busymum2010 - a bit about life

"Magic Bean" Chocolate Cake

2012-02-03T13:32:00.000+10:00

I adapted this recipe from the "Magic Bean Chocolate Cake Recipe on the Thermomix Forum".

1 can of cannelini beans drained and rinsed (you can use any beans though)
1 tbsp of water
1 tbsp of vanilla extract
45g of unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp of GF baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarb
100g sugar
4 eggs
100g sugar

Preheat oven to 180 degrees
Mix the beans, water, 1 egg and vanilla in the TMX (or any food processor) on sp 7 for about 5secs and set aside.
Beat butter and sugar for 20 secs on sp 5
Add remaining eggs for an additional 20 secs on sp 4
Add beans and mix on sp 4 for 5 secs
Add cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarb and blend on sp 4 for 20 secs.
Poor into greased pan or muffin tins and cook at 180 degrees for 20 mins (about 30 mins in cake pan)

I have included the image from the forum as my son turned the oven off half way through the cooking time so they were a bit blahh

Create a list of everything that went “right” in 2011

2012-01-18T14:11:00.000+10:00

I am on the whole organising thing at the moment and found another great little gem, through Cass at Living Eco Direct, that isn't just about home or exercise but your whole life. I am hoping that having an organised me will flow on and through the rest of the house.

This is it

So here is my list of everything that went right in 2011:

I was fortunate enough to not be directly affected by the floods and cyclone;
I sold one of my businesses putting that chapter of my life to a happy close;
I went into premature labour, delivering a health and happy baby boy;
Moved into my new home;
Had reasonably good health throughout the family;
Have a loving husband and family;
Have made some decisions in our life for the better;
Had a wonderful Christmas in our new home with just close family.

I haven't been so great on my challenges of the day and have blown the $42 week this week, getting some supplies for Will starting school on Monday - gluten free lunches are definitely more expensive than non gluten free. I have spent $52.79 and have to buy dishwasher detergent and some fruit still, but hopefully that will be it for the week.

a bit about being Busy

2012-01-16T07:08:00.000+10:00

Just a quick post today to let you all know I have lost another kg bringing my total KG loss to 2.8kgs in 3 weeks. Very happy with that.
With my $21.00 challenge I spent $16.56 on bread, milk, juice and fruit.
This week we are going to try a $42 challenge as we need to get some vegetables too.
These are my photos for last weeks PAD challenge

a bit about Microfibre Cleaning Cloths

2012-01-11T06:13:00.000+10:00

I decided to take the plunge and purchase some microfibre cleaning cloths from Just Cloths. I have been meaning to do this for about 2 years now, like most things it was shelved. We were lucky and for the last 6 years have had a cleaner come once a fortnight and in the last 12 months it has been once a week to vacuum, mop and do the bathrooms. However as part of our belt tightening we have decided not to get her to come anymore.

A bit about microfibre cloths:

You can clean with out chemicals - so no surface cleaner, window cleaner, shower cleaner, floor cleaner needed at all - JUST THE CLOTHS
They are anti-bacterial and anti-microbial - capillary action sucks up the germs. Just wash the cloth in warm (up to 60degree) soapy water
They are great for dusting. Use a dry cloth to dust around the house, they pick up the dust with static.
You can mop and sweep at the same time. By doing a figure 8 action when mopping it sweeps all dust, crumbs etc into a nice pile.
They are reusable. Microfibre cloths have a life of 2 years or 300 washes so save heaps in sponges, chemicals, vacuum bags etc.
They can be used for all cleaning around the house. Windows, benches, bathrooms, shower screens, cars, floors - you name it you can use it.

My task for today therefore is to wipe down all kitchen cupboard doors, walls, fridge, dishwasher and oven doors, with my new microfibre cloths.

Other Goal Updates:
$21 Challenge: Spend yesterday $0.00; Spend to date $0.00; remaining$21.00

a bit about Gluten Free Chocolate, Sultana LCM bars

2012-01-10T10:24:00.000+10:00

My task for today is to prepare something for the boys as a snack with ingredients I don't use often, so today I made them Choc Sultana LCM bars. They are quick, easy and cheap and the boys loved them.

125g butter

150g glucose syrup (can be swapped for 125g white sugar and 3 tbsp honey)

4 cups of puffed grains (I used rice, aramanth and buckwheat)

1/2 cup sultanas (optional)

5g cocoa (optional r you can put more in for a richer taste)

Microwave the butter and glucose syrup in a microwave safe container on high for 1 min in 30 second bursts. Mix in with grains sultanas and cocoa until all the puffed grains are coated.

Press into a slice tin/container with the back of a metal spoon and refridgerate.

Other Goal Updates:
$21 Challenge: Spend yesterday $0.00; Spend to date $0.00; remaining$21.00

a bit about Monday

2012-01-09T08:25:00.000+10:00

Welcome to a new week, the second for 2012. To continue the kitchen them today I am going to set myself a bigger task and organise my pantry. I am going to make an inventory of all food in there, put open packets of stuff into containers and label them. I am going to have a section for each type of food eg

a cereal section,
a tea/coffee/ beverage section,
a snack section,
a canned goods section etc.

As I am doing the $21 day challenge when doing the inventory I am also going to have 3 piles:

Regulars - things that I use, cook with and replace often;
Randoms - things I have bought but don't cook with ever or often;
Rubbish - things passed their used by date.

Here is my before shot:

Very excited to find only 2 things past their used by date, and I have used up my red lentils to make dahl.

Other Goal Updates:
Weight Loss: 1.8kgs in 2 weeks and 8cm;
$21 Challenge: Spend yesterday $0.00; Spend to date $0.00; remaining$21.00

a bit about a Task for the Day

2012-01-08T06:59:00.002+10:00

I am going to start doing a task a day. It may be to do stretching, bulk cook meals, menu plan, declutter and area, mop the floor, go for a walk etc. As I get going I may do more than one task a day. Today's task is going through my cook books and deciding which I need and which I have just been holding on to. I currently have over 50 cook books that I have accumulated over the last 10 years or so, plus magazines (such as the Healthy Food Guide) and would be lucky if I cook from a cook book more than twice a week. So today is cookbook cull day.

I am also going to start my own family recipe book if there is a must have recipe in the books I cull. I am also going to try and adapt these recipes so they are almost exclusively made from Aldi ingredients plus fresh fruit and vege to help with the grocery budgeting.

I will be putting my before and after shots up later today.

ETA: I have also gone through my pantry, fridge and freezer and have heaps of food in there, so I am going to attempt the $21 challenge this week and not spend more than $21 on groceries. I have menu planned all our meals from frozen food either already made up or ingredients, we have ham and chicken in the fridge, plenty of eggs, tuna and salmon in the cupboard, about 4 jars of cream cheese, 3 L of UHT milk, two containers of grated cheese and two blocks of cheese, flour, bread improver, yeast, GF bread mixes, rice, pasta and more so it should be all systems go. I will probably only need to buy more milk and some fruit.
TODAYS SPEND: $0.00 $21.00 remaining

a bit about a Photo A Day

2012-01-07T17:55:00.000+10:00

Here are my first 7 PADs

Childhood

Self

Present

Innocence

Spider

New

Relax


Week 1 Summary

a bit about Day Zero Project

2012-01-07T06:58:00.001+10:00

I found this great page from Daphne called Day Zero project. You need to complete 101 tasks in 1001 days. You get your own personal website as part of the main site to make and maintain your list. So here is busymums day zero project.
One of my items on the list to complete a 52 weeks to an organised house challenge. I am getting sick of all the clutter in my home so am going to do this to help get it organised.

So this week I am going to organise my kitchen bench top which is task one.
Have a great weekend
Amanda

a bit about Menu Planning

2012-01-05T18:01:00.000+10:00

This incorporates several of my goals – get more organised; develop and maintain a healthy lifestyle; get control over our finances; don’t buy stuff – using things first and stop wasting food. I did it for about 3 months when pregnant with Oliver and even though I was buying organic I still saw a reduction in my food bill and a reduction in food wastage. I have been meaning to get back to it and here is why:

Reduction in food bill: We spent $1700 on food last month. I am ashamed to admit that. Yes it includes nappies, but that is really our only big outlay children wise. We are a family of 5, however husband is away a bit.
Eating healthier meals: I am ashamed to admit that both mine and my elder two children’s diet is questionable at the moment. It isn’t horrendous but could do with some improvement. This is due to the fact they are pretty fussy and I am disorganised. I need to lose a few kgs (see below post) and I just want us all to be healthier in general.
The 5pm panic: This is when it gets to 5 o’clock and I have NO IDEA what I am going to do for dinner. I finally get a good idea and realise I am missing a crutial ingredient and we end up eating spaghetti for the 3rd night in a row.
Most importantly for me and most people out there it saves time: By spending 30mins or so 1 day a week you can plan to do all your grocery shopping in one hit. This means you can save at least 30mins for each mid-week trip to the shops that you would have to do if you don’t menu plan. It also means you can prepare any dishes in advance so when you get home late on Thursday evening you can either defrost or do the final steps of a nutritious meal that was prepared earlier in the week.

click on the images to down load your own menu planning and shopping list pdf with instructions.

a bit about 2011

2012-01-02T09:04:00.000+10:00

Well 2011 has come and gone and it is already the 2nd day of 2012. What a big year for us. We lived in two different house - building a new one, my eldest turned 4, my middle turned 3 and we welcomed our baby into our lives. Will did soccer for the year and he graduated from kindy. Olly is finished at his current kindy, has developed immensely and become a loving boy and Lachie was born, smiled, cooed, rolled, slept through the night, laughed, interacted with us, started solids and has completed our family. We saw a good friend get married, my sister and her partner came home from a year travelling and Danny's parent leave for 6 months travel. A good part of Queensland flooded, cyclones, earth quakes, tsunamis. Daniel Morcombe was finally put to rest and his alleged abductor charged. Danny being a Qantas employee was locked out of his work place.

A picture summary of 2011 for the busymum house.
What an great year 2011 has been both good an bad. What potential 2012 has for us all.

a bit about Resolutions - Part 2

2011-12-30T06:00:00.000+10:00

Okay today I am back with my 10 broad BIG goals I would like to achieve this year:

1. Of course lose weight. I am sure this is the top of most people’s Goals list most of the time. I would like to lose 10kg by the end of June. Now I would much prefer to do this in a quicker time frame, but I am not going to go on fad diets or jump in with gusto to only fizzle out 2 weeks later. It also gives me a buffer for if I fall of the wagon. Don’t get me wrong if I get to my goal weight my April I will be stoked, but I don’t want to NOT achieve my goals, so would prefer to spend a little extra time getting there and doing it than not accomplishing this goal. That is why I have the picture of my balloon head in the profile picture. Whilst I would I think it would be a good idea to paste a picture of myself on the www for motivation I just don’t have the courage. I am hoping though at the end of this challenge I will have the courage to post before, during and after shots of my weight loss.

2. Get my website upto date and my accounts. I have a few products to update to the current price and options available.

3. Get more organised. In home life and business. By the end of the financial year I want to have ALL my filing organised, a clutter free desk, a proper system for paying bills, do menu planning, have a routine (e.g. laundry days, mopping the floor days) I want cupboards sorted, the house de-cluttered, excess papers in the filing cabinet shredded and gone. I want systems in place for grocery shopping, cleaning, doing business stuff, and running the household. I am hoping this will make life a little easier for me.

4. Do more stuff with the boys. Weather permitting I want to take them on at outing at least two times a week, even if it is just to the local park. I want to get them more involved with household stuff I do, I want to do more arts and craft, dancing, music, reading with them, not just throw them in the lounge to play with their toys or watch TV. This also includes my husband. I want to organise one evening a month for “date night” were we go to dinner and chill and not talk about the boys, or we see a movie when they are at Kindy one day or go to lunch or a walk on the beach.

5. I want to stick stuff out. As mentioned above I have a tendency to dive head first into a range of things and then it fizzles. I try and change too many things at once and do too big changes and inevitably end back where I started. I am going to take baby steps and see things through.

6. Stop procrastinating. If the dishwasher needs to be unpacked UNPACK it. If I need to get my accounting up to date, start doing it. I may need to do only a little at a time (see point 5) but do it, stop being LAZY!!!!

7. Develop and maintain a healthy life-style. By the end of 2010 I want to be eating 5 serves of vegetables most days and 2 serves of fruit. I want to only have the occasional serve of “junk food” maybe once or twice a week and eat whole grains and lean meat instead of white bread, pasta etc and fatty food such as soft cheeses, fatty meats etc. I want to make exercise a part of my life-style not something I do to lose weight. By the end of the year I want to be exercising 5 times a week.

8. Get control over our personal finances. By the end of the financial year I want to have all our finances entered into QuickBooks. I want to develop a rough budget and see where money is coming in and going out. I want to be able to see where we are wasting money and where we have saved it. I want to develop a savings/ investing plan and find money to pay extra off our mortgage.

9. Don’t buy stuff – use things first. I have a cupboard full of “materials” to make things but then never make them. I love making my cloth nappies and have so much beautiful fabric, but I only make one every couple of weeks. I also want to do more paper scrapbooking and have beautiful papers and elements, but have only done two layouts. I do have to admit that lack of permanent home for these hobbies is an influence as I have to pull out and pack up each time I want to do something. It often takes just as long to get everything out and put it away as it does to do the sewing or scrapbooking. In my new house-to-be I have an area I can leave it all set-up.

10. Stop wasting food. By the end of January I want to be menu planning each week’s meals and then writing a detailed shopping list of EVERYTHING I need for the week. I will go to the organic markets on Sunday mornings to buy as much as I can, then Aldi and the butcher and then do what is left at Coles or Woolies. Time to support the farmers that have sustainable farming methods and cut my grocery budget. When I buy something COOK IT UP and freeze if necessary. Don’t just think “Ooh that would be nice one night for dinner” buy it and a week later throw the rotten item out. On that line, but stuff into Tupperware containers in the fridge rather than loose so they stay fresh for longer. (Will be getting a chest freezer for the new house, so hopefully I can freeze more meals and buy meat in bulk).

So these are my 10 “life goals for 2012 and beyond”. I know some of these goals are intertwined but I still feel they were important enough to have their own number. I don’t think they are too ambitious especially once I have broken them down into manageable peices. This I will do over the next 2 weeks or so. I know I haven’t followed my own advice with the “SMART” acronym but I plan on doing this with my mini-goals.

a bit about Resolutions - Part 1

2011-12-28T18:13:00.000+10:00

Well the New Year is again upon us and the resolutions are coming out. So I thought about it, every year I make a New Year resolution and by the end of the year, hey by the end of the first week of January that resolution has GONE out the window. I asked myself why does this happen? First of all I am pretty lazy and secondly I am lazy, thirdly I lack the will power and determination to see it through and finally and I think most importantly I lack the knowledge and tools to set and follow my goals. This year I want to make changes.

So how do I go about it and how do I make sure that I stick to my goals. After doing a little Googling I have decided to do the following:

I am not going to call them New Year resolutions; as everyone knows resolutions never last.
I am going to determine why I am goal setting, as if I am doing it because I should then once again I will fall flat on my face.
I will make my goals clearly defined and easily measured. Rather than say something wishy washy like I will eat better this year, I will say by the end of January I will be menu planning healthy meals and snacks and eating just these items.
I will break each goal down into mini steps with small time frames to make them more achievable and so I can have the feeling of success more often.
Following on from the above step, make sure my mini goals are achievable in a relatively short amount of time as I will lose interest very quickly if I don’t get results or achieve my goals quickly. This will also give my self-confidence a push in the right direction as I will say “Hey I just did that, let’s see what else I can do”
Make my initial mini goals easy to achieve and slowly build up the challenge. If my mini goals are hard (say go running for an hour each day) then I will give up, but if I start small (go for a 30 min walk twice a week) and build up to the running goal then I am more likely to accomplish each step toward my big goal.
I am going to specify exactly how I am going to reach each goal. For example I will say “I am going to go through my healthy recipe books and choose each meal and snack to make sure I am covering all food groups, I will then put the weekly menu plan on the fridge and cupboard doors, so if I am tempted to cheat I will see my plan. I won’t buy food that will sabotage my eating” you get my drift.
I will have a plan for what to do if I “fall of the wagon” so to speak or I wander from the path of getting to my goal. I generally fail as I think “oh well the damage is done” or don’t know how to get back on track.
I will reassess and adapt my mini (and big goals if necessary) to my current circumstances so that I can’t make excuses not to achieve something.

10. Record my goals somewhere, such as on this blog and/or have a journal dedicated to my goals. That way I can see them, my plans to get there and contingencies if I get side tracked. I can look back and see what I have achieved and how, and what I missed and why.

11. Not waste my time on goals that aren’t really relevant or important to me (say trying to clean the house twice a week) because I have a cleaning lady that comes and I just don’t care enough. I like a tidy house but don’t care if it is spotless, I would be “trying” to do it because I should.

So a basic summary that I have seen floating around in the various diet and exercise; and starting a small business books that I have read (and totally ignored) over the past twelve months are goals should be:

S Specific
M Measurable
A Attainable
R Relevant
T Time-frame

So this year rather than saying “I am going to lose weight” I will say “I would like to lose 10kgs by the end of June (allowing 500g loss a week with a detour or two if necessary) through correcting my diet and exercising more.” (this goal of course would be broken down into several mini-goals).

Come back in the next day or two to see what my big goals are for 2010. I plan on having 10, but might be more (probably less).

Amanda

a bit about weight loss (again)

2011-12-26T06:25:00.001+10:00

Okay I am ashamed to say that I have hit 74kgs, which on a 162cm frame puts me well and truly into the overweight area with a BMI of 28 :(. So a week ago after doing quite a bit of research I have decided to lose the baby weight with help from Rhian at Lose Baby Weight. This method requires that I have two smoothies with added protein and fibre, one meal that is lower carb and fat and higher in protein, plus nutrious snacks.

I was a little concerned about using shakes for weight loss whilst breastfeeding, however these aren't the same as the celebrity slim or Tony Ferguson shakes. Not only that Rhian has had them certified by Monash university and approval from the Breastfeeding association deeming them safe for breastfeeding mothers. I have stocked my fridge with hummus, avocado dip, low fat cheese, low fat lunch meats, carrot sticks, heads of broccoli and cauliflower and beans, have a bench full of summer fruits plus cooked up my spelt multi-grain bread for a huge range of nutritious snacks.

Rhian provides great support and tips on her losebabyweight.com.au facebook page, whilst also keeping it fun. She understands the time limitations as a mother and has developed a combination of herbal life products to suit new mothers (both breastfeeding and non-breastfeeding).

My stats today as at the 26th of December, 2011

162cm

Weight: 74.1kg (starting weight)

Bust: 112cm (starting)

Waist: 101cm (starting)

Hips: 102cm (starting)

I am constantly tired and got puffed just walking up my stairs yesterday :(. I am limited in what exercise I can do with 3 boys under 5 at home, but plan on walking around the house a bit (purposefully not as part of day to day activities) and run up and down the stairs. I also have a wii fit board with wii fit and wii active to help increase my exercise and I have the Tracy Anderson's post-pregnancy work out DVD. I still get pain in my lower abdomen where I had the c/s and it is still very weak so plan to do some pilates with a physio to help increase my core strength.

If anyone feels like joining me please do so with your measurements below or I have started a facebook page for you to come along and join in and make me accountable for my actions.

a bit about Photography

2011-12-18T08:09:00.000+10:00

I adore playing with my DSLR (Digital single lens reflex) camera. I have two my first was a second hand Canon EOS 350D bought on eBay with two lenses. After using it heaps I upgraded (by kept the 350) to a 40D (bought when the 50D came out so got it at a great price). It came with a 17-85mm kit lens, which with my 50mm f/1.8 are my most used lenses.

I also adore playing with photoshop, am a bit lazy and keep my camera on auto white balance (WB) so my images sometimes get a little bit of a blue cast too them (when using the 40D). Here are some photos that I have taken and then polished in ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) and PS.

I love this photo because it is so typical of the boys. Olly is off doing his own thing having loads of fun. Lachie is happy with what ever and Will is adoring over Lachie

Hope you are enjoying your weekend (one week until Chrissy)

Amanda

a bit about a Thermomix

2011-12-06T07:16:00.001+10:00

I am sooooo excited...

I am getting a Thermomix today. It is the all singing, all dancing, self cleaning, must have kitchen accessory. I have recently been accepted into B.Midwifery and have 3 boys under 5 so have been eying this bad boy off for a while now. They are pretty expensive, however everyone who owns them think they are worth every penny.

What can the thermomix do you ask? Well it can do the following:

"Mills, Grinds, Pulverises & Grates

All Grains eg. wheat, barley, buckwheat, oats, rice
Coffee Beans
Chocolate
Parmesan & other hard cheeses
Sugar into icing sugar
All Seeds eg. linseed, sesame, poppy, sunflower (make LSA)
All Nuts eg. almond, walnuts, hazelnuts (make Dukkah)
All Spices eg. peppercorns, cinnamon, lemon zest, nutmeg, vanilla (make Garam Masala)
Breadcrumbs

Kneads

All Breads, Pizza, Foccacia & Brioche
Pasta Dough
Pastries including Choux

Minces

All meat including chicken &; fish
Chops
Fruit
Vegetables
Onion, Garlic, Ginger & Chillies
Herbs

Prepares

Drinks eg. juices, lemonades,
cocktails & milkshakes
Pâtés, Dips, Pesto & Tapenades
Salads
Dressings including Mayonnaise
Ice creams, Sorbets & Desserts
Cakes & Pavlovas
Jams, Marmalade, Preserves & Spreads (eg. peanut butter, hazelnut)
Cappuccino, Caffè Latte Ice Coffee
Yoghurt

Cooks

Soups
Sauces & Pastes
eg. tomato, seafood,
hollandaise, curry
Curries, Stews & Casseroles
Pasta
Risotto
Custard
Baby food

Whips

Egg whites
Cake frosting & fillings
Cream
Butter

Crushes

Steams

Fish & other seafood
Vegetables
Meat & chicken
Dumplings & buns

All that in one appliance that will even wash itself!"
From the Thermomix website.

I went to a Thermomix demonstration the other day and in less than an hour and a half, we made sorbet, bread dough, hummus, beetroot salad, pasta dish and custard.
So what do I love about the Thermomix and how would it benefit me:

I cook with a lot of packet sauces for convenience, by having a Thermomix I would be able to do sauces from scratch, saving money, plus knowing what goes into our food;
It has a great gluten free recipe book, which is fantastic as my eldest son has Coeliac Disease;
Quickly and easily make bread dough, as DH eats white bread, Olly, Lachie and I eat seeded wholemeal bread and Will has GF bread (do you have any idea how much we spend on bread a week);
Makes healthy summer salads from scratch;
I can set it and leave it while I look after bub, make school lunches, tidy up, do orders etc;
Know what is going into all of my food;
Don't have to worry about bulk cooking and freezing and running out of freezer space as this is so easy to use (I also lose the desire to eat the food in the freezer and end up stock-piling);
I can make fresh food for bub EVERYDAY and easily;

I know that I have sooooo much more to learn about the thermomix, but just can't wait. I have found a few sites that have recipes that I have listed below:
Quirky Cooking Blog - with meal plans and dairy and gluten free recipes
Thermomix Recipe Blog
Brazen's culinary adventures - lots of GF recipes
Thermomix Forum
Gluten free and WW friendly recipes
Thermomix and Low Carb recipes and
Thermomix Recipe Community.
Thermomix UK Recipe List

I will let you know soon, how I go and what I am cooking. Have a great day xox Amanda

a bit about boy birth announcements

2011-12-04T18:27:00.001+10:00

Here are some boy birth announcements I have added to my collection

a bit about Bread

2011-11-29T07:21:00.000+10:00

Today I made my first loaf of bread from scratch. I probably should have done a plain loaf but am not a huge fan of white bread. Here is my recipe for Seeded spelt bread

Ingredients

500g wholemeal spelt flour

6g yeast

5g bread improver

10g salt

330ml luke warm water (so when you put it on your wrist it isn't hot or cold)

30ml oil (I used Olive Oil)

30g honey

handful of the following:

pumpkin seeds
chia seeds
linseeds
sesame seeds

Method

Add all the dry ingredients to a bowl and then add the oil, water and honey. Mix with a mixer for about a minute to get the majority combined. Turn onto a clean floured bench top and kneed with the palm of your hands for up to 10 mins. Spray a clean bowl with oil and put the ball of dough into it and spray with a little more oil. Cover with a damp cloth or glad wrap and put in a warm area free from droughts. Leave for 45-75mins until the dough as doubled in size. Pre-heat the oven to 200c or 180c for fan forced.

Spray a bread tin with oil or you can put on a baking tray and hand shape or make rolls or do what ever bread shapes you like.

Once the bread dough has doubled in size turn out and kneed for 2-3 mins until it has returned to its original size (this releases the carbon dioxide from the yeast so the bread doesn't taste yeasty). Put into bread tin or on baking tray and cook for 30mins.
You can add anything such as herbs, cheese or what ever your little heart desires (you might want to exclude the honey if you add savory extras). Experiment and have fun :)

Do you have any ideas for other bread combos? If so would love for you to let me know.
Amanda xox

a bit about Cous Cous Salad

2011-11-27T13:20:00.000+10:00

I love having different salads this time of year. The heat makes stogey food very unappealing. This is an oldie but a goodie in my salad repatoire. There is a little bit of prep required by cooking and cooling the pumpkin and cous cous, but very easy to throw together once that has been done.

Ingredients:
300g of pumpkin diced
1 packet if instant, flavoured cous cous (I use the Ainsley Harriot ones but any will do)
1 bag of baby spinach leaves
1 red onion finely sliced
500g bocconcini
balsamic vinegar
olive oil
Method:

Preheat your oven to 180c and roast the pumpkin. When the pumpkin is almost ready prepare cous cous as per packet instructions. Put both cous cous and pumpkin in the fridge to cool.

Once cooled add to a large salad bowl the spinach, cous cous, pumpkin, onion and bocconcini. Pour over a generous amount of oil and vinegar (to your liking) and toss. Serve with a nice glass of wine (if that is your thing). I haven't made this gluten free because my son wouldn't eat it anyway, however if you wanted to make it gluten free substitute cous cous with quinoa cooked in vegetable stock (I like the massel? one) and add some morrocan or other spices of your choice.

Would love to know some of your favorite summer salads.

a bit about Parenting Choice

2011-11-25T11:10:00.001+10:00

I was at the local shops the other day in the parents room breastfeeding my 7 months old baby ( I only mention my feeding method as it is relevant to the story). There was a woman next to me bottle feeding her 6 week old baby. She saw me breastfeeding and then proceeded to spend the next 10 mins on how she tried breastfeeding had all these dramas and is now bottle feeding etc. I sat there wondering not why she was bottle feeding, but why she felt she needed to justify to a total stranger the choices she has made for her and her family.

I have never met this woman before and am probably unlikely to see her again, so why does she care what I think, but it seems these days EVERYONE has an opinion. I have a girl friend who had two vaginal births and then decided for personal reasons to have her next two as caesarean births. Her mother to this day still comments and puts her down for her decision. These decisions are not made lightly and they are decisions that are best for the individuals involved and for that situation.

I don't judge people who for the decisions they make in their lives. The priority when having a child is to love, feed and protect it and as long as you are doing those things then it shouldn't matter how.

I was talking to my doula the other day, who supported me before, during and after my failed VBAC. While she is opposed to the whole hospital system and they way it turns birth into a sickness, she was 100% supportive of the decisions my husband and I made when having our baby. Anyway I digress I was talking to her and she made a great quote "Parenting has turned into a spectator sport". From the moment people know you're pregnant they have an opinion - you are gaining too much weight, you aren't gaining enough, should you be eating that, why aren't you eating that, are you having a natural birth? why or why not. I think a lot has to do with the parenting choices they have made and they feel validated when someone supports the decisions they made

I have had 3 caesareans, I have bottle fed, breast fed, comp fed, I did purees, I did baby led weaning, I have gone in the minute my baby has cried and other times I have left them cry, I have put them in a cot in their own room and I have co-slept, I have used gentle discipline techniques, I have counted, I have time out and I have yelled at them, I make sure they have heathy meals and on nights when I just can't cope with dinner I have given them take out. As you can see I am far from perfect so who am I to judge what others do with their children?

I think as parents we need to unite and support one another. In most instances we are doing the best for our family in our circumstances. We all have different resources, beliefs and situations that mould the decisions we make for ourselves and our families, so before you judge someone remember you are only seeing a snap-shot of their life not the entire movie.

I would love to hear when support has been offered by others that has made you feel like you are doing a great job.

a bit about a Birthday

2011-11-23T06:25:00.001+10:00

Well today is my 34th birthday. I don't know what it is about birthdays but I seem to always think what have I achieved and what have not done. Well I am glad to say this year I am pretty happy where my life is at the moment.

I have 3 gorgeous healthy little boys;
A loving husband (though he is away for my birthday and flying ALL day so I won't get a phone call until 9pm);
A satisfactory little home business that sells birth announcements and photo invitations and another doing affordable web and graphic design;
Some great friends;
Great extended family;
Relatively healthy;
Can afford to put food on the table and pay the bills, with a little left-over
Looks to be studying midwifery next year and am currently doing a Doula course;

And that is pretty much all I need.
Some of the things I am not so happy with:

I am about 10kgs overweight;
My house is a bit of a mess;
We are still fighting the builders 4 1/2 months after moving in;
And I can get a bit too cranky with the boys sometimes.

So this my 34th birthday and my latest assessment of my life has left me pretty happy. Of course there are more things I want, but that is just me being greedy. I am more than happy with the fundamentals and that is what I am concerned about. So I hope you all have a great day today - I know I will.

New Birth Announcements

2011-11-15T06:38:00.000+10:00

I have been busy designing and have done up some new birth announcements and baby thank you photo cards.

So when do you send out your baby's birth announcements and photo thank you cards As soon as practicable after baby's birth. However it can be an added pressure on new Mum to get these out, so this is why photo baby birth announcements are such a great idea. You can just email through the text and photos to us and we will prepare a proof and print. The birth announcements are Express Posted to you with magnets and envelopes. All you need to do is attach the magnets to the back and post the announcement cards to your family and friends.

a bit about some Photos

2011-05-22T17:25:00.000+10:00

Well I am trying to hone my photography skills. I would love one day to become a photographer, however at the moment it just isn't possible - even if I had the skill I definitely DO NOT have the time. So here are a few of my pictures...

a bit about Christmas Rice (tomato, mushroom and spinach risotto)

2011-05-14T16:28:00.000+10:00

It is called Christmas rice because Will won't eat risotto - "I don't like it", however he loves Christmas Rice. You can substitute the items in pink for just about anything. Another fave of ours (well husband and mine) is blue cheese and mushroom or blue cheese and roast pumpkin.

1tbsp of oil;

1 large brown onion finely diced;

4 sticks of celery finely diced;

300g aborio rice;

125mls white wine;

850ml vegetable stock – heated up;

1 tin of diced tomatoes;

1 bag of baby spinach leaves or equivalent;

6-7 mushrooms very finely diced;

Basil

Lemon squeeze;

Parmesan cheese;

Heat the oil. Add the onion and celery and cook until soften and starting to become see through. Add the aborio rice stiring continuously for a few minutes. Add the wine and cook down. Add the heated stock one ladel at a time and cook down before adding the next ladel. Don’t let the cook top be too hot as the rice won’t cook enough and if it is too low the rice will become gluggy.

While this is cooking down cook the bag of spinach in a fry pan with a little water until it has reduced and is cooked through and then pulse in a blender until it is shredded.

Once all the stock has been added and cooked down add the tomatoes, spinach and mushrooms and stir thoroughly. Add basil. lemon juice and parmesan to taste. For a richer creamier risotto add a dollop of butter.

Serve with grated parmesan and shredded basil on top mmmmm!

Amanda

a bit about some photos of Baby Lachlan

2011-05-06T15:16:00.003+10:00

I have been madly clicking away with my D-SLR, as I am disappointed in the lack of decent photos I have of my other two darlings when first born. Here are some of my pics.

Amanda

a bit about the Birth of Baby Lachlan - part 2

2011-04-22T12:11:00.001+10:00

Where was I, that’s right the labour had stalled and though the doctor was keeping me for 24 hours, I was only to be monitored for 20mins every 4 hours. All that panic for nothing. I sat on the bed watching Sunrise when I got a very strong contraction. Okay that was odd, but only one. Two minutes later another came and then another. I had an overwhelming urge to go to the toilet and when I sat down I felt a gush (not a large gush though). I looked in the toilet and there was blood, flowed by a second clear gush – okay time to panic. I pressed the call button and someone yelled out “Are you okay?” “Um, no” was my response “Okay I will get a midwife”. My midwife was called “What’s the matter” “There is blood” “Ooh that’s a lot. Time to get you to the birth suite.” I was now labouring very hard with painful contractions coming on top of each other but only lasting about 40 seconds. I tried calling Mum to tell her to come back, but I heard her phone ringing in her bag in the room.

I was waiting for Mum when I finally got an SMS from my husband asking what was going on. I called him on his mobile in Bangkok and told him that I think I will be having the baby today and burst into tears. I apologised and felt horrible that he was going to miss the birth of his son, but he was more concerned about our health and safety than being there. I was hooked up to the foetal monitor, so he could hear that babies heart beat was nice and strong – it stayed between 148 and 154 the whole time, so he wasn’t struggling at all.

When Mum came back we went to the birth suite and my OB was called. He showed up a couple of minutes later and did another internal and within 30 mins of his first one I had dilated 3cm and there was still quite a bit of blood coming out. Just for your reference it took 30 hours of labour for me to get to 3cm with Will and 12 hours of labour to get to 3cm with Olly so 3 cm in 30 minutes was unheard of for me. By this time the contractions were every minute and a half, and way stronger than anything I felt with the boys, however they were quite a bit shorter than with the boys this making them easier to deal with. As they subsided I seemed to feel a huge amount of relief, which I don’t remember feeling when in labour the first two times.

Theatre staff came up and I got onto the bed to be wheeled down to the OR. It was very different feeling to going down with the other two. It was all very full on. We were on the way down and I told the midwife I feel I need to go to the toilet. They decided to hurry me through as this could be a sign that bub was on his way. I hoped onto a table where the anaesthetist put the spinal in, between my contractions and then they lay me down. I was then wheeled into the OR, where sterile drapes where put up, blood pressure monitor on, catheter in and I was prepped for surgery. At the last minute they bought Mum in. The staff were great introducing themselves to me and explaining procedures that were or were going to happen. The paediatrician explained what happens with premmies and how he would be taken away to the special care nursery after birth.

At 1131 on the 11^th of April, 2011 baby Boy Lapthorne was born weighing 2.9kg or 6lb 6oz so a very good size. He was cleaned and wrapped and briefly brought over for me to meet him, then whisked away with my Mum by his side to the Special Care Nursery. I was stitched up and taken to recovery. I did suffer two of the side affects of the spinal, which I didn’t have with the epidurals as it is different medication, of shivering and itching all over – the itching drove me insane actually. I was wheeled into recovery and had a great nurse look after me there. I stayed in recovery for about 30 minutes and the nurse bumped me to the top of the queue to be taken to the ward so I could meet my little man.

When I got up there he was in a little flat bed machine type thing with a drip in his arm and a tube out of his mouth to make sure he didn’t have fluid in his lungs (I believe that is what they told me, but I could be wrong). The student midwife that had been with my midwife was standing there holding a little contraption on baby Boy’s mouth to help his oxygen levels. Everything they were doing was explained to me. Unfortunately due to his fragile I state I could cuddle him or have skin to skin contact, which I so really wanted. I stayed with him for about an hour, before I was wheeled back to my room to rest.

I was very lucky as Lachlan responded so well. He latched onto the breast the very first night – which is great for a 4 week premmie. I started expressing that day and even though there was not much there. By day 3 I got 3 mls into a syringe –

which I was stoked about and by day 5 my milk had come in and I was getting 30mls pumping. Lachie’s drip was removed on Friday once he started taking 40 +mls through tube feeding plus breastfeeds. I was due to go home on Saturday, however as Mr Lachlan had 4 breastfeeds the day before and only tube fed every second (and then only 30mls instead of the 54 he should have been having) they decided to keep me in an extra two days and take out his feeding tube. We went home on Monday the 18^th (both me and Lachie) which was fantastic, as a lot of 36 week premmies have to stay until they are closer to 38 weeks and I would have had to be driven up to the hospital twice a day for feeding.

So that is the very rapid and early entrance of Baby Lachlan Thomas Lapthorne.

Amanda

a bit about the birth of Baby Lachlan - Part 1

2011-04-19T07:34:00.003+10:00

Me at 35 weeks and 5 days about 4 hours before the contractions started. Please ignore the child trying to bust out the window.

On the 4^th of April, I was awoken about 12:30am with contractions that were very mild, but very regular – lasting 50secs to a minute and every 7 minutes. This happened for about an hour and a half and stopped. The next day at my OB appointment I let him know and he said if it were to happen again to come into hospital for monitoring. Wednesday night it started but every 4 minutes and after 40 minutes I got up and made myself a cup of tea, when I did this the contractions turned to period pain that was constant with surges but no regularity. After about 3 hours of this it eased up and I finally went back to bed at about 3:30 in the morning. The same thing happened Saturday lunch time when I was walking around the shops – pains but with no regularity. I was however very emotional and almost burst into tears when someone cut in front of me at the pie shop and when I dropped my lunch and spilt half my noodles in the car park.

Sunday the 10^th of April my husband heads off to Bangkok for a check flight coming back into Australia on Tuesday morning. He calls me several times telling me not to go into labour and of course I responded each time “Don’t be silly. I am not even 36 weeks yet”. That night after some mild nesting – changing the sheets, tidying the house etc – I was lying in bed watching Sunday evening TV when the tightening (with very mild pain) started. I got out my smart phone and logged onto www.contractionmaster.com and started timing my contractions again. After about an hour and a half of them coming every 4-5 mins and lasting 50 to 70 seconds I decided it was time to call the hospital. They told me to come in and go on monitoring just in case. I dragged the in-laws over at 9:30 in the evening and got my good friend from down the road to take me to hospital.

I thought the car ride, might stall or slow things down as it often does when a woman is in labour, but they started to pick up intensity. They put me on the monitor for 20 minutes and I was definitely still having contractions every 4-5 mins lasting about a minute, but I could chat, etc during them. They did an internal and my cervix was long and tightly closed. It was decided to keep me in overnight for observation and I would probably go home in the morning. By 3am on what was now Monday the 11^th the contractions were still coming but, we only knew this due to the monitoring – I couldn’t feel anything. The monitor was removed with promise of me putting back on if I could start to feel even painless tightening again.

At 5:30am I was awoken with some niggles and so the midwives put the monitor back on. My contractions were now 2 minutes apart with a smaller in between so my uterus was definitely up to something. The contractions started to get a little bit of a bite to them but I could still sit back and watch TV, however they were VERY strong according to the monitoring and they started talking of baby boy being born that morning.

I just burst into tears. My husband was in Bangkok and he was going to miss the birth of his 3^rd son. I called his mobile and it was switched off, so I called his work and got the number of the hotel in Bangkok. He had taken the phone off the hook so he could sleep. They even sent someone up to his room but he had ear plugs in and had latched the door. I called back Qantas and they said they would keep trying on my behalf – they were so very helpful and it put my mind at ease. I got up and showered with some antiseptic stuff they gave me and got into my theatre gown. I called Mum and she came up too. My OB eventually came round after having to do an emergency caesarean section due to cord prolapsed and by that time my contractions were still there but very manageable. He did an exam and my cervix was still long and tightly closed. He decided that it was probably a false alarm and to keep me in for observation for another 24 hours with monitoring every 4 hours for about 20 mins.

What a relief. I still hadn’t contacted my husband, but it wasn’t urgent anymore. I had some breakfast finally and sent Mum off to get me a cup of coffee – decaf I wasn’t going to take any chances in stimulating anything.

Amanda

a bit about a Dirty Job

2011-02-16T18:27:00.001+10:00

Now I never expected parenting to be easy, but today husband and I had to do something that really made us feel bad. And whether we were right or wrong I think is probably a matter of opinion.

Huey has been going to a speech pathologist for about 6 months now and is going along quite well. Husband took him today and dropped me and Duey off at the park, where they would meet us after Huey's session. Huey's behaviour left ALOT to be desired during the session, instead of listening he was poking faces at himself in the mirror they use to help him learn how to make sounds, he kept getting out of his chair and wandering around and then made a massive spit bubble and let it dribble down his chin. Husband said to Huey if he didn't do what the Speech Pathologist asked for the remainder of the session there would be no park. Well Huey didn't do it and so on the way to getting Duey and myself, husband told Huey that there is no park.

Huey flew off the deep-end and was hysterical. It just broke my heart to see how upset he was and how out of control he became. There were a few other issues that lead to this being that he was awake at 5:30am after going to bed after 8pm and only having about an hour lunch nap when he usually has about 2. My husband and I insisted that NO he wasn't going to the park as he knew the consequences when he misbehaved. My husband has a pretty good temper when it comes to the boys, but even this made him feel horrible. But should we have just given in and let him go?

I don't believe that we should have and by the time we got home (with me giving him foot rubs) he had pretty much forgotten how upset he was.

Anyways, it was one of the hardest things I had to do discipline-wise so far with my boys and something that I am sure I will have to do again, but it was a shock to us.

Live and learn I guess.

a bit about the 2011 SEQ Floods

2011-01-14T08:14:00.002+10:00

Well you must be living under a rock not to have heard about the devastation the latest rainfall has done to South East Queensland in the last few days. The support from around Australia has been just amazing, ranging from locals giving others somewhere to store items and sleep to others from across the globe donating money to various charities to support the clean up and rebuild of our beautiful corner of the world. I personally have donated some money via and Itti Bitti charity auction on facebook and am going to donate some hygiene items and food in the next few days pending demand, but I have also designed some freebies for you all to download and if you like them you can donate as a thank-you.

A downloadable set of PDFs for you to print matching invitations cake toppers, lolly bag tags and thank you cards for your child's birthday party.

Downloadable layered PSD files (can be used in photoshop CS all issues and photoshop elements). All you need to do is select the photos you like and slot them in the layers above the black boxes. On the line between the two layers place your curser hit CTRL & ALT and click on the curser to clip the photo to the layer. The fonts used are Beautiful ES and Century Gothic which come standard on most PCs or can be downloaded for free. You can also change the text to make them invitations too. When done save as a jpeg and take to print at a photo lab

Birthday star pack downloadable file

Birth announcements downloadable file

I shouldn't need to add this but they are for PERSONAL use only. Anyone seen using these commercially will be subject to legal action.

If you use either of these files please donate to Care Outreach http://careoutreach.com.au/care-outreach-qld-flood-appeal/ or Premiers Disaster Relief Appeal http://www.qld.gov.au/floods/donate.html or another charity helping those who have been devastated by the flooding.

Thank you for your support, no matter how little

Amanda

a bit about My Baby Wish List

2011-01-09T17:11:00.003+10:00

I am having my 3^rd baby in May and Monique from Your Cheeky Monkey has a great blog post on what is handy to have with a new born. As this is my 3^rd child we do have the essentials like a car seat, cot, change table, stroller, sling, ergo, cloth nappies, however as Duey (DS2) started growing and we were at that stage only planning on the two we did get rid of somethings. Also somethings are trashed and need to go and then there is the I really wish I had one of those last time so might get one this time. So here is my wish list.

Cuski Baby Comforters found at YCM; - i used blankies last time, but want to know I have something that is SIDS approved
An Egro Cocoon found at Sweet Bubba; - even with no 2 I was on the search for an escape free swaddle
Baby Bonkie Swaddle Wrap - I used one on Duey when he was a bub and he never busted out, but being an October baby it was a bit hot for him, should be good as Louie will be born in May
Babyjo Bamboo Blanket - you should feel them, sooooo lush and they have a gorgeous little hood
Babyjo Footed Kimino Romper and other Babyjo Clothing – once again super lush bamboo is sooooo good against bubs soft, sensitive skin;
Bubbmia kid blocks; - great little toy for bubby
A gorgeous birth announcement and baby thank you card from my shop Iliv Cards – to share with the world Louie's arrival;
Organic cotton swaddle, blanket, sheet set and singlets – Woolgrub. Lou has classic neutral and baby boy/ girl colours, plus a divine olive green and ruby red;
Miessence baby products - so lush and all certified organic;
Of course a HUGE range of MCNs. I currently have some ittis, BBHs petites, magicalls, gorgeous nappies made by Michelle and some woolen soakers from Sustainable Hemp Products

I only have a few things on my wish list at the moment, but if you have any " I can't live without baby products" I would love to know.

a bit about PAD (photo a day) challenge

2011-01-08T12:26:00.002+10:00

I started this challenge last year, but unfortunately didn't get past day 2, this year so far so good. This is a weeks collage of my first 7 PAD pictures...

with my favourite being Huey in the bottom right closely followed by Duey in the top left.
If you would like to see all the photos they are in my flickr photo stream.

Amanda

a bit about Project 52 - week 1

2011-01-07T07:01:00.000+10:00

Project 52 is a photography exercise I am participating in, where the participant has to choose a theme, mine being using my 50mm f/1.8 lens to take portrait shots. Each week the for the year (hence 52) you post your shot for the week. You will be seeing ALOT of shots of the boys, but hopefully I will get some other volunteers too.

a bit about my 2011 New Years Resolution

2011-01-03T06:02:00.001+10:00

Okay well I am going to try again with resolutions. I will start with 5 and when I have completed them or have them into a regular routine I might add some more.

Menu planning - I am going to get this one into a full time routine, where each Saturday I will sit down and menu plan the next week. I buy my food online through an organic co-op and the orders need to be placed by Sunday evening. This way I will have healthy food in the fridge and should have minimal wastage.
Exercise - I am going to aim for 30 mins 4 times a week intitally and hopefully build up. As I will be having a ceserean in May it will need to be resumed 12 weeks after that. However there will be some other exercises I will be instructed to do to help with the healing.
Have an organised house - I have just spent the last two days totally doing the house from top to bottom including re-organsing cupboards/ storage, throwing out or lifelining things that haven't been used for ages, cleaning, washing, scrubbing. So each day after breakfast, when the boys have their nap and after dinner, I am going to spend 20mins or so just re-tidying and putting the days mess away to hopefully keep the house clean and organised.
Maintain some hobbies - I have a beautiful Canon 450D which sat on the shelf for a while with the threat of being eBayed hanging over its head, but I decided that I am going to use it so have joined a PAD challenge on flickr and a Project 52 challenge. PAD is photo a day, where I take one photo each day, which should hopefully make me use my camera more and in different ways, help me learn some new processing techniques in photoshop and also become a photographic record of the year. For Project 52 I select a theme (being taking portraits with my 50mm f/1.8 lens) and make sure I do at least 1 a week for the year. The photos for my Project 52 challenges will be posted here. I also would like to keep up with my scrapbooking both digital and paper to have a place to store and journal all these great photos for the year.
Getting my business under control - by that I mean the back of house processes including my accounting, which I have a friend helping me with; doing more SEO, becoming active on business forums, doing more articles and advice related to my business and researching some new ways to possibly expand my business later in the year.

So they are my first 5 goals for 2011. I hope that I can come back in early March with some good news and big SUCCESS and some new goals.

Amanda

P.S this is my PAD for the 2nd of January, my bedside table with Sepia and High Key Black and White Actions from the Coffee Shop Blog

a bit about My 2010 News Years Resolutions

2010-12-31T06:56:00.003+10:00

This time a year ago (to the day) I wrote about my 2010 News Years Resolutions, so I thought today I would go through and see how I went on them.

I am afraid that I probably haven't gone so well, but we will see...

Lose 10kg by the end of June. FAIL!. I didn't gain any weight by that time and 3 months later I found out I was pregnant with child no 3 so this one will go on hold for a while.
Take my business to the next level. SUCCESS! Well part success anyways. I got a gorgeous, professional looking website. I did my tax for the 1st financial year of trading, though the last 18 months are not looking good. I have made steps to get some one to get me started on my record keeping. I have completed all necessary registrations, but haven't done any sort of business or marketing plan, my SEO is doing well but could use a little more attention and I have dedicated business times. My orders have very much increased and I am getting much enjoyment. I have added extra options and am in the process of expanding the graphic design to sell Custom Photo Card Templates so people can make their own cards for both personal and professional use, and also affordable graphic and website design for other WAHMs so they don't make the same mistakes I made for the first 9 months of business.
Get more organised. FAIL! I still have a desk full of clutter, papers everywhere. I am better with bill paying and menu planning but still have a ways to go. I am getting my organic food delivered once a week which helps with budgeting, menu planning and making my life healthier and more organised.
Doing more stuff with the boys and my husband. SUCCESS! I am not at where I really wanted to be, but am spending plenty of time with them at the park/ beach weather permitting, doing crafts and they now help me cook. DH and I do do date night but not as frequently as I planned.
I want to stick stuff out. SUCCESS! I am still soldiering on with my business, doing photography, digital scrapbook and now paper scrapbooking, my menu planning. I have now an interest in making organic skin care and home made soaps, which has been around for about 6 months.
Stop procrastinating. SUCCESS! I have been pretty good at getting things I don't want to do done. My only failure is my accounts and doing exercise.
Develop and maintain a healthy lifestyle. FAIL! Since being pregnant I have started eating a lot better but that is due to not wanting junk over actually making a conscious effort to eat well. I have done no exercise in the last 4-5 weeks and before that it was intermittent at best.
Get control over personal finances. FAIL! I think I have used my quickbooks personal about 3 times ALL year.
Don't buy stuff use things first. FAIL! I am a terrible hobby supplies hoarder, as witnessed by my excessive paper purchase at KaiserCrafts yesterday. I am getting better though and trying to use stuff up.
Stop wasting food. PARTIAL SUCCESS! I am menu planning and getting food delivered so no impulse buying, however when DH goes to work I do slip on my menu cooking so some food still gets wasted.

So all in all I think I had about a 65% SUCCESS rate in my Goals for 2010. In the next couple of days I plan to make a list of goals for 2011 and will post them here.

Hope everyone had a great 2010 and will have an even better 2011. Thanks for following my blog and see you in the new year.

One of my favourite pictures for 2010. My little boys sharing food.

Amanda

a bit about our Christmas Traditions

2010-12-27T13:26:00.001+10:00

Well Christmas has come and gone again and it is soooo much fun now that the boys are really starting to enjoy it. I thought I might post a little about our Christmas Traditions and the BusyMum house hold.

We generally spend Christmas Eve in Brisbane visiting Poppy and Uncle Harry (my Dad and brother) as he usually has a big family get together at his place on Christmas Day, which we don't always get to or we spend Christmas Eve with my Mum if we are going to Dads.

We finally get Huey and Duey to bed and prepare the Santa Stockings for the raid in the morning. Currently we are getting up before the boys and are having some relaxing tMum and Dad time with a cup of coffee before the boys rise for the day. The rip open their Santa Sacks and pull out all the little goodies housed inside.

As this is coming to a close my Dear Husband (DH) starts cooking and we sit down to breakfast which consists of an English muffin toasted with bacon, egg and plastic cheese (the boys and I have scrambled and DH has a fried egg) with a side of hash browns (of course Will's is on gluten free toast).

We either go and have brunch with the ILs or the kids play with their presents while we get organised for either Christmas at our house, at Mum's house, at ILs or Dad's house and at about 11am head off.

When we get to our destination we have help finish the lunch preparations, lay out dips, cheese and biscuits near the tree and get everyone a drink. We open the Christmas presents which takes about an hour as we seem to do one at a time. I adore watching my boys rip open the paper and exclaim "oh wow" with sheer delight and then show everyone what they have.

Once the presents have all been opened and the paper cleaned up (and some assembled), we sit down for Christmas lunch.

Christmas lunch for us is usually fresh prawns, fresh bread, roast lamb or beef, fresh smoked ham, potato salad, green salad and anther salad. Once we have stuffed our selves we lay out the dessert consisting of Pavlova, Plum Pudding and custard, a selection of chocolates and a fruit plate with a nice cup of tea or coffee.

At about 4pm we head home or everyone leaves and we sit down for an afternoon of NOTHING. The boys play with their new toys, DH and I potter on our computers or read or just vege on the couch. Dinner if asked for is some lunch leftover (as there is always WAY too much) and we all head to bed early.
Next year we will have a new house with a swimming pool and a new addition to the family, Louie, and will be hosting Christmas ourselves again - though we get people to bring dishes, not do all the cooking ourselves

So that is our Christmas day, I would love to hear some other small traditions if you are still at home and aren't too exhausted from the holiday season.

a bit about Keywords

2010-12-21T06:14:00.001+10:00

Okay, at iliv Cards I have a 0/10 page rank on Google, however I am starting to turn up on the first couple of pages of Google organic search for some very common keywords . Most of my sales are through Google, so I want to beef up my site to make it both user friendly and search bot friendly. So today and over the next week or so I am going to do some to do some hard core keyword research.

Basically keywords, key phrases or key terms are short phrases or words that you want through your site that potential customers will enter into a search engine to find your site.

So my keyword goals for the week include:

brainstorming every possible key phrase (words) and derivatives - including seasonal keywords;
look at webmaster tools, anayltics and adwords to find popular keyword searches;
Check out the search popularity, relevance and competition on my huge list of keywords;
And then finalise a short list based on the above information.

I plan on having a mix of broad and specific key phrases, ones with low competition and ones with high search popularity. So I will spend around an hour a day preparing and researching my key phrases and hope that in a couple of months to be seeing the benefits.

I know that this is only a small part of my SEM (Search Engine Marketing), but it is a start and very much part I can control.

I have used both of these books so far to help in my quest for researching and utililsing keywords in a way to enhance my site for both Google bots and my valued customers.

a bit about Hobbies

2010-11-29T06:42:00.003+10:00

Those of you who know me, know I like to try abit of everything. I have (had - lost due to recency) a restricted pilots licence, a commerce degree, half a science degree, have started a natropathy degree, have two businesses, like to make my own nappies, like to sew other stuff, LOVE designing my cards through photoshop and recently I have reaquired the interest in my digital scrapbooking and dusted off my EOS 40D and am going to start taking photos again. So here is some of my latest peices of work....

I have also done up a mini kit, if any of you would like a play...

Here is the link for the kit

also Monique at Your Cheeky Monkey has a great Tea Tree Oil Spray giveaway for one of her lucky blog readers. I love tea tree oil as it has so many uses around the house, without flooding the place with artificial chemicals and smells.

a bit about Cooking Disasters

2010-11-17T19:02:00.001+10:00

You know how you can have dry spells in life, well I am currently having a cooking dry spell.

I admit I am no junior masterchef, or any kind of special cook but I can make simple tasty meals. So being pregnant with number 3 has my sent my cravings into overdrives for childhood faves such as eggplant lasagne, vegetable pie and cabbage rolls, so in after getting all my organic vegies and meat I decided to lash out and make these. Well thinking I was some kind of masterchef I decided to do these without recipes, and whilst they are edible they are far from the delicious meals I used to have when I was a child.

My cabbage rolls, well I just didn't soak the cabbage leaves long enough and they are too crunchy and the mince/ rice combo just doesn't taste like Nazzy's (my grandmother); and both my vegetable pie and eggplant lasagne had undercooked vegies and were WAY too watery (you think that the water would cook some of the vegies) and the gluten free bread I made has sunk to look like a big U. Well tomorrow night I am cooking an old faithful of mine, lamb rack with roast vegetables. I really hope I don't get that one wrong.

I might just have to admit defeat and go searching for some new recipes. The business mum's blog tells me that some businesses or their blogs have recipes (which I do sometimes include here) that I might have to start exploring.

a bit about Christmas Time

2010-11-14T15:06:00.000+10:00

Wow I can't believe it is the 14th of November how has this year flown. I have not bought any Christmas presents yet or made up any Christmas Cards. Luckily I make cards for a living and have a selection on my website http://www.ilivcards.com.au to choose from, however I do like to make up a new one each year rather than choose from my current range.

Any way I thought I would slip in a few of my current Christmas Card designs that I have available at Iliv Cards:

Well I am glad to hear I am not the only person who Christmas has snuck up. Annette's post on Christmas makes me feel a little less disorganised. So on my pre-Christmas to-do list I have the following:

Make my chipboard advent calander I bought in the Kaiser Craft sale last year.
Organise where Christmas lunch is - every year there is a fight about who is having Christmas lunch, so we said to everyone this year, we won't host it as we are going to start building and would really like to have Christmas in the new house next year. Would you believe that NO ONE wanted to do Christmas, so we decided to do it here, in the matchbox size, sauna of a rental. Luckily though Mum has moved back into her house so she will be having it there.
As it is a combo of Danny's and my family doing Christmas lunch we are going to have to organise who brings what so I need to make a list of foods and delegate the menu to everyone.
Order our Christmas ham;
Decide what to give to everyone for Christmas and start buying and wrapping presents for closer family;
For the great family group am going to make some soaps, moisturiser and lip balms and herbal tea packs and just lay them on the table with Chrissy decorations and let them help themselves
Organise some holiday homework for Will's speech pathologist;
Get ANOTHER Lion's Christmas Cake as the first one is almost gone

Oh well I think that is it for now, but looks tiring to me (who is always tired now that I have bub growing inside).
And I thought I would include some Sweet Bubba Christmas Ideas to:

Babyjo Bamboo Wear Blankets	Green to Grow Gift Pack
Sckoon Organic Cotton Baby Clothes	Natures Child Organic Cotton Hooded Towel

a bit about My Weight Loss Goals

2010-10-12T19:36:00.000+10:00

Here I am winging again about my weight. While I am not huge my BMI does put my just in the overweight range and I seem to carry most of my weight on my belly which constantly makes me look pregnant. My butt and thighs aren't too bad, I am a typical apple, which is not good to be for I have an increased risk of getting type 2 diabetes, heart disease and metobolic X syndrome, but of course being on holidays and moving house I haven't done alot to address the issue, so Monique from Your Cheeky Monkey has put a rocket up me with her post on making little changes when it comes to healthy living. She has made a few little changes rather than going the whole hog and burning out too quickly, which is what I tend to do. So here are some of my changes:

Have a bowl of cereal each morning with low fat milk, low fat yoghurt, probiotics and some wheat grass;
Like Monique I take a multi EPO and fish oil;
Weather permitting I am walking to the local shops rather than driving (it only takes me 15 mins to walk and the boys prefer going in the stroller than the car);
Not having junk around the house - out of sight out of mind;
Cooking dinners from my CSIRO book, they are tasty and healthy and pretty easy to cook;
Going to the gym 3 times a week;
Drinking plenty of water.

So far since back from Canada by doing these small things I have lost 1.5kgs, which may not sound like much, but I have got the ball rolling. Lets just hope I can continue.

a bit about Making a Gluten Free Birthday Cake

2010-10-09T15:28:00.001+10:00

My sister did this for Will's 3rd birthday

About a two years ago now, my paediatrician phoned me to let me know that Will had a very likely chance of having coeliacs disease see this post http://busymum2010.blogspot.com/2010/02/bit-about-wills-diagnosis-of-coeliac.html. One of the hardest things since his diagnosis of Coeliacs disease was when he was at a birthday party and they bought out this beautiful cake and Will had to eat the crumby old boring chocolate cake that I had made for him. He burst into tears as everyone around him at the delicious cake saying "I don't want Mummy's cake, I want Evie's Cake" it was heartbreaking to watch, how do you tell a 2 year old he can't have the cake?. My fantastic sister made Will a Lightening McQueen cake for his birthday that was gluten free, but she has gone overseas, so I have taken it upon myself to try and make a gluten free cake for Olly's birthday, one that Will can enjoy too.

So with my best friend google I am going to make a reasonable looking birthday cake that both the boys can enjoy.

Coolest Cake Sites has heaps of pictures of home made cakes put up by other non cake decorators like myself with some basic instructions.

a bit about a Goodbye

2010-09-28T06:51:00.001+10:00

I write this with a sad heart, even though I wasn't overly fond of the place. We have sold our house and today is the last night we are staying here. Tomorrow the removal van is coming and all our belongings are being packed away and shipped to a new (but temporary) home, whilst we wait to start building our new home.

This house has had a lot of memories.

Danny moved in here when we just started going out and he remembers his first meal was takeaway pizza - which in true Danny style will be what we are having this evening.
About 11 months later I moved in - I can't remember my first meal here though.
We got engaged here;
We got married here;

The boys first bedroom

I laboured and bought both my sons home here;
They both rolled over, sat, spoke, walked, had first solids and did so many other amazing first here;
Will split his head when I was 37 weeks pregnant with Olly here;
Will pulled worms out of the back yard;
They helped my plant vegetables here (which luckily are in pots so they can come with us);
Will discovered ants here;
The boys have had so much fun and many tears here;

And we have so many more amazing memories of both important and mundane family events here.

Will's first day at home

And as much as this is a boys house - the kitchen is poorly lit and layed out, the tiles and walls are painted in a pale yellow, there is a blue couch in the living room and an amber feature wall. We still have managed to make this our home for the past 7 years. So farewell our first family home. We will never forget you - you have done us well.

So we are moving on to bigger and better things. We have bought a block of land and are in the process of submitting plans to council. So even though one chapter on our life has closed, another just as exciting one is beginning.

By the way, at Sweet Bubba Eco Store I am going to have an unpacking sale through my facebook page starting this Friday night. The sale items will be lush organic and natural skin care products, some up to 30% off, so keep an eye out.

a bit about the Mad Weather

2010-09-17T04:00:00.000+10:00

Well we are back from Canada and what a great trip. I am hoping to download the photos in the next couple of days and put a couple up here or on Facebook for you to have a sticky at. I do have to say that, even though we go in the Summer it is usually colder there in summer than here (SEQ) in winter, so it was a pleasant surprise when we got there and it wasn't that cold. We did have a few cold days and there ended up being snow on the nearby mountains (much to Will's delight), but this was the first time it didn't snow at least in one camp ground.

This and Annette's blog post about how much rain we have had this year. Generally in SEQ we have a wet March but that is usually it, maybe the odd rainy day here or there, but it seems to be to me that we have been having 3 or 4 days of rain every 3 or 4 weeks this year, which is great for the water levels, but I love my dry winters with chrystal clear nights and warmer, sunny days. We also had about 5 days in August where it was 27 degrees - now is that madness or what. I really hope that isn't an indication of summer weather or it will be a scourcher.

Anyway, I have a load of Canada washing on the line and much more to do so I am sure it will rain in the next couple of days :).

a bit about 5 years on....

2010-08-20T04:17:00.000+10:00

Happy Anniversary to my Dear Husband!

Today 5 years ago my darling husband and I were married at St Lucia Uniting Church in front of our beloved family and friends. It was a beautiful and warm August day, not unlike the weather we have been having lately. My bridesmaids were my sister Louise, Sophie, Yasmin and Sarah and Danny had two grooms men Dale and Simon. My half sister Eilish was a flower girl. It was a beautiful and tiring day and I was quite relieved when it was time to go home (well back to our suite at the Marriott Hotel). The next morning we headed off on our honeymoon to (yes you guessed it) Canada.

a bit about All the Going On's

2010-08-18T06:12:00.005+10:00

For those of you who don't know we have been trying to sell our house. We finally have a contract on the house that isn't subject to the sale of another property, however we have had a few complications:

We are going on holidays - which is great however we get back 10 days before the house is due to settle;
The contract goes unconditional while we are away;
We are going to start building a new house;
The buyer STILL hasn't paid the deposit - a week after it was due.

Now these things worry me number 4 annoys me, but my husband is at "level 10 stress" at the moment. We have also decided to keep the boys home from kindy this week so they don't pick up day care germs and get an ear infection or the like the day before we are due to leave. So at the moment in the Busy Mum household we are:

Washing clothes for Canada and from DH's last trip;
Packing for moving;
Packing for Canada;
Liasing with solicitor and real estate agent to find why the deposit hasn't been paid and when it will be paid (which also makes us concerned that we will be in Canada and the buyer pulls out on the finance clause before it is due to go unconditional);
Trying to get building plans financed;
Trying to get covenants to approve the building;
Get building plans to council for approval;
Organise finance to get the building rolling when the contract goes unconditional;
Find a rental that won't be vacant until mid to late September;
Finalise, print and post all my outstanding card orders;
Have the two boys in tow EVERYWHERE we go;
Organise gluten free food for Will on the plane as staff travel won't provide it for us;
Try and decide if we fly out of Brisbane or Sydney due to changing staff travel loads;
Visit family before we leave;
Make sure there is enough funds to cover direct debits on DHs holiday pay;
Set up a PO Box and mail redirect;

Each day we cross of one or two things on the list and two more seem to pop up. And I am starting to get flustered and a little stressed but DH is about to have a heart attack he is sooooo stressed out at the moment. After all this we will definitely enjoy our holiday.

Here is a link to a digitial scrap booking kit I made up for our last Canada holiday that you can down load free
http://busymum2010.blogspot.com/2010/01/another-free-kit.html

a bit about Seaworld

2010-08-12T22:35:00.002+10:00

I bit the bullet yesterday and bought a 3 park theme pass for Will and myself that lasts until July next year. So in my excitement I took the boys to Seaworld and here are some of the pictures.

What I love about the pass is that you can go to Seaworld for 2 hours and not feel it to be a waste of money. The hard part was leaving. Will wasn't impressed.

A bit about Inspiration

2010-08-10T11:19:00.000+10:00

I find designing cards is a bit hit and miss. If I am not feeling inspired I just can't design cards I like, however as I offer a custom design service at for my Birth Announcements and Photo Invitations I don't often have the luxury of waiting for my inspirational times. I was very excited when I read Annettes blog Under the Loupe with a great post on finding inspiration. After reading Annette's post I started thinking about what inspires me when designing? I have a little journal that I take with me so if I see designs, or patterns that I like in every day life I can jot them down. I also love browsing digital scrapbooking sites and taking peices from different kits, page lay outs and patterns that I see and combining them to form my own unique design. I also didn't realise but my creative juices start flowing when I listen to music. Different music brings out different designs. The one above being when listing to the local radio and the one below when listening to classical music.

Here are some of the new designs I came up with on the weekend for birthday photo invitations:

A bit about being a Mum

2010-08-10T07:03:00.000+10:00

I love this post by Monique from Your Cheeky Monkey about some of her favourite things about being a mum. So I thought I might add a few of mine:

I love when I get home from somewhere and the boys have been with my husband they see me and come running down the hall screaming "Mummy";
I love how they just adore me so much;
I love how they comfort each other when one has had a tumble;
I love lying in bed with them and watching planet earth - though Olly doesn't stay still for long;
I love the gorgeous little comments that come out of Will's mouth;
I love having the company the provide;
I also love watching them sleep;

I just adore my litle men and can't imagine life without them now. So thanks Monique for reminding me to stop and think about all the wonderful things my little boys have done - even when I want to rip my hair out because they are driving me insane.

a bit about the yearning for another child

2010-07-07T11:43:00.002+10:00

I fell pregnant with my second child, when the first was only 10 months old, and though we planned it that way from day dot I thought "oh what have I done". My whole pregnancy I was certain this was my last baby and I tried to make the most of the pregnancy as it was going to be my last.

When Mr O was born I was 100% certain, that though I just adored my boys, it was going to be 2 kids for us. Every now and then I entertained the notion of having a 3rd as I would have loved a daughter, but thought if that is the only reason then I really do only want 2 children.

One day I was driving to the local shops (and I remember this as clear as if it was happening now) that I had to have a 3rd child. I don't care if he/she was a boy or a girl I just wanted to be pregnant again, I wanted to go through labour again, I wanted to have a newborn, I wanted to be up in the night feeding, I wanted to breastfeed again, I wanted a 3rd child and felt our family wasn't complete.

This caused much dramas in my family as my husband is dead set on two children, and looks like he always will be. Along the way I have said, no forget it we won't have a 3rd only to feel heart-broken for a week and change my mind, and he has said he will do the 3rd child but doesn't want one.

As I am writing this I am welling up. I feel totally like I am ungrateful for my two healthy beautiful boys that I already have, and I am not I feel blessed to have them in my life. They are the most important thing to me and I wouldn't trade them for anything (even a 3rd child), but I just want a 3rd. I am frustrated with my husband as initially he felt he couldn't cope with 3 (which I totally understand), but now he thinks he can but still just doesn't want another. He wants to go on holidays instead and feels it is too hard to travel with 3. To me his reasons are superficial (initially he did have substantial reasons, but they seem to have been resolved),

he wants more money to spend on himself (it isn't like we are short of a quid), we still have all the baby and maternity stuff from the boys and my pregnancies so won't be spending money there.
he wants more time to pursue his hobbies, and I have told him I am prepared to do the extra work to have a 3rd.
he doesn't want to do pregnancy or birth again (does a man do pregnancy or birth?) and secondly I was a good pregnant person, I am probably more tired and snappy now that I have been pregnant and I told him that even though I don't want it I would have a c/s.

To me it is a yearning so deep I just can't explain. I feel like a piece of me is missing and I physically feel nauseous at the fact that I may not be having anymore children. I just don't want to feel like this anymore. I just don't know what to do.

Well sorry about the me blog today. Please don't think that I don't know how lucky I am to have a loving husband; two healthy, sleeping, pretty well-behaved boys, a good home etc.

a bit about how I SUCK at goals

2010-06-14T16:43:00.000+10:00

So I was meant to have been halfway to loosing 2 kgs. Well low and behold I have put on 2kgs :0. Do you think it might have something to do with the tub of Sarah Lee's Ultra choc, or the Pizza Hut pizza, or the subway, or the block of chocolate, or the packet of Chai Latte I drank in 2 days (I mean the 16 pack not the 8 pack). Also the fact that I have resigned at the gym a month ago and did my FIRST AND ONLY class last Monday. Will someone other than my husband (as I just snap at him) give me a big fat kick up my big fat backside (acutally my backside isn't too bad considering, it is my belly that is the problem).

a bit about how great my husband is

2010-06-02T12:01:00.000+10:00

When Will was diagnosed with Coeliacs Disease one of my thoughts after the initial reactions was my husband is going to find this a hassel. Which doesn't worry me so much if he is inconvenienced, but generally when something bothers him it bothers the whole family. Well I couldn't have been more wrong.

I am cleaning out the pantry today and have found 5 different gluten free breakfast cereals that DH (dear husband) has sourced from around the world, 3 different packets of gluten free crispbreads, 4 boxes of different gluten free sweet biscuits as well as various flours, pastas and muffin mixes. But the thing that really just melted my heart was when he went to the shops with the two boys to buy Will his own toaster.

We aren't still sure where Gluten is getting into his diet so I said we need to get tough. Buy Will his own butter and toaster etc and thinking that DH would just frown and complain about spending more money. I love that he went out and got the toaster for Will, especially since Will's mother (me) has been too freaking lazy or forgets every time she is at the shops

a bit about my first goal - Lose 10kgs by 30th of June 2010

2010-05-31T07:38:00.001+10:00

I was having a look through my posts and saw a post about trying to lose 10kgs by the end of June. Tomorrow is the first of June and I have lost 2kgs (and not intentionally). I am totally hopeless. I have a serious lack or will power and when I get onto something (like my businesses) I don't want to do anything else (like exercise) except play with the kids and eat chocolate. So I have revised my goal and hope that I lose two more kilos by the end of June. This will take me to 66kgs which is about 4-5kgs above my (revised) weightloss goal. I have decided to lose 10% of my body weight, which will take be to between 61 and 62kg and just try and maintain that for a while. If I decide after a few months to lose more after that then so be it, but I am trying simple small steps.

I plan on using my fantastic CSIRO book for guidelines and recipes and meal plan. I am hoping by meal planning to not only eat well but save money too. So I have about 4 weeks to lose 2kgs. So wish me luck.

a bit about me

2010-05-27T11:15:00.000+10:00

I haven't blogged in a while so I hope you haven't missed me terribly but I got inspiration from Homemaker Honey's blog post in regards to Amy Butler Pattern giveaway and thought I need to post and would really like an Amy Butler Pattern. So my post today is 10 things about me:

I have two darling boys who can destroy my house in a matter of seconds (see post about tornadoes);
I have a husband who goes away for work alot;
I can not resist chocolate - no matter how hard I try. The only times being when I was in the first trimester of pregnancy with my two boys (that is how I knew something was up)
I like to have a go at LOTS of things. I like designing my cards, I like sewing nappies, I like designing and doing digital scrapbooking elements and kits etc
I don't like housework, but who does.
My guilty pleasure is offloading the boys for a night when my husband is away and getting a chic flick and a take away pizza or spinach and ricotta ravioli and eating on the bed watching the movie.
I LURVE my midday naps always have, always will.
I love my essential oils. I always have two or three oil burners in the house and have WAY too many essential oils. I love experimenting with different combos.
I can't just have one bowl of Sarah Lee's Ultra Choc - I have to eat until I feel sick and then have an extra spoonful or two for good measure.
Finally I love my boys so much that I want another child. It something that I think about daily and as much as I think I should stop as my boys are really easy (besides the mess) I can't help but want more. I don't even care if I have another boy I just want more.

So that is 10 things about me. If you want to have a chance to win a great Amy Butler pattern then head over to Homemaker Honey's blog with a link to your 10 things about you post.

a bit about Tornado's

2010-05-03T21:39:00.001+10:00

Well not actually real tornado's just my two boys.

So we have a house inspection almost every Sunday bar public holidays and mothers day, so the house is spotless at 1pm every Sunday which seems to be our general inspection time. By 5pm (and we didn't get home until after 3) the following has happened:

toilet paper in both bathrooms has become totally unravelled;
tissues are shredded all over my bed room floor;
all the cotton buds are spread all over the bathroom floor;
my brand new organic conditioner has been completely squeezed from the tube and spread over the bathroom floor and painted in with above cotton buds;
all the CDs are pulled out of the holders and then out of their cases;
the tupperware draw has been emptied;
everything on the bottom shelf of the pantry is on the floor;
dirt has been traipsed in from outside;
the nappies that have been neatly folded and stacked on each change table are strewn across their respective bedroom floors;
the sheets have been pulled of Will's bed;
a rogue piece of chocolate has been found, melted in Olly's hand and spread on my doona cover;
the contents of my hand bag and purse are littered in a little line from the study to Will's room.

2 hours it has taken 2 hours for them to destroy the house. In this time I have been catching up on business emails and cards, hanging out two loads of laundry, getting dinner ready and having (finally) a cup of tea. I turn my back on the two tornado's for one second and my house becomes a disaster zone.

a bit about a trip to the hospital

2010-04-29T21:16:00.001+10:00

This ends well.....

So we were at home on Tuesday afternoon. I had picked up my Rumbletums from Mums and picked the boys up at kindy and thought I might put away my laundry while the boys played on my bed. They were rolling around and giggling and it was all very cute and bring little bubbles of warmth to my heart. It is so delightful listening to them laughing with each other and playing, a reason why I love having two of the same sex so close together. So I took a couple of shirts into the walk-in-robe listening to the giggles and the squeals of delight, when the squeals of delight just turns into a scream. Olly had been launched off the bed and hit his head on the bedside and ended up on the floor.

I picked him up straight away and gave him a huge cuddle. When he finally pushed back from I saw a massive lump/ blood blister with a big purple line through it, I think if it had been much harder he would have split it. So I rushed him into the car and will at 5:30 in the evening and headed down to the hospital. I rang the local public hospital and was told that if he was emergent then I would be looking at a 3 hour wait and with two kids aged 3 years and 18 months. So I headed to the private hospital. I got there in about 20 minutes and was seen about 5 minutes later. Luckily as Olly hit the front of his head, cried straight away and was responsive they sent us home with a dose of panadol. We got home around 7:30, after going via McDonalds for some chips for the kiddies and cookies for me :).

So these are some of the trials and tribulations of being a SAHM with two boys whilst my husband is on his way to Frankfurt.

Mands

a bit about a Gluten Free Shephard's Pie

2010-04-14T13:59:00.001+10:00

Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil;
1 brown onion finely sliced;
500g mince;
1 tbsp tomato puree
500ml vegetable or beef stock;
diced vegetables;
2 large mashed potatoes;
Milk;
salt and butter

Pre heat oven to 180 degrees c. Heat oil in a large saucepan and soften onions. Add mince continually stirring and breaking up. Once the meat has browned add the vegetable stock, tomato puree and vegetables. Bring to boil and then lower heat and simmer until liquid has reduced.
In the mean time heat a large pot of water with the two potatoes cut into large peices. Cook for 20-25 mins until the potatoes are nice and soft. Drain water. Add milk, salt and butter and mash the potatoes.
Place mince in a casserole dish and cover with mashed potato. Bake in moderate preheated oven until the top browns.

a bit about this time 3 years ago

2010-04-01T19:37:00.001+10:00

The Last Day of My Old Life
Unknown to me this time 3 years ago would be the last child free night of my life, weel without children of my own. I was watching TV and heavily pregnant with Will. I was so over it but he wasn't due for another 12 days. I really wanted him to come but didn't want an April fools baby.

And so it begins ...
My husband and I finished watching TV at about 9pm and read for a bit. At about 9:30 we went to go to sleep but I was really restless so went into the spare room to read for a bit. I nodded off not long after and was soon woken to my first contraction. They were coming every 20 mins or so and were painful enough to wake me up, but not enough that I had to walk around.

By 3 am they were coming every 6-7 mins and lasting for almost a min so I got up and just hung around the house a bit. I called my sister who was in Sydney and booked her a flight up. At about 5:30 am my contractions were getting quite painful so woke up my husband and told him that Louise was on a flight up from Sydney and we should look at getting ready to go to hospital. I lay on our bed for a while watching friends until Louise turned up and Danny went out to get some supplies for the hospital. We called the maternity unit and they talked to me for a bit and suggested I come in.

I was loosing hope rapidly

We got to the hospital at about 10 am and they were of the impression that "this baby would be born before lunch" . Eventually they put me on monitoring for 20 mins and did an internal. That is when it started to go pear shape. I was told that my cervix had only started thinning and I "would be lucky if this baby was born today". At this stage I was having contractions every 2-3 mins and lasting almost a minute so they decided it would probably be best if I stayed at hospital. By about 3pm the pain was unbearable and I really wasn't coping. The midwife who came on said if she hadn't talked to the other midwife she was sure I was in transition. I was just 1cm dilated and not fully effaced. At 7pm I finally had an epidural, but due to the fact it can lower blood pressure combined with the fact I refused to eat and drink my blood pressure dropped alarmingly low and there was a bit of a panic. The got IV fluids going pretty quickly and luckily stabilised me before too long. this began the cascade of intervention which ultimately saw William being born by emergency c/s two days after I had my first contraction. he was a healthy 7 lbs and a beautiful baby boy, the most precious thing that up until Oliver had happened to me.

a bit about Child Safety in the Car by Maria for NewBawn

2010-03-29T11:56:00.002+10:00

Shortcuts could be fatal by,
Safe2go Technician
Maria Steele
NewBawn Ltd
http://www.newbawn.co.nz/

As a parent, when you think of child road safety, what springs to mind? My bet is that you won’t be thinking about infant restraint law, rather the most convenient, best or most affordable car seat on the market. My bet is that you won’t be thinking about a loose harness as soon as your child in buckled in, rather the dreaded car seat installation itself. My bet is that you won’t be thinking about unsecured items in your car, rather that you have all your essential items in the nappy bag. Sure I could go on; instead I’ll get straight to the point of this exercise.

There are many errors that unwittingly, unknowingly or ignorantly are made when installing and using child car seats. Engrossed with anxiety about ‘getting it wrong’, new parents nevertheless battle it out with strong words & perspiration with an infant car seat, a mass of plastic that somehow protects their fragile bundle of joy. In this article and in no particular order I will feature 5 of the many common mistakes that occur. They are shortcuts that could prove fatal to your child’s safety.

1. Manufacturers manual is not read or followed
It is discouraging when I witness how many problems can be avoided by simply consulting the manufacturer’s booklet for complete instructions on seat configuration & installation. Often the instruction booklet is the first to be tossed or misplaced. Owners resort to the picture labels on the seat & sure they are a great guide, however do not give you in-depth information readily found in the manual. Please read the manual that accompanies the seat & most importantly read the child restraint section in your vehicle’s ownership manual too. If you can no longer locate both manuals, contact your car seat manufacturer & car dealership.

2. Premature car seat upgrade

Resist the urge to move your child from a rear facing to a forward facing convertible child seat, from a forward facing child seat to a harnessed booster seat, from a harnessed booster seat to a booster seat, from a child harness/booster cushion combination to an adult seat belt. Why? The age, weight and height recommendations have been tested for your child’s safety. For example, moving a child rear facing to forward facing requires consultation with the manufacturer’s manual & some common sense. Safe-n-Sound is part of one of the largest global Child Seat companies in the world, Britax Childcare. Their convertible car seats are rearward facing up to 12kgs then ‘converts’ to a forward facing child seat up to 18kgs. However, some child seats you can start using forward facing from a little as 8 or 9kgs, so think about your child’s development too. Can your child pull himself or herself up unassisted? If the answer is no, then I would strongly recommend a rearward facing position until such time as he or she can. Did you know that an Adult seat belt does not fit children properly until they reach a length of 148cm? In other words, dependent on height, it is very important for pre-school and school aged children to stay in an appropriate child restraint.

3. A loose harness & loose belt
The rule of thumb here is to keep enough room for two fingers between the harness strap and your child’s chest. If the harness strap is too loose, the effect in a collision is 2 fold. The seat may not work to specifications & your child could be ejected from the restraint. People often worry that the straps are too tight but if you don’t feel compression, the harness isn't tight enough. Also remember to make sure that the straps are in the right slots for your child’s size: They should be at or just above the shoulders in a forward facing child seat; in a rear facing infant seat or child convertible seat, they should be at or just below the shoulders.

Installing a car seat may require an extra set of hands. One person may need to press the seat down with some force while someone else attaches and tightens the seat belt. If the seat moves more than a 2.5cm in any direction, tighten it more. Use this fitting method when installing latch car seats, less pressure is needed for rigid ISOfix seats. LATCH refers to Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children and this system is found on American child restraints. ISOfix refers to International Standards Organisation and is used for the lower tether system on European car seats.

                                                                 ISOfix System

Please note, that Australia does not currently accept standards from other countries.

4. Tether strap not used
Did you know that the ‘tether’ reduces the forward force on your child’s head in a collision? If your seat has a tether strap attached, it means that the manufacturer has tested your seat to meet certain safety standards with this attachment in place. If the tether is loose or absent, the safety standard for your seat is compromised & your child will not be protected to full capacity. In short, please arrange for the professional installation of the anchor fitting (tether bolt) in the rear of your vehicle so the tether strap can be attached securely.   Some new cars have a small bar fitted to the back of the rear seat.

It is vital that you do not mistake a cargo clip for a tether bolt. In some vehicles they may look similar and should NOT be used to attach a child restraint to. Are you aware that cargo points hold a maximum load of 25kgs? Understandably your child may weigh less than 25kgs, however the brute force expelled during an accident is much greater than your child's weight and would be likely to tear the cargo clip away, rendering your child and the car seat itself a projectile object.

5. Choose not to secure all objects in your vehicle
When cars break suddenly or a collision occurs, loose objects become missiles that can weigh up to 20 - 30 times more. Therefore unsecured areas of some vehicles, like station wagons or some 4WD’s do not have a boot as such to store securely luggage items, large or small. Should these items not be secured appropriately they have the potential to cause serious or fatal injuries. To illustrate, a tissue box for convenience is placed on the back seat. In an accident situation this tissue box will have a force behind it that will inevitably cause it to become greater than if it were still. Therefore, if in the flight pathway of a child or adult at this peak force, the likely result will be injury or a possible fatality. Please secure all items in the boot of your car or use a cargo barrier, cargo net or alternative yet appropriate tie down methods if your cargo area is open directly to passengers.

Please avoid road safety shortcuts at all costs. The most costly could be your child’s life.

Article by,
Safe2go Technician
Maria Steele
NewBawn Ltd
http://www.newbawn.co.nz/

2010 © NewBawn. all rights reserved.

a bit about a nice brekky

2010-03-28T09:10:00.000+10:00

Last night my beautiful mother and sister (who is staying with Mum) had both the boys. Mum had to share a room with Will, so she would definitely be up nice and early this morning. Anyway I got a night to myself, which I am lucky is my 3rd one in the last 18 months (I am sure this is mor than most mothers get). But I especially appreciate it as my husband goes away for 9 days at a time.

This morning I decided to treat myself to a breakfast. I had a creamy delicous latte which gave me a nice little zing and a "Mt Tamborine" at Mudgee Bah cafe (they don't seem to have a website but details can be found there). The "Mt Tamborine" is my favourite. Organic pumpkin bread, lightly toasted with a smear of butter, but that isn't the best part. It also comes with a couple of slices of tomato and on a bed of baby spinach and a drizzle of a sweet balsamic vinegar which complements the tomatoes perfectly, still not the best part. The best part is the lush, creamy avocado that is from Mt Tamborine (how the dish gets it's name) and is served on top of the pumpkin bread. I like to ruin their beautiful layout by smashing the avocardo across the organic bread. I then add a light sprinkle of salt and pepper and layer the tomato on top. I eat this dish ever so slowly so I can savour every mouthful.

That is the second best thing about my breakfast this morning. The best was being able to sit and read the paper with NO INTERUPTIONS

a bit about a simple spag bol

2010-03-07T01:07:00.000+10:00

One of my favourite and easiest recipes is my spag bol. Now everyone has their own take on this classic dish, and mine is derived from a combination of what my parents make.

Splash of good quality olive oil;
1 garlic clove finely grated;
1 onion finely chopped;
500g of good quality mince - I usually get organic or grass fed;
1 tbsp of tomato paste;
1 tin of diced tomatoes;
water;
salt and sugar to taste;
oregano and fresh basil;

I heat up the oil and add the garlic and onion. Cook them until they have softened. I then add the mince breaking it up and stir constantly, to avoid lumps, until it has browned. I then add the tomato paste and tinned tomatoes and rinse the can and add the water from the can. I bring to a boil on a medium heat and then turn down to low heat to simmer. I like to let me spag cook for a while at least 24hours so keep adding water as it reduces. I put it in the fridge overnight and spoon off any excess fat that has solidified on the surface the next morning. About an hour before it is ready to serve I add salt and about 1/2 cup of sugar and herbs. Once it has reduced to a nice thick consitency I serve with al dente pasta (GF of course).

My boys love this dish and I always have some spare in the freezer for nights they are being difficult or tired from kindy and I know there will be feeding dramas. My husband and I love eating it with some freshly cooked garlic bread and a simple garden salad.

a bit about Chicken Loaf with Tomatoes

2010-03-06T16:34:00.002+10:00

I made this one yesterday for the boys....

Chicken Loaf
1kg of chicken mince;
1 grated carrot;
1 grated zucchini;
1/3 cup of rice crumbs;
1 egg
salt, pepper and herbs;

Tomatoes
410g tin of tomatoes;
1/3 cup of sugar;
salt and pepper;
basil and oregano

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C or 175 degreesC for fan forced and grease a muffin tin or bread tin.

Put all ingredients into a bowl and mix well. Either spoon into muffin tin or bread tin. Once the oven has heated place in until it browns. When browned flip out of the container onto a lined backing tray and put back into the oven.

In a saucepan add all the ingredients from the tomatoes and simmer until a thick sauce is made.

When the chicken has browned serve a muffin size peice of a slice or two of chicken loaf and spoon over tomatoes.

Enjoy with a green salad

a bit about Coeliac Awareness Week 2010

2010-03-04T11:08:00.000+10:00

" 'Is your child out of sorts?' is the the theme for the Coeliac Awareness Week 2010 campaign which aims to encourage parents of children who are not thriving to seek medical assistance and consider the possibility of coeliac disease.

"As we all know, the earlier coeliac disease is diagnoses and the sooner a strict gluten free diet is introduced the better. In this way, damaged villi are given the best opportunity to recover and the risk of developing serious health complications in the long term is reduced. On top of that, there is the added bonus of feeling so much better. As the typical symptoms of coeliac disease begin to wane, people start to regain their energy and zest for life.

"One of the major aims of the campaign is to emphasise the importance of obtaining medical advice."

The Australian Coeliac, March 2010 issue pp13-15.

The above quote really rang home for me. Will hadn't been eating much for a while and had really bad nappies. I just assumed that the nappies were just what was supposed to be and his lack of appetite was due being a stubborn toddler fighting me on the food I was offering. I even did a Food not Fuss course to try and get him to eat better. We had some pretty good fights (I am ashamed to admit) over food. Toward the end he was having two wheat-bix for breakfast and only eating fruit and/or yoghurt the rest of the day. Little did I know that the two wheat-bix for breakfast was upsetting his stomach for the rest of the day and he just didn't want to eat. Luckily for me and Will we got a quick diagnosis and we have quickly got onto a gluten free diet.

1 in 100 children have coeliac disease but only 1 out of 5 children are undiagnosed. Sometimes the only symptom is a child "being out of sorts", with Will his was lack of appetite and squishy poos, not diarrhoea.

a bit about an EEG

2010-03-02T22:05:00.003+10:00

A couple of months ago, around October last year, I was sitting in bed and could smell cigarette smoke. Now I am ashamed to admit that I used to be a smoker, but that was almost 10 years ago and haven't had any since. Anyways I started smelling this smoke every evening, but just assumed that as the a/c was on, it was coming in from outside somewhere, until I was in the middle of David Jones one day and smelt it there. All of a sudden I am smelling it a dozen times a day and in places there was definitely NO-ONE smoking.

Fast forward to the beginning of Feb and I go to my fantastic GP on another issue and thought I better just mention it. She did a medical history in regards to this and decided, after finding out my maternal Grandmother had epilepsy, to send me off for an EEG. So two weeks ago, I go to Southport with cleanly washed hair and do my EEG. I ring and book an appointment with the GP to get the results and that of some BTs, however before my appointment time has come I get a call from the Neurologists office to come in for an extended, fasting, sleep deprivation EEG. There were a couple of "blips" in my other EEG and that combined with my "olfactory halucinations" and the family history of epilepsy sent some flags up. So I am now up at 10pm having started my fasting and 12 hours of no sleep to do the EEG in the morning.

I have two baby boys so have done the waking in the middle of the night thing, however it has been almost 4 years since I have been up ALL night (I used to be an international flight attendant, so have done the up all night thing), but I can't have caffine to aid me as it is a fasting EEG. I had a BIG pot of coffee before 9:30 so fingers crossed I stay up.

I plan on updating my MYOB and doing abit of SEO and maybe a little sewing too. I have 4 nappies cut so should probably get cracking on those. Also the Great Down Under Nappy Hunt is on so I can continue looking for some of those illusive icons.

a bit about Advertising

2010-02-22T21:02:00.002+10:00

And they say advertising doesn't work.

I was driving the other day listening to the radio and an ad advertising summer on the Gold Coast came on. A lady had a speech about sailing. She had a great description about the wind catching the sails and the wind in the hair etc. It sound so great that I thought "I am going to take sailing lessons next summer".

Now I have NEVER shown the slightest interest in sailing. I don't really even like boats. Every time I step off a dock I am paranoid of falling between the boat and the dock. I get mildly ill, go a little green and sleep through most of the boat ride, so why did I think that learning to sail would be a good idea?

I believe it is the power of suggestion. The way she said it sounded so appealing. I could see my self on a small sail boat with the sails full of wind, bouncing along parallel to the beach, wind in my hair. So I thought right "I am going to learn to sail". Well about 10 minutes later I returned to my senses and decided that me and sailing wouldn't be the best idea, and while I do occasionally get the romantic notion of learning to sail, I feel that is one activity that may sit on the side lines for the time being, or at least until I hear that radio ad again.

a bit about selling our house

2010-02-17T18:34:00.000+10:00

Well we have finally done it and our house is listed. The first day it was up on realestate.com the agent called and said she had someone to who wanted to look at it. How exciting was that. Too exciting. I ended up putting my arm and a broom through a window 30 mins before the inspection.

I dropped the boys at kindy and returned home. After being chastised by my husband for not caring enough about the appearance of the house I started running round like a mad person to make sure it was perfect. Why didn't my husband help, well he was at work, in Singapore. So I started freaking out and finding all little things, that I really didn't need to worry about but I did. The house was sparkling except our bathroom, so I cleaned down the sink, folded and put out new towels and swept the floor. I was racing to put the broom away and went to get a class of my bedside when I tripped (on the flat ground) and went flying. I put my hand out and smashed the broom through the window.

I dropped the bundle then and burst into tears. If only I had already left the house. I had tried so hard to make the house spotless and just have to admit to myself with two children under 3 and my husband overseas that I just can't have the perfect house. I called windscreens O'Brien in tears and the lady was really helpful and understanding. Unfortunately they couldn't get some in in 30 minutes.

I was lucky in that they came about 2pm and had just got the glass fitted when the thunderstorm hit, so our new carpet didn't get drenched.

We got two people through the house but unfortunately it wasn't quiet what either of them had in mind, so we are having an open house on the weekend. Mum is coming round to help me clean before hand and the boys and I are going out. I am not going to get overly stressed this time and hopefully will leave the house intact.

I thought the two ~~terrors~~ boys would be the challenge in keeping the house in a sellable state, but I seem to have done the most damage.

a bit about a trip to the beach

2010-02-12T14:32:00.000+10:00

Now we live on the Gold Coast, but I am ashamed to say that we don't go to the beach a great deal. Dad and my two half siblings came down one Saturday afternoon a few weeks ago and we all took the boys to the beach. We then went and had a scrumptious, though a little expensive, dinner at the Beach House Grill at Broadbeach. Will just had a ball at the beach and Olly was having fun until some over enthusiastic tourists decided that Olly made an excellent photography subject. Olly is just a little shy and precious and wasn't entirely happy with this and made sure he let us know. Here are a couple of pictures from a day at the beach....

a bit about my sisters cake making

2010-02-11T06:51:00.000+10:00

My sister makes WONDERFUL cakes (maybe a little bais in here, but not a lot). She made these gorgeous baby cupcakes and star cake for a baby shower and got 20+ people asking her for a business card. She loves making/ decorating cakes and is fantastic at it, so why doesn't she start a business? Well we aren't entirely sure. She wants to. Has done a Planet Cake decorating class, has heaps of tools but just hasn't done it yet. We are trying to push her along. So if you are in the SEQ area and have a party coming up soon and want a gorgeous cake for it then drop me a line through my blog and I will pass on you details and maybe together we can get her off her unmotivated butt and into something she is passionate about and sensational at doing.

She also did my son's first birthday cake....

a bit about our new house

2010-02-09T15:38:00.001+10:00

Well we spent two hours today with the builder going over specifications for our new house. There are so many things to think of and so much that I don't know about building. We have said yes to almost everything, which was quiet foolish as we can't afford to have everything. We have finally made the house smaller, but it is still pretty big. We (or rather Danny, while I daydreamed about living in the new house) did all the electrical specs. We chose the quality of fixtures and fittings that we wanted, tanks, waste system etc. I am very excited as I got an induction stove top and beautiful blanco oven. We will hopefully only have to make a couple more changes before it is sent off to get priced.

On the other front we have decided which real estate agent we are going to list through and got a "selling" sign put on the front yard. We just have to have enough sunshine for the photographer to come through and take some nice pictures and do the sustainability declaration, which is such a load of rubbish, but that is another story.

So things are finally moving (pardon the pun) on our new house.

When I get my camera back from my darling sister I can upload some photos from the display home which we have based our house on.

a bit about Will's small bowel biopsy

2010-02-07T16:59:00.001+10:00

On the morning of the 18th of November I woke at 4:15am to nervous to sleep. Today was the day Will was going to have his biopsy to confirm the diagnosis of Coeliac disease. I had to get Will up at 4:40 to get up to Brisbane and checked in for day surgery by 6:15am. After being woken and taken out to the car by Daddy, Will and I were on our way to Brissy, with JenJen for company.

We arrived at the hospital at just after 6am and went up to the gastroenterology area. We waited for a while, Will very patiently. By this stage I was starving, but didn't want to eat in front of Will as he had to fast. We did the pre-op registration and checks and were soon taken to the pre-op area. I spoilt Will by getting him some new Cars toys, which he loved playing with. Soon we were briefed by the Gastroenterologist and the anaesthesiologist. Will went into the operating area at just after 7:15. I was very relieved to be able to stay with him while he went under general. He was such a brave boy, unlike me who had a bit of a cry when I saw him go unconscious. I then left.

The operation, as explained to me, was that a tube with a camera on it was put down Wills throat to take photos. Photos were taken of his oesophagus, stomach and two of the upper portion of his small bowel (small intestine). Whilst down there about 6 pin-sized portions of tissue were taken to be looked at under a microscope. The Gastroenterologist came out to me after the operation telling me that all looked good, sometimes the damage can be seen during the procedure.

Shortly after I was called into the post-op area to find poor little Will freaking out about having a bung in the back of his hand. He aroused from the general anesthetic very quickly and was up and about in no time. Half-an-hour after surgery, and after eating 4 rice cakes with butter we were allowed to come home.

a bit about Cherub's Kiss

2010-02-05T20:39:00.001+10:00

I am very excited because lovely Lesley over at Cherub's Kiss is giving away a nappy. I just think she makes the most devine Auriels. Back in December last year, my darling little Oliver models a beautiful orange tie die nappy which now sits on the "to wear out in public" shelf. I have been checking her site reguarly to get a couple more but just always seem to miss out. Though I do have two customs coming. So I have entered the competition in the chance of winning just one more. My husband can't get mad if I win one, though I would probably buy more if I got the chance anyways.

a bit about the new Maternity Services Review

2010-02-04T06:55:00.002+10:00

As someone who has had two emergency caesarean sections, one that was probably needed but in no way an emergency, the second ABSOLUTELY not needed was done so the doctor could have a chardy with lunch I feel very strongly about the woman's right to choose how and when she should birth. My fantastic doula feels ever more strongly about it and wrote this..

"The White Australia Policy...I mean The Maternity Services Review

How could I get those two Federal government initiatives mixed up?

Well, lets look at the two issues.

The White Australia Policy was a knee-jerk reaction to the "issues" the USA was having with it's negro population and was stimulated by the writings of Charles Pearson, National Life and Character; A Forecast. The governments biggest fear was the uprising of nations of colour, particularly Japan and the control of world finances slipping from the fingers of white men. Anyone wanting to reside in Australia who didn't look "white" had to sit an impassable dictation test.

The Australian Immigration Restriction Act, following Natal and the United States, incorporated a literacy test, in this case, a dictation test, that was so framed as to give Customs Officers maximum flexibility in ensuring that all undesirable immigrants would fail. Applicants could not prepare for this test, which required them to write out, at dictation, any prescribed passage of fifty words in any European language. The American emphasis on understanding the constitution and the importance of education to citizenship had disappeared altogether. In 1908, for example, the following dictation test was given in Western Australia:

"Very many considerations lead to the conclusion that life began on sea, first as single cells, then as groups of cells held together by a secretion of mucilage, then as filaments and tissues. For a very long time low-grade marine organisms are simply hollow cylinders, through which salt water streams’."

The aim in Australia was not to ‘discriminate against illiteracy’, as Cabot Lodge had recommended, but to discriminate against non-whites,

The propaganda sold to the masses was if you can't understand the law, how can you abide by it? We are protecting our citizens by making sure only those that are literate can enter. It wasn't illegal for "coloured folk" to enter Australia, they just had to jump through impossible hoops. Many sighed a sigh of relief and slept soundly in their beds at night knowing the government was there too look after their safety...thanks Mr Deakin!

The Maternity Services Review is probably a knee-jerk reaction by doctors where pesky women are complaining about their birth rapes and choosing to birth outside the system. As of the start of this year OB's are loosing out on the massive pay outs from medicare they have been receiving so in order to reclaim the loss of income they need to raise their patient numbers. Enter the new midwives bill; OB's can control what midwives do and probably claim for the work they do (if in fact they do work with midwives) and women can birth at home in a "collaborative care arrangement".

The Dictation test of the birthing woman will include: No previous c/s, no breech, no multiples, no babies born prior to 37 weeks nor after 42 weeks, no GBS, no GD, no BMI over 25 or under 20. You will be classed as high risk until you can jump through every hoop to prove you are not. There is no choice in which antenatal test you want and which you don't, if you can't prove you are low risk who can anyone trust you to birth your baby.

It will never be illegal to birth your baby at home, but through the processes of BDM it will be almost impossible to do it without some sort of legal implication.

Since when is it ok for the government to decide how, when and where a woman uses her vagina? This is a serious breach of human rights, just like the dictation test.

Today I am ashamed to call myself Australian!"

Claire Aslangul

I still regret my 2nd caesarean section, and I am not saying that it may never have happened but it certainly DID NOT need to happen when it did. Both labours were long but this one was progressing. I was at 8cm dilation contractions were actually working this time and I was cruising along quite well. At 6am little one showed some signs of fetal distress which were quickly resolved by changing my position.

It all went down hill at the change of shift. The new midwife rushed in had a look at the CTG and said okay there is fetal distress we need to do an emergency c/section. After having Will on oxygen for 4 hours as he had inhaled a little bit of meconium I panicked and agreed to do the c/s. I was told that I need the first one as my situation was more dire.

So I was wheeled down to surgery and my beautiful baby boy was born, mind you there wasn't much urgency in the situation and all fetal monitoring indicated he was fine. He had an apgar of 9 and 10, so yes I had a healthy baby, but it wasn't necessarily the best way for him or me.

A couple of days later I saw the midwife who was with me in the night and she was totally shocked that I had had the emergency c/s. So this got me thinking. I eventually received a copy of my medical records and this is what I found out:

The fetal distress that I was told my baby had was actually the fetal distress from an hour and half earlier and there had been NO signs of distress after that;
When my baby was born he was actually at zero station and 1 was 10cm dilated, so if I had been left to my own devices I should have been pushing at this stage;
The reason I had the first operation was not due to my situation being more dire, but actually because the girl having the 2nd c/s had eaten so wanted to do her after me so she had time to digest the food. (I actually know her and she told me this and my doula and the great midwife confirmed).

So this is why I don't want to birth in a hospital againg IF I HAD THE CHOICE, which I now don't, because even though my medical records said there was absolutely NO thinning of my scar last time, I am considered to high risk for a home birth under the new legislation.

What is going to happen next - we can't drive down the freeway because the road toll is too high? Women have the right to choose how and where they birth their child. If all the risks of every scenario have been considered when making the INFORMED decision to birth at home with the supervision of a competent midwife then it should be a viable option.

Do you really think that the rate of home births will drop significantly or do you think there will be more "free births" without the supervision of a midwife?

a bit about Will's diagnosis of Coeliac Disease

2010-02-03T19:52:00.002+10:00

This all happened at the beginning of November last year.

For quite sometime my little boy had been having issues with food etc. I took him to my fantastic GP for an unrelated issue and she noticed that he had lost weight since the beginning of the year, which would be fantastic if it was me, but not so good for a 2 year old. She started asking about diet and I said he has basically stopped eating, except for breakfast and fruit and yoghurt (and of course anything with chocolate in it). I assumed it was typical 2 year old food fussiness, but she decided she wanted to get some blood tests.

We decided to get the blood tests, after uming and ahhing, thinking that it wasn't necessary as he just didn't eat. Two days later I got a phone call from the GP's surgery saying that my GP needed to see Will on Monday, but no more was said. I asked a couple of questions but got the "I am not a doctor so can't tell you response". This was Friday morning and I started to freak out. How could they say that and not tell me what is going on. Of course my mind went to the worst case scenario, that he might have cancer or something like that and I thoughtI am going to spend the whole weekend stressing about this.

Late Friday evening I got a call from my paediatrician, who is also sensational. He was CC'd Will's blood test results and phoned to let me know that is extremely likely that Will had Coeliac Disease. Well I was totally relieved, not that I wanted something to be wrong, but after spending the entire day freaking out about him having cancer, I was glad it wasn't. I was also relieved as we finally have some answers to Will's digestive problems. I was told with Will's anti-TTG levels being greater than 300 it was extremely unlikely that he would get a negative biopsy result.

The following Monday I saw the GP and she also told me Will's suspected diagnosis. We got a referral to a Paediatric Gastroenterologist in Brisbane and received a phone call from him the next day book Will in for his endoscopy and small bowel biopsy. We only had to wait 8 more days to start him on the gluten free diet.

a bit about our new Carpet

2010-02-02T13:56:00.002+10:00

I am so pathetically excited about the new carpet we got today. Sooooo very excited, it looks fantastic and feels so soft and bouncy. What I am soooo not excited about is the fact that as we speak my husband is boarding an A380 (the new massive all singing all dancing Airbus) to passenger to LA. Not only that but he is passengering in, wait for it, FIRST CLASS. Am I green with envy or what. Not that being at home with my two delightful boys and trying to move a house-full of furniture is fun. But going on the new Airbus in 1st class and then staying at a 4 star hotel in LA. Yes he has to operate home, but WHATEVER, 14 hours of work for 3 1/2 days away plus, he is paxing in first class. I know I keep fixating on it but he is so lucky. Well I am soon to be off to see the builders to make some more changes to our house plans, and then get to come back and move more furniture.

On the upside, I get to sleep in the middle of the bed (and have it ALL to myself), I get to sleep above the sheets under a blanket and can have the a/c set to what I want. I can go to bed when I want and eat what ever I want for dinner, including two peices of toast with avocado, which will probably be my very lazy dinner tonight.

ETA: I just got an SMS from said husband " Holy crap, F%^(ing awesome". Nothing like rubbing salt into the wound.

a bit about a quick and easy slower cooker recipe

2010-02-01T08:18:00.003+10:00

Coq au vin. I fry up a kilo of diced chicken thighs coated in gluten free flour, fry up about 500g low fat, gluten free bacon and 3 large onions and add them all to a slow cooker. I also add some diced mushrooms and then a good splash of red wine (I do my frying in a non-stick pan without butter). I throw in a sprig of thyme and some rosemary and let it cook until the wine reduces to make a nice thick sauce. I serve with a rocket salad and rice.

Yummy!!

if you want to make it tastier and fattier fry up the chicken etc in butter.