She slept through!

A combination of teething, lots of milestones and dropping from 3 sleeps a day to 2 has meant that miss s has gotten all confused and started waking up at night for feeds again.....sigh.
Can I just say that it feels even harder going back to waking once or twice a night that it did when I was up every two hours. Weird.

Any way she slept through last night. The mental relief was even better than the actual 7 hours of continuous sleep ( yes I am aware of how annoying that reads).



I have some exciting news (no, I am not pregnant) but can't share as yet but will over the next couple of  months. Complete life changing stuff. Probably not interesting to anyone but me and mr k but can't say anything to anyone in real life and so dying to talk about it.


Life is about to get super interesting (to me and mr k:)

whatchya doin'?

I saw this on grown together and thought I play along

watching: one born every minute on my laptop. I always cry when I watch this - aren't my hormones supposed to be flat-lining by now?   
eating:  tuna, cream cheese and rocket on a cruskit (this is what s will be having for lunch today)

drinking:  Diet coke (yes I am addicted)


wearing: country road top and jeans - both covered in baby goop that I'm about to sponge off (the days where I would change have gone...I don't know who I am anymore:)

avoiding: cleaning the house

feeling: knackered....not sure why but all of the mama girls I know are exhausted at the moment

missing:  my nephew Leo - he lives in Melbourne, is almost two and I would love to be more a part of his daily life:(

thankful: for our new Christmas tree and my sleeping baby!

weather: massive thunderstorm last night so lots of puddles and greyness outside - bit weird considering we were at the beach on the weekend

praying: N/A

needing:  would love to have a bit more self-discipline and be a bit more vigilant about getting fit

thinking: about my dad too  - he had some minor heart surgery yesterday. Amazing that now a doctor can log into his computer and check how my dad's heart is going no matter where he is in the world.

loving: this age with little s. She is starting to dance by wriggling her shoulders and tapping her feet and is becoming so much more confident - love it!

link up if you like and tell me whatchya doin'

PS - random photo of s from Melbourne Cup - $5 peony clip from Spotlight equals instant baby fascinator  and she didn't pull it off once!

 

Spilled (breast) Milk

For Sammie

Heartbreaking when it occurs but so many of us understand!

"When are you...

having your next baby? " is a question I am getting asked a lot lately. Maybe it is because Sienna is almost 10 months. She often looks a little older as she has a full head of hair, is very tall (100th percentile) and prefers to stand rather than crawl.  So many changes in the last few months has me wondering where my "baby" has gone and asking who this little girl is?
I've always wanted to have kids close in age but the thought of going through pregnancy again is a little off putting. I had symphysis pubis dysfunction ( and still have a bit of it now) with miss s and my ob has wanted me that it is likely to get worse with each pregnancy and that I might end up in a walker.  My loooong labour was not painful at all compared to how much my hips hurt. When I had to have a epidural for the c-section, there was such relief to finally not have pain in that area. So you can probably guess I am a little hesitant about getting pregnant again as I know the ability not to walk will majorly disrupt our little family.  To that end, I am trying to get as fit as I possibly can in the hope that I can delay some of the symptoms for as long as possible.

I do love the idea of miss s having a little brother or sister though and to have my heart expand again will be awesome. There are 20 months between my brother and I and we were close growing up.  However in the news recently, there were reports about how beneficial it is to be the eldest child because of the level of attention and focus in those important early year etc etc.

What will be, will be however but I am wondering what other people's ideas are about the age gaps between their kids.

Eating my words

So after my last post, I had to go shopping again! I've had my eyes on this beautiful shop and blog for a while. Little Cotton Rabbits are so coveted that she sometimes run a lottery just to purchase one of her amazing creations. No wonder as they are little works of art.  I was lucky enough to jag one this afternoon - the beautiful Felicia (foxy lady in green). 12 months ago I never would have thought I'd be posting excitedly about a stuffed animal! How life has changed.    Julie's blog is beautiful and she has a giveaway for one of her lovely rabbits. Felicia is beautiful to look at and I love the thought that she will  be passed along to my future grandchildren (yes, I do think that way even though I've just had my first baby:)

stuff

Although I like the idea of the "Universe", spirits, fate, karma, horoscopes, god and kismet, I can't quite shake the belief that we are actually alone and that our life course is up to us to determine. This probably comes from having migraines as usually a couple of weeks before I get one, my brain starts to splinter a bit and I get constants feelings of deja-vu and the most explosive, full colour, premonition dreams.  A neurologist explained that my brain starts to act a little fried and my reactions are a little delayed which explains the sense of deja-vu. One of my besties since childhood is very au fait with horoscopes so she has always kept me up to date about what is in my chart - amazing how "right" is can seem tho'.

Anyhoo...  I do believe in continuing the efforts to try and educate myself in all aspects of life, including moral and ethical choices so Buddhism appeals to me. I've been going to meditation class one night a week for a while now. The class consists of a lecture and then a guided meditation. I find it very restful and intellectually stimulating at the same time plus I need to commit to a class otherwise I sit on the couch and would never do anything!

I got to thinking after one of the lectures and I decided I would try to consume less this holiday season. To spend a bit more time thinking about what would make my family happy. To really think about what to give rather than do that last minute buying up big to try and ensure I've got something for them that they'll like - which is what I've done most years:)  I purchased a number of items from Etsy and I was pleased that I was buying things that would last, that it was being purchased directly from a crafts person and I was confident that they were going to be very well loved by the receiver.  Despite my earlier decision to try and buy less, I still ended up buying a bit and ignoring my own adage (very typical of me).

I waited for the packages, and waited and waited. I got pissed off. Where was the bloody stuff? 


Stay with me, I'm getting there. We have a little piece of daily joy in our street, he is an 8 year old  boy and he does a bit of a round each day, visiting all the neighbours and keeping us all connected. He has Aspergers which means many of us take particular care in ensuring that we chat to him, connect with him, go out of our way to be available to him as our daily conversations are so transparently important to him. We treat him the way we should all treat each other really.  

This gorgeous 8 year old - B - has been collecting our mail with his dad as we have moved out a couple of times when we had some stuff done on the house. Unbeknownst to his dad however was that B kept doing this job. You know what is coming don't you? A stockpile (in his cubby house, unopened, he is a very sweet boy!) was found and returned to us. It was great to finally get all the posted items but the funny thing was that I had already gotten over the loss of these items and was past being annoyed with myself about buying. I was just over it, past it.

It was strange to open these packets and parcels that I had put so much energy into. All the buying, the anticipated waiting, trying to find where they were, feeling really annoyed about it all and then forgetting! It confirmed my resolve to consume less.

Plus my bestie got the chance to tell me again that the "Universe" was continuing to teach me a lesson.

xx

hand made goodness

Check out the beautiful work of Jodi at Tickle & Hide She is running a little competition on her blog at the moment to win one of her gorgeous play mats. I bought one a couple of weeks ago and they are such a clever idea. You can pop all bubby's toys in the middle and draw up the strap and it becomes a great little bag. Great for the park. The workmanship and the colours are really stunning. Sienna is fascinated by all the colours and has spent a bit of time stroking the seams.

In other news the advent calender kit (also ordered off Etsy) is a complete disappointment. Cheap and nasty but it has given me some good ideas. Must say, I love buying off Etsy but so disappointing when it obviously isn't hand made.

Jinxing and diy

It turns out that I did jinx myself on the sleeping front.  Just days after I last posted miss s got a little cold and her sleeping habits got all crazy.  We're back to normal programming now and bed time has become less of a battlefield.

With a little sleep, my head has become a little clearer and I am looking forward to experiencing my first Christmas with my girl. Of course I've gone a bit nuts and am planning all sorts of things which are completely beyond my abilities.

We are going to do a few things that blend both mr k's and mine traditional family history but I also want to start something new, something that is uniquely us.

So I'm making an Advent calendar.

I'm not religious, did not have one when I was growing up, I don't sew but it appeals to me.  In working with teenagers and children, one of the things I have noted time and time again is the importance of family rituals. 

I found this kit on Etsy.  The colours appeal to me and I love that it is a kit - any help is good.   I think miss s will love pulling things out of the little pockets. I'd love to have a few more little traditions....any suggestions?

Down South

We've been down south for the past couple of weeks. Can I just say again that babies are not meant to be raised by one mama alone in their home. It makes such a difference having mr k around to help take care of our bubba.  We stayed in a little cottage by the sea enjoying ourselves and each other. Our days began with cuddles in bed, lovely lunches at wineries or picnics on the beach, afternoon naps for everyone and freshly caught fish and squid on the barbie for dinner. Heaven.

What made it even more special is that miss S is now sleeping through from 6.30 at night until 7 the next morning. I dithered about whether writing this because I may jinx myself and also because I didn't want to make other mamas feel bad if their little one isn't sleeping through.  I do believe in people's innate goodness tho' and I feel excited when someone tells me about their little one sleeping through. It gives me hope. miss s has fed every 3 -4 hours since she was born which means I haven't slept more than 3 hours for over 7 months. I can't tell you how much clearer my brain feels now.

May everyone have a good nights sleep tonight (whether you are a mama or not:)

mobile madness

So we looked at mobiles at the shops and were always a bit...meh. Miss s is now almost 8 months old and we still don't have one for her. So we have started a challenge...a duel if you will. Mr k and I are going head to head in creating a special mobile for our girl. We have one month and then present our work. Have no idea how it is going to be judged. Mr k is quite artistic so I have a bit of competition however apart from looking up fishing sites and illness symptoms, he really has nooooooooo idea of the depth of inspiration for diy crafts!

I've never made anything crafty before but I'm looking forward to the challenge.

Here are some things I'm looking at. At the moment, I'm thinking lots of rainbow hued felt animals cut out and stitched with lots of length. I'm also thinking of some embroidery hoops wrapped in blocks of wool or embroidery cotton. Feel free to pass along any ideas...must.beat.mr.k

mobile 1  mobile 2  mobile 3  mobile 4

couch potato (chickpea)

I'm sick. As in I have a head cold which makes all my previous colds look like complete wimps. This one is a doozy. I'm hoping miss s does not get it. I girded my loins, slapped on loads of concealer this morning and told myself to get over it and went a meet a girlfriend for coffee (hello ms c!) but as I drove home I felt worse than ever.

Why am I writing a blog post? Well of course, miss s is full of smiles and wants to groove around on the floor so I need to stay up and alert, not wrapped in my doona watching DVDS on my laptop as I would pre-baby. Luckily I've called in reinforcements and mum is coming over tomorrow at the crack of dawn.

Love my mum.

Luckily my freezer contains some magic soup. It is quite wintery at the moment so soup is quite fitting. I'm actually not in the mood to eat but my milk supply is suffering enough as it is with this cold so am doing the right thing.

I've been making this soup for a long time. It is derived from Jamie Oliver who in turn said he stole it from an Australian chef who stole it from Womans Weekly. Mr k does not believe a meal is a meal unless it contains meat. I make this and he is a happy man. It is his favourite soup and if he has been good, I even make Parmesan toasties to go with it.

When I am in a rush, I just do the stock, canned chickpeas and leeks - nothing else apart from some oil to fry the leeks in and it is awesome. When I have time I add bacon, herbs, special EVOO and lashings of Parmesan. The Parmesan takes it from a simple soup to something truly special so don't miss it out.

2 cans of canned chickpeas (or do your own soaking of dried chickpeas)

2 medium leeks

1 tablespoon olive oil

knob of butter

2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced

salt and freshly ground black pepper

approx 500mls chicken or vegetable stock

Parmesan cheese, grated

EV olive oil

Slice up the leeks anyway you like. Use white bit only.

Heat up a large pan or saucepan, add the tablespoon of oil and the knob of butter. Add the leeks and garlic to the pan and sweat gently with a good pinch of salt for 10 mins (or less if you don't have much time). You want them to be softened. The longer you cook the leeks the more flavour it will have. Add the drained chickpeas and cook for 1 minute. Add the stock and simmer for 15 minutes (or if rushed for time, bring to the boil and then simmer for 5 mins).

If it is Summer, I like the soup to be all brothy and I add lots of italian parsely and any other fresh herb. If it is Winter and you want a hearty soup, use a stick blender to blend it into a thick soup.

Don't forget to add some yummy Parmesan shavings on the top.

Enjoy.

Bedtime stories

He works such long hours but tries to get home most nights in time to read her a bedtime story. He is a wonderful dad.

Memories

The day miss s was due, my 93 year old grandma came over and we did a little photoshoot. The henna tattoos are from my baby shower held earlier that month. I've always loved her elegant hands. They are strong too...she used to give the best massages. Healing hands my dad would say (he has them too).

Winner!

Ok, embarrassing how long it took me to do this. I could blame my camera but it has been repaired for a couple of days now. 

Anyways, I know you fellow mamas understand.

The winner is............ Lila from Raised by Wolffs...yay!

Lila, let me know which style you would like.

This was fun.

xxxx

Ps Have you seen this beautiful nursery?

Almost there

Sorry folks, my camera is playing up and I can't get the photos off...and of course the auditors from the local accountancy practice request that an announcement of a winner of the massive happy socks giveaway must be accompanied with verified images.

Hopefully later on today my camera will be soothed by a camera guru mate.

In other news, little s decided to return to newborn status and wake every 2 hours last night. Only problem is mr k is no longer on paternity leave so there is no-one to bring me toast and tell me what a wonderful mum I am during the day...amazing what a little bit of encouragement can do!

Here is a photo for Fifi( a fellow mama on the late night shift lately) I took it on Sunday afternoon on our after lunch walk (as opposed to the before nap walk, after nap walk, before the cocktail/ horror hour begins walk et cetera) ...Fifi, your walks with LP in Perth are going to be awesome too! 

 

Reminder - ENTER!!!

Because I always appreciate a reminder service, I thought I'd remind you to enter my giveaway 
C'mon reader from Estonia - give it a go!



Indulge me moment - First child and first baby just hanging out together. r-dog has fallen in love with miss s this month.

Learning to smile

Someone is learning to smile on request.



I think she is beyond cute but can also see the Chucky reference!

Food

So since having little s, my weight has been going up and up. Plus I've been feeling quite blah physically. Good thing is that I had lots of tests and it appears that amongst other things, my thyroid gland is not working very efficiently. I have a renewed feeling of taking responsibility for my health now that I am a mama. I want to be the best I can be for my girl.  To that end, I am making what I put into my body a priority. I like to get out and about every day so I have taken to making my lunch the night before and taking it with me wherever I go. I took this photo some time ago but my lunch today looks just like it, except no blueberries, just strawberries and walnuts. Love my smoked chicken too but it is quite expensive so need to start thinking of some alternatives or try smoking my own. What do you eat for lunch?

Father's Day

A big drive up north to meet up with mr. k's brother and his kidlets, bbq in the sunshine, footy with the boys, imported beer...mr k was in HEAVEN.

In the end, I went with a home made video of mr. k's first months of being a dad to sienna. Well recieved.

The good times continue with catching up with both sets of grandparents next weekend who weren't in town on Sunday.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway

Giveaway

I have been blessed with some lovely people in my life. You know the kinds that send you stuff in the mail "just to brighten your day" or "saw this and had to get it for miss s". Yep really lucky. I would like to pay this forward and send someone a little gift.  I'm buying some socks, specifically Happy Socks - I think they are very cool and I would like to offer a reader a pair of socks too. You can go check out the website and tell me which sock design you like or leave it up to me and get a surprise:)
To enter, leave a comment below - you can just say hi or even tell me a little about yourself - apparently I have a regular reader from Estonia. T'would be cool to hear from them!

 Important bits -
#1 - I'll do the mama version of a random draw which will be whatever name Sienna drools/ attempts to eat first). Giveaway will be open until 10th September. I'll then email you/ contact you and send them your way. Open to readers wherever they are. 

#2 - I'm not sure how to read all the blogs stats etc but I think I have about 8 readers so you have a really good chance at winning!

#3 - No Mum, you cannot enter this giveaway, you're getting some for Christmas.


No, I don't have an affiliation with HappySocks.com  I just really like them and would like to send some sock love someone's way.

Anxiety

So miss s has separation anxiety. This means that my babe who used to wake once a night and transitioned beautifully from our room to her cot about 3 weeks ago is now waking every two hours for a cuddle or feed. She is becomingly increasingly upset if I leave the room or even put her down. Speaking with our local provider of early parenting services, I have been reassured that this is a normal occurrence with miss s hitting some milestones recently - two teeth popping through and beginning to crawl.  I was starting to freak out thinking all my good work teaching her to self settle had completely disappeared but the lovely lady on the phone said, no, my dear, no, your baby will remember how to get herself back once she gets through this phase. Please God, let her be right cos this phase sucks.

Any advice peoples?

Changes again

when i was pregnant I had the nose of a bloodhound, I would get beautiful gifts of clothing and wraps and it always struck me how clearly I would get a whiff of chemicals when unwrapping them prior to putting them in the washing machine
 ***
miss s is quite a chilled little lady (although there are signs this is changing). One of the things that she and I both love and have done since birth is lots of skin to skin time. It is noticeable how calm yet still alert she becomes when having a cuddle with lots of direct skin contact.
***

these experiences and many others plus the absolute gorgeous "newness" of miss s' baby skin has made me more aware of my daily routines. I've decided to make a few changes, just a few at a time but with the idea that they are lasting decisions.

Firstly I've changed deodorant to using one that is more baby/ breastfeeding friendly and not full of nasty chemicals. I've been using nutter's  which is produced by a local lady who started her own range after her six year old daughter was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. It is great and actually seems even more effective than the supermarket brand I was using before (smells nicer too). 

Number 2 - I've always loved salad but I was doing a lot of cooking on the weekend and freezing it to have during the week. I was getting pretty tired so although we were having healthy meals, we weren't having a lot of fresh vegetables as it was easier to just pull something out of the freezer and nuke it.  If I had a busy day with Sienna and it took a while to settle her to sleep, we were often snacking on cheese and biscuits before sitting down to dinner. So one of the priorities in my day is to make up a platter of cut up vegetables to put on the kitchen bench that we snack on from the time mr k comes home from work until we sit down for dinner. Sometimes I even get fancy and make this hummus with a dollop of organic yoghurt and cayenne pepper. This was a tip from my mum but I just saw a similar post on Tabletonic (who has also inspired my family's health overhaul)

Number 3 - Coconut oil. Seeing a segment on this wondrous product on one of the tv shows this morning I thought this was timely. I've been using it for 2 weeks both in my cooking and on my skin. OMG!!! First time ever I can actually see a difference from using a product on my skin. It is a little greasier than my normal moisturiser but I just put it on earlier and it soaks in beautifully. I love the smell and the fact that I am not inadvertently rubbing off any nasty chemicals on my baby's skin.  I swear my skin seems to have improved. For cooking, I just use it in place of olive oil from everything to salads to frying.  I just bought some from the organic part of my local supermarket. It was expensive, about $11 for a jar but a little goes a long way so it seems to be a little cheaper.  I am using the Melrose brand but from my reading the key is to buy organic, virgin press from the pacific islands. A blurb from the Melrose Health site -

"coconut oil does not raise cholesterol levels but is quickly metabolized into energy. It is high in Lauric acid. Once mistakenly believed to be unhealthy because of its high saturated fat content, it is now known that the fat in coconut oil is short chain. It has no cholesterol and no dangerous trans-fats as found in other oils. Coconut fats are processed directly in the liver without putting strain on the digestive system and are highly recommended for those who have difficulty digesting fats." 

Lauric acid is the good stuff you find in breast milk.  What I like about using the coconut oil is that it is cheaper than my usual moisturiser but is more effective, cooks beautifully and it makes me feel good that I'm making good choices for my little family.

Next change...finding a good water source and getting the husband off his plastic bottles of water addiction....this local source looks good.

Congratulations!!!

To Sammi of Marriage, Motherhood and...  on the birth of a beautiful baby girl.

 She's beautiful.

via

Changing direction

This weekend we went out to a beautiful local winery and had a gorgeous lunch. It was a different experience. Instead of our peacefully sleeping or serenely gazing babe we had a little person who needed to be a part of things, wanted to know what we were doing at all times and madly kicked their feet the entire time. We took turns walking her around outside and showing her different things and rotated her on laps. Quite a revelation for her parents considering that this mama used to worry a little that maybe her babe was a little too chilled. Although we had lunch together, we certainly didn't eat our meals together. One thing motherhood hasn't changed is my perspective on how to manage your children when out and about. I used to hate it if you went out to a restaurant and someone's baby would be crying throughout your meal. I certainly don't think children should be out of sight but I do think you need to respect other people and  acknowledge that they have come out and are spending their hard earned money on having a nice relaxing meal. Bringing your baby to a restaurant at night where other people are trying to enjoy a relaxing night out is fine if your baby can manage it but it is not really fair if your baby is not comfortable and cries a lot and then makes everyone uncomfortable. We are lucky here in Perth because the weather is usually so mild so if your babe is fussing a bit, you can simply go outside and reduce the stimulation for them and not worry about making other patrons uncomfortable. I'm not sure how I would go in a place where going outside was not an option. Along with this new milestone, miss s has gained two bottom teeth in one day, is starting to crawl and has become intensely curious. I have a little bag filled with a few toys to go in my handbag but I can see that I am going to have to improve my repertoire. In my search for making hand made toys, I came across "busy bags". I LOVE THIS!!  They even have busy bag swaps...got to get in one of these or start one myself.  Check out all the smart mama goodness below. Clicking on the pics should take you directly to the website (if my mad blogging skills have worked).