Quiet blog....The Reasons.....(and an announcement!)

So its been a quiet couple of months.

I could blame Miss Teen. Her computer finally died in early December and being the amazing wonderful mother that I am, I lent her mine until we could afford to replace it. Thank you School Bonus for that!!!!

I could blame being busy. Christmas, birthdays, back to school time at work.....

But the fact was I lost my Mojo. Yep. I have writing mojo. I NEED that mojo to write. The main part of my mojo is being connected with myself and my feelings, something I seem to have lost these past few months.

Fact is, it is still lost *insert one very sad face here*

BUT, I have been struggling with a few things this past month, and as not 1 but 3 good friends pointed out, I am happier, I cope better, when I write.


So here I am, writing.....


I figured what better way than to start 2014 than with our BIG announcement. 

After losing Charlie just over 12 months ago, I never thought I would recover. Not really. Then after more than 6 months of trying, I thought, at almost 39, I was officially too old to conceive another baby. 

I deleted the app on my phone that tracked my period so that I would stop obsessing over "the right time" to conceive, I basically said "Ok God, I am happy with my family as it is. I have 2 beautiful girls who are full of life and who fill my life with so much joy. I have an amazing husband who I love with all my heart. I am happy".

Then we went away for our first anniversary. Muddled Hubby pulled out ALL the stops. (hopefully a blog post for the future....come on Mojo!).

And we came home pregnant! 

I am 16+5 weeks today. 

The reason I haven't written about it, blogged about, or announced it is because I am scared. 

I should be happy, I should be planning our future with baby number 3, I should cooing over little baby outfits, looking for a new pram, etc etc etc....

Instead, I sit here, fretting over the fear that I will lose this baby. There are so many complications, gestational diabetes, I am overweight, I have a heart condition, I have auto immune disease and with an antibody that threatens the health of my unborn babies heart, there is a blood clot between my uterus and the placenta that can grow and cause placental abruption.....yeah, its a long list. 

And yet, here I am, carrying this little blessing. Feeling the smallest of flutters deep inside that tell me my baby is ok. And I feel blessed that God has given us this chance. I just hope we don't mess it up.

And, the thing that rests heavily on my heart and shoulders....I realise this is our last chance. I am 39, and I really don't want to be having babies in my 40's. No offence to the women that do, I admire you, this is a personal choice. I personally feel too old to be having babies. I have things I want to do when my babies grow up. I have been raising children for 14 years. I want some time for me and Hubby before we are in a nursing home! 

So this is our last chance.

So, I am not normally one to ask, but I ask for your prayers. I pray that God protects our baby and blesses up with a healthy, crying, baby in my arms, our arms, come July. I ask that you pray that our "Squishy" grows healthy and strong and that I stay strong enough to keep my baby safe and well.

Thanks everyone :) 

Toilet Training Toddler Tales

Recently we have taken to toilet training Mini Miss. She has been "sort of" ready for a while. She drifts between disinterest, going to the toilet like she has always done it that way, and absolutely, I'm not EVER going to use the potty, put a nappy on me now!!!!

This was 12 months ago.

Fact is, she is capable of using the potty. We have spent days at home, and she has used it without reminding or prompting. So I know she can do it. I think she just can't be bothered with it some days when she can get away with using a nappy instead. 

In her mind Nappies = More time for uninterrupted play!

We also have a Kelpie Pup who is spoilt rotten and is an inside dog. He loves Mini Miss. Follows her everywhere. They are truly best friends. She drops food, he eats it. He drops his ever beloved ball at her feet, she throws it. It's really win win for them!

He is also a bit disgusting. 


NOTE: This is the point, where if you have a weak stomach, you might want to opt out of reading this post.


Mini Miss has recently mastered the art of pooping in the potty. The first few times she insisted on telling me, parading said potty around, and basically there were cheers all round before disposing of said poop. The last few times though, she has done it and just got up and got on with the business of playing. She also ALWAYS chooses a time where I am doing housework, in the bathroom myself, running a bath.....

You get the idea. Not in the room.

The first time this happened, Jasper the Kelpie decided to dispose of it himself....by eating it....

Yep. Told you it was disgusting!!

But it gets worse.

A couple of days ago first thing in the morning, I set about getting breakfast, making that much needed coffee. I was half awake. That is my only defense.

Suddenly Mini Miss announces proudly 

"I paint the dog Mummy"

 "oh really? What are you painting Jasper with?"

(I really was only half awake. I thought she was joking, making up a story....I thought she was INNOCENT!)

"With my poo"

"....................................."

Obviously she like to paint him.
This is much nicer that what I saw!

I was stunned. Momentarily, I could not process this. How could my beautiful little toddler do THAT?! I mean, I read about it, I laugh at it on Facebook. But I NEVER imagined MY child would be one of THOSE children.

Yet there she was, waving her painting fingers at me, looking so so proud. 

Jasper was sitting there, looking a little guilty, like he KNEW it was wrong, but went along for the ride anyhow.

On closer inspection, Jasper was not her only subject. She had also painted her own face and arms, like war paint! 

This is lipstick, I promise!
Also painted on her face on the same day!

Suddenly I was no longer half asleep! I was wide awake! Mother brain kicked in and protecting my house and furniture was suddenly paramount. I quickly, with a slightly frazzled sound to my voice, told the dog to "get outside NOW!" and told Mini Miss "You! Bathroom. Now!" A lot of confused seconds passed as I ushered the now poo covered dog outside to deal with later, while at the same time chasing the toddler who saw what was on her hand as home made paint (WHY?! Why did I think THAT was a good idea?!) in the other direction to the bathroom and into the shower. All while trying to avoid either of them touching anything else, OR ME!!

Needless to say, the above situation seems funny. NOW. In fact I can already laugh at it. I imagine that the flies that were obviously hanging around were having a good old laugh at me.

Eventually, Mini Miss got showered. The dog got bathed. The potty got cleaned. The house was checked for any further artwork, but thankfully the dog and herself were her only canvases.

Just yesterday, Mini Miss decided that the grass was a great place to go potty. I mean obviously, if its good enough for the dog, then its good enough for her right?! 

And yes, Jasper, thrilled with new fertilizer on the ground, immediately rolled in it. 

Cue second bath in as many days.

Double Trouble these 2 I think!

Isn't toilet training fun?!

Activity Monday - Christmas Craft

Today we started doing Christmas Craft. Mini Miss is already very excited about Christmas. She is no longer scared of Santa, but keen to see him, get a lolly & have a cuddle (yes, the stranger danger thing bothers me). She understands that there will be a tree and presents and celebrations. 

She also understands that Christmas is a celebration of Jesus birthday. 

So while I was setting up today's activity, she had a great time colouring in a picture of Jospeh, Mary and Baby Jesus. While doing this she informed me that "I love baby Jesus". Makes my heart swell with love. 

Normally I don't buy ready made craft activities. I find they are too directive and can stifle creativity. Also, if a child has a "perfect" example, even just a picture, of what is expected to be achieved but they cannot achieve it, it sets them up to fail. My children will learn about failures, I'm not going to set them up for it.

But this activity was different. And seriously, CHEAP!!! So I thought as an easy, no fuss, first Christmas craft activity it would be great. 

$3 from Officeworks, was this set of 6 Christmas figures that you make out of plaster of Paris & then paint them. Everything is supplied in the package, dried plaster, moulds, paints and a paint brush.

(NOTE: it did say to use with children over 5yrs & no Mini Miss is not 5, but with ample adult supervision she was fine).

I set about reading the instructions while Mini Miss coloured. Immediately I noticed there were no measurements. "Add plaster to water and stir until a thick pourable paste is made". No idea how much water to use, I had to guess. I also wasn't going to risk using too much, so I put the plaster in first then slowly added water while stirring the whole time. It took somewhere between 1/2-3/4 cup of water to reach a consistency I was happy with. Mini Miss did some of the stirring while I poured water. Stirring is one of her favourite things to do in the kitchen! 

Once mixed, we poured it into our moulds. 

Explaining to a 2.5yr that she has to now wait for a couple hours while they dried was not going to go well, so I had more activities planned, boring housework, but she loves to help! 

After 2 hours they popped out easily & didn't look too bad!

Now the fun, painting. Mini Miss needed some encouragement to paint them, it wasn't until later I realised she thought they were food as we had "cooked" them in the kitchen! No wonder she didn't want to paint them, I'm constantly telling her not to eat the paint! Eventually she got into it though! 

We were also lucky to have a fair bit of plaster left over, so I put it to good use.

No idea yet what we will use it for, but it's cute! And underneath I will name & date it.

The trick to using pre made activities is to  let go. Let your child just use their imagination, let them paint what they want, how they want. This is the hardest thing for me. I see that picture perfect example and want to achieve that, but I'm now focusing more on what Mini Miss gets out of it, rather than the final product. 

For example, from this activity, here are some of the skills she gets out of it; 

• Hand eye coordination, 
• Colour identification, 
• Colouring mixing, 
• Talk about Christmas and an ever growing vocabulary. 
• Learning the value of patience was a good one today too! 

So the final product? Not "perfect", but she is happy and so am I! 

Now I am off to explore Pinterest and find some more Christmas activities!