I’m Going To #BML16 & I’m A BiBs Awards Finalist!

I’m still pinching myself about all of this, I mean it’s crazy right? I’m a finalist in the BiBs 2016 Awards for Best Family Blog! I’ve said it a million times and I’ll say it a million more, I honestly can’t believe I’m a finalist, in fact I couldn’t believe I was even shortlisted, but to be a finalist is just crazy.

For those of you who voted for me thank you, thank you thank you. You don’t realise how grateful I am. There are so many amazing family blogs out there, thousands in fact, so it’s quite overwhelming for my little online space to be up for an award.

I started taking blogging more seriously in October last year. As you may already know I was made redundant when I was in the first trimester of my pregnancy with BB, so made the decision not to look for another job and concentrate on my blog and brand and hope it would turn into a career.

Last year was pretty crappy. Car crash, redundancy, dead cat… the list goes on. I could of turned a dark corner, but for the sake of myself and my family I decided to turn my negatives into a positive. I suddenly had more time on my hands and was given an opportunity to concentrate on my blog, something i’m extremely passionate about and genuinely love doing.

Blogging has opened so many doors for me, personally and professionally. I have more blogging friends on Facebook than I do actual friends. Theres always someone to talk to, vent to, share things with. The blogging community is genuinely a family of like minded people who are so happy to support others.

I get a huge kick out of supporting others and love it when my followers (particularly on Facebook) ask me about the products I write about, tell me my posts have helped them or share their lives with me.

Being a parent isn’t easy, but is truly rewarding. Blogging about my family life is not only a way of documenting milestones but is also my therapy. Writing about the difficult days is my way of opening up and venting. Sometimes just writing down my worries and concerns is enough to reassure myself everything will be ok and I’m doing a good job. If sharing the ‘real’ days helps other parents who may be struggling with the pressures of parenting, it makes staying up all hours to finish a blog post well worth it.

As you can see in the title I will be attending Britmums Live this year – something I wasn’t planning on doing with a newborn. However I couldn’t possibly miss the opportunity to accept an award from Carol Smillie could I 😉 , so I’m now packing up the changing bag, buying myself a decent nursing dress (that is acceptable for an awards ceremony) and heading to London for a fun filled day with hundreds of bloggers – with a 6 week old. Call me crazy.

I’m not expecting to win by any means, but I want to soak up every moment of being a finalist. I’ve put a lot of hard work into my blog over the past 9 months and although things like this may not mean anything to other bloggers, it means a lot to me. I love receiving recognition of my hard work and you can’t get any more recognised than being a finalist in a national blogging awards!

I’m also on the hunt for a sponsor to collaborate with at the event, but so far no luck!

As you can see from my website I’ve developed Lamb & Bear into an online clothing shop. Another avenue to my stay at home mum career after my redundancy. My goal for Lamb & Bear is to turn it into a national (and maybe one day international) lifestyle brand. Whether you come to my site for product reviews, parenting tips or to buy some of my designs, I want Lamb & Bear to be a positive. supportive and creative space online.

My aim for the rest of this year is to put as much effort as I can into creating strong content for my blog and exciting designs for my shop. I’m putting everything I have into Lamb & Bear and hopefully it pays off and one day it will be my full time job. So many people ask me how I run a blog and brand with 2 kids. If i’m honest I have no idea. I just don’t stop. If I don’t put all of my efforts into this now, i’ll most likely have to find a part time job, which with 2 kids will be pretty pointless (have you seen how pricey childcare is?!)

If you happen to see me at Britmums come and say hi. I’m quite shy in busy environments and I’ll probably be too scared to say hello, so if you’re more confident than me please approach me!

Good luck to all of the finalists in the BiBs2016 awards, and to anyone who didn’t make it, you’re amazing – we all are no matter what we achieve.

Here’s to the rest of 2016. Feel free to follow me on my journey!

~A~

P.S if I don’t recognise you or remember which blog your write please don’t be offended. I’ve got serious baby brain!

You might want to read:

So it’s time to take this blogging stuff more seriously…

I saw smoke and my maternal instinct kicked in.

Introducing Lamb & Bear’s Clothing Line

Here I am with BB. I’ll be bringing him with me to show off so if you want to give my arms a rest, come and have a cuddle! 😉