Cute as a Bunny!

I would like to introduce you all to gorgeous little Lincoln! He was the winner of our onesie giveaway, and my goodness he is cute!!!

If you would like to get one of these onesies for your own little one, come here  :-)
x

Giveaway... With a catch ;-)

Well my goodness! This is only my second post for the year. That's what having a second child does to you!  :-)  How could I possibly apologise... I know, a giveaway!!

There is a catch though... and I am going to exclude some people    :-(  This, unlike much of my work, is one for the boys!! So here's the deal: you can win a onesie (size 000, 00 or 0) with a secret design! And here's the catch... you have to take a pic of your little boy wearing it, and provide me with a digital image that I can use for my sales promotion (on my blog, facebook page, and on madeit).

To enter, please tell your friends about my blog and suggest my facebook page to them! Then just post a comment letting me know you have done so, and I will select a winner at random!

I am really keen to get this moving so will be selecting a winner on Monday night!

Good luck, and see you around here a lot more often!
x

Textures Baby!!

So my 2 year old decided that she doesn't like to touch certain foods... esp wet soft food. What to do? Have some fun playing with textures in a non-eating related space!

So first things first... I cooked 3 lots of pasta and added some food colouring to each to make it more appealing to play with. Then I let it cool off...

Next, Mummy decided to start playing with the pasta. No pressure here... Mummy is just playing with this really cool stuff, and you are welcome to join in if you wish.

And she did! If you look closely, you can see the colouring has come off on her hands a little. Small price to pay!

And we are off and running!!! Despite being hesitant at first, Emily LOVED playing with the pasta! We literally played with it until it went mouldy!

(N.B. I found that the longer and softer you cooked the pasta, the faster it went mouldy)

Christmas Crafting!

So I was absolutely in love with this Christmas outfit from AnK, however I couldn't get it for both girls, so I decided to do some crafting myself!

Off to Spotlight I went, and I got some cheap red shiny fabric. Just the ticket I thought. It literally only cost me about $5. So Emily got a new red dress, and Miss Lexi got a matching skirt. We got some ricrac courtesy of Just Patchwork, and I used one of Lexi's sleeveless onesies to make the top of her outfit.

I thought they came out just lovely, and achieved the aim of making the girls look Christmasy. They might even double for Valentines Day!!

And when Nana Taylor asked if the girls had Santa Sacks, I sheepishly said no. So look what came home from the shop!

And sadly, I didn't sew any gifts this year (hand slap), however Lexi did score this fabulous little homemade hat from Cousin Katie! Isn't it just gorgeous!!

Homemade Christmas Goodies!

YUM!!!  I love homemade Christmas goodies, and decided this year to make it a new family tradition and jump on the band wagon!

This is definitely year 1! The strawberry jam almost drove me crazy! First I became complacent, and thought it was so easy I didn't need to stir the pot that often... and then of course the next stir added little black bits... doh! So I got some more strawberries, and being a busy mother of two, I forgot to put them in the fridge and by that night they were mouldy! Damn warm weather... and then round three: success!! Everything else went fairly well. The fudge was SO yum, and SO easy. The milk chocolate being my favorite... well of course I had to do some taste testing!! Anyway, definitely doing more of that next year. Check out my friend Martha's recipe here  ;-)

The lucky (well I hope that's the right word) recipients were some dear friends, and my neighbours with nine children scored the big box of the sweet stuff! Next year I will start earlier and make more. I wonder if saying that will become a yearly tradition as well  ;-)

x

Chandler's Special Shirt!

A new friend of mine, Sarah had seen the custom shirt that I created for a little girl Indiana for her first birthday on Indiana's mummy's blog over here. She decided that she would like one for her special little girl Chandler for her first birthday/naming day! And what a pleasure it was to work on another custom shirt!

The party had a cupcake theme, and once I got the colour scheme and a sneak peak of the invitation, I created these options:

But... the winning design was:

Front

Back

I hope that Chandler had an amazing 1st birthday and naming day!! Thanks again Sarah for the opportunity to be a part of something so special!

Oh, and Sarah sent me a special gift as a thank you, which was totally unnecessary, but completely lovely all the same! It's a beautiful charm sporting the names of my two special girls. So sweet!! If you like Sarah's work and are looking for a unique gift, check out her work here!

x

Lessons learned in the first week home alone with the girls!

So my very sweet, very helpful husband returned to work last week. I was worried that I would be hugging his feet trying to stop him from leaving come Monday morning. However the week has gone much much better than I expected! In fact... I may just be able to do this!!  :-)  Having said that... I have learned a few lessons this week:

1)  I MUST shower (this includes Emily) before Nathan leaves for work! It helps me get ready to start the day on the right foot. Plus... the one day I didn't, Lexi didn't want to have a good nap in the morning and showering was almost impossible!

2) The baby MUST sleep! Yesterday we went to mother's group, and I didn't want to wear Lexi, so took the pram. The thing is... she doesn't really sleep in the pram. So an entire morning of teeny tiny cat naps! This makes for a very wired 3 week old at midday! So until she relaxes a little more, I need to wear Lexi in a sling or the Baby Bjorn when I am out for long periods.

3) The family MUST eat! On Sunday I did our menu plan, and the four of us went food shopping. So if all else fails, the family will eat! I also had one super easy meal on the menu... saved for a night when I need it! It involves pulling some lasagna I had frozen out of the freezer and putting it in the oven. Maybe adding salad, depending on how bad the day has been! Lucky for me, I haven't had to use it yet  :-) And finally, in the afternoon, I get out everything I can for cooking dinner: ingredients (as long as they don't need to be refrigerated of course), pots & pans, utensils etc.

4) The house MUST be tidy! Yes, I said tidy, not clean: let's be realistic, it's only early days yet! I had a toddler who just loves to throw toys, food etc on the floor - plus there is just general mess created from living... dirty dishes, dirty clothes etc. I could clean all day - instead, I have devised a 2 minute game. Twice a day (when Emily goes down for a nap, and when she goes off to bed) I spend 2 minutes literally running around, putting things back where they belong, and cleaning up what I can. This way at least things seem tidy and manageable. And of course from there, I can do housework as I have time. But if all else fails, 4 minutes a day will help keep my sanity!

5) I MUST do what works, even if it's not ideal! I have a thing about not wanting Lexi to get too used to sleeping on me. This stems from having Emily constantly attached to me for the first couple of months of her life. However I am learning that when you have two children, and a house to run, life must go on! So one thing I have been doing is in the early evening when it's time to cook dinner, if Lexi is awake (which is more often than not) I strap her to me, and cook dinner! This way she gets to nap and feel close to her mumma, and the family gets to eat a nice dinner. Ideal? No, but does it work? So far so good...

And finally...

6) I MUST get my priorities right! First comes the kids... they have to! They can't fend for themselves. But a very close second is me! They can't be looked after if their mumma is run down. So this means when they are both napping (which is happening more often than I thought) I nap too. Dishes, washing, vacuuming... it will all wait! I also make sure I eat and drink. Okay, so it's on the run most of the time, and while holding a baby, but I am fed. And then comes my husband.

And finally finally... this post was written 2 weeks ago. Opps...   :-)