Hand made presents-String Art

This year for Christmas I am trying to save money, but also give out more meaning full gifts. So I'm going for more hand made gifts.
Its hard to buy for my partners family-they have all they need, I don't really want to go out and spend money on something they aren't going to use, or will just clutter the house. So combining my love of Pinterest I've finally decided to start making some of those things I've pinned.

So this is my take of this pin :

These are on pieces of MDF that are A3 size. The black one I only printed out the map A4 size-hence the size difference. 

I love them! What do you think?

My new love-Crochet

At the beginning of the year I started attending our local stitch n bitch with a bunch of lovely ladies. I knew most of them already and as the year went on we invited more to join us.
I was lucky enough to be taught how to crochet, and since then haven't looked back. I have made so many things and really enjoy it.
Here are some pictures of some of my creations this year.

I'm back!!!

Boy, its been awhile.
Life boy has changed since I last posted. I should really read my last post to see what was happening then.

But anyway, there has been some big changes. September was a massively huge month for our family. We moved for the first time since having Lara and boy was that a mission. Our old house was at the top of a nice big path which meant we opted for movers. Best $500 spent ever!
A week after moving our I gave birth to our not so little boy Leo. (Yep that's right, we moved four days before I was due!) Was a very speedy labour (just over 2hours!) Lara and Paige are totally smitten.
A month later and Lara turned 5! Off to school she went, and she has coped brilliantly.
So here are some pictures from the past wee while.

New lounge

The girls room (well untill I decided that them sharing wasn't working)

Our new man-Leo
Photography By Sharyn

Us in hospital still
Photography By Sharyn

Love this pic!
Photography By Sharyn

Cuddles with big Sister

Just chilling and being cute.

Sleepy cuddles in the sun with Daddy
(Yay our new house gets soooo much sun!)

Miss Cheeky Paige-dressed herself with two tops.

Not so little Leo, having some cuddles with his sleeping sister.

Well done if your still awake after the pictures :)
Tomorrows goal will be to redesign my header-I think that is well over due!

Anchor Family Reunion Comp

We made it through round one, now I ask for your help :)

Virtually Family

by Anastasia Kerr

We are a definitely not your traditional nuclear family. But we are most definitely a family!

We are 52 women aged 19-36, spanning Northland to Dunedin (plus two in Australia!), who met online last year while newly pregnant, our babies due in January 2011.

We have since then created a online santuary dedicated to supporting each other through our pregnancies, miscarriages, medical dilemmas and relationship difficulties - just like Anchor we are growing families! From online strangers we have become trusted friends.

Our dream is to get our “mummy family” together for a face-to-face coffee group in Wellington, to celebrate our friendship and our babies’ first birthdays.

Please head to http://www.anchor125years.co.nz/story/view/number/477/

register and vote daily. 

Thank you all so much.

New toys!!

While Lara was at kindergarten today I had a new toy arrive :) The freerider.

Lara was soooo excited when I got it out of the box. She had to try it out straight away-which meant rugging up and heading out in the rain. Poor Paige really wanted to join in but the weather really wasn't nice enough for her. 

I can't wait to try it out on a nice day-the scooter can attach to my Explorer and be used as a buggy board. 

Will report later on how that works :)

Long time, no blog-whoops! (Again)

Haha I seriously struggle with this blogging thing. I love reading everyone elses blogs, but mine seems to get a little forgotten.
Life has been moving fast in our house.
Lara is now at big kids kindergarten. She is loving being back with her best friend. The change of days has taken a toll on her, she has been tired and emotional (like she was when she first started) School holidays are coming up so she will be able to rest and recover then will be back into it next term. This term Lara joined Soccer-she loves it. It is her Saturday morning activity with her Dad. I guess I should start thinking about her birthday soon.

Paige is a super mover-at 8mths we have almost 6 teeth, almost walking, finally taking a bottle (during the day) and the past four nights she has slept through! Her personality is really beginning to grow and shine. She loves to bop away to the music, she is often pulling faces at her sister and she is now starting to chat away a lot more.

And of course to go with a blog post-here is a bunch of pics from the start of August to now.

Soup Recipes Please!

I love soup, but I have a very limited range of soups that I make-so far I tend to stick with Pumpkin Soup. 

Last Sunday I made a chicken soup which came out really well-Lara even ate all of hers. (I did cheat and used a cooked chicken from the supermarket.) I really want to make an effort to be trying new meals, and well soups are just so great. And of course another bonus is soup often is cheap to make and lasts more than one meal.

So please feel free to leave me a comment with links to your great soup recipes. Thanks :)

What do you do?

So my doctor has ordered me to have some time regular time on my own-as much as I love my babies I need some time away from them to breathe and feel like a adult. But now I have to work out how it will work out. With Paige still being on the boob I can't really be away for to long so I'm a little at loss as to how it will fit into my day/week.
What do you do? Do you get a few hours a week to do your own thing? Or to you just make the most of the evenings when they are in bed? Do you have a hobby you do?
I know I should look into using time to do some form of exercise-I wish it was summer, I miss being able to go for a walk in the evening. Maybe I should look at doing some form of regular excerise class?

Baby on the move!

It looks as though Miss Paige is on the move-we have forward movement! Not quite a crawl but she can get to where she wants to go. Guess I need to really keep on top of Lara keeping all small toys off the floor now.

Breastfeeding, bottle feeding, Babyled weaning, Pureed First Foods.

I'm at a loss with it all. Paige has become a struggle to breastfeed and I want to stop. She is so busy taking in everything that is going on in the world that she doesn't want to stop and feed. I try and feed her in the bedroom away from it all, but she still fights it. But as she won't take a bottle or sippy cup I have no choice but to keep trying. She has started solids but at the moment she is to unco for babyled weaning and is refusing to take pureed food.
She needs to be feeding more during the day, she needs to start getting more food. She is so close to being on the move so she needs to energy. All the energy she is using during the day means she is up 3-4 times at night.
Yesterday she had two breastfeeds during the day, and a few attempts at eating toast, pear and apple slices.
In the end I had a massive cry to mum on the phone, feeling like I have no clue what to do with Paige. I'm still at a lose and don't know what to do. She is clearly fulling up at night as when she wakes for the day she won't feed till after she has had a nap. (10.30ish)

Ahhhh I don't know what to do!!

Things I'm loving (#1)

So today I will start of my 30 in 30 with Things I'm loving. Might as well start on a happy note.
And of course I'm linking up with Paisley Jade.

I wholeheartedly believe that no matter what is happening in your life, there is always something that you can be thankful for... no matter how simple it is. 

Sister's having a tea party!

Lara trying to feed Paige 

Loving my new highchair!
Phil and Teds - Highpod

Paige loves it as well.
Phil and Teds - Highpod

Brown Brothers Moscato-YUM!!!
So easy to drink and only 5.5% Alcohol-which is a good
thing as one bottle went down very fast the other night.  

Hope I've managed to link up properly eeek.

Haha-what a fail!

Oh dear I didn't even manage two posts before failing. Shocking (not really-this is me we are talking about) I remembered I hadn't posted just as I was getting the shower last night. By then I thought *mewh* I'll just have to start again.....
So here we go again.
30 posts in 30 days.
Can I do it?

You'll have to wait and see.....

Blogging Mojo...

How do you all do it? I stop, start, stop, start. I can't seem to keep regularly posting. Blah silly kids zap all my energy! 

Ok so now I start again. Can I manage a post a day for 30 days?

Oooh I did it again!

Well long time no post. I have no idea what happened-I just lost my blogging mojo big time :(
Lots has happened since I last blogged. Paige has grown so much! She is now rolling, and has cut her first tooth. (Bad mummy moment-I hadn't even realised she was teething.)
When Paige was 8 weeks old her and I flew to New Plymouth for a quick trip.
Lara has suffered her first heart break at Kindy-her best friend moved up to the Four year old session. Lara spent a few weeks sulking about that. She still talks about her now.
I'm sure lots of other stuff has happened but I'm struggling to think! Silly sleep deprivation. Hopefully I will find my blogging mojo some time soon.

It just tastes better with BUTTER!

Butter

Milk

Cheese

Sour Cream

Yoghurt

Ice Cream

*Sigh* I need want it all. This dairy free thing is doing my head in. I am craving a big glass of cold milk, with a side of hotcross buns smeared in butter.
I miss milk in my coffee-soy milk is ok, but its not the same. I miss butter on my sandwich ( I don't do margarine so there goes putting something on before the other spreads) I miss my pasta with dinner (they require milk in the sauce) I struggle watching Silas drown his muffins in yoghurt.
But it does seem to have lessened Miss Paige's spilling so I guess I have to stick with it.

(By the way-the chocolate cake recipe I posted is great! I've made it three times now-twice as muffins. It is super easy and makes a really moist cake/muffins.)

Supporting Canterbury

12.51pm on February 22, 2011 Canterbury was struck by a devastating earthquake. New Zealand's Garden City changed for ever. The earthquake killed more than 160 people, destroying many homes and heritage buildings and affecting tens of thousands of citizens. 


I, like many other New Zealanders sat glued to my tv as it showed me the hugely devastating scenes, in shock. I didn't want to watch it, but I couldn't turn it off. I sat in my comfy couch crying, thinking of all the people out there struggling to get to their families, parents trying to get across town to fetch their children from child care/school/kindy, not knowing if they will find the building in one piece. 
I spent a lot of time crying, and feeling helpless. I couldn't get a hold of my brother or his fiancée. I wanted to help, but had no idea how. Finally Mum rung to let me know my brother and fiancée were safe. Sadly the same couldn't be said for others. Lives lost, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, children-gone. 


It is in this time of need that we have seen countless acts of human generosity. Company after company donating time, resources, people and money. People collecting money, food and goods, churches organising collection points and of course the countries who sent their search and rescue people. Then there are the people who donated their time, the ones cooking meals and delivering them to peoples doors-or of course those who work in the rescue forces-fire fighters, ambulance crews, doctors, army and navy men/women. Those who risked their lives to save the lives of others. 


Canterbury still needs our help. 

Welly walks the walk for Chirstchurch-26th March 2011. People will be walking 10k to raise money for the Red Cross-do your bit! I will be out there walking with my two girls. If you can't make it-donate :)

Or if you are in Auckland you could do the walk organised there. Details are here.

This weekend is the Kilbirnie Fair. Make sure you check out these stalls.

phil & ted will be selling gears at silly low prices with 100% of the $$$$$ going to Christchurch
(You can also purchase and donate online at www.philandteds.com)

Mokopuna Merino will also be selling stock at low prices. All $$$s will be winging its way to Christchurch

Mountain Buggy will be doing its bit to help, low prices with  100% of the sale going to those in Christchurch.

These three companies where at the Newtown Fair doing the same thing and managed to raise over $1500. Read about it here.

Welly walks the walk for Chirstchurch-26th March 2011. People will be walking 10k to raise money for the Red Cross-do your bit! I will be out there walking with my two girls. If you can't make it-donate :)

Or if you are in Auckland you could do the walk organised there. Details are here.

If you know of other great fundraising going on leave a comment-share it with me (and those who read my blog) please.

*Doh* Mummy Brain!

Lara + Backpack-Check
Paige + Car Seat-Check
Mel + Handbag-Check
Place handbag on front of car, put Paige in car, Lara jumps in with her backpack, buckle her in.
Get to kindy and what did I forget...............






My handbag I'd placed on the bonnet. Whoops! Thankfully when I got home it was sitting on the footpath. It slid off the front as I'd reversed away.

Many thanks!

Many thanks to a fellow Cheeky Monkey member who designed me a new header. It looks awesome and is much better than I could have done.
Check out Krya's blog here.

New blog layout

Bear with me as I try and sort out my blog. I can't quite seem to get it looking how I want it to.

Long time, no blog-whoops!

So it looks like I lost my blogging mojo-I had been doing so well! I think the third trimester messed with my blogging. (Might as well blame it on that-maybe it was the heat and everything else going on)
Lots has happened since my last post-lets see if I can get everyone up to date in one post.

• Nov 4th-Lara turned 3-eek! 

I can't believe my little girl is three already. It only seem like yesterday that I had her! She has grown so much and is such character (and madam!) 

• Nov 10th-Lara started Kindy!

Since starting kindy Lara has grown into a hugely independent girl. She loves going to kindy and now claims to have a new best friend (sorry Annabelle!) Her favourite activities is painting, dressing up, playing outside and making necklaces with the beads.

• Christmas-Wellington

This year we spent Christmas in Wellington. We didn't want to risk travelling when I was 36weeks pregnant-and well to be honest I really didn't want to be stuck in the car for 5hours when I was so huge. When we decided to stay in Wellington Silas's brother and sister (plus partners and family) were staying Wellington as well. But they ended up heading up to New Plymouth so we spent Christmas with out any family around. It was rather sad, especially since Lara didn't get to play with her cousins like normal. 

• January-Lara went for a holiday! 

Mum came down from New Plymouth and took Lara back for a holiday. Lara was seen by both sides of the family-spending a few day with each set of Grandparents. She came home soooo tired, but full of so many stories. We on the other hand were rather lost-we weren't sure what to do with our days. So we re stained the deck, went out for dinner, I had a movie night with the girls, and visited friends. 

• January 25th-Due date-came and went. No baby girl yet :(

• Feb 3rd 12.11am-Paige Madison Avery was born! Weighing in at 8lb 3oz she made her arrival the day before I was due to be induced. (Will post my birth story in another post)

And now-These days I'm a mummy to two beautiful girls. Lara is totally in love with her little sister. It took her a little bit to adjust to the change, but she got there (a house full of people didn't help-but I won't post about that as I'm still dark about it)

So that has been my life the past four months :)