This motherhood place

How easy it is to get lost in this place.

This motherhood place.

The shoulds, the coulds, the better do this, can't do that.

How easy it is to lose the bits of you that make you - you.

Falling, failing, losing the fight.

Walking.

No destination.

Alone.

No worries.

Senses take over.

Feeling the wind, the chill, the rain.

Hearing passing cars.

Tasting the freedom.

Outrunning that black cloud.

Will not let it catch me.

Linking up with IBOT today over at http://essentiallyjess.com/ (sorry about my lame link! Can't figure it out on the iPad!)

Pet peeves

Well I am already a day behind! Oops.

We are selling our house and things are crazy around here trying to prepare everything! Any advice for a first time home seller person? I think I am going to go mental over the coming weeks!

Anyway - today's prompt is pet peeves. It's hard to thing of these things on the spot but something Mr G has been doing today has been DOING MY HEAD IN.

Instead of putting something away (today was downsizing Miss S' bedroom) properly, he will quickly push something to a corner out of the way. This drives me CRAZY!

Just put it away properly you stupid man!

Please share your pet peeves so I don't feel so lonely!

Two

I am joining in with a blogging challenge, because I simply will not have enough to do in January and I do find it hard to blog on a regular basis.

I love to write, I love updating people with my goings on, and I love the HUGE online community that blogging brings.

Today's blogging prompt is two.

Well you see, I made these two things, these two fabulous things. They are hard work, but oh they make my life worthwhile.

Thing 1

 

A fanastically hilarious, cheeky, fashionista, know it all.

 

Thing 2

 

 

A calm, easygoing, lovely natured babe.

 

Without these two things my life would not be worth living. Before kids I could never see what the fuss was about. Now I realise the joy, the love, the excitement that little people bring to the world.

 

I know the poo, the spit, the birthing pain and late nights are not for everyone but for everyone one of those things there is a special laugh, a look of amazement at discovering something new, a cheeky grin and a "I love you Mummy" with a slobbery kiss.

 

They have helped discover more about life, more about my body, more about myself than I ever thought possible.

 

 

These two.

 

These fabulous two.

 

 

Ta ta for now.

 

T

 

DISCLAIMER: I suppose I did have a hand in making these two, problem is I can't figure out if it was the mailman, the milkman or the lawn man. 

New

I always have this excitement, fascination and anticipation of New Years Day.

What will the new year bring?

What can I achieve?

What will change?

How will I change?

What will the Kardashians do?

That last one is a bit of a joke (but seriously - did you hear Kim is preggers? OMG!) but I love thinking about how I have a clean slate and I can try things differently or even start new things!

I have written myself some little resolutions (I won't bore you with them all!) and a bucket list of sorts. The last year has gone so quickly and there were things I forgot to do!

The gist of my resolutions is to let go, have fun, live simply, live happily.

2013 has some big things in store for us.

We are planning a big move up the mountain (will be a complete change of lifestyle!), I am returning to study (but something new!) and we are going to work on growing our business together.

Today I sit in the sunroom of a beautiful little (still bigger than our house!) beach house in Wooli on the North Coast pondering, thinking and dreaming of what this year will bring.

Tomorrow we begin the drive back to reality and the hard work starts on trying to sell our house!

What exciting things do you have planned for 2013?

Linking up with Team IBOT today!

Welcome back everyone! x Great to see some new faces!

No words come

I wanted to type up an end of 2012 post today but feel very overwhelmed and sad for a very special family.

Arlo - you are so so loved and have touched so many hearts. I hope you are at peace.

Paige, Steve and Billie - we are waiting here with open arms. X

A tribute to the most awesomest babe in the world!

So we had a rocky start, but Miss P must be the BEST baby in the whole world. She has been so much more laid back then Miss S was as a babe.

She "plays" on her own on the floor, she puts herself to sleep and sleeps over 10hrs most nights. We are very blessed. Very.

After rocking Miss S to sleep for most of the first year of her life, it seems we have really lucked out this time. Or did we learn from our mistakes?

I never tire of hearing silence after putting her down and go in for a peek and she is asleep.

Sleep gods, if you can hear me - thank you, thank you so much and I promise I will never take this for granted. Please never take this easy going baby away from me. Please?

I am serious. Please don't take it away. Ever.

Teaching children values

Miss S is nearly in her fourth year of living (it goes so crazy fast!) and I have begun to notice more and more how much she picks up on!

She loves to repeat things back to you and even recently told my brother in law what he was getting for Christmas! She has even repeated a few swear words. Obviously picked up from her father, I would never swear. Ever.

I swear.

We bought her a DVD the other day, Where the Wild Things Are, I thought it was a great movie and didn't put much thought into it - when we bought it home we realised it was a PG and there was some scary scenes in it!

All this has helped me come to the realisation that I need to start censoring myself, what she watches and listens to (maybe I should have started earlier!)

Mr G's first rule was no music concert DVDs doing housework - usually my music of choice is Pink or Gaga. To me, these women are empowered and love themselves and make me feel good about myself.

Whilst watching some other music videos on the weekend, I realised I switched the channel when someone like Minaj came on, but left it when someone like Chris Brown was okay.

It made me wonder what type of values I am trying to impart.

Do I want my girls to feel confident in themselves to wear what they want, to do what they want, to be constantly empowered to be the best they can be?

OR

Do I want my girls to idolise men who treat women like punching bags and sexual objects?

Some food for thought for you!

What are your views? What do you expose your children to? What values do you hope to instil on your children?

I am really interested to hear your thoughts on this.

Ciao!

Linking with the fabo Essentially Jess for IBOT.

Walking Contradiction

One of my favourite bands in the universe is Green Day. They brighten my mood and take me back to my teenage years frequently! Their song walking contradiction reminds me that I am quite the anomaly!

When I was setting up this blog I got a little stuck with my profile page - who am I? Every time I would think up a "label" I realised I wasn't quite this "label" or that "label". I am a walking contradiction.

* I am a hippy who loves V8s.
* I am a sugar hater who loves chocolate and lollies.
* I am a fitness freak who loves slothing around the house.
* I am a greenie who sometimes can't be stuffed sorting the recycling.
* I am a mum who loves nothing better than being alone.
* I am a minimalist who loves her "stuff".
* I am a buddhist who kills spiders and insects.
* I am a wholefood chef who loves fast food.
* I am a yogi who can not get my deep breathing right.

Who am I really?

What I really want to know is - do you fit in a box? Who are you?

'til next time!

T

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?

Internet Village

When I was pregnant with Miss S (3 years ago!) I joined an online forum of likeminded women who were all pregnant and due at the same time. 

There were some differences and many a learning experience but essentially I have found a group of women (some of whom I'll never meet) that I love and cherish on the internet. 

If you had told me that this would happen 5 years ago I would not have believed you. I didn't think I was the "type" - which is what exactly I don't know! 

There have definitely been some trials and tribulations, which one would expect from a group of pregnant hormonal women! 

In learning the perils of first time motherhood these women were my sanity - there to chat when up feeding at 3am, there when there was a funky spot, there when I needed a laugh, or a vent or a pick me up. 

After catching up with my fav internet bestie last week it got me thinking about all of our children - the generation that comes after meeting each other on the internet. Will our kids become friends on the internet? Will they forget about each other? Will they get married? Will they fight and think their mums are weirdos? 

I can't tell you. 

What I can tell you is that - without these women my adjustment to motherhood would have been a lot harder. In this day and age, mothers don't have the support and help they need from family (for various reasons!) and sometimes that late night chat is just what you need. 

They say it takes a village to raise a child, well I want to say thank you to my fav internet village and I hope one day Miss S will too. 

Future besties?

This time around I joined a new "due in" club, what started as 70 women with many differences has become a group of 10 ladies who I have started to love, cherish and appreciate for their wisdom. 

I hope my advice and knowledge helps them as much as my first group have helped me.

Peace out ladies. 

x

Guess what?

I am finally convinced that we are actually having a baby - we tried to conceive for 4 months and I am currently 29 weeks pregnant but its only just hit me. THERE IS A FRICKEN BABY IN MY UTERUS!

Long weekend plan for us was to paint the nursery/storage room. So naturally, we were too slack and lazy and ended up only sanding and washing the walls. BUT aside from the smell (oil of cloves aka Nana smell) it's coming along!

Then on Saturday night I got sick - cramps and nausea. YUCK. Mr G was fabulous. He rubbed my back until I fell asleep! The fact that I actually let him touch me when I was in pain and I listened to him when he suggested things to make me feel better - really gives me faith about us actually working together in this labour.

Today we had a fancy smancy 3D scan and I think it has really bought it home that there is a child in there! 

See - it's a real baby! 

It's SUPER exciting the second time around, there is something magical about knowing what's coming (at least as much as you can) and being able to remember the first time all over again. 

I have finally gotten a new sewing machine foot so I can start being crafty again! I have picked some GORGEOUS Cat in the Hat material to make some curtains. 

We don't know what the sex is and it makes it a little hard to buy clothes and things but the things we have purchased are super cute - and I can't wait to see them on the baby!

Not to mention that my baby, yep. My baby girl is going to be a BIG sister. What will she be like? Will she love her bro/sis? Do we have enough love for another one? 

We will find out in 11 weeks (or more!) how we all work together! 

Daredevil Children

Obstacle course time! We have been wanted to do this for a while - we believe in encouraging Miss S to explore anything she wants to and also to take risks in her play. 

When we go for walks, we encourage her to walk on walls (she always wants to hold our hand!) and we jump over things all the time. She is quite confident doing things like this but will always let us know if she isn't. 

Some things work, some things don't. 

Miss S was hanging from a tree branch on the weekend, and LOVED "falling" into big piles of leaves. In the end it was all about the fall for her! 

Then on Sunday she was climbing on our lounge and decided to dive over the arm. Sorry. Not such a smart choice missy! There was crying, but no broken bones and I am sure (WELL I HOPE) she learnt a lesson! 

Here is our little obstacle course, I would love love love to keep it down permanently but it would kill the grass! What do you think? Have you done something similar? I want to see it! Personally I think next time we need to up the ante! This was too easy for our daredevil!

If you are really serious about your sun protection - this is the way to go. DER.

19 things you NEED to know

Pardon? What did you say? You want to know more about me? Well since you ask - here is a comprehensive list of all things you didn't even realise you wanted to know about me.

> Mr G and I got together when I was 17.
> My star sign is Cancer.
> I go MENTAL if I don't have me time.
> I am interested in tarot.
> I dream of being more crafty (watch this space).
> I love the Real Housewives of any city.
> I hate cats.
> I think french fries dipped in thick shake should be classified as a meal.
> I believe ALL people who love each other should be able to get married.
> I hate not making my own money.
> I am obsessed with Tori Spelling and her family.
> If I try to stick up for myself, I always make things worse!

> I snore like a mutha trucker.

> I hate gardening, the stupid weeds just grow back!

> I care TOO much about what other people thing.

> My favorite singer is P!nk.

> I love yoga.

> I am in awe of the fact that getting poo or boogers on my person does not bother me in the slightest anymore.

> I currently have 2059 photos on my iPhone. 

Don't you love how instagram gives you a nice glow in photos? I look like an angel! right? 

I would love to hear something random about you - share with the world! 

Pebbles Crunching

Sounds of brakes and engine slowing down.
Pebbles meeting tyres in the drive.
Dog: Barking, waging, excitement plus. Finds nearest shoe for mouth.
Car door shuts.
Miss S: "Daddy!"; runs to front door, opens it and yells out for him.

My favourite time of day. What's yours?

Disclaimer - followed closely by any kind of sleeping, on the couch, daytime, night time, on bed, on floor. Not fussy.