Toddler Teething Tip

Jets getting his first molar & boy has he been grumpy! Anyway, I thought id share with you all a toddler teething tip i leaned from a friend - Frozen Blueberries!!! Well, any frozen berries or fruit would do i guess but blue berries are great because they are packed full of antioxidants so they are nutritious as well as delicious. Because they are frozen they are nice & cold on bubs gums which helps numb them & it also means you can get them from the freezer section of the supermarket all year round. The only problem is that you may have a partially blue baby on your hands when they have finished! Jet absolutely loves them, he scoffs them down quick smart: Hope everyone had a fab chrissie!

Ho Ho Ho...

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

Wishing you all a fantastic day full of lots of love, cheer & pressies of course! Enjoy drinking & eating way to much then moving on to another relos house & doing the same thing over again.

Heres another little christmas vid from us to you:

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Healthy Snack Bar

Thought id share with you a recipe for a healthy fruit & seed bar i made recently that rocky absolutely loves.

2 cups puffed rice cereal
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup mixed seeds (you can include nuts here too if you like)
200g mixed dried fruit
1/3 cup rice flour
1/2 cup (125ml) liquid glucose
1/4 cup (90g) honey

* Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (or 350 Fahrenheit). Line the base & sides of a 29 x 19 cm tin with baking paper.

* Gently heat liquid glucose & honey in a small saucepan (over a medium heat) for 2 minutes or until runny.

* Combine all other ingredients in a large bowl & mix well together.

* Stir the glucose syrup & honey & mix well to coat.

* Press the mixture firmly into the tin, place a sheet of baking paper over the mixture & with the back of a spoon spread it evenly. Remove the top sheet of paper.

* Bake for approx 20 mins or until golden brown

* Leave to cool & crisp in the tin before lifting out & cutting into fingers.

Thats it! You've just made some healthy crunchy yummy snacks for the whole family (well, maybe not the littlelies but everyone else)! Store them in an air tight container in your fridge :D

$10 up for grabs!

My blogging budy Lincoln over at Canucklehead has a comp to win $10 running at the moment, but you'll have to be quick to enter. All you have to do is buy one of his top spots, which will cost you $2 but you will be buying a link on his very popular site in exchange, & one lucky person will get a 500% return on their money - if you want to enter click here for more info.

Latest Projects

Ive finished some knitting projects recently so i thought id share them with you.

I did these two widdle wabbits, the blue one is for Jet & the orange one is for a friend's new little bub. The pattern is one of lincrafts handouts & i used the recommended yarn which is lincrafts fairy floss:

I made this beanie & scarf for a friend for Christmas. I bought this yarn ages ago to make her something with cause she loves blue, its from lincraft, think its called Heather? I only got two balls of it cause i was just new to knitting then & i was only planning on knitting a scarf, but i know shed like a beanie so i wanted to make her both. The beanie took up most of one ball so i had to do the scarf out of one & a bit. I knitted that ball of yarn 3 times trying to get the pattern right. First i did a ribbed scarf (stupid i know cause it takes up more yarn) then i did the pattern i used in the end but i did to wide so i made it thinner & did it on fatter needles (9mm). Here they are with me modelling (using the term very loosely) them:

& heres a close up of the pattern, not that you can really see it. Basically you just have to cast on 14 stitches (or any multiple of 3 + 2 extra) then k1 *k1 yo k2tog & repeat from * to the last stitch then k1. Cast off after you've reached your desired length & thats it.

The beanie pattern was really simple, its from the book Last Minute Knitted Gifts which has quite a few fab patterns in it. The beanie pattern has lots of variations but i just did the basic rolled brim variety.

Christmas is Almost Here

& so the silly season begins:

Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

An Award & Two Meme's

Ok, all of these are pretty overdue - sorry mel & carrie!!! So heres what im going to do. I have an award & two meme's below. The people i am giving the award to im also tagging for the meme's, but you only have to do one of them if you get tagged, not both so take your pick, unless you want to do both!

This is the fab award i got from Carrie at Rantings of a Woman - thanks Carrie I love it!!!

I would like to pass this award onto & tag these fabulous people, all of them make me smile & laugh regularly!!!

April - A Day in the Life

Lincoln - Canucklehead

Hayley - A Blog in Progress

Donna - Cinderella's Stash

Drea - Fina Drea

Mel (Such Simple Pleasures) & Carrie (Rantings of a Woman) im tagging you both with the meme's that you havent done :D

Heres the first Meme, i was tagged by Mel at Such Simple Pleasures. This meme is pretty cool. You need your iPod - in saying that i dont have one but we have stacks of songs on our computer so i just did it from here. It's a list of questions that you answer with the title of a random song. So i just listed all the songs in media player then hit shuffle & here are the questions with the song title answers (i dont know all the artists cause for some reason there not listed next to the songs & i suck at music trivia)

1. Would would describe your personality? All in the name of pity - Skunk - Gee thanks!

2. What do you like in a guy/girl? Mental as anything - Live it up - No! cant have amental guy, two mental people in a relationship just wouldnt work!!!

3. How do you feel, today? Jealous again - The black crows

4. What's your life's purpose? Now im here - Queen - well, this is kinda true i think, just to "be" here & not floating off in lala land

5. What is your motto? Opportunity - Pete Murray - maybe i should adopt this motto, doesnt sound like a bad one!!!

6. What do your friends think of you? When the music stops - Eminem

7. What do you think of your parents? Bat out of Hell - Meatloaf - well they are kinda wild

8. What do you think about very often? Tearing - Rollins Band - lol, think this is a reflection of my mental state!

9. What do you think of your best friend? Destitute Illusions - Jamiroquai

10. What do you think of the person you like? Wish you were here - Incubus - oh, thats sweet!!!

11. What is your life story? Lets see action - The Who - lol, im a bit lazy so this kinda fits

12. What do you want to be when you grow up? Closing Time - Semisonic

13. What do you think when you see the person you like? Another Love Song (dont know the band?) - not sure thats a good thing!

14. What do your parents think of you? Head Over Feet - Alanis Morisette - this was espeically true when they took me skiing when i was younger, i was always stackin it!

15. What will be played at your funeral? Fashion - David Bowie - hmmmm maybe not, im probably the most unfashionable person around!

16.What is your hobby/interest? Indian Summer - The Doors - well i would love to go to india!

17. What is your biggest secret? Black or White - Michael Jackson - hmmm?

18. What do you think of your friends? All for Believing - Missy Higgins

19. What should you post this as? Allergic (to thoughts of mother earth) - Placebo

lol, you get some funny answers!!!

Few! One more to go!!! Heres the last Meme, Carrie from Jabber Jaws tagged me with this one:

Another year is coming to an end...What did 2007 mean to you? Share your memories of 2007 with us.

~ Start Copy ~

Rules :

1. Copy from "Start Copy" until "End of Copy".

2. Before "End of Copy", share your best memories of 2007 include your name and your URL blog.

3. Share this tag to your friends.

For me, the year 2007 had a lot of happiness (and hope for 2008). Happiness because i see my son, grow and grow day by day. I have a great husband. I met lots of new friends from around the world via blogging ^_^ - Juliana RW

The year 2007 has been a good year for me. Me and my husband had our 10th anniversary, my children are healthy, I got a new great-nephew, and I made a lot of new friends through blogging. ~ Mom Knows Everything

The year 2007, oh wow what a busy year this has been for my family but a lot of great memories. After a fast, busy, hectic long distance move for us we took a much needed summer vacation camping and hanging out on the beach. We had the time of our lives and didn't want to see it come to an end but it had to and we are looking forward to going back next summer. What a year. My greatest memories are getting to spend this time with my husband and children. And blogging I can't forget all the great friends I've made. I couldn't ask for anything more. :0) Rantings of a Woman and Jabber Jaws

The year 2007 for me has been all about learning to be a mum. First building up lots of ideas about motherhood, then putting them into practice, succeding at some, failing at most & realising that you can have an idea of where your going but pretty much you just have to go with the flow. This years been great, wouldnt trade it for the world & i look forward to many many more watching my little monkey learn & grow. Mel in a Nutshell

~ End of Copy ~

How much better is home grown!

Rocky's been doing lots of work in our garden. I spent Saturday morning walking around to all the neighbours houses with cucumbers cause we have like a billion of them growing down the back.

My favourite thing in our garden at the moment though is the strawberries, they are soooooo yummy! Its amazing how much better stuff you grow yourself tastes than the stuff you buy in the shops. I went out to the garden & picked a handful of strawberries for Jet & I to eat after lunch - they look gorgeous & they taste even better:


Yummo!!!

How Much??? Doubt It!!!

I saw this little test over at Melinda's Blog. It tells you how much your blog is worth. Im not sure what its based on but i sooooo havent had any offers in this ball park lately (or any offers full stop - lol!):

My blog is worth $14,678.04.
How much is your blog worth?

So how much is yours worth?

Happy 1st Birthday Baby Boy!!!

Jet turned one today *sob*, i cant believe the past year has gone by so quickly. Before Jet was born i couldn't imagine just how much life would change, i didnt think it was possible for it to change that much! Now i cant even really remember what it was like without him, its like hes always been part of our little family!!!

Over the past year there has been lots of giggles, stacks of smiles & something new every day. There have been tears & tantrums (both mine & jets) & many many many sleepless nights. There have been snuggles & hugs, kisses & bites. Ive had my fare share of both baby vomit & poop on me, not always at the most convenient time. We have taught Jet a little & he has taught us alot. There has been a whole year of breastfeeding, a whole year without 8 hours of solid sleep & a whole year of gazing into his eyes in amazement as i watch him grow & learn.

Happy Birthday Little Man - We love you more than you will ever know!!!!!

Here I am with Jet one year ago today, all wrinkly & newbornish, ohhhhhhh:

& here he is today walking around with his new blocks & waggon dump truck thing we gave him for his birthday, oh how much can change in a year!!!

I thought id stick these pics in to. We kept his placenta & brought it home then planted a tree on it (i have a pic of the placenta before it was planted to but it just looks like a big bloody piece of meat so i figured you didnt need to see that). in the first pic jet is about 2 or 3 weeks old & he is sporting one huge cloth nappy (we started with terry squares).

The Sun Finally Came Out!

We have had really shocking weather here the past week or so, raining, overcast, stormy. The other night there was lightning, thunder & hale. There were at least 3 strikes of lightning that were really close which was a little scary! Since that storm the phones have been out too, but the internet still works???

Anyway, wheres all this going? Oh thats right! Today was absolutely beautiful, sunny & warm, just gorgeous!!! So...it was the first day in at least a week that the washing got dry. I gave up on bringing it in & hanging it back out again & i got sick of piles & piles of clothes lying around the place so i was still doing all the washing & sticking it out on the line to get rained on. I had a whole clothes line full + two big clothes horses full aswell (the clothes horses are under cover though). So anyway, today all the washing got dry...YAY...hmmm but then i had to put over a weeks worth of washing away. This was the pile:

It took me over an hour to put away & now im exhausted!!! Of to veg in front of the TV :D

And the winner is.....

***Drum Roll***

Carrie from Rantings of a Woman!!! Congrats Carrie :D

Its kinda hard to see but this was my list:& i used a random number genorator to get the winning number:Thanks to everyone who entered! & thanks to Pay Per Post for creating such a fab way to make money online so this comp was possible!!!

Comp still open for a couple more hours

Im going to close my competition tommorow morning, figured id leave it till the 13th is over everywhere in the world + jet isnt having a fantastic night so i dont have time to do it now. It will still be drawn & the winner will be notified by the 15th so im still on schedule.

in the mean time check out this funny pic i found on Sam's Blog, made me laugh so i just had to share it!

Last Chance To Enter!!!

Just a reminder to all that my comp to win $50 is finishing tommorow night!!! So if you havent entered & you would like to CLICK HERE to find out how.

Good luck to everyone thats entered :D

Felted Bag Success!

My first attempt at felting was a success (well, my first purposeful attempt, i have done it once before by accident!). Its a bag i made for a friend for Christmas (who hopefully wont read this!) - its from a free Lincraft pattern. Im quite happy with it so hopefully she likes it! Heres some pics -

Before felting:After felting:

Im not sure i felted it enough cause you can still see lots of detail in the stitches? But it is quite a bit firmer (its stuffed in the pic by the way) so i think its ok. It turned out lots better than i thought it would - i was quite scared putting it in the washing machine. But anyway, YAY!!!!!

Houston, we have a Pooroblem

Today, has just been one of those days. You know the ones, where absolutely nothing goes right. Its doesn't have to be big things, its the little things that all add up & make you want to go sit in a cold dark corner & rock back & forward while singing happy songs to yourself. Stuff like spilling milk all over the floor, then the wheatbix & the washing getting rained on (for the 4th day in a row).

The thing that really pushed me over the edge today was that i put jet in his cot to have a sleep (which is a struggle in itself) then went back into his room 5 mins later cause he was kicking up quite a fuss & the first thing i noticed as i entered the room was this terrible smell. I thought "smells like someones done a poo". Then i looked over at Jet & his dummy was all yellow (normally white), & then i realised his face was too, & his t-shirt has smears all over it & the sheet & his cot - oh joy (come on, you can picture my face after already having a fantastic day, one of my eyes was probably doing that "im going to crack at any second" twitching thing).

Anyway, needless to say we both had very early showers today because there is just no other way to get a poo smeared baby clean - i just chucked Jet, still fully clothed, into the shower! As for the dummy, im afraid to say its on its way to dummy heaven.

Thankfully today is almost over, tomorrow i think ill go to the end of the bed & get out there, you cant get out of the wrong side of the bed if you get off the end of it can you? i guess technically its a side, but ill do it anyway just to be safe!

Jets Walking!

Ravelry

OMG!!! I finally got my Ravelry invite & i love it! Not really sure what im doing yet but im sure ill get there.

Im NeptuneDiva on there if anyone wants to be my friend :D

Awards

Ive received a couple more awards from Carrie & one from Bradley. Thank you so much guys!!! sorry its taken me so long to blog about them - its been hectic around here lately & i haven't had much time to get on the computer! So, here they are with details on who im passing them onto:



I have to pass this award onto by two bestest blogging buddies:

April from A Day in the Life &
Hayley from A Blog in Progress






This one i want to give to:

Mel from Such Simple Pleasures









This one has to go to:

Petula from Its a Womans World





& last but definitely not least i want to give this one to:

April from A Day in the Life (even though ive already given her one - you soooo deserve two April!!!) &

Jennifer from The Life of a School Bus Driver


Enjoy! :D

Few....December is Here!

Which means Movember is FINALLY over, no more kissing a prickly weird looking husband! He took this pic on his mobile before he shaved his moe off just after 12 last night (lol, must have been itching him or something!)
Rocky managed to raise around $300! Good work honey!!!

R.I.P Little Avocado Tree :(

Remember my cute little avocado tree sprout i grew from a seed that i posted about last week? Well, my little monkey was playing out side & i turned around for two seconds & when i looked back to my horror i discovered this:

In one fowl swoop Jet had managed to undo my months & months of hard work & care (well...not really, all i did was stick a couple of seeds in a pot & neglect them for months...but still!) *sob* the good news is one of the other seeds has sprouted - there's 3 seeds in a massive pot. The third seed has cracked too so maybe that one will sprout soon. I'm hoping that maybe another shoot will come up through the old stem or something with this one - poor little plant!

The First Letter Of Your Name...MEME

I was tagged by Carrie from Rantings of a Woman with this "The First Letter of Your Name" meme - it looks hard but ill give it a go!

Rules: Just use the first letter of your name to answer the questions. They have to be real answers though, nothing made up and you can't use your own name as an answer.

Since my name is Melanie all my answers have to start with a "M".

1.Famous Singer: Missy Higgins (love her!)
2.Four Letter Word: Mate
3.Street: Main St, Gosford
4.Color: Mauve
5.Gifts/Presents: Movie Tickets
6.Vehicles: Motor Bike
7.Things In A Souvenir Shop: Mug
8.Boy Name: Mason
9.Girl Name: Mikah
10.Movie Title: Memoirs of a Geisha (so not as good as the book!)
11.Drink: Mocca
12.Occupation: Midwife
13.Celebrity: Madonna
14.Magazine: Mode
15.U.S. City: Massachusetts?
16.Pro Sports: Martial Arts
17.Fruit: Mangos!!!
18.Something You Throw Away: Match Sticks
19.Something You Shout: Merde (french - basically means "oh crap" - that's the polite version of course, heard my dad say this quite a few times growing up!)
20.Reason for being late for work: Morning Sickness (lol think i used that one a couple of times when i was pregers with jet!)

Now for the real tricky bit! Here's the people i tag:

Petula - Its a Womans World
Steph - Adventures in Babywearing
Drea - Fina Drea
Eilleen - Consumption Rebellion
April - A Day in the Life
Mel - Such Simple Pleasures

ill have to think of a couple more people to tag (trying not to tag the same people twice in a row!)

7 Things

I've been tagged by Its OK to be WEIRD.

Here are the rules:
Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog. Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs. Let each person know that they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

7 random / weird things about me:

1. Once when i was little i ate a whole bag of baby frozen carrots (while they were frozen) then threw them all back up - i can no longer eat baby frozen carrots!

2. I can touch my nose with my tongue

3. I put everything off to the last minute, once at college i wrote an 11,000 word assignment in 24 hours (i had all the research done but hadn't written one word before then). Rocky was doing the same course, he started his assignment 6 months before & we both got the exact same mark.

4. The toe next to by big toe is bigger than my big toe.

5. My nose has a button, that sounds weird i know, but if you push the end of it on the left side it feels like your pressing a button, theres this little thing inside that clicks...or something.

6. My husband reckons that when im pissed of i do a little head wobble thing, im not conscious of it at all & dont know how to duplicate it.

7. I have a special talent, i can ask someone for directions, listen intently & nod while they are telling me where to go, then completely forget everything 3 seconds later.

Ok, thats all the weird things about me for now. Now who should i tag? Bwahahahahahaha

I tag:

April from A day in the Life

Hayley from A Blog in Progress

Jennifer from The Life of a School Bus Driver

Mel from Such Simple Pleasures

Carrie from Rantings of a Woman

Loren from Musings at Windyridge

Lisa from Life on the Moon

I cant wait to get to know a bit more & here some weird & wacky stuff from all of you!!! if you dont want to do it let me know & ill nominate someone else & leave a comment once its done & ill make a note of it next to your name with the post so people know where to go to read it.

Award

I have received another award from the generous, wonderful, amazing Carrie from Rantings of a Woman - thank you so much Carrie you are soooo sweet!

I would like to pass this award onto the following people:

Petula from Its a Womans World
Chervil from Green Living
Kirsty from Gobblers Run

Hope you like your awards! They are very well deserved :D


Dont forget about my competition to win $50 - the odds are pretty good at the moment, theres only about 15 entries! if you want to know more click here

Knitted Pressie for my Cousins New Baby

My cousin & his wife just have a brand new baby boy & my parents will be going to visit them early next week so ive made something for him:

The hat & booties are from a pattern book i got from lincraft for free cause i bought way to much yarn & the other one is another Joe the Caterpillar.

I dont have any bubs around to try them on to see if they are ok so im just hoping for the best!

Just as a side note, while i was cropping the pics etc to put in here & typing out the message i looked over at the window & what was my cheeky little monkey up to? He climbed onto the couch, then up onto the very top of it & was playing with the window. The couch cushions are on the floor since hes been up & down on the couch all day & he hasn't really figured out the down bit too well - thought he could use some padding!

Video's & More Awards

Thought id share a couple of vids ive made of Jet over the past few days -

Heres one of him getting up to mischief:

& here he is walking on his walker - wont be long now!

Do babies normally climb before they walk? He's climbing on everything at the moment, climbs up onto the bed, the coffee table, the couch, the stairs - little bugger!!!

Awards

The wonderful Petula from Its a Woman's World has given me two more awards - Thanks Petula, i feel so special!!!


This one i would like to pass onto:

Tracy from Mad Quilter

Donna from Cinderella's Stash

& even though she's already got one -

Jennifer from The Life of a School Bus Driver

This award id like to pass onto:

Elina from Mom 2 BB Reviews

Hope everyone enjoys their awards - i know i do :)

Awards for Me? Owwww Shucks!

I feel so special! Carrie from Rantings of a Woman has given me my very first awards - two of them!!! Thanks sooooo much Carrie :D

Here are the awards & who i have chosen to pass them onto:

How cute is this award! Ive chosen three very special people to send this one onto, so without further adieu:

April from A Day in the Life
Hayley from A Blog in Progress &
Drea from Fina Drea

This award i choose to pass onto three blogs that i love & frequent regularly:

Adventures in Babywearing - Musings at Windyridge &
Such Simple Pleasures

Congratulations lovely ladies - i hope you like them!!!

Twins In Cloth Custom - How Lucky Am I!

Back when the Great Down Under Nappy Hunt was on i entered a comp on the Twins in Cloth website, you just had to fill in a survey about cloth nappies & you went in the draw to win a custom Twins in Cloth nappy. Well...i didnt win any nappies in the GDUNH - but i did win the custom!

Being as indecisive as i am in couldn't decide what i wanted, so i gave Julie a couple of ideas about what i like & this is what she came up with (from left to right - front, back, inner):



I love it! its absolutely fantastic! Its got 3 layers of bamboo fleece sewn in the nappy & a lay in booster with another 2 layers of bamboo fleece & 1 layer of suede cloth. Its my first front snapper (well, i do have one NB fitted front snapping nappy, but thats beside the point!) & its so trim! Heres some action shots:How cute is it?!? I love it soooooooo much - THANKS JULIE!!!

If you want a fantastic nappy like this one then make sure you check out the Twins in Cloth website (current stock is here while website renovations are taking place) they have other stuff to, so go on - have a look!

Growing an Avocado Plant from a Seed

Im so proud of myself - for once im actually doing the opposite of killing a plant (im not exactly known for my green thumb). I go through fazes with food, i get fixed on one thing i just have to have & at the moment its avocados. As a result we have stacks of avocado seeds, so instead of putting them in the compost i decided i was going to attempt growing an avocado tree. So a couple of months ago i did some research & came up with two ways to germinate an avocado seed.

The first way is to stick 4 toothpicks into the seed about half way up, then place it on top of a jar & fill it with water so the bottom quarter of the seed is covered. The seed needs to be pointy side up (so the broad side is on the bottom).

The second way is to put the seed pointy side up in a pot with gravel in the bottom & soil in the top (so it drains well). Then make sure the top quarter of the seed is sticking out of the soil.

I attempted both of these methods, i got a big pot & stuck 3 seeds in it & put it just outside our front door & i put two seeds in water on our window sill. I watched them for one month, then two, then three & nothing happened. I might have gotten rid of them & just stuck them in the compost if i wasn't so lazy - so i just left them there ;)

When we came back from holidays i got the most wonderful surprise. Two of my seeds had sprouted. One in the pot & one in the water. The one in the water only has a root out the bottom so far though, nothing out the top. Here's some pics:


The poor little pot plant one got snapped at Jets party *sob*, its snapped almost the whole way through but it still looks as though the leaves have grown & opened out more since then so hopefully it will be ok.

Im so proud of my little plants. My plan is to plant two in our backyard then grow a stack more to take up to Rocky's parents farm to plant an orchid of them - lol!

If anyone wants any more info on growing avocado trees from seeds check out this link they have lots of great info on their.