Excitement was growing all week about our girls night out to the cinema. We had all loved every series of “Sex and the City” and a night out with the girls….with no children…..no one driving…..was just too good to be true!

We have spent the last week discussing our favourite episodes, and having the “which one are you conversation…..?” All of us… 2 Carries, 3 Mirandas, 3 Charlottes and a Samantha….(oh help us!) had just about given up on all other topics of conversations by the time the night came……we were very much already in the City before we left the office.

Cocktails first……..of course!

We had heard that a little cocktail bar in town had been perfecting their Cosmopolitans all week and we decided it was befitting of the nights big event to start as the girls of “Sex in the City” would………. in a swanky bar with delicious Cosmos and titillating conversation. The Cosmos were certainly delicious, as to titillating conversation?... Well not sure there, although we did manage to stop talking about children, huddle and bliss and the weather after ten minutes or so! I think every woman in a 10 mile radius had gathered together with her girlfriends for a make believe night in New York. I have never seen so many Cosmopolitan cocktails in my life; they lined the entire bar and every table. The atmosphere was fantastic and there was not a man in sight.

The main event……….

Every face I had seen at the bar appeared to have followed us to the cinema, and as we all took our seats, I looked around and saw a whole room full of Carries, Mirandas, Charlottes and Samanthas. As the film began we all cheered eager to find out what had happened to our 4 heroines since we last saw them. The noise soon settled and we all focused on the screen checking out what they were wearing, how their hair was…and of course just how fantastically glam and thin they all look!

The film was over far too soon, and we all loved it! As we left the cinema someone (who shall remain nameless…you know who you are…) suggested more Cosmopolitans!

And before I could suggest coffee instead, yes I really did (those cocktails really do have a kick!) we were back at the bar with most of the cinema in tow.

A couple of Cosmopolitans later and we were all ready for our beds, except for our very own ‘Samantha’ who wanted to stay! Still she is footloose and fancy free and doesn’t have the worry of her baby waking her in the small hours! For the rest of us it had been a great night out but our beds were calling with thoughts of making packed lunches, sorting clean school uniforms and doing the school run before work. So we climbed into our taxis and made our way home. Appreciating the night off but a little disappointed that the experience had ended and the excitement was now over. I was tucked up in bed with a cup of hot chocolate (yes the Cadbury’s Luxury one I went on about) within the hour and trying to explain to Nick why a film about 4 women watched by a room full of women was so thrilling….. he is still not convinced that the Cosmopolitans had nothing to do with it!

We all agreed the night had been a huge success…. Having now heard the advert for “Mama Mia”….the tickets are booked… and the singing has started!

I pity the girls in the office – I know all the words to ABBA songs but my voice, if I am honest, is appalling! I love my Ipod and the children think it is really cool so we often play music at home or in the car…that is until they have had enough of my dulcet tones and ask me to stop – it really must be bad if such young children find it difficult to tolerate!

Love Gaby Px

Email: gabyp@huddleandbliss.com

Like most mums I find the school gates the ideal place to pick up on current mummy trends. Living in a rural village but still close enough to London to be classed as commutable, makes for a varied selection. There are the ‘off to the office’ mums, the ‘just off to the gym’ mums, and the ‘morning TV’ mums. But on closer inspection there appears to be a new breed of ’just come from the allotment’ mums. There have been any number of them crossing the playground recently with their freshly picked muddy vegetables…and sporting a rather funky pair of wellies and the odd garden tool.

For me, I have to say this current trend is a little worrying…..you see, I hate gardening! I like sitting in the garden, looking at neat gardens, I can stretch to planting up a few pots and hanging baskets…or even doing something exciting with cress for the children….but that’s as far as my love for gardening goes… the whole maintenance side of it bores me rigid. I don’t really have the hours of spare time it seems to require either, and to be honest I’ve never really derived any pleasure from doing gardening. When pushed I will join in, but it is generally under the duress of my conscience or Nick asking specifically for a hand with the weeding, which to me is the equivalent of going around the house picking up the mud and dust from the carpet on my hands and knees….I have a vacuum to do that…..why won’t someone invent the weed vacuum! All in all it just ends up added to my “to do” list……Another pressure!

Although I don’t like gardening I do know the names of lots of plants! So I can at least sound knowledgeable! We have lots of low maintenance flowering shrubs – so for a full summer display we simply have to fill in a few gaps with some geraniums and hey presto the garden looks great! It is easy maintenance…..which appeals to my lack of love for gardening.

So you can see my dilemma, do I give in to my mummy guilt and get my hands dirty in a bid to follow this latest trend? Lets face it, it does make economic sense, is good for the environment and will teach my children valuable life lessons…I would hate for Jamie Oliver to have to explain to them what a cucumber looks like in a few years time……Or do I hold my hands up admit defeat and just buy some new sun loungers instead?????

I could always pop into the supermarket before school and casually walk in with a bunch of carrots, you know the ones with the tops still attached. Do you think anyone would be able to tell the difference?

Love Gaby Px

gabyp@huddleandbliss.com

Well guys we have been in recovery mode since the Baby Show at the NEC….hence my quietness. We thought ExCel was great, but wow, Birmingham just blew us away! You loved our birthing tee once again, and the mix and match offers we did on our rompers, sleepsuits and body suits all went down a treat – in fact we sold out of many items in white for newborns! The other runaway success was our iconic 48 Hour Mama & Baby Bag – luckily our base is not too far from the NEC so we were able to re-stock with these! Well done to Amy Perkins who is our lucky winner of our 48 Hour Bag competition. The black leather change bags that we launched at the show were extremely popular with mums and dads alike. Thank you to all of you who visited our stand. We had a fantastic show, it was extremely hard work but so great to meet so many of you first hand and receive your feedback and appreciation of our products and website.

Just can’t seem to get on top of anything at the moment. All of the children have been unwell with a temperature for a day or so, one after the other….nothing much more than that but their little bodies are obviously fighting off something! Coupled with post-show recovery, and my general day to day work and well the washing is mounting up around me! I got stuck in and sorted all the washing and put it into piles on the landing and well it resembled a sort of laundry Himalayan mountain range – I thought by queuing it all up I would get the oomph I need to tackle it properly – instead it just fills me with horror every time I see it! The various piles just never seem to reduce! I need to clear out my email inbox or no doubt I will soon get one of those messages telling you that you are out of space and can’t receive any more mail….I am normally quite good with things like this...but everything has just spiralled out of control in the last couple of weeks. I keep finding things on my desk that I have forgotten to do – in fact my office does resemble a burglary crime scene at the moment! This is all so unlike me…I must be truly exhausted to have let it get this bad – so out of character! What should I tackle first? Washing or admin? Admin or washing? I think I need a list to begin with – I like lists, always have done. I have the view that if you write it down you can forget about it – at least until you read your list again! Saves all that clutter in your brain, and believe me with a husband, three children, home to run and a full time job, my brain is constantly cluttered! It does have odd moments of clarity but sadly the frequency of these is diminishing as I get older! Still I always manage to get there in the end!

The worst kind of weather today…rain and wind…arghhhhh. It really did not stop all day long. I aquaplaned most of the way up the M40 coming back from London. The rain was so persistent, I had to concentrate so hard that I arrived home with a headache and no doubt a few more wrinkles. So dosed myself up and snuggled up on the sofa with the children when I got in. This is one of the benefits of my type of job and working from home – at least I have the choice of working in the evenings and taking the afternoon off with my children. We sat and watched a film on television whilst the rain hit the windows around us – it seemed like a gloomy November afternoon, not June! But it was so nice to sit there and do nothing….yes I should have tackled that huge pile of washing but sometimes it is just nice to stop. And stop I did. Probably why I have the energy to sit here at half past midnight tapping away on my laptop! I have a cup of ‘luxury’ Cadbury’s hot chocolate next to me – if you are a fan of hot chocolate and haven’t tried this yet, then you should, it is divine, powdered hot chocolate will never suffice again!

love Gaby Px

Email: gabyp@huddleandbliss.com

Outside of my house I have a large grass verge. We can’t use it for much but is does set the house back from the road. We have a weeping willow tree in the centre that has been growing for a number of years now. When Madeleine McCann first went missing last year, my children and I tied a yellow ribbon around the tree. Every time we drive into the driveway we see the brightly coloured ribbon on the tree and it reminds us of Madeleine. It is a small token of our thoughts. It is unimaginable what her parents must be going through, a year on to know nothing more…how they cope I will never know. It is of course a parents worst nightmare, and they live that nightmare day in and day out. I am sure the fact that they have two other children to consider is what keeps them going.

Today we have visited the tree to replace the ribbon. It is of course the anniversary of her disappearance. The children and I have put a new yellow gingham ribbon around the tree and paused to talk a little about her. George obviously understands the most, and whenever he sees her picture on the television he asks me if she has been found yet.

On the news they say that it is the ‘first anniversary’ of her disappearance. I hope sincerely that it is the only anniversary and that she is returned to her parents safe and well in the near future. I hope I never have to replace the ribbon around my willow tree. I long for the day when I can visit the tree to remove the ribbon completely. My thoughts are with her and her family in the wish that they are soon reunited.

Love GabyP xxx

Well girls, our h&b birthing tee-shirt has been a runaway success! We knew you would like it, but oh, do you like it! This item is truly an amalgamation
of all our labour and birthing experiences….Between us we have had 15 babies and all the mums at huddle and bliss agreed that it was the one thing we struggled to find, and invariably what we did buy was not in the end wholly suitable. Oversized t-shirts are fine for the last leg when you are on the bed pushing….let’s be honest, at that point most of us are not too concerned with our sartorial elegance! However, what about the bit beforehand – pacing the hospital corridors, bouncing on your birthing ball, hanging on your partner’s arm etc? T-shirts are too short to cover you up sufficiently so you may have to wear a dressing gown, this makes you too hot. And lets be honest, many of us do feel a little conscious, or at least worry that we will beforehand. To get a t-shirt or nightie to fit your bump, it is invariably huge, hanging off your shoulders and looking like and old sack. We all agreed that we needed something that was good not only for the birth itself, but was appropriate for the labour leading up to it when we wanted to walk about and help things along! Cool and comfy, but long enough to give discretion when required. The birthing tee-shirt makes a great maternity nightdress before the big day, and a great feeding nightdress after. We are all different and have varying levels of inhibition…we really felt that this was a product for everyone and you have proved us right! Many of you have asked for a darker colour too, so in around two weeks we will be launching our birthing t-shirt in black. We are extremely grateful for all your feedback. Thanks once again!

Love Gaby xxx

gabyp@huddleandbliss.com

….the first sign of your parents getting older?  I have always thought of my parents as ‘young’.  Their home is modern, light and airy, they wear fashionable clothes and like current music.  But I think the first signs of growing older are upon them.  They needed a new toaster but sadly the first replacement they bought did not toast the entire slice of their preferred loaf!  To overcome this problem and avoid buying another useless model they decided they would make a cardboard cut out of a slice of the bread they like.  Unbelievably they then roamed around the likes of Comet and Curry’s slotting it into various toasters to see if it would fit!  I only know this as my father marched into my kitchen, slotted it into my toaster and announced woefully ‘Gaby’s is no good either!’  I am so glad that he did not try this with my toaster some fifteen minutes earlier as his Blue Peter cardboard toast template would have gone up in flames from the residual heat!

I suppose it is a bit like preferring a certain coffee or tea, liking it made a certain way and wanting either a cup or a mug.  It just seems to become more important as you get older!  My Dad retires in a week or so and we have been teasing my parents about coach holidays in the Lake District, although I think a couple of weeks in a five star hotel in The Seychelles would be more their cup of tea!  A coach holiday to France 25 years ago put them off for a lifetime! 

Why is it when you get older that you succumb to ‘involuntary noises’ when simply rising from a chair or picking something up off the floor?  Why do you constantly drop things and forever lose your glasses?

One of the most worrying things is when you watch programmes like Grumpy Old Men and Grumpy Old Women….watching them alone is bad but when you find yourself nodding in agreement, well you are on a slippery slope.

Nick certainly has is GOM moments – Grumpy Old Man Moments to everyone else.  The great thing is that he is aware of them, he just can’t stop the words coming out in the first place.  I find it difficult not to air opposing views when watching things like Question Time – best not to watch this sort of thing if you want to chill!  How people watch daytime television I will never know. I hate it, but find it impossible not to comment on the dysfunctional families that appear on the likes of Trisha or Jeremy Kyle.  No for me it has to be Radio 2 or perhaps Sky News.  Is this perhaps a sign that I am getting older?  Probably, but I won’t be popping down to Comet with a cardboard cut out anytime soon!!!

We are now gearing up for The Baby Show at the NEC.  We are all really looking forward to this one.  Following our amazing launch at The Baby Show ExCel, we feel really positive and a lot more organised.  Experience is a great thing! Although our stand is much bigger so we have a bit of layout planning to do.   We have had thousands of hits on the site since ExCel and a huge amount of follow up business, which has spurred us on despite all being so exhausted.  We have had some new products arrive, our h&b Birthing Tee- Shirts which are already a runaway success, our cotton romper suits for summer babies, and our summer sleep sacks, which are a lovely soft cotton lightweight sleeping bag for babies. 

At The NEC Baby Show we will be running another competition to win our iconic 48 Hour Mama & Baby Bag.  Our lucky winner from the ExCel Baby Show receives her prize this week – she is very excited and I don’t blame her.  The bag is spectacular.  The matching white leather change bag is doing well and will be joined by a black leather version at the next Baby Show.  The black bag is a great unisex changing bag and a couple of dad’s have already reserved theirs! 

Kelly helped to host our first Baby Shower at the weekend.  Our baby shower product is still in development but it was a great opportunity for us to sponsor the shower of a close friend of Kelly’s.  Our goody bags were a great success and the beautiful baby shower basket that we presented to the mama-to-be was the star of the show!  Everyone commented on the softness of our cotton and how wonderful it is that our products are made in England. 

A busy few weeks ahead for us.  Shortly after the NEC Baby Show we are at the Brighton Baby Expo which we are really looking forward too.  We think our organic cotton baby clothing will do really well here.  In the meantime our 48 Hour Bag is being featured in two magazines, FQ (which is a trendy dad mag) and NOW magazine.  Now magazine are also featuring our white leather change bag and our Maiden Nightdress.  So exciting times.  After all this then we really have to start planning for Christmas – seems weird to be thinking of this for July, but as a business we must! 

Anyway off to make my hot chocolate before bed….don’t worry, hot chocolate is fine at any age, it is Horlicks you have to worry about!

I really am not sure what is worse?  A man who does nothing around the house or one who takes over!  No doubt some of you will immediately scream out that anything is better than doing everything yourself….and yes I know that there are some very helpful men out there who do their fair share around the home. Although I don’t mean to generalise…. to be fair there is a distinct category of men who, despite their wives also working full time, really don’t get stuck in the domestic tasks as much as they should.  Nick has always been willing but did require a list of detailed instructions.  However, he has been at home quite a lot recently and has taken it upon himself to ‘organise’ things…..yes a scary thought!  Helpful but definitely scary.  I have obviously been very busy with huddle & bliss and in particular developing our baby shower gift range.  So a few jobs have been neglected, things like clearing cupboards out etc.   It was quite helpful having Nick to help with the school runs and cooking dinner, it really took the pressure off. But when he started moving things in the kitchen I started to panic a little.  First it was the coffee machine.  The he cleared all of the cupboards out.  He then showed me how to make spaghetti Bolognese, having already enjoyed my recipe for many many years. And then last week  I was then given tips on how to put on a bed sheet - how have I possibly managed all these years?    He has claimed proud ownership of the dishwasher and frequently recounts exactly when it was last emptied and at what time, they really have bonded.   I have pointed out that I still appear to retain full responsibility for the washing machine and tumble dryer and as yet he has not ventured into these areas…. So definitely very helpful but still somewhat selective.  I don’t mean to be ungrateful, his help has been invaluable recently, but even helpful men seem to seek eternal approval and acknowledgement for the small tasks they have carried out once in a blue moon – things that a busy mum does day in day out for years on end without a second thought.  Why is it that a basket of clean washing at the bottom of the stairs is invisible until you specifically ask for it to be taken upstairs?  Why can our curtains be pulled back and the duvet aired, but the children’s rooms sit in darkness and untouched!  Why can they always find that little bit of space to squeeze one more thing into the overflowing bin?  I really don’t mean to moan, and in fact I really don’t get wound up by things like this – there are more important things in life, but I do find the predictability of it highly bemusing!

Why can men never find anything?  Well we all know it is because a quick glimpse without moving anything rarely uncovers what you are looking for, but how do the male species develop this ability so early on.  George and Charlie are already fully fledged at the ‘boy look’.  This is a phrase I heard a nurse say last year when I was laying in A&E with appendicitis.  The young dashing doctor could not find something and she shouted to the other nurses that he was no doubt ‘taking a boy look’.  It really tickled me, despite being in agony, perhaps the morphine helped, but anyhow I have adopted it ever since and the boys find it very entertaining! 

What about their inherent dislike of shopping - George developed a very definite dislike of shopping from about six weeks old.  He has now moved onto ‘this is boring…….  Is it genetic?  Nick does actually enjoy shopping if he is in the mood, otherwise he refers to himself, albeit good-naturedly, as the donkey!  My funniest moment in a shop with my children was when George was about three.  I was standing at the counter waiting to pay – George had vanished in a matter of seconds and then quickly reappeared looking very pleased with himself…when I looked down at his feet I noticed the rather fetching pair of black patent stilettos that he was wearing!   He had even put his own shoes on display in place of the ones he was wearing.  Bless him. 

I suppose I should really start training my boys now.  How to look properly for things, how to enjoy shopping, what housework really entails, etc etc etc.  Perhaps then their future wives won’t have the same problems as we do – somehow I doubt if it will make the slightest bit of difference!

Love Gaby Px

Email:  gabyp@huddleandbliss.com

Charlie really made us laugh today.  The children were eating their dinner and Charlie was obviously listening to Nick and I talk.  My sister-in-law frequently makes us dinner, which we appreciate so much.  I had one of her casserole dishes sitting on the side from the last delicious meal she made us and I really didn’t want to return it empty, hence the rather enormous pot of chilli that was cooling.  I mentioned to Nick that I hoped Patricia would like her meal, Charlie asked what was in the pot for Auntie Patty and I said chilli.  He replied that he did not like his dinner cold, he liked it hot!  It did make us chuckle. 

It made me think about all the little words and sayings that children have of their own.  George used to say ‘minished’ instead off finished and the entire family have ended up saying it, along with ‘I love you so lots’.  Apparently when I was small I called apples ‘moyees’ – don’t even ask me how I got that one!  One of my brothers used to stand at the top of the stairs and say he was either dizzy or that he was a failure.  Of course we have the MD’s son Louis and his special word for his comforter, his ‘OOmah’.   Come to think of it one of the best is Charlie’s word for fish fingers, ‘bitu bingoos’ and yes the entire family have now adopted this name as well. He also has his own special word for stubble, ‘Pums’ which we think came initially from the word pins as this is obviously what it feels like to him!  We also have a DDD player in our house, not a DVD.    

I called my granddad ‘Ganger’ a name that stuck throughout his life and was also  used by all my brothers, my granddad loved his special name. Charlie calls my dad ‘Gang Gang’.  You may have noticed on the huddle and bliss website that we use the word mama….this is because our children use this name as opposed to mummy.  I love it, it makes me feel special.  Charlie also calls huddle and bliss ‘hubble and biss’. 

Their little words and ways are so touching, it gives them character and individuality, mind you, Charlie is certainly not short on that front anyhow.  The boys are now at the stage that they have in depth conversations with each other, I find it fascinating to listen to them.  The other day they were discussing the prize money on Wheel of Fortune – George has taken a liking to these type of game shows, I don’t mind because he loves spelling out the words and reading what is on the screen.  George was telling Charlie the amounts and Charlie was then expressing his disbelief at how much money they had won.  They then took it in turns to guess what the next letter would be.  George has also got into ‘Brain Training’ on his Nintendo DS Lite.  Bless him, he is quite worried that he has the brain age of an 80 year old at the moment and keeps telling me that is strange as he is only six!  I have to take this opportunity to brag a little – did it myself the other day and the first time I got 24…I was amazed…mind you to be honest I have not managed to maintain such a level!  Think it depends how tired you are and how many cups of coffee you have had.  The boys are also into Nintendo Wii – yes Father Christmas did manage to get his hands on one at Christmas!  Although it is an American one so the £150 worth of games that he bought for it out of Argos do not work….any suggestions anyone about how to sort this (have heard you can get them ‘chipped’ but wary of this and don’t know how to go about it!)  Anyway Santa’s Helpers have managed to ship a few games in from the States.  Actually Nick and I do quite enjoy it too.  The good thing with it is that we all play as a family.  Even Katie is quite good at bowling.  We had what the children called ‘a real bowling night’ last week with all the trimmings, popcorn, hot dogs – they loved it and to be honest so did we!

Love GabyP x

Email: gabyp@huddleandbliss.com

I know, wouldn't we all. But George and Charlie have started to get up so early! It must be the lighter mornings. I have black out blinds but they seem to make no difference when the days get longer. Katie sleeps in a little bless her, but she has always liked her bed! Charlie was up at 4.45am the other day - he would simply not go back to sleep. He occupied himself for a while in his bedroom but did visit me every fifteen minutes to tell me what he was doing. Trouble is he then gets tired in the afternoon, needs a nap and if he does then he is not tired at bedtime - it ruins the whole routine of things. George has always got up early - he is a busy child if you know what I mean, mind you I was always busy when I was little so nothing has changed much. George will entertain himself for hours either watching a dvd (he has been able to operate the machine since he was two), he adores books and drawing. Although his current habit of tearing up paper into hundreds of little pieces has become a little tiresome. George also goes to bed beautifully - being asleep within minutes. Charlie will find every excuse in the book to get me upstairs. Katie is somewhere in between the two! At weekends I sometimes let the children stay up a little later - although generally they are tired at the usual time. But if they do go to bed later it seems to have no effect whatsoever on the time they rise! You might sneak an extra half hour if you are lucky but never much more. Their body clocks simply kick in and they are awake. Sadly this ability does seem to fail with age - I can't ever remember waking up feeling refreshed and ready for my day without at least three cups of coffee and a shower.

Actually as I am typing this I am sitting on the floor of Charlies bedroom. He is rather awake having fallen asleep on the sofa this afternoon! I have to admit falling asleep with him, which was wonderful, except that I found it very difficult to come to afterwards. I think I could have stayed there throughout the evening. Handy Manny is on the tv and I am using the 'give them company but don't talk to them method' which usually works quite well. Charlie just likes you to sit with him sometimes. He is normally asleep within 15 minutes or so but alas not tonight. His eyes look a little heavy but he still appears to be concentrating a little too much on the tv! Still he is chilled and happy.

Think I will head off downstairs and make myself a delicious cup of the new hot chocolate I have. It is flakes of chocolate rather than a powder and it is simply scrumptious. Probably has a huge number of calories in it, but oh it is Saturday and I have worked all day, so what the hell, I will treat myself to a chocolate biscuit too! Then off to bed - who knows what unearthly hour I will be getting up!

Love Gaby P x

gabyp@huddleandbliss.com

I, and the rest of the h&b team are suffering from the effects of what we call Ex-Lag, a bit like jet-lag -  but we only went to London!  I know it sounds ridiiculous but that is exactly how we feel, like arriving home from the States or having just landed in the Far East!  We should perhaps call it 'Ex- Lag' to be more accurate but the feeling is identical.  We had our launch last weekend at The Baby Show London Excel - it was a phenomenal success and despite us being extremely confident that eveyone would love our products as much as we do, we were a little surprised at the level of the response...it was simply amazing.  We have existed in the twilight zone of  the exhibition/show world for four days.  We sold so much across our range of babywear, with the favourite items being all our Classic white babywear range and the beautiful knitted pram coats.  Our lovely feeding wraps went down a treat also.  We had three lucky winners of our Labour of Love Bag, h&b Change Bag and of course the simply stunning 48 hour mama & baby bag.  The winners are duly being notified and will also be announced on our site soon.  Two people even tried to purchase our competition box - although it was rather pretty, and someone else wanted to buy the bunting off the stand!

Whilst we attempt to recover from our 3 day launch marathon we are now preparing for our North West launch at The Littleones Fair at Haydock Park on Saturday 8th March and Sunday 9th March.  So another hectic week ahead.  We are all walking around like zombies with puffy eyes, dry lips and black circles - but completely buzzing nonetheless.  It really does feel like jet-lag though.  Anne said this yesterday and after a moments thought we all agreed.  The sudden overwhelming tiredness just hits you.  And even when your brain feels awake your eyes can barely stay open.  Anne was fantastic on the stand.  For the best part she supervises our workshop but we all agreed that she would be perfect on the stand.  As a glamorous grandmother she chatted  to the mums and entertained the babies alike.  She can talk for Britain and she was simply in her element.  The rest of us younger ones all agree that if we have a single ounce of her energy when we are older we will be on cloud nine.  She really is amazing! 

It is definitely hard work on the stand. On your feet for a minimum of 8 hours, not counting the pre and post show preparations.  Little likelihood of lunch or a coffee and if you want to go to the loo you need to plan it a few hours in advance.  Mind you, you don't really want to go that much as you are so dehydrated from all the talking, walking and the air conditioning that the latter point doesn't really matter!  But we wouldn't have it any other way, we were simply so busy. 

And so the huddle & bliss baby is born, I look forward to sharing our early development years with you!

Love Gaby P x

email:  gabyp@huddleandbliss.com

For years I have suffered the embarrassment of not being able to tie laces like a normal person…yes it is true.  Whenever I have to tie laces up I make sure that no one is looking too closely.  It took Nick years to realise that I used the ‘two loop’ method.  He thought it was hilarious.  I did find an ally a couple of years ago when I saw Leah’s husband tie his laces – and yes he used the same method as me.  I am really glad that the children’s shoes tend to have Velcro these days.  At least I don’t have to try and teach them something I can’t even do myself!

As a young girl, my father repetitively tried to show me how to do it, but it all just ended up a lopsided mess. It just feels cack-handed to me.  I never know what bit goes where, and even if I manage to tie it – it looks awful.  I can even tie a bow tie from scratch, but no I have never quite mastered shoe laces still.   I remember my father bought me this book from Petticoat Lane that had pictures of shoes with real laces on the front of it and this is how I learnt my ‘two loop’ method.  I was 19 at the time – only joking!

Well, now my two loop method has come into its own and found its real creative niche!  The huddle & bliss bow is a ‘Gaby Creation’.  I did all the prototypes of the gift boxes that we have, and naturally used my usual method of tying.  Those poor girls in the workshop have been trying for hours today to get their bows to resemble mine….no such luck with the standard method I am afraid….I have had to come clean about how I do them, but who cares now - none of them can achieve the beautiful bows that I can!  My only worry is that I will be stuck with the job of bow-tying forevermore.  It is difficult enough trying to fit in all my other work with my family, let alone tying a few hundred bows a day!  But just remember that when you order from huddle & bliss, that beautiful bow was probably tied by my own fair hands, albeit my ‘two loop’ method! 

Love Gaby P x

gabyp@huddlandbliss.com

I was thinking that I really need to be adding something to my blog…but didn’t get round to it or nothing inspired me – then I had a call from a friend who had just returned from A&E after her son had inserted a fluorescent green plastic bead into his ear.  Why do children do this?  Both of my boys did something along these lines at between 2 and 3 years old…is there something about the age?  Is it boys more than girls?  Have a little while until Katie gets to the age danger zone but am somewhat intrigued as to whether or not she will do the same.  George for some reason known only to himself inserted a rather large piece of chicken into his left nostril whilst eating a large bowl of chicken pasta.  I thought I had removed all of it until I could smell this rather strange smell the next morning.  Despite not being able to remove it, the Practice Nurse down at the surgery managed to spot the chicken lurking high up in his nasal cavity. So off we went to A&E and many hours later we returned home after George had been admitted, given a general anaesthetic and had the large piece of meat removed.  The consultant said that it was almost a daily occurrence that he had to remove something from a child’s ear or nose, but it was the first time that the offending article had been a piece of chicken!

Low and behold, last year Charlie decided to see how far he could stick something up his nostril too – and yes it was the left one.  I thought it was the apple from the MB Operation Game that the boys had been playing with the day before.  I rushed to get my tweezers and extract it myself as it was clearly visible, but by the time I returned Charlie had inhaled and up it had shot, completely out of reach.  Off to A&E again, then on to another hospital as our Ear Nose and Throat Department closes at weekends (????) no, seriously – they ship all the in-patients out to surrounding hospitals by coach for the weekend.  Eventually after a general anaesthetic another surgeon removed the item, which turned out to be a plastic button from the waistcoat of Woody from Toy Story!  Don’t think it quite beats the chicken, but it was still a surprise.  The lovely nurses on the ward said to me that it happens so often that when a parent doesn’t actually have any idea of what the item is – they hold a sweepstakes!  We still have the button in a little plastic sample jar that the surgeon handed to us.  Think I will save this and put it into Charlie’s keepsake box for when he is older – obviously can’t do the same for George as he used perishable goods!  Fingers crossed that Katie will not do this….I do not know anyone else who has had two children do it – let alone three!

Love Gaby P x

gabyp@huddleandbliss.com

No, nothing like that! I have been testing out a body cushion that we are thinking of including in our mama-to-be range. They are so comfortable to snuggle up against and really do stop you getting back ache. When you are pregnant they would be a godsend – all that support for you bump! I remember building what I called ‘my pregnancy pillow ramp’ when I was heavily pregnant with my children! Actually I still have to build it now occasionally when I have sciatica! Anyway, Nick says it is like having a third person in our bed as the pillow is so big – to be honest I think he is a bit jealous of the pillow, particularly as I have been cuddling up with it instead of him! So much so that we have called the pillow ‘Dave’. I don’t know why we picked Dave but it just seemed like a good name…very apt at the moment with that TV channel called Dave also. The other good thing about ‘Dave’ is that he doesn’t snore, fidget or have an alarm clock that goes off at 5.30am everyday, and continues going off every five minutes for the next half an hour!

It is George's birthday this weekend. As he is now a mature six year old, I asked him what he would like to do for his birthday, ‘Go to New York’ was the reply! I am sure that he would adore New York with all the big buildings, trucks and particularly the continual, sirens, but we are taking him and some friends bowling instead! Slightly less expensive and only five miles down the road. I have promised though that I will take him to New York in a few years. The last time I was in New York I experienced one of my many ‘extreme weather’ holidays – oh yes, that happens to me too. Fifth Avenue was flooded and all the shops were closing early – so much for shop till you drop. From there I travelled on to New England, having to make an unplanned stop at Hartford in Connecticut due to some rather large snow drifts. Had a great evening though at an ice hockey game that was punctuated every few minutes with loud bursts of ‘We will, We will Rock you’. And for some strange reason, Hartford is full of MG cars….I have never seen so many in one place, let alone in another country. Bizarre. My trip continued on through New England eventually reaching Boston after various blizzards, flooding and more blizzards. I then jumped on a plane to Florida where there was a heat wave. My first day in Hong Kong was spent inside the hotel due to a typhoon and I once got sunburnt in Paris in April.

The launch is nearing and we are getting all set. Excitement is building amongst all of us and there is a pleasantly pressurised atmosphere – I am sure that will all turn into blind panic rather soon, but it great at the moment. We have a few new members of the team to help things along and we are all mucking in doing anything and everything at the moment. Good practice though as in small businesses you need to be able to cover a number of roles – at any given time!

Anyway – my eyes are heavy and there have been a lot of late nights and early mornings this week, so off to bed I go. Nick went up a while ago and I am guessing he has probably hidden Dave or banished him to the guest room!

Love Gaby Px

gabyp@huddleandbliss.com

Where did January go!  I have been extremely busy, working from around 6.30am until 11.30pm, punctuated only with the school runs - but I really do seem to have lost the entire month.  Ask me what I have done and I would have to refer to my diary to tell you.  But great progress on the website and we will soon be ready to launch.  Then even more hard work I suppose.  But I am not moaning I am really enjoying it - it would be nice if my brain would just switch off occasionally - but I just can't stop thinking and this is how I sometimes come up with my best ideas. 

I am really fed up of this wet and blustery weather...I do try and make a bit of an effort in the mornings (I find I work better that way) but my attempts at vaguely being a yummy mummy are soon obliterated by the gale force wind and sheets of rain that hit me the second I get out of the car.  I don't mind me it being cold at all, in fact there is nothing like walking the dog across the fields on a crisp but sunny day.  I would rather it snow than rain to be honest - I know it causes lots of disruption in this little unprepared country of ours but as least it looks pretty for a few hours!  And of course the children love it.  Last year when it snowed in February quite heavily the village school was closed and I think every single child was out on the village green - it was one of those moments, and I have had a few in the last year or so in particular, that I appreciate just how lucky I am to live in a beautiful little village with a a friendly community.  Sports day at the school was the same, I really felt quite overwhelmed, surrounded by family and friends on a warm sunny July day (yes there was one) watching all of the village's little children participate so enthusiastically.  It made me stop and appreciate my life.  Since my son George started at the village school we have become so much more part of the community.  Despite living here for several years beforehand as we live in a smaller hamlet just out of the main village we didn't really get to know lots of people other than our nearest neighbours.  But now we have made lots of friends and really love it, I wouldn't move for the world.  The finale of sports days was made that extra bit memorable for the children when quite by coincidence the Red Arrows flew over!  They were ecstatic and yes of course all the parents said it had been arranged especially for them!

Well warm July days are far away at the moment, sitting here on a Sunday evening at my laptop.  Although I have been working it has been a bit of a chilled day...no real pressure.  Nick and I even went out for dinner last night.  I had a lie-in in the morning (Nick and I are very fair about things like this and take turns) and I have to admit that I did have a bit of a nap this afternoon - oh well you can't work round the clock and not expect to conk out for a few hours now and then! I try to be superwoman but afterall I am only human.

Love Gaby P x

gabyp@huddleandbliss.com

The baby has arrived! Leah gave birth to beautiful little Charlotte on Tuesday morning! Charlotte has a wonderful mop of thick black hair and the tiniest little head that I have ever seen and a lovely little rosebud mouth. She is utterly beautiful! Leah road tested our huddle & bliss labour products as promised and is convinced that the bath oil helped enormously – Charlotte simply popped out shortly after! She said the aroma was relaxing whilst fresh and the clary sage obviously did its job very well indeed! So the formula has been approved and will be available in February along with all our other natural and organic toiletries for mama and baby. We are all really glad that Leah has such a wonderful experience this time. Luca is very taken with his little sister.

Charlotte will also no doubt be modelling our new Made in England Organic cotton range too. These wonderful products are beautifully soft, kind to the environment and support our home grown industry too – what a combination! They too will be available in February – why not come and see them at the Baby Show London ExCel.

Although it has been a busy week, what with the baby arriving, huddle & bliss, school plays and Christmas looming – I now feel quite laid back. .. I have spent the early part of this week sitting on various motorways around the country which is not how I would choose to spend my time – but do feel more or less sorted now. I think what has really helped is my ‘Christmas Formula’. I can’t believe that it has taken me until my late thirties to perfect the plan…but I think I have finally done it!!! I have been ordering all my gifts online for a few years, but had not managed to escape the two evenings spent bent over a table or the floor wrapping things up! I do like gifts to look nice, so I probably spend more time than is necessary – but no more! This year everything has come straight out of its delivery box and has gone into a gift back….so simple…so time-saving…how could it have possibly taken me so many years to arrive at this system!!!! So I feel like I have gained two evenings and prevented backache in the process! Father Christmas has not wrapped any of the children’s presents either but he has simply put them into large reusable Christmas stockings…this young all that unwrapping is just too much for George, Charlie and Katie – far better that they just open the stocking and see what it is! So hopefully I can spend Christmas Eve with a glass of wine on the sofa rather than wrapping children’s gifts until 1am. It was almost a ritual for Nick and I to do the children’s wrapping each Christmas Eve – and build various things – but I have to say the novelty has now worn off somewhat!!! But then of course – Father Christmas brings all the children’s things any how! Just like the nice man from Ocado delivers all the food these days – so much better than the trolley cannon ball run that I used to get involved in each year at the supermarket. Nick always volunteers to get the last few things on the way home each Christmas Eve which is another great help. Nick loves to go to work on Christmas Eve – each year he takes in champagne and croissants for everyone – another little Christmas ritual I suppose. I always have this vision of him driving home with Chris Rea’s ‘Driving Home for Christmas’ playing in the background!

We managed to ‘sort’ the Christmas Eve cooking a couple of years ago too – you need one thing – The Jamie Oliver Christmas DVD! It is fantastic….We follow his instructions to the tee – not only a bit of festive viewing whilst you are in the kitchen but so time-saving….on Christmas morning we simply ‘Whack’ everything in the oven – as Jamie himself would say!!! It means we can spend the morning with the children properly and have a real family day.

More or less set for the tea party on Sunday. The children are ecstatic! Their excitement really took off when the Christmas trees went up at the weekend! Yes, trees, somehow we seem to buy another one each year! The house is festooned in white lights and it does look quite magical…they really believe it is nearly Christmas now. Even Katie is quite taken with everything – she hasn’t tried to climb the Christmas tree yet but is mesmerised by one particular bauble! Think it is just at the right height for her! Charlie really has it all worked out this year and the threat of Father Christmas watching has been a great help at times. They have spent many hours dancing to Christmas music and are really getting in the spirit of things…! I love Christmas music, my ipod has a good collection which I dutifully reload onto it each December – and I have to admit that the children have had my company when they have been dancing around the tree the last week! It is something we do a lot – I remember doing it with my mum when I was little.

Merry Christmas to you all and a Happy New Year!

Love GabyP x

gabyp@huddleandbliss.com

Oh well Christmas has come around again…normally a busy time of year but this year can only be described as manic!
But then again that is how most of us busy mums lead our lives anyway!

We have set the date for the first phase of the huddle & bliss launch as Ist January…this date being and appropriate date we thought!

By the way, I am Gaby, well to my friends, although even at 36, I have not quite escaped ‘Gabrielle’ when it comes to my family – and I am part of the huddle & bliss team. We are all working mums with a bit of a penchant for understated high quality pj’s, bed linen and baby wear…to name but a few things! After being exposed for years to naff quality superhero and lurid pink stuff for our own children, we thought we would do something about it! And here we are…huddle & bliss is about to be born!

I am 36, married to Nick and have three beautiful children, George 5, Charlie 3 and Katie 1. I have a sister Leah who has one son, Luca, and a baby on the way which we are all anticipating arriving just before Christmas! And too many brothers to mention! The girls have always been serious out numbered in my family!

I am a busy mum, combining family life and working, like many of you do! It can be a real struggle sometimes but I do love being able to be there for my children and also using my brain in the business sense! My life is a constant round of prioritising and re-prioritising, deciding what is most urgent, file the VAT return or wash the children’s clothes, but somehow I get there and everything gets done – eventually!

I hope you will enjoy my ramblings on the huddle & bliss blog. I am sure many of you will relate the dilemmas in my life and the hectic schedule I keep. Perhaps we can have a laugh or two together and share our stories! You can email me at gabyp@huddleandbliss.com!

On 23rd December we are having a tea party for all the children, we are all looking forward to it as hopefully it will signal the start to a bit of a break for a week. The children will be dressing up…my three have their outfits already planned – George, five, is to be an elf, following on from his character in the school play, Charlie, three, is hopefully going to wear the dragon costume we bought for Halloween that never did actually make its way onto his body, and Katie, one, is going to be a fairy.

My wonderfully cooperative husband Nick has agreed to be Father Christmas on the basis that none of the children know that it is him! So I have gone to great lengths to ensure this – not only finding a suitably realistic suit and accessories, beard, wig etc, but also a false nose and theatrical makeup! I have not managed to get the ‘nose’ out from the box yet, despite it arriving several days ago, as I cannot contain my laughter at the sheer thought of it all! But we really need to have a bit of a practice session before the day otherwise he could well end up looking like a pantomime dame or pinnocchio! How do you spell Pinocchio???? Not a word I would expect spell check to work on really! We have all worked our butts off for months so a break and a bit of chilling with the family will be great – that is if we can actually manage it – it happens all the time – either Sherry the MD, or Kelly her co-director have one of their brainstorming sessions and off we go again! Their enthusiasm and passion is so infectious we all just can’t help to jump on the bandwagon of discussion – whatever our plans! Sherry and Kelly are much worse when they are together and yes they will obviously be in the same room at the party! Who knows where huddle &bliss will be led this time! Or what they will think of next. Our first phase is based on all our beautiful ‘Made in England’ baby wear – we are doing our bit for the little manufacturing industry that we still have in this country! Along with some great nightwear. We are really excited about the natural and organic mum-to-be and baby toiletries that are being made in a wild wood in Norfolk – and yes it is a wild wood, I can vouch for the fact that I have to wear my wellies whenever I go there…first time I had kitten heel boots on and it was a definite no-no, not only felt a complete plank but they got ruined! But perhaps most of all we are most excited about our ‘ Mama & Baby Collection’. The star of the show is our ultimate mama & baby hospital luggage - the stunning white leather 48 hour bag, which contains everything you need for the first 48 hours, from bed socks to keep your feet warm to our wonderful labour bath oil, complete with co-ordinated white leather accessories such as atomiser, mirror and much more – you really can be a yummy mummy from day one! Leah, Kelly’s younger sister has agreed to road test the bag for us…her second baby was due two days ago but this little girl is still currently nicely snuggled inside her mummy’s tummy! We all really hope that Leah has a much easier time of it than she did with little Luca…it was a long hard slog for her, as is all labour, but she did have it bad! We are all doing our best to convince her that second babies simply ‘pop out’! Easy for me to say as all three of mine had to be by c-section! It is amazing it doesn’t matter how many you have, or how they come out, the first time you lay eyes on that new little person is so special! Nothing can diminish that first moment with your new baby!

I enjoyed our chat and I will keep you informed on how our huddle & bliss baby grows and the arrival of Leah's baby,

Love Gaby P x

gabyp@huddleandbliss.com