A MOTHER'S BOND with L'OCCITANE


With Mother's Day just around the corner the lovely team at L'Occitane asked me to share my feelings on a mother's bond. Are you ready for a bit of an emotional ramble? I hope so ;)

One word springs to mind. Powerful.

From my own relationship with my mum, to the bond I have with my boys.

For everyone it's different, with me it was instant. The minute both of my over nine pound (!) boys were plonked on my chest, their swollen, puffy, perfect faces rooting for milk I was overcome with the most intense feeling of love and belonging.

I say belonging because I've always felt a little bit lost in life. Not in a sad, dramatic way, just in a I'm not sure what my purpose in life is sorta way. Before the boys I'd not found a career I loved, and it sometimes worried me that without finding my direction I would just drift through life not ever feeling truly fulfilled.

Then I became a mum, and ironically through the chaos and craziness I found an inner peace with myself. The bond I have with my boys has grounded me and given me a greater sense of myself. A fact I used to get embarrassed about, as though I felt I needed to apologise for how much being a mum defined me. I no longer feel like that, nor should any mother who doesn't feel like motherhood defines them. The pressure to have it all is our generation's curse.

It's okay to say, I love my job. It's okay to say, I love being a stay at home mum. It's okay to say, the juggle is hard, all day everyday at home with my children is hard. I'm still learning that motherhood is a personal journey with our children and is not to be compared. Easier said than done at times.


With Caleb turning five and Archie, three, this year I'm starting to feel a huge shift happen. They're becoming so independent and their confidence shines now when they're away from me. A bittersweet moment but something I'm so proud of.

The bond we had in those early baby years was very much a physical one. My presence, my touch, the sound of my voice cemented that. Now I feel like our bond is this invisible force, something which gives them the confidence to go out in the world, and even when I'm physically not there they know that they are loved and supported.


With their growing independence and them both starting school and nursery this August, for the first time in a long time I'll be able to shift a little bit of the focus back on me. A somewhat scary notion, but one I'm going to embrace.

If the bond I have with my boys can send them out to be confident in the world I'm going to take a leaf out of their book and do the same. I want them to be proud of me too.

So, I plan to dedicate some proper time to this blog. Most of my blogging happens late at night or when a daytime nap will allow. I'm so excited about having time to really work on and expand this space. I also want to take better care of myself too. I feel the most unfit I've ever felt in my life and I think exercise will not only help with that but also help with my constantly feeling tired.

Talking of tired, oh my poor skin. It's true what they say, one day you wake up and the glow of youth is gone. gone. gone. As a lovely Mother's Day treat, L'Occitane sent me the most beautiful gift set from their Immortelle range. The creams have a beautiful rich feel but are so light on the skin, which is ideal for my skin as it clogs easily but lacks the moisture I need. A perfect pick me up for a tired mama who neglects herself for the little people in her life.

Men, if you're reading this there's lots of lovely Mother's day gift sets for the ladies in your life which you can find here. Ladies, if you're reading, drop the hint, hell treat yourself, and of course your own dear mum too.


To all the mama's out there I hope you have a lovely Mother's Day doing whatever it is you wish to do. Staying in bed all day being waited on hand and foot is surely allowed, isn't it?! I think I'll drop that hint to the little gentlemen and the big gentleman in my life ;)

Now I will leave you with two of my favourite pictures ever. Why? Because Caleb asked for them to be taken and chose what pose he wanted us to do. I've created a monster!!! A very, very cute monster ;) Check out our matching poses just below!


* this is post was kindly sponsored by L'Occitane, as always my thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you for continuing to support the select brands we work with that help make our blog possible.
Wednesday, 15 March 2017 Comments: 12
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HAVING TWO


I remember being pregnant with Caleb unable to imagine what life would be like once he was born. I just couldn't picture it no matter how hard I tried. Then there he was in my arms and soon I couldn't imagine (nor barely remember) a life without him.

When we fell pregnant with Archie, although I could picture a life with a newborn, I couldn't picture life with two babies to love. How on earth was that going to work?! Would I love this baby as much as Caleb? Would Caleb still love me the same now he had to share me?? Would I be able to cope with two under three? These questions circled my mind the entire pregnancy.

A guilt started to creep in too, because second pregnancies get nowhere near the attention you gave your first pregnancy. I actually missed not one but two midwife appointments!! A fact that seems unfathomable when pregnant with your first, but heavily pregnant with your second and a toddler to run after....well like I said, I missed not one but TWO. I cried the second time my midwife rang to ask where I was. How would I take care of two when I couldn't even remember important appointments for my unborn child?!

Then Archie arrived. In that instant my heart literally doubled in size. It's true what people say, your heart grows bigger. Just when you think you couldn't love any more than you already do, your heart grows this infinite amount of love for your whole family, and for me at that point it felt like I could have a million more babies and there would be enough love to go around.

If you want to read about the boys meeting for the first time you can find that here, and how we found having two in those first tentative few months here.

Oh and a little tip a friend shared with us for when the boys first met, in the pictures you will see that Archie was in a bouncy chair. We purposely did that so when Caleb first met Archie he wasn't in either mine or Michael's arms. We didn't want his first experience meeting his little brother to be filled with jealousy or by the feeling he was being replaced. It worked wonders and it was Caleb (or at least in his mind) to be the first to hold Archie. Seeing the pride burst from a two year old is a seriously beautiful thing.

We have our fair share of tears and arguments but jealously isn't a huge thing in our house. I think that's largely down to Caleb's easy going nature but I also wonder if their first meeting has anything to do with it too. I guess we'll never truly know, but I really do feel like it set a good tone to their relationship from the get go.



So how is life now with two?

Well with just 26 months between them there is never a dull moment. Caleb will turn five (five!!!) in April and Archie will be three in June. It's been surreal watching the gap close between them physically and mentally, it used to be Caleb who was naturally in charge but now the hierarchy switches and every day they become more like equals.

I remember when Archie was a baby, people would spot him and then Caleb, running around like any crazed two year old would do, and the first thing they would say to me is, 'You have your hands full'. They were right, I did. Yet funnily enough life with two felt much easier to me in many ways, less intense than just having one child, and seriously, I found late pregnancy with a toddler super hard. After that two under three and even two lots of nappies didn't seem so bad ;)

It feels like now is where the pay off really starts though, for every double nappy change there was, now there is double the laughs, double the trouble, and a really beautiful friendship forming between the boys. There's very little now that Archie can't do that Caleb can, which instantly makes life so much easier. It isn't always roses, but nor should it be, through each other they're learning the most important social skills. A fact I remind myself of on those tough days when you're more referee than mother.

Now for the question every mother of two will be asked, 'Will you have a third?'

Honestly, I don't know, but someone is certainly keen. Caleb asks every morning when will I have a baby in my tummy! We asked if he realised what another baby in my tummy meant, another brother or sister. 'Yes, I want that!', he replied, 'I would take care of the baby and share my toys and read the baby stories.'

Talk about selling the idea of number three to me, and a larger age gap. The eldest pretty much brings up the third baby, right?! ;)


For those interested in furniture details, you can find our bed here. It was a really easy build too which was a bonus.

Our wall lights can be found here, they're an absolute steal for the price and a lovely alternative to a bedside lamp.
Saturday, 4 March 2017 Comments: 2
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