It has been a while since I posted on the blog, the summer has mostly been spent away in the Faroe Islands, where we got up to everything and nothing. It was just such a lovely time. Somehow the summer came and went in an instant, now that the autumn is knocking on the door I am eager to slow down a bit and enjoy this cosy season.
But before I go into autumn mode, here is a bit about what we got up to during our 5 weeks in the Faroe Islands this summer. A few weeks before we went to the Faroe Islands, we found out that we were expecting baby number two and getting to share the news with my family back home was lovely. We were around 7 weeks pregnant when we went up, so it was early to tell anyone. When we were pregnant with JJ only our sisters and 3 friends knew before we had our 12 week scan. We then told James parents and a few days later mine. Getting to share the news with my family first this time was very special to me. This post will mainly be about what we got up to in the Faroes and there will hopefully be plenty of pregnancy posts to come soon.
There will be a few mentions of small shops in this post. We have had some lovely clothes from these companies during the summer and with my lack of blogging and posting on social media, I really want to give some of these companies a mention.
At the beach
We love going to the beach. My hometown Sandvík has the largest beach in the Faroe Islands and it really is one of my favourite places to be. We usually take a bucket and spade with us, so that we can pick treasures and dig holes.
JJ wearing one of our favourite tees (I have a matching one!) from Cotton and Bloom. £5 for every item of Cotton and Bloom’s Be Cool Be Kind range is donated to Childline, the UK’s amazing charity, providing children with support and counciling around the clock. His lovely ocean leggings are from Little Stitches and the quality of them is outstanding!
James was back and forward between Scotland and the Faroe Islands during the summer. I actually think that during the 5 weeks he was back and forward 3 times. This was due to us photographing weddings in the Faroes and him travelling back to Scotland inbetween to photograph weddings and other work there. We decided to give the travelling back and forward a go, but I am not sure that we would do it again. It was hard both, but worth trying.
Exploring Hvalba
We had many lovely adventures. This picture is taken after we spent ages at a play ground in our neighbour village Hvalba, where JJ took over the trampoline from the older kids. He was not too happy about leaving the playground to go for a walk, but when he realised that I had a packed lunch with me it was all made a lot better. JJ’s lovely tee is from Blueberry Boo Kids. My town is very small, and there is sadly no playground for the kids to enjoy. There are also not many kids living in the town at the moment, but during the summer many visit and a playground would be very welcome.
The simple things
Playing with chalk provided several hours of fun this summer. My mum drew a large hop scotch which JJ picked up how to do so quickly.
There is something very special about seeing your child playing the same games as you used to play as a child. JJ loved counting and jumping around inside the hop scotch. We also drew large dinosaurs and many other animals.
Missing the Scottish woods
There are not many woods or trees for that matter in the Faroe Islands. The closest woods to my town is two towns away. When we are in the Faroes we make regular trips to Tvøroyri to do our shopping, and also to visit the lovely woods there.
These pictures are taken on the outskirts of the woods, which is actually a location which I find very beautiful. The mountains behind JJ in the picture below are just amazing.
JJ’s trouble tee is from Featherstone and Bloom.
Going to pick daddy up from the ferry when he cams back to the Faroe Islands was of course one of our favourite things to do. JJ had fallen asleep in the car and when he woke up again daddy was looking in the window at him. There was no chance of James sitting on the front passenger seat that trip, he had to sit in the back with JJ.
One of the rare pictures of me during the summer. Trying to hide the growing tummy was one of the reason for less pictures and pictures only showing half of me 😉 With James being away so much, there was not that many opportunities for getting my picture taken. My tee is from Cotton and Bloom, I am slowly growing out of all my normal clothes, but this one will definitely be one of the incentives to get back into shape after baby arrives.
Catching up on sleep
Honestly, have you ever seen anything so cute before? JJ still enjoys his afternoon naps and I usually have to wake him up so that he does not sleep for too long and completely ruins bedtime. I have to admit, that being pregnant, I quite enjoy him still napping, it means that I get a little quiet moment during the day and also have the option to go for a nap myself.
I will soon be writing a new post about breastfeeding, as we are facing some exciting new challenges with breastfeeding whilst pregnant and the prospect of tandem feeding. His lovely tee is from Mumma’s milk.
Just me and you
Me and JJ had a weekend all to ourselves, which is a rarity when we are in the Faros. My parents had sailed north with their boat and were spending the weekend on the boat. The weather was lovely, so on one of the days we packed a bag, got in the car and drove. JJ started by having a nap whilst I got to see the magical fog rolling down the mountains.
Our destination was the village of Vágur. Where we had our picnic on the rocks by the sea. His very appropriate adventure tee is from Sophia and the Fox.
On our way to the picnic we stopped at a shop to buy some juice. There JJ eyed up a box of Sun Lolly. Now, if you don’t know what these are, that is just a shame. They are the most amazing ice lollies ever!! You buy them in juice form and then freeze them at home yourself. This is quite difficult for JJ to understand, so he might have had one as a juice during our picnic.
We had taken all the dry bread from the house with us to feed the ducks on the big lake in Vágur. JJ loved feeding them.
The day finished of at a small shop in Tvøroyri where we got a large ice cream each. He was so excited to have an ice cream, even if the picture above might not say just that. He got upset when a bit of ice cream got on to his tee.
More Sun Lolly
We have an ever growing love for dinosaurs and the collection of them is growing too. At the time of this picture being taken this was the newest edition, now we have at least 3 more 😀
Big Brother
If I was to pick one picture, that meant the most, taken during the summer 2017, then this would be it.
We went for a private scan at Snýðið when we were 11 weeks pregnant. I already had a bit of a tummy, which I struggled to hide, and the national holiday was coming up a few days later. We were just bursting to tell everyone that JJ was going to be a big brother.
When we took the picture, JJ was not having any of it. Isn’t that just typical 😉 So we bribed him with sweeties and you can just make one out in his left hand.
Ólavsøka – The Faroese National Holiday
I am going to brag a bit. I made JJ’s jumper. Along side all my other hobbies, knitting is very high on the list. This jumper took a bit longer than expected, and I got it finished the night before the national holiday.
Cheering on my sister and he crew rowing in last race of the year. All the cheering payed off, they can in first! It was definitely the highlight of Ólavsøka.
JJ cheering on my sister. He is so proud of her!
Look at those smiles, they just say it all!
JJ got to go with my sister to the podium to collect the gold medal.
We had a lovely summer, getting to spend so much of it in the Faroe Islands was just what we needed (maybe with the exception of a sometimes slightly stressed James when he traveled so much), but overall we are so thankful that we are able to do this. Thank you for having a read and look at what we got up to this summer. I am hoping to post some more current blogs soon.
Iris Xx
Our Sleepy Smiles 