Monthly Archives: September 2011

If I were 2, I'd tantrum too…

Well, doesn’t the title just say it all – If I were 2, I’d tantrum too!

B1 is always asking me to play with him, so I thought we’d sit and play trains. He loves his trainset, but I(not him) find that it gets a bit boring after a while. I mean, how many times can you go around and around the same tiny oval little track!

So in true style, I decided to open some of the extra track bits we had in our ‘gifts & for special occasions’ hiding place. We had 2 extra sets – one with a ramp and bridge supports, the other with a tunnel and track dividers (so it went from one track into two different ways). So we sat down to play… but I couldn’t figure it out. Everytime I tried a new way of putting it together, the pieces wouldn’t line up. It was so frustrating! 🙂

After a while, and hubby throwing in a few suggestions, we finally figured out something that kind-of worked. There was a bit of stress on some of the joins, but it pretty much worked. Here is the pic.

Am I the only one who –

a) loves playing with my kids toys?

b) Gets them new ones cause they want to play with them?

c) Gets frustrated when they can’t do it!? 😀

Babies Smell, Babies' Smell.

Babies smell. It’s a known fact. They can smell really bad from their stinky nappies (my boys are good at this!), or they can smell really good from their baby skin and/or baby products.

I’ve already done two posts on the my stinky boys out in public and at home. Whilst I love that natural newborn baby smell, this post is about the goregous smells of baby products.

With B1, my fav was the Huggies Bathwash (Lavender & Chamomile). Very sadly, it’s no longer available. In my own special fashion, I stocked up as soon as I found this out and we’ve only recently finished our last bottle (2yrs later). I was very disappointed. I even used it myself so that I could smell it all day long. I’ve had to be grown up about it though, and “get over it”. 🙂

It dawned on my recently that I had been collecting all the samples of baby products from my Bounty Bag, Baby expo’s etc, but not really using them. They were nicely stored in a basket in the top drawer of our change table chest. So when we finished our Huggies, I started using them, and found two amazing smells I wanted to share.

1) GAIA Bath & Body Wash – has a gorgesous orangy smell to it! I tried out the samples of both the body wash and moisteriser on B2, and ended up using the moisteriser more for my benefit! So relaxing 🙂 You can get information on requesting a sample here.

2) Aromababy Barrier Balm – with the sickness in our family, nappies to change, messes to clean up… I wash my hands a lot. The skin on my hands is feeling it, to the point where my hands started bleeding from cracking. So I started using this sample from my baby products. Verdict? I love it! I used it once, and kept using it for the smell. It’s working too. I put it on at night before going to bed so it doesn’t get washed off and I can lie there and smell it as I relax and go off to sleep. Creepy? It smells so good! 🙂

** This post is my own opinion. It is not a paid endorsemeent nor a recommendation of the quality of a product. As with any new product, please check product information, recommended skin types, allergy information etc before use and monitor closely for any reaction.

Just another day in the life of a mum really…

Well I’ve posted on facebook about how crazy busy we are at the moment, with hubby sick & busy with work and trying to get the house in order (with the deadline of a meeting at our place, and visitors coming from overseas meaning that we can’t just ‘stash’ the stuff in lounge or spareroom!). So I needed to get motivated. I needed to pull out something special. I was going to get dressed into my exercise clothes & shoes… pumped!

Up bright an early, B1 nappy changed & had his milk, fed B2 & nappy changed, popped him down to kick for a bit whilst I went to get dressed…

half way thorugh getting dressed. [massive exploding noises]

“oh dear!”

Time to change B2’s nappy again [casualties – singlet & outfit & changemat cover]

Ok, so time for a bath! [casualties – 2 x bath towels]

B2 nappy finally on

Leave B2 on playmat whilst I go clean up that mess & grab a fresh set of clothes for him

Start dressing B2. Lift legs to button suit…

“ARGH! It’s all leaked out the side & back” [casualties – singlet & outfit & changemat cover]

It’s all a bit hazzy, but I think around about then was when I started to smell B1…

And it wasn’t even 9am!

And I still didn’t quite have my shoes on! 🙂

Soup, soup, soup.. [Bacon & Corn]

For various reasons, it happened that I went for over a week without cooking a meal for my family. There was also a few days in there where I didn’t work on any of my goals. So with hubby being sick, I thought it was a good time to continue with goal 37) Cook 5 new soup recipes.

I was up to my 3rd soup recipe – Bacon & Corn (and I actually took a photo this time of my son’s serve!)

How did I make it?

Fry up a few rashers of bacon. Add 500mL stock, 1 diced potato and 1x 400g tin of drained corn kernels. Simmer until potato starts to fall apart. Take off heat. Stir in 500mL milk and a large handful of grated cheese. Put back on low to heat through, but do not boil.

It tasted okay, but I wasn’t the biggest fan. Hubby liked it, and so did B1. In fact B1 had a second bowl, then leftovers the next night, and asked for more. I’d say he was a fan 🙂

If I were to try it again, I think I’d leave out a bit of the milk, as I prefer my soups a bit thicker.

Motivation, or lack there of

Sleep is my friend. When we are apart, I don’t do so well. I generally need about 10hrs per night. Before I had kids, I used to sleep in until after 8am to get to work by 9am. It was so good to live near work!

So now, with a 2.5yo and a 4month old, a good night’s sleep is a thing of the past. I’m probably averaging about 5-6hrs sleep per night. Needless to say, I’m struggling a bit.

Some days I can get up and push through, get moving, and have a very productive day. Others, not so much. It’s a battle, from the very first glimpse of consiousness, which is the sound of one of my kids. I don’t just wake up on my own these days. I’m always woken by one of the kids, if not the alarm because we have to be somewhere.

Whilst some days I think it’s important for my sanity to just “chill” or have a “pj day”, there are other days when things just have to be done. I know I have to push through that barrier and “get moving”. I remember one day very clearly when I rang my husband at work and said “Darl, I need you to talk me into going to my massage” because I knew I had to go, would be glad I went, but just didn’t have the energy or motivation at the time to get ready. The thought of getting ready was just exhausting in itself!

Other little things I use for motivation, particularly on my home days, include:

Getting dressed in exercise clothes, including shoes. Wearing my joggers/sports shoes are really important when at home – they give me a bit of ‘bounce’ and help me to feel healthy… which means I’m more likely to eat better, drink more water, do exercise AND get more housework done. Go figure, but for me it works!

Putting up notes/photos around the house. I find that this works in the interim. After a while I stop seeing them, though will occasionally glance at them and get a reminder.

Lists, lists and more lists. I’m a list person; I think in “dot points”. I love seeing things crossed off lists, so when I start on my to-do list, I always put a few of the quicker things to do first so I see some accomplishments which motivates me to do more. Alternatively, for the bigger things I break them down into smaller tasks so I can cross them off as I go (eg. dishes can be broken up into “unpack dishwasher, repack dishwasher, wash handdishes, put handdishes away). When I get interupted by the kids (which always seems to happen), it means I can also check off the bit I have done 😀

Reminding myself that I’m really blessed. I don’t have it bad. Not even close! Not even close to close! In Australia we are so rich compared to other parts of the world. But even more than that, we have no serious illnesses, we have a house with utilities, hubby has a job, we have food on the table, cars, each other, and the time & opportunity to have hobbies and social time and lastly, but most importantly, we have an amazing friend, saviour & Lord named Jesus.

b2b: 6 of 40 GOALS COMPLETED

Goal 16 ) Go for a month without any chocolate – CHECK!

Well, it’s done! As of 11:59pm on August 31st I’d gone for a month without chocolate. I couldn’t belive how many times I wanted to eat chocolate in that month! On day 26 I nearly accidentally did as well. I was out and starving and the person I was with gave me a little packet of 2 biscuits. I opened it up and was going to have the choc-chip one until I realised what I was doing. *phew* So close to needing to start all over again!

I’ve also managed to lose 3kg in the month, making no other changes than giving up chocolate. I did a few days of walking or treadmill, but no more than usual, and I ate other junkfood too. Hmm.. I must eat a lot of chocolate.

And so ends a special month…

Today is Fathers Day in Australia. Happy Fathers Day to all those awesome daddy’s out there! For our family, today also marks the end of our month-long celebration of Hubby’s birthday. I got the idea from a fab friend of mine who does it every year (WOW!). They have “Month of Dave” to celebrate his birthday, and each year is themed differently. What an amazing wife my friend is!

The day before hubby’s birthday, he came home to find a birthday card stuck to the back of the garage door, and some things on our dining table…

It was a lot of fun, but a lot of work. Definitely worth it though to spoil my hubby a bit – He works so hard for our family. As you can see, it was a lot of work, but probably wasn’t much more expensive than normally buying him birthday presents & fathers day presents from the kids and I, as they were smaller things and we would have normally bought him half of it anyway. It was just a fun way of presenting it. He’s a big kid afterall; loves his presents, loves his toys 🙂

Food stuffs: Ginger Beer, Monte Carlos, Chiccos, Chocolate

Fun stuffs: Mr Men Carsign, Ninja Cookie Cutters, Stress ball, Lego Car set, iTunes cards, Disco glasses & Rainbow suspenders

Vouchers: Home cooked breakfast, Date Night (dvd, popcorn, frozen coke), Fav dinner “chicken dish”

Body stuffs: Superman Tissues, Superman Bodywash, “My wife made me wear this” t-shirt

Practical Stuff: Mini stapler, Car freshener, Office storage box, Nerf ammo storage box (hehe), “Men make me laugh when they try to think” Coffee Mug

On the day of his birthday some very cool people also filled his car with balloons (each with a comment) whilst he was at work. There was even a facebook-type sign on the steering wheel that certain people “liked” it. When he got home, there were 35+ images of the individual balloons uploaded to his facebook page, each by a different person. Hehe. Here were a few of my fav balloons.

It’s so important to actively SHOW our love for people as well as TELL them how loved they are! How do you spoil your loved ones??? Would love to hear some more ideas!

b2b: 5 of 40 GOALS COMPLETED

Goal 13 ) Sell something on e-bay – CHECK!

Late on Wednesday night, my first ever item on ebay sold. And then another, and then another 🙂

I posted the first 4 items for a 5day auction, starting at 0.99c. Probably because it’s my first time, I was eager to see what was happening, how many people watch items, how the bids go up etc. So everytime I sat down to feed B2 (which is currently every 3-4hours during the day) I would check in to see if anything had happened. After 2 days I remembered something very important – I’m not very patient.

Oh my gosh! It’s like watching grass grow 🙂

By early on Day 3, I setup the push notifications on my phone, so I could just check when something actually did happen. I found that a bit exciting getting random messages – hehe. Simple things amuse simple minds 🙂

Thinking about it, it could become very addictive. Especially if using it to de-clutter and getting rid of things when you just want to get rid of them and don’t care if you get anything for them!

Unfortunately though, I found it took quite a bit of time to do. I suppose this would get quicker as I got more practice and knew what I was doing, but at this stage I probably just don’t have the time since all the spare time that I don’t have is spent on my goals and this blog! (Sorry housework, I just don’t love you as much.)

Postage was also a pain. And then a pain. And then a pain some more. (And then a literal pain – the person looking after the kids ended up at hospital). But it’s a long story I’m not going into. All I’m going to say is… If it ain’t worth putting in a 500g prepaid satchel, it ain’t getting listed 🙂

But perhaps I’ll just try and list the odd item here and there from the “ebay” box I’ve been chucking things in for about 6months now! And I really need to start goal 25 ) Get rid of ex-demo Tupperware – sell, donate, giveaway. hmmm… Ok, so maybe I can justify a bit of time 😛

The Monsters in my Cupboard (Tupperware!)

Do your kitchen cupboards look like you’ve got monsters in there playing with your plastics? Or when you need to put away your clean dishes, do you open the door, throw it in and shut the door quickly hoping nothing will fall out? This used to be the case with the Tupperware cupboard in our previous home. As a former Tupperware demonstrator, I used to hear (& see) stories like this all the time too.

When we moved into our current house I was determined to change this. As we were building the house, I was able to design our kitchen, which was a total blessing! I put in 2 drawers for Tupperware, as well as cupboard.

I use about 2/3 of my ‘stored’ Tupperware (ie. not “always in use” Tupperware, like Modular Mates full in the pantry or Fridgesmarts kept in the fridge) on a regular basis. I’ve manged to find some great space-saving ways to store it, so thought I would share. Firstly though, I want to share the pic that inspired this post. I was putting away some seals the other night… and had to make sure they were colour-coordinated 🙂

To get my Tupperware order, it’s really nothing amazing or fancy. I pretty much look at the shapes, and put the similar shapes together. Like a big jig-saw puzzle. I play with it to find the “best fit” possible, I learn what that is, and that’s where it goes. This is particularly the case with bowls. I’ve got a few “before” and “after” type photos I’ve pulled out of my cupboards and drawers to show you.

I’ve found it’s so much easier to find things, and takes less room when stacked like this:
(I keep most of the big seals in a separate box, all lined up)

I used to get annoyed when I’d knock over a couple of drinkbottles when trying to get other items out of my cupboard. I ended up moving them, as well as other similar items, into one of my drawers, and have the lids (& bottom cups) in a basket. If you don’t have a drawer, you could also use a cake keeper or something similar to put them in. I have found it makes it really easy to find them, you don’t struggle to get them out of the back of the cupboard and they don’t all fall over like bowling pins because they’re held together. (Though one of hubby’s lays down because its too tall for the drawer. The empty space usually has a few more “rock n serves” in it, and the lids are stored in that empty orange container.)

Anyway, there are some ideas I’ve had, and things that I’ve found useful. I’d love to hear from you what storage ideas have worked in your own kitchen for your Tupperware/plastics (or if you’ve got any ideas for how I could improve on mine!)

Transforming Egg