Good evening all!  It is currently a Saturday evening in September, the rain seems to have eased but the heating has well and truly been ON today - it seems our long, hot Summer has come to an end.

I have a lovely glass of red wine in front of me and while my hubby is flicking between the football (England vs Spain), the golf and the boxing (he is spoilt for choice tonight!), I thought I would take the opportunity to write a blog post and show you a brand new make!

I made this lovely baby scan photo frame a couple of days ago ...

... and as I was engraving the due date it got me thinking about how many babies actually arrive bang on their due date?  And how much does their date of birth affect their life, particularly their childhood?

For example, if a baby is due towards the end of August, their actual date of birth determines whether they start school when they are nearly 5 years old, or when they have only just turned 4 years old - 12 months makes such a huge difference doesn't it at that age?

Or maybe the due date is around New Year and and the actual arrival date determines whether they are born in one year or the next?

Or maybe the date of birth determines whether their birthday falls in the school holidays every year, or whether they miss out by just a couple of days!

I am lucky enough to have triplets and their due date was 11th April but we knew from early on in the pregnancy that they would arrive early - 34 weeks gestation is average for triplet pregnancies and I was so relieved to reach this milestone and delivered my boys just a couple of days after reaching 34 weeks.  At 6 weeks early, they were very small (around 3lb 3oz each) but healthy and after a four week stay in the Neonatal Unit they were allowed home weighing approximately 5lb each!

This was their first photos taken by the Neonatal nurses (apologies for the poor quality pics!)  Those photos still melt me, seeing how tiny and vulnerable they were!

14 years later, they are now taller than me, and still growing by the day!

The fact that they were born in February instead of April didn't have a huge impact on them but I would love to hear your stories of how close to their due date your little ones arrived and if this impacted them at all?

Personalised Grandparent gifts are always popular at Pretty and Personalised and I loved how this recent order for a special Grandad turned out

The white wooden hearts have been a fairly recent additon to the website and they add a whole new range of possibilities to the photo frames for a truly bespoke gift.

Lastly, I wanted to show you a new product and I have to admit that I LOVE it!  Natural wood is my favourite product to work with and I love wooden products in the home.  These rustic log plaques are so natural - they are literally just a slice through a tree! They example below shows wedding related wording scattered around the plaque, including the name of the couple, wedding date and venue, and honeymoon destination.

They wooden plaque would also make gorgeous gifts for a new baby or Christening, or maybe just a family plaque with all the names of the family members plus other related wording.

The log plaque is £17 with free UK postage and the wording is burned into the wood by hand so is fully customiseable!  Click on the photo to take you to the product!

That's all for now; my wine glass needs a re-fill and my pj's are calling!  Many thanks for reading and if you have any questions or comments, or would like to share your own 'due date' story, I would love to hear from you!