Lucky

My Mum came down to visit over the weekend, because J is away for another two weeks travelling and she felt sorry for me spending the weekend on my own. Yes, J is travelling a lot at the moment and yes, it is hard, in fact I'm borderline not coping some days but hoping our move to Hong Kong means a bit of a decrease in the travelling or at least the introduction of a maid! But anyway, I suspect that's another reason why Mum decided to come down.

My Mum still works full time so it's not always easy for her to visit and when she does I really appreciate it. It means she has a two hour drive each way and uses her only days off to help me out. We had a fun weekend, my sister came over for dinner and they bathed the kids, then we had a few wines and made some pretty funny lip syncing videos. Average family stuff, for our family.

After Mum left on Sunday I hung out with the kids, who "helped" me do some packing for our move. We packed up a lot of books and also got rid of a lot. The whole getting rid of things aspect of the move is probably my favourite so far, it's so cleansing. I feel like with every physical thing we get rid of a metaphorical weight is lifted from my shoulders.

Going through all our books I found a few daggy reads and some funny things too, like a diary J had written in 2005 (before we met)! And no, I didn't read it all but I got a taste.

I also found an album we'd made of all our wedding cards. Going through them and reading all the messages again over five years on was really special. I was blown away by some of the sentiments, which may not have affected me so much at the time in the whirlwind of the wedding/presents/holiday atmosphere. It also really brought home to me where our life began and how we got here, and how important it is to focus on our relationship. Quite an important reminder when your husband is on the other side of the world and you're home packing for his job relocation! Because oh that's right, we DO love each other!

So even though today, Monday, I have had a really frustrating, busy, stressful day on the whole - I feel very lucky. Grateful for my parents, thankful for my siblings, and so damn lucky to have a loving husband and two healthy kids and just to be alive.

*breathes*
Z x

Breakfast For Dinner

Sometimes when J is travelling I like to indulge in my guilty pleasure - eating breakfast food for dinner. This can be anything from cereal to eggs on toast. I was particularly guilty of this when I was pregnant, once eating three bowls of cornflakes covered in sugar.

Yesterday the kids and I had heavy leftovers for lunch and J was on a late flight home from Melbourne, so I decided to try out a recipe from a Donna Hay kids issue for Banana Honey Pikelets that H could also take to vacation care today. They are sweetened purely with the honey and banana so a bit healthier than most pikelets.

They were super easy and needless to say they were gobbled up! 

W had his with greek yoghurt and raspberries which frankly looked delicious. 

Banana Honey Pikelets

Ingredients

1 cup self raising flour, sifted

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 mashed banana

3/4 cup milk

1 egg

2TBSP Honey

Method

1) Mix the flour and baking powder together in a bowl and make a well in the centre.

2) Add remaining ingredients to a separate bowl and whisk until combined.

3) Gradually add the banana mixture to the flour mixture and stir until smooth.

4) Heat some butter in a non stick frying pan. Spoon tablespoons of mixture onto the pan and cook until bubbles appear. Flip and cook for about another minute.

5) Serve!

The recipe didn't make that many if you are cooking for a larger family. I would probably double it and freeze any leftovers for snacks.

Z x

Where I'm At

I've  been wanting to write for a while now but feeling like it's all too hard because I've left it too long. You know, like when you put off ironing and suddenly have an overflowing basket on your hands? Guilty. So I've decided to copy a few other blogs I read and give a bit of a snapshot of where I'm at right now...

Making : Two beds in my room every morning - ours and the mattress on the floor that H has been sleeping on. SIGH.

Cooking : Banana Honey Pikelets.

Drinking : Tea as always.

Reading: Sadly, Outlander. I was desperate.

Wanting: A leather jacket.

Looking: Like I need a makeover.

Playing: Shopkeepers. Again.

Wasting: Time on Instagram. I just started following celebrities…Help Me!

Sewing: Seeds of our new life - in Hong Kong! We're moving next month. 

Wishing: Relocation were not so time consuming.

Enjoying: Little W's apparent transition to one nap a day - in typical Walt fashion he has done this with no fuss and no intervention on my part, he's a treasure. 

Waiting: For him to wake up, because now I'm paranoid he's slept too long…what's wrong?!

Liking: School holidays - in PJs until 10am.

Wondering: What to buy with my Country Road Spend and Save.

Loving: Mine and H's new shared hobby - colouring!

Hoping: Both kids sleep through the night tonight…yawn.

Marvelling: At the fact that I've somehow gotten drawn in to The Kardashians. But I really enjoy it. I'm not proud. 

Needing: A sugar purge. Blerrrrgh Easter.

Smelling: The Peppermint Rock Road Easter Egg I just dug into.

Wearing: Ugg boots, boyfriend jeans and an oversize jumper. Change of season!

Following: Trends I shouldn't follow e.g. boyfriend jeans.

Noticing: Wrinkles, on myself and everyone else. Mostly because way too many people I know are now getting Botox.

Feeling: Really excited after a positive call from our Hong Kong Real Estate agent. Looking forward to this change!

Knowing: It will be hard but trying not to think about it.

Thinking: About who my favourite Kardashian is. Okay it is on in the background.

Bookmarking: Peter Walsh - Clutter Organiser. Helping me so much with my packing. 

Opening: The Country Road website…surely I need something.

Where are you at right now?

Z x

To Walter, Age One

Last week you turned ONE Walter, and what a darling boy you are.

Long ago, before babies were a real possibility, I dreamed up what our little baby would be like and it was you I dreamed of. You know, a physical blend of Mum and Dad, smiles, eats, sleeps when you put them in bed but maybe wakes up a few times. Simple, right?

So it only makes sense that your sister came first, with her face belonging to her alone and her mop of hair and her smarts and her ATTITUDE - just to teach me a thing or two. I will continue to marvel at her for the rest of my days, of that I'm sure. But then I got you
because I'd learned almost all I needed to know, except the one great lesson you taught me - to chill the heck out.

You are a perfect baby boy. A little physical, sure. You escaped out the back gate at ten months old, which I'd never realised was a risk before. Your climbing is phenomenal, as is the speed of your crawling. Why just yesterday, you took ten whole steps. You just don't stop, which is good for Mummy as she has a chocolate addiction and needs to keep moving.

Every day you make people smile. You are the kind of baby about whom strangers approach me in the street. "What a captivating boy," they say, because you really do have an aura of light about you.

You are a softer soul than some - yes, you once cried because a dog barked. You LOVE your Dadda and cry if he puts you down. Like, you REALLY cry. You scream. It's a thing.

Sure, you still don't "sleep through the night" every night, but let me tell you I don't mind. Because you are the sunniest little boy all day. And yes, you are pretty much ALWAYS sick but that's okay, because I like hanging at home with you and your sister anyways!

We are so excited for this next year of your growth and the adventure we are about to take together.

Love Mum xx

The Power of You

Good morning! Super corny title right?! But stay with me, I do have a point.

We had a difficult weekend with Miss 3.5. After a few lovely weeks of no huge confrontations and overall sibling harmony, she was suddenly tired, grumpy, angry, screechy and generally not fun to be around.

But J and I were not our best selves either. We have just gone through a stressful, emotional period of him selling his business, which he started over 10 years ago and has worked so hard at almost every day since. Ultimately it was exciting but we (particularly J) were drained.

I woke up on Saturday with a sore ear, which as a former child who got ear infections every other month I KNEW would turn into an ear infection. Sunday I woke up with a fever and spent the day in bed. Which left J to deal with both kids alone, including aforementioned bratty toddler.

Last night we sat down and reflected that neither of us had the patience to be good parents over the weekend. Every typical toddler behaviour - defiance, boundary pushing, emotional outbursts - had us flinching, made us angry.

We were exhausted, sick, in desperate need of a long nap and a massage. But instead of having a peppermint tea and going to bed at 8pm on Saturday night, we sat up drinking wine because it was Valentine's Day and we felt sorry for ourselves.

So it got me thinking about something I've thought and even advised dozens of times - the kind of day you have as a parent is often completely down to you. If you wake up early, exercise, eat a healthy breakfast and most importantly start with a positive attitude and outlook, you are going to have a MUCH better day with your kids. More than that, children are SO sensitive and really pick up on your emotions, so they will tend to test you more (in my experience) when you're not on your A game.

It also really brings home the point that you really need to look after yourself as a mother. Happy Mum, Happy Bub and all that. It's something you hear all the time, so often that it can lose its meaning, but it's completely true. Ask for help. Eat well. Take naps when you can. Let someone else clean. Read.

It's SO not easy to do. It's so tempting to want to be everything to everyone all the time. To want to be perfect, and have a perfect house, and have perfect children who are perfectly dressed. But if YOU are feeling amazing, the rest will come too. And yes, I know it's been written a thousand times before but I'm repeating it because it's true, and everyone needs a reminder now and then.

Z x

School Morning Muffins

Hello Tuesday! Sorry to say but you are and always have been my least favourite day of the week, ever since my Mum worked Tuesday nights when I was a kid. But really, you don't have the fresh hope of Monday but you're still at the beginning of the week. Thankfully you're almost over.

Today marked one whole school week back i.e. 5 days of H being back at preschool in the mornings, and to mark the occasion I tried to get my life organised - I'm just recovering from a week long cold so was embracing that post sickness feeling of motivation. I achieved a few things. I paid a speeding fine that's been sitting on my dresser for too long, caught up on washing, started packing for a camping weekend away (more on that later!) and baked these muffins I saw over on Fat Mum Slim.

I used dates as my dried fruit and they turned out super delicious (though doesn't anything with dates?), still I'd love to try them with a few different fruit combos. With only 2TBSP of raw sugar plus the fruit, they're perfect for the littlies.

Recipe

1 cup plain flour
1 cup wholemeal flour
3tsp baking powder
2TBSP raw sugar
1 cup dried fruit
125g butter, melted
1 egg
1 cup milk

Method

1) Preheat oven to 200 degrees
2) Blitz fruit with egg, butter and milk in food processor (I used a stick mixer)
3) Add dry ingredients and mix until combined
4) Place in cupcake patties and bake for 20-25 minutes or until cooked through (I baked 20 minutes)

Enjoy!

Z x

Room Sharing

We've recently put our two kids, currently aged 3.5 and 10 months, into the same room. Prior to that baby W was sleeping in our room and it wasn't working for a couple of reasons - J tosses and turns all night and W is a light sleeper, plus we were ready to get our room back. He's a big healthy boy now and it just felt like time for him to move out.

We do actually have three bedrooms in our house, but the third room is downstairs at the very front of the house and we couldn't work out which child we would banish down there without feeling guilty! We also have no family nearby, which means we often have family come to stay and use the third bedroom for guests. Plus we have no storage, so the wardrobes in our spare room are packed with vacuum cleaners, ironing boards, picnic baskets and pram accessories that would be displaced if we were to fill it with a child's belongings.

So they're in together. And so far it's going okay - we've had just one incidence of them waking one another up, which wasn't as awful as it could have been. Given I was so worried about them sharing and how to manage the logistics of it, I thought I'd share what I've learnt so far for those who are thinking of having their little ones, particularly a toddler and an infant, share a room.

1) Stagger Bed Times

This has been fairly easy for us given W goes down to bed at 7pm and H more like 7.30. That said, there are days when he for example has a long afternoon nap and she has woken up early that morning, and she probably needs to go to bed earlier than him or at the same time. This has not worked for us! First of all, what three year old will accept going to bed before their baby sibling?! Certainly not mine, who aims to assert authority over her brother at all times. Meanwhile putting them to bed together? Forget about it! Too much giggling and crazy carry on, resulting in overtired tears from everyone (possibly even Mum). If you know your toddler is tired, make sure your infant is going to be ready for bed by their usual time, and encourage lots of quiet activity in Mum and Dad's bedroom in the early evening to maintain your usual staggered bed times.

2) Be Smart about Nap Times

W still naps twice a day, morning and afternoon. H is currently on summer holidays but goes back to preschool this Wednesday, which means she will be out of the house most days for his morning nap. But for the last few weeks I've had to keep her out of her room (which has a little play room attached to it full of her toys) for 3-4 hours a day. This has been tricky at times, especially if she's had a friend over and wanted to play upstairs. I've found it's very important to prepare her for the nap by telling her 20 minutes or so before, and asking what she'd like to bring out of her room. This has actually been a great thing to do regardless, as she's bringing things out that often don't see the light of day, and making up lots of new games. W's afternoon nap time is "rest time" for us, so we'll either read books and colour together or watch TV. I'll be honest, we mostly watch an hour of TV - it guarantees she is quiet and restful, and most importantly she doesn't wake up her brother!

3) Set Clear Guidelines about Space

I think this is so important and something that we're only just beginning to do. Like adults each child needs their own space, somewhere they can relax and feel safe and somewhere that reflects their personalities and interests. They also need their own things - special things that are theirs and theirs alone. It's completely possible to achieve this in a shared room, but you need to set guidelines. We've only just started to talk about what area belongs to whom and who owns what. Of course W doesn't really have or need a lot, but we're in the process of setting up his side of the room with some shelves and ornaments, while kind of "girling up" H's side - I'm really not one to go all out on pink but she so is. It's also essential for when arguments break out as they always will, and makes it so much easier to referee ("You know this is her space/his bed/her quiet area" etc.).

4) Be Flexible

Sharing is always going to be more complicated than each child having their own room. There will be fights, there will be disaster nap times and there will be nights when they wake each other up. But there are also loads of benefits. Sharing teaches life skills and can be fun, plus it limits general child mess to one room (or at least, eliminates it from the spare room!). It's good to remember that one bad day doesn't mean you're failing, because it can really feel like it at the time.

Anyone else have any room sharing tips they'd like to share? I'm interested to see how my two both-very-assertive children go as they grow!

Z x