Yoga & Sleeping

So I am determined to shift this extra weight I am carrying, I have 8-13kg to move.
The last two nights I have done 20ish minutes of Yoga before going to bed, it feels GREAT! Last night I also decided to listen to a guided relaxation cd after doing the yoga. It was awesome, I have NEVER felt that relaxed when not sleeping and I was thinking just that .. and then I woke up to the sound of Anya crying .. I had fallen asleep on the lounge room floor for about 20min *lol* I was THAT relaxed ;)

I WILL shift this weight, I WILL get my body toned and I WILL feel great when doing it :)

Some toes on my yoga mat hehe

[b]

[breastfeeding]
I am very passionate about breastfeeding. It amazes me how our breast can nourish our children, not only that but provide such comfort as well. Had a rough start with breastfeeding with Lauren but I persevered and was smooth sailing for years. With Anya it has been bliss from day dot, so easy, just lovely :)

[breasts]
I have big boobs, once I am done having children, and if they don't shrink back when my breastfeeding days are over, I am getting a reduction. I am slowly learning to love my breasts, but mostly they just annoy me (apart from how they feed my children)

[bras]
See above .. bra shopping is hard, well it always used to be, now I live in maternity bras hehe

[beach]
I grew up a 5-10 min walk from a beach, on a peninsula so with many beaches a short drive away. I spent a lot of time at beaches... now I can't stand the sand *lol* As a child it was always just so much fun! A thrill, now .. not so much .. geez I feel old.

[birth]
Specifically homebirth. Can not imagine doing it any other way now :) Neither can Damien, or my mother. Its just so wonderful. Nothing beats after a hard, fast, painful labour & birth hopping into your own bed surrounded by familar smells, objects and people. Trust birth!

Encyclopaedia of Dee!

I am taking part in a challenge over at PBP very flexible, basically just do an A-Z of you in blog posts! SO here is A!

a [anya]
Ah my baby girl. She is such a sweet bubba, and so placid, always giving us lots and lots of smiles and laughs. She has brought such sunshine to our lives, we are so blessed to have two beautiful girls, they really are the centre of our world.

a [attachment parenting]
I hesitate to label parenting, but I strive to parent with many of the ideals of AP, most days I feel like I am doing really well, but other days GOSH its hard! Its so hard to parent this way! Maybe not with babies, AP is easy with babies, but toddlers .. especially 3 year olds... HARD! But we are getting there and as long as I can keep reminding myself why I want to parent 'this' way its all good :)

a [australia]
The land down under! I am a born & raised kiwi, moved out to Australia 10 years ago! (after I finished high school) I have grown to love this country, I do miss NZ at times, especially now that Mum has moved back. Without Australia I would not have met Damien, nor would I have my two girls. My life would be very different.

One year ago today

My father passed away.
I feel surprisingly at peace. I know he wouldn't want me moping around, he would want me to celebrate his life, which is what I plan to do.
I just rang my step-mum to let her know I am thinking of her, she was so touched that I rang :)

I lit the candles on my tall-boy dresser and put a photo of Dad up there from my wedding, when he was looking so much younger and healthier. I look at it and smile :)
There is of course some sadness, but mostly joy and happiness for the time I did get to spend with him, I am so thankful that he contacted me and let me into his life, I am also so glad that I was brave enough to do the same.

I love you Dad and miss you.

Grateful Friday

I think I am going to jump on the bandwagon.
I am grateful for:

• Damien, although he may be a slackass when it comes to housework he is so loving towards me and the girls. He adores his girls and it shines through in his interactions with them.


• Where we live, paying next to no rent in such a fabulous suburb, in a lovely house, we are so very very very lucky, I am grateful for this. To hear the birds and insects in the park, the hum of the main road, looking out the window and seeing trees and grass and in a more broad sense for being able to live comfortably, so many others do not have that. I take it for granted so much and 2008 it is my goal to become more Aware of the plight of others, of the impact my purchases and choices have on the rest of the world. It is so easy to live in our bubble but I want/need to get my head out of the sand a little.
  


• The rocking chair, although it squeaks a LOT and Damien broke it a little last night, it enables me to get Miss A off to sleep without pacing and walking the floor. A wonderful friend has a newer chair for us, and I am also VERY grateful for that! We just need to go pick it up.


• My girls they really are the sunshine of my life
  

Goals for the week

Instead of saying I have SO much to do today, I'm going to give myself a week so I feel less pressure :) House is AWFUL at the moment and my moods are suffering for it.

So, things I need to get done by the end of the week:

• Fold & put away all laundry10.48Mon (there wasnt much)
  
• Tidy up 'stuff' from in computer room4.20ish Wed, another ongoing task, but I am happy with what I got tidied up in here
• Tidy up clothes on floor in laurens room10.45 Mon
  
• Tidy up 'stuff'' on floor in Bedroom .. move bedroom around, clean out nappy drawersHalfway through, bed & cot moved into new position, 'stuff' from bedrooom in big pile in hallway & computer room, time for break 4.55pm THurs
• Clean out fridge11.35pm Tue
• Clean out pantry (eeeep big job)
• Tidy up Laurens play room
• Attempt to empty some of the boxes mum has brought around, sort stuff out to keep/throw out/st vinnies
• Fix hole in Damiens bike shorts and shorten hotslings pouch3.20pm Wed
  


• Tidy lounge & vacuum12ishMon, 8.20amish thurs


• Tidy kitchen11pm Tue, I want to keep it tidy every night before bed, I was getting so good at that but have let it slide

*phew* some biggish jobs in there, so I have a week people! Lets see if I can get it done before then!

I want to get laundry, laurens room and fridge done today.

Had an ok weekend, I was cranky bitch yesterday, tired, house getting me down. Had lunch with mum, she leaves for NZ on thursday :( Seeing her for the last time before she goes on Tuesday *sigh*

Am finding Lauren really challenging atm, the not listening, ignoring me finding it hard to keep my cool. I had a realisation that I don't always listen to her, that sometimes I fob her off so I am trying to model listening and paying attention by doing the same to her. Tis hard though when she won't do the simplest thing, need to borrow the book "how to talk so your children will listen, and listen so they will talk"

Woot!

Lauren is off to the MILs today/tonight!!
I do love her very very much, but woohoo!! Its damn good to get a break :)
Felt like all I heard yesterday was 'mama come play with me', which I did try and do, but was feeling very stretched!

In the new year I am going to look into kindermusic for Lauren so that she has some interaction with someone other than just me :) She will also go back into swimming lessons and have these days with her Babka.

Poor Miss A :( She has a bit of a snotty nose and last night was awful :( I couldnt get her to stay asleep each time I put her down she would wake up crying ended up finding the FESS and clearing her nose a bit, I have never seen her this upset :( :( she was soooo tired. Eventually hopped into bed with her with me sitting upright supported by pillows, of course I can't sleep very well this way, she was very restless and kept crying out and letting out farts .. so now I think it was also wind! Gah! Around 12ish (I think) I was able to put her down beside me in the bed and I went to sleep (TG). She seems a little warm this morning and still a bit snotty, but has gone down for a nap. She is certainly happy enough though :)

Doh! Just realised I am supposed to be getting Lauren some weetbix *lol* Got distracted when MIL rang to ask to have Lauren .. best go feed the poor girl ;)

Chomp, Chomp

Miss A chomping away at Daddy's hand


"I may be slipping off Daddy's lap but I am not taking my eyes off you mummy, nor am I letting go of this thumb!!"

*sigh*

I'm going to miss my mum :(

Cup of tea on a sunday morning

Ahhh, nevermind that it had to be reheated .. ahhh hehe

The last couple of days when I have been sitting rocking *squeak* rocking Anya in the rocking chair to get her to sleep, she has thrashed around a bit, so today when she wouldn't settle and was thrashing I took her to our bed and wrapped her bottom half and lay next to her, she started sucking her thumb, I stroked her head and patted her (front of nappy) and OMG she went to sleep.. I am SO not used to a baby doing that *lol* Lauren only ever did that maybe once, so lets hope Anya lets me do that every sleep! Although I also hope I can hold her sleeping still every now and then.

I *should* be tidying up right now, restacking dishwasher, cleaning up kitchen & lounge room. BUT this cup of Chai is going down quite nicely :)OH and I have 2 baskets of washing to fold (FINALLY bought another basket, not quite up to 5 though L ;))

Damien & Lauren are hunting for monsters, armed with a torch and plastic bags *lol* Lauren loves hunting for monsters with Daddy, not really sure how it started nor what happens to the monsters once they are caught??!!

Well she woke after 10 minutes.. ah well its a start lol, had to rock *squeak* rock her back to sleep in chair

Rolly rolly rolly

:D
Clicky clicky for rolly rolly

Cranky

Aargh cranky mummy lately, especially when being woken at 5am by a demanding cranky little girl who so obviously needs more sleep.

I have been feeling rather stretched lately, the housework has been piling up and Lauren seems very full on, wanting me to spend a lot of time for her which I can understand but I just feel way too .. overwhelmed? Thankfully MIL is taking Lauren for the day, and hopefully for the night! Will give us both a break from each other and I can focus on Anya & housework without feeling guilty about neglecting Lauren.

Finally getting Laurens playroom tidy and the big 50Lplastic container that is filled with 'stuff', getting that sorted out, throwing out the junk and sorting the rest into where its supposed to be.

Bought a second hand hutch dresser from St Vinnies on friday, I think its from the 70s hehe it is being delivered today (I think) its going in the computer room to store all the clutter that makes this room look so messy, looking forward to being able to close doors on the mess. Was a huge $50.
Got a heap of good stuff some perfect condition clothing, a handful of book (including The Monster at the End of this Book (with Grover) love this book), the board game trouble (has some pieces missing but still playable) and an awesome strap on dressup dragons/dinosaur tail, PERFECT condition I think they retail for $30ish .. I'm sure the woman at StV miscalculated, they were having a sale but .. I got all that for $6!!!

Anya is delightful, such a smiley chatty baby :) Lauren is actually behaving pretty well, she is just too much sometimes I feel like I am being smothered.

Ok some photos:

Hmmph

The ONE night I want to watch something on TV (house) bedtime goes to shite, so I am with Anya till 9 and telling Lauren to please go to bed while I am feeding/rocking Anya, and then I go in with Lauren to get her off to sleep after putting A down ... GAH!!
Please tell me that she will let Damien do the bedtime thing soon .. one day .. .before she leaves home??

An ok day, got a fair bit accomplished, its amazing what I can get done when Anya sleeps for an hour in her bouncer!

Computer room floor isnt done, well its half done, but got vacuuming & mopping done! WOOT!

Lauren has a 'catch-cold' atm (her word for it) so have been giving her lots of Vit C and also got her to drink some Olive Leaf Extract in some juice today :D So hopefully she will kick this cold quicksmart!

Ok I am determined to get the computer room floor cleaned up and also do the normal kitchen/sweep stuff.

There goes another Tuesday

Bit of a sucky day .. think I know why I have been so short tempered lately ... pretty sure I have started my periods today OH JOY, I had a suspicion I had them at 7 weeks post partum and that it wasnt still Lochia, and my moods the last few days and well other signs point to it returning .. darnit! They returned at 7 weeks with Lauren too. HMMPH

So another late night as its so much easier to get housework done when both kids are in bed, but I also like to have some uninterrupted me time, which leaves me doing housework starting at 10.30 as I don't put Anya into bed till about 9ish!

Lauren is getting a cold *woe* Poor love, I just knew there had to be a reason she was waking more at night, although when wearing her tinkerbell singlet to bed tonight she tried to convince me that the cold was all gone! and that she wouldnt get too cold! I think by the time lights went out though she had worked out she was cold as she finally agreed to put a long sleeved top on!

Just to remind myself that I have stuff I NEED to do tomorrow

• Tidy computer room floor
• Mop tiles
• Vacumn

That should do it!

My sleeping beauty

I missed sunday!!

Hmmmph! Oh well ;)

It was a day of battles and feeling like I was going against the current ALL day so I guess I didn't have the energy to remember to post!
Tonights post isn't going to be much either!

Was an OK day, not wonderful, not awful.

Leave you wtih some photos

Just photos

I think I have blabbered on enough lately.
So a photo post today :)

Just cause I have to

I have been thinking of things to blog, and now its late and I'm tired and I'm having trouble thinking of them!

We had a big day today, out all day! Visited a friend this morning, and then my mum this afternoon.
Breaks my heart when Anya cries in the car, she was asleep the way to my friends, but on the way to mums she cried for about 8mins and then fell asleep .. :( :( :( my baby gave up, I REALLY don't know how people can do this on purpose???

She was a bit upset when we left mums (she *was* asleep and woke when I put her in the car dammit, she used to transfer wonderfully ... not so much anymore it would seem) thankfully she calmed and went back to sleep, waking when we got home and getting herself really upset in the 2min it took me to get her out of the car, poor love was SO tired, she didn't nap very well today.
Hoping we have a good nights sleep. (don't we always hope this??)

Mum gave me a bag of 'stuff' that she found when cleaning up that she thought I or Lauren might like, haven't been through it yet. Things to remember her by, or that Lauren liked when she went over. *sigh* Am trying really hard not to think about what its going to be like when Mum has moved, and just flow with it, take each day as it comes. Not borrow trouble.

Gah this afternoon I really felt like I was swimming upstream, why must some evenings/nights be easy and relaxed, and others be a battle! It was a calm battle, but SO frustrating, Lauren was so tired but just did not want to stop doing stuff! I tried to be patient (and mostly succeeded) but I must have sounded so whiney.

Ok for someone who had nothing to say I sure say a lot, got some photos at mums I will have to get off her when she gets back, if she doesn't get them off her camera before she goes (she is flying to NZ on Sunday to look a houses)

Bedtime now, first something to eat, and then summon the energy from somewhere to do the dishes/cleanup kitchen & sweep!

Asleep before 7!

Yup Lauren was!!
She hasn't been asleep before 7pm in MONTHS, I just put Anya into bed too (8.38pm) so ahh its nice :)
MIL was over today pulling lots of weeds, Lauren helped her, so very cute, MIL bought her some kiddy sized gardening gloves which Lauren thought were just so awesome. I am starting to accept MIL doing the gardening as a good thing, Damien & I are both useless gardeners, never weed etc etc, I used to get a bit .. antsy about MIL doing it, like it made us look bad (which I guess it does but there are more important things I like to focus my attention on rather than the garden.) so now I just accept it as help, and thank her for it.
I do know that she doesn't expect me to do it, rather that she wants Damien to step up and do it, which is just not going to happen, she finds it hard to accept that Damien is just not interested in gardening, FIL has always helped around the house, helped with the upkeep and the gardens & lawns, but hasn't passed it down to his sons, I think maybe if they had been more involved with it all at a young age it may have been better, but don't know if Damien is going to change any time soon.

Didn't really have a list of things to do today (apart from the MM (Motivated Moms) one) but I got a few things done that were annoying me so I just did them, tidied the plastics cupboard, seriously .. how do I lose lids??? and tidied and wiped down the top of the fridge, I had an empty baking paper box up there ... ??? Hoping to mop before I go to bed so it can dry over night, so before bed I just have the usual things to do, do dishes, load dishwasher/put on, wipe down benches, sweep tiles and tonight mop. Might give the bathroom sinks a wipe down as well, its one of the daily MM jobs and it really does help and feels nice to have a clean sink daily. (ETA: WOOT all done :) Heading to bed for sleepy byes now (10pm))

Ok enough rambling, some recent photos :)
These two are from today and crack me up .. poor Anya hehe

Another night away

Lauren spent her second night away from us last night :) Staying with my MIL again, she had her first night away same time last week and went fine (cant't remember if I blogged about it ..)
I didn't hear anything so I'm assuming she went just as fine last night :)
Was nice to not have to be getting her off to bed last night, or being woken at 4.30 am by her, but I still miss her :) BUT it is nice to enjoy Anya cuddles guilt free, without having to divide my time btwn the two :) I think we both get a lot out of it, Lauren is always keen to go, not so keen to come home! I keep telling myself its because she is well bonded & attached to me .. right?

Can't believe the change in weather, Anya was in a wondersuit last night! Brrrr (well brrr for us in qld ;)) but this rain is gorgeous, keeps the temperature nice and cool, prefer it over hot and muggy!

SO I didn't really do much off my list yesterday, but I did accomplish a lot, thanks to Rach I am using these MotivatedMoms daily checklists, I am finding them very helpful. basically it has a list of daily tasks, and then it has a weekly list, each day of the week has different tasks and its spread over a year, so things like clean front of dishwasher, clean microwave, mop floors, etc.

I find it really good to be able to break things down like that, rather than going "i have to mop floors, vacumn, the rooms need tidying, gosh need to do the loos, and the laundry and and and" so even if the entire house isnt spotless I know that I have achieved *something*.

I think I have come to accept that I am not going to totally get on top of the house, it is never going to be completely in order all the time, but as long as I check off as many things from the list that I can, and add my own things to attempt to do, making sure that the dishes are done and dishwasher stacked,kitchen bench cleared and wiped down, tiles swept each night before I go to bed, I will feel much better. It sucks waking up to a messy kitchen.

So without further ado, my list for today (adding the things I didnt do yesterday and the things off my MotivatedMoms list)

• Tidy up surfaces in computer room
• Tidy up surfaces in Laurens room
• Clean bath and showersJust gave quick once over with elcheapo bathroom cleaning mitt
  
• Clean bathroom mirrorsDitto the above
  
  

Another day another ..something

Woke up to rain this morning, glorious rain.
BUT that means I have to drive damien to the train station as he can't cycle to work when its like this, too dangerous. Fingers crossed Anya is ok about that.

Today's to-do

• Tidy up surfaces in computer room
• Tidy up surfaces in Laurens room
• Clean microwave
• Grocery shopping

Will pick up some cheap weekly dvds as its 'cheap tuesday' FORGOT!

Have just taken D to train station, Anya started to get upset on way home but thankfully took the dummy! WOOT so was calm the rest of the trip.

Oh and my mum is moving back to NZ in a couple of months, maybe less :( :( :( :(
Mum and I are very close, it just breaks my heart that she is leaving, I am going to miss her sooooooo much. I am also so so sad for my girls, they are going to miss out on really knowing her, as Lauren wont remember all this time she has spent with her and well Anya is a baby and hasnt seen her much. So going from seeing her once or twice a fortnight to once or twice a year :( I keep getting myself all upset when I think about it. The main reason she is going is to get away from the heat and her rhumatoid arthrits (which is giving her a lot of pain at the moment) goes awaty when she is in NZ, so its about quality of life and i can understand that, but it hurts :(

Update

Well I got it all done, albeit by 11.30pm.
I just don't get a solid block of time during the day to be able to do big clean up jobs.
But I was determined to not go to bed till I had tidied up the floor in here, folded nappies and washed dishes, tidied kitchen. And its all done, its 11.26pm and I am heading to bed :)

Feeling good that I won't wake up to a messy kitchen/computer room. The lounge needs a quick pick up but thats not too hard :)

So .. blogging

I seem to be very slack at it, maybe its just that my life is so mundane that I don't want to bore you all with the details!? or maybe mylife is so super busy and exciting and full of wonder and joy that I simply don't get the time to blog? Nah its the former.

But inspired by the http://nablopomo.ning.com/ thingy, but not going to actually join it thought I would try blogging every day, maybe not awe inspiring stuff, but stuff maybe a photo or two.

I have a wriggly anya on my lap atm so I won't be blogging for long. Maybe I will come back later and do another post.

Oooh I know a housework list *lol* Thats exciting! ;)

To Do Today

• Fold & put away 3 baskets of clean laundry *groan*
• Clean up kitchen, reload dishwasher, wash handwashing dishes
• Tidy up computer room floor
  

One handed typing skills

So since Lauren was born I have mastered the art of one handed typing, I still make typos but usually when Im not concentrating ;) I am a touch typist and Im prettty proud of how well I can touch type using only my left hand :) Not often I say I am proud of mself for something, so it feels good to say it :)

Life is plodding along, as Anya's personality develops find myself more in love with her. Things with lauren are pretty good too, we have our moments but who doesnt!!

Still frustrated with mess and clutter, especially not having time or two hands to deal with it!
My mums friend is goingto have a go making a hammock for me woot!! (Thanks Kate for photos and instructions!!)

Just babbling now really, will leave you with a photo or two xxx

One month, one week, two days

Well this title would have looked cooler if i had remembered to post it yesterday!

Blatant copy & paste from my vox blog ;)

My serious little girl gives us the BIGGEST smiles now :) Its sooo precious. Big cheesy grins, sweet little smiles, and almost laughs. LOVE it!

She also slept from 8.30-3am last night :o My left boob had leaked a lot hehe my singlet was soaked, had to change it ;)

Things are plodding along well, she feeds roughly 3 hourly I think .. I really don't know this time around! Is becoming more alert and spending more time laying on her mat nappy free just checking things out.

She isn't sleeping so well unless in arms, so is often in wrap or sling asleep. I am going to get a hammock to see if she likes that, will be very helpful if she does.

Lauren is settling, but still goes silly when I have people over, I think its a "Look at ME not the baby" thing

So on to photos!!

Shower Baby

She much prefers theshower to the bath as we discovered last night :)





Going to the park


My little Buddha hehe

An update!

Ok lets start with Lauren.
Hmmm .. she is struggling with sharing me. I am managing to have some one on one time with her, every night we have a shower together, and I read her stories and give her a foot massage with oil to help her off to sleep, oh and sing to her. THis is helping me as much as it helps her, I am feeling some awful guilt for being responsible for Anya taking me away from her. She begs me not to bring Anya in when she is upset, ie when I am reading a story I have to sometimes put Anya n the boob between us, once she is there Lauren is fine about it, but before hand she begs me not to, breaks my heart.
As soon as I start feeding Anya Lauren starts acting up, I can understand it but gawd its frustrating!! She loves Anya to bits but tends to smother her a bit. I am hoping that once Damien goes back to work, and things start settling back to 'normal' she may also settle down but mostly I think its time that will help. She starts off the night in her bed but usually ends up with us in the middle of the night, just climbs into the bed and zonks out. Yesterday she didnt come in till 5am though.

Apart from the Anya related stuff she is going really well :) Going to start her up in FDC soon and then 2009 put her in kindy. She just loves being around kids. MIL is spending some time down here in a new house they bought (FIL working out at amberley airforce base so he stays there during the week and BIL is livin there as well) and today Lauren went over there for the day, gives us a break and also gives Lauren a day of being centre of attention, nevermind that she comes back super grumpy lol, she often spend a day out at my mums too, she loves it at both places and never wants to leave.
She tells the funniest stories, and sings such beautiful songs (think cat with tail trod on) but she so loves to sing (la la la la la) and often gives a big bow at the end and says .. "clap!" she is a real actor and show off just like her father
Dreading a little how I am going to juggle both children once Damien goes back to work, but hoping it will all just work out. Not like she lets Damien do much for her anyway! Love her to bits but its hard work having a threenanger around!

Onto Miss Anya. Ah a delight Had a bit of an unsettled day today and yesterday, lots of boob, but think its just one of those 'growth spurts'. She sleeps so much better and easier than Lauren did. Damien actually put her to sleep a couple of times yesterday, rocking her to youtube performances of Neil Diamond & Bruce Springsteen *giggle*. Not a very smiley bub yet, quite a serious wee thing. I have had a couple of smiles, but I think she is going to reseve her smiles for when she really means it. Not entirely sure how much she weighs, bought some scales at Ikea the other day, weighed myself (need to start exercising ;)) and weighed me holding her, I *think* she is around 4kg, she was 3.45 born so assuming she lost some weight in the first few days after the birth ... she has def put on though. Not concerned of course. She looks a heap chubbier than Lauren did, I think. Will have to do some comparing of photos :) She doesn't have any unsettled periods during the night, wakes a couple of times for a feed (and a nappy change) and then I just lay back down with her and she goes off to sleep on the boob, and I usually go back to sleep too .. often waking up with my boob under her head and an nice wet patch of milk hehe, oh milk!! I actually leak on occasion when feeding, I never had that with Lauren!! Feeding is sooooo much easier this time around, she attached herself to the boob after she was born and its been soo easy since then! Been feeding her laying down since the first night, was ages before I did that with Lauren. I had a couple of grazes/blood blisters on my nipples in the first couple of days but they healed quickly and have had no issues since then! I am also doing a bit of Elimination Communication with her, catching most of her poos in Laurens toy doll potty that she never uses. SHe is still in nappies, but if I can read her signs properly can get her nappy off and her onto the potty to wee/poo. Umm can't think of anything else to update! Any questions? lol

Some photos of my chubba and more @ http://anya.thehamwoods.com

Going to update soon .. promise

But for now!
Bliggity Bloggity Boo! Round #3 @ pickleberrypop!