How to deal with a bad day...

Today was one of those days. 
I spent the bulk of my afternoon cursing Hubby's evening shifts, stopping my toddler from climbing on the bath/drawers/cupboards/furniture/windows/tables/fireplace mantles (who knew he could get up there huh!?) and also dealing with the aftermath of tears when i didn't get to him fast enough and he fell from the above objects.  All this whilst balancing one unhappy, spilly, screaming baby that didn't want to be put down.  (This is on minimal sleep for 2 of us)
 By 7.30 we were all in tears, and desperate for sleep.

I bet you're wondering what i did to get through my evening??... (actually, a lot of you are probably saying 'that's nothing, you should hear about my day')  Honestly, i didn't deal with it at all.  I have no idea how to deal with it!!  With one kid was bad enough, i'm not sure where the delusional thought that i could handle two came from!!

So now, it's 9pm, and there's finally silence.  Except for the sound of Jim Croce and me crunching down an entire box of dark chocolate covered scorched almonds.  Yup, i'm eating my emotions, and they're tasting damn good right now!!

Nom nom nom...

Now that i'm able to collect my thoughts i'm trying desperately to think of ways to get through evenings like this with happy kids and a couple of brain cells left over, and i'm not coming up with a lot (obviously i was not left with any brain cells tonight).  Is there a trick that i don't know about?  A magic word? (A magic sleep medicine??)  I have the strange inkling that there is no magic suggestion, and sometimes all you can do is hang in there till it's bed time... Would that be right??

For now i'm going to just survey the damage that is my home...the washing (that started out clean and folded and ended up...well, not), the dirty dishes, leftover dinner, the toys everywhere, the bathtub that looks like a pea and carrot pie exploded in it...exhale, and continue to munch through this tasty box of therapy.

And in case your day's been a fair crapper too, have a random song to make everything better!

Sleep well folks!


Renee  :)

'Not all who wander are lost'

3 Months old!! :)

My little chub is getting BIG!  Looking so much like his big brother these days, between the two of them i'm just the proudest mama ever!!

 Still on breast milk alone, Ollys weight is 6.3kg ( and 63cm long).  In 2 more weeks we will be starting him on a little baby cereal, i'm kinda hopeful that it will make an impression on his (mild) reflex so that we can stop the Omezol and Gaviscon!  He Loves watching us eat, occasionally looking like a little Labrador pup with a lot of drool!

He sleeps so well most nights, often doing a 7 hour stretch before a 3am feed, and then a 3 hour stretch! (Sometimes he decides he should wake every hour, but you get that sometimes!)

The Bumbo and Exersaucer are my new best friends (so long as i can keep Lachy from trying to climb in them too), Olly just adores having a new view of the world!!

 He's a real chatterbox (especially in the morning) and will 'talk' to his Daddy for ever in the morning with the hugest smiles!!  He's started doing a little laugh/chuckle too, which is just the most delicious sound!! (Aren't baby-laughs wonderful!)

Baths still aren't fun, but this evening i sat him up after he was clean, so he could sit next to his brother and he was pretty happy sitting there!! (Yay!!) Lachy thought it was great fun too, and was busy pointing at Ollys bellybutton, then his own, just amazed that they both had one!

Olly's pretty tolerant of Lachys rambunctious style of love, but we keep a pretty close eye on the two of them anyway, so he's pretty safe (It's amazing how fast Lachy can move though!) He loves watching Lachy running and jumping around the lounge! I can't wait til they can run and jump together!! (Please guide me back to this post when they're doing just that and are uncontrollable!)

So that's my wee chunka! Doing well, stealing our hearts and making us complete!!

We love you Olly-pop!!


Renee  :)

'Not all who wander are lost'

DIY Nursing pads!!

Yup, i'm pretty budget nifty when i want to be!!  Sick of paying exorbitant amounts for disposable nursing pads only to find that you're allergic to the plastic in them??  Sick of paying for fabric reusable nursing pads that lose their absorbancy after (or during) one feed??

ME TOO!!!

After a wee bit of Googling, however, the basics for making your own Nursing pads started coming out of the wood-work!

I would need....

# A sewing machine
# Polar fleece
#  Flannel
#  Another 'inner' fabric
#  Scissors
# Something round and booby-sized

My hot chocolate lid and flannel

To start, i found an old flannel blanket that was never used, an old towel, and some polar fleece!  And a hot chocolate lid that i thought might fit...

Did i mention that it was a cute kids flannel blanket?! Bonus pics!

 I cut 2 flannel rounds, 1 towel round and 1 polar fleece round.

I even got a fabric marker for the occasion!!  I'm that Flash!

The stacks :)

I tried to make sure that there would be a bit of overhang in the polar fleece rounds so that even if the flannel and towel fabric got soaked, the overhanging fleece could still 'repel' the damp from going through to your clothing. (It seems to have worked)

Yes, i cut matching pictures for each pair of boob-pads!!

Some stitched up pads :)

I put 1 flannel, 1 towel, 1 flannel together (in that order) and sewed them together using a straight stitch, then used a zig zag stitch around the outside (i don't have an over-locker).  Then i put a piece of the polar fleece under the flannel bit, and sewed that on using the same 2 stitches.

The finished project :)  Success!!

If you're feeling a bit fancy you can contour your boob-pads by cutting a slight wedge out of them, and stitching the two parts back together.  (Make sure they're joined properly or the pads will leak through the gaps)  Being the non-sew gal that i am, i just whipped over them again and again with a zig zag stitch, and that seems to have done the trick!!

So there you have it!  I'm now the proud owner of 5 pairs of home made nursing-pads that actually do work!!  I'm a bit of a legend cow, so knowing that i'm not going to leak in public is pretty huge for me (I did test them at home before i wore them out in public!!).  For the record, i do soak the pads, but it's only gotten through the polar fleece part twice, and both times was when my supply was trying to keep up with my growing boy!

Another thing i'd like to point out, these things are comfy, and are fitted enough that they don't leave funny lumps and bumps showing through my shirts!!

Let me know if you've found a different, nifty way to make these, i'm keen to see some different techniques!  And let me know if you try to make any, i'd love to see how anyone else has gotten on with them!! 
Thanks everyone that thinks up/figures out these things and puts them on line for the rest of the world to benefit! You folk are fantastic!!

*These pads were not my own design, i found the style and instructions on line on Heaps of different sights, however i was unable to re-find the specific blog that i first saw them on! :( *


Renee  :)

'Not all who wander are lost'

Pirongia - Humble Beginnings

This is the start of something!!  Not a blog series or anything, but the start of something else!!  Anyone remember back to number 28 of my  40 before 40 list?? Neither really, i have to look at it weekly to remind myself of what's on the darn thing!!
Well number 28 is to climb Mount Pirongia and Rangitoto, and just last week, we did a wee teensy warm up!!

We loaded ourselves down with packed the bare, bare essentials (kids, nappies, changes of clothes, snacks, water, wet wipes, sunscreen, hats, front pack, kiddy harness, picnic lunch, dummies (as in pacifiers not mannequins), blankets) and drove the 30min drive to the base of the ancient volcano, Mount Pirongia!!

We chose a short walk (1 hour) that we thought we could manage, aware that Lachy would end up being carried at some point, (Olly was snuggled up to me in the front pack) and set off into the wilderness!! (For the record, we're not Cub Scouts or crazy bush folk, we followed a path, it's just that 'set off into the wilderness' sounds so much more exciting and romantic!)

The rest of this post is a bit of a photo dump (excuse the quality of the pics, i was too busy pretending to be fit to hold the camera steady).  The point is we had fun, we were amazed with the Beauty and Stillness of Pirongia, and Lachy was flippen' amazing, managing to walk just over half way!!

Lotsa creepy critters in the dead trees...

Getting their walk on!

Amazingly tall trees!  Lachy loved them!

Snug as a bug in a tree trunk!

Lotsa info signs for greenhorns like myself

Trying to get a pic of monkey in a tree hollow...Fail!

Our beautiful ferns

Proof i was there...Don't be hating on the sunhat!!

Sigh....

Halfway!

Lunch time!!!

And then i asked Hubby to get a nice pic of me for my blog post...these were the pics that i got to choose from....

Thanks Hubby....(At least Olly looked gorgeous in all of them!!)


Renee  :)

'Not all who wander are lost'

I have learnt - Going to the playground

#  Safety rails are actually designed to give your kid something to hide behind at home-time, not for their safety like you first thought.

#  It will be amusing for all involved when you get stuck on/in the equipment trying to retrieve said child.  Pxts will be taken (usually by your Hubby) before assistance is given.

#  Cute and carefree are not words that people will think of, as you attempt to take your frumpy buns down the slide with your kid. (This may or may not have been me...)

#  If you must go down the slide with a panicked child, remove your shoes.  The noises emitted from rubber soles on their way down a metal plank can be somewhat loud and attention seeking.  (not in a good way).

#  Your child will learn that life at the playground is not fair.  Sometimes you just have to grit your teeth and bite your tongue, occasionally no ones watching, and you can throw a sly handful of sand at the tormentor.
 

 #  There isn't enough hand sanitizer in the whole world to cover your precious Beetle Bug from all the germs floating around a playground.  Just accept it and call it immunity building.

#  Your kid will usually be the one that insists on going up and down ramps in a snake-like crawl, causing the entire playground to come screeching to a halt.  While kids and parents alike grumble at you, you will still cheer and clap for your Super-Brave-Wonder-Child like they just conquered Everest!! (This was definitely me!)

#  Don't bother with a picnic unless your fully prepared to be ambushed by every duck/goose/sparrow within a 50 mile radius!

#  As a bonus, if the birds don't eat your children or scare the crap out of them, then feeding the feathered beasties will provide a good 15 - 20 minutes of amusement!

#  Your child will think the stars and moon of you for going to the playground, bumping down the slide, and getting stuck in the climbing nets with them, and that light in their eyes will keep you heading back there time, and embarrassing time again!!

Toodles!!  :)

'Live for a Life without Regret'