Mummy Moments

These are the moments I never want to forget. The good, but also the bad.

Miss A is currently interested in 'Aborrigbanals' aka 'Aboriginals'. She was learning about our Indigenous people because it was NAIDOC week. She told me all about what she had learnt. She was especially impressed to learn that 'they make paint from ROCKS Mum'. We decided we would experiment at home and make some paint from things we found in the backyard. We found the leaves we had didn't crush up well. We found that depending on where in he garden we took dirt, it was a different shade of brown/black/grey. I watched as she painted with her dirt, carefully dipping in her paintbrush. She suddenly remembered about the rocks. At first I was going to explain that we didn't have the right rocks, that ours were too hard. Instead, I let her try. She gathered some rocks in a bowl but couldn't crush them. She decided to add water. She stirred them up, dipped in her paintbrush and tried to paint. 'There's no colour Mum!'. I asked her why she thought that was 'They're too hard, they not melting'.

I loved watching her learn, explore, experiment. I learnt to sit back, let her work things out for herself.

She teaches me as much as I teach her

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Mr M is trying to stand. He is still only 8 months old. I can see him watch us as we walk around. He wants to join us. He wants to get up and go like we do. I see him looking at his feet as he tries to will them to push him upwards. 

He has so much determination. 

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Miss A was overexcited after a special outing with her Nanna ans Cousin. She decided to run ahead of us while I was pushing her Brother in the pram. I called out to her to stop. Casually at first, then with more panic as she kept going. She was heading towards a pedestrian crossing that runs through the middle of our local Shopping Centre. I started to run after her. She ran faster. I managed to catch up and grab onto her, pulling her in close. She was laughing, unaware of my terror. A car went right through the crossing, never slowing down, just as I pulled her away. 

I scolded her, my heart in my throat.

Then I hugged her tight. 

Christmas 2013

My all time favourite time of year is Christmas. I have always LOVED the magic that surrounds the 'silly season'. I really love everything about it. I adore the decorations, and always put my tree up on the 1st of December, or the weekend before it.

 I love researching every gift and selecting the perfect one for each person. 

Now I have Children, Christmas has become extra special. I love, love, love the mythology that surrounds Santa. I have had personalised Santa sacks made for them. On Christmas eve they get put on their bedroom door handle just before they go to bed. A special key is hung on the front door to ensure Santa can find his way inside.

We carefully select the snacks for Santa  and the reindeer and leave them out so they don't leave hungry.

The excitement of Christmas morning was tangible this year, with Abigail (who is nearly 3) really understanding what was happening.

Marcus... not so much! But nevermind, his Sister 'helped' him open his pressies.

Christmas morning breakfast is a special moment for us to eat together before we are joined by our extended family. We keep it pretty light, as we know there will be plenty of food to be had during the day. 

This year we enjoyed 'Overnight French Toast' (Recipe  to come!) and fresh fruit.

I adore Christmas food, baking special treats that I only make a Christmas, and I take an active part in planning the Christmas day spread, no matter who is hosting it. This year we hosted Christmas at our place, and had my In Laws over.  We had agreed that there would be no pre-lunch nibbles, so we had room for our  beautiful lunch. Lunch was a mostly healthy affair, with different salads and cold meat. Dessert was much more decadent, with an array of slices, fruit, pudding & cheesecake.

It was a beautiful, relaxing Christmas Day surrounded by loving family. Made extra special because it was this Little Man's first!

We backed it up the next day, with a celebration with my side of the family. This one was hosted at my parents place, and we had the most amazing seafood spread. So amazing that I didn't take any photos!!

Christmas this year was one of the best I have had, surrounded by family and friends, and filled with love and laughter. What more could you ask for?

How we prepared Number 1 for the arrival of Number 2

One of my biggest concerns when we fell pregnant was how we were going to prepare our Daughter for the arrival of a sibling. We figured it would help that she would be 2.5 by the time her sibling arrived., and so hopefully be able to understand what was going to happen. Sort of.  However, we still wanted to make sure that she was prepared.

Started by talking to her and showing pictures of babies

We started by telling her that we would be having a baby Brother or Sister for her. We showed her pictures of babies. We also explained that the baby would be in Mummy's belly, and showed her pictures of that.

Took her to see an ultrasound 

We took her to our 12 week Nuchal scan. To be honest she lost interest very quickly, but she was very smitten with the ultrasound photos. So much so, that that's how we had her announce the pregnancy to family! She was given the photos and proudly showed them off, informing everyone that she was going to be a Big Sister.


Make a big deal about her becoming a 'Big Sister'

Everyone made a very big deal about her becoming a 'Big Sister'. We talked to her about how she would have a baby sibling, and we would point out examples of older siblings from other families she knew, such as her cousins.

Bought her a book

I went on the hunt for a book that might explain what having a baby sibling around was gong to be like. I was very fussy about what I wanted. I didn't want anything too wordy, and I wanted clear pictures. I was so happy when I stumbled across the perfect book.

Baby and Me by Emma Dodd

This book was perfect because it features moving parts on each page. The Sister goes through all the things she does to help her baby doll, such as bath it, feed it, change it's nappy and put it to sleep. To make it suit our needs better wherever they used the word 'dolly' I swapped it for baby. Abbie loved the book, and we were able to talk to her about all the special things we would be doing with the baby.

Transitioned her to her 'Big Girl' room early

We wanted to keep the nursery as is, so that meant moving Abbie to her own room. I didn't want her to associate being moved out of her bedroom with the baby's arrival, and w wanted her to be settled in advance. However, we did talk to her about how she was getting this new room because she was a 'Big Girl' and no a baby anymore.

She was very excited to see the room slowly come together, and really loved it when we did the big reveal. She loved it so much that she actually transitioned from the cot to the bed seamlessly. Setting up her room has turned out to be a great idea as she loves playing in it, and will happily go in her room for a play (or not so happily be sent in there for time out!). She saw it as something special that happened because a baby was coming, as opposed to something negative.

Spent time with other babies

Meeting her friend Liam

It just so happened that there was a bit of a baby boom amongst our friends just before we fell pregnant. Thus meant we were able to introduce Abbie to other babies, and talk to her about how she had to be gentle, and what she could/ could not do with a baby

Had her choose her sibling a gift

We took Abbie to a playschool concert. At the end we were choosing her a toy, when I thought to ask her to choose one for her baby. She decided she wanted to buy the baby a small version of Big Ted. She was very excited to choose it, and put it in the cot when we came home.

Before the baby was born I bought a same sized version if Litte Ted. So now Marcus has Big Ted from his Big Sister, and Abbie has Little Ted from her Little Brother!

Kids Cooking - Wholemeal Banana Muffins

My daughter LOVES to cook. She is obsessed.  Her present for her first birthday was a toy kitchen from Ikea. At first it was used for fine motor skills - opening and closing doors, pressing buttons, turning knobs. Eventually she moved into pretend play.

 Her love of cooking has grown since going to pre school as they frequently have 'Baby Masterchef' classes where they cook all sorts of goodies.

In support of this I am finding myself letting her help me in the kitchen more. I also figure that while were cooking things we may as well try to make it healthy (most of the time). With this in mind I tweaked a recipe I found on the Chobani website.

Wholemeal Banana Muffins 

1 Cup Plain Flour
1 Cup Self Raising Wholemeal Flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Cinnamon
4 Bananas
1/2 cup Coconut Oil
1 small Tub Chobani Yoghurt (or 1/2 cup) ( I used Mango flavoured)
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1 egg

1. Pre heat oven to 170
2. In a large bowl mix together the flours, baking powder & cinnamon.
3. In another bowl mash the banana
4. Add the oil, egg, yoghurt & sugar. Stir well.
5. Add the banana mixture to the flour and stir until all combined
6. Spoon into a greased muffin tray and bake in oven for 25 min or until cooked.