New Baby

Well little baby AJ has arrived ,
born 9th december 2011 , weighing 9lb 7oz at 3.20am , caught by daddy as the MW didnt make it and the ambulance arrived about 10min after birth , Full Name is Alister Robert James Odendaal

London Riots

Whatever next....?
How has this society let communitys down to such a point where people are rioting senslessly in the streets looting shops for no reason other than selfish greed? its all gone so wrong the young people out there commiting serious offences and for what?

There needs to be a community solution to this problem not a police one, obviously the crimial behaviour has to be dealt with but locking them up for 8 months of a 16 month sentance isnt going to teach them much, It wont give them hope of a better future or ambition or reason to change.

We need more people to step in and give a little time to help. we cant just live in our houses in our "safe" neighborhoods and watch and be disgusted by it we need action from the upright, productive, useful members of society to help, to connect with these youngesters to show them that thier is another way that they can achieve that they can aspire to , that they are allowed Goals and Dreams and that there is support out there to make those come to reality!

I want to thank the many many charitys already working in the UK and in London , the ones on the ground level with the people who need the 1 to 1 support and care the ones mentoring young people and providing a way out for them, showing them and equipping them with the skills to make a better life for themselves.

How much would it really cost YOU! to give up 30 min a week to spend with someone who doesnt have the fortunate circumstances you have. to spend time with someone whos mum works 3/4 jobs and is never home just to pay the bills. To get to know someone and have an impact in their life just because you took an interest in them as a person not a statistic??

I reckon it wouldnt cost you much at all, if anything you might find it rewarding.
Stop living in your little protective bubble this country needs a team effort to bring it back to the wonderful place for all that we know it can be!

half way there

21 weeks tomorrow Im halfway through cooking this baby now,  it has gone by so quickly even though at times each day has dragged and been a fight to get through.
Im finding some energy and motivation to do stuff now, today I got the windows in the living room washed, It might not seem like much to some of you but battling PGP again has had me seriously unmotivated to do anything, I also got dinner cooked and ready early and made brownies for Homegroup today.

One day at a time doesnt seem enough sometimes its more like one Hour at a time just getting one job done at a time and slowing working at getting the bigger picture sorted out. There is more than enough stuff to keep me busy till this baby is here I just have to motivate myself to get it done.
I discoverd this website. www.stumbleupon.com and its rather addictive but basicly it churns through the web searching for sites sugested by other users on a subject/interests list that you compile It has come back with some helpful and amazing results for things and I now have some great affordable ideas for Christmas presents for friends this year as well as some simply " to die for " amazing recipes that I just have to try out, I tried out one of the many Chocolate brownie recipes today and they taste really yummy quite similar to what Mum used to make but with a twist, ive had to contain myself from not eating the whole batch since they were made with a purpose for homegroup tonight.

Scan is tomorrow and we will find out the gender, Im warning people however if we are expecting another boy then any " dont u wish it was a girl, will you try for another " comments will not be welcome as i find them rather intrusive and rude. My head is thinking boy anyway so it wont be an issue for me either way although if its a girl then its a good reason to declutter all the little boy clothes we have lying around.

My mission in the next week or so is to be practical and make things easier to live around here so decluttering the clothes for everyone, sorting out stuff to be put aside out of sight till we have time to file it etc... make it a nicely enviroment to live in and easier to keep clean lol

First born son turns 3

Well this day 3 years ago I was just waking up after having had a baby at 2:45am and not  getting to sleep till nearly 6am i got 5 hours sleep missed breakfast and woke to a sleeping baby with a big old purple bruise on his head from the ventouse. Was the best morning waking up to my son sleeping peacefully next to me.

anyway today we have a 3 yr olds birthday and he is obviously very overwhelemed by the excitement and getting a bit cranky im debating him having a short nap before the party so hes in a good mood. i'll add more to this later for now i have lamingtons to finish making

Week 14 + 1 day

Pregnancy, what an amazing, magical, wonderful time in a womans life, what a hormonal, crazy, emotional time in a womans life.

Single or as part of a couple there are lots of daily challenges faced as a pregnant woman and to a degree more when you are already a mother and have children to care for.

It is true when they say every pregnancy is different. My pregnancys with the boys were markedly similar with the exception of developing SPD /PGP with EJ which made the simple things like getting out of bed and putting clothes on a monumental challenge let alone doing my shoe laces up! But with the exception of this horrible condition then my Morning Sickness was the same with both boys and my bump developed the same at about the same rate it was almost like I was reliving my previous pregnancy.

But this Pregnancy has been a world apart my all day rushing to throw up was replaced by all day nausea and lack of appetite with only the occasional days where I had to make several trips up to the bathroom to hurl and they were mainly mercifully spaced apart, I have been alot more tired this time and having more trouble sleeping than I remember with the boys, So far my Anemia has stayed under control my base Ferritin Levels remain at a good level which bodes well although I will of course have them checked a few extra times to make sure.

The first 3 months were a bit rough though with unexplained bleeding that lasted quite a few weeks and resulted in an early scan but it all seems to have gotten itself sorted out now which is a relief for me.

Mike seems to think this baby is going to be a girl and I'm not holding my breath as much as I would love a girl im going to wait out patiently till my 20wk scan to find out and be happy with what I find out.

You who are reading this should know we wont be telling anyone what name we pick for our Baby till we annouce the arrival to everyone so there is no point asking me lol you wont get a response , We are undecided if we will disclose the gender of  our baby before its birth also and that decision will have to be made sooner as my scan is in the latter part of July.

My "baby" EJ is growing up hes now finally taken solo steps { even if it was sideways like a crab }and gets closer to full on walking each day now which is of course exciting but sad too because it means hes growing up and needing me less in some ways. Hes recently learned the "No" word and how to apply it when he doesnt want something or doesnt like the sound of my idea lol but with the instalation of "time outs" for both the boys then hes learning quickly that you dont say that word to Mummy.

siggie

Annoucement to Make

We have news... lol as you can probably guess by the picture above our family of 4 will become a family of 5 in December of this year.

We were not expecting this little one to be joining us but welcome the surprise with Joy and look forward to the preparation for His/Her pending arrival.

NJ and EJ dont really understand whats going on with Mummy at the moment they are starting to wonder why I am not letting them sit on my tummy or play rough with me, and I'm sure its got them puzzled why I routinely dash off to the bathroom to throw up as soon as I have finished changing one of their dirty nappies.

so 12 wks 4 days in just 192 days to go till I can start telling this one to vacate its current rooming's, At my scan on Thursday they bumped my dates forward by 3 days which was nice , less time to wait now lol although from my own experience my babies will come when they are ready and nothing I can do will change that lol. So im really not expecting this one out till the 20th of December even though I am technically due on the 6th. They have booked me with a consultant to discuss growth scans for this baby ( however inaccurate they actually are it will be a good chance to see baby again ) since EJ arrived at such an impressive weight. 

I would really like a smaller baby this time but not getting my fingers crossed, Big babies have their own benefits with tending to be more settled with eating and sleeping than smaller babies and there is new research out to show that children with a larger birth weight show less signs of adult obesity, at age 7 have a higher IQ on average, Better temperaments and more alert as babies as well as less risk of heart disease in adult life.

also from my own research the labor process tends to be shorter and easier but that might be linked to the fact that women tend to have bigger and bigger babies the more babies they have lol.

Anyway a small part of me feels like I never really had a "newborn" with either of the boys as they were such healthy weights and grew so quickly they were never ittybitty babies and always looked big in my arms the only time they really looked like Newborn babies was when Mike was holding them and thats just because he is so big in comparison to even a 10lb newborn.

Anyway the doctors are right to fear that this baby could easily be over the 11lb mark and according to research. With EJ I showed 5 of the 6 signs exclusive of Gestational diabetes that predispose me to having another Larger baby those signs being

1) not my first child

2)already having had a large (macrosomic ) baby

 { NJ was 25grms below the weight limit guide and EJ was well over}

3)Long pregnancy, ie.. over 40wks average

 { both boys were born after 41wks}

4)Carrying a male child 

{ we dont know yet but odds arent in my favor for a girl }

5) Parental Stature

{ well neither Mike or I have lost any height }

6) Excessive weight gain in Pregnancy

{ I hope to avoid this again }.

So It would seem my chances of having a smaller baby are slim as I cant re-have my first child again,

 I cant put EJ back in there, It seems women in my family are a big genetically predisposed to having longer pregnancy's although no science has yet proved that this is cause for longer pregnancy's the fact that I have myself made it to 42wks ( if you use my original due date with NJ ) in a prior pregnancy and gone post 41wks with another (EJ was induced so I dont know how long the pregnancy would have otherwise lasted ) then I am more likely to carry past 40 weeks again, 

I would have to be carrying a Girl right now ( possible again but it would seem that 51% of the babies born are male not female as once thought, just girls tend to survive better meaning in a population sample of mixed ages then there is a trend towards more females.)and as yet Mike or his Father have yet to produce a Daughter.

Neither Mike or I can loose Height without surgery lol 

I can however avoid added weight gain. I didn't gain excess weight In either of my last pregnancy's and with both ended up lighter 2 days post partum than I had been when I learnt I was pregnant which is positive, 

It sadly is the weeks after that which see me gain weight lol.

Anyway from what I have researched there Is little to Nothing I can do differently in this pregnancy than in any of the others ( besides making sure the doctors keep an eye on my base iron levels ) so as always I will be trying to eat healthy ( currently on a 40 day fast of all Takeaway/fast food ) and try to fit some gentle exersize in there somewhere with running around after 2 toddlers.

Oh on a seperate subject, EJ is doing very well with his Standing up he will get himself up on his feet in the middle of the room now and stand for some time , he runs with the aid of his walker and climbs on everything just like his big brother so I do expect him to be walking solo in a few days/week or so.

Thats all for now

Bank Holiday after Bank Holiday

I think Summer is here, 

This month we have had the London Marathon, Easter weekend ( which has 2 bank holidays )and the Royal Wedding ( again 2 bank holidays ) this all 3 wks in a row. It is a bit tiresome having the public transport running Saturday service for an additional 4 days this month. 

we have had proper Summer weather too, clear blue skies and sunshine my lawn is turning very brown very quickly so gonna have to find a way to sort that out.

So Friday is the big day, where the future King of England marries his Queen, its a big deal apparently but it seems like over half the country dont care. 

Coming from outside the UK then i can very much see what the Royals bring to the culture and atmostphere as a tourist visiting London and the rest of the UK. Yes everything they "DO" can be done by others but who would want to? would someone really commit to attending opening after opening for no pay? There seems to be enough problems with getting the policticans we do pay to do their jobs properly so if we were to load them up with other duties as well that were unpaid then we would get nothing done at all for the country.

Even for comedy value alone at what the Prince of Edinburgh comes out with then surely its worth it. I bet the goverment couldnt keep the places and the grounds of them in as good a condition as the royals on the same budget. I think this country would loose an awful lot if the Royals were to go. Whos gonna come see Buckingham palace if the queen didnt live there? the place would be grafettied in under a week

My Little Poppets

Little Men

My little men

It hit me with a bang yesterday that I am the Mother to 2 little boys, not that i was under any illusions before then as to their gender but yesterday they started really behaving like little boys.

Putting it simply they went outside to play in the garden ( empty of toys, so if you have childrens toys filling up your garden that you want rid of let me know ) and found some toys to play with, well I say toys but they were really the pots full of planting mix that the previous tenants left behind

anyway shortly after finding them they had emptied the dirt onto my patio and were playing with it, pushing mounds of dirt around with their hands after the obligatory taste test of course..

This ended up with them covered head to toe in dirt, Anyway naptime arrived for Elliott so i picked him up and dusted him down and tucked him up in bed to come back down to find that Nate had collected a variety of toys from the living room plus my brush and shovel and taken them to play in the dirt with him. oh how fun.

anyway I kinda left him to it knowing i could clean up come late afternoon when i  needed to have him inside and that i would put them both through the bath before bed. Shortly later I hear the crash of a pot hitting the patio tiles and breaking, uhoh but oh well pots are replaceable and im trying not to sweat the small stuff in an effort to be a calmer parent.

anyway to cut to the chase I now have a broken planter pot and a pile of potting mix on my patio as i no longer have a pot to refill, and the boys loved playing in the dirt. Im so proud that they get along so well together most of the time

Potty Training

The time has arrived....

Nathaniel has made the choice he doesn't want to wear a nappy anymore, he made it very clear on Saturday when he took off his nappy after doing a poo and ran to the toilet , he did the same thing yesterday except as he was in his room for naptime he couldnt make it to the toilet so we had a mess to clean up thankfully not too much.

He pee'ed on the Potty or Toilet when asked for the last 2 days and took himself to go a few times even trying to empty the potty himself too ( gotta watch out for that one ) He held it till we got home after a trip to the shops on Saturday and pee'ed on the potty

At home we have been letting him run around with a naked bum with the potty out so he can use it when he needs and im trying to keep track of how often etc... to catch what hes doing before needing to go so it makes it easier when we are out and about if I know what I am looking for in the way of cues.

He does seem hesitant to poo on the potty or toilet hes only done it once although he shows a huge aversion to being in a dirty nappy and wants it off right away. I think I have some convincing to do to get him to poop on the potty.

anyway i'll be back with more potty training tales later Im sure as this will take us a few days to get the hang of

Mothers Day 2011

Mothers Day 2011

March 3rd 2011 and I have been a Mother of 2 for 1 year 1week and 1 day, and Mother to my eldest son Nathaniel for 2 years 9 months 1 week and 2 days. and to be completely honest it seems like yesterday that I was telling Michael that it was simply not possible for me to be pregnant and he was wasting his money buying a pregnancy test for me, and yet I was expecting our darling firstborn son and we were extremely excited about it too. Then to find out only a week following Nathaniel's First birthday that we were expecting again this time with Elliott our darling second born who has just a week and a day ago celebrated his First birthday then our joy cannot at the moment be more complete. Im a very proud Mummy to my darling Sons and extremely grateful to have been blessed with them as they are such sweet children even in their more challenging moments they find a way to make me smile.

This morning I woke to Elliott alerting me to the fact he was hungry and wanted nursing and when Mike went to get him from his cot and free'ed Nathaniel then my darling Firstborn came and climbed into our bed and said a very nice "Good morning Mummy" in his happy cheerful way that starts every day off with a smile, Mike had vanished downstairs and reappeared with a box of chocolates and a lovely card that contained Vouchers for different things from the dishes and drying up being done ( obviously to be redeemed using Michaels services not the boys since they cant reach the sink yet) to promises of a period of peace and quiet from the boys and ones for Hugs,Kisses and the like...
Of course on sight of the Chocolates then I had 2 boys trying to convince me to share so I split one between the 2 of them and then played hide and seek in the duvet with Elliott while Nathaniel enlisted Mike's help in his morning routine before Mike taking the boys down to make them breakfast.
I got a chance to check my emails and spend some time at the table with the boys while they waited for their breakfast with Nathaniel periodically getting up on the table to point out the balloons still hanging over the window from Elliott's birthday party last weekend. 


Michael cleaned up the downstairs whilst the boys and I ate all the while monitoring the boys behaviour and helping Nate with his newfound potty skills and the boys have been happily playing both inside and out in the garden for the remainder of the morning so far.


Mothers Day 2011 has been lovely so far and I look forward to see what the rest of the day holds, If the weather continues like it is then a trip to the playground might be in order later this afternoon. For the moment I am going to log off and spend Mothers day with the people who love me most.

cutie bootie baby

Ok I Promised a blog on cloth nappys and here it is 

Cloth Bums, the why,how and wherefore's of it.

Ok to start at the very begining, 

My first introduction to Cloth nappies was through my Mother she choose to use Terry Cloth Flat Nappies as pictured below and PINS 

Thankfully these are no longer in regular use today due to the invention of MCN/MCD's Modern Cloth Nappies/Diapers.

Above is a selection of my "Stash" as we term it in the mysterious world of cloth Mama's who make, buy and sell, New and used nappies through internet forums and online shops.

This isnt a complete picture of my stash by any means its not even a very current picture of what I own as to get a complete stash picture they all have to be clean which means the baby needs to be wearing a "sposie" or disposible nappy otherwise you are missing at least the one the baby is wearing unless you include him/her in the picture too lol.

Cloth Nappies are a world away from what our Mothers ( if your over 25 like me you probably wore cloth nappies at some point ) and Grandmothers used on us, Gone are the days of soaking the nappies in big buckets or tubs and scrubbing to get stains out, stabbing yourself with the pins you fasten them with etc... its really very different, im going to chart how a normal day goes for me with EJ in Cloth Nappies so you can see what I mean.

Get up and change nappy putting clean nappy on, If night nappy is dirty ( poo ) rinse dirty part either using shower head into bucket or toilet ( we have a shower head you can take off the wall on a hose ) or hold in toilet and flush ( the flush does remove most of it ) wring out most of the water ( if clean skip to here ) and put in the lidded nappy pail under the sink,

Go about the day breakfast etc... playtime

3-4 hrs on and its Naptime so we head upstairs collecting a clean nappy from the storage box in the hallway where i keep the clean ones and Change Ej's bum again, repeating the steps from the first nappy change to deal with nappy after ive tucked him into bed.

after Naptime its Lunchtime then post lunch we get another nappy change following the same routine as before. 

another change 3-4hrs later post dinner into a night time nappy and we are done for the day.

If its wash day then i would then bring the nappy pail down from the bathroom and put the nappies into the machine, set a rinse cycle and leave it to do its thing, after the rinse i add 1/4 the normal amount of powder to the drawer and wash at 40degrees on the standard cycle and then as it finishes i stick it on another rinse cycle to make sure all the detergant is out of the nappies then they get hung up to dry overnight. 

All my pocket nappies will dry overnight as will the cotton prefolds that I use to boost them , Night time nappies and any bamboo or hemp inserts take a day and a night normally to dry hung on my airer in the living room an on a nice morning i'll put anything not quite dry outside on the patio for a nice bit of sun bleaching.

To make things easier on myself i use fleece liners in all my nappies so when EJ does poo then i only normally have to rinse the liner , overall I get 65% less leaks from cloth than i do from disposables and about 85% less instances of bum rash ( which EJ is prone to get when teething ) I vary rarely get stains on the nappies and when i do the sun is normally enough to bleach the stains out , even in cloudy old England. and it saves us about £30 a month on disposable nappies for EJ which is well worth it for us.

Not convinced, just google image search cloth nappies and have a look at the bright colors and cute prints, find out the facts about cloth nappies like they are 1 degree cooler for a baby than a disposable, and if ive still not convinced you then try wearing plastic or paper pants for the day and see how much you enjoy it then go back to your normal pants and see how much more you enjoy wearing something soft and breathable.

Ladies theres more to come im going to review CSP's and diva/mooncups soon so keep tuned

in the meantime I must go and put my wee EJ into another one of his funky Cute soft cloth nappies

Go on try it..... Use the coment box and contact me for more info 

mothering boys

Sometimes it can be hard work mothering 2 active cheeky boys but the payoffs are huge when they come around.

Today for example started with tears and tantrums as soon as Mike left for work but soon turned into fits of giggles on the floor as the boys tickled each other till they were nearly in tears.

Then as we spoke to my parents via skype they rubbed their honey toast into their hair and the carpet and played with all the nosiest of toys and banged on the piano before asking endlessly to watch Chuggington on BBC-Iplayer.

After EJ went to bed for his nap then Nate decided to keep making huge amounts of noise to see if he could wake his brother back up and pulled both trainsets out and spread them all over the living room so i couldnt so much as stand up without standing on something, only for him to tackle me and try to tickle me and make me laugh.

its never long till things change and the mood swings good or bad in this house it sure is very very entertaining and i wouldnt miss a moment of it no matter if that be stressful or calm.

Birthday Party time

This time last year I had just received a call from the MW telling me to be at the hospital for 9pm to be induced and i was having semi regular early labor contractions anyway so was busy packing my bag and organizing and texting Mike to let him know the news.

Its Elliott Jason Odendaal's First Birthday tomorrow, Im so excited for him that hes 1 year old lol much more excited than he is thats for sure. I should be really wrapping his presents i guess but blogging is so much more fun esp when the boys arent even asleep upstairs yet and probably wont sleep for their entire naptime lol typical that I would have the kids who cant both go to bed awake at the same time hehe. Theres tons of stuff I still need to do before tomorrow including icing the cake but ive not got alot of motivation right now after already re-arranging my living room. it will happen just got to wait till Mike is home lol

Countdown begins

Time really does fly... My baby is going to be one in 8 days time Im struggling to grasp how that can be as it doesnt seem like a year ago that i was at the MW's office begging her to induce me as i was already overdue. So much has happend in the last year but so little has changed in my head.
anyway im not going to ramble on i have a house to clean and party to prepare for

Home at last

Our holiday has come to an end, It was fantastic getting to see my family again and to get to meet my nephew and welcome a new brother into the family, it was also great to see my bestie friend again ,meet her husband and her darling son and get to spend time with them, also got to meet another natural mumma who i know via a website and we got to go visit and meet in person which is awesome.
Lots happend during our holiday and it is nice to be home with usable running water and my own bed , so here are some photos of the trip

Rakaia River Gorge

Mike and Mum

Monkey at Willowbank

Francinne and Karl

Phil and Ruth

Dad, Elliott, Lydia, Joel and Ruth

O'Callaghan/Van't Wout Wedding

Back now from our Holiday and just thought id upload a little Collage I made of some of the Photos taken at my sisters wedding,
Im in the top left corner with blonde hair, in the photo below is Lydia ( the younger one ) my youngest sister and Lauren who is one of my sisters good friends, across from her holding the puppy is Hannah who is Ruths Best Friend and Maid of Honor, and above her pictured with myself again is my Older sister Tanya we were cold waiting for the boys to stop messing about lol,
and of course central to the Collage is Ruth the lovely bride who looked fantastic and stunning as always

Disaster Zone City

WOW, still kinda shocked, we found out halfway through our flight ( LA stopover) that Chch had suffered another very large aftershock and half the central city had come down, arrived to find a national state of emergancy and our flight from auckland canceled and had to rebook as standby to Chch we managaed to get out of Auckland only 3 hours later than planned and get to Chch where we were told to use the toilets at the airport as there was no water or toilets working in the city and that over half the city was still without power, we decided to stay that night with Mikes brother in Kaiapoi which was good as they had shower and toilet facilitys and fuel still avalible, we have since then been staying in the City with my friend and her husband just literally a hundred meters or so from the police line that is blocking off the central city. anyway we are off to do something today to take our minds off all of it i'll take lots of pictures and report back

Holidays are here

Well its time and im all packed as much as I thought i wouldnt be, got the house sitter organized and everything is going smoothly just hope the post office is open to do the currency exchange and so DH can post his letters while hes down there getting nappies for the trip.
I must dash have to find something in the house for the boys to have for breakfast and not forget to eat myself as else i will defo feel sick on the flight and that is defo not what we need or want happening, I dont think i slept a wink last night im so excited

Friends aye, what would life be without them

Man i really love my friends, they are awesome and when i do let go enough to tell them whats going on then they are always without fail there to support me, I guess i should open up more sometimes and let them see all the good and not so much of the bad in my life. I really am so Thankful for all my friends around the world ( yes i have friends on every continent except Antarctica currently but who knows one of my friends husbands might get a job there and they might move there one day) I sometimes wouldnt get through the week without my M8's caus with Family so far away and the 13 hr time difference plus of course they have their lives to run and sort out then I do really need my friends some days.
With this holiday back to NZ then ive been thinking of how things there will have changed and trying to prepare myself. My Nana ,God rest her soul, Passed away when I was pregnant with Nathaniel in fact i found out she was gone when I called my Mum to tell her that she was going to become a Grandma herself, I miss Nana and really really dont know how I will react seeing my Grandad and not seeing her. Before I left NZ I tried to go visit her at the home as much as i could around work and we got close so i really dont know how i will react, ( somehow im crying while typing this , just thinking about her makes me cry ) caus i guess with being pregnant i held myself together so much i never really mourned her passing at all then life got in the way after Nate was born and its been a rollercoaster ride since.
Also Chch has had a MAJOR earthquake just in case you slept through September and missed the news and they have had sizable aftershocks as recently as Feb 10th they had a 4.0 and the most recent was Wed 16th a 2.5 measurement. so that understandably has affected the city and the way things look and how i remember them being wont nessacarily be how they are now.
Also my family has changed, the adults not so much but my younger siblings ( including the sister getting married ) have all grown up by 6 years and are so different now to the sisters and brother I remember leaving behind me. Thankfully through Skype and the internet I have had video calls and of course long telephone conversations with family over the years and seen photos of them pretty frequently but that isnt going to change how it will feel to have my little brother ( i last saw him when he was 8 yrs old ) almost as tall if not taller than me and a teenager no less !!
Im really looking forward to the trip and meeting my Nephew for the first time and seeing my bestie friend and meeting her little boys and husband ( she didnt even know of him when i left now they are married with a darling son ) and catching up with all my other friends, thankfully my sisters wedding is a good way to do this as everyone basicly is coming to that and will be there and it will be easier than going to all their houses in the time we have. im gonna finish off here caus i really should be packing, i just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to everyone of my friends whos been there for me

Online life

Sometimes i think my life online is a bit too much work, trying to be nice , always watching what i say and how i say it, thats why i Love my blog caus its just me its my opinion expressed in my way and if people dont like it then they dont have to read it lol, My Blog is just that is MINE. I use so many parenting forums as well as facebook (which is where i can only imagine the now removed annonymous comment on my last entry came from although who on mine or my Husbands friends lists would say something like that I have no idea) and there is always so much drama over things that people who dont even know each other have said normally in relation to someones veiw on a particular sensitive topic. Theres always gonna be people who do things differently and say things differently and cultural and social protocols that will define us as humans but thats part of the charm and interest that there is in this world. So what if I'm a Married woman at only 25 yrs old? who cares really, Does it really bother people that much that although I breastfeed that my son also gets expressed milk from a bottle, or that even though I try to do the best for the enviroment by reducing waste produced by my household and therefore I cloth nappy one child while using disposibles for the other, is it really so important that people feel the need to slag off my choices and the decisions that my husband and myself make for our family?

I feel like i need a reality check sometimes or to give one to somebody whos being overly concerned about stuff that really will have no impact on their own lives but they just like to stick their nose in. Long and short . Part of who I am is that I say what I think and like everyone Im not perfect about thinking of the impact my words will have but I do try. Yes I use my blog to vent , big whoop wanna fight about it, If it bothers people then they dont have to read my blog its easy.

Next time whoever you were who complained about me complaining, say it loud and proud and show your  face, admit who you are if your going to cast judgment , dont hide in the shadows and be nasty theres just no reason to.

Drama

Well after getting the flights booked and confirmed yesterday we had a load of drama about the passports caus we had misplaced them, thankfully we now have them but i spent the whole day pulling the house apart to find where the kids might have hidden them just for them to be in the car the whole time

Needless to say im happy that we have them and have sorted the ESTA clearance visa for the USA even though we arent even going to offically set foot into the USA  we have to have it since we are being offloaded while the plane refuels. I think its just a way for them to get money off people who are transiting through on Long Haul flights going elsewhere and not staying in the USA.

Loads to do still around the house with everything got to sort so much but im sooooooooooooooo tired too

HOLIDAYS

Im going on holiday, im so excited im going back to the place i grew up, well the town i grew up in lol

through the work of God and the amazing generosity of my Parents then our holiday is going to happen.

Mum if your reading this we love you and we are so very very very very grateful for your help with all this and we will repay you plus interest as soon as we can. 

So now I have loads to do, loads and loads to do, heaps in fact lol got to get the suitcases ready and packed and the clothes washed and clean to go in them, get the boys stuff for the flight organized and plan everything that i need to including a lift to the airport and a pick up from the airport as well.

so must dash got far to much to do lol

Travel Plans

Well our Holiday is coming up fast we are supposed to fly out in  9 days time but as yet without return flights might have to postpone our trip and miss my sisters wedding which she and i would not be happy about. So I have to have all the family's clothes and stuff clean to go on holiday and hope we actually make it else there is no doubt going to be tears and heartache on both sides of the world. so im planning to go and we will find out Wed if we dont go as Wed is the latest we can call them to postpone the trip without losing the tickets all together.

i dont know if this makes sense but its doing my head in thinking about it im so fed up with not knowing and not having any options in front of me not having anything proactive i can do about it. We have nothing worth that much that we could sell to make up the shortfall even if we could sell it before we left. at least we have EJ's passport through now so if we do end up going that we can actually go arrrggh

Mummy Time = Training

Yesterday I decided to run the Race For Life which is organized by Cancer Research UK and is typically a female road race although men to participate. I am passionate about Research into Cancer as my Fathers Dad died following a long struggle with Cancer and I have lost friends to the disease as well and I do believe there is a cure out there for it or at least better treatments with less side effects than what is currently on the table.

I will be posting my sponsorship link here in case anyone who reads this blog wants to follow my training and sponsor me for the event, I already have 2 friends willing to do the event with me and a 3rd that is a possibility

Im going to train to run the event but depending on how my knees cope with the training ( first run is planned for tonight ) then i might end up walking the 5km with EJ in the wrap sling. 

There is more than one reason behind my desire to do the Race For Life, 1) I need and want to improve my overall health and fitness, 2) In memory of my Grandad and to raise funds for Cancer research worldwide. 3) caus its a challenge and im always up for a challenge

I do hope you will follow my progress and help with fundraising if you can afford to and I look forward to updating you all about how its going.

Lynni

Babywearing fun

Well today my new wrap sling arrived its a panel woven from  Victoria the sling lady who also trades on Facebook, I decided since EJ outgrew the soft structured carrier we had for him that we did need another option as i wasnt going to take a double pushchair on our holiday. The panel on the sling has Thomas the Tank Engine theme and Nate loves it too and I can carry him it  ( already tested a front carry with him ) its a bit harder to get the panel to display on a back carry but it is possible just a will take a bit of practic unless i use the standard rucksack carry which im not sure how long i could carry EJ for as hes quite heavy and i like having a waist support to help carry his weight.

Feeding time at the Zoo.....

Meal times in our house are always an adventure depending what we are eating the boys tend to eat almost the same as Mike and myself sometimes with minor modifications if we know they will just throw bits on the floor anyway. They are pretty hungry boys all around and eat well mostly with few exceptions as to what they will or wont eat. Nate by far is the more fussy of the 2 boys currently there was a time where he would eat anything but more recently he has been alot more picky and if i ever find the person who taught him the word " yucky" i will have a few choice words of my own to share!! 

We chose to do Baby Led Weaning with EJ mainly because i couldnt be bothered with making endless piles of puree for him and the more we looked into BLW the more it made sense, Basicly as I understand the concept then if a child's digestive tract is ready for food then its brain has learned how instruct the child to pick up chew and swallow food and to gag and spit out things to hard or big to swallow. so following that idea we allowed EJ to explore foods by giving them to him to hold from 5 1/2 months and he soon figured out how to get it into his mouth the chewing and swallowing bit came in time. we started with finger foods of cooked and raw vegetables and by 6 months we were giving him pasta spirals with sauce ( messy business at first ) and other pieces of our meals to try in large enough peices he couldnt fit into his mouth in one go but had to nibble the end or side of. He had his first Roast dinner shortly afterwards and gobbled it up, the chicken had a few trips in and out of the mouth till he had it chewed down to a point he could swallow it. From then we just stopped making food for him and gave him whatever we were eating , when we have curry then he gets peices of the meat and vege from the curry some rice  and some Naan bread on his tray and he picks it up and eats what he likes with his hands or we load spoons for him and either he takes the spoon from our hands or from the tray. When we eat pasta I do try to make sure we use penne or pasta peices rather than spagetti as it is easier for both boys to manage ( not had much luck teaching Nate how to twirl spagetti on his fork yet ) but they can cope with spagetti it just takes a bit longer for them to eat the meal. EJ has recently figured out how to take the food out of the bowl without upturning it onto the floor and waving it around his head so often gets a bowl of his own before this his dinner got put onto the tray.

so that brings me to tonight..

Well tonight i decided to get the camera out and film the boys dinner time or part of it anyway , mostly to show off how well EJ is doing with BLW, of course Nate wanted to be part of the action so he has his own staring moments

FYI. The meal is Potato&Pumpkin Mash with Carrots caus i managed to trick them into eating Brocolli with their chicken nuggets at lunchtime and they have had fruit as well today to make up their 5 a day.

Please excuse the mess my house appears to be in its not that bad normally lol

Work from " Lynni's Design"

Hat made for friends lil girl 9-12month size

Earflap Hat for friends little boy 12-18month size

Baby girl booties for a friend 6month+ size

So what was I doing prior to Christmas? I was knitting lol, making presents this time around as I had been gifted some nice wool very kindly by friends and had plenty of time on my hands since moving and getting rid of the TV. I looked at patterns online for inspiration but altered and adjusted them to suit what I wanted so my work is unique and free from copyright so I can repoduce these for sale if people are interested, i'll have to find a good wool source as the boys hat is knitted from materials i salvaged from another hat and ive run out of the feather yarn for the girls hat but have plenty of other colours in acrrylic yarn i would have to buy in 100% but a good Baby A-yarn is just as soft and wearable imo.

Natural Housewife

Hi all

it would seem Im turning totally green mama , lol with Breastfeeding, baby wearing, and cloth diapering to name a few lol, my poor kids have had to put up with Mummy being odd and strange and live through my mistakes and mess ups as ive learned things and changed the way ive done things.
i hope to post more about it soon but got to attend to my lovely wonderful kids for a bit now.. Ciao