This is me

Stolen from Sarah at "Maybe Baby" (I hope you don't mind- I was bored and needed something to do!)

Making : a pram liner and some more nappies... because I can't help myself, and I got GIVEN some material!!!
Cooking : nada. We had a no dinner night after a late picnic lunch.
Drinking : water
Reading : 'As You Do' By Richard Hammond. Very funny.
Wanting : Some more of the semi-dried tomatoes and feta mix I got from the deli for our picnic today.
Looking : super sexy in my pyjamas. NOT!
Playing : footsies with my husband
Wasting : time that I possibly could be spending on uni work.
Sewing : nappies and a pram liner... and some skirts for Mayana, and a quilt I've been working on since I was pregnant. Many, many things.
Wishing : that there was a Starbucks in our town.
Enjoying : Half-watching a Harry Potter movie
Waiting : for my hubby to be ready for bed.
Liking : my daughter's new hobby of getting the giggles at random times for no apparent reason
Wondering : what the next week will bring
Loving : My life, with my incredible husband and gorgeous daughter. I'm a blessed woman.
Marvelling : at the amazing new skills Mayana learns every day. It's so cool to watch her learn.
Needing : A Throat Clear. My throat is all tickly and my voice disappearing.
Smelling : Not much. I can't actually smell anything at the moment.
Wearing : My pj's
Following : way too many blogs to keep up with properly. *sigh*
Noticing : how quickly my girl is 'growing up'. In only 4.5 months she'll be a year old!
Knowing : That I should treasure every singe second.
Thinking : That when this movie is finished I'm going to convince hubby it's bed time
Bookmarking : random pages that I think might be interesting to look at again. The latest being a blog with a video tutorial of a fail-proof way to sew bias binding.
Opening : 'Twitter' in a new window ;)
Giggling : at my daughter's new-found love of hommus. Read about it here
Feeling : Relaxed and content!

converting to cloth… the story so far

The short version: I’m loving it!

Honestly, I’m not finding it to add a whole lot to my workload at all, and it’s really much easier than I anticipated. Plus Mayana looks so cute with her little cloth bum! They are nice and trim nappies, a little fatter than disposables of course, but they haven’t affected the clothes she wears or anything – she still fits the same sized pants and everything.

My routine at the moment is this:
Nappies go into a dry nappy bucket. If it’s wet, I just fold it up and pop it in, if it’s dirty, I flush the liner, which nine times out of ten catches everything, fold it up and pop it in. What isn’t caught by the liner, I scrape off with some toilet paper and flush it too… any excess is easily washed off during the rinse cycle of the wash anyway.

After we’ve put Mayana to bed, Pete takes her nappy bucket to the laundry, pulls the soakers out of the nappies and puts all the nappies and wipes we’ve used on a rinse cycle. Before we go to bed, I put all nappy stuff into a zippered pillow-protector (acts as a giant sized laundry ‘delicates’ bag), add our clothes from the day (mine & Pete’s, not Mayana’s), put half a scoop of laundry powder in and do a full (cold) wash.

In the morning, Pete goes in to change Mayana, while I hang out the nappies and clothes. While Pete baths Mayana in the afternoons, I get the clothes in. I usually stuff the nappies as I take them off the line, and put them back into her change table shelf ready for the next day!

I haven’t even found it difficult when out.. I made myself a wetbag, just pop the nappies in there and deal with the mess when I get home.

I’m loving using pre-folds as my soakers, they dry so quickly—even the heavy weight bamboo.

We haven’t had one leak at all as yet (fingers crossed it stays that way).

I’m also finding that rather than making me feel snowed-under by washing, I’m actually keeping on top of my washing more than ever, since I’m doing it daily.

All in all, the only thing I wish is that I’d started it earlier!

another Jonah day, or the day Mayana broke the car

Maybe not quite as bad as this one.. but still, I'm glad to see the tail end of it.

The day started off with hubby and I snapping at each other, cos he was stressed about his lesson plans for the day (he's on prac). He'd been up late trying to finish them off, his computer had crashed, he hadn't been able to find what he was looking for, and didn't think to ask for help. So anyway, we were just bickering all morning, and anyone who knows us knows that we don't bicker, or argue.

We had mostly gotten over it by the time I dropped him off at school, but it was still a yucky start to the morning.

Mayana went down really well for her morning sleep. The problem was she only slept for 20 minutes. And wouldn't go back to sleep despite me trying everything I could think of! She was sooo tired but just wouldn't give in. She kept sitting up and playing , or standing up in her cot. It's cute when she stands up in her cot, but the problem lies in the fact that once she stands up she can't figure out how to get down, and stands up and screams and bangs on the wall until I come and help her. That's not so cute. Anyway, I left her in there until the time I would have liked her to sleep to, but no more sleep was to be had. Any clues as to how to stop the whole standing up in the cot thing would be greatly appreciated.

We decided to get out of the house, so I packed up the nappy bag and off we went to the shops. That was all good. I was hoping the girl would have a sleep while we were out, but I was clearly dreaming. She was well behaved at least.

By the time we were done, it was only an hour or so until we had to pick Pete up, so I decided to go to the Japanese gardens and hang out on a picnic rug in the sun for a while. It was lovely. Really. Until we got to the part where Mayana broke the car. She was crawling around the picnic mat, when I looked up and there she was, sucking on my car keys. As soon as I realised I took them off her and put them away. But the damage was already done.

When we got back to the car, the central locking wasn't working. I wondered if maybe the key's batteries had died. Got Mayana in the car, keys in the ignition and... nothing. Fabulous. Everytime something goes wrong with the car, I'm on my own.

Got on to RACQ, who arrived surprisingly quickly. Car battery was fine, nothing seemed to be 'wrong' with the car. He asked if central locking was working. "No," I replied.

"Aaaaah". Apparently the immobiliser that works with the key had kicked in because the key wasn't working. I sheepishly asked if that could have anything to do with the fact that my baby had just sucked on it. He replied that it probably had everything to do with it. Apparently it's quite a common occurance. Oh dear.

By now Pete was there, and they fiddled with things trying to see if they could get the starter moter to override the immobiliser, but to no avail. Finally the RACQ guy says that we'll probably have to get the car towed, then use a hairdryer to dry out the key. Poo.

Before he organised that, he decided to give it just a couple more tries. And what do you know, on about the 4th try, the key worked, and the car turned on!!! Oh thank the Lord!

Suffice it to say, Mayana will NEVER be playing with my keys again.

I love...

Stationery. Sad, I know, but true. My Dad reckons it's the inner-teacher in me... maybe he's right, but I have always loved it.

I loved those weeks before a new school year, when you got all your new books and pens and pencil case items, and got to cover your books. I love covering books. I used to do really cool stuff like cover them with fantale wrappers. My brother and sisters would even get me to cover their books. This year was the first year that I can remember that I didn't cover their books... and only cos I was kinda busy having a baby.

So anyway, this awesome new shop opened up at our local shopping centre.

A whole store dedicated to beautiful, bright, funky stationery. My dream store, seriously. I can see myself spending a lot of time there, dreaming, drooling, trying to remember that I can't spend because I'm supposed to be saving for our Perth trip.

To celebrate its opening today, I bought myself this most fabulous pen:

I bought Pete one too. That's how fabulous I think it is. It is like a whole pencil case in one pen. It has a blue pen, a red pen, a pacer and a highlighter. All in this one spunky pink pen. Seriously, that's cool. Even if you're not a stationery lover like me, you have to admit that.

I love my new pen!

I've just finished reading...

Time for another new blog segment. Seeing as how I read sooooo many books (check out my safari shelf in my sidebar ---->) I thought I might as well review some of them here on my blog.

So to kick things off...

I've just finished reading...



I have actually read it before. However, I think I must have sped-read it when we first bought it - with people lined up to read it, because there is soooooo much of it that I didn't remember!

I love the Harry Potter series. I was completely uninterested and didn't start reading them until a couple of years after the first few came out, but once I started I couldn't stop. I think J.K. Rowling is a fantastic author, and has a real knack of drawing you completely into the story- into a whole other world. And that's my favourite type of book.

Only problem is, you love it so much that the fact that this is the last book in the series is really sad and disappointing.

This book is SO intense. The movies (I hear it will be made into two) of this book are going to be terrifying, and I definitely wouldn't let my kids watch it until they're at least 13. I probably wouldn't even let a pre-teen read the book! It's pretty dark, and has some pretty adult themes. And so many beloved characters die! [please don't tell me I'm the only one who shed a tear when Dobby the house-elf died]

I have to admit, even though I do like the little epilogue/19 years later section at the end of the book, it is just a little corny. And seriously, Albus Severus is not a cool name, even if it is sentimental. But despite that, you've gotta love how all those loose ends tie up so beautifully and everyone's lives work out in the end.

I love the book, I love the series, and I can't wait for the next movie to come out!

{Stay tuned.. next I'm reading an auto-biographical-type book by Richard Hammond, of Top Gear fame}

It’s Tuesday and I can’t wait...

to meet Mich & Luke’s new baby girl! Mayana’s buddy has finally arrived, holding out for a week after her due date.

Leela Margaret was born on the 22nd of August, weighing exactly 7lbs. I’m so happy for Luke and Michelle who have waited so long for this day.

I’m not sure when exactly we’ll be able to get back to the coast to meet her, but I hope it’s SOON!!!

[Play Tuesday Here]

full-timer

Last night we used out very last disposable nappy! So from now on we are full time cloth nappy users. And we are such hippies that we are even using cloth wipes!

This is my stash:

* 2 fleece covers
* 6 terry fitteds
* 6 PUL covers
* 6 GreenKids one-size-fits-all pockets with bamboo soakers
* 9 home-made pockets with bamboo/hemp/microfiber soakers
* Stack of flannelette and cotton prefolds
* Stack of terry flats
We’ll mainly be using my home-made ones and the GreenKids.

I have about 30ish cloth wipes made of microfleece & flanelette, and I spray them with a mix of water, baby oil, baby lotion & baby soap (small amounts) to use them.

I also have a couple of rolls of flushable liners so poop disposal is easy!

We plan to wash every day at this point, but I have a feeling we could get away with every second day with this amount of nappies. We’ll see!

If I need to I will make myself some more pockets. I’ve worked out that it costs me around $4.50 per nappy, not including the material for the soakers. Pretty impressive considering they retail for $20-$30!!

I’m so determined to make this work full-time… wish me luck people!

watchya got cookin'!?

Grocery day again....

T. Stir-fry with mince
F. Fish & Chips (homemade) with Salad
S. LEFTOVER NIGHT (probably moved to another night when I don't feel like cooking !
S. Quiche with feta and sundried tomatoes
M. Sticky Sausages
T. Spinach & Ricotta Lasagne
W. Spaghetti
T. Kangaroo Roast Dinner
F. Roast leftovers
S. Fish & Chips with salad
S. Sushi (which means hubby makes dinner... yay!)
M. Tray baked sausages with cherry tomatoes
T. Mushroom & Parmesan risotto (might add chicken to appease the husband!)
W. Spaghetti/lasagne (depending on how much I feel like cooking!)

my mama my friend

BlogThis | Challenge 12

share with us your favourite memory of your mother or father or another parent-figure in your life. It may be a wonderful mother-daughter experience you had with your mum, or something special you've done with your children... inspire us!

Well if you've ever read this blog before, you would know that my family is one of the most important things in my life.

I know it's one of those corny cliche things, but my mum really is one of my best friends (up there with my hubby and sisters... and my dad and brother for that matter). We are (probably abnormally so) incredibly close.

My favourite memory of my mum would have to be her presence at the birth of my daughter - her first grandchild. Of course Mum agreed the moment we asked her to be a birth partner. Peter was more than keen to have her there- he knew that I needed her, and felt that he needed her too.

Mum was the perfect birth partner. So sensitive. When I just needed Pete she seemed to just know, and would kind of melt into the background. When I needed her she was by my side in a split second.

We laugh at the memory of her trying to fulfill my wishes from my birth plan that I didn't want to give birth naked, and her trying to put my nightie on, or cover me with a sheet, and me batting them away and telling her I didn't want them.

She tells me how she wanted to sock the anesthetist in the face when she told me she 'didn't want any silly nonsense' while I was having rolling contractions (in transition) and she was trying to insert my epidural (which she never got in anyway).

I remember her telling Peter to be strong in the moment when the midwife told me it was time to push, and we were about to meet our baby, and we both broke down into tears.

I remember her holding my hands while I birthed my gorgeous daughter into the world, and watching her see her granddaughter for the first time.

I love that my dad stayed in the waiting room through my entire labour so he got to come in the moment Mayana was born and be a part of that most amazing moment.



Mum stayed with us for a week after Mayana was born, and I don't know how we could have done it without her. She helped with everything, but still let us muddle our way through being the parents. When we couldn't settle the baby at 2am, she came in and took her and let us sleep. She cooked us dinner and did washing. I cried when she left.

I'm so glad that my mum was able to be there.

And that is my favourite memory of my mum.

beautiful website

I came across this most beautiful website today...

It moved me to tears, a window into someone's life, emotion, love...

beautiful

Days with my Father

Enjoy

[edit] sorry about the link issues guys.. should be working now!

Do you love my 'do?? ... I do!

I went to visit the wonderful Mel at Salon Unique today. Best hairdresser on the Sunshine Coast and I'm not ever joking.

Style cut and full colour for $65! You've gotta love that.

Plus, she always makes me look and feel GREAT!

Here's me and my new 'do...

I love...

* My Jesus... for He has made me new.

* My husband. He is my best friend. He makes me laugh. He cuddles me when I'm feeling sad. He tells me I'm a wonderful Mama. He dances with me. He lets me be silly. He washes up every night. He adores me. He makes me feel like a princess. And he has been my husband for four years in less than a month!

* My daughter. She lights up my life. I marvel every time I look at her. I can't believe I made her! She may be a tiny bundle, but goodness she is a ball of personality and she fills up my life! I was born to be a Mama!

* My family. They made me who I am, and I love them always. They are probably the only people in my life who I can truly be myself with, 100% of the time (hubby is included in this, of course!).

* Reading. I can get a bit addicted at times.

* Creating. I love anything crafty. More addictions... whether it be nappies, jewellery, scrapbooking.. I love seeing something beautiful where there was nothing before!

* Music. I love listening to it, playing it, writing it, singing it. I can't imagine life without it!

* Living in Australia. What's not to love! We are so incredibly blessed to have ended up here, we have got it so good!

* Teaching (or at least learning to be one!). I may complain about it at times... I may wonder how I'll ever go back to full-time on-campus uni next year... but I love learning how to be a teacher. Stopping/slowing down like this has made me realise how much I want to be one. And how much I want to work with special needs students. I miss prac!!

* Good food... in good company. Seriously, isn't it just one of the best things having a long dinner with delicious, good quality food, maybe a glass of yummy wine (or two), with people you love. Some of my best memories have occurred around dinner tables...

* My life!

What do you love?

a reminder...

for you to go to the Friendly Beads blog and enter my give-away... you could win one of two personally designed keyrings/handbag jewellery. All you have to do is comment!!

Winners will be drawn TONIGHT!

It's Tuesday and I can't wait...

* to draw the winners of my very first Friendly Beads GIVEAWAY!!! If you haven't entered yet, get yourself over to the Friendly Beads Blog and get to it!

* for our weekend at the Coast. Looking forward to catching up with family and friends, to getting my hair re-done (yay!), and celebrating my baby brother's 16th birthday!

* For my friends Michelle and Luke's baby to arrive. I'm crossing everything that she makes her appearance while we are on the coast, so that we get to meet her.

That's my big anticipations for today. What are yours?

Head over to Buttons by Lou Lou to see what others are waiting for...

been making nappies!

Pocket nappies. With a PUL outer, suedecloth inner, and pretty cotton tabs. They will be stuffed with a combination of hemp, bamboo and microfibre absorbent inserts. I’m really happy with them, and proud of how much money I’ve saved! I’ve made four so far, and used less than $25 worth of materials.

I made my first two with gussets (the little elasticised inner leg bits that prevent escapes!)

   

    

And my second pair are made without gussets.

 

How cute are they!

bookworm

BlogThis Challenge 11 | What’s on your bedside table…

Fiction?
Non Fiction?
Romance?
DIY?
Recipe Book?
Fantasy?
What are you reading at the moment? What book can you not put down or just can't finish? Are you drawn to certain authors, genres or just what's in the bargain bin? Do you get books from a book exchange, library or are you beating the doors down at Dymocks on release day?
Write all about the last book you read or the one you're reading/struggling to read!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I am a real bookworm. I always have at least two books on the go, sometimes more. I read any chance I get. I mostly read fiction, with a sprinkling of non-fiction, a smattering of uni textbooks, and lately a whole stack of children’s literature thrown in for good measure. I LOVE to read.

At the moment, I’m re-reading some Harry Potter books. I went to see the 6th movie a few weeks ago, and realised that I was a bit foggy on what happened in the book… it’s been about 2 years since I read it, with around 180 books read in-between, so it’s understandable really. So I’m just finishing reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (I have about a chapter left), and after that I’ll be on to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. After that, I’ll probably hit the library again, or attack my box of corny Christian romance novels my dad got me for Easter.

So yes, I read a lot of books. I love them. I love that you can pop into another world so easily… go on such wonderful adventures.

Some books are like old friends. My prime example of this would have to be the Anne of Green Gables series. I’ve read this series more times than I can remember… probably averaging once a year since I was about 8. I LOVE them. They are my comfort books, I love everything about them, and I never tire of the stories. They make me so happy, and it really is like visiting old friends when I find myself lost in those books.

Over the last month or so I’ve been revisiting my childhood… re-reading almost the entire series of Baby Sitters Club books! Oh the memories… hehe.

I’m not so much into sci-fi, or mystery/thriller type books (aside from some Jodi Picoult every now and then). I prefer a nice classic, the occasional biography, some chick-lit or christian romance books. Maeve Binchy, Karen Kingsbury, Jane Austen, Janette Oake & Fanny Flagg are some of my favourites authors.

I have books coming out of my ears. Every spare space in our study has books.. there are books in my lounge room, books in my bedroom and our daughter’s bedroom… books in boxes. They’re something I can’t ever bring myself to get rid of, especially since I read and re-read books time and again. It would just be wrong to give them away!

I LOVE the local library… I usually borrow about 15 at a time, and sometimes put extras on my husband’s card. And usually I get through them all before they’re due back. If I come across I book that I love, I’ll buy it to add to my collection. Peter marvels at how quickly I get through a book, but I love that I have inspired him to take an interest in reading.

A love of books is also something I plan to instill in my daughter (and any other future children). We’re well on our way there. Mayana loves to cuddle up with Mama and a couple of books…

*sigh*…. there’s nothing better than a lazy afternoon curled up on the couch reading a favourite book. Or three…

Don’t forget to head over to blogthis and check out what everyone else is reading…

{image from flickr}

looks like a brand new house!

Our gorgeous new couches arrived on Saturday. They weren’t expecting them to arrive until the end of August/early September, so we got a very happy surprise when they rang us on Thursday to say they were here! So they were delivered on Saturday, and we had a big re-arrange of our loungeroom and can’t believe how much bigger it looks! We’re so happy with it, and we feel so FLASH with our new furniture.

We were so blessed to have our old stuff, we got it very cheaply from friends when we were first married, but it’s nice to have something that’s our taste and that we chose.

So… some pics:

 

This is the best pic I can find of ‘before’ … I stupidly forgot to take one before the Big Change.

 

Three seater couch..

 

Two seater couch

The overall new look! I’m loving it =)

Sunday family fun

After church today, and after Mayana (eventually) had a nap, we decided to go for a walk up to a local park so Mayana could play on the swing. She LOVES it!

Like father, like daughter…

 

My 26 year old husband still thinks he’s 10.. hehe

 

I love our girl!

It was such a nice way to spend the afternoon =)

we did it!

Well.. she did it, I guess.

Pete took Mayana to the doctor's today. She has a horrible runny-nose-type-cold that just won't go away. It's making eating hard for her because of the whole need to breathe thing. The little darling has also shared her germs with her Mama... nice huh? *sniffle sniffle*

Anyway.. back to the point. Peter took her to the doctor. And because my doctor can't help herself, she decided to weigh Mayana.... And the result is: 5.02kg!!!!!

I'm so thrilled... and our doctor told Pete that for the first time since this whole weight debacle started, she is no longer concerned about Mayana and her weight. Finally everyone is happy... it's just such a relief :)

recipe request

Especially for Cel (Mama3) ... here is the recipe for slow cooked sticky sausages.

* 1-2kg sausages, can be frozen.
* 4 tablespoons vinegar (I often use balsamic)
* 4 tablespoons brown sugar
* 4 tablespoons soy sauce
* 4 tablespoons worsteshire sauce
* 1 jar pasta sauce

Pop it into the slow cooker and cook for 6 hours on low!

I sometimes add some vegies to the mix around an hour before serving.

Serve with rice or mashed potato.

Enjoy!

Friendly Beads

Make sure you visit the Friendly Beads Blog today, to enter my very first give-away!!

watchya got cookin'!?

It's that time again... grocery shopping today!

Our menu plan for this week:

T- Tuna Bake
F- Slow-cooked sticky sausages
S- Fish & Chips
S- left overs
M- Corned beef, mash & steamed vegies
T- Corned beef hash cakes with vegies
W- Spaghetti
T- away
F- away
S- away
S- away
M- away
T- Chicken, bean & broadbean soup
W- Lasagne

happy fishy

Our fish, Freckles, has been in a state of depression since his mate Fernando died a few months ago. He would just sit in his little corner, hiding in his plant, and not show any excitement about anything.. even fishy food! He was very sad. And it was making us sad. So we got him so new friends today.

Their names are Filipe and Winky, and they have made Freckles very happy. He hasn’t stopped swimming around since his new mates arrived.

They look like one big happy fishy family already.

I’m glad Freckles is happy again!

I’ve been a-stitching…

Okay… this first one I finished a while ago.. just after Mayana was born I think. But I’m pretty sure I never posted a picture of it.. and it’s way too cute not to share!

Isn’t it beautiful?! I’m lazy and haven’t framed it yet, but it definitely deserves something pretty.

And this I finished on the weekend. Especially for my sister Alexie. Cos she loves him, and likes to think of herself as the future Mrs Efron, and hates Vanessa Hudgens, because she is jealous of her. So yes. I stitched Zac Efron’s face. That is how dedicated I am. My next request is from my brother: A pattern I have recently obtained of ‘The Stig’.

I have a really cute new pattern, which I plan to stitch and frame as a give-away on my blog… so keep an eye out!

Weigh-in…

Bah. Not quite at the 5kg mark. The Mayana-berry weighs 4.950kg. So. Dang. Close.

Still… a gain is a gain. And she did well to gain so well considering all of her ailments these last few weeks.

Next weigh-in, we’ll most definitely be over 5kgs, and if she keeps eating the way she is, she’ll be closer to 5.5! hehe.

If you head over to my Brag Blog, I’ve put up some particularly gorgeous photos of our girl for you to enjoy!

Zoey x

It's Tuesday and I can't wait...

for this afternoon: weigh-in. It's been a fortnight since Mayana's been weighed, and in that time she has had a vomiting bug, needles and a cold.. and about 6 days with hardly any appetite.

So I can't wait to see if there has been a gain, and I'm hoping there has been. If she has tipped the 5kg mark, I will be overjoyed. At last check she was 120g off. Fingers crossed!

See what other people are waiting for at Buttons By Lou Lou

[This photo is of Mayana's first ever weigh-in, about two hours after she was born. 2.33kg]