Poor little Vi

Well...we just had a very tiring weekend! Friday night Vi woke up about 11 with a fever & she pretty much screamed all night long, ive never heard such a distressed cry!

Saturday morning (after having had no sleep whatsoever) I took her into the emergency ward. She had calmed down but she still had a fever and she just looked dopey, she wasnt her usual curious, smiley self. The thing that really worried me was that her fontanelle was bulging a bit (you could see it when you looked at her).

They did some tests (blood, some kind of snot test & urine which took me FOREVER to get!) & everything came back ok & they put her on fluids which perked her up & she actually started smiling again which was wonderful. They kept her in over night for observation just to make sure that it wasn't something more sinister than the flu.

I had forgotten what it was like to stay overnight in a hospital, the last time i did was the day Jet was born. We were in a room with 3 other kids, parents & nurses coming in and out. All the kids were hooked up to fluids and a machine that beeped if they moved & kinked their tube....which seemed to happen at least every half hour. The lights were on in the hallway & people had their TV's on which made lots of flashing lights. Prior to having kids im sure i would have slept ok, but now im kind of hormonally geared to wake up to little noises, so i really didnt get much sleep at all! Vi has never slept in a cot before so she wasn't too pleased at the concept and ended up in bed with me (not sure how happy the nurses were about that). I had my laptop with me & spent most of the night watching a show i had on it called "Awake" which i found quite funny when i thought about it at about 1am (which would have been about my 43rd hour with less than an hours sleep).

They wouldn't let us out of their the next day until the doctors came around which wasn't until about 12:30pm, by then i was so completely exhausted that i just broke down in tears & everyone must have thought i was a complete lunatic, especially since Vi was back to her bright bubbly self, with just a bit of a cough & a runny nose, smiling at anyone that came near her, she even gave out a few giggles.

Anyway, we are back home now & Vi still has a snotty nose, a cough & her voice sounds all funny but no fever & she looks like she is on the mend....& ive had a good nights sleep, which makes a world of difference :)

Welcome to the world Violette

I thought i should actually come on here & do another post (finally) & announce to the world (5 months late) that we had another bub - a girl! Violette Belle was born on the 2nd of March 2012 after a beautiful, completely natural, water birth. 

She is just gorgeous & we love her to bits!!! here are some pics: 

& one of me while i was still pregnant...just cause i love the pic:

Birth Story


Well this one is pretty short! i had my first contraction at 2am which woke me up. So i sat in bed watching fringe on dvd for a couple of hours because i couldnt sleep (even though the contractions weren't painful). Then i got up & got Jet's stuff ready for school & when the boys woke up at about 6am mum came up to watch them & we went into the hospital (just to get some peace & quiet really). My "active labour" started at about 8:30 i guess, thats when things started to get a bit intense. We had a doula at our birth - the wonderful Laura, (who was fantastic!) she showed up at about 9 i think. We only just made it into the birthing suite with the bath (there was another woman in it who had already given birth but they had to move her & clean the room & they didnt realise my labour would progress so quickly). I had started feeling like it was almost time to push before we got in there, i got in the bath while the water was still running, but once i was in there my labour slowed a little which was good. i think about 20 minutes later  (@ 10:03am) Violette was born into the water, posterior (like her brother Bae). & we were back home with her snuggled up in her hammock at about 4pm i think :)

It was the most concious that i have been during labour so far, i was really aware of everything that was going on and of my body. We didnt know we were having a girl third time round, i didnt want to find out, but i think at some stage towards the end i just knew, we didnt even check her sex for a few minutes after she came out but part of me just knew she as a girl, which is surprising because i was sure i would end up with 3 boys!

Anyway, now she is 5 months old & is the sweetest little baby. She is so much smaller than the boys...& she sleeps!!!!! which is wonderful! She has her moments but most of the time she is so smiley & giggly & she loves her big brothers (& they love her too!) :)

Jets First (full) Day of Preschool

A few weeks ago we decided to start jet in Pre-school one day a week, mainly to increase his social time with other kids. He plays really well by himself or with older children but not so well with kids his age...when i say not so well i mean i spend the ENTIRE time breaking up fights that he started, just usual toddler behaviour: refuses to share anything, hitting, pushing, grabbing etc but very frustrating for me ;)

So anyway, last week was the first time i left him there by himself (the week before we attempted it but we got there & he threw up all over the car park - rocky bought home a spew bug from work!) we had been in to visit a few times together before that. He only lasted till nap time then absolutely cracked it!!! so i had to pick him up early, but this week he did really well. he was a bit upset when i left & when i picked him up but he is in a fantastic mood tonight & is talking about all the things he did there so he must have had a good time, he said he wants to go back too which is good! One of the loverly ladies there made him a poster of his day with pictures of things he did (mainly just to prove to me that he was happy at some stage i think!):

& heres a painting he did me, he did rocky one too:

Ive just spent the whole arvo on line looking for iron-on labels to do all his clothes so we dont loose them all, this is the cheapest place i could find:

& if you google their name with "promotional code" youll find a bunch of places that can give you a code for a discount :) it only ended up costing me about $13 for 60 iron on labels - free postage too!!!

we are also starting to toilet train jet (not good timing doing them both together i know!) so thats fun! He is actually doing really well at it though which is great, he has known what to do on the potty for ages but just wouldnt do it & he just looks way to big to be in nappy's now (plus his poos are sooooo messy to clean up by the time he lets you change his nappy) so i cracked it & told him there were no more nappy's when we were at home during the day. we are still using them at night & when we are out at the moment - not sure what to do about that??? any tips?

THANK YOU!!!

I just wanted to say a long overdue thank you to two loverly ladies.

First off, April - thank you soooooo much for the beautiful star blanket you knitted Bae!!! we LOVE it, its fantastic to use in his hammock over him at night because its round it tucks right into the pillow, the perfect shape, & its nice & warm too! it must have taken you hours & hours & hours to make & we really appreciate all the love & care that went into it!

April made this blanket for Bae when she found out i was pregnant as part of a pay it forward thing, which no one ever responded to on my blog (there are two comments there but they are from people that loved the idea but didn't want to take part) - so if you want to then the post is here, i will warn you though you wont be getting anything as spectacular as the blanket April knitted me, i just don't have the patience for blankets!!!

Secondly i want to thank Hayley. Hayley very kindly gave me a whole stack of newborn cloth nappies which have made our cloth journey soooooo much easier than with jet (we just used terrys for him in the newborn stage). lots of them are her creations & they are just fantastic! he's wearing one in the pic below, if i was smart i would have taken a pic of all of them before he was born (but I'm not!), now most of them are either waiting to be washed, being warn or waiting to be put back together so i didn't have many to take a group pic of (slack arse i know!).

so..... A HUGE THANK YOU TO HAYLEY & APRIL!!!!

sorry its taken me so long!

A Stop at Gresford Markets

Today we went up to Allyn River (about 3 hours north of where we live) to Rocky's cousins son's party (we just claim him as jets cousin). We had a fantastic time, Allyn River is such a beautiful spot, one of our faves to camp at!

On the way up there we stopped in at the Gresford Markets...& decided to buy some chickens!!!

Jet is sooooo excited & absolutely loves them! They are bantams & *hopefully* female (otherwise the neighbours will kill us!!!). We haven't named them yet - so please tell me your suggestions!!!

I also got some beautiful handspun angora wool, it hasn't been dyed that's the natural colour, isn't it gorgeous!!!

Happy Hangup - Baby Hammock!

I got my baby hammock! & i LOVE it!!! Its fantastic!

I'm so glad i bought a Happy Hangup, i was going to get one of the cheaper varieties of baby hammocks that are available on eBay but you can only use them for about the first 6 months, these ones can be used up to 20 kilos (kids will grow to long for it before they reach that weight limit!).

Ive stuck it up in Jets room for the moment & he has been asking to sleep in it. he hasn't slept a whole night in there yet, he normally gets up after a few hours & wants to go back to bed but he's only tried it two nights so far. it looks so comfy & cosy! I hope bub #2 loves it! Here's jet posing for some action shots:

Hello! Yes...I am still alive...just lazy!

ive been a 'little' negligent of my blog (to say the least!). i figured id better come on here & post before i hit a record of a whole year without posting!

So my big news is that im pregnant with bub #2, due mid may, which is very exciting. Heres my little widget tracking thingy:

We recently went on a bit of a road trip, so heres some pics:

Jet is now 2 & very very spirited! He is sleeping MUCH better than he was which is fantastic & is definitely developing a very strong mind of his own.

ive recently made a new purchase for bub #2, since jet was such a bad sleeper im going to give a baby hammock a go. I went onto a few forums to discuss the different types available & i finally settled on a happy hangup. Its still in the mail & i cant wait till it arrives! i might even set it up before hand so jet can get used to it!

ok, thats it for now, its not much but its a start!

Back to Suburbia!

Well, were back from the farm. We've actually been back for a week...Ive just been really lazy :D

Thought id stick in a couple of pics. First of all i should say its Rocky's parents farm - here it is, 160 acres of undulating hills:

They are very excited because they got some cows a while ago & lots of them have had calves recently. We happened to be there on the day where they were giving all the carves some kind of vaccination, a tag thingy in their ear & um....turning all the bulls into steers :( poor little things!!! not sure I'm cut out for farm life!!! Anyway, here's some cows...you know...in case you don't know what they look like ;)

Jet had lots of fun playing with Sam, he's much more responsive than our dog. We have a little Maltese cross called Oscar who doesn't play fetch & turns his nose up at any food offered to him so hes not much fun for Jet, Sam on the other hand can play catch for HOURS & HOURS!!! So they both entertained each other for quite a while:

Rocky's dad has a motorbike up there to help round up the cows (or something) which Jet was absolutely fascinated with, even before he got to ride it. His grandpa took him on a little ride around & be loved it! he does this thing where he goes "owwwwwwwwww" when he sees or does something exciting & his mouth makes an O shape, well, after the bike ride he kept that face for about 20 mins!!!

& of course Rocky had to have a go as well:

& just for fun here's a pic of me & Jet:

Jet wasn't happy when we had to leave:

Luckily we didn't see any snakes or spiders or anything else scary on this trip - few!

Ice Cream Cone Muffins!!!

Recently after a local ABA meeting i was chatting with a couple of mums & we were discussing the bad food grandparents had fed our kids. I told them that my mum bought a bunch of ice cream cones for jet, which i wasn't to happy about because i don't really want him eating ice cream unless its a special occasion.

Anyway, one of the mums gave me a fantastic idea about what to do with the ice cream cones! She said you can bake muffin mixture in them, they turn out looking like little ice creams, they are fun & best of all Jet doesn't leave crumbs all over the house when he is eating them - plus he absolutely loves them! the only problem is he gets all worked up & keeps doing his little "ehh ehh ehh" sound when he sees them come out of the oven & wants to eat them straight away before they cool!

Here's a pic of Jet thoroughly enjoying his ice cream muffin:

& here's a pic of my ice cream cone muffin, i haven't quite figured out the right amount of muffin mix to make it rise into a proper ice cream shape, but hey! oh, & i added a little raspberry on top just for looks :D

While we are talking muffins i thought id share with you my favorite recipe, its healthy & very very yummy!!! This is another recipe i got from the regular emails i receive from Brindabella Baby.

Muffin Recipe

Ingredients:
* 2 cups wholemeal self raising flour
* 1/2 cup honey
* 2 apples diced (or 2 bananas
* 1 teaspoon cinnamon (or nutmeg if using bananas)
* 1/4 cup olive oil (i use coconut oil instead sometimes)
* 1/2 cup apple juice (freshly squeezed works really well if your keen)
* 2 eggs

Method:
* Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius
* Line muffin tray with paper cases (or grease tray)
* Sift flour into a large bowl, stir in the honey, fruit & spice. Mix well
* In a separate container mix together oil, juice & eggs
* Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients & mix well
* Spoon into muffin tray
* Bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until they start to brown on top

Makes approx 12 yummy muffins

Sleeping Success Finally!!!

Jet has never been a good sleeper. Until recently he was waking every 2 or so hours & most nights he would just end up in bed with us because i was sick of constantly getting up! I wouldn't have minded that so much except that once he started crawling at around 10 months, he would just roll over in the middle of the night, pull his hands & knees up under him & crawl around the bed banging his head into everything including us & none of us got any sleep! Once he reached that stage we decided it was time he went back into his cot. But Jet of course has other ideas!

He is still breastfed which kind of aided the sleep problem a bit, because he just wanted to feed constantly through the night, which can be quite draining! Also we currently live in a one bedroom apartment so we cant put him in another room & i do know that's part of the problem to because he always sleeps better if I'm not in the room.

Anyway after 15 months of sleep deprivation, hardly ever having more than 3 hours sleep in a row & not once in that 15 months getting an 8 hour sleep i finally cracked it after one night around two weeks ago. That night Jet fed 2 hours straight, wouldn't settle in bed with us, kept tossing & turning & crawling all over, wouldn't sleep in his cot, he'd just wake up & scream a blood curdling, attention seeking scream. Not because there was anything wrong but because he just wanted to feed & i didn't want him to. He wasn't happy with just cuddles, he wanted booby & he wanted it NOW! Id had enough! honestly, i tried the whole attachment parenting, co-sleeping thing, but Jet just doesn't seem to be a very 'attached' kinda baby. Neither of us wanted to go down the whole controlled crying path either though.

So, the next night while Rocky was working in Sydney i slept in the lounge room on the couch. Expecting many many wakings & very disgruntled screaming. But...he only woke up twice & even more incredibly all i had to do was go in there & explain to him that there was no more booby at night & that it was time he went to sleep. I had to go back in & give him another cuddle or two but he did go to sleep on his own. The second time he woke I only needed to give him one cuddle. This pattern continued for a couple of nights, when rocky came back he slept in the room with Jet which didn't seem to affect him either way. Then mysteriously after about a week, he must have realised that if there was no booby he couldn't be bothered getting up & he just started sleeping through. We have had a couple of good nights since then & a couple of not so good ones, but I'm back sleeping in the room & jet is (more often than not) sleeping from around 7.30-8ish to 6-7ish in the morning!!!!!!! OH JOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We now give him a sippy cup with water in it in his cot which i think has helped allot, i hear him grab it & suck on it in his sleep & its always pretty much empty by morning. I'm hoping this change will last, he knows he can still have cuddles through the night but I'm refusing to breastfeed him because I'm to scared we will slip back into our old pattern. Besides, when he wakes up in the morning he comes into bed with us & feeds for about an hour straight...so I'm sure hes not missing out on too much nutrition wise!!! So here's to a restful nights sleep :D

Jet's First Ice Cream

We had quite a busy weekend (so busy that I'm only getting around to writing about it on wednesday!). On Saturday i went to a hens party, it was an all day winery tour in the hunter valley which was really lovely. I was a bit scared about going for two reasons - 1. I think since i got pregnant with Jet the total amount of alcohol i've drunk wouldn't be more than 3 glasses of red wine & 2. Ive never spent a whole day away from Jet - i know, i know, he's 15 months already, but he's still my baby *sniff*, that & he is still breastfed so i wasn't really sure how he would take it. It all went really well though, I stopped "tasting" when the room started spinning at around 3pm & by the time we got home i was sober (lol, think it only took 2 1/2 glasses over 5 hours to get me tipsy!) & jet was fine without me ofcourse, although he was a bit clingy the next day.

Sunday we went to Jet's cousin's (well, rocky's cousins son) 1st birthday party which was great fun! There were loads of kids there, a jumping castle, a little kiddy's pool & a play gym thingy with a slippery slide. Jet had an absolute ball! We generally don't like Jet eating junk food or fizzy drinks. He pretty much survives off breast milk, water, fruit, veggies, bread & meat with the odd cracker thrown in here & there. But having said that, I'm ok with him having less than healthy food at birthday parties, so in the spirit of partying, jet managed to get his hands on his first ever ice cream - do you think he liked it?

He did learn a valuable lesson though, while everyone tells you sharing is good, sharing with daddy is most definitely not good - he steals half your ice cream!!!


He also managed to score some birthday cake & a couple of smarties which he was very pleased with, ofcourse he is well aware how yummy chocolate is because he was introduced to the flavour in utero & receives it often through breast milk :D

Jets Second Hair Cut

Just before Christmas Jet got his first ever hair cut. We took him to a hair dresser & it was just a basic trim, i had to stick him on the boob to finish it, was the only way to keep him still!!! (yet another fantastic benefit of breastfeeding!). Last week we decided to give him another one, we used the clippers (you know...so we didn't end up stabbing him with the scissors or something horrible like that) & i had images in my head of him cracking it half way through & having this awful hair cut that he wouldn't let us fix....but he was actually really good.

He seemed quite intrigued by the feel & sound of the clippers buzzing away on his head, he just leaned his head forward a bit & stayed really still, for most of it anyway! i didn't really manage to get his side burns short enough. I didn't want to take of the clipper head in case i ended up taking a whole section out of the front or something & i definitely didn't want to use scissors, so they are a little long. But since his hair is blond you can only tell when your up close, so...I'm just going to leave it!

I gave it a second go a day or so later because the clippers didn't do a very even job the first time, i guess because his hair was so fine & it wouldn't go through them properly. Once his hair was shorter (& spikier) the clippers did a more even job. Anyway, here's some before & after pics.

A couple of days before:
















A couple of days later:













Its amazing how much difference a hair cut can make, he looks so grown up now (& like such a cheeky little ratbag!). I cant believe my baby is growing up so quickly!

My Little Cowboy

Just thought id stick some pics up of my little man: bit grumpy at me for continuously stickin the hat on his head in this one:

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!

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).

Jets Walking!

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 :)