7 Nos in 7 days

Okay kiddies - it's been a week! A week!

Just so you can appreciate how hard this has been for me so far, here is a detailed list of the things I have turned down so far:

1. New "jogging" music from iTunes.
2. Many many cute outfits for the girls (see below)

Can you imagine how freakin ADORABLE my girls would look in these outfits!

3. Kikki-K released their Christmas range!

4. Charlie & Me had an online sale for swimwear and Pippa NEEDS swimmers!

5. A FABULOUS market find dress for myself.

6. New (used) cloth nappies from a friend.

7. A new Kitchenaid cookbook (the one I bought is RUBBISH. So RUBBISH)

My sister has also been reminding me that she is NOT participating in NO spend NOvember and showing me the photos of said purchased items. Can anyone say Beeeeeeeatch?

What have you missed out on buying this week?

1st outfit is from Bella Boheme http://www.facebook.com/bohemian1?fref=ts 

2nd is from Dashes of Love http://www.facebook.com/DashesofLove?fref=ts 

3rd is from The Kitchen Table http://www.facebook.com/thekitchentable.1

5 years later

On Saturday Mr G and I celebrated 5 years of wedded bliss. An entire 5 years of bliss, no fights no unhappiness. All BLISS. I swear.

As we flicked through our wedding album last night we reminisced about what has happened in the past 5 years!

5 years ago, we didn't:

• have any children;
• have a thriving vegie patch;
• have a nicely painted grey house;
• have more than two niece/nephews (now we have 6!);
• have a silly security guard brother in law;
• have our X-trail (which now seems squashy with 2 baby seats!);
• have our own business;
• have to think about anybody but ourselves;
• have to travel more than 10min to see our close family.

Times have certainly changed, mostly for the better but naturally, we have had some trying times also. 

5 years seems like such a short amount of time - how did all this "life" happen in it?

Where were you 5 years ago?

NO spend NOvember

I love shopping!  This is not a secret.

Spending money is so easy - especially with the wonders of Facebook and Paypal. Not to mention the excitement when the mailman delivers! And not because he is rexy sexy - definitely not!

My most recent purchases include frilly nappy covers, a new lunchbox and a BEAUTIFUL tablecloth. I have no doubt that once all my parcels arrive - I will LOVE them! But the buddhist in me asks - do I really really need them?

Here is the crazy thing - my purchases last month (without me actually sitting down and figuring it out like a smart person) would have totalled at least $500! That, my friends, is completely and utterly riDONKulous.

So that is why I hereby declare November - NOvember, no internet shopping for me!

"How easy!" I hear you exclaim! I shall preface by saying that I am CONSTANTLY on the net, CONSTANTLY. I breastfeed, I am often a work widow and I have a smartphone (do I need anymore excuses?).

My Facebook newsfeed is flooded with gorgeous pretties for my girls and myself! But I do know that shopping out my boredom is not the way to continue!

Plus the organiser in me will need to finish my Christmas shopping ASAP! So I am "allowed" to buy christmas presents but not from the internet and I have a set list of everything left to get!

Do you think I can do it? Any tips for me?  

Signing off crazy ex-internet shopper.

T

PS. I would really appreciate it if all of my favourite FB stores would not post nice pictures of things for me to buy! Wait until December I plead with you!

PPS. I still have a day left in October - what can I buy?

PPPS. My get out of jail free clause allows me to shop at Woolies online (I have 2 kids - give me a little leeway!) and Loving Earth online (where I buy some organic food goodies).

Hiatus

Blogger informs me that it has been approximately 2.5 months since my last blog.  I have an excuse, and it's a pretty good one!

I have been busy. Too busy. With this.

This photo can be deceiving, it may look like a super super cute baby but it also comes with the following: accidental homebirth, nappies, breastfeeding, hospital stay with infection, reflux, nappies, lots of internet shopping, chocolate, older sister dramas, low milk supply, returning to work, whining almost 3 year old, low weight gain and ........ more nappies.

I am sure future posts will offer further elaboration for you!

Is that a good enough excuse for you?

T xxx

YES

In writing this post and sharing photos with you I am hoping to inspire you to just say YES. 

YES you can climb by yourself (under 1yr)

YES you can stand at the top of the stairs and climb down yourself (1yr old)

YES you can taste the paint (18mths). 

YES you can explore rocky lookout on your own (18mths)

YES you can wear your party dress on a bike ride and go through the huge muddy puddle (2yrs)

YES you can climb up to where your Daddy is on a 6ft high mezzanine with no boundaries around it (this one had me pooing my pants!) (2.5yrs)

YES you can climb under Daddy's car in the puddle (2.5yrs)

I believe that my saying YES sometimes it shows that I trust her and I am allowing her confidence to really develop. It also doesn't devalue "no" and "stop", I use these in serious situations and I always tell her what I expect of her when we are out. She also asks me now if it's okay for her to do something "Mummy can I go in the water?", "Mummy can I touch the bird?" My heart always swells with pride when she does this. 

Before we go for walks I say to her "what do you do if Mummy says stop?" and she will show me how she stops. If we have to cross the highway I explain to her that I have to carry her bike and hold her hand crossing the road. Sometimes this results in me holding a screaming toddler and a bike whilst crossing the road BUT she knows the rules.

I don't know if this works for all kids but it really works for us. I realise my next child will probably be a terror who doesn't listen and runs onto the road but for now I like this delusional state where it's my parenting and trust of Miss S that have helped form her this way. Don't tell me otherwise!

If you are looking for some more inspiration I would recommend visiting one of my favourite sites for ideas - Play at Home Mum.

So hopefully you can draw some inspiration from this, does it really matter if your child's party dress gets some mud on it? Share your moments with me! I want to hear all about them!

Tata.

Mrs G.

FYI - I am always always always close by and supervising. Yes she has hurt herself, but she has learnt from that too. 

Keeping the Romance Alive

Since having Miss S, time seems to have moved so quickly (she is already in her 3rd year of living!). Some weeks it feels like I don't see Mr G at all, and when do see each other - I get to whinge about the banalities of my day and he whinges about work.

This is not healthy for either of us. This year we decided to have monthly date nights and we managed a few before finding it hard to fit in, and also it felt like we were constantly bugging our babysitters for help!

So when Mr G had a super busy June and I realised we were having a baby like tomorrow - I organised a surprise night out in the city!

Cue 5 star hotel, Nana babysitting Miss S and a full 24 hours to talk about adult things!

We arrived to have our car valet parked and then we were upgraded to a suite! I have always wanted to hear "we have upgraded you today".

Upon entering the suite (which literally was bigger than our house!), soft music was playing, candles were everywhere, rose petals scattered and canapes were waiting whilst the Moet was chilling on ice!

It's not something we can do all the time (our credit limit wouldn't let us!) but it was seriously needed.

I personally think it's extremely important that you keep your relationship alive by doing little things like this. Not only for our sanity but for your little ones to see.

What do you do to keep your relationship in tip top shape? How do you demonstrate a healthy relationship to your kiddies? 

Organising Queen

One of my personal strengths (if I do say so myself) is being extremely organised.

It started as a basic skill - simple to do lists EVERYWHERE.

I wanted to share with you some of my tips on keeping yourself organised, I have utilised a couple of simple but effective systems in my house.

* An awesome Erin Condren life planner. It is set out PERFECTLY for what I need plus its colourful and personable.
* Cleaning Schedule - definitely not set in stone though. Some days I throw it out the window!
* Massive calendar so everyone in the house knows exactly what is going on when.
* Meal planning. We are now trying this on a fortnightly basis. So far so good. :) Its nice not to think about dinner each night - its already decided!
* Routine cards for Miss S. She doesn't refer to them every night but its a good reminder for her when she "forgets".

My number one tip is not to let everything get on top of you!

Every morning I try to have a semi-plan to my day. Whether my plan is to do nothing or to do EVERYTHING - I find the day flows better for me when I have an idea of most things I want to do.

Of course, my systems have flaws and don't always motivate me but they seem to be working pretty well for now!

How do you stay organised?