The Last Few Weeks

I hereby accept the 'Absentee Blogger' award. I have no excuses and I haven't been slack in other areas of my life. Anyway, let's get back into it. Blogging will be my bitch. Again.

The mister and I went on a kid free holiday to the Formula One in Melbourne. It was lovely, we reconnected, drank and walked a lot.

Tough pink car for me.

I love Webber. Not Vettel.

The mister and I all rugged up as it was FREEZING!

We met some awesome people at the backpackers and stayed with a good friend of mine's and her lovely family. I got baby and bunny cuddles which was a major bonus.

Bunny cuddles!

I missed the kids terribly and I swear I'm the only person who wants babies to sit near me on planes.

Dad and I went to see Guns n Roses with ZZ Top and Rose Tattoo. They were fun but I'm glad we were sitting down, it was crowded!

Guns n Roses finale.

Lufflump and I have started at home kindergarten which we've both been loving. We are also in the process of changing his daycares. We need somewhere closer and hopefully cheaper. I'm also excited for him to be in a certified kindergarten program. We'll be leaving Montessori but we can still use it at home. His speech is improving daily and it looks like he will be able to attend a mainstream prep class next year.

Making egg people.

Sesame is growing up WAY too fast. She's climbing and running everywhere. She is such a handful.

Running. Wasn't she just born?

It was the mister's birthday and we made a card. Lufflump drew a lovely picture. We didn't even know he could draw people. He's surprising us daily with his skills.

The mister's birthday card.

Our house has a water feature in the yard which was pissing us off so we bought some fish! We still have more to buy and some plants but it's a start. Apparently I feed them too much but dammit I want $70 giant goldfish.

Our fish. Lufflump called them all Nemo.

A lot has happened, good and bad. My time is currently been taken up by Lufflump's schooling. I'm struggling with including sesame as well. I'm learning a lot as well which feels so good. I hope to start studying accounting next month which is making this month very busy.

I hope to share some activities we'll be doing every week so stay tuned!

Wordless Wednesday

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Thursday night we fly out to Melbourne until Tuesday night to see the F1 and have a kid free holiday. So excited!

While The Child Was Away

Just before New Years lufflump went on a holiday with my mum, lufflump's Noni, and her boyfriend to my grandparent's house near Port Macquarie. It was the longest time lufflump and I have been apart, three days and two nights.

The mister and I shared two full days and one night together (he still had to work). We spent a whole day shopping, slept in and went to a friend's party. Bliss.

After sleeping in

The break was great but they somehow managed to bring back the wrong kid. Lufflump went away a lovely child and has come back a terror. Worming him will hopefully work or Noni had better get used to babysitting a whole lot more often.

I did learn some valuable lessons while lufflump was being corrupted and I'm kind enough to share them with you. 

I slept for more than four hours straight and deeply. There was no waking me for anything. The mister gave me my tablets and I don't remember a thing. The whole house could have been ransacked and I would have slept quite peacefully through it. We even slept in until 9am! Energy was back with a vengeance. Was.

We constantly forgot that lufflump wasn't with us, it was like he was just sleeping A LOT. We even had a near freak out thinking he'd run off at the shops. If either of us talked loudly the other person would go to quiet them. Not once either. When driving I found myself turning the music down and checking that lufflump was still sleeping. It's also VERY strange looking in the backseat and not seeing a carseat.

Having a to-do list that includes anything but sleep, read, watch movies, listen to music, pee alone, and be lazy is pointless. Housework CAN be done when the child is home, the above peacefully cannot.

We not only bought lufflump a whole new wardrobe but discussed our fears, hopes and dreams for him. We realised just how much we love co-sleeping, that the hugs and kisses are worth the occasional kicks.

The mister and I watched 'Friends With Kids'. It was torture not being able to give lufflump a cuddle after bawling my eyes out. The only movies to be watched while the child is away should involve violence, sex, foul language and horror. Nothing with children.

The mister and I were able to reconnect as a couple, complete with butterflies on my behalf. We were relaxed without the usual daily stresses that comes with being parents. We held hands while shopping, giggled together, hugged and kissed at every opportunity and fell asleep holding hands like we used to before children. It felt like new love, but better.

Since lufflump was conceived our whole life has changed and continues to change. While it can be tough at times, it's so very rewarding. Everything we do is with him in mind and we wouldn't change it for anything. He makes life worth living and his sister will only add to that.

Have you learned anything from a child free break?

Piquing My Pinterest Christmas Holiday Edition

It's almost Christmas time so I'll be doing Christmas Pinterest editions starting with destinations where I would love to spend Christmas.

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1. I have no idea where this is but I'd like to live here not just at Christmas. Imagine Christmas day on the balcony stuffed full of good food watching the kids play on the beach. Lovely!

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 2. Germany Christmas market. It's just amazing. I'd love to visit my family over there too and what better time than at Christmas?

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3. New York. Ice skating, Central Park, shopping and hot chocolates. Perfect Christmas.

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4. Greece. How beautiful are all the lights? I'd love to just stroll down this road hand in hand with the mister.

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5. Again I have no idea where this is but the lights and fog just make me want to jump right in the photo and sit on that chair. Magical.

I'm joining up with Tina and a bunch of other Pinterest addicted bloggers. Check them out here.

Are You Ready For Guests?

If you get a text or a call saying that a friend or family member is on the way, are you ready? Is your house clean and tidy?

Ours sometimes isn't. It can easily look like a house well lived in, a house of fun;

I'm not showing what our kitchen looks like if I decide to have a day off cleaning/tidying it. I hate washing and lufflump loves making massive messes, so the house isn't usually spotless.

I'm not saying that we live in filth, we don't, but having a toddler means that if we don't tidy up every night it piles up REALLY quickly. Tidying up can be a quick five minutes tidy or an hour depending on how much lufflump decided to empty. Sometimes it's just one box in the lounge room, sometimes it's all the boxes PLUS his bookcase. Add that to the washing, the kitchen and our own mess it can be a lot of work at the end of the day just when we don't feel like it.

So, in the morning if we get a warning that we are going to have guests it's a big rush to clean and tidy everything. I'd rather it wasn't and hopefully through the current organising and purging journey we are on, it won't be as bad.

Is your house always guest ready? How do you do it!?

Strokes

I'm away in NSW for four days with lufflump, my mum and of course sesame. The mister is at home working all weekend. We are down to visit my grandparents for my grandma's birthday. The whole family are going and lufflump has a playmate in my cousin, who is younger than him by six months. We plan on eating fresh seafood, walking on the beach, hopefully swimming and op-shopping. We are also hoping to have my grandma home for the day on her birthday. She had a major stroke in January this year and now lives at a nursing home not far from her and my poppy's home.

When we saw her for the first time after her stroke she was in the ICU, couldn't talk, smile or move. Her blood pressure was a whopping 200, but that was low compared to the almost 400 it was when she was admitted. She moved from ICU to a normal ward where she improved and was able to smile, mumble and move one side of her body. After a few weeks there she was transferred to rehab with high hopes. Unfortunately she didn't progress as quickly as once hoped so she sadly moved to the nursing home. There is still hope she will move back home to my poppy with daily help from visiting nurses.

Family in January

My poppy is fit. He's a surfer, has been all his life and will always be. My grandma on the other hand prefers to read books and do puzzles. In fact she had five out of seven risk factors for a stroke, including diabetes and high blood pressure. Regardless of that it was still a shock when it happened, no one expected it least of all my grandparents.

The shock brought with it depression for both my grandparents. For the first time in their lives they were prescribed anti-depressants. Neither could function with the separation and abrupt change of life. They have wonderful support, a great community of friends always there at the drop of a hat which has helped tremendously. Sometimes though that isn't enough. The medication has helped motivate both of my grandparents to make the steps towards bringing grandma home. 

At Grandma and Poppy's

I was looking on beyondblue for resources on anxiety and pregnancy for myself when I came across a DVD for people affected by stroke. It's a free resource which they send out to you so I'll be taking one down for my grandparents to have. I hope it helps them understand that what they are feeling, every positive and negative emotion, is normal in this situation but there are steps that can be taken to emotionally recover. If nothing else, I know the thought will be appreciated.

Playing at the nursing home

Health issues are hard to deal with and we all have to remember to look holistically at our and other's health. If we are physically unhealthy it's likely we will also be mentally unhealthy. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that and everyone can play a role in reducing the stigma, simply by being aware of that. Let loved ones know that if they are struggling there's strength in asking for help. If you see that they are struggling cook them a nice mean they can freeze, sit down with a cuppa and ask them how they are. Listen to them. Be there for them. You can be the difference.

Point and Shoot

This weekend we came home from our holiday. 

The Saturday was spent in the car on the 8hr drive home. 

It was a good trip. I didn't have a hangover or sleep most of the way like the trip down there. The dog spent most of the time in the back and munchkin was amazingly good.

Listening to music, writing, reading and day dreaming occurred on my trip. Thankfully without the dog's smelly breath breathing on my neck like the way down. Did I mention I was hungover?

Munchkin was full of happiness. His trip contained movies, dancing, sleeping and imaginary play mainly with his tiger and polar bear.

Munchkin dancing in the background as I daydream about having long wavy hair living in the country.

Dancing away to the music in his head. He is his parent's child.

My beautiful mum's road trip home was better than the trip down as her stomach wasn't as sore from having her gallbladder removed the Thursday before we left.


Her road trip included chats to the mister, plan making, teasing me, dancing and sleeping.

The mister drove all the way down to Port Macquarie and home to Brisbane. Just as he likes it.


His road trip included lots of lollies, chocolate, chats, teasing me, dancing and laughing at mum for sleeping.


As I said it was an awesome road trip!


Want to play Point and Shoot? Head over to sunny+scout and play :) It's fun.Check out the amazing blog too. All those wonderful photos, so jealous!

Easter

Happy Zombie chocolate day aka Easter!


We have definitely eaten more chocolate than we should have, especially today. We started off with chocolate hot cross buns and ate chocolate bunnies and eggs all day. We did have a break from the chocolate with a lunch BBQ and salad. 


Munchkin, who doesn't usually like chocolate or anything sweet (apart from Magnum Egos), ate too much chocolate today, about four eggs. His poohs were not nice at all. I have a feeling his skin is going to break out in eczema too, poor baby. Luckily he prefers savoury to sweet.


We are staying at my mum's over the weekend looking after her after she had her gallbladder out. I invited my dad down today to have a family Easter together. My parents separated when I was six and I'm lucky that they are still friends so we spend holiday together. 


Munchkin had a treasure hunt when dad came over. I thought he'd be too young for it (he's two next month) but after he found the first one he had the hang of it. He had two of the eggs he found (out of twelve). Well he ate half and squished the other half into his hands before freaking out.


He didn't just get chocolate for Easter. Easter Bunny (Noni) bought him Peter Rabbit dinnerware and a Hoot toy, which he got early (from us).

I've had a stomach ache for the last two days from over indulging in cake and having to buy more chocolate as I ate what we originally bought. I did say over indulging. It's so worth the yumminess and endorphins though.


Mum has foxtel too so we are also over indulging on TV. At the moment we are all obsessed with cake making shows. One website you HAVE to check out is Charm City Cakes. I want one of their cakes. They are AMAZING. They have their own show Ace of Cakes which airs on Lifestyle Food. So worth watching.


I'm off to snuggle on the couch with the mister and read one of my new books.

I hope your Easter was fantastic!

Easter Holidays

I'm going away! 


We are going away!

I'm going to the BEACH. Not this beach though. Click image for source.

Away from home and a computer with internet. Eek! Luckily I will have my trusted iPhone BUT I am such a noob with blogging on my iPhone so I won't be able to blog during the week away.


However, I am a MASSIVE fan of scheduling posts so there will still be posts like the 50 Day Music Challenge posts and some other ones. I'll be catching up on posting when I'm back. 


I have a feeling that I'll be reading and writing A LOT. That's the plan anyway.


I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter holiday filled with love, happiness and lots of chocolate!

Click image for source.

Pre-Holiday Fashion

Inspired by many fashionable bloggers (Danimezza, Styling You, Hello Owl, Lady Melbourne, and Hummingbird's Song) I am doing a fashion type post.


This is what I wore to the shops for our pre-Easter and holiday shop.

The skirt is from my mum (either her wardrobe or op shop), shirt is from Kmart, singlet under the shirt is from Supre, necklace from Diva and the shoes are from Betts.

Munchkin wanted to pose like mummy too. He LOVES the camera!

A horrid side on shot but it does show the beautiful skirt. It's wrap around in beautiful silk material. 


I'm a massive fan of wrap around skirts. They were my staple wardrobe item when I was pregnant. I love that you can dress them up or down and they can be worn on skinny or fat days.


The same day the mister had a pyjama party at his work and everyone had to dress up, including staff.


He wanted to wear my Peter Alexander pj bottoms which was NOT happening. The amount of alcohol that COULD get spilt onto my beautiful pale pink, cupcake pants. No way was I going to risk them being ruined so naturally this meant a shopping experience.


We went to Best and Less because they have the BEST pyjamas. So cheap and comfy.


I went a tad overboard buying pyjamas for munchkin but seriously they had them for $9 each and the shirt BUTTONS to the pants. Awesome! So he got three pairs of them. He also got some shoes, shirts and pants but most of that was at another store so it's ok.


Anyway, the mister chose some awesome Snakes and Ladders pants, some uggs and a diamante eye mask. 

He already had an awesome shirt from Threadless.

So there is my first 'fashion' post. 


Hopefully I'll be dragging myself out of the house during the holidays so I may have another one up my sleeve when I get back.