Blast from the Past

My husband W@dsy is wonderful, lovely and the best. Why? Because he bought me a present today.

I'm pretty sure every Australian mother in the 80s had this book. Is it weird that I want Chicken to turn one quicker so I can make her a cool birthday cake?

Good Mummy / Bad Mummy

You gotta take the good with the bad, right?

I'm not a huge fan of kids watching too much TV. Having said that, mine do. Quite a few kids can have the TV on and still run around the house and play, I don't mind those kids watching TV. Mine don't. Gremlin and Chicken turn into TV zombies, you know the kind, they sit and stare, mouth open, drooling slightly, slowly creeping closer and closer to the screen. That's my kids. Gremlin even throws a tantrum when the TV goes off.

But today I let them watch 3 kids dvds (admittedly one of those was put on at 5am so I could sleep a bit before the sun rose). I'm a baaaad mummy.

But I did three loads of washing, vacuumed the house and cooked and pureed some fruit for some baby food for Chicken and put it containers in the freezer. So I'm now a good mummy.

I'm one of those people who beat themselves up about not being able to do everything. I'm trying to give myself a bit of a break, so today, hopefully, I'll let myself end the day thinking I'm a good mummy.

Inspiration

Due to my beautiful friend and reader Amie from Mummas Mumblings, I was inspired to sew again. Her creations were so cute I couldn't resist attempting something cute myself.

This outfit is modelled by Chicken :)

For this one I cut up an old black T-Shirt I never wear and a romper that was a little too small and made a dress.

This one was a first birthday present for a little girl.

I based this elephant off Make it and Love it.

Hopefully this is the beginning of me pulling out my sewing machine a whole lot more often but we'll see.

In the Kitchen

I am no Masterchef. But I do enjoy cooking, especially when I have time to. Most people I know seem to have a favourite dish to cook. Mine is Lasagna.

I wish my lasagna looked this presentable.

Ever since I starting cooking my own lasagna I've been kinda put off my pre-made stuff, its just not the same. Generally I make a huge batch and freeze most of it so we can have it for lunches at work.  I'm not Italian, so I'm sure sure if I make it right and my lasagna is largely dependant on what vegetables etc are left in the fridge, but I like it. There is something soothing about cooking meat and sauces and then layering them. And nights like tonight, when the kids are screaming because they believe that bedtime should be optional, I need soothing.

The One I Didn't Want

Sorry guys, this post isn't going to be silly or quirky. This one is a Deep and Meaningful.

I realised tonight just how much of a joy Chicken is. This is important, because there is something about me you probably didn't know.

I have a confession. I didn't want Chicken.

I am one of the cluckiest people I know, I see a baby and I just melt. When Gremlin was 4 months old I told my (very patient) hubby that I wanted another baby. He told me to just wait until Gremlin was at least one before thought about trying again. So I was waiting. When Gremlin was 8 months I got a casual job working for a friend which was great, but we needed more money. When Gremlin was 10 months I stopped breastfeeding him, popped him on formula and got myself a full-time job. My husband and I had decided to put a second child off for a couple of years. With me working we could save up some money for a house. But God had other plans.

About 2-3 weeks into my new job I went home at the end of the day feeling a little queasy. And I remembered, when I stopped breastfeeding, I didn't get my period. I thought to myself that it was too soon, I was still on the mini pill, (we were a couple of days off starting the new packet of the standard pill) but that only had like a less than 2% failure rate. Apparently that was enough. I took a pregnancy test to convince myself I was crazy for thinking I was pregnant. But I wasn't as crazy as I thought. I was indeed pregnant.

We told everyone we were happy, that it was unexpected but we were glad. I wasn't too sure. We nicknamed the baby "Chuckles" because we figured God had a sense of humour. It wasn't really all that funny. I wanted the baby, but part of me didn't. I hate being pregnant, I'm not one of those glowing happy pregnant women, I'm the sad, pale nauseated type. So it wasn't the best time for me. I did everything I could think of to connect with the baby inside but it wasn't working. I found out the sex, I bought her little girl clothes, I talked to my belly, I even got a pregnancy belly scrub thing, (which only made me feel really uncomfortable and awkward). None of it worked. I secretly wondered what would happen if I gave her up for adoption. It wasn't until 3 weeks before my c-section was booked that I realised I actually wanted her. She was kicking so violently she brought on very painful Braxton Hicks contractions and they admitted me into the hospital just in case. But when they gave me strong painkillers, my body relaxed and the contractions stopped. I was sent home and I realised that I was actually disappointed. I wanted to be able to take my baby home. 

But now I love her, more than I thought I could. I was playing with her tonight and I couldn't help thinking about how glad I am to have her. I love watching her play, she is beautiful. She looks like a little doll, but she's so active. She doesn't stop moving even when she's sleeping. And when she's particularly pleased with something, she grins and her eyes just seem to sparkle. She's Mummy's little girl. She follows me around the house, climbs all over me, and showers me in drool. I'm the one she turns to when she's upset or hungry, or anything. I admit, I love it. And I love her.

Once upon a time...

...in a land far far away, lived a young lady.

This young lady was named Ziva. She had a lovely life.She worked very hard, but always had money for what she needed and a little left over for what she wanted.She had many friends that she would spend her spare time with. She ate chocolate cake for breakfast.She got to sleep in past 9am some mornings. She was married to a handsome young man who loved her very much. Life was good.

Then one day she made a big decision. "I want to have babies," she said. And her life was never the same.

She still worked very hard, but somehow struggled to make ends meet. She still had many friends, but spare time seemed to evaporate. Chocolate cake was now too sugary to have in the house.And sleeping in past 6am now seemed to be an unreachable goal.

Yet life was somehow better than before.

The handsome young man was still handsome and their love grew more and more every day. And they now have two beautiful children.Now "spare time" was spent singing and dancing around the loungeroom and  giving endless cuddles.Though Ziva sometimes missed her old life, she wouldn't change a thing.

And they all lived happily ever after.

Addict

My daughter is an addict.

She is addicted to....receipts?

She just loves eating them. I'm not sure how she finds them, but she does. She finds them all over the house. And she is aided by her brother, who has recently discovered that he can open doors. If she is quiet it means she is either asleep or is eating a receipt. Can kids die from receipt poisoning? Gee, I hope not.