Spirits are visiting…

Now some of you are going to think I am completely mad and others may be freaked out by this, but you know me, I like to share, and being a believer in the after life it doesn’t worry me in the slightest!

There have been some strange things going on in my home over the last couple of weeks. As you have probably gathered I have put it down to a visit from the spirit world. Having a Sister, Brother, Grandmother, Grandfather, Uncle and Mother-in-law all in the spirit world I am quite convinced one of them have been to see us.

The incidence that has touched me the most was when I put Noah down for a nap in his crib upstairs. It was quite warm so I decided not to snuggle him in with his blanket and just laid it very loosely over his legs. After about 5 minutes he started to moan a little and gradually began to cry, as I went to get up, he stopped, I waited for a moment to see if he was going to start again but it went quiet so I left him. Half an hour later I decided to go and check on him and when I went in the room he was almost perfectly swaddled in the blanket that I had left loosely laying over his legs. I was shocked and then started questioning myself. Had I done that and just not remembered – the thing is I would never of wrapped him like that and it was so neatly done that you could not really imagine him wriggling himself into that position in the blanket. Anyway he slept contented and I am more than happy at the thought of one of our loved ones watching over him and making sure he is safe.

Other things have happened too. The most prominent one being that we have a children’s table and chairs in the playroom and the girls have a tendency to move the chairs into the kitchen so they can climb up and reach things. It really annoys me as they always just leave the chairs when they have got wha they want. Anyway, normal day, walk into the kitchen to find small chair in front of the fridge. Had my normal moan about ‘if you move the chairs can you put them back when you are finished’, whilst I placed the said chair back at the little table in the playroom. We then got our coats and headed out. When we returned the chair was in the middle of the playroom! No one had been in the house since I put the chair back.  To confirm it wasn’t just me, Ella questioned what the chair was doing there, and how did it get there as she had watched me put it back. No reason why it would be moved other than someone wanted to let us know they had been there I believe!

I have had experiences like this for years and am very happy with my believes about these events. It brings me great comfort from such sad losses. I know some believe it is all in my mind and there is a perfectly reasonable explanation as to how these things actually happened, but for me this is what I want to believe. I tell my children too as I don’t want them to be scared or worried about the prospect of ghosts and spirits. I think because they hear me talk about it and see how at ease I am about it all it is perfectly normal to them. I have always been very open about death and my believes about where we go and why we leave this earth that they just take it in their stride. I don’t want it to be a taboo or sad topic in our home and I want to open the door for the girls to come to be about their worries around this subject. I grew up with a massive fear of death and dying and remember how torturous it was. I don’t want them to grow up before their time, but I want them to be fearless of things that are beyond our control.

The 3rd child

Are 3rd children always easy or have I just been remarkably lucky? I pinch myself every day at the moment as I cannot believe what an angel my Noah is! He has slept for 11 hours a night since he was 7 weeks old. He has 3 sleeps during the day, he just smiles all the time when he is awake, he really is no trouble. It is like there isn’t a baby in the house. I don’t want to tempt fate, as there is no sign of teeth yet, but he really does appear to be the perfect baby!

I keep thinking about this and can’t decide if it is the fact he is a boy and they are different to girls, it’s just his personality or if it is down to the fact that I am older and more relaxed as a Mother, or if it is simply because he has had to fit in around a very established family of 4! Whatever it is, it is amazing and has made my, very unexpected, return to the world of babies a fantastic experience. I had no desire to have another child and now I am so grateful that fate took control and brought us Noah. It has changed the dynamics of our family for the better and I truly believe it was meant to be. I would even consider going for number 4 now!

Starting a business

To add to my  juggling act I have decided to start a new business. I already run a Smallprint franchise, which I love, but I have always wanted a shop! However, my business brain tells me that now, in the grips of a recession, it is not the right time to open a shop especially with High Street retailers closing almost daily at the moment. So instead I have chosen to launch my new venture as an online Boutique! I am having great fun, but man I didn’t know what I was letting my self in for. I want to do it alone, which is great as I don’t have to consider anyone elses thoughts, ideas or opinions, but the downside is I have to do EVERYTHING myself. Don’t get me wrong I am not complaining at all as I am loving every minute, but I do wish I had a little Fairy that would appear and just do little mundane tasks that I keep putting off.

Anyway, I finally decided that my business would be known as Timeless Treasures Boutique! In a nutshell I will be selling Traditional (timeless) children’s Toys, Clothing and Accessories. To be true to my values and believes my business is going to be family run for families and my products will be Fairtrade and Ethically sourced. I have even sourced a couple of local crafts people to make bespoke products just for us!

I have been really lucky and been included in a project run by my local photographers Peachy Pics they are supporting 60 local businesses by taking their photo with a product and promoting them around the area for free. This is my fab picture! It was perfect timing for me and helps me raise awareness of my business. I feel the picture captures what I am all about. I am in the picture to represent it being a family run business, my favourite products are in the picture so people have an idea about what kind of products we sell and I love the black and white and colour mix as it screams timeless, classic and quality!

Please help me build my empire and spread the word about my business www.timelesstreasuresboutique.co.uk you can also follow me on FB and Twitter where I will share promotion information, new stock arriving and information and articles about my products. Please, please, please like me and share with everyone you know x

Hartbeeps Babybells

Tuesday has quickly become my favourite day of the week thanks to Hartbeeps Babybells! Noah and I attend a class at Wendover Woods every Tuesday lunch time and it is the best hour of our week. The sessions are fun, interactive and informative. Noah smiles the whole way through and loves looking at the other babies. I have also really enjoyed getting out and meeting some Mums with babies the same age as Noah as most of my friends all have children the same age as my girls.

Hartbeeps run different sessions for different age groups. Babybells is for babies who are not on the move yet. It incorporates a bit of baby masage and some signing too and naturally lots of singing. Our teacher, Caroline, is really enthusiastic and makes everyone feel really welcome. As it is a session for young babies it is not totally full on and during the 50 minutes there are pauses where the Mums can talk and Caroline shares her wealth of knowledge about babies. Being a Mum herself she also  has lots of funny stories to share about her boys which makes it a very relaxed and friendly environment. The sessions are baby lead so if your little one needs a feed or change during the session there is no problem at all with you just stopping and doing what you need to. I have to say I have never attended a group like this. Hartbeeps wasn’t around when I had my girls, we did various things with the girls but nothing that was as fun or relaxed as this. I have purchased the CD so I can do some of the activities at home with Noah as he really responds to the music. Being only 17 weeks I can’t really sit and play with him as such, but Hartbeeps has given me inspiration to use puppets and music to entertain him with. I really feel like I have his attention when we play the music or attend the sessions and he seems really stimulated by it. After the session he is always very tiered and sleeps for about 2 hours. Thankfully it doesn’t affect his night-time sleep routine.

I would highly recommend Hartbeeps sessions to anyone with a baby or small child. Everyone gets a free taster session and then you can sign up for a half term, or if you are like me, go straight in and book the whole term. I was in no doubt that I wanted to keep going so I booked the term in advance and got a CD for free. The teachers sell the puppets and music that are used in the class, if you are interested, but they are not in any way pushy with it. You often find money off vouchers or leaflets about other baby businesses at the sessions so it is also a good source for information. Check out their website for your local classes www.hartbeeps.com Also check with your Sure Start centre as some of them run free Hartbeeps sessions where you can sign up for a mini course for free.

It’s a 10/10 rating from Noah and I x

The Exclusive to Mum Club!

Of late I have noticed that there seems to be a list of chores that have become exclusive to me – as in I am the only one that ever does them. I’m not quite sure when this happened but as I reached for the overflowing bin last night it dawned on me that no matter how full it is no one ,except me, ever puts it out anymore. The more I thought about it the more the list grew;

Ironing

Feeding the cat

Changing the cat litter tray

Putting a new toilet roll in the bathroom

Emptying the bins in the house

Putting the recycling out

Emptying the dishwasher

Washing the clothes

Hanging clothes in the wardrobes

Watering the plants

Making pack lunches

Emptying dirty lunch boxes

Putting shoes away

Putting the clean pans back in the cupboard (Mr BB does wash them)

I am sure there are more, but I don’t like to go on! Now I just need to work out how to get myself out of this exclusive club or get some new members to join! Lol x