Happy Father's Day!

In Australia we celebrate Father's day on the first Sunday of September. 

It was a beautiful day to be outside, and that is exactly what we did. After enjoying a nice family breakfast at Alex's sisters house we headed over to the bay side for a picnic. Everyone else seemed to have the same idea so it was a little hard finding a car park, but we got one in the end.

The sky was clear and the water was blue! We set up our rug and spread out our food. Mikayla was keen to explore but managed to sit down and eat a little of her sandwich with Mummy and Daddy. After lunch we packed up and went for a walk around the bay, much to Mikayla's pleasure. 

I wanted to get some nice photos of Mikayla and Daddy on his special day, and I managed to capture a couple of nice ones to share.

Alex had a wonderful day! Hard to believe that next year we will have another little girl to celebrate with :)

Oh so good!

I have been obsessed with making these delicious fruity ice drinks lately. They are so quick and easy, and so many variations you can try out to suit your own taste.

The one pictured above is one of my raspberry, watermelon and lemon creations. I have also made pineapple and passion fruit which was just as good.

Fruity Ice Drink Recipe -

My star Rating: 4/5

Time: 5 mins

Expense: Low

Makes: 2 drinks

Difficulty: Easy Peasy

Ingredients -

1 cup ice

1/2 cup frozen raspberries

1/2 cup watermelon

Lemon Juice (half of 1 lemon)

1 tablespoon castor sugar

1/2 can of lemonade

Method -

1. Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until well combined.
2. Pour into glasses and ENJOY!

*Remember you can chop and change the type of fruit you use*

24 weeks pregnant... a little late.

So I am actually 26 weeks and 4 days pregnant as I write this post, but I really wanted to share a pic from my 24 week photos (courtesy of my Mum). I will try get a current photo in the next few days.

I just really like this photo because Mikayla is in it and is touching my belly. I can't wait till she has a little sister. We tell her all the time that there is a baby in Mummy's tummy and she kisses and hugs it all the time, but I just don't know if she really gets it. She can definitely see my belly growing and points it out all the time. I would love to know what she is thinking.

I often wonder and worry how she will be once the baby is actually here. It has been just the three of us for so long now, and she is so use to getting our full attention. She is such a gentle and caring girl, so I am not worried about her being rough or mean, I just worry that she will take it out on me and make me feel guilty. It will definitely be a learning curve in different ways this time round. I am looking forward to it though and can't wait to hold my baby girl.

I would love to know how you told your children there was another baby on the way, and how they took it once baby was born.

Peanut Butter, Choc Chip, Oat Cookies

I found the recipe for these cookies over at Kitchen Addiction. They are soooo good and so easy to make. I just had to share them with you. They have a chewy consistency which I love!

Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chip, Oat Cookies Recipe -


My Star Rating : 4/5
Time: 15 mins to make, 10 mins to cook
Expense: low
Yields: 24
Ease: Easy

Changes made from original recipe - I used plain flour instead of whole wheat flour, and I may use a few more oats next time.


Ingredients -

• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup self raising flour
• 1 1/8 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 cup choc chips

Method -

1. Pre-heat oven to 175c and line baking tray with baking paper.
2. In a bowl mix flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
3. With an electric mixer, mix butter, peanut butter, sugars and vanilla extract. Cream together until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat until combined.
4. Slowly add in flour mixture on low speed until just combined.
5. Stir in oats and choc chips.
6. Place heaped teaspoons of dough mixture onto baking tray. Leave about 2 inches in between each cookie. Bake for 8-10 mins or until just turning light golden brown. Do not over bake!
7. Allow cookies to cool for 5 mins before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

ENJOY!!!!

 

This one certainly did!

Look at that happy chocolate grin :)

Will have to give this a go...

I wish I knew where this recipe came from so I could give credit, but it was just one of those posts passed around Facebook that I grabbed and wanted to share.

I love making stuff like this myself as I know exactly what goes into it. This recipe is great because it's all non toxic and completely edible, it doesn't matter if little miss has a taste (and you know she will). By the way, when do kids grow out of the "everything goes in the mouth faze"?

My mum use to make us home made play dough which was always hours of fun. I will definitely have to ask for that recipe in the near future.

Have you got any easy recipes like this that you make for your kids to play with?

What I Wouldn't Give...

to own my own home right now.

Have you ever had so many creative thoughts racing around your head, just dying to get out, but there is nothing you can do about it? 

That is how I feel at the moment. I want to do so much creatively to my home and to my life, but living in a rental home stops me from doing any of it. I don't know where this motivation is coming from at the moment, but I feel like I need to make the most of it. I just wish I knew how.

Looks at these inspirational pics of peoples art rooms -

Mejia Mamma's Craft Room 

 AllSorts creative space

 Crafty Intentions

A pic from Orangebloom's blog

I know the only way Alex and I will be able to afford our own home any time in the near future is for me to go back to work, but I just can't imagine leaving my babies. Just the thought breaks my heart. 

I feel like I was the one who brought them into this world and it is my job to look after them, not someone else. It is such a tug of war for mothers these days. On one hand you want to provide stability and the necessities and on the other you're the one who wants to be there to teach, to love and to comfort. I just wish I had the answers.

One day I know we will get there, but for now I will make the most of what I have and do the best I can. 

(This post brought to you by the joys of pregnancy hormones)

Crafting craftiness

I don't know what it is at the moment, but I have an overwhelming need to craft and sew. Maybe it's the nesting faze of my pregnancy setting in, I'm not sure, but I haven't been this motivated in a very long time.

It's funny how quickly you realise just how precious time is after you have kids. So many things needing and wanting to be done, but just no time to do them in. Sure I could sit down and begin a project, but I am most definitely going to be interrupted and distracted by that cute faced daughter of mine, who is always interested in what Mummy is doing. Most of the time I try and get a bit of crafting done during her 1 hour a day nap, and so far so good. I have managed to do a couple of projects that have been playing on my mind for a while now.

A quick bunting made for the playroom.

A quick tiered skirt with matching hair clip.

Simple skirt thrifted from an old top of mine.

Everything I've made so far has been very quick and easy to do. I would love to do a more in depth post on each of my projects and a quick run through of how they are done, but once again, Mikayla only spends a short amount of quite time eating her lunch before I hear the words "done!".

I am also wanting to do a whole re-vamp of my blog and it's layout. So you may notice a few changes over the next couple of weeks as I try to do what I can in my left over "free" time.

Have a great week!!! :)

Epic Bed Hair...

It never fails to crack me up in the morning.

Day at the Park

Yesterday we spent the day at a nearby parkland area having a picnic lunch with hubby's family. We haven't seen them in ages so it was good to catch up.

The weather was beautiful, and it was great to be outside in the sunshine. We have been stuck inside for the past few days with terrible rainy, cold weather, and I am sure you can imagine what it's like to try and keep a puppy and toddler entertained inside for more then a day. My little family has also been dealing with the dreaded flu, which on top of the miserable weather has been a nightmare. 

Any who, although yesterday was draining and I felt like death at the end of the day, it was nice!

I hope you all had wonderful weekends :)

We are having a...

GIRL!

I had my 20 week scan on Monday and we got to see our baby and found out it's a healthy baby girl! She was so active and oh so cute! I can't wait to meet our little angel and hold her in my arms. I'm over the half way mark so not long now :)

Soap Nuts!

I was giving up on cloth nappies altogether before I discovered this wonderful, natural product. 

No matter what I did my nappies would always end up smelling and were becoming less absorbent. I tried using less and less detergent, sun dry morning through to afternoon and hot water strip my nappies, but they still always smelled. 

You can't use bleach on MCN's (modern cloth nappies), like you could with the old terry towel squares. I was initially using rockin green detergent, but it isn't cheap and you have to get it shipped out as it's only sold in specialised stores. It worked well and was also all natural which I liked, but I just couldn't keep paying for it any more. I recently found soap nuts which is another natural alternative to detergent, and boy oh boy do they do a great job! My nappies don't smell at all and come out beautifully clean. I won't be using anything else on my nappies now.

There are also many other uses for soap nuts around the house -

• laundry liquid
  
• hand soap
• shampoo (replaces shampoo and conditioner together, try a spray bottle!)
• pet shampoo (leaves hair soft and silky, will also repel fleas, mites, ticks, mosquitoes etc)
• general purpose cleaner for the kitchen and bathroom
• carpet cleaner (spray or sponge onto stain and blot clean)
• dishwasher soap (liquid in dispenser section with optional 1tbs vinegar as a rinse aid)
• pest spray (use spray bottle to spray bugs on plants)
• glass cleaner (1tbs soapnut liquid, 1 tbs vinegar and 1 cup water)

Here is a link with some faq's about the nuts if you are interested - http://www.wildsoapnuts.com.au/FAQ.html

Sucker for punishment

Yep, that's me. There is no other way to describe it. I would have to be to go out and buy a puppy when I am in the midst of toddler wrangling and baby growing. 

Meet Abbey! Isn't she a cutie?

We added this new addition to the family 4 weeks ago this Saturday, and she is an absolute delight! We have been wanting a dog for a while now, but have taken a long time in researching and deciding which breed of dog would fit into our growing family perfectly. I have always had dogs as pets growing up and have always wanted one for my own family. 

We decided on a Cavoodle (poodle x cavalier), as they are great with kids, loving, loyal, gentle natured and very easy to train. Abbey is such a cute, loving dog and is quickly becoming Mikayla's best friend. These two are inseparable, and you can always find them getting up to mischief together, leaving one very tired Mummy at the end of each day. I love seeing them together and can only imagine how their bond will grow as they both grow up together. Abbey has really helped Mikayla come out of her shell and has given her a lot more confidence with so many things. Plus it will be great for Mikayla to have a little friend to occupy her when this new bubby comes along.

Here are a few pics of the terrible two together -

Just thought I would mention...

that Alex and I are expecting baby number 2 in early November!

We are so thrilled to be expecting again and can't wait for our newest little family member to join us. Mikayla and bubby will be a month shy of being 2 years apart and I think that is a perfect gap. I can already tell Mikayla will be the best big sister in the world and can't wait to see her with her little Brother or Sister. She is so sweet and already pulls up my top and kisses my belly constantly. 

I am 19 weeks and 3 days pregnant at the moment and we find out the sex on Monday. I am so excited to find out what we are having. I think I am more anxious about it this time then last. I would love a little sister for Mikayla, as I had nothing but brothers growing up (four to be exact), and I always wanted a sister of my own to hang out with. I would love to see that with my own children. Though a boy would be wonderful as well, I think it would be so cute to see a mini Alex running around.

My baby bump, 19 weeks and 3 days

Making toilet training a little easier

It is really starting to get cold here at the moment, and all these extra clothes we are putting on our children is making it a little harder for toilet training. I have had Mikayla using the potty from the time she could sit. Just mainly getting use to it and helping her figure out how her body works and the signs that tell her she needs to go toilet. 

I have to admit though I have been pretty slack at keeping up a routine and being stringent with it, but now Mikayla is 18 months, I figure it's time to knuckle down and get on it before she reaches the terrible two's and it becomes a lot harder. Though I do think this little girl of mine is heading into that wonderful stage I have heard so much about already. Someday's I swear I just talk to myself. I am discovering very quickly that I have one very strong willed daughter, eeep!

I have been getting rather frustrated with the multiple layers of clothing I have been having to take off just to see if my daughter may or may not actually use the toilet, only to put them all back on again, and 10 minutes later I spy her making some gesture or another that makes me think may be her new queue to let me know she needs to go. It's usually not, but sometimes I get lucky. Ahhh the joys of it all.

I have been looking/drooling at the really cute baby leg warmers on Etsy and thinking about how much easier they would make this whole process, as well as look super cute on my girl! The idea is that she can still just run around in her knickers and keep her legs warm without her going through multiple sets of clothes a day if she has an accident or two... or three (I swear this girls bladder is the size of a pea).

I wondered if they would be that hard to make myself and went searching the net to try and find an easy to follow pattern. After 10 seconds of searching I was lucky enough to find a great Blog (I now follow) written by a wonderful women who has shared a really easy to follow pattern using knee high socks. You can find it here, the whole blog is definitely worth a look though.

After finding this pattern at about 4pm on a Saturday afternoon, I was super excited and decided I needed to dash out to the shops to get these socks right away. I had the good intentions of getting back and making the leg warmers that night. I was keen to make this toilet training business easier on me and Mikayla. With the shops all starting to close around me, and babe in arms, I quickly found four  pretty cool pairs at Target (Target also being the fourth shop I had to check to find any, grrr!).

It's now Monday afternoon and I have now finally started and finished the four pairs of baby leg warmers. Mikayla has been wearing a pair for the last hour and they have already been a huge success! I love them!

Here are three of the four pairs I made.

And here is my gorgeous girl rocking the other pair.

Give them a go! :)

Breastfeeding

Mikayla is now 13 (almost 14) months old. My goal before she was born was to breastfeed to at least a year old, and I DID IT!!! YAY! I am so very happy that I was able to breastfeed my daughter. I know a lot of women are unable to due to a lot of different reasons and that makes me even more grateful that I was able to.  

In the beginning though I wasn't sure If I would ever see this day, and came so close to giving up all together a few times. Looking back, before Mikayla was born, I guess I was naive in thinking that breastfeeding was as easy as putting a baby on a boob. I mean how hard could it be right? WRONG!! I figured out very quickly that breastfeeding is a learned skill for Mum and Bub and that it needs lots of practice.

Mikayla refused to latch. While in hospital after her birth I had so many different nurses coming in with their opinions and techniques trying to force my daughter onto my boob. It was so stressful and I hated hearing my baby scream as they pushed her little face at my boob. I ended up just going home with a nipple shield, which was the only way she would latch. I had plenty of milk. My boobs were the size of melons and they felt just as hard. I was in agony the first few days until my milk settled down. I was leaking constantly and could not go a minute without a bra and breast pads (actually I have only recently been able to go without the pads stuffed into my bra). My nipples hurt from the shield and I dreaded having to latch her. She was a  great feeder, but just refused to latch naturally. I was so stressed and upset that I was not able to feed my daughter properly. I had been told by the midwives that if she continued on the shield that my milk would more then likely dry up and she would become attached to the shield and never want my nipple. Feeding with the shield was also really messy and I would soak a towel at every feed. I spent a lot of time crying and feeling very down on myself. Breastfeeding was turning into a nightmare!

Luckily I did have a lot of support from my husband and Mum. They knew how much I wanted to breastfeed and didn't let me give up. When Mikayla was four weeks old I went to see a midwife at a baby clinic for her check up. A lactation consultant happened to be there at the time and the midwife asked her  if she could give me any advice. The consultant gave me a DVD on latching to watch and booked me in for an appointment the following week. I watched the DVD as soon as I got home and on the next feed tried to latch Mikayla without the shield. SHE LATCHED!!!! I was over the moon with excitement! I was feeding my daughter the way I dreamed of doing for weeks. It took another week of complete stress getting the knack of things. Once I stopped using the shield, my already large milk supply doubled, and I had a very fast let down. I almost drown my baby girl at every feed and I hated it. I found that the best way for Mikayla and I to feed was to have her lie on top of me so she had to pull the milk up rather then it pouring into her mouth uncontrollably. It was a lot easier and I only had to do this till she was a bit older and could handle the fast, and large amount of milk.

If only I knew then what I know now. Breastfeeding has become second nature and I am so happy I stuck it out. I love feeding my little girl and although she has already practically weaned herself, I know I am going to miss these special moments together. Mikayla started to lose interest in her day time feeds from around 10 months. She is now down to just her bedtime feed, although I don't think she will be giving that one up for quit some time, and that is ok with me.

------------------------

Tips on what I learned during breastfeeding -

- Practice makes perfect!

- Always use Lanolin (wool fat) before and after every feed.

- Stock up on breast pads and towels.

- You can only do your best! If it works it works, if it doesn't it doesn't.

- Try not to stress of tense (you back muscles will thank you for it)

- Every baby is different!
- If you are having difficulties, see a  lactation consultant.

Most importantly, remember, it does get better :)

LOVE

Happy Birthday Mikayla

Ok, so her actual birthday was almost a month ago now, whoops!! I have been meaning to post about it everyday since, but time always seems to get away from me and I forget all about it. So I have finally sat down at the computer and am determined to finish this post to share with you my baby girl's first birthday.

I had been planning for months what type of party I would have for Mikayla's first birthday. Meticulously going over every detail on the theme, guest list, food, drinks, nibbles, cake, games and decorations. It was all finally planned and settled. I had bought everything needed to pull this day off for my precious girl.

But then...Mikayla got sick three days before her party. She was running high temps and was really lethargic. I thought it may have been teething temps as her top gums were red and swollen from the teeth trying to push their way down. Her temps cleared for a day and I thought things would be fine for her party, but the morning before her birthday she woke up covered in a blotchy rash all over her back and tummy! I rushed her to the doctors and was told she had a contagious virus. I couldn't believe it!!! Mikayla has been the picture of perfect health from the moment she was born, only ever having one mild cold which cleared quickly over winter. Of course I had to cancel the party i had spent months planning. I rang all my friends with kids and told them what had happened, everyone was so upset and very sad for Mikayla. Luckily most of our immediate family was still able to come for a small get together to mark the occasion. Mikayla is the only child on both sides of the family so there was no risk of passing it on to other children (kids are more susceptible to this kind of virus).

It turned out to be a great day! Although Mikayla was still a little lethargic in the morning, she picked up around lunch time and had a great time with everyone. She was so wonderful and I could not be prouder of her.

Here are some pictures from the day -

All ready for her party.

Present opening time!

Mikayla with her Grandma (my Mum).

Mikayla was very excited about all her presents. She opened each one patiently.

Reading her new books.

Watching the bubbles in the air.

Playing outside with Nanny (Alex's Mum), and Uncle Aaron (my Brother).

Everyone singing happy Birthday.

Eating her Birthday cake.

A very happy little girl with all of her presents the next day.

Thank you to every one who came, and for making it such a wonderful day for our Beautiful little girl xoxo