Bye bye baby seat , hello booster seat!

There are plenty of articles out there telling you just how expensive raising a child is, and to be fair if you buy everything new it can soon add up. We were lucky to have lots of very generous friends who gave us bags full of clothes and toys. Roo's cot was from a charity shop as was his pushchair. One of the only things we couldn't purchase second hand was a car seat. Money has always been tight so it's good to know there are companies like K and Co online that offer interest free credit to help cash strapped families get the essentials they need WHEN they need them!

 Just over four years ago we faced the prospect of buying a new car seat for Roo. At six months he was rapidly out growing his first baby seat - the cute little carrier we brought him home from hospital in - he wanted to sit up, to look around, to see where he was going rather than look at the back of the seat.

Roo at six days old. So, so teeny!!

There are so many car seat designs so we had already done a bit of research and had an idea of what we wanted - based mainly on what we could afford! - and off we went to be 'fitted'.  I will never forget the look on the sales woman's face when we took her outside to assess which seat we would need for our vehicle. We are not a two car family. Technically we are not even a one car family. All we had was a large white van which the Other Half used for his business. Which means it is mainly used for fetching and delivering motorbikes. Certainly not your average family runaround...

The sales woman brought out a succession of seats (including the one I had my eye on, which I knew was on offer) dismissing them one by one as 'not as safe it could be due to the positioning of the seatbelt'. Now I understand the importance of safety but I am a child of the 70's - I can remember me and my four siblings rolling about in the back of an Austin Maxi without a seat belt between us let alone padded head guards and reclining seats! In the end she settled for one that cost nearly as much as the old banger we had before we bought the van and to our eyes looked no more or less stable than all the others she had tried before, but not after she suggested that it might be worth considering buying a car!  We smiled, thanked her for her time, went home and ordered the original seat we had planned on purchasing online.

Roo, being the lanky streak that he is grew out of that seat last year and we have been using a second hand booster seat (booster seat NOT baby seat - he gets most indignant!), but the foam padding is wearing thin and is really quite uncomfortable for anything longer than the 5 mins ride home from Nonny's house. So we need a new one. And as we are off on holiday in less than four weeks, we really need to get one now!

*This Featured post was written in partnership with Kay & Co but all words and opinions and photo's of cute baby in carrier are my own ;-)

Join me 'Living Barefoot' Giveaway

My first batch of gorgeous Barefoot Books have arrived and I am like a kid in a sweet shop! This takes me right back to my bookshop days when a delivery of new titles was like Christmas. I absolutely adore the smell when you open the box - new print, unopened books full of delights just waiting to be enjoyed...  The there is the 'oooo'-ing and  'aahhh'-ing as each treasure is lifted out and examined. It doesn't matter how thorough the reps are seeing an image of a book in a catalogue is never as good as actually holding it in your hands....

So, yeah, I LOVE books!  I especially love beautifully illustrated kids books!! And when it comes to illustrations Barefoot Books are definitely amongst the best - from the distinctive (and lovely) oils of Niamh Sharkey  and the stained-glass inspired illustrative style of Olwyn Whelan to the dreamlike quality of Italian artist Nicoletta Ceccoli and the gorgeously bold and colourful work of Debbie Harter plus many, many more.

There are also a large number of story books available with accompanying CD's and Barefoot Books have enlisted the vocal talents of Niamh Cusack (Tales from Celtic Lands, The Faery's Gift), Jim Broadbent (Storytime, The Prince's Bedtime), Miranda Richardson (The Princess and the White Bear King, The Barefoot Book of Stories from the Opera) and Juliet Stevenson (The Tear Thief, The Real Princess)

Amongst their new titles for this year are a series of gorgeous 'Sing along' books complete with 'enhanced' cd's that bring the book's illustrations to life in a little animation with  the words scrolling across the bottom of the screen! Brilliant fun for little ones (and not-so-little ones) and a great way to learn a new favourite.

Check out the fabulous 'Over in the Meadow' below



To celebrate my becoming a Barefoot Books ambassador, I have one copy of this gorgeous book and enhanced CD to give away to one lucky reader!

To enter this competition please do at least one (if not all) of the following:

• Firstly - pop along to Barefoot Books and have a look around at their gorgeous selection of books for children of all ages, then come back and leave a comment telling me which one (or more) you would love to give to the special little person in your life. You MUST do this to be entered into the draw.

For extra entries you can - 

• 'Like' the Tales from Mount Pleasant Facebook page - this will keep you up to date with future competitions, giveaways and new Barefoot Book releases. Comment to let me know.
• Follow this blog with 'Google Friend Connect' or subscribe to the RSS feed by clicking on the tab at the top of the column to the right. Again, please comment to let me know you have done so.
• Post the tweet ' I want to #livebarefoot with @forestflower23 and Barefoot Books' with a link to this blog post.

The competition runs until 9pm Sunday 24th July. The winner will be chosen by a Random Number Generator and the winner will be announced on Twitter and Facebook and emailed if address provided. If the winner does not get in touch within 7 days the prize will be re-drawn.

Please note this competition is open to UK residents only. 

Good Luck x

*please note the prize has been paid for by myself and not provided for free by Barefoot Books. This post is not sponsored by them in anyway. As a Barefoot Books Ambassador I earn a commission on any books sold through my link to their website.