Hmmm...

Note to self: selling house + relocating overseas (not really - NZ is closer than Perth after all) + Christmas = major stress.
Yep, this Mummy had a major meltdown yesterday. Full-on, non-sensical, stark-raving lunatic kind of tantrum where everything and nothing just totally pushed my buttons.

Ugh, another 'open for inspection' tomorrow...

Here and Now

There is something on the horizon. Something big. Life changing. I am at a standstill with my decision. My head and heart are fighting it out. The ball has already started rolling and now I seem powerless to stop it. Do I stop it? Or do I jump feet first? No safety net. No going back...

Birthday bliss

Enjoying his new handmade wooden trolley. It really should have come with a warning: baby rides at parents own risk. Stationary vehicle likely to induce hysterical tantrum of epic proportions. Trolley should be kept moving at all times. 
Got it.

One

I have seriously been neglecting this poor little blog of mine. Sometimes I honestly don't know where the time goes. The last few weeks have been a whirl of blogging (here and here - not here obviously) and birthdays. The little man turned 1 last week and we celebrated with a trip to the Aquarium (where he terrorised some sea urchins) and a quiet family afternoon tea. Unfortunately there was no photo of him trying his first piece of cake - he couldn't have cared less for the out-of-this-world rocket creation.

But, the kid did make sure that he read all of his birthday cards.

The Look

You know when you've just about pushed the limits with little ones. The look says it all really. Oh, and the way she joined me in the change room and announced to everyone that she could see my boobs. Which of course she couldn't. But, to a four year old, that's really just a technicality.
On another note, if I could fit into that dress it would have come home with me for sure. And I honestly don't know how I resisted those cute little Babushka cups.

Happy Halloween

Four

Someone had a birthday last week. Who knew that turning 4 could reduce her mum to tears (yes, I was completely sentimental and shed a tear because she is growing so quickly). Someone told me to pull myself together. Since I am not a fan of the huge 'invite-40-of-your-closest-friends' parties for kids we kept it simple with a family (+ 1 bestie) celebration.

Great weather (until the storm set in), lots of sugar and one very epic rainbow cake that put the biggest smile on my little girl's face. 

Am I mad?

Seriously epic rainbow cake for Little Miss's 4th birthday tomorrow that still needs a massive layer of lemony swiss meringue icing. And, in case you're wondering - yes, there is a truckload of butter and sugar in this baby. Let's not even go there shall we? Just enjoy the sheer rainbow coloured madness of this thing...

Shop

I do not get excited about shopping for myself. But, give me a kiddy store of any kind and I'm in retail heaven. This is one of my favourite local stores which I could have gone absolutely nuts in the other day (lucky I reached for the small amount of cash in my wallet and ignored the credit card). The store owner is one of my lovely sponsors over on my other blog so we oohed and aahed over all the new stock together.
Is it wrong that I want the divine Nathalie Lete colouring book and pencils for myself? They are just sooo darn pretty!

Finally

After living with an ancient Nokia for a few weeks (following the death of my other 'not-quite-so-old' phone), I now have a snazzy new one to play with. This will definitely not be making its way into the little man's mouth like the last one did. Excessive baby saliva will not claim the life of this little gadget.

My other half knew how excited I was and went and bought me the pinkest looking cover he could find. Pretty in pink, don't you reckon?

Cabin fever

Anyone else wondering what on earth has happened to Spring? We had a serious dose of cabin fever yesterday as the rain set in and I made the bold decision not to venture out. Nothing particularly exciting happened, just a bit of crazy chaos I thought I'd share with you all.

Starting with a tub of wet laundry that was up-ended before it had the chance to make it to the line. Little Man rummaged through the mess. Little Miss grabbed her Dad's undies from the pile and tried them on. Every. Single. Pair.

With 'fundie' time soon over, Little Miss followed up with some reading time in her room. Actually, I did the reading while she screamed at her little brother to get his hands of her books. Story time was moved from the floor to the bed, away from busy little hands that wanted to shred pages rather than read them. 

So while we continued reading, Little man spent some happy time rummaging through his sister's toy kitchen and terrorising the cat. Yes, there are smiles in these photos but they were quickly followed by tears after his encounter with our cranky feline. 

Some light at the end of the tunnel in the afternoon when we took our cabin fever over to my neighbour's place. Funnily enough, I put in an SOS call to her that morning but she was out and about. I think she sensed my desperation. Amazing what a change of scenery can do, don't you think? With a couple of other neighbourhood kiddies added to the mix the afternoon was surprisingly calm and peaceful (as much as it gets anyway when little ones are involved). 

Tomorrow, ballet and hopefully some sunshine that lasts for more than 5 minutes. 

Wanting

This afternoon I popped into the Kate Owen gallery in Rozelle to take a closer look at one of the artworks I've had my eye on. An acrylic on canvas by Louise Numin. Oh so beautiful and I know just where it would go in our little home. It is slightly extravagant for us seeing that I'm not working at the moment but as my other half said, this would be an investment. One of the lovely gallery managers mentioned that I could take it home for a few days before I commit to buying it. I am so tempted, but if I brought it home for a trial I might just have to go ahead and buy it. Money we really can't afford to spend at the moment. Would be perfect on my living room wall though...

Christmas wish-list maybe?

Guilt

This week I've been feeling guilty. Second-child syndrome guilty. I haven't documented his milestones (they're currently filed in my not-so reliable memory - bad idea), his toys are big-sister hand-me-downs (which he doesn't really play with anyway. He prefers to snatch and grab whatever's lying on Little Miss's bedroom floor) and I just realised I have no video footage of him whatsoever. He has been such a cruisy, relaxed baby from the moment he was born and he is a little piece of calm in what is often a whirlwind of chaos in our house.

Little man turns 1 next month, only 2 short weeks after his big sister's birthday. I have been planning her big day but not his. Someone suggested combining the celebrations but I could not even think about doing that. This little man needs to have something that's his. A special day for him alone, even if it's just a homemade cake and family dinner. Apparently he wants a rocket cake (according to Little Miss) so that's what it will be. Chocolate rocket cake. And he'll have the first piece. I'll, of course, have the camera ready...

Long weekend

Strolling through Summer Hill on Saturday we found a cute little cafe with a gorgeous courtyard. Little man spent most of the time staring in fascination at the painted brickwork on the wall while the little Miss absolutely amazed me with how well-behaved and patient she was. Waiting over 25 mins for a piece of banana bread is no mean feat for a pre-schooler! Since I was totally unprepared with nothing to keep her amused I love the way she just sat there and chatted away about whatever was running through that 'almost 4 year old' mind of hers. You know when you have one of those moments that reminds you of just how much your little one has grown? This was one of those moments.

8 years

I can't remember the last time I got flowers from my other half but our 8 year wedding anniversary this week seemed to do the trick. I picked him up from work on Tuesday afternoon and almost lost control of the car when I spotted them in his hands. To be honest, I had a feeling there might be flowers as we had nothing else planned in the way of celebration. I remember our anniversaries and the money we would spend on each other before we had kids. So different these days. Now, with me not working and limited babysitting options it was so much easier and less stressful to keep things as simple as possible. This year it was cards, flowers, our favourite Thai takeaway and a relaxing night in.

Oh, and as if 8 years of marriage didn't make me feel old enough, when I tried the upload a wedding photo from the dvd our photographer gave us, the disc was so old that neither one of our computers could open the images. Most of the photos are sitting in a huge album in our wardrobe anyway. Will have to dig it out and scan (that's right - scan) a few of them at some point. 

Snapped

Since I have hardly any photos of myself with my two little ones, I decided to step out from behind the camera last weekend and let my other half have a go at working the DSLR. He didn't do too badly actually. A few over-exposed shots that saw me looking like a ghost (delete, delete) but then he managed to snap a few little goodies.
With those extra kilos of baby weight still hanging on I can't say that I'm totally comfortable having my photo taken (which is probably why I hide behind the camera most of the time). But, I realise that my kiddies need photos with their mum as well so I am making an effort - once in a while!

Taste of Summer

Today seemed freakishly warm so we wandered down the road for some gelato. I am happy to say that I resisted the overwhelming urge to order myself a double scoop and instead managed to scoff some from my other half (pistachio and Tiramisu in case you're wondering. Double Yum!). Little Miss of course was not quite so generous. Can't say I blame her. The gelato was soooo good!!

Strolling home, we stopped at a neighbourhood playground so Little Miss could burn off some energy. Unfortunately the thongs she wore (against my advice but, oh well - live & learn) annoyed her to no end  but she persevered long enough to have a go on every piece of equipment at least a dozen times. I sat and watched. Don't think I was used to this sudden burst of Spring time heat.

Wasn't long before Little Miss also ran out of steam and ended up making her way home - on her Dad's shoulders. I, of course, was carrying the scooter, a few shopping bags and wheeling the pram. Isn't it funny how having kids makes you capable of defying the laws of physics? I am always amazed at how much I can carry without it landing in a heap on the ground.

Happy weekend everyone. Who else is enjoying the gorgeous Sydney sunshine?

   

Number 96

I can only hope to be this fabulous at 96! Even though she complains that she can't remember a thing,  she can still entertain the socks off my two little ones! Little Miss loves nothing more than a sing-a-long with her whilst the Little Man is absolutely fascinated with her white hair. Completely and utterly mesmerised in fact.

Last week they helped her celebrate her 96th birthday and I couldn't resist snapping a few (ok, more than a few) precious moments they shared.

My two little ones and their Great-Grandma.

Saturday. Spring.

Some pesky winter mould had wreaked havoc in our house so on Saturday I escaped with the two kiddies and left my other half to deal with the situation. Sun was shining, it was a perfect spring day and little Miss wanted to ride her scooter down to the local shops. Great idea. So I thought!

By the time we got to the end of the street I could tell she was exhausted so we ducked into the local Anime shop and after spotting a tiara that she wanted (and was told she couldn't have) I could sense that grey skies were closing in (of the 'Mum-I'm-too-tired-to-ride-my-scooter-home variety). Not want I wanted to hear. Especially since I had a quick trip to the supermarket I still needed to make. 

 

After heading off a tantrum I ended up trudging home with baby, Bugaboo, grocery bags (in Bugaboo), Little Miss on Bugaboo wheely-board (which I hate by the way. Makes walking for me so uncomfortable as it constantly slams into my feet) and scooter - also on Bugaboo. Sheesh!

And, after all that, the mould situation was still being treated (Little Miss's room was well hit) so we packed her up and sent her off to the in-laws for the night. 

Someone forgot to put the trunki in the car though...

The old me...

I want my old body back! 10 months into motherhood (second time round) and I'm struggling to lose those last few kg. I can't believe that when this photo was taken 7 years ago I actually thought I was fat! What on earth was I thinking (and what was I wearing)?!!

I still have those pants. They no longer fit but they are there in my wardrobe as a constant reminder of how I should have appreciated what I had at the time. Serves me right I suppose. To fit back into these I am really going to have to get movin' and ditch those snacks sitting in my kitchen cupboard at the moment (so long licorice bullets). This was the body I had for most of my twenties, before my metabolism saw the thirties coming and before growing two little humans (who were definitely worth the wait weight)!

I want this body back. It's 6kg away. I am giving myself till the end of Spring to find it again...

Bad Babar

This little elephant came home with us from the library last week and all I can say is... Well, actually I was speechless for a while after reading it to be honest. I have read more books to kids in my career as a teacher than I care to remember but Babar is definitely one of those 'special' ones. See for yourself....

Looks harmless right? Nope, Babar should come with a warning: 'please do not operate heavy machinery or care for small children while under the influence of this elephant'. This page alone almost put me to sleep. 

Oh, I just hadn't the energy to keep track of these characters but I needn't have worried. Little Miss diverted my waning attention to this page. Now, apart from your traditional fairy tales, when do you ever see a nice little bit of violence thrown in to a kiddy book? Apparently when a certain monkey mistakes a dormant snake for a stick - an eye for an eye and all. Old lady biten = dead serpent. That monkey should have known better if you ask me.

Moving along, as I came to the end of the story it was clear that I needed to be paying more attention as there was a valuable lesson to be learnt. Never, ever, ever throw a lit match into an ashtray as it's guaranteed to hit the nearest flammable material (in this case, a waste paper basket) - and then you're really in trouble. See, there's always a moral to the story!

And, as I closed the book on little Babar (and hid it under the pile of other stories on the shelf) I was left with this image in my head. Now, I leave it with you...

Birthday bliss

Nothing like the excitement of a birthday - even if it's not yours! A card was carefully picked out (oh lordy it was sooooo 'old school' that I found myself repeating "is that the one you want to get for Dad?" over and over again). Messages were written - she spoke, I scribed ('I love you Daddy. And I love fairies. Happy Birthday').

The rest of the day was spent baking, decorating, re-decorating, tasting, sampling, touching, checking and re-checking the chocolate cake she made for her Dad. Seriously, you'd think we'd never baked before the way she obsessed over today's little chocolate creation. Between her and the cat eyeing it off all day I am amazed that the cake actually made it to the table in one piece. But, it did and little Miss was kind enough to share the candle-blowing with her Dad. Mind you, she still tried to polish off his slice once hers was finished!

My Kiddo on Modern Kiddo

Here's my gorgeous little miss on one of my absolute favourite blogs Modern Kiddo. Unfortunately she has a slight aversion to the camera and will generally manage to contort that gorgeous face of hers into something quite hideous (usually coupled with the phrase "ooooh, no more photos"). Just glad she managed to resist her usual urge to poke her tongue out!

Welcome to my world!

 

Introductions are always a little tricky don't you think? Since I have absolutely no clue where to start (and don't want to bore you with mindless facts about myself - at least not to begin with anyway) I thought I'd simply share a couple of pics from my local 'hood. A fav little cafe of mine and the gorgeous bay where my little miss loves to ride her scooter (on the footpath obviously - not in the water).