....A Farmers Wife....: Lovely things & quality time...

For all you lovely people having a quiet Saturday(like me-girls with family #2 & Wills off beating with Grandma), I thought you might like to see what I picked up on a little shopping trip yesterday?

Mum & I ventured to Next Home & John Lewis in Southampton-those reaaaallly big stores, and gosh these shops know how to suck you in with their gorgeous home/Xmas/nursery displays don't they?

I'm a fondler in shops(ooooh matron!) I have to stroke cushions & throws, pick up beautiful picture frames, rub my cheek against beautiful baby blankets, & open every pack of baby crib sheets to feel how soft they are before buying!

I get right into the whole 'shopping' experience as I don't get to do it(alone) very often!...So here's my little haul..

Next had the most gorgeous displays throughout the store, a few Xmas bits which looked to be of lovely quality, I'm tempted by a fur Xmas tree skirt, it's grey & soft & would look so nice in my lounge with my glass/white & pink tree ornaments!

I was very restrained though, & bought (mainly) for others!

I picked up these sweet little mugs, priced at a very reasonable £2.50 each, to pop in the 'teachers gifts' selection bags(all my Xmas shopping MUST be done before Little Miss Parsnips arrives)..so far I've bought beautiful scarves as the teachers main gifts, plus chocolate, & luxury hot chocolate, I was just on the lookout for a sweet mug to pop in with it all & Next had just what I wanted..aren't they lovely?(they say 'made with love' they're dinky & have a real 'hand made feel to them') You can make out the scale better in the other photo on here.

Next do a lot of these ceramic & wood hanging bits & im not usually a fan of them but this time there were some really lovely ones, with different quotes in different shapes, I fell in love with this 'always kiss me goodnight' pink heart one, as I hope to do Little Miss P her own little corner in our room(she won't have her own for a long time)...it'll go perfectly!

Onto John Lewis now. And we just HAD to have an Ewan-the dream sheep didn't we? After all, not only does he have amazing reviews, Little P will be a Farmer's daughter so we have to get her used to animals early-right?!

Priced at £29.95, he's not cheap, but trust me, anything which claims to aid baby sleep, is worth its weight in gold in my book!..William is going to help me test Ewan out tonight, we're going to snuggle together & get our smell on him ready for baby to enjoy!

(really sorry for the crap picture quality-it's soooo dark today!)

After a mooch round the nursery department, Ooohing & ahhhhing at all the lovely baby things, I picked up a very practical large wedge changing mat. Inspired by this Pinterest image, I had to have it (it was £15).

(Why are British homes so small?!..my room won't look like this, but you get the idea!)

I crumbled at the tills when I spotted the beautiful Xmas stocking..Baby girl will need her own one to keep the 'magic of xmas' otherwise William will be confused as to why Santa would leave one for everyone but her!

This one is beautifully soft, thick fleece with lovely faux sheepskin at the top, I just love the Penguins & polar bears!! It was £12.00 & is huge!

Nana very kindly treated her to it, can't wait to hang it up! (Nearer the time, I am aware it's still October!)

I'm 38 weeks pregnant today, & now always take someone with me(whenever possible) when venturing far from home for shopping trips & errands, i need someone to help me with bags, pushing the trolley, loading the car, unloading the car..etc! It's hard work just walking round the supermarket for an hour. And being a loyal Aldi girl it's made even harder by not being able to pack it all properly at the till, then having to walk the trolley allllll the way back into the store after loading the car, I feel so lazy but it I know it's just the huge weight I'm lugging about!

I really enjoyed the quality time of having my mum with me yesterday. We're very close, but argue a lot(always down to me!) my mum puts up with being in the firing line from me being stressed & worn out every week, she's always there the instant I need her, and never asks for anything in return.

She's looked after each of my children with me from the day they were born, when I returned to work each time, had them when I've been ill, needed a weekend off, spoilt them, played with them, taught them & most important of all, loved them.

She told me yesterday that the recent episode of 24 hours in A&E(if you didn't see it, go watch it, so good) really made her question her parenting of my brother & I. It wasn't smooth sailing, my childhood, & it broke my heart to hear her silently sob as we drove home, listening to her guilt, questioning herself, & me...I guess we never stop feeling mummy guilt, or questioning how we're bringing up our children, we just do the best we can with the limited resources we have?

I want my mum to know, if she reads this, that I love her unconditionally, like I love my children, and my husband, and my brother & father.

Nothing, no experience past or present, will ever change that.

I hope my childhood has made me a stronger person, a better, kinder human.

And I wish my own children are as lucky as I was to have a beautiful loving mother, as I did, for as long as God intends.