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!

5 things Im doing more of this month

The other day I was in London (yes, very exciting for a work at home mum living in Somerset!) at a conference, I finished there a few hours before I was due to get my train so made the most of my time and went shopping. I found something gorgeous for LC as a present and proceeded to pay for my item. Whilst browsing in the shop one of the assistance had given me a discount voucher to use at the check out so I handed it over. "Oh of course!" Said the lady behind the till looking at the voucher "It's September now!" She started to discount the item and then turned to me and said "This is my month you know" I knew exactly what she meant and said rather excitedly "It's my month too!" She then followed this with a "Ahhh high five girl!" and put her hand up. I very awkwardly high fived her with my lack of social un-coolness and we then discussed dates, star signs and ages, I also mentioned that my little LC was also sharing this month with us and that the item I was buying would be a birthday present and left with a little happy smile on my face!

So, lovely September, my month, you are finally here! You are set to be filled with joy, a tinge of sadness (my due date was the 12th) a lot of champagne in honour of all things wedding like and some really good memories made I hope and so with out further ado here is more of what I will be doing this month...

Enjoying the ride - September is going to be a busy one, multiple birthdays - LC's is planned to be extra special (do look out for a future Pearl that will detail of the loveliness of her day!) Mine will be well, dull as ditch water, I'm spending the day on my own! (I'm just trying to make you feel sorry for me, but still!) Hen parties, Weddings, lunch and brunch dates and various other meet ups with friends, we literally haven't a day spare! Sounds hectic eh? Well my fabulous fertility specialist is working with me to just chill, not get caught up in craziness and just be present each moment and enjoy it for what it is. Practicing the art of mindfulness is so helpful for this and you can do it too by using a mediation track to listen to, here are some tracks I found on YouTube similar to mine.
Track 1
Track 2
Track 3

Looking after my skin - with the change in seasons I'm aware that my skin and completion need a bit more care once the weather changes, through the summer it's really brightened up and because I have really cut down on dairy in the last month my completion has got so much clearer, I want to keep looking my best once the temperature drops so I will be drinking lots of water still although I like the comfort of a hot drink in Autumn so Green Tea is a good alternative, try it with lemon, cranberries or my current favourite grapefruit, so refreshing! Keeping up with my Vitamin E intake by eating almonds which packed full of antioxidants too, healthy fats and an instant energy boost! With all the partying I have to look forward to I also need to make sure I get in some early nights! I also asked some ladies in the know of all things beauty and this is what they recommended:
Emma who tweets at @CymruEm said "I swear by Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair serum for anti-aging. I swear it keeps me looking youthful"
Lauren who tweets at @Laurenbakerblog told me "I've been recommending Raw Gaia Floral Rejuvenating Cream with Dr Organic virgin coconut oil to everyone" - products with natural ingredients too is a bonus!
Ami who tweets at @Beautyloves_ reminded of an old favourite "Body Shop body butters are great for keeping your skin moisturised so stops it from drying out in the colder weather"

Feeling happy, not SAD - With natural daylight diminishing in the mornings due to the onset of autumn lots of us suffer with our mental health because of these changes, I know we certainly do in our family, but what can we do about it? Many people swear by light boxes to help with seasonal mood disorders (SAD) and this is something Im going to look in to this year, if anyone use one I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. The NHS website also recommends eating well, sitting near windows when indoors and getting outside as much as possible in the day, so lots of autumnal walks on the beach and the country pack for us then! For more information on how to tackle this do check out their web pages on SAD.

Watching crappy TV - OK confession time! Firstly before I reveal this to you, you have to promise me won't judge me on this, ok? Promise? Uncross your fingers then! September always signals the start of our favourite TV shows and the big favourites in our house are Greys Anatomy and Supernatural - hey I told you not to judge! We have also just caught up on the Game of Thrones series, my OH is trying to convince me to watch Nashville and I am keen to start watching Once Upon time. Whether you like cheesy TV or movies or prefer something else having some down time to look forward to when the nights start to draw in can help you to feel relaxed and uplifted, what's your guilty TV pleasure? 

Monday's Moment of Wisdom - Pearl Number 50

Today sees us into the second day of a new month and boy what a month it promises to be! September is a pretty big deal in our house because my little girl and I have birthdays this month and with in a few days of each other my nephew is also turning one in the same week, so lots and lots to celebrate!

What also makes this month special this year is that it's the start of our wedding season, I kick off with a couple of Hen Do's over the next few weekends, then my sister in law gets married at the end of the month and then on to two more weddings in October (plus our 1st Wedding Anniversary). 

That's a lot love and and celebration to enjoy in the next 8 weeks and as I watch all these people I love get ready to take their vows and start their journeys as husband and wife I find myself reflecting back over the last year at what marriage has bought me and my relationship. Although myself and the OH have already been together for 5 years now and became parents 3 years ago (can't believe I am a mother of a 3 year old!), our wedding really did seem in a lot of ways like the start of our journey together, like our love story has really only got going.

We've had our ups and our downs, some very silly and some major heart-aching ones too, we can both say there were times when we were ready to give up but we both admit that something just keeps on keeping us together and the most interesting thing, well for me anyway, is that since we've been married its all been so much easier. The relationship seemed different straight away, it's hard to described but I knew I had to take my commitment more seriously and that my relationship with this man was something to cherish, endure at times and put my everything in to, it was something worth making an effort for, not that I didn't before but I knew that in times of doubt and strife instead of feeling like we didn't fit, we needed to work together to find a way that did. Instantly this has made a huge difference to our dynamic, we no longer get worked up over the petty things and if we disagree we  talk things out or reframe our thinking until we can, we always say when we together as a team rather than selfishly against each other we are at our best.

It's still not always easy, there are still times when we rub each other the wrong way, we are still learning but marriage made all the difference to us, it made us become more serious about love and life and I hope we continue to be this successful until we are old and wrinkled.

Do you have a secret formula for marriage?

What do you think makes a relationship successful?

I'd love to hear about your wedding stories, marriage tips and relationship ups and downs so do leave me a comment below, it always makes me smile!