Monday 24 June 2013

It's a bit fresh

Gorgeous day outside but gee it's a bit fresh (aka chilly)...I never thought that I would find Gold Coast weather cold after living in London but it's amazing how fast you acclimatise. Mind you, it is nowhere near as cold as it was in London and I don't require copious amounts of layers to go outside but there is definitely a chill factor.

What a great weekend I just had, jam packed full of fun.

Friday night was dinner (teppanyaki, yum) with the girls followed by a few games of bowling (of which I sucked and came last every time, ha) and finished off with a delicious hot chocolate at Max Brenner's. It was a great night with good company.

I was fortunate enough to have two child free nights in a row, so thankful to nana for watching the kids for us on Saturday night. We went out for dinner with a bunch of friends at the Mecca Bar in Broadbeach. We had the two course buffet, it was delicious and so much food. Followed by a quick pint (for the hubby, I was driving) at the Bavarian Beer House across the road, people wanted us to stay and kick on but I pulled the plug just before 10.30pm cause I knew my daughter was potentially up and screaming the house down. We got home just before 11pm and she'd been up for an hour and had kicked up a stink off and on so I'm glad we left when we did. We tried buying formula for these such occasions and just like my son, she is also not a fan.

Yesterday was the christening of our little nephew, thankfully my kids were reasonably well behaved during the ceremony. It's not easy keeping a 2 year old entertained for almost 45 mins when they have to be semi quiet and stay put, not my son's strong point. Afterwards we went back to my brother-in-laws house for a BBQ to celebrate the occasion, there were lots of kids there and my son had fun playing with his older cousins toys and stuffing his face with chips. My daughter managed to pull a full glass of my juice onto us (mostly me, all over my lap) which was not so fun, you always pack a spare outfit for the kids but never yourself. It was a pretty long day for us and we were all knackered by the time we got home. Lazy afternoon followed by some take-away pizza & ice cream for dinner /dessert (naughty I know) was a great finish to the day. Also did everyone see the super moon, it was so big and bright...awesome.

I hope everyone else had a fantastic weekend and has an even better week.

Till next time xo

Friday 21 June 2013

Fun times ahead

Tonight I am out with a couple of girlfriends for dinner and bowling and I can't wait. I really appreciate when I get to have some kid free time (as much as I love them) and just get to be me, not mummy. I am doubly lucky as we (my hubby & I) are also out tomorrow night with some friends for dinner and drinks and maybe even dancing...depending on how my daughter behaves. Obviously I can only have a couple of drinks but I am not someone that needs to drink to have fun so I'm sure it will still be a good night. Hubby is buying some formula today in the hopes that she will take it tonight and tomorrow night so that I don't have to stress about racing home. I am crossing fingers that she will, it would be nice to have a bit more time on my hands and not that constant worry in the back of my mind that she is screaming and hungry and I need to get home.

Sunday we also have our nephews christening and hubby is the 'Godfather', cue Marlon Brando impression here. I hope the weather is nice as it is followed by a BBQ at their house, mmm BBQ. So a very jam packed weekend (my favourite), I feel like I don't do all that much during the week so I really look forward to weekends when we have lots of fun things locked in.

I always thought that being a stay at home mum would involve more catch ups with other mums but it just doesn't happen all that often. People are busy with their own lives and also getting back to work (I kind of envy them). This motherhood malarky can be a tough gig and I often wonder whether going back to work would actually be easier. My main issue with when I do go back to work is whether it is financially worthwhile. The cost of sending two kids to childcare may outweigh what my salary would be and therefore be redundant. It doesn't make sense to work hard and then at the end of the week after paying fees discover that what's left after amounts to bugger all. Have other mums found this to be the case? Plus I assume there would be mummy guilt about leaving your kids, I'm sure I would suffer this too but I am someone that has always enjoyed working (to an extent, every job has its moments). I don't plan on going back until my daughter is weaned so I probably still have 6 months to a year until I really need to worry about it. It does play on my mind though, I have already been out of the workforce for 2.5 years...will it make it that much harder by the time I go back?

In other news, I was right...the dreaded monthly's are back. I had a feeling they were on their way, I was emotional and craving chocolate last week. At least now I will no longer have that irrational fear in the back of my mind that I could be pregnant and not know it ;) ha.

Well I think I have rambled on enough for today. I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend.

Till next time xo

Tuesday 18 June 2013

Gosh they grow up fast

I cannot believe it, my just over 6 month old is already pulling herself up to standing! It made me realise that she is getting big and growing up...it is slightly bitter sweet knowing that she will be our last baby. I am happy with our decision to stop at two, we got our pigeon pair and couldn't be happier. I guess it is just a little sad when you look at your cute baby and realise that it will be the last time you watch them reach all of those mile stones as they get bigger.

Then you flip the coin and we now have separation anxiety, if I leave the room my daughter will cry. It makes getting things done just that little bit harder. Sometimes I wonder why I bother cleaning up when I know that it will look trashed within minutes of doing it, ahh well.

Speaking of getting things done, my motto of start as you mean to go on has officially come to an end. There are just days when I can't be assed...I might leave the dishes over night and tackle them in the morning instead, or put vacuuming off another day. I tend to be more slack of a weekend as there are just so many other things I would rather be doing than cleaning the house. Although I managed to do a decent clean today as my son is in kindy.

My sister brought over the cutest little pack of Thomas undies for my son on Sunday. Gosh they look cute on, I have only managed to get him in them a couple of times despite the fact that they have Thomas on them. He just does not seem interested in toilet training at all, we really need to step things up and try again. I don't want to force the issue and have him get upset but I am just going to have to bite the bullet and put him in undies now and again and just deal with the inevitable puddles. He is good about telling you when he's done a wee and will tell you where and show you, thank-god.

Nearly time to go and pick my son up from kindy and I still haven't managed to make a start on dinner. I can't decide what to make, I wouldn't mind Spaghetti Bolognese (seriously one of my favourites) but I know hubby won't want it. Purely for the fact that for the 14 years we have been together I had made it once a week for majority of that time and he is over it. Hmmm decisions, maybe I will do tacos instead.
Not that any of you probably give two hoots about what I cook for dinner, ha ha. Sorry bout' that.

Till next time xo

Friday 14 June 2013

Firetruck

That is my mummy way of saying the F-Bomb. The reason behind it is that I think my son may have killed our external hard drive. I am hoping beyond hope that it is not the case and somehow hubby will come home and fix it (I can't get it to work at all)...sad face. I will be so upset if it can't be saved...

I am doubly annoyed because we brought another one to back it all up on to (I hadn't finished that process unfortunately) and I have searched high and low and can't find it. It even forced me to tackle the junk room (which is a nice bonus in this crappy situation), it is far from finished but I made a decent dent in it.

Plus I am in a cranky mood, I suspect that the dreaded monthly's may be making their return soon. I have had some slight abdominal pains the last couple of days and craving chocolate (although I could eat chocolate at any time of the month so that is no fore gone conclusion). Time will tell if that is the case, I got them back after 7 months with my son so we are around the same sort of time frame again.

It doesn't help that I am tired after a hell'ish night with my daughter, she woke a lot and I am knackered. Woe is me ;)

Thank-god it's the weekend.

Till next time xo

Wednesday 12 June 2013

On the mend

I kept my son home from kindy yesterday as he still had a temp, no medicine was needed though as he was back to his usual self and the temp went away of its own accord. Huzzah, glad it didn't get any worse and he should be fine and dandy to go to kindy tomorrow.

I was also lucky that hubby decided to work from home yesterday to give me a hand with the kids, we were just lucky that our son improved rather than got worse. I appreciated that he was around to help, it was nice having him around for an extra day and it means this week is super short and the weekend will be here before we know it.

Unbelievably my son is still asleep (8am) he never sleeps in this late, it could be something to do with the fact that he was wide awake till 9pm last night and did not want to go to sleep, we got there in the end though. I think being up so late wiped him out and hence the sleep in, if only my daughter got the memo.

No plans for today, probably try and get some stuff done around the house...I tend not to do as much on weekends/when hubby is home.

Just a short one this morning, nothing terribly exciting to report I'm afraid. I will try and be more interesting next time ;)

Till next time xo

Monday 10 June 2013

Good times

What a crazy busy weekend, it was good though...lots of social occasions and catching up with friends and family.

Friday night was my nephews 21st, I would have loved to have stayed longer but when you have two tired little ones in tow you can't rage on in to the wee hours. We left around 8.15pm and our son wasn't in bed till close to 9pm so it was a long day for him, he had a great time playing with his cousins though.

Saturday we went to the shops, I brought myself some M.A.C make-up with my mother's day voucher (side note: it is so much more expensive here than it was in London, which I find super annoying). We then had a BBQ to go to at our friends place. That was good fun, they have kids very similar in age to our two. We also made plans to all go out for dinner (without kids) in a couple of weeks time, should be nice.

We had also made plans for nana to come and watch the kids Saturday night so hubby and I could go to the movies. We went and had sushi for dinner and then saw 'Hangover 3'. I think the original is always going to be the best, which is why number 2 was a bit of a let down (but still had its moments), 3 was definitely an improvement on 2 and quite funny...we enjoyed it.

Sunday we had another BBQ at a different friends place to go to (BBQ central this long weekend), that was also a great time and good conversation. There was a little girl there close to my son's age as well and it was great watching them play together as they were being very sweet with one another. It was the first time I had seen my son hold hands with a little girl and walk along together, melted my heart.

Finally today we had my sisters and their families over for a roast (feels like a Sunday) lunch, I owed them all a little thanks for their help with the move from a few weeks back so it was our way of saying thank-you. I am rather full and don't think we will bother having dinner after that effort (although I still feel like a sweetie).

Also I am crossing fingers that my son wakes up feeling better tomorrow, the poor munchkin isn't all that well and has just fallen asleep for the second time today. I think he is knackered from running around with his cousin earlier but now that the nurofen has worn off he feels crummy again and has a bit of a temperature. Might not be going to kindy tomorrow, will see how he feels/is in the morning.

I hope everyone else had an enjoyable weekend.

Till next time xo

Thursday 6 June 2013

Gotta love kindy days

As much as I love my son, things are much more relaxed and peaceful on kindy days. These little mini breaks do us both the world of good. Even though he protests in the morning about going to kindy, without fail every time I pick him up he tells me he had a good day at kindy. It is definitely needed sometimes to help maintain my sanity, especially after my day yesterday. Today is a new day though and every day is different.

This morning I met up with a couple of girlfriends after I dropped my son off. Coffee and chats were just what the doctor ordered. The great thing about talking to other mums is that they can all relate with what each of us is going through. It's comforting to know that there are other people out there experiencing the same things I am. It's also nice to get a different perspective on things or how they dealt with certain issues. We also locked in a dinner & movie night next weekend, looking forward to it.

I was contemplating going and browsing the shops today but I just could not be a****. Instead I did what I do everyday, household chores. I swear sometimes it feels a bit like groundhog day. I was also thinking to myself the other day how futile it sometimes all seems. I am forever picking up and putting away toys throughout the day and I realise that it is redundant as he is still playing and just pulls them back out. I can't seem to stop myself though, maybe it is my slight OCD'ness (totally a word) coming out.

We have a busy weekend ahead, Friday night is my nephews 21st Party. Saturday nana is watching the kids so the hubby and I can go to dinner and a movie. Lastly Sunday we have a housewarming/BBQ to go to. It's rare that we have so many social engagements, most weekends are spent just doing our own thing.

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend :)

Till next time xo

Wednesday 5 June 2013

Vacation for one...please

Oh the afternoon I've had, it's enough to turn anyone to drink. No day sleep again, makes for one exhausted mummy. Especially since yet again my daughter was up at sparrow's fart.

No day sleep also equals massive meltdowns. Over the littlest things, or even just for no reason what so ever.

I have to stop and tell myself to breathe or I would lose my sh*t. I know why he was being the way he was and I am partly to blame for not laying down the law and making him have a sleep. I tried, I just don't have the patience to keep telling him or physically putting him back to bed. I am at a loss as to what to do, he just flat out doesn't want to go to bed and keeps coming out. I have resorted to giving in and just letting him stay up, FYI he is still awake (though thankfully in his bed). My daughter is also still up and has been for more than a good few hours. I can see what drove the author to write 'Go the F*ck to Sleep'. I am OVER IT!

Hence the name of the post, I so wish I could have some time away. Wishful thinking on my part as I am breast feeding, it will be awhile before I could spend a night away. There are just times you wish you could have a break from it all. I love my kids with every part of my being but gee they just take it out of me sometimes. I am not a person who cries easily or often, but I was close to tears this afternoon. It doesn't help that I am tired either, probably heightens my emotions.

I blame the kids for the fact that my hair is riddled with grey, yes I had them before they came along but I swear they have multiplied ten fold. I am in desperate need of a hairdresser, I am starting to look like a nana...just call me silver fox. ;)

Thank-god tomorrow is kindy day, another day...a new beginning. I will be happy to put this day behind me. Plus I am meeting a girlfriend for coffee tomorrow, it's always nice to catch up. When you have kids it feels like social engagements are few and far between. I look forward to a bit of outside interaction.

Also I was told by my sister today that I am un-patriotic because I won't be watching the State of Origin tonight (Rugby League). Meh...I am a Queenslander and support them but I don't care enough to actually watch the game.

Anyway, tomorrow is another day...early to bed for this little duck tonight.

Till next time xo

Tuesday 4 June 2013

Procrastinating

I'm sitting here stuffing my face with crackers and dip procrastinating on all the household chores I should be getting stuck in to. Today is now also kindy day which means I have a bit more time on my hands to get stuff done.

I still have what I refer to as 'my room of junk', which is stuff that I still need to unpack and find a home for. My only gripe about the new place would be it's lack of storage, I need to get creative and figure out where I can put everything. I am overwhelmed by the sheer volume of crap that I still need to sort through and just look at it and don't know where to begin. I just need to bite the bullet and start already. I should probably do that today...ok I will at least make a start today. I also need to vacuum and mop (oh how I loathe mopping, which is strange as I don't mind vacuuming and they are not all that different!).

I am torn though as I also want to do something crafty but I am not really sure what, nor am I organised. I need to set up the printer somewhere so I could print off a pattern. Maybe I will do something on Thursday (the next kindy day) instead. I did manage to make a very small start to one of my projects on the weekend. Remember the menu board planner I posted a link for in a previous post? Well I finally manage to cover my cork board that I brought forever ago in fabric (go me, not really...it only took about 5 mins). I think making the board itself will be the easiest task of that project, it is getting together all the different meals/recipes for it that will be time consuming. (Also feel free to hit me up with any tried and tested family favourites).


Here is a pic of the beginnings of what will become my menu board (I realised afterwards that I probably should have ironed it first, meh)


This is some gorgeous fat quarter's that I brought from Fabric Love that I just couldn't resist. I can see how people have fabric addictions, I haven't decided what I will make with it yet I just wanted it. It was the vintage candy inspired fabric that I spotted on facebook that started the whole thing. How sweet is their little thank-you gift as well. 


This was my spotlight haul from the weekend. The wool felt on the right was the only thing I got with an actual project in mind (I will be making a couple of softies out of it, at some stage). The purple pinwhale cord I would like to try and make some pants or overalls for my daughter. That sweet pink fabric was just too cute that I had to get it. Did I mention I am an absolute beginner and have no idea what I'm doing? I don't care though, I will figure it out as I go along and share my wins and losses with you guys :)


Last but not least this is a random photo of a conversation my son must have had with Siri and I just had to share. I think it is really cute that at some stage he must have said something about daddy's work, nawww. 

An update on yesterday, we survived the doctor's appointment in one piece. My son was relatively well behaved and my daughter only cried for seconds and then was all good. The rest of the day was not such a triumph, it wasn't terrible but not so great either. My son (who will be 2 and a half in a couple of months) decided he didn't want a nap. Trust me when I say that he is not ready to give up his day sleep and is still tired enough to warrant one. He is a stubborn little mite though (gee I have no idea where he gets that from, ha) and I was too tired to fight him on it so just gave up and let him stay up. There were moments of whinging but no full blown meltdowns thank-god. He still managed to do my head in on occasion and I was well and truly looking forward to his bedtime. He still managed to make it to 7pm and still protested that he didn't want to go to bed but was out like a light in 10 mins. He even managed to stay asleep when I discovered half an hour later that he had done a poo and I changed his nappy.

This morning was an early start, my daughter is an early riser and was awake from 5am (though I managed to ignore her and stay in bed for an extra 30 mins). It might be a two coffee day for me (I am normally a one a day girl). I still managed to find something to smile about despite the early start. Even though my son can be a bit horrible to his little sister at times, there are also times he can be incredibly sweet. Like this morning, I was in my room getting ready when I heard my son in his sister's room (where she had been sleeping before he woke her up, although thankfully she'd had an hour and a half so I didn't mind that he woke her up) talking to her and saying peek-a-boo. So cute.

It's those moments that make up for all the other times when you want to pull your hair out.

Till next time xo


Monday 3 June 2013

Now also on Facebook...

Just a quick one...

I decided to go ahead and set up a page for the blog on facebook. I still plan to blog on here and add links to my posts on the fb page. As well as random thoughts, funny pictures and things I think may be of interest. I hope that you guys will like it and continue to listen to my crazy ramblings on there as well ;)

Here is the link:

https://www.facebook.com/TheTrialsAndTribulationsOfMummyhood

Hope to see you there, don't be shy.

Till next time xo

the dreaded needles

It's time for my daughters 6 month shots this morning, I don't look forward to these appointments. I always feel a little liking I'm taking an unsuspecting lamb to the slaughter. Slightly over dramatic I know, there's just a sense of mummy guilt because I know it's going to hurt her. Lots of mummy cuddles will follow the jabs, she usually calms down quite quickly but it breaks my heart to see her little face screw up and cry.

This morning will be extra difficult as I wasn't able to get someone to watch my son, so I will be bringing him along and hoping that he behaves himself and doesn't destroy the place.

Speaking of my son, we finally have a new favourite movie (other than Cars and Thomas which we have watched that many times that I could almost recite them word for word)...it is 'Hop'. It's actually a pretty cute movie and he seems to like it. It's a bit of a breakthrough to get him to watch something else to begin with. I have tried with Finding Nemo before (which I love) and he won't have a bar of it. Hubby wants to go and watch Despicable Me 2 (without kids, ha ha), we are both fans of a good kids movie. I can't wait till my son is of an age where we could go and watch a movie at the cinemas together. I still don't think he would have the attention span to sit still and watch a movie and I don't relish the thought of trying to chase him around a cinema and interrupt everyone else.

I need to organise nana to babysit so the hubby and I can go and see the new Hangover movie. I remember when the Hangover 2 came out and I had the brilliant (or so I thought) idea of going to see it at the Drive-In and taking our then 6 or 7 month old son who we assumed would sleep through the whole thing. It was a double feature and he cried off and on for the whole first movie (which thankfully wasn't the Hangover). We didn't try it again...ha.

Till next time xo

Saturday 1 June 2013

Happy Weekend to you

I live for weekends, even though I don't 'work'...I still look forward to having hubby home to hang out and spend some family time together. It was just the kids and I last night as hubby went to the footy & stayed at a hostel near there rather than train it home late at night. I was surprised to hear that rather than take advantage and have a big night, he only had a few drinks and was back to the hostel by 11pm. Although I couldn't imagine anything worse than having to deal with kids while being hung over, probably wise of him to take it easy.

Yesterday my son didn't end up having a day sleep (I gave up in the end), I was interested to see how things would play out and whether he would turn feral. He ended up crashing at 5.45pm, I was worried it would bite me in the butt with an early wake up. He stirred once at midnight but stayed asleep, didn't wake up until his sister was being noisy at 6.45am (although she's been up off and on since before 5am), not a bad result at all. I don't think he's ready to give up his day sleep yet but it's good to know that he will still sleep overnight if he goes down earlier than usual. Since hubby was out I just brought my daughter in to bed with me and let her 'free range' (so unwrapped), which was fine except for when she woke up this morning...she takes great delight in grabbing/pinching my face and pulling my hair and occasionally slobbering on me. I wasn't able to ignore that, so even though we stayed in bed till close to 7am, we were awake well before that!

So I started watching 'Offspring' this week. This goes against my normal policy of refusing to start watching a show when it is a few seasons in. I usually prefer to start watching a show from the beginning, in an ideal world I would have liked to have gone back and done a marathon session of watching the past two seasons before this one started. My curiosity got the better of me as everyone always raves about the show, so I decided to check it out. I have seen the first two episodes, so far so good. I still need to go back and watch the other two seasons as I feel like I'm missing important back stories for the characters. Confession - I have also never seen 'Packed to the Rafters' *gasp*. I know everyone loves that one too. (These are both Australian shows so won't mean anything to those of you in international locations, unless you are an Aussie yourself) ;)

Everyone is having a snooze at the moment except me. I really struggle to sleep during the day, even if I'm tired. I should try and take advantage myself but knowing my luck, one of the kids would wake up once I fell asleep. It takes me so long to fall asleep that there is nothing worse than having to wake up when you have only been asleep for 10-15 mins, it just makes you feel worse.

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend wherever you may be.

Till next time xo