london life lately
as i’m writing this, on a grey drizzly afternoon here in london, i’m feeling really happy. first, because i just got moses down for a nap after quite a lot of struggle – he seems to be on a determined nap strike! second, because after i hit publish on this post i’ll be basically up to date on blogging again! and third, because it’s november first and i just feel gleefully wrapped up in the best time of the year. autumn (my favourite season for sure) has fully burst and warmed my bones, and the magic of the holidays is starting to bubble in my veins.
october was really, really wonderful. i’ve been a bit surprised by the consistency of genuine joy that i’ve felt this past month. i feel remarkably fulfilled and content, in love and cheery. i adore being moses’s mom, and i am crushing hard on ian. i’m increasingly obsessed with london and happy to be developing new friendships. there’s a lot i want to work on and some personal struggles are weighing on my heart, but i’m just really grateful and am finding a lot of joy in my everyday.
click through to see a lot of pictures of our london life lately – tidbits from throughout october. this is quite the photo dump – i’m just excited to not be too behind on blogging anymore :) and there’s so much beauty and so many colours and so much goodness to share from our autumn so far in londontown!
(some readers may recognize a few of these photos from my instagram – follow me over there if you’re not already!)
(some readers may recognize a few of these photos from my instagram – follow me over there if you’re not already!)
^^ on the last saturday in september, our weekly date was a trip to the top of wellington arch and lunch at an outdoor cafe in hyde park // i love those teal gate doors underneath the arch! ^^
^^ the view from the top! can you spot the london eye and the shard? and the very tippy top of big ben? ^^
^^ ian introducing moses to the joys of watching sports highlights on espn.com :) ^^
^^ since our adventure finding the amazing wall at sugarhouse studios last month, moses and i have started hunting for colourful, beautiful walls all around the city. my friend mairin and i have started getting together with our baby boys for weekly play dates (which really are just walks around cool london neighborhoods while our babies nap – haha!). the four of us walked past this wonder wall during a stroll through shoreditch a few weeks back. ^^
^^ i love hanging out with this little wiggly monkey. he is seriously so much fun. // a little boy and a big world! moses is definitely going to get some good exploring in while he’s still little! ^^
^^ moses’s hair is so unruly and so much fun. // ian is such a fantastic, involved, sweet dad. ^^
^^ we still haven’t gotten a buggy and wear moses wherever we go. i absolutely love having him snuggled close and he makes so many people smile around the city every day. he loves to snooze in all four of the baby carriers we use. (on the left above is the nesting days newborn carrier and on the right is a wildbird ring sling – i love both and will be sharing more about our baby wearing experience on the blog soon!) ^^
^^ one day a couple of weeks ago, moses and i met our friends meg and baby alfie at kew gardens. i had never been before (except at nighttime last december to see christmas lights) and it is amazing! check out those lily pads! ^^
^^ general conference!! we have been traveling every single general conference weekend that we have been married, until this october. it was so nice to cozy up and watch the meetings online together at home this time! i love general conference. ^^
^^ a special general conference breakfast! // there are some routes i walk really often around our neighborhood … but every single time i walk them i can find something new and fabulous if i look up and around. keeps life spicy :) ^^
^^ these two together! it’s just the best! moses couldn’t contain his joy while doing this trick with dad! ^^
^^ on general conference saturday, we went inside buckingham palace! the palace is only open for a few weeks a year, when the queen is away on holiday. it was so neat to be able to go inside and see the incredible state rooms and to take a tour of the expansive, gorgeous gardens out back! photography wasn’t permitted inside or in most of the gardens, but we were able to snap some photos of the back facade. it’s kind of cool to see that side of the palace that people don’t usually see! moses was so good the entire four or so hours that we were touring around the palace. it was such a fun day! ^^
^^ we walked home as it was starting to get dark (and clearing up from the rain that sprinkled us on our garden tour!). ^^
^^ i mean seriously, how can you not just love this kid?! ^^
^^ a sweet blog reader sent moses this personalized london onesie (i’m obsessed with it!), along with a personalized london blanket and darling owl plush toy. check out her website/shop here. ^^
^^ i walked past kynance mews in south kensington one day to see if the ivy there had started changing colours … and saw just the very beginning peeks of autumn. isn’t that cobblestoned street just magical?! ^^
^^ almost every day, i text ian a few photos of moses. it’s so so fun when ian gets home at the end of the work day and gives us both a big hug and kiss! ^^
^^ just chillin. i think he’s the coolest kid ever. ^^
^^ we celebrated our second anniversary on october ninth! i pulled up some wedding photos to help us reminisce on the most magical, perfect, wonderful day ever :) we took a weekend trip to paris to celebrate two years!! ^^
^^ snapshots from a stroll in chelsea with mairin and baby julian. ^^
^^ gorgeous fall-ish flowers at a chelsea shop and at liberty london! ^^
^^ there was a lot of spit up in our lives in the month of october. little moses is still learning how to keep his food down, but luckily the upchucking doesn’t bother him one bit. he’s like “what’s the big deal, mom?!” we do a lot of laundry around here :) ^^
^^ it always works out that within two minutes of getting him in a new clean outfit… ^^
^^ baby wearing and sensational dahlias gracing our little kitchen table! ^^
^^ this is what i wake up to every single morning – a super smiley, cooing baby. it makes me happy in a spectacular, intense way i never could have dreamed up. // moses, in addition to being a spit up master, is drool king! please bless he doesn’t get teeth too soon! i love his gummy smile. ^^
^^ pretty scenes from a walk in mayfair … ^^
^^^ … and back home through trafalgar square. ^^
^^ moses loves reading books. he kicks his legs with glee and pulls all kinds of super interested expressions on his face. i love it so much! ^^
^^ and he is hating tummy time much less these days – hooray! he loves to look out the window from his changing station. ^^
^^ i mean seriously – he’s just such a darling! with the wildest wispy hair! i’ve been calling moses “mr. cuteface” and “pumpkin pie” lately. i have no idea where these nicknames come from/why they stick. ian has been calling him “moserton” lately. he answers to every name with a smile :) // a blog reader turned friend knit this little sweater for mr. mo! ^^
^^ moses is obsessed with looking at himself in the mirror. it is hilarious and so fun to watch him realize that his reflection moves when he moves! ^^
^^ date night to the ice cream shop down the street, which features candy floss “clouds” around their ice cream cones! // it’s so fun to send photos of moses in different outfits that family/friends gifted him! ^^
^^ pretty scenes from a walk in seven dials. ^^
^^ more mirror time after a little photo shoot of moses in his moses basket at 100 days old! i swear he doubled in size over the course of about three days this month! all of a sudden he had nice chunky legs and sweet chubbier cheeks and he is so tall – barely fitting in his basket! ^^
^^ spectacular fall at horses guard parade! ^^
^^ about once a week, moses and i get together with the new mums and babies from our prenatal course. it’s so so fun to see our babies together! the group of us eight moms had babies all within one month and we text each other every single day with questions, advice, commiseration, cute pictures, etc. it’s so great to have these friends! ^^
^^ halloween isn’t too much of a thing here in england (not nearly as a big deal as it is in the states) … so i was excited to see this stoop in south kensington all dressed up for the holiday! (another post is coming up next showing off moses’s first halloween costume!!) ^^
^^ pretty scenes from a walk through some darling, quaint mews in south kensington. i just adore the cobblestones and the pretty facades. ^^
^^ while out and about one day, moses and i took a nursing pit stop at the natural history museum, one of my favourite buildings in london and in the world. ^^
^^ mirror time with dad // this stanford sweater is still a bit big for baby moses, but i’m so excited for him to grow into it! ian wore this same exact hoodie when he was a baby and his dad was a student at stanford law school. ^^
^^ we went to a doctor’s appointment one morning and the nurse commented on how we were matching. i hadn’t even noticed! but then i had to take some selfies of us twinning when we got home! moses’s expressions are the best. ^^
^^ i got this quad of scriptures when i was fifteen, and since then have written down the date and location each time i have finished reading the book of mormon. this october marked read number eighteen. that marvelous book has positively impacted my life immeasurably. and i love my new scripture study buddy. ^^
^^ pretty scenes from a walk in notting hill. ^^
^^ isn’t that ivy wall so spectacular?! i had to take a selfie with mo in front. ^^
^^ notting hill mews. don’t you love the saying on that door? every living thing requires effort. ^^
^^ another wonder wall! i love kind strangers that are happy to take photos of me and my baby :) ^^
^^ pretty scenes from a walk in muswell hill, a neighborhood of london that i have become obsessed with. our good friend lauren lives there and she gave me the best little walking tour one saturday when ian was out of town, and after we had a delicious brunch together. ^^
^^ meanwhile, ian was driving through six countries in the balkans with his brother hyrum (who is currently living in munich with his family). this trip is kind of a long story, but the short of it is that ian really wants to visit all fifty countries in europe while we live here, and so he knocked out six (albania, serbia, bosnia and herzegovina, kosovo, macedonia and montenegro) on a quick road trip. he said parts of the drive afforded the most spectacular fall experience of his life – amazing changing leaves on steep mountainsides. i've long considered this trip, and ian's desire to just step foot in countries/states, quite silly, but i adore his adventurous spirit and determination to make things happen! i loved seeing photos of some of the beauty he and hyrum enjoyed! ^^
^^ we had stake conference that sunday, which meant that after church we were close to hyde park/kensington gardens. so we had to go have a sunday picnic! the autumn slanty sunshine was just perfect, and we introduced moses to the joy of fall! ^^
^^ during our last family picnic in kensington gardens, moses was wiggling in my belly and the breeze caused a rain of pink petals. during this family picnic in kensington gardens, moses was snoozing on his daddy’s chest and the breeze caused a rain of yellow leaves! ^^
^^ ahhh i love these trees right by kensington palace. we discovered their splendor last autumn and we were glad to see they were bursting with colour this fall as well! ^^
^^ a living wonder wall! (well, i suppose technically it is dying ... but it's doing so spectacularly!) look at those colours! ^^
^^ can you imagine living in this house? if that was your door?! ^^
^^ fall really is the best. ^^
^^ one of the deepest-rooted traditions in my eyre family is to jump/play in the leaves in celebration of my dad’s birthday on october 28. ian and i noticed some fantastic leaf piles on the grounds of the london temple when we were there on october 28, so we sent these photos to my dear dad! ^^
^^ i feel like everything in life is a little more fun and a little more meaningful when you have a baby. fall foliage is more exciting than ever, because i get to share it with this little person of mine! ^^
^^ to top off the goodness of october, grandma and grandpa wright came to london from texas!! moses has been in heaven hanging out with these two! more on their visit coming soon. ^^
^^ annnnnnd, christmas in london is starting. i’m so, so giddy about it!! ^^
congratulations for making it to the end of this marathon post! sheesh that got looooong!
a few days ago i was listening to music and folding laundry while moses was bouncing in his bouncy chair, and this song came on. the wonder and joy and sweetness that i felt thinking about the past three and a half months with baby moses overflowed into tears rolling down my face. my life is so beautiful, and i’m so grateful.
on to november!! and the holidays!!!!
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ReplyDeleteBeautiful photos! Adorable boy! Keep working hard to develope those friendships with other Mamas. It can be hard when you're far away from "home" but having those relationships are key to successful and happy motherhood. It will be worth every additional effort when your friends can watch your baby in date night.
ReplyDeleteWOW! What an astonishing load of good things to ponder, from the memorable moments in that that magnificent, massive collection of pictures from the past few years to the current ones that are just this months' treasures.! Love Rachel's beautiful song! So important to remember how important relationships are in life and how much better life is since those nourishing relationships came along! Love you! Hugs to Ian and Moses!
ReplyDeleteHi Charity, thank you so much for keeping it real on your blog!!! I appreciate it so much. It reasures me so much that it`s normal to struggle and worry sometime-it`s part of life. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteLovely pix.
ReplyDeleteAutumn is my favourite time of the year too, just wish I had someone special to share it with.
Please could you tell me where you got your bright tights from? All I can find are boring black ones.
Your photography never disappoints - this is my favorite season too, and I love all of the gorgeous colors you've captured. Thank you!!
ReplyDelete