Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Blankies

I have a thing for baby blankets currently, I have been on a roll making a heap for friends babies (mainly because I know what they are having, which makes it easier to pick fabric).

However, as soon as I have our baby, I am loving these fabrics to make blankets with. 



Which is most likely not going to happen because I am sure I will have other things happening in the household. Dammit, I really wish I found out the babies gender all those weeks ago now!

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Monday, May 30, 2011

Nesting

For years I rolled my eyes at the women who said they were nesting just before their babies were born. I openly mocked them. And now I have to openly mock myself and eat humble pie.

It all started when I found it necessary to cook a lot of freezer meals.

And then when I decided I needed to scrub the bathroom tiles to within an inch of their life. Same deal with the oven. And the pantry.

I then became obsessed with cleaning skirting boards and vacuuming behind the bedhead (which was clearly something that I hadn't done in a long time given the bunnies living behind there!)

But the strangest obsession that I developed was the other night whilst soaking in the bath and I had to scream for the husband. He came running thinking I was in labour (ok, clearly I didn't think that one through properly) and then proceed to yell at me when I asked for him to hand me my runners. See, my burning urge that required screaming was that my sneakers were dirty and needed a wash.

So for the next hour I sat there scrubbing my runners with a brush that I use to clean the shower and a bottle of Johnson & Johnson Baby Bedtime Bath. Which I have to say, is an amazing shoe cleaner!
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Friday, May 27, 2011

Baby Notices

I am the thinking ahead type (just in case you hadn't noticed) and I am planning our birth notices already.




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Thursday, May 26, 2011

Bedroom Update

Many, many months ago I wrote a list of things I wanted to finish in 2011.

One of the weekends the husband was working away, whilst heavily pregnant, I decided to hang the three 'thingies' I brought for the wall. I use the term 'thingies' as I really have no idea what you would call them. I think they may have been originally designed as placemats actually, but wall art they became.

The only thing with hanging placemats on the wall is that they don't have any hanging device. I started with super gluing some triangle hooks on the back, but it didn't really work properly. Not to mention that I couldn't find a hook that was suitable. I didn't want to put holes in our wall, just incase I changed my mind on how they looked, so that meant I was limited to only 3M style hooks.

With this in mind, I went for a wander in Bunnings and found these 3M picture tabs.
I wasn't sure how they worked when I brought them, but I was willing to give them a shot. Once I opened the packet and played with them, it made a lot more sense. They are a bit like the spikey bits of velcro, but when pushed together they form a bond and lock together.

I measured the width of our bedroom, marking the centre with a light pencil. I then marked the centre of the bed head, which by some weird stroke of luck, happened to line up with the centre of the room! To find the right spot for the hangings to line up on, I found the centre of the top of the bedhead and the bottom of the cornice. Basically I made one big giant cross on the wall. To make the three decals evenly spaced, I too the measurement of the bedhead, and divided by 4. I marked this on the wall, and got to work on using my stickie 3M things.

All in all,  the stickie picture "hooks" were perfect for the job, as it meant I could put them anywhere on the placemat and it didn't matter about getting a hook and nail to sit straight or level. I am thinking that they would be handy for a number of picture framing functions, especially for a photo gallery wall!

And that is how I came to mark another task off the list!
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Tuesday, May 24, 2011

So Bright

I am convinced that one of my friends is having a baby girl, and have been stalking Etsy for the cutest little girl things for a newborn, and I rediscovered one of my favourite shops So Bright Designs.

Loving their new goodies.




I am so royally screwed if she has a boy though!!!
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Monday, May 23, 2011

Badges



I want to do a monthly photo of our baby when it is (finally) born, however the idea I have in my head requires a badge per month (something similar to Making It Lovely's Felt Pin). Only I don't know where to buy a badge kit (that isn't $200+) or buy custom made badges (short of buying 12 aged birthday cards and stealing the badges off them!)

Any ideas?

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Friday, May 20, 2011

Spikey Ouch

Whilst out and about recently I spotted a ceramic cactus that I NEEDED (I blame pregnancy hormones). So I brought it with no idea where I was going to put it.

When I got it home I made a discovery: like a real cactus it was spikey! Really spikey!!!
 Blood may have been drawn - it was that spikey.

Which required desperate measures to get it out of the box - someone remind me to buy new oven mitts at some point too - mine are super stained. The gloves worked though.

Lucky it is pretty. It is currently sitting on the side table in the lounge, but I am starting to think it may need to go into the tv unit where it can be observed but not touched. Would you look at those spikes though!

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Thursday, May 19, 2011

Petite Lemon

I can't remember how I stumbled across Petite Lemon, but there is more than a few items I am eyeing off currently, from their posters, to growth charts, and finally to their birth announcement cards.



Hmmm, all I need is a baby to make an announcement about! Pin It

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

The War Has Been Won

Remember the Great Debate of 2011? Not the one over Julia's Flood Levy, or the one about whether the drought was better for the farmers than the floods. The one about a pram. Oh wait, that debate only happened in our house?

Well it was won. 
I am happy to announce that I won the debate and got my Bugaboo Chameleon. There was a bit of a compromise though. See, just prior to Christmas I won a brand new iPhone 4, a phone which I already owned. So I decided to sell the phone on eBay, and use the funds towards getting the pram I really wanted. I then managed to find a 1 year old pram on eBay for a price that was far to good to be true.

So I bided on it, and surprisingly won it. The only downer was that I wasn't a fan of the orange canvas, and the other topping that came with the pram was the sand fleece. Sand on sand was a little blah for me - so I brought the orange fleece. And boy is it bright! I love it!

Now I just need a baby to put in my pram, as pushing a stuffed toy elephant just isn't quite the same ;)
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Tuesday, May 17, 2011

A Lesson in Paint

You would think that after 6 years I have this painting thing down pat.

Truth is I don't. I walked into Bunnings fresh faced and full of optimism one fateful day all those years back and came out with a tin of Dulux Low Sheen for the walls and Dulux Aqua-Enamel in semi gloss for the trim. I like water based paint because it doesn't smell too bad, and it is easy to clean up. And that was the end of that, I never went elsewhere, there was no need, I was happy with the brand symbolised by the fluffy dog.

It wasn't until we installed our new windows in the bedroom and spare room that I discovered that you can't mix enamel with waterbased paint without priming in between. Doh! Less than 6 months after painting the bedroom window the paint began to peel and look mighty shabby. My step-dad kindly informed me of my mistake, and pointed out that the only way to fix it would be to strip all the paint off the window and start again. Hmph! That tibbit of information would have been handy prior to painting the window.

However, being the lazy sod I am, I was damned if I was going to strip two windows back, so I brought a tin of Dulux Super Enamel and painted the spare room window with that instead.

I have to say, despite it being highly stinky (thank god I was outside and therefore had good ventilation) I liked the results much more than I liked it's water based counter part. It goes on easier, has a nice gloss look to it, and looked just that little bit fancier than normal.

However, there was no saving the bedroom window, so we stripped the paint back with a combination of sanding and the heat gun. A quick coat of undercoat and we were back to the starting point. One thing I hate about enamel paint is that it takes so long before the next coat can be applied. The primer required 48 hours between coats, which meant that it would be the following weekend before I had the time to do the painting.

With all the rain in Victoria, I chose the first weekend that looked like it could be sunny. In fact, it was to be so sunny that I got up and started painting at 8am in the morning as to not get sunburnt. I was greeted with bubbling paint not long after applying it! Seems no-one informed me that you shouldn't use enamel paint in temperatures over 25 degrees!

Now I get to strip the window sill back AGAIN to start again. Oh the joy!

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Monday, May 16, 2011

37 Weeks Pregnant and Finishing Up

This was meant to be a 35 week update, but it kind of got delayed a few times, so lets recap the last few weeks.
me just before my last day of work - sniff.

We elected to do the hospital ante natal classes on two consecutive Saturday mornings. A lot of people have said that they found their hospital classes to be very narrow minded, only explaining the text book cases and pushing of medical intervention, however I didn't find our classes that way at all. I guess it really does depend on your instructor, as ours was lovely and so full of information on all situations. We left feeling a lot more confident that we might just be able to do this whole birth and parenting thing.

Which was rather handy, as at 33 weeks I went into false labour. I woke up one Sunday with contractions that were 5 minutes apart. A quick call to the midwives meant that the husband was making a very quick drive from the farm to home to collect me, and then to the hospital (which is an hour away I might add). My Ob's was contacted and he meet us at the hospital where it was discovered my cervix was firmly clamped shut, but our baby had an elated heartbeat, and my blood pressure was low. There were some firm words spoken to our baby (mainly stay put for a few more weeks) and we spent the day hanging out in a hospital bed with a fetal monitoring device. I elected to go home after dinner when a CGT showed that the babies heartbeat had returned to a normal range over a period of time, and that my blood pressure had gone back to normal. A few days later we found out that it was most likely caused by an internal infection I was carrying and a severe cold I was in the process of getting over.

And to this day our baby has listened and stayed put, except for moving its head right down into my pelvis ready for the big event somewhere around 35-36 weeks. This meant that I have finally been able to breathe properly (oh thank the high heavens). Unfortunately it meant that my fortnightly physio sessions for SPD were now basically useless as there is nothing my wonderful physio can really do for me :(

Development wise we are still measuring a couple of weeks ahead, but then again with a tall husband that was to be expected. I am often seen rubbing my stomach to try and encourage a certain small person to put their elbow or knee back into a place that isn't painful for me. Unfortunately as we continue to grow I continue to be jabbed. All for a good cause, not long to go now.

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Thursday, May 12, 2011

Nursery Rhymes

I seriously suck at nursery rhymes - as in that I don't know any of them.

Luckily, in 2011 we have this very awesome thing called YouTube, which lead me to this video

I remember singing this a lot a few years back as it gets stuck in your head, though I always thought it was about a clock personally. But according to YouTube it is about a bird who gets all of its appendages plucked off one by one. How rather disturbing, but totally addictive. Maybe I just won't teach our child French and they will never know.
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Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Planting the seed


I brought this planter 6 years ago, originally for the garden in the outdoor area, and made it into a fountain. Those plants died a tragic death, and the planter got moved to the front yard. I have managed to replace the plants in it more times that I care to admit, but I love how it looks. This time we have a gardenia surrounded by pansies.

Maybe this lot will last longer that 6 months?

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Monday, May 9, 2011

A Gassy Issue

So we left off with the wait for the gas company to do their thing, and the plumber ordering the heater.

When I rang the gas company I was told it would take 4-6 weeks to have a new connection completed, after which the plumber could install the pipework, and then they would send us the meter for the plumber to install. I kind of expected a bit of a wait, so that was ok, I was more glad that we decided to do this in autumn rather than wait for winter when the baby arrived.

So imagine my surprise when after a week, the gas connection man rang and said he was going to start digging up our lawn that afternoon, and would be back a few days later (it was a Friday) to get the pipes bored under the street to connect our house to the mains.

When that was done, our plumber did his thing and we rang the gas company to order our meter. It was actually when I was sick with a cold and the husband was away, and the very lovely lady at TXU Energy put an urgent status on our metre for me when I explained I was sick, had no heating, and was pregnant. Unfortunately the man who finished the ordering of our metre did not care in the least and maintained he would not be making our metre urgent and we would be waiting for 5 business days for our metre. This was slightly concerning as the plumber was due to come back in 2 days before he went on holidays to finish the job for me.

The husband took a day off work when the plumber was due to come, and was most suprised when the plumber commented about the metre on the side of our house - neither of us had noticed it had been installed the day prior and it had infact arrived as an 'urgent' order!

Anyway, I went to work that day, and came home to this sight

My curtains were hiding a lovely suprise
Rinnai 1004FTR heater!


We just need to have the curtains altered to clear the top of the heater, as currently when it is in use we can't close them. But in the meantime, I am loving our programable heater that switches on 10 minutes before I get out of bed in the morning and automatically turns off when I leave for work at 7.55am each morning. We even have it set up to turn on at 5.20pm each night (I get home at 5.30pm) and off at 10pm each night.

It wasn't cheap (coming in at just under $3,000 fully installed), but it is well worth the cost.



Oh, and there is another fan of the heater in our household Pin It

Friday, May 6, 2011

WTF Ikea

Someone recently pointed out to me that Ikea have online shopping in certain states in Australia, which is terribly unfair if you ask me.

What was even more unfair when I spotted this price difference (you may have to click on them to see it bigger):
VICTORIA

 SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Apparently South Australia's are entitled to a $20 price reduction on the same product. What is with that?

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Thursday, May 5, 2011

Baby Shower Gifts

We all know I love shopping, so I am more than a little excited that several of my closest friends are pregnant, and not only do I get to help shop for them, I also have quite a calendar full of baby shower dates.

Most of my friends have found out the sex of their babies, however they aren't telling the greater public, so it means I am on the hunt for gender neutral gifts. I suddenly realise how annoying it is when someone (ie me) doesn't know the gender of the baby, as it makes shopping a very hard experience.

I am currently loving these burp cloth and onsie sets from Mac and Me



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Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Did you know?


That my blog now has it's own domain? www.aprilcandice.com will now get you to my little blog.

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Monday, May 2, 2011

Nappies

A while back I mentioned how I planned to use modern cloth nappies, choosing to go with Bumgenius Elemental. Well it turned out I was a sucker for punishment, as I ordered them from the US with a mail forwarding company sending them to my house. Which was awesome - except the dickhead of a courier delivered them to someone elses house and couldn't reclaim them. I was less than impressed, especially when they finally admitted liability 2 days after my shipping insurance claim time ran out! Eventually I received a refund for the cost of the nappies, and with that back in my bank account, I vowed to only buy nappies in Australia.

So, along this saga which took place over almost 2 months, I changed my mind on what type of nappy I wanted to use, deciding on using Itti Bitti Tutto's

I still love how they can do from newborn (apparently) to 20kg. And they had awesome colours in minkie fabrics. *Swoon*

On a google search hunt, I came across Nurture Nappies, who offered the best special for bulk packs of Tutto's - $190 for 6 Tutto's with free postage - a massive saving of $32 which was almost the cost of one nappy! I was sold. So I placed my order, and continued on my merry way.

By the time I got home I had an email confirming my purchase, and another from Nikki stating that my chosen colours were out of stock. I had several options to choose between, I could wait out the stocking period, change my colours, or cancel my order. I was most impressed, as most companies only ever let you know these things when you ask. I decided to wait out the restocking period (10 days) as I really wanted these particular colours.

When my nappies came into stock, Nikki emailed me and let me know they had been shipped, and I would receive them within 48 hours. Yay! I expected a delivery on Monday or Tuesday, but when nothing showed up, I checked the tracking online. Imagine my shock when it said they had been delivered already! Oh no, not again!

I quickly emailed Nikki, who contacted the shipping company on my behalf. Turned out that I was outside their express delivery system and that my parcel had been forwarded to Australia Post for delivery. As it turned out, a further half hour after I sent my email my parcel arrived! Not something that was Nurture Nappies fault, as who would have expected the courier company to send it via Australia Post an hour from its delivery destination?

Nurture Nappies were so lovely to deal with, I couldn't recommend them highly enough. I highly recommend them to anyone who is willing to listen now, and look forward to shopping with them for my next nappy stash.

Oh, and just for interests sake, this is my current stash

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