photo Friday & Friday Photo Journal

My New Travel & Photo Linky #MyFavouriteTrip

 

Welcome to #MyFavouriteTrip 
This is my brand new weekly travel/photo linky I'm hosting and I'm super excited about starting it. I ran a linky over the month of August & enjoyed running it and connecting with other bloggers so much I've decided to introduce a permanent weekly linky on the blog. I love taking photos and exploring so it was obvious to start a linky around these themes. The definition of a trip is "a journey or excursion, especially for pleasure." With a toddler we go on trips most days, to the park, to the seaside and even a play in the garden is exciting for him. I've realised that a trip doesn't have to be an exotic holiday on the other side of the world. It could be anything from a stroll to the park to staying at an all inclusive resort in the Maldives (I wish!). So no matter how small or big your trips have been please do link up. You can link up a blog post, a selection of photos or even a single shot on Instagram or Facebook. 

A Winner Each Week! 
I'm delighted to announce that Truprint is sponsoring #MyFavouriteTrip and each week I'll pick a winner who will win a £20 gift voucher to use at Truprint for whatever they like (UK only). You could turn your favourite trip into some photographs, a canvas, magnets, a mug, calendar, t-shirt or whatever takes your fancy! 

The Linky
I will start the linky by adding my recent trip to Devil's Dyke. It was a cloudy and wet day but that didn't stop us going up in the hills for some fresh air. My little boy loved it, jumping in puddles whenever he could! This is the first trip of the year that goes towards my #take12trips challenge. 

Guidelines:

1. Link up any trip related posts, old or new. 

2. Please add my linky badge by copying & pasting the html below or by linking back to this blog. 

3. Spread the blogging love by commenting on this post & a couple of the other blogs.

4. Please share on social media using the hashtag #MyFavouriteTrip. Copy me in (I'm @ourseasidebaby on Twitter & Instagram) and I will RT/like.

5. #MyFavouriteTrip will go live every Thursday morning & stay open for a week.

I'm looking forward to reading your posts & seeing your photographs! ❤

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An InLinkz Link-up

Greenfrog Botanic Review & Giveaway

One of my sponsor's for the Britmums Live Conference last year was Greenfrog Botanic. They are a local company based in Hove, East Sussex selling gorgeous bathroom essentials such as hand and body wash. I have had the pleasure of reviewing their gorgeous products and finding out more about their unique business.

Silent Sunday: Pebbles

Winter Sunshine at the Seaside

It's been a rainy month or two! I think December was the wettest month on record in the UK and there have been severe floods in several areas of the country. We have, however, had some lovely sunny days recently so we've been making the most of it and going on seaside walks for some fresh sea air and a play in the sand/pebbles. During this time of year there aren't many people around so we often have the whole section of beach to ourselves! The clouds in the sky were stunning this day and it's the same trip we took this Silent Sunday photo that produced an amazing silhouette. There is something unique about the sea during the winter. The sun is lower in the sky, the sea is rough, the chill is in the air, the wind can be fierce and we are wrapped up in several layers. But there is that anticipation that Spring is just around the corner and soon the beach will be filled with tourists and people taking a dip in the sea. I recently came across this quote on Alice & Amelia's Blog (NewYoungMum) on her post about Finding Summer in Winter in which she also shares some recent photos at the seaside.

A Trip to Devil's Dyke

I recently wrote about why I'm joining in with the #Take12Trips travel challenge this year. The aim is to take one trip every month and that could be anything from a holiday to an exotic location to a day trip somewhere local. So I'm starting with our little trip to Devil's Dyke we did a couple of weeks ago at the beginning of January. Devil's Dyke is set in the South Downs, about five miles north of Brighton. It consists of a peak with stunning scenery, an incredibly steep and deep valley and walks in several directions. On this particular day the weather was a bit rainy but in between showers we decided to get some much needed fresh air with a walk of the area, starting at the peak, doing a loop along the ridge of the dyke, passing the cows on the way and even having time for some splashing at the end, something my little boy is very into right now! He did nearly all of the walk himself and it's nice that he can walk longer distances now as he's way too heavy to carry. I've been taking out my DSLR a lot lately so I'm sharing some of the photos I took that day. 

Silent Sunday: Hand in hand

In My Toddler's Bedroom

I thought I would share some of the things in my little boy's bedroom. He's two and a half now and his bedroom has changed little in over a year. I do love the design of it and if you read my blog regularly you'll know I love colour. I'm not really a fan of blue vs pink so his room is neutral. The walls are a shade of yellow, his cot is white, the rug is beige but it has bursts of colour around the room. Here's some of the things his room includes: 

Paper Circle Mobile

Throwback Thursday: 17 Years On

My dad in Goa, India

Today it's the anniversary of my dad's death. I was 17 at the time, a difficult age to deal with grief and now 17 years later at the age of 34, this is a poignant day. After today I will have been alive longer without him than with him. It's a sad and strange realisation. I probably still think about my dad every single day and I don't find time makes that much difference to be honest. 

Silent Sunday: Visiting the Cows

Linking up with Photo Friday & Friday Photo Journal

Travelling With Kids: The #Take12Trips Challenge

I recently came across the #Take12Trips challenge that started on the blog, Need Another Holiday and thought what a great idea! I love travelling and have had the privilege of exploring the world since childhood. My first holiday was to Tunisia at the age of one! My dad's side of the family live in India so we went on regular holidays there and yearly holidays to other destinations around the world. My family would skimp and save in every other way though. I barely remember eating out at all throughout my entire childhood, unless we were abroad. We didn't have a car but we went abroad most years. When I went to university the travel continued and I did the whole backpacking experience around Asia. I later lived abroad in two countries and was fortunate to travel extensively with work. I've loved these experiences and by nature I am an explorer!

Photo Friday: Freedom

There is freedom waiting for you, on the breezes of the sky, and you ask, "what if I fall?" Oh but my darling, what if you fly? 

- Erin Hanson

Linking up with Photo Friday & Friday Photo Journal

A Letter To My Two Year Old

Dear baby boy,

Where has the time gone? You're already over two and a half and are growing at a rapid pace. I notice it most in your clothes, in the ones I bought you months ago that were way too big and baggy at the time are now too small for you, particularly in length. How have you grown so much in just a few months? I also notice it in your weight. You're 2.5 stone now and I can just about carry you for a few minutes up the road until my arms give way. I look at you and you are growing into a little boy!

Silent Sunday

My Word For 2016

Happy New Year to you all! I saw this quote recently and thought that's exactly what I would like to achieve in 2016. I can't say 2015 was a great year for me. Sometimes, things don't turn out the way you expect them to but you just have to plod along as best as you can. I'm not making a list of resolutions this year. Instead, I've decided to have a one word theme for 2016: CHANGE.

I spent far too much of last year procrastinating and worrying about things so this year some things need to change. That doesn't mean I'm going to completely overhaul my life but I'm going to make some little changes here and there that will hopefully have a bigger & longer lasting effect. This means keeping to a better schedule, spending more time with loving people, being more creative, enjoying the moment, changing my general outlook and most of all doing things out of the ordinary and challenging myself. I also need to make some bigger changes in my life such as moving house which I was putting off last year as it all seemed so daunting. Change can be scary but can also be positive and uplifting and as they say there is nothing scarier than feeling stuck. 

So in 2016 I've decided to embrace change. Because without it you never know where you might end up! Wishing you all a fantastic 2016! Do you have a theme for this year?