Calico & Co's Big Birthday Swap!

Take a look at the lovely goodies I received in the mail today from Jane, as part of the Calico & Co. big birthday swap. There's two gorgeous fabric hair ties, 6 magnets with vintage type prints on them, 4 Robot magnets (the boy has claimed these!), a mirror key ring with a funky print on the back and an awesome bookmark. Thanks Jane, its all fabulous.

You can all find Jane over at her madeit store twinkietwink where you can find lots gorgeous and very well made goodies. Jane's blog is also worth a look :).

The Age of the Shuffle

I can't remember the last time I actually listened to a song in full. The shuffle button on my iPod certainly gets a fair workout when I get a chance to listen to some music. I don't get much of a chance to listen to music that doesn't consist of pointing your finger and doing the twist, so when I do, I find myself listening to a bit of a song and then flipping through to the next in the hope that I will get through heaps of songs in a short period and feel that my music craving has been satisfied until the next time.

But its not, it is leaving much to be desired. In an effort to complete my 25 before 25, today I have packed the iPod away and reverted to an old school form of music equipment... cd's and cd players... did you know that these things are still around??? That and adding a new cd to my collection (I haven't bought I 'physical  cd' in years, I normally purchase them on iTunes) and am going to spend the afternoon emerged in some music. So on the sampler today is Mumford & Sons, which consists of four West-London boys, who apparently by their Bio, 'create a gutsy, old-time sound that marries the magic of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young with the might of Kings Of Leon, and their incredible energy draws us in quickly to their circle of songs, to the warmth of their stories, and to their magical community of misty-eyed men'. You might remember them from there song 'Little Lion Man' which was the number 1 song on 2009 JJJ hottest 100 countdown. I love this song, but have never bothered to listen to any more of their music until today. Here's hoping it lives up to the same platform that I put little lion man on to.

The Art of Friendship

(Image from We(heart)it)

Have you ever come to a brick wall in what was once an ever lasting friendship. I mean, I've had many friends come and go through out my life, but I have met a couple that I thought would endure the test of time walking along side me.

The best of friends can go long stretches without seeing each other, and when you meet up its like you have never been apart.

But there are somethings, that a best friend just should be there for.

I don't have many 'friends' (I more so have a lot of people that I know), but those people that I do class as my friends, I treat them as an extension of my family. I can't count how many times I have dropped everything to be by their sides. I can't count how many times they have dropped everything to be by my side.

Except one.

I always thought that we would grow old together, not apart. 

I thought that I would miss her, but the reality is that my friend of long ago, has been gone for a long time. I miss what we were, but I have come to the realisation today that I no longer miss her, even though she is still the same person I have grown up and now know and feel the love of some friendships that are not one way streets.

(Image from We(heart)it)

My Place & Yours: Whats in your Handbag

Oh I cringed when I read this weeks theme... not because I don't like it, but because I was thinking it going to make near a weeks worth of cleaning up once I have emptied it.  (Ok, probably not quite a week, but certainly a long time!)


But I was pleasantly surprised when I emptied this...

And only found these items...

(Photo is a tad on the dark side but my battery went flat on my camera)

Fabric Shopping Bag

Pink Nappy for the girl

Change of Clothes (tights, long tshirt, 2x jumpers) for the girl

Beanie for the girl,

Pkt f Tissues

Kinder surprise wrapper + container toy came in

20 cents

Phone

Wallet

9 1950-70's golden books I bought about a week ago... that are still in there

2 x Cotton reels (Red & brown)

Ball of pink wool

My camera was also in there,

as was a whole pile of lego bits and pieces but the boy seen me emptying my bag and came and claimed them.

Hehe, I can't believe all that 'junk' fits in there, its not really a big bag. The lego came in handy today with a visit to spotlight... While I went through all the fabric the boy sat on the floor and staged out the battles of all battles.

Now I have just gone and stuffed it all back in there and will be wondering on my next trip into town why my bag is so heavy, of course it wouldn't have anything to do with a pile of golden books that have been in there for almost a month.

For more My Place and Yours, head on over to Danielle at Hello Owl.

This is exactly how we are all feeling after a long and tiresome weekend. Today was spent trawling the local Penguin Market with my mum and Ava (Charlie had the weekend with his dad). How cute is that beanie? I bought it today for only $12 at the market, I told the older lady that was selling them about ETSY, and how something similar sells for around $30+, she couldn't believe it, but I think I have her hooked on ETSY as she was going home to have a look.

Saturday was spent visiting Ava's name sake, my grandmother for her birthday, visiting a friend and of course taking the girl to her first ever voting day (where the offical in charge could of just eaten her up)... and that vote lead to an extremely late night, and other than saying I am extremely worried the outcome I will leave talking about it for the moment.

Instead, I will leave you with a few pictures of the cutest girl I know, who's nana (aka my mum) is trying to turn her into a die-hard hawthorn fan...

Will be back tomorrow with hopefully a little more excitement injected back into my posts :)

A Catch Up...

So unbelievably tired. Did you know that you can never 'catch up' on sleep, once you miss it, its gone unless you have access to some fantastic time machine that you have forgotten to tell me about. The only thing you can do is to get more in the future, which if your anything like me then you wake up after your extra sleep in a some what 'hung' over daze.

Miss Ava's reflux is slowly improving, but there have been sacrifices along the way... I've slowly taken gluten and dairy out of my diet as well as tomato's and any citrus fruits. Ok, I semi-lied, I am still having a whole two cups of tea a day, but that is just to keep me sane. Last night she had a good sleep, two five hour stretches (she is still sleeping now, see above), and I woke up feeling like crap, two much sleep apparently. We are on some medication to help her reflux, and I gave in and have her in bed with me. It's s much easier rather than waking up every two hours and having to go and get her from the cot. At least this way I still stay in a semi-sleep state and it doesn't take me the whole two hours she sleeps for to fall back asleep. The most annoying thing is that she wants to sleep. The poor thing is so tired, but I'm guessing the constant bring up milk and then swallowing it is waking her up because its painful. Hopefully we are on the road to going back to good nights sleeps.

Me, I'm feeling rather drab lately. When I had Charlie I was one of those women who you secretly want to punch say wow, you look amazing after having a baby. The weight just fell off and was back to my normal self in two weeks. This time however, its hanging around. I know that I am not fat on any measure, but I feel like it. And I know that there are no 'instant' fixes. Oh well, at least chocolate is out of the picture until the reflux has vacated the building.

Blog This: About ME

About ME. You'd think that I should know where to start, but I'm not really sure that I fully know who that is yet.

So to start simply, I'm Keshia. Known to my close family and friends as Keesh, known to my singing tutor as 'Quiche Lorraine', known by two little people as Mama.

I'm 24, but it seems so young actually writing that down. I've always felt like an older soul, even when I was a child so mostly I try and stay 'ageless'.

I'm the eldest of 'eight' children... and before you go whoaaa, no, I don't come from a family of parents that don't believe in contraception. My mum and dad broke up when I was a baby. Then they both went on to marry again, Mum having two children, Amy (19) & Daniel (17), Dad having the same, Mia (19, almost 20), Freya (almost 18). My step-dad left my mum and went on to have three more children, Kade (16), Holly (14) and Tayla (8). So, I'm the only one of 'me'. I don't think of any of my siblings as half or step siblings, to me, they are just my brothers and sisters. (did you get all of that, its a bit of a mouth full!!)

A strange fact about me, I'm one of those people that have never gotten over being scarred of the dark. I go all Ku-Foo Ninja like if I hear a bump in the night.

I've known my best friend for the same amount of years that I have been alive (minus a few hours). She has her butt planted over in Coventry in the United Kingdom at the moment and has been abroad with her mother since we were 14. I miss her terribly each and every day, so much that my body aches. The last time I seen her was July last year... and we ran a muck in our capital city. Ah sob, even good memories hurt sometimes.

I am a peoples person, I love finding out about people and what their stories are. Thats why in essence I started reading blogs. My blog, well its just a brain dump. I don't try to make it anything, just what ever comes out of my brain and through my fingers at that particular moment in time.

If I could defy one thing that has shaped me into the person that I am today, it would be the day I found out I was pregnant with my son. I was 19, and had been with my partner for two and a half months (we had been friends for much longer), initially, we thought that I would of been about 4-8 weeks pregnant and had both decided that we were going to terminate the pregnancy. We were both totally not ready to be parents. I had been sick for months on end leading up to the fateful day, and had actually had a pregnancy test done some months or so before hand 'just in-case'. It was a shock as well because I had been taking the contraceptive needle since I was 17.

My best friend took me up to the emergency ward one day, as I became really ill. The nurse there took one look at me and said I think your pregnant. I laughed.

I was.

Jase and I scheduled an ultra-sound for the following day. He picked me up from Uni, we went and sat in this gloomy waiting room. When my name was called I froze, once the ultra-sound was underway, I can remember starring at the screen thinking, why does this baby have fingers, it shouldn't have fingers. Then the words that the technician mouthed will for ever stay in my mind.

"From the measurements, it looks like your about 28 weeks, would you like to know what it is?"

I had one word circling my head, and it wasn't a nice one.

Turns out that that doctor had given me the wrong test results all those months earlier.

So from then I entered robot mode. I had 12 weeks to get ready for a baby. Heck, I didn't even have a stomach let alone trying to come to terms that there was a baby in there. That it was my baby was in there.

So it happened, I had a baby 14 weeks later. He became my baby and I his mother three days after that. (but that's a story for another time.) A baby that I now love with every ounce of my body and every inch of my soul.

So in essence, thats me. And a few things that have made and continue to make me, me.

A funny thing...

I had a bit of a funny and strange experience today. When you have a baby in my area, you get an invitation to attend a 'mothers club', that includes other mothers with baby's born in a two week period. I never went to it when Charlie was born, I had to many other issues to deal with.

So this time around, I thought it would be great to go along, any excuse for a coffee outing I say! Today was the first 'met and greet' session. I arrived with my two children in tow and joined the other mumma's. It came to introducing ourself's and I just said the basics, Hi, I'm Keshia. This is Charlie, he is 4 and Ava is 4 weeks... which was responded by 'Is Charlie yours?', well, you all know the answer to that, and then 'I thought this group was for first time mothers?'. And then the whole bunch of women there (7 others) proceeded to ignore me for the remainder of the 45 minutes...

Hmmm, I just don't know what to say. I'm actually having a little giggle to myself at the looks that those mothers faces carried, then they all proceeded to eat the savory scones I provided... I near feel like going next time just to see how they react a second time... I will just remember to keep my scones on my lap and eat them all in front  of them.

Think happy thoughts

What a day. As I Tweeted a 'crap-ola of a day'.

One of the most frustrating things to encounter as a mother are incompetent Doctors, that don't listen and leave you just as clueless as you walk out of their office as you were when you walked into their office.

Doesn't help that I'm a tired an emotional bundle of hormones today.

So here's the plan.

Think. Happy. Thoughts.

So to try and brighten my day, here is some fabulous new fabric I got in the mail yesterday (fabric nearly always makes me happy)...

I've been lusting after that owl fabric for a while now... Now I just have to get some inspiration on what to make with it!

Silent Reflux...

I'm not much of a swearer, but right now I'd like to say to silent reflux, would you kindly go and four letter word off!!

I've had the feeling that something has not been quite right with my little madam for a few days, and low and behold my mother instincts were right.

Silent Reflux. Which has caused the poor little poppets oesophagus to become inflamed, a little burnt and it has a few ulcers on it from her constantly swallowing 'spewed up' milk. Nice.

She is in pain tonight, and I don't like it. She is lying beside me right now asleep and I can hear and see her swallowing milk back down and her face is grimacing in pain and has a little sob here and there.

I would also like to say a very loud 'for four letter word's sake!!' to the gobble-dee goop bull-poo medical advice that I received from a GP about managing it. I could write a whole post about his need to go back to the research books as he had no clue. All the advice he gave me is almost the exact opposite of what I have found out online and from an ABA counselor after getting home.

Me. I think I'm just upset that she's in pain and there is nothing that I can do for her at the minute. Part of me also feels a little selfish and horrible for also thinking 'oh no, not another no-sleeper'. Charlie's first full night of sleep was on July 15th, 2008. He was 2 years old. Yes, I remember the exact date, because before this he was waking up 5 + times a night. Normally more than 5, but certainly NEVER any less. (No exaggeration either.) I physically and mentally CAN NOT do that again. And its making me nervous just thinking about it...

So we are off the the paediatrician tomorrow to hopefully start getting this nipped in the butt, and to deal with her ulcers.

Wish my sleeping sanity luck...

One Month...

Dearest Ava,

Where has the time flown to? It's all going to quickly I must say. This time only four weeks ago I was still anticipating your arrival to the world wondering if you would ever make an appearance. Ever since you did decide to join us earth-side, our lives have been filled with utter joy and amazement of the love and comfort such a tiny little being can bring to a family, our family.

So far you are a little sleeping beauty, (apart from a few all nighters) you are starting to smile at your favourite people and are slowly starting that ever so infectious baby babble.

You sneeze a lot, and send your big brother into fits of giggles whenever you do a few in a row.

And talking of your big brother, what a gem he is. You are settled by his voice, and he likes to sing made up songs and tell you stories all the time... even while you are sleeping. He loves you 'to the moon, around the stars, through the clouds, over our house, down to coles??(don't ask where this one came from) and back'.

To one of my precious ones, thank you for picking me to be your mumma, but please, oh please, stop growing up so fast, I am happy to deal with a few more sleepless nights if only you will stay small for just a little longer.

Love Mumma xx

My Place & Yours: Memories

Top Right: Bently the Bear, Lots-a-Legs the Catepillar & Honey Bear

I could have a post of 50 or so photos for this weeks theme of 'My Place and Yours', because I am a terrible hoarder, so instead I would like to introduce you to three of my best friends, Bently the Bear who was given to me from my nan's collection when she passed away... I have only had him in my possession for 9 years but have played with him since I was a young child. He is a pose-able bear that one of my nan's friends made, he will sit back on your bed with his hands behind his head and his legs crossed... the ever so cool bear.

Then there is lots-a-legs Caterpillar, I have had him since my first birthday.

Most importantly, Honey Bear, my best friend since I was a baby. These three beauty's still sit with pride of place on my bed, and every now again, when I feel like I can loosen the heart strings a little, I let my son sleep with them.

(Oh, and that blanket they are all sitting on is my blanket from when I was a baby, and now it has been used for both of my children.)

For more My Place and Yours, head on over to Hello Owl.

Blog This: Goofing Around

Finally, a photo challenge that I am not lacking in inspiration for... I'm a goof, all of the time.

T'was the night of my 23rd birthday, when after having a delicious dinner out with my family, my sister (pictured above) decided that this little girl looked like me when I was younger...

Can you see the resemblance?

This lead on to a series of weird and wacky photos... at my sister's work of all places...

If you ever come across these photos Amy... just remember that I love you to!!

Point & Shoot: He's my brother...

I'm Jealous.

Jealous of my beautiful girl.

I've always wanted a big brother... I'd would of even settled for a big sister. But a big brother, was always on top of my dream list.

And if I could have picked my big brother from any one, it would be my son Charlie.

Singing, rubbing her head, just letting her know that he is there for her by whispering in her ear.

That is the stuff dreams are made of.

For more point & shoot head on over to Chantelle's.

Calico & Co. Stationery Swap

I joined in the Amanda's stationery swap over at Calico & Co. and received my goodies in the mail today. It was such a coincidence to who sent me these fabulous gifts as I have been stalking out her etsy store, brambleandbear, for a few weeks now, way before I even joined the swap!! Actually one of her pieces is on my etsy fav's!! I was very spoilt, I got some fabulous things, three awesome note cards, some owl paper, a pencil and that beautiful metal owl ornament you can see below. Thanks Rachael, it is all devine! xxx

Lazy Sunday

When I had Charlie, the best bit of advice that I was given was to sleep when he slept. And that I did.

Come this time around, I don't have time to sleep, well, not during the day at least and I am finding myself to be completely and utterly exhausted even though my house has turned into a tornado zone and there is washing on the line that has probably been there for a whole week. I'm not doing anything really other than looking after my two children and I am still exhausted.

This weekend Charlie went away with his dad, so today I took the opportunity to sleep all day with my baby girl. And sleep we did... Woke up this morning at around 7, had a feed and then catnapped on and of till around 10.30 when she went into a deep sleep until 3.45, and so did her mumma.

To my dilemma, when I woke up, instead of having this amazing refreshed feeling I thought that I would have, I woke up feeling like I had a hang over. To much sleep apparently, and my body didn't like it.

To compensate, I took my weary, hung over body to a craft store to browse the afternoon away where I picked up some yummy fat quarters that I have no idea what to do with, but even if they just sit on my bench for a while at least they make it look pretty.

Music...

“It is cruel, you know, that music should be so beautiful. It has the beauty of loneliness of pain: of strength and freedom. The beauty of disappointment and never-satisfied love. The cruel beauty of nature and everlasting beauty of monotony. “

                                  Benjamin Britten 

Music. The ‘silent’ driver of our life’s. The glue for our memories.

There once was a day, which feels like a different lifetime ago, that I would have classed myself as a musician. It’s almost as if I have been reincarnated in my own lifetime without having to deal with the issue of dying. Music was my life.

Now, in my new reincarnated state, there is not enough space for music to be my life. Heck, I struggle to find the time to listen to anything, {let alone pick up an instrument} that doesn’t involve singing about dancing dinosaurs, superhero theme songs or cartoon jingles.

It’s depressing.

There once was a day, which also feels like a different lifetime ago, that the borders of my mirror where surrounded in various tickets from music festivals and concerts that I had attended. From Big Day Outs, to little intimate acoustic sets from indie artists. Now those tickets have been replaced with ones sprouting words like ‘Playschool live in concert, The Wiggles and *sigh* Dora the-god-damn-explorer.

It’s heart-breaking.

I think that I would even have to seriously sit and think for a while to tune into JJJ... Because I doubt I can even remember the station number.

So it’s time to reintroduce myself to the old me. The type of person that could reel endless lists of her favourite music off in the beat of a heart beat. The type of person that had a bad back from being constantly bent over her guitar. The type of person that was up with the latest news, bands and artists from the music industry.

I can’t wait to say hello to her.

I miss her.

25 things before 25

Next year in March I have been alive and breathing for a quarter of a century. In an effort to feel like I am accomplishing / have accomplished something of significance, and to also give me some motivation to do some things I have been putting off for a long time here is my 25 before 25. I wonder if I can get everything ticked of...

1. Buy a DSLR.

2. Get Fit. Like really fit. Like I could climb Mt Everest kinda fit.

3. Get two tattoos. – before you freak out on me...  a blog post to come on this later.

4. Go on a holiday. Like a real holiday. Like stay in a hotel and not with drab relatives kinda holiday.

5. Manage to keep a visual journal. – I had to keep numerous of these during my Uni days. But now I can’t seem to even manage to fill at least 5 pages and keep it going any more. I miss the process of it. I miss the finished products.

6. Get my business up and running. Running really fast. – (this is why I need to get fit so I can keep up.)

7. Fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans.

8. Get over my ‘artists block’ and start painting and drawing again... I mean seriously, if I am to earn enough one day so I have to pay Mr. Tax man back my uni debt, I might as well make use of the skills I developed there right??

9. Learn to drink 2 litres of water a day.

10. To dust off my guitar and not let it get that dusty again that I can’t even recognise it. (damn those dust bunnies)

11. To make time in my life for music. Things seemed so much similar when I actually made time for the things I love.

12. Stop biting my nails. – I mean, it is seriously gross. Did you know that biting your nails is like licking the underneath of a toilet seat... I knew that and I still bite them, now that is defiantly gross!

13. Give to charity in some form. (must be helping Australians)

14. Visit my grandmother Valerie as much as possible.

15. Get a funky hair cut and colour.

16. Actively think about doing some kinda post-grad course. Actively as in really truly make an effort to contact some high and almighty admin. officer to send me some official information about applying.

17. Start selling my wares at the local markets.

18. Write a letter to my dad.

19. Actually post the letter to my dad.

20. Make more me time... (well I’m kinda going to have to if I want to get all these things done)

21. Recycle more.

22. Be kinder to myself.

23. Read more.

24. Get some professional ‘artsy’ family shots done.

25. Celebrate my 25 years earth-side in fabulous style!!

The Wonderful Kellie Christie...

I entered in a wonderful giveaway hosted by the lovely Amanda Fuller from Calico & Co. last week...

And I WON!! I was on top of the world, its my first ever win in a giveaway.

My little package arrived in the mail today, and I am so excited, it as every bit as wonderful as I thought it might be...

The ever so talented Kellie Christie is the fabulous lady that made this beautiful pendant featuring one of my all time favourtie things... an owl.

You should head over to her ETSY and Madeit stores for a look at her other gorgeous range of jewellery.

Kellie Christie - Madeit Store

Kellie Christie - ETSY Store

Kellie included a little note thanking me for my support, well Kellie, I'd like to thank you for your wonderful gift. I can feel this little piece of jewellery becoming a daily item to my clothing attire.

A Worthy Cause...

I stumbled across this amazing blog a few weeks back and have been thinking of what our little family could do to help.

Backpacks 4 Aussie Kids

This fantastic lady and her partner are organising to create 1000 backpacks filled with essential and personal items for children in Australia going into care. 

Here's a little paragraph taken from the website:

I'm collecting donations of school backpacks (preferably new, but in good condition is fine too). I'd like to make up some packs to give to charity.

My partner and I have been looking into taking on the role as foster carers and the process has opened my eyes to just how much some kids don't have.

Imagine being taken from your home by strangers (police or DOCS) with nothing  but the clothes you are wearing or possibly a rubbish bag hastily stuffed with clothes or toys and then being sent off to live with strangers. Or being in care with one family for a month or so and then being moved on to the next one. Some of these kids have nowhere to call home.

My thoughts behind the backpacks are - the pack stays with the child; it has p.j.'s a little blanket, maybe some clothes, an age appropriate toy or book (depending on what I can get), and a little torch.

 I sat down with Charlie tonight and talked to him about what we could do. It is no easy feat trying to explain to a four year old about the situations that these precious souls find them self in with out making them think or worry to much. We basically talked about how some children don't have extra special mummies or daddies for different reasons, and that they need to sometimes go and stay with a caring family until their own mummy/daddy can 'get better'. We talked about how these children might not have extra special things like his own 'Bill' the cat, toys to play with, books to read or even pajama's to wear to bed. We talked about how these children are sometimes sad and that even little things can make their days a little brighter.


I asked him what he thought that we could do to help, and he said 'We could invite them round to play, and make pancakes. Pancakes make me happy.' How sweet, if only we could do that.


So instead, we are going to do up two bags. One based for a little boy around Charlie's age, and one for a baby, around Ava's age. I thought in doing this he will be able to help pick out some things that mean something to him to place in the bags, because if their is one things he does understand, its what four year old little boys love!!


So can you help this wonderful lady out? Even if its just donating a packet of undies, every little bit will help her on her journey to make a difference.


Once we have our backpacks ready to send, we will share with you our pledge. :)


xx

What I left behind...

Today I was tagged on facebook in some pictures dating back to my Uni days. Oh my how things have changed. Back then I was a spiky haired (of the feminine style), which had a bright blue streak in it. I had my labret (just underneath my lip pierced). And the clothes... oh how I miss my old clothes. I was never one to be a trend follower, but I always had a little quirky style all of my own that I loved. I remember each day the excitement of getting ready of a morning and deciding what to wear. As much as I loved looking at these photos, it was a little bit depressing.

Now I dread it, the whole getting dressed part of the day. Post-Pregnancy and feeling a little drab. I'm at that stage where my maternity clothes are just to loose, yet my pre-pregnancy clothes are just to tight. *sigh* Not to mentioned that is near impossible to find a top to fit my milk producing boob's into that doesn't leave me needing to strip semi-naked to feed my child, or otherwise be left feeling like a nanna (of the unfashionable kind).

If there is one thing that I miss since having children is the ability to have time to actually get yourself ready of a morning, none of this rushing about business or getting dressed and then getting half way into town realising you forgot to take your slippers off... nice one.

I'm all for hanging around in my pj's all day, right now I have my new 'pink' (yes pink, my daughter has me converted) dressing gown over my clothes. But how great do you feel when you have managed to dress, do your hair and even, just maybe had enough time to don a little bit of make-up on. It sure makes me feel perky on the downest of days.

So, in the effort of feeling human, feminine and 'perky', I am going to make the biggest effort to be able to find at least half an hour in the day when I can have some me time to manage a shower and get my self dressed in more than a pair of trackies and my old trusty hoodie. And if I manage to get a little bit of mascara on I'll be extra pleased with myself :)

So this is me, on a normalish day. Skinny leg jeans, (my staple wardrobe item) hippish headband (means I don't have to brush or style my very long hair), button up shirt (only thing I could grab my hands on when shopping with two kidlets before I went insane) scarfe, and some $10 flat shoes... Oh and the newest accessory, a baby in a sling!!

My Creative Space

Old clothes... waiting to become new clothes.

(they will probably be waiting a fair while at this rate!)

Head on over to Kootoyoo for more Creative Space's

Meet Bill

Meet (on the left) Bill. Bill has been in our family for a few years now. I bought him for Charlie on my first big trip away from him to the other side of my state, and Charlie has been in love with him since. Bill comes everywhere with us. Charlie was ever so excited to find our newest addition, Spot (on the right) yesterday whilst he was being dragged around shopping by his mumma yesterday. He bought him for his little sister. Everyday this boy amazes me with the love he gives to those around him. I caught him today, telling his sister a story... Once upon a time there was a family that had lots of huggles. There was a mummy, and a Charlie and a Ava. When Ava got bigger, Charlie showed her how to play with his rocket ship. No one else is allowed to play with my rocket ship because its special... and then he spotted me and I got a 'MUUUUUUUM, your not posed to be listening to me, its our secret...

Oh, and the above picture was taken by Charlie... I have a feeling that photography is going to be a big part of his life, he is forever stealing my camera. Here are a few more of his 'happy snaps' from tonight.

Being a Mother...

I’ve been pondering since late last night whether write a post in response to something I read that turned my nose hairs up a little. I’m sure most of you will know what it’s about if you continue to read on. I've been over thinking it so much, so here it is. I really wish I was as articulate as these two ladies, they say it all.

When Hard is a Dirty Word – Mummydiaries

Easy is a four letter word, but then so is blah – God Golly Miss Molly

Being a mother is easy, some of the time. But there are times when it feels as though the earth has opened up and you are falling into a big hole of fire and despair with nothing or no-one to help pull you out.

Like having to put your screaming 9 month old in his cot and letting him scream whilst you find the furthest, darkest corner away from his screams in the house while you try and find some form of sanity buried deep within so you can pull yourself together and deal with your child. And no, he wasn’t crying to annoy me, or upset me, or to tell me I was inadequate but it sure as hell felt that way right then and there.

Or sitting in emergency with a lifeless 1 ½ year old, with your head screaming ‘can’t you see my child is sick!!’

Don’t forget the countless days when you may go without a shower, getting dressed, brushing your teeth and you can totally forget about shaving your legs.

The bumps and bruises. To work or not to work. Breast or Bottle. In sickness and in health. Don’t do this but do that.

And that’s only with one child.

Just this morning when I was in the shower, I burst into tears. Don’t ask me why, I just needed to. Because being a mother is not ‘cinch’, it is the downright hardest job I will ever do in my lifetime. The constant worry about the most precious ones in your life, the worry if you are doing a good enough job.  This lasts a life time. A 24/7 job.

So yes, today, being a mama was easy, I had a great day with my kidlets. But right now with the exhaustion kicking in, tell me tomorrow morning after a few late night feeds how easy being a mama is... I dare you.

And to my mama friends... In my eyes you all totally deserve a medal, and I will happily make you one should your heart desire (as long as it is not made from metal... fabric is more my specialty)

xx

Oh looky what I found today...

Ok, so I have a slight obsession with owls... I now, thanks to my daughter (oh it still seems so strange to be saying that) have a slight obsession with pink.

And look what I found today....

Owls, owls and more owls. I love the felt owl, its made by a very talented lady from my town. I wish she had a website that I could direct you all to.

World Breast Feeding Week...

This post was inspired by the loverly Good Golly Miss Holly.

Did you know that it is World Breast Feeding Week? So, as Holly has suggested, and in celebration, I have "Got em' on out".

The road to this was not easy. Four years ago when I first became a mumma to my son, once my milk came in I thought someone had lifted me out of a blissful first time mumma experience into the jaws of hell. I was in pain, I had cracked nipples, grazes, engorged boob's, mastitis... and a baby that felt like he was a vampire bat. It took two weeks, a lot of holding my breath and also the assistance from a beautiful lady from the Australian Breastfeeding Association that arrived on my door stop at 12PM one night to a screaming baby and a crying mumma. It was a hard road, but I'm glad I got there. I went on to feed that Vampire bat for two years and was devastated when he self weaned. The above and below pictures is of my newborn daughter. This time around things were a lot easier... it was still a pain to start with, but I knew it would end. I hope to be able to share with her the extended breastfeeding relationship I had with my son.

Happy World Breastfeeding Week!

Point & Shoot: Bubbles

I've decided to start taking part in Point & Shoot, for more lovely posts, visit Chantelle at Fat Mum Slim.

In relation to my previous post, 'Witching Hour', there is a sanity relieving moment in the 4-5 hour craziness... Bath Time!! Little miss loves it, and can go from crazy screaming baby to one that is so relaxed she could near fall asleep... but just wait to you try and get her out, then it all starts again... oh the joys :)

Witching Hour...

I've been attached to a certain little lady for five hours straight this evening. Its her 'witching hour', and as Mr google just suggested to me, there is about 22600 search results for 'witching hour in babies'... and after reading a few funny little articles here is a snippet from my favourite...

No one knows for sure why this happens, although there are a million theories. Some people think it's the babies' bodies working out some kinks. Some think it's adjusting to all the stimuli they get out of the womb that they didn't get in the womb. Some think it's digestive difficulties. (Some people think the babies have gas and that makes them cry, while others think the babies cry and swallow air and that gives them gas.) [this bit here is my favourite bit] -->My mom thinks the babies just figure out they're no longer in the womb and get pissed off. I think it's because they've figured out that everyone else can move and they can't even roll over and they get pissed off. Honestly, it's probably a mixture of a bunch of things, very few of which we have any control over.

Paragraph taken from here.

But now, its 11.00 and Miss Ava's witching hour is over and I think I might makes the most of it plug my poor little iPod in that hasn't been used in forever.