Friday, October 28, 2011

Tram Rolls

Tram Rolls are pretty popular these days, especially those with famous Melbourne/Sydney suburbs listed.

However, I although I liked them, I wanted one that meant something to me.

I have lived in many of the towns listed, and love that it is made up of regional Victorian towns. Plus it matches the colours in the border tile perfectly!
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Thursday, October 27, 2011

Eliza Wears


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Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Play Mats


I am in love with this play mat, it is bright but not gaudy, and best of all, it doesn't make noise! I wish I had seen it when I brought our activity mat, as the music it plays really does drive me up the wall.

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Monday, October 24, 2011

Site Supervisor

Seems we have a new site supervisor in our house.


Luckily the concrete was poured to her satisfaction, you don't want to get on the wrong side of this little miss!
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Friday, October 21, 2011

Christmas Cards




I really do need to stop thinking about Christmas, but time just keeps on passing me by! Pin It

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Eliza wears


Seems my child has only two poses - 'eating my shirt' or the 'startled possum'.
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Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Whisky



I was recently looking for a bottle of whisky to give for Fathers Day and come across this beauty. I love both my husband and my stepdad (who I was buying it for), but there was no way I was buying them a $10,700 bottle of whisky!

I am pretty sure it isn't a big seller either, who buys (and then drinks) a $10,700 bottle of grog?
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Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Being a Mummy is hard


I didn't have the easiest time getting pregnant, our fertility troubles were the hardest thing I had ever faced. I learnt a lot about myself, my husband, and our marriage. I never once thought that getting pregnant would be the easy part!

I really did think I was prepared for life with a newborn. I expected to be up at all hours of night, I expected to change dirty nappies and I expected to get the Day 3 Blues (oh yeah, they came. My poor Obs found me hysterical one morning reading the birth report - which was stupid as I have a complication free delivery). I read the books, went to classes and watched other parents.

And then Eliza arrived and everything I thought I knew went out the window. The first few weeks we ok, I was living on adrenalin. When I complained I was tired I didn't know that I could be even more tired than that. Each week brought a new level of exhaustion. A new level of self confidence that was just that little bit lower than the week before.

I do it easier than some, but I still do it tougher than others. Majority of weeks the husband leaves at 7.30am on Monday morning and comes home at 7.00 Friday night. My mum works shiftwork and might call in once a week if I am lucky, and I don't have friends that can really call in as they have their own lives to lead. Most days I cope, but some days I don't. Somedays I just want to run away and not come back, because that just seems easier.

Funny how they don't tell you this in the books though.

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Monday, October 17, 2011

Babies+Renovating=Not Productive


We knew that having a baby would suck up a fair bit of our time, and that renovating would have to take a back burner for a while, but we didn't quite bank on how much of a time sucker Eliza would be.

Call me stupid, but I kinda figured that we could renovate when she sleeps. I didn't bank on her only sleeping for 40 minutes at a time during the day, nor did I put any logical thought into how making a tonne of noise and having a baby sleeping at the time time.

So we have become fans of 'hiring a man' to do things for us. First we hired a man to rekey our house. Then a man to paint the lattice for us. And now we have hired a man to concrete a slab for us. Jobs we could have done ourselves, and would have normally have done ourselves, but our time is better spent with Eliza now.

It is kinda adictive. I am considering hiring a man to mow our lawns this week, as the husband has been working away wand our pet sheep have gone back to the farm for sheering. And when I return to work we will hire a cleaner for a few hours a week. Now if only I could hire a chef, things would be grand!

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Friday, October 14, 2011

Scary Movies


I am still trying to get the hang of this pinterest thing, but I did have a giggle at the above sign. Pin It

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Eliza Wears


The brown Gymboree giraffe dress is officially too small :( Quite a few of Eliza's clothes have now made it into the storage box. So many beautiful things.
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Tuesday, October 11, 2011

To Buy or Not To Buy: Pumps

Despite not wanting to, I seem to have brought A LOT of baby stuff. Somethings have been great, others not so great. I always found other peoples reviews interesting, so I thought I might have a crack at it too.

In the first three months, we loved our Medela Swing breast pump: I ummed and ahhed over buying or hiring a pump, and eventually decided to buy one. My chemist has a 90 day exchange policy, so I figured if I didn't use it within 2 months I would return it and get my money back. I figured that was a decent length of time to either get breastfeeding established, or to have thrown the towel in and be using formula (nothing wrong with either, just my preference was with breastfeeding).

Within three days of being home the box was open and I was pumping away thanks to an oversupply of milk. I now use it daily to express a feed just before bed, which becomes our freezer store. I like that the speed is variable, so I can increase pressure as needed, as well as the let down mode to gently get things moving. I also liked that there is a firm and soft cup in the box, as I preferred the soft cup in hospital.

Every now and then it throws a hissy fit and won't suction properly for no reason, but I find that turning it on and off again fixes that problem. It was expensive, however it is money I don't regret spending, as it has saved my behind more than once in the last few months, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. That said, if I wasn't sure I wanted to breastfeed, or knew I could breastfeed, I would hire one. It was the long refund period that had me sold.


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Monday, October 10, 2011

Keys


One of the things that always annoyed me about our house was the keys. There was a key for the front door, another for the back door, another for the dining room door, complete with a seperate key for the screen door. And then there was another two for the shed! So on my keyring I had 6 keys for our house, plus another 3 for my parents houses, and my car key.

So we decided to have the locks changed and keyed alike. The husband's best mate knew a bloke (gotta love how small towns work, everyone 'knows a bloke' to get things done) who was a locksmith and could do the job for us. All it took was a couple of hours and a couple of pineapples, and we were set.

It is so much easier to find the right key to get into our house now.
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Friday, October 7, 2011

Everything you never wanted to know about me


Have you met Loz? In case you haven't, she is all kinds of awesome. I always love a good Ninja story, as two things will happen - I will read and nod my head as I think Loz and I are pretty similar, and I will laugh as she has a great sense of humor and isn't afraid to show it!


  1. At school I was known as Curnz after an episode of The Simpsons. I still get called it by school friends, much to my disgust (and change of surname). 
  2. I didn't enjoy being pregnant for 37 weeks. I think I managed to enjoy 3 weeks around 19 weeks, but it was all downhill from there. I thought I would love it, and tried to convince myself that I did, but on reflection, I didn't.
  3. On a car trip longer than half an hour I must have something to eat. Doesn't matter what, an apple, chewing gum or something sweet, it must go into my mouth.
  4. A lot of people don't like my boss in my office. I secretly think she is awesome and just don't speak up as I don't want them to not like me because of it.
  5. My mum breastfed me until I was 3 and a half years old. I think that is weird and not something I would do.
  6. I remember the most inane things, yet can't remember my own phone number most days. Knowing my mobile number would be handy, knowing what I wore on our first date 8 years ago is not.
  7. My first word was 'puss', much to my mothers disgust.
  8. I consumed more alcohol prior to turning 18 than I have since I turned 19 (and I am now 27).
  9. I have a huge fear of anything happening to Eliza. The recent train accident has me running scared, and don't get me started on pools.
  10. I wasn't qualified for my last job and they still gave it to me (without lying about my qualifications). I think they set their expectations too low, but am not complaining.

 I never really know who to tag for these kinds of things, so I am putting it out there that everyone does it and we all learn about each other. Or you could just pretend you didn't know these 10 facts about me and continue drinking your coffee. Either one.
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Thursday, October 6, 2011

Eliza Wears


I do love the pink bunny Esprit top she wore on Saturday, but it is now too small :( Sadly a few of my favourite items of Eliza's are too small - I need to get some storage boxes to put things in.
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Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Breastfeeding is...

Disclaimer: I have no qualms about using formula, hell Eliza gets the occasional formula feed every now and then when I need a break, and I don't believe that it has any impact on a child's development. Not everyone can breastfeed for many different reasons, and they shouldn't be judged for that. We all do the best for our children, and any food source is better than none. For me though, I wanted to breastfeed my child until 6 months. I have no idea why I picked 6 months, just seemed like a good point to reassess everything.

Not at all what I expected.

When I was pregnant I was naive. Baby+boob=fed baby. Plus the 'breast is best' brigade shove their knowledge down your throat like there is no tomorrow. I knew it would be uncomfortable for the few few weeks, but I would get used to it and all would be dandy.  I figured I could get around feeding in public by buying wraps and covers to shield us, and if all else failed, I researched feeding rooms in every place I would possibly be going. It was going to be grand.

And then reality set in. I had some fantastic nurses at my hospital who helped me every step of the way. I would push the little green button each feed and they would come and watch and tell me if I was doing it right. And by their standards I was. I felt like a pro. I even managed to feed in front of friends and family.

And then we went home and reality set in. Reality that had me in tears every time she latched on. Each feed would require a huge number of latchings, which I thought was normal. No-one ever told me otherwise, and I just continued. Then it got harder, she would only latch on for two sucks and come off. Rinse and repeat. That made feeding in public the most uncomfortable I have ever been in my life. Lots of people looking up my clacker whilst I shoved a head out of my private parts was fine. People judging me as I tried to feed my screaming child in Ikea whilst juggling a wrap was not so fine. As the final straw, I had a case of mastitis that saw me fall in a heap on the floor, considering giving up.

Sadly my stupid pride stood in my way and stopped me from quitting, and I saw a Lactation Consultant who announced that Eliza had a tongue tie which wasn't helping, and I had flat nipples which also wasn't helping. Did you know that all nipples aren't the same, and that they can be flat? No, neither did I! But help was at hand, and I started using nipple shields. I reasoned with myself that I would make it to 2 months, then four.

Nipple shields are not ideal, they can apparently decrease your milk supply, require washing and are messy (or maybe I just have a sloppy eater?). But they are a means to an end. And it means that my nipple is now three times as long as it originally was, so there are less latchings to be dealt with. That said I will still take a feeding room over public, but if need be, I will flash everyone a boob for free.

At four months now, I am ok with my choice. My supply isn't as much as it used to be, but that also could be it self regulating itself. To make sure I have enough I express each night, just in case. There will come a day when I do give up, and it will be not that far away, but for now I am content.

And that is all we can ask for in life.

This post was inspired by my friend Amy over at Thinks I Never Knew. See what she has to say about breastfeeding her second child.

PS - Think my breastfeeding my daughter is pornographic? Deal with it, boobs were a food source before they were your funbags. Pin It

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Quarter Roll

I have to say, I don't blame Eliza for not wanting to roll, I hate being on my stomach too. She seems happy enough to get onto her side, and stay there.

Gotta love chubby little babies in all of their naked glory!
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Monday, October 3, 2011

Lattice Work

A feature of our house is the lattice work, despite all the shortcomings of our house's features, it still had the original lattice work.


We had to remove it to replace the posts, and made the decision to paint it before putting it back up. Unfortunately it was covered in 12 layers of paint in varying degrees of disrepair, and needed a bit of work with a wire brush before we could paint it. A friend of ours had access to a industrial sandblaster and a spraypainting booth, so we had him sandblast and paint it for us.

Now we just have to paint the posts and put all the lattice up again. I am not looking forward to it, as I think our mate lost some of the attachments.
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Saturday, October 1, 2011

Eliza - 4 Months


Weight: 6.08kg
Height: 62cm

Feeding: Feeds have become a struggle, you love to stare at anything that isn't me, and that makes for some very interesting feeds. You have become very efficient at feeding, which means we spend more time doing things and less time sitting on the couch feeding (watching tv).

Sleeping: You have continued to sleep through the night, Mummy feels very lucky to not be getting up overnight. Your day sleeps have also improved, you now settle reasonably easily during the day, and will sleep for one and a half hours most sleeps.

Personality: You no longer reserve your smile for just Mummy or Daddy, you dish it out to anyone who looks at you, especially the ladies at the supermarket. However if you are grumpy about something you will refuse to look us in the eye, turning your head from us. 

Looks: You are still sitting high on the height charts, but your weight has dropped below the 50th percentile, making us think you might be like your dad: tall and skinny! Your hair has continued to grow and is a huge source of delight to Mummy who loves to put clips in it. She also takes pride in showing it off to people, as many people said it would all fall out. How wrong they were!

Activities: We didn't go very far this month, only one trip to Melbourne and Geelong early in the month. Daddy has been working locally, so that means we tend to stick around home. We have been doing lots of reading during the day, particularly enjoying Spot and Dr Seuss.

We went to Uncle T's birthday party, and you were most unhappy. You gave poor Nanny a complex as everytime she looked at you, you screamed blue murder and couldn't be calmed. You soon got over it when Nanny looked after you a few days later.

You still won't roll properly, you occasionally will roll from side to side, but nothing eventful or frequent.


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