Feel Good Friday - September Gratitude...

We are coming to end of September now and half way through a very busy two months for our family, looking back there has been some emotional lows but some lovely joyful highs and it's always nice and  good for the spirit to reflect back on the good things so here is my Gratitude List for the month...

My husband - he really has been amazing this month and I couldn't of got through with out him, he even went to the supermarket at 4am this week when I was ill in the night to get me the medicine I needed to feel better, I was in agony, couldn't sleep and he was truly my hero!

Blooms - I've had lots of flowers in the house this month, my sweet MIL bought me flowers to cheer me up on what would of been my due date on the 12th. We've had one of the charming little flower decorations place in vintage pots from my SIL's wedding and today LC choose these gorgeous yellow Chrysanthemums from the farm shop today, simple but looking lovely on our fireplace.

Celebrations - there has been so many great things for us enjoy and make the most of and I've got to spend some time with lots of special people who lift me and make some great memories! 

September Sun - we've been quite lucky down here and had lots of warm sunshine, normally my birthday always marks a change in the weather but we are still enjoy nice temperatures and long may it last.

A happy, healthy child - Although this month has been difficult fertility wise what I have reflected so much on is what an adorable, smart, funny and beautiful little girl I do have, many times over the last month when we've had to do some important things she has been our shining light, so well behaved and we are increasingly proud of her.

So how has your month been? What are you feeling grateful for? Leave me a comment below...

True Love Tuesday

This weekend was really special for our family, the whole of my husbands side of the family came together to celebrate his sisters wedding and little miss LC was a bridesmaid! She was so well behaved and the most sweetest as she walked down the isle, posed for pictures and danced the night away, we were incredibly proud of her and she was so thrilled to be asked to be a bridesmaid for her auntie who is also one of her godmothers so it was a very precious day for her.

My SIL was beautiful and elegant and I couldn't stop crying at everything, the cake, the decorations, I cried when I first saw her walk down the stairs in her gown, when they all walked down the isle, when they took their vows and when the have LC and the other bridesmaid their gifts, I even cried when I wrote out their wedding card, I'm such a sucker for love and romance!

For me the occasion was even more enjoyable because my in laws are big on family, they cherish the time they have together and all love each others company especially because they don't all get a chance to be together in one room that often and we all spent the whole weekend just having fun, laughing, eating and drink while the kids ran around and danced together, it felt effortless and relaxing to be a part of it all! 

Myself and my OH also got a chance to have our first dance as a married couple which was a happy moment for me, I'm not sure he was that thrilled but he was very sweet and gentlemanly and indulged me, he made an effort for me to do something out of his comfort zone and put my desires ahead of his own, I adore him for knowing all the little things that are meaningful to me but also for deciding to not let them pass me by, for being responsible for them and investing in my happiness, he reminds me that relationships are some times give and some times take and when you make the effort to find some kind of balance then any relationship can be magic!

Feel Good Friday - What's making me feel good this week!

It's been a crazy week! Lots and lots to celebrate - with my birthday and LC's Birthday, a Hen Party way up north and my SIL's wedding this weekend I haven't had much of a chance to get stuck in to my fertility plan but I have been good and cutting down on gluten and dairy - well apart from the big ice cream sundae I indulged in on my Birthday!

This week we have also spent lots of time with friends and some much needed family time which has been wonderful and we'll be enjoying more of this at the weekend when my OH's family all come together for the big wedding! Having so many people around me in these last few weeks has really helped when I've had a bit of dip, knowing that I have those people to turn to, be open with and grab a hug from just reinforces how important it's it to have a great network of supportive people around and not only for the bad times but to make celebrating the good times even better! I have this great affirmation as a screen saver on my iPad - surround yourself with people who will only lift you higher - I love this!

Happy Weekend Everybody! 

Birthday Giveaway!

If you didn't already know today is my Birthday, I'm 36! But lets not focus on the age bit but instead on the exciting give-away I have to celebrate all things Birthday on the blog today! It's been a hectic time with two to celebrate but I wanted to mark this day with a little give-away to say thank you to all my readers and the lovely support and comments you give me!

I'm going to run the give away over the next week and one lucky reader will be randomly chosen to win this gorgeous canvas bag you can see in the photo from Fickle Sense. You can see more loveliness like this at the Fickle Sense Esty shop so do check it out!

To enter to win this lovely tote bag all you have to do is leave a comment at the bottom describing your most favourite Birthday (My best two were 27 - I went to Disney Land with my best friend, can you imagine two twenty somethings? And 33 - I had just given birth to Miss LC!) then everyone's name who commented will be entered and the winner picked at random through Randomizer.org 

The give- away starts now (!) and will close at 8pm next Tuesday 24th September, entries open to readers worldwide, please don't forget to leave an email address so I can contact you if you win, the winner will be notified within 24 hours of the end date and time and has a week to claim their prize which will be posted 2nd class by mail.

I'm looking forward to hearing all about your fabulous Birthday experiences and don't forget you can also follow Mahaila, owner and designer at Fickle Sense on Twitter @FickleSense go and say Hi, she'd love to hear from you!

Monday's Moment of Wisdom - Pearl Number 52

"The greatest gifts you can give your children is the roots of responsibility 
and the wings of independence"  - Denis Waitley

Last Friday was Miss LC's 3rd Birthday, it's been a some what chaotic year so myself and her dad didn't really think about what we would do to celebrate too much until the end of the summer. I had kept thinking though about this little idea of incorporating 3 good things we could do with her that would be for the benefit of others, one for every year she had been with us. I talked it over with he other half we both agreed it would be a special way to spend her birthday.

Now the idea for this actually came from another lady who I had come across on Twitter called Robyn Bomar, a few years ago Robyn had the idea herself to do 38 random acts of kindness on her 38th Birthday, from this she created The Birthday Project, you can read more about what she got up to and her charity on the website, which I would urge you to do, she is an amazing lady and her story was our inspiration!


So here is LC's story and what she got up to - myself and her dad decide the week before what her random acts of kindness would be so we could get organised as we wanted them to be meaningful for her. We printed off information cards from The Birthday Project website so we could explain to others what we were doing and then I stapled my blog details to them so everyone who was a part of the day could follow her story.

The day before on the Thursday, LC and I spent the afternoon baking cakes and the first stop on the Friday morning was her nursery. We made around 40 cakes in the end, enough for all the children and the amazing ladies who take care of her when she is there. We our so grateful for the hard work and the wonderful job they do looking after her, everyone was very pleased to see her and get to taste one of our yummy cakes.

After lots of cuddles and Happy Birthdays were said we moved on to the next stop - originally we wanted to go to the children's hospital, LC had stayed in there once when she was younger and we wanted to show our appreciation of how brilliantly they took care of us but we only had teddies and books to donate and they need stuff that could be sterile. We did have however a lot of junk round the house so in the end she helped us to take that to the charity shop. She carried her old nappy bin and when we got to the shop we explained to the lovely lady that it was her birthday and what we were doing and handed her one of our card, she was delighted and so was LC.

We jumped in to the car again and headed to our nearest Starbucks, anyone who knows our family well knows that mummy is a big Starbucks fan and consequently so is Miss LC! Once there we ordered coffee and cake and then asked the baristas to help us out. We explained what we were doing and then bought a gift card, asked if they could save it along with the information card and then give the gift card to the next mum and baby that came in so they could have coffee on us! They were thrilled at what we doing and more than happy to oblige, they all made a fuss over LC and wished her Happy Birthday, I have to say we were so impressed with their attitude and the support we got from the team there, it really made the last random act of kindness so special. We drank and ate our treats and then said our goodbyes to everyone but we never saw a mum and baby come in while we were there so we never got to see who would benefit from it which we felt sad for but knew it would brighten their day and if any of the staff or lady who got the card are reading please do get in touch and let us know what happened!

So then we were done and it felt a bit sad that it was over, truth be told we could of done it all day, it was the loveliest feeling giving back to others and although LC didn't entirely understand what we were doing she loved taking part and myself and her dad really got a buzz from giving back, my biggest hope is that as she gets older she will understand and take pride in what we are doing. Our plan is to do it with her each year now, LC is so loved and had A LOT of toys and wonderful present which we are truly grateful for but we want to teach her the importance of giving herself and that a special day for her can also be a special day for others too. What was also nice is that others got in touch and told us about random acts of kindness they had done so it seemed we inspired a few others! LC went on to enjoy the rest of her birthday, we took her shopping and out for lunch and had a family tea party with grandparents, aunties and her cousin in the afternoon.

We would like to thank everyone who took part in her birthday and helped us to make it a success and we hope they enjoyed being involved in her random acts of kindness. I hope to that our adventures have inspired others to give something back to others too, it's amazing when you see how one little thing can brighten another's day! Do get in touch and let me know about your random acts of kindness too!

Feel Good Friday - A time for Celebration...

“Birth is not only about making babies. Birth is about making mothers--strong, competent, capable mothers who trust themselves and know their inner strength.”

― Barbara Katz Rothman

Today is the third birthday of my daughter and we are celebrating in such a special way (more to come on Monday's post), I am so proud of this child I, along with her father, have created. I look at her in awe and wonder, how did I create her? As I struggle now with trying to conceive again, creating another person to complete our family, I think about what kind of mother I already am, what kind of a mother have I become and I realise that my darling LC has created the mother I am today. I had my ideas, thoughts and notions of how I would handle parenthood but really she has shaped me in to the kind of mother I want to be, taught me so much about who I am as a woman, what I can handle, where my values are and what I believe in, she has taught me strength in adversity, compassion, self belief and how to have belly laughing induced fun again, what a clever little girl she is, my shinning light, an image of her handsome father but with a delicate girly touch.

I am so proud of this girl, she drives me nuts but I wouldn't change her ever and I thank her for letting me be the best mother I can be...

Monday's Moment of Wisdom - Pearl Number 51

I have been sick this last week, an early autumn cold or a late summer one, anyway either way you see it believe me it was no fun and I took to my sick bed for a few days! (Although I did manage to get out again for champagne and theatre fun to celebrate my SIL's upcoming wedding!) Now that I have successfully passed my germs on to Miss LC poor love, I am suffering with another type of sickness, the broken hearted kind. You see its all a bit difficult this week, an anniversary, a moment in time I don't really wish to acknowledge or comprehend, something that should of been so different for us. Anyway, I'm going to heal my broken heart with a little help from my darling husband who shows now end of kindness and understanding and my sweet girl who is very proud and excited to be turning 3 on Friday! She is our tiny miracle and shinning light in all of this...

This week going I'm to find the strength, the courage and the power to take care of me because I know inside that with the love from others around me I will and to anyone else facing a tough week, something they would rather forget or wished was different... be kind to yourself, be patient with yourself, know that it will not always be this way.

P.S - I promise no more sad posts this month, lots and lots of lovely and exciting celebration posts coming up!