Cuteness.

I'm off to a meeting this morning, but just wanted to leave you with this cute photo we took over the weekend. I'll have more later about our adventures in giraffe feeding.


Have a good day. x

Head Full Of Happy.

I feel satisfyingly happy at that moment. I think it's this great weather. A little vitamin D and sunshine does a woman wonders. I thought I'd check in on you today. How are you feeling?

{image}

The Beauty Of Blogging.

One beautiful bonus of being a blogger is that people quite often like to send stuff over. They want bloggers to try their goodies, test them, give them feedback or sometimes just enjoy them. There are lots that I don't write about, but this one was too good not to share.

Earlier this month Giftboxology asked if they could send me over one of their boxes of goodies... and after saying yes it arrived the next day. The box was filled with Australian eco-friendly goodies... that Lacey and I went crazy over.

See that botty butter there? Lacey always sees that and says in her cutest voice, "For my bum!"

Giftboxology only started in March this year, so it's growing in leaps and bounds... and doing good things too with money from each sale going to the Starlight Foundation.

Each giftbox has different contents, but mine was tailored to suit me by the super sweet Jen. Mine had Mother Megs Rum Balls, Beauty & the Bees Beer Shampoo Soap, Beauty & the Bees Honey Cream Bath, Beauty & the Bees Botty Butter, Beauty & the Bees Soap Sampler, Bondi Chai Vanilla & Honey, Brookfarm Mt Bogong Walkabout Mix, Brookfarm Seven Mile Beach Walkabout Mix, Brookfarm Toasted Bar, Little Bean Cold Pack, Moonmum Mother Bird card and Invite with Style invitations.

I'll have to show you the Little Bean Cold Pack another day. It's brilliant. We pop it in the freezer and when Lacey has a spill she'll ask for it... and we put it on her boo-boo and she's "all better now".

You can check out Giftboxology here. Thanks Jen for sending it over. We love it! x

Letter To Lacey: Twenty Nine Months.

Oh Little Lacey, you're not so little anymore. You're growing in every way possible. Your legs are longer, your vocabulary is getting bigger, and even your hair is getting longer. Finally.

Those little wings above your ears, they melt me. I toss up between wanting to try my hand at a little hairdressing giving you a haircut, and wanting them to stay.

I can say that you're coming out of the terrible twos, thankfully. Emerging is a beautiful little girl, with a bubbly personality... and a desire to be involved in everything.

"Hello people!" you'll call to the people walking by, where ever we are.

"You beautiful mama," you'll tell me almost everyday.

This is what dreams are made of, being a mama to you. We lie in bed at night when Dadda is working, and we laugh. We chatter, and we laugh some more.

I love you so so so so much. And I know you love me too. You told me so. x

Point & Shoot: A Little Bit Different.

What a weekend! I had one of those weekends where I almost need another weekend {or a holiday} to get over the weekend that's just passed me by. I'm sure you know that kinda weekend that I'm talking about {a chock-a-block weekend!}.

For the past 3 weeks I've have my head buried in the Blogging Your Way e-course, which I'm just loving. We're learning more about ourselves, our blogs... but most of all I'm enjoying looking into the minds of other bloggers and seeing how they work, and checking out their brilliant blogs.

For our homework this week we were set a little task {well, a series of tasks to pick from}. I chose to show my readers {you guys} a little more into my life. I wanted to take you on a tour of where I live, and give you a different view of my weekend. Enjoy the video below. You'll see what we spent most of the weekend in the sun, feeding giraffes {more on that later} and smiling. The last bit of the video shows where we live, and the streets are always filled with people... including surfers who always seem eager to get to the water. They're always running! Enjoy. x

Thanks for stopping by today. How was your weekend? What did you get up to?

So far.

Oh my little blog. I forgot about you today. You poor little neglected blog.


I've been busy with an open house {read: in a cleaning frenzy readying our home for strangers to walk through it}, hanging out in McDonalds working whilst the open house carried on, announcing the winner of Kidspot's Top 50 Bloggers {lucky lady won a trip to Dunk Island. Not jealous at all. Perhaps a little bit!} and eating healthy chicken noodle salad that Lil Sis delivered.


What have you been up to so far today?

BLOGversation.

I thought today I'd open up the communication lines about blogging. There has been a bit of buzz of late about censoring posts and comments amongst bloggers. How do you feel about this? If something is written on a blog, should the owner stand by the post? Should they be able to remove the post as they please? Should they be able to moderate what comments are left on the post?

What do you think?

I'll leave my opinion in the comments below. I'm looking forward to hearing other's views.

This is not about any particular blogger, or any particular post. It's just a topic of conversation.

{image via weheartit}

Smile. You Are Beautiful.

Good morning! And a good morning it is. I had a great sleep... after only three broken hours the night before, I was blessed with a pretty good sleep last night. Thankfully. And I love waking up to this weather. Spring. I ♥ you!


I'm just waiting to for Little Miss Lacey to wake and then we're off for our morning walk. That makes me smile.


What's making you smile today?

P.S. Lacey is doing super now. Thanks so much for your kind words. She's back to eating biscuits, and causing mayhem. Just as a toddler should. x

{image via love is the movement}

The Adventures Of Lacey & Mama.

Mother a toddler is never a smooth ride. One moment they're smiling and laughing, filled with utter joy, the next they're flailing around on the floor in a fully blown tantrum. I think they should send parents out of hospital with a little card that says, "Expect the unexpected".

Yesterday was a day like any other. We needed to send a parcel and grab some milk so headed out for a walk to the local shops. As a treat I let Lacey take her scooter. A treat for her, a pain in the butt for me. She always gets bored half way through things like that, so it means me juggling baby, scooter, milk, purse, keys, all on a busy road. I'm a sucker... so away we went.

We stopped and talked to a stray dog. "Hello puppy," we cooed to the big boxer as he sniffed his way around the garden.

He stopped in front of us and decided to do a big poop. Afraid that people would think he was our dog, and that we should be scooping up his doo-doo and disposing of it... we moved on. Very quickly.

We stopped off at the post office to send off the parcel where our mate Phil runs the show {Hi Phil!}. Phil usually tries to corrupt Lacey by trying to get her to barrack for the Rabbitohs, when she's clearly a Roosters fan. Mostly though, he wins. As we near the Post Office she'll start chanting Rabbits! Rabbits! Either that or she likes to tell Phil that "Daddy has a doodle" much to our embarrassment.

We grabbed some milk from the corner store and always the shopkeeper told Lacey to grab herself some complimentary lollies. "I love James!" she says as we head back home.

And then comes the struggle. My arms are full and there was a small trek back home. We eventually made it, stopping at the letterbox to fill my arms even more with mail. I heard a car horn being beeped, but ignored it... until a man emerged from his car and yelled out. "Hey! What number are you?"

I told him what number we were, and he continued to ask questions. Realising he was a courier, I left Lacey near the letterboxes, standing on her scooter as I walked the 10 metres to grab the parcel.

The courier fussed and fumbled about as I grew impatient. Lacey waited patiently on her scooter. I turned to grab the parcel, and then I heard a scream. Lacey had fallen.

These things always seem to happen in slow motion. I ran to her and scooped her up. Her little mouth bleeding and her little lungs crying a non-nonsense cry. She was hurt.

My head was screaming, "Faaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrk!" but instead I stayed calm and hugged her, kissing her and hushing her to calm her.

Somehow I grabbed everything, including the new parcel and fumbled into the house.

There was more blood, more crying, an icypole, a wet cloth and inner hysteria. She'd fallen onto the mailbox, with her tooth.

The tooth had moved and the gum was bleeding... so I called the dentist and made an appointment. I'm a worry wart, and the only way to ease the worrying is to have someone else tell me it's either going to be okay, or it isn't.

We drove all the way to the dentist {he's 45 minutes drive away} and had it looked at.

"She'll be okay," he assured me, "It will be really sore for a few days. She'll just have to eat soft foods. But she'll be okay."

Actually, I don't think we need a little card saying "Expect the unexpected". I think we need a little badge of honour that says, "I survived parenthood".

Who knows what today will bring?

P.S. Ironically the courier was delivering Duplo for Lacey to play with. I'll show you how cute that is a little later, and there will be a chance for you to win some too {minus the delivery drama!}. x

The Birth Of Love.

When I was pregnant I couldn't get enough of birth stories. I wanted to read how real people gave birth, the emotions they experienced, and that brand new overwhelming love they had for their baby. I couldn't wait to feel that love myself. It was everything and more than I ever dreamed of... being a new mama. Reading about the pain didn't really worry me. Sure I squirmed reading some stories, but it more so empowered me...

I've been gathering birth stories over on Birth for mums-to-be to read, and so that mums can share their beautiful stories. I could read them all day. I just love them.

Over the weekend Lacey went to bed without me {a miracle!} so I stayed up late with a girlfriend and we shared out favourite sites, and fell down the rabbit hole of blogs until our eyes grew weary. Somehow, someway, I found this birth story. And through reading it my heart ached... with a lump in my throat I read on. Tears welled up in my eyes, and down my cheeks. Nella is the most beautiful little girl, and her mother... she's heartbreakingly honest, and so... beautiful.

Pop over and have a read.

If you're a mama, have you written out your birth story/stories?

{image via weheartit}

Point & Shoot: Mama Got A New...

Mama got herself an iPhone. I know, I know... I've been living in the dark ages for far too long. Well, I've been living in the Blackberry ages for far too long. I had a temperamental phone that would cut out half way through the most important conversations and basically just be a naughty little phone. Goodbye Blackberry... hello iPhone. I'm in looooooove.

I haven't had much time to play... but I'll get there {if Lacey ever lets me have it back}.

I hope you had a lovely weekend. Hubby was away all weekend, so I spent my days hanging out with Lacey, family and friends. Hubby comes home tonight... so I'm looking forward to that. I miss him the minute he leaves. I'm a sad sack like that.

How was your weekend? Tell me... what phone do you have? Are you moving with the times, or are you the proud owner of a brick-type phone circa 1999?

Guest Post: Mixing Mamahood & Work.

Mildred B. Vermont once said “Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs in my field, since the payment is pure love.” I’d have to agree, but it’s just a shame you can’t pay bills with affection.

In my 31 months of motherhood I’ve been a stay-at-home, work-from-home and working mother. I’ve worked for myself and for others, which means I’ve tried almost every combination available to a working mother. Each new experience has meant I’ve learned what does and doesn’t work.

So if you are combining a family and paid employment, here are my five top tips for an easier ride:

1. Get organised. I’ve found the most important key to success has been organisation. The more organised I am, the less stressed I feel. Plan your weekly meals in advance, order groceries online and always organise as much as you can the night before to avoid a mad rush out the door.

2. Leave guilt behind. Guilt is often a working mother’s nosy neighbour, popping in when you’re busy, tired or simply feeling low. Try to leave guilt at the door. More often than not, it’s a sign you’re trying to be the best mother you can be and that’s all you – or anyone else – can ask for.

3. Define work and play. If you’ve found yourself rocking a baby with one arm and responding to emails with another, try separating the two. When you’re working, work and when you’re mothering, mother. Otherwise you may feel you don’t either well. This might mean getting up early or working after your babies are in bed, but you’ll probably find you’re far more productive (and happier) when you do.

4. Cherish your time off. We all know quality isn’t married to quantity so make your evenings and weekends sacred. Happy memories aren’t based on a catalogue of hours spent together, but rather what you did in the hours you had. The emails, washing and housework can wait.

5. Be kind to yourself. Juggling work and the responsibilities of a family can be tough, so be kind to yourself. Take an extra long bath or buy a new magazine. And remember, it really doesn’t matter if your floors aren’t clean enough to serve dinner off. That’s what tables are for.


Thank you so much for your great tips Khali. You can read more from Khali over at little. lovely. where she shares lots of lovely ideas for little people. Be prepared to fall in love!

{image}

Point & Shoot: Aliens In Bondi.

Over the weekend, there were aliens in Bondi.



No, not those sort of aliens. Well, if there were, we didn't spot them. We did spot this lovely couple in our sky yesterday at Festival of the Winds.

Every man and his kite seemed to be in Bondi yesterday. We took a stroll down to the beach, sat on the grass, let the sun kiss our skin {mine is a little too kissed, tsk tsk} and watched the kites in the sky.

How was your weekend? When did you get up to? When was the last time you flew a kite?

P.S. Don't forget to add your link below. Add the link to the your Point & Shoot blog post, not just the link to your blog. And don't forget to link back to here so that your readers can check out everyone elses posts. x

Stuff.

I picked the busiest Saturday ever, it seemed, to trek out to the shops. There were people everywhere. People and children, and trolleys... and more children {including my own curious toddler}.

I stood in line at the checkout with every man and their toddler, and patiently waited my turn. The older lady in front of me queued with her daughter and grandchild. I like to people watch, and I often get lost in other people's conversations. It's a naughty habit I have. I'm an observer, through and through.

I watched the lady look over her surroundings. She scanned through the bins beside the aisles, in other people's trolleys and all around her and then held her hand to her chest. "I feel sick," she gasped.

I took a step back for fear of being vomited on. I was struggling to handle the crowds, but vomit would have tipped me over the edge.

"Look at all this stuff," the lady said to her daughter, gesturing at the items upon items of... stuff, "What's happening to the world? There's just so much stuff."

I'd never thought of it the way she was. I'd looked at everything as potential purchases. As I saw items on shelves I asked myself, "Do I need or want that?"

The answer was either yes or no, and then I moved on to see the next thing, the next potential purchase.

Where I grew up, we didn't have as many stores as I have now. Life was simpler, not only because I was a child... and life is always simpler without the responsibilities of adulthood, but because there was so much more to do than shop.

I looked around and all I could see was consumerism. Trolleys filled to the brim of things people probably didn't really need. Unessential packaging, plastic upon plastic, upon plastic. The woman had a point, and felt a sense of guilt as I looked at the items in my hands. The toddler cutlery set, I didn't really need and the tool set I could probably do without. But instead of walking away, I moved forward with the rest of the herds of people.

Moving forward, but moving backwards... really.

Do you ever look at it like that? Do you try to buy less, and use little?

{image}

1000.

On July 10th 2008 I went for a walk. I walked in the crisp Winter air with my freshly delivered newborn baby, weary from the lack of sleep, in a haze of bliss and love that only comes from being a new parent.

I was exhausted. With my wee little baby I was already back at work from early in the morning, until just as the sun set. Hubby and I were still wearing our parenting training wheels, trying to figure out {and master} all that being a mum and dad entailed. Our hungry little baby fed off and on {mostly on} all day with an insatiable appetite for milk, and comfort.

As I breastfed my baby that evening, I opened my laptop. I scoured the internet for my own nourishment: information, friendships, connections... anything. And I wrote. I started a blog, and I wrote. I didn't write much. There were no pictures. Just words.

And then I wrote again. And then distracted with life, baby and sleep deprivation, I forgot about it.

A month and a few days on, I stumbled across my words and I wrote some more. And I liked it. So I kept going. I didn't write for anyone else, but me. No one even knew about me. I didn't tell them.

I'd always kept a journal, so this writing wasn't knew to me. It was just me moving with the times, writing online.

As the months wore on, the writing became more regular. People started to respond and connections were made. The seeds of friendships were planted, and flowers began to blossom. Before long it was a part of my life, and one I cherished.

Enjoyment always came first. Writing was always for me, and no one else. There was no money in my bank account, and no deals being made on the side. Just writing, sharing and connecting.

The months passed by, and the flowers were soon fields of colour. I began to realise there was a whole blogging community, potential friendships from all corners of the world.

Not only were there friendships, and nourishment from other people's words... but eventually there were opportunities.

There was always a niggling concern of what I'd do when I no longer nannied. I always thought I'd just end up being a Cleaner, going from house to house scrubbing toilets and vacuuming carpets. And I was okay with that. I didn't know what else I could do.

But then someone saw something in me, something that I hadn't even noticed myself. And in a matter of months I went from being a nanny with a blog on the side to an Editor with a blog on the side, and a career ahead of me.

On that day almost two years ago in July 2008, I had no idea what would come of those cluster of words and thoughts. And now, 1000 posts later, I'm here. Still blogging away... with flourishing friendships, fellow bloggers and a whole lot of hope and promise.

Blogging hasn't been easy. There have been days when I could have thrown it away. Days of self-doubt... days of seeing into the dark side {where I've since learnt that not all bloggers are seeds of friendships just waiting to blossom}. But the good definitely outweighs the bad.

One thousand posts on... I want to say thank you. Thank you for dropping by and reading, even if it's only been once or twice, or even if it's every day. Thank you for your words of support, your love, your friendship, your laughter and sharing your life. Thank you for inspiring me, listening to me, thank you for being you...

Raise your cup of green tea, your can of diet coke, or your sippy cup of juice and say cheers. Here's to another 1000. Here's to living, loving and everything in between.

Thank you. x

P.S. I'll be having a celebratory giveaway in the coming weeks with a few of my favourite things. I just need to go shopping and gather my goodies... stay tuned. x

{image}

You Are Simply Awesome

The Dress That Never Was.

Can you do up the zip? I sheepishly asked my husband, with a hint of doubt in my voice.

He tugged at the zipper. We wriggled, and moved trying to make it easier for the zip to slide up. I breathed in until I thought I might turn blue. Eventually the zip made it's way all the way to the top. I was in.

I sat down on the bed, cautiously, with a sense of dismay. "It's so hot outside," I whined, "I can't wear this."

"You look beautiful," my husband tried to convince me. I wasn't sure whether he was being honest or just wanted to prevent a major wardrobe related meltdown.

I didn't feel beautiful. It was tipped to be a 42 degree day out. We had a wedding in the middle of nowhere without an air-conditioner in sight. I knew I'd regret the dress decision as the day wore on. It was too tight.

I requested to be unzipped, and quickly donned my old faithful. Equally as beautiful, but definitely not as new.

I have a section in my wardrobe dedicated to the clothes that never were. Clothes that still have their tags. Clothes that I could almost fit into, but didn't quite. Clothes that I purchased whilst filled to the brim with hope and self-belief. Clothes that I will wear... one day.

I love these clothes. I bought them years ago, when I was thinner. Almost thin enough, but not quite. I don't look at them and think of the occasions that never were, I look at them and think of the future that we have together. There are jeans that costs more than I'd like to admit. I'll wear them one Winter, I know I will. There's a sweet black designer dress with hand embroidery down the front that I'll wear during Summer on one balmy night. And then there's the dress that I almost wore to the wedding so many years ago, with the beautiful black bow on the front. I'll wear that one day. I know I will.

I held it up this past weekend and looked it over. I smiled. I'm 1.2 kg closer {my loss this week} to wearing it. I don't look at it as the dress that never was, I look at it as the dress that one day will be.

One day soon. Hopefully.

Do you have a section in your wardrobe dedicated to one day?

A Gem.

I love looking at photos, taking photos, learning about taking photos and getting to know photographers. One of my best friends is a photographer and she's a constant source of inspiration and super talented too. Photographers seem to be pretty darn fantastic people {I know that's a sweeping generalisation, but show me a photographer you don't love}.

I discovered Alexandrena Parker last week, and I was so super excited when I did. She's a little gem that I'd never heard of before. She'd just shot for Wovenplay. And I know they have great taste. Miss Sheye {photographer goddess} has snapped for Wovenplay before too. So they obviously know talent when they see it.

The other brilliant news is that Alexandrena {or Alex for short, I've since learnt} is affordable. It's just $250 for 1-2 hour session, and you get to take home 15-20 images home on disc {and they're fully retouched too}.

You can see more of Alex's work here and here. Or you can send her an email.

Guest Post: Sleep Baby, Sleep.

Chantelle and I have many things in common. Amongst them we have children that don’t sleep. For what ever reason. The longer this goes on {for me and for her} the more I realise it is a fact of life that some babies and toddlers just do not require as much sleep as the guidelines say.


Both us will tell you our precious ones are perfectly fine. They embrace life and enjoy it to the full. They hit all their milestones with no problems. They eat and play well. They just wake up during the night.

This is all fine but when you are a mum and you are operating on no sleep and no time to rest; things get skewed so I asked for help. I went to sleep group and also had a sleep consultant visit the house. I wanted to share some ideas we worked through together that I found interesting and hadn’t thought of.

I must also say that most health experts say that babies are not expected to sleep through the night for the first 3 – 6 months? Even after then they can be waking for a feed or two. Eating solids certainly will not magically make them sleep. Be sure your expectations of them are not too high.

* Are they getting enough stimulation throughout the day?
* Are they eating enough? From 9 – 10 months they will start telling you when they full. So make sure they are getting enough food. By 8 months they should be on 3 meals a day. As they get older ensure they are getting snacks as well.
* Have a sleep time routine. Always.
* Have an earlier dinner (ours is at 5.30) to signal the start of the wind down of the day.
* Watch for the tired signs. Some of these can be:
- being clingy, agitated and fussy
- Tugging at their hair, ears, rub eyes
- Become more clumsy and frustrated

These tips have helped me and my bubs. He is now 12 months old and settling and sleeping much better then he was. Now to work on the day naps...


Thanks Janelle. I know it's awful to say, but it makes me feel so good when I know other people go through the same things. To know that I'm not alone, and I'm not a bad parent... it makes me feel so much better. Thanks for your advice. Good luck with the day naps. You can read more from Janelle {and see some scrumptious gluten free recipes too} at Nellbe's Gluten Free Kitchen Table.

{image}

Point & Shoot: Crime Scene.

We're elbow deep in the terrible twos. Crying has gone from mid-range sobbing, to high-pitch shrieking with feet stomping and body thrusting thrown in.

Cyclone Lacey can upend a room in one mean swoop. She'll move chairs to climb to where she needs to be. In most cases it's our book case or kitchen cupboards. She'll scale walls, tables, ovens... anything.

She has to be touching me all. the. time. When she sleeps, when she's awake, when she eats, when we drive {she's been pretty much like this since birth, but hey... I forgot to mention it}.

I'm exhausted all the time from keeping up from her, and I wish I could teach her about personal space, because at the moment... I have none. Zero. I go to bed when she does... I wake up when she does. I'm tired of the yelling, the demanding, the constant neediness, the having to watch out for our little destroyer.

There are tantrums about getting dressed, about having a bath, about dinner, about putting shoes on, about taking shoes off. There are tantrums about getting in the car, about getting out of the car... there are even tantrums about having a blanket on at night.

And thankfully she doesn't just save the tantrums just for me. She treated Ma {Gaga} to one the other day. Lucky Ma.

On Saturday after playing playdough and building blocks, I decided to get the paint out. It was only 9am and I'd already played everything, had a work meeting over Skype and showered {with Lacey watching, of course}. So out the paints came. Within 3 minutes she'd trod over all the paintings and walked them through the house. Disaster. Little blue footprints everywhere.

But I love her. I do. I just can't wait for this stage to be over. Already.

Do you have any tips? Do you know how to deal with the terrible twos?

About Point & Shoot

Created in December 2009, Point & Shoot is a fun way to share a little piece of your weekend with the blogging community.

The concept came to me after sharing photo after photo of my own weekends, and then wanting to see what everyone else was up to as well. So I invited everyone to share, and since then they have. It's grown and grown, and each week my hearts swells at the lovely way bloggers and readers have shared their photos with such enthusiasm.

What does it entail?

Just take a picture of any part of your weekend. It can be something thrilling and exciting, or it can be something as normal, and wonderfully average as a picture of your Sunday breakfast or even the sky. It can be anything!

Upload it onto your blog {or on Facebook if you don't have a blog} and then come back to Fat Mum Slim each Monday and leave a link to your picture.

In your post, don't forget to link back and mention Point & Shoot so that your readers can join in on the fun too!

I put the date, time and location on the bottom of my photos. You don't have to, although you're more than welcome to, if you like.

Feel free to grab my Point & Shoot button to display on your blog, and link it to here.

I look forward to seeing what you did on your weekend. Thanks for playing along. x

Things I Heart.

Here's a few little bits & pieces that are making me smile today...

I found this on the interwebs this week and I can't remember where! How cute is it? And how cute is he? Love. {If you know where this is from please leave a comment so I can credit them}.

That my best friend is pregnant. And going to be a mama. And I get to see her next week. Double yippeee. {That's not her above, but how sweet is the image?}

Having work mates. Although we work from home, we're constantly chatting and working as a team. And we have real meetings too. It's so new to me. I'm used to working alone {with kids}. I even get to have work Christmas party. My first. Ever.

Because you are. Everyone is. In their own special way.

Love. Because it's all you need.

Cupcakes & coloured nails {my nails are painted a similar colour to the aqua ♥}

What's making you smile today?