Shopped Till We Dropped

Image by Digitalart

 

 

I am totally shattered. I'm currently on the couch and I don't think I could move even if I wanted too (which really isn't a problem as I really and truly do not want to move a single muscle!)

Today the little ones and I hit the shops. We left the house at 8:00am this morning and walked back through the door at 4:30pm. Some good friends of ours are getting married this Friday (at the same place that Hubby and I were married, ceremony venue and reception venue!) and the kids and I literally had nothing to wear. The plan was to go to one certain shopping centre (it's huge) and get everything done as quickly as possible, being home for lunch. Pfft. That didn't happen! We walked every square inch of that centre and looked in every single shop and found nothing. Urgh. I did learn a couple of things though, firstly that certain shopkeepers have a very inflated view of themselves and their work. The moment we entered a couple of shops the shopkeepers lips literally curled in distaste. Granted, they were rather exclusive shops and I was pushing a trolley with the little ones in it, but give me a chance people! It was all very Pretty Woman (you know that scene where the assistants won't serve her?). The second thing that I learnt was my children are amazing. Okay, I already knew that but it was reinforced today. The Butterfly sat happily in the trolley seat the entire time we were there, chattering away happily and waving to random people as they walked past. When she got tired I transferred her into the the Baby Bjorn and she sleep soundly for an hour or so, then went straight back into the trolley, happy as pie. The Bear alternated between walking next to the trolley, tightly holding on to the bars, and sitting inside reading a couple of books. 7 hours we were at the shops, 7 hours and there was not one meltdown, tantrum, or tear. In fact, despite the fact that my legs and feet are killing me, it was a lovely day.

Anyhoo, we ended up giving up and driving to a smaller shop, our hopes very low. After all, if we couldn't find anything in a huge shopping centre what hope did we have of finding something in a little one? Within 1 hour of walking into the smaller centre we walked out, arms full of bags. Mission successful, woohoo! Wish I had gone there first! I'll take some photos tomorrow and put them up, but oh, they are both going to look so gorgeous. The Butterfly has the sweetest little dress, navy blue with white spots on a full skirt with a plain navy blue bodice with blue and white striped long sleeves, a little white cardigan, white stockings to keep her little legs warm and divine silver shoes with a silver ribbon bow. Oh, and a gorgeous white flower headband. The Bear has long black pants, a grayish blue and white striped long sleeved shirt, a silver/blue tie (yep, a teeny tiny tie!) and new black boots. He was so excited about his clothes, the moment we came home he begged to try them all on again then proudly strutted around the house, asking if he could sleep in them tonight :)

And as for me? I randomly grabbed a pair of long black pants and really pretty shirt, only to realise when I got home that I'd grabbed the wrong size for both. So guess what? It's back to the shops tomorrow! Arrrgh! We will have to be really quick tomorrow though, because in addition to the wedding on Friday night we are all on a plane first thing Saturday morning, flying off for a quick holiday! Woohoo! I think I'll need a break after all this shopping ;)



This Weeks Fun Five

Image by Luigi Diamanti

I've got my personal Fun Five sorted for this week......1) Toy Shopping   2) Toy Shopping  3) Toy Shopping  4) Toy Shopping and just to be different, 5) Toy Shopping! I love the toy sales, I have so much fun trawling through  the catalogues picking out what my little ones would like, all the while trying to think of as many reasons as I can to give them the pressies as soon as possible. I was never very good at the whole 'waiting to give gifts' thing, as soon as I buy something for someone I want to give it to them right now. An example is Hubby and my Christmas tradition - the first ever Christmas we were together I was just bursting to give him his gift early but I was determined to wait and I got really really close, I caved in and gave it to him at midnight on Christmas Eve. Since then we always give each other our gifts at midnight, although each year I try and bring it earlier but the party pooper wont let me *sulk*.

I also love the toy sales because they take me back to my childhood, as I look at everything that's on offer I can't help but oooh and aahhh over the things I would have LOVED as a kid. You know those little art and craft packs where you make your own jewellery? And all the new Barbies with their little houses accessories? And the toy animals that make little noises and look oh so cute? They would have been on my Santa list for sure.

Anyway, back to the Fun Five for my little ones (though in all reality they would probably be happy with five days of toy shopping too!)

- Have a Green Day: Equipment: Green food colouring, green food, green clothes, green paint, etc.  Activity: Tell your child in the morning that you're going to have a Green Day, where everything you can possibly think of will become green. Add a small amount of green food colouring to the milk for their cereal, make a green platter of food with kiwi fruit, honey dew, avocado, green apple, snow peas, celery pieces, etc. Select green clothes for everyone to wear, or even help your little one dye a white shirt green, Do some green cooking (green jelly, green patty cakes with green icing); Make green play dough by mixing yellow and blue so they can see it turn green as they play; Add some yellow and blue food colouring to their bath water and watch it turn green; Collect as many different types of green leaves, flowers etc as possible and make a Green Chart.

- Garden Obstacle Course:  Equipment: Garden chairs, Hoops, Broom, Rope, Cardboard boxes, Ladder, Old pillows, anything else you can get your hands on. Activity: Get your little ones to help you set up an obstacle course in the yard. Try to use as many different ways of moving as possible - crawling under garden chairs, jumping on or over pillows, jumping through hoops hanging up or in hoops lying down, walking along a curvy rope, running around a tree, hop through the rungs of a ladder laid flat on the ground, etc. We do this one a couple of times every week and the Bear never ever gets sick of it.

- Marble Painting: Equipment: Paper, Cereal boxes or a large plastic box, Marbles, Containers of different coloured paint; Teaspoons. Activity: Put the paper in the large box. Put a few marbles into each different coloured paint and use a teaspoon to lift out one marble at a time and put it in the box on top of the paper. Show your little one how to lift the box and roll the paint-covered marble all around until all the paint has come off and made marble tracks all over the paper. Repeat with a different coloured marble. Makes great wrapping paper for gifts!

- Wind Chimes: Equipment: A coat hanger or sturdy stick, String, Anything that makes a nice sound! Activity: Discuss sounds with your little one, specifically all the different types you can hear. Go on a sound hunt around the house, clanking things together to see how they sound. Collect the things that sound nice, i.e., keys, spoon, etc. Tie the items onto pieces of string and attach them to the coat hanger - instant wind chime.

- Homemade Finger Puppets and Puppet Theatre: Equipment: Old gloves (washing up ones work well), Permanent felt pens, Strong glue, Wool, Sequins, Buttons, Other decorations, A Cereal box or Shoebox. Activity: Cut off the fingers of a pair of gloves and get your little one to decorate them however they like. Use pens to draw faces, glue on buttons or sequins for funny mouths, wool or fabric for hair or beards, etc. Stand the box on its end, cut a window out, and put on (and be the audience) some funny puppet shows!

We never got round to making the place mats last week so I'll be tucking that up my sleeve for a rainy day. The house is however filled with pet rocks and balloon heads of all shapes and sizes (and hubby now has one of each proudly sitting on his desk at work). If you haven't yet made the balloon heads do yourself a favour and do it outside............. I didn't and am still finding traces of flour around the house!

Now back to those toy catalogues ;)

Hear Me Roar

Image by Rob Bonneywell

We were at the park the other day and a child pushed the Bear over. For no reason, with no provocation, nothing. I think it came about because the Bear walked past the other kids castle. He didn't knock it over, he didn't even look at it, he just walked past it. And this boy pushed him over.   That by itself isn't what got me so mad (although my first instinct was to rush over and push the child over myself......no, don't stress, I didn't actually do it), kids are kids and do things like that. The thing that really got my blood boiling was that this child's Mother watched the whole thing and didn't do a thing. Didn't reproach him, didn't check the Bear was ok, didn't even glance at me even though it was blatantly clear I was his Mum, didn't do a thing. She continued to learn up against the fence, looking bored out of her brain, and kept typing on her phone. That got my blood boiling, got my inner Mummy Lion roaring.

That inner Mummy Lion is a powerful thing. It's such a strong, overwhelming and fierce desire to protect your child. I normally hate confrontation but by god, mess with my little ones and I'll march in claws bared. It's not even a voluntary reaction, it's an immediate instinctive thing, a desire to throw back my head and roar "do NOT mess with my babies!". And I don't think that's a bad thing, as long as it's kept in check. I don't think it would be helpful or healthy for anyone involved to have a Mum follow her child around snarling at anyone who upsets them! Although I used to see a fair bit of that when I was teaching - parent's who would call up demanding an interview, furious because their little Johnny didn't get the first pick for something, or wanting another child to be kicked out of the class because they stole their child's pencil and made them cry (and yes, that is a true story).

I think my inner Lion is amplified by the fact that the Bear is really gentle. He doesn't push, he doesn't shove, he will happily stand back to let other people go in front of him in a line even if it means he ends up waiting AGES for a turn on the slide. He happily shares his toys, voluntarily offering some if he sees somebody missing out. He is a true gentleman. Trouble is he expects everyone else to be the same and is quite shocked when they don't behave the same way. He doesn't speak up for himself if some snatches something away, or hurts him. He just looks at them with big wide eyes, not comprehending why they are behaving that way.

So my current mission is to pass some of my Mummy Lion strength onto the Bear himself. Give him some Baby Lion confidence. I'm teaching him to respond if someone snatches something away from him, that he has every right to say "No, I'm playing with that, you can have it when I'm done" and to take it back. That if someone is doing something he doesn't like can absolutely tell them to stop it. I'm encouraging him to keep his place in a line so he doesn't always get shoved to the back, to stand up for himself when needed. He'll get there. My Bear will learn to roar. Or should be be growl, a sound more appropriate for a bear? :) Either way he'll get there, and in the mean time I'll be there to help when necessary.

Roar :)

Baby Season

Image by Sura Nualpradid



Apologies for never come back and writing about our trip to Dreamworld, things have been crazy busy lately.  Days are finishing before they have begun! I think it's because the Butterfly has pushed her first day sleep back to 10:30am - by the time she wakes up, we all have lunch then finally get in the car it's around 1:00pm. Arrgh! Goodbye half the day! On the upside it's bringing a new routine into our day, the first half of the day is home based, just for us, while the afternoon is out and about time. It's quite nice really.

Anyhoo's, today was busy for a lovely reason. I visited a gorgeous friend of mine and her equally as gorgeous three week old baby boy. Ohmygosh. Cluck cluck cluck times a billion! He is just adorable. He is teeny tiny with these big, serious eyes and a really wise little face - he looks like he's been here before,done it all before. The Butterfly was quite taken by him too, she reached out and stroked his little hand so gently and kept pointing to him with this great big smile on her face. It was so sweet.

I think it must be baby season actually. So many people I know are pregnant, or have just had bubs. Another gorgeous friend of mine is pregnant with her third and talking to her the other night made me really really wistful. I miss being pregnant, so very very much. I loved every single thing about it. From the very first moment I see that second line on the test I fall head over heals in love with my baby. Actually, to be totally honest, that isn't true. Being the true emotional sap that I am, I fall head over heals in love with my baby before I actually fall pregnant. I love morning sickness as it's a clear sign that the bub is there and is growing. I love watching my belly grow, feeling those first fluttery kicks turn into great big take-my-breath-away thumps. I love the doctors appointments and the opportunity they provide to listen to that little heartbeat racing away. I love the anticipation of meeting them for the very first time, and then that amazing moment when you get to hold them, kiss their little head, whisper hello.

But we have decided to wait until the Butterfly is in prep before bringing a new little person into our family. Logically it makes sense - we want a new house by the time they arrive, we'll need a bigger car, a few more years can never hurt financially, I'll have finished my Master by then, etc. But emotionally? Oh it's going to be hard. Especially because the Bear keeps asking if there is another baby in Mummies tummy yet, and can it please be another girl and can it please be another Butterfly. And especially because I keep getting all choked up as I pack away the clothes both the Bear and Butterfly seem to be outgrowing on a daily basis.

So in the mean time I'll just keep clucking and keep getting all misty eyed over all the adorable little babies around me.

Cluck cluck :)

My 'Fun Five' list

Image by Digialart

Today we went to Dreamworld which was great fun, but I'm too exhausted to write about it. Seriously. I'll do it tomorrow, I promise. Instead I thought I'd share my Fun Five list.

Basically, my Fun Five list is a list of five new activities to try with the Bear and the Butterfly during the week. The plan is to have one new activity for every day. Obviously this doesn't always work out, some weeks we do them all in one day and other weeks they love one of them so much we just keep doing the one over and over again.  Ideally the list is made up of things we haven't done before, or otherwise it's things they really love and get all excited about.  I thought I'd share my thoughts for this week. Please note these aren't all my ideas, I search everywhere for good activities!

Things I've come up with or come across for this week:

- Sponge Targets:  Equipment: Chalk, a wall, sponges, buckets of water. Activity: Draw a clowns face or some other target on a brick wall in chalk. Fill a bucket with water, dip a sponge into the water and take it in turns to throw them at the target and 'wipe' it out.
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- Balloon Heads: Equipment: Balloon, funnel, plain flour, water, felt pens. Activity: Blow up a balloon then deflate it. Put a funnel into the balloon's mouth and carefully spoon in as much flour as you can. Add a little water to make the flour pliable and tie up the balloon. Draw funny faces on the balloon and play!

- Pet Rocks: Equipment:  Rocks, art and craft supplies. Activity: Collect rocks of all shapes and sizes and glue on googly eyes, wool hair, make funny hats, etc.

- Make a Place Mat: Equipment: Thin card, crayons, pens, pencils, magazines, scissors, glue. Activity: Give the little one a piece of card stock and crayons, felt pens etc. Together draw pictures of as many different foods and drinks as you can both think of. Go through magazines and cut out different pictures of foods and drinks and glue them onto the page. Laminate it and use it as a personalized place mat.

- Flying Saucers: Equipment: Paper cup, paper plate, scissors, glue, sticky tape. Activity: Cut the cup in half. Keep the bottom half and cut small slits along the cut edge. Bend the slits out to make flaps and sticky tape it onto a paper plate. Cut slits around the outside of the plate, folding each flap alternately up or down. Go outside and fly the saucers!

So that's my five for this week. Do you have any ideas for activities? What do your little ones love doing? I'd love it if you left a comment and let me know what they are!

That's is from me tonight I'm afraid. Must go sleep...... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Then and Now

Image by Danilo Rizzuti

Today has been one of those lovely Mummy days that you read about in story books. Both little ones woke as happy as can be, the Bear opening his eyes and instantly chatting excitedly about the theme park we plan on visiting soon, and the Butterfly giggling to herself as we opened the door to her room.

The little ones happily rolled balls back and forward to each other (well in all fairness the Bear rolled the balls back and forward, the Butterfly scooped them up with delight and refused to let them go again), we had egg and spoon races around the front yard, we hung balloons from the ceiling and danced among them, bopping them with our heads and hands as we went, we curled up on blankets and read stories, we pulled funny faces and laughed until our sides hurt. It was just lovely.

These are the types of days that make me burst with happiness at where I am in life. And this is coming from someone who never, never EVER wanted children. I had my life planned - I would travel and experience life in as many different countries as possible. I would meet so many different types of people, glimpse life through their eyes. I would study, I would work, and I would end up with an academic career. I would be free.

I knew exactly what I didn't want as well. I didn't want to be tied down. I did not want children.

And then I met my hubby, and then I got clucky :)

But you know what? Somehow, somewhere along the lines, I've got the best of both worlds. I have traveled, both by myself and with my husband. And I am so looking forward to travelling with my children, to showing them all the hundreds of different ways life can be lived, of introducing them to the countries, the cities and the villages that make my heart sing. Through my children's eyes I see everything anew. I meet old friends for the first time as I watch my son shyly introduce himself then slowly relax as he recognizes the lovely people they are. And my dream of being free? I have never felt more free in my entire life than when I am holding the hand of the Bear and running, running with all of our might, along the beach. Or when I'm dancing with the Butterfly and she's laughing so much she throws her little head back and closes her eyes. These people, these tiny little people, have added more to my life than I ever knew possible.

I'm not saying every day is perfect. Some days leave me in tears, or wanting to soak in a hot bath for hours on end. But today? Today was bliss.

State of Origin

Image by Digitalart
 

I'm currently sitting on the couch next to my hubby. Literally next to him, my elbow is digging into his side as I type. However, for all the interaction I'm getting from him we may as well be on different planets. Yep, the State of Origin is on.

I just don't get the whole Origin thing. Or the whole football thing really, it just seems to be a lot of stopping, running for a few miliseconds, then stopping again. The Bear saw a few moments of a game once and proceeded to ask why the men keep hugging then falling over. A pretty good summary of the game I thought. Anyway, what really confuses me is that Hubby isn't even a huge football fan. He'll happily watch a game if he stumbles across one, but he's never been the type to set aside a day for going to the footy or to ensure he's at home at a certain time to watch a broadcast. But there is something about the Origin that brings out his inner Aussie male-ness and when it's on nothing can separate him from that screen. I think I could strip off naked and do a dance, potentially throwing handfuls of flour across the room while I was at at, and all I'd get was a momentary glance.

I must admit though it's not all bad. I've learn to embrace these nights for what they are and use it as a chance to get all the things we love best but never see a reason to buy. Tonight we're feasting on M&M's, chips, pineapple lumps, jelly snakes, lollies, soft drink and other random yummy things. Oh, and of course hubby has some beer (a quick side note - I went into our local bottle shop when I was about 38 weeks pregnant with the Butterfly to get some beer for hubby and left feeling like the worst Mother in the world. No one said anything, but oh god, the filthy looks I got! I wanted to climb up on the nearest stack of cartons and yell "It's not for me! Don't look at me like that, I'm not going to be actually drinking it!!" Anyway ever since then I've always felt so guilty going in, like I'm being a horrendous Mummy even being in a bottle shop! I know I know, paranoid much? The ironic thing there is I really am the most paranoid person when it comes to what I eat and drink while pregnant. If there is any possible, remote, slightest potential of a chance it might harm my bub I run the other directions!).

Anyhoo's I'm considering gathering up all the other State of Origin widows I know and having a girls night out next time it's played. Something fun and just for us, pampering, or dinner and drinks out. I'm also considering not telling our hubbies and waiting to see if they noticed we were gone......

I'm guessing not :D

Thinking about Schools

Image by Felixco, Inc   

So I was talking to a friend today who has a son the same age as the Bear and we got onto the topic of schools. We've both recently realised that next year is the last year we will have our little boys at home with us -  in 2013 they will be off to Pre-Prep, then in 2014 its Prep. I can't really explain how I felt when I realised that. It sounds dramatic but it felt like I'd been punched in the stomach. All of a sudden the hundreds of little moments the Bear and I share during the day suddenly flashed through my mind. Curling up on the couch to read books, making lunch together then deciding where to have it (the current place of choice is under the dining room table, all squished up and giggly), playing on the swing set and pretending to fly up with the birds, 'cooking' in the play kitchen, dancing around the living room playing mini guitars, making obstacle courses through the house, building roads and spending hours playing cars, impromptu dashes outside because we heard a helicopter, and oh, so many many more. All these little moments, the things that I tend to take for granted because they happen every day, suddenly became like gold. I'm so very glad all this dawned on me now and not in a years time, or even in a weeks time, because by god I'm going to make sure I treasure every single one of those moments with my boy!

So after that emotional beating we moved onto the topic of schools themselves and how on earth you  go about choosing one. It may be the Primary Teacher in me talking, but schooling is such a big, life changing thing. Everyone has stories to tell from their school days, some positive, some not so much so. Is there any real way to ensure you choose a school that will provide your child with more positive experiences than negative ones?! Yeah, I already know the answer to that as well. I guess all you can do is choose a school that offers a safe, supportive and challenging environment, one that has an academic program and pedagogy that you agree with, one that has a behaviour management plan that mirrors your own, one that offers a wide range of experiences and opportunities to their students. Easy hey? Pffft.

The good news is we are spoilt for choice with regard to schools in our area. Religious schools, state schools, private non-religious schools, co-ed schools, single sex schools, single campus schools, multi campus schools....the list goes on. Thankfully I have a few more years to ponder this, and to be honest I think I'll need them as the Bear currently insists that the main point of going to school is to get a sausage sizzle (the highlight of our most recent visit to an open day).

In the mean time I'll keep playing trains and savour every moment of him being with me 24/7.  I'm not quite ready to admit my baby Bear is growing up ;)

Happy Birthday Queeny Baby, thanks for the weekend!

 Image by Simon Howden

Ohhh I had fun this weekend :)

We planned to use the three days to tackle the house. You know those jobs you keep putting off and putting off until you don't really even notice them anymore? Well those were our challenge - to reclaim the backyard from all the overgrown plants, to get all the laundry done, to strip back the deck and re coat it and to start painting the living room. Guess what we got done?

Nothing :)  

Instead we made pancakes for breakfast,  played on the swing set with the Bear, tickled the Butterfly till she was squealing with laughter, made cubbies under the doona, hula hooped for hours on end and generally pottered our way through the three days.  Both little ones made a discovery though - the Butterfly discovered her true love, the vacuum cleaner. She spent ages searching the house for it, then let out the happiest squeal of delight when she found where we'd stashed it. She then proceeded to rest her little head on it, coo lovingly and look so incredibly happy we didn't have the heart to move it away.

The Bear made a discovery of his own - having been toilet trained for about 6 months he's never had reason to pee anywhere but on the toilet, but today he discovered he has the ability to pee outside :) While gardening he announced he needed to pee "right now Mummy!" so I let him go and good god, the gleam that came into his eyes was hilarious! He then kept on ducking around the corner with a mischievous grin declaring he needed to go again and again and again. Such a boy. I'm just praying he doesn't decide that's where he wants to go from here on in!

Meanwhile I made a discovery of my own, an online shop called Creative Butterfly Designs. They sell handmade hairbands and clips and they are oh so pretty and girly. I went a little crazy and ordered these for the Butterfly, what do you think?

Pretty hey! When the Butterfly grows enough hair I'll probably go mad with the clips, but until the I'm pretty chuffed with the headbands :D

So what did you get up to on your long weekend?
x

Oh What a Night

Image by Maggie Smith

Oh what a night. Butterfly woke at about 11:00pm screaming her heart out, and by god do I mean screaming. None of the usual tricks worked, I sang, I danced, I stomped, I swooshed her around like a plane (this usually fixes everything and gets her to drop off to sleep. Strange one my little girl, traditional lullabies have never worked either, she likes fast paced, heavy beated songs as loud as you can go). Nada. In the end I kicked hubby onto the couch (he is a seriously heavy sleeper and I never feel safe with a little one in bed with us if he is there) and pulled the Butterfly into bed with me where she fed all night long. Even then she grizzled and whimpered in her sleep, little hands reaching out for me and patting me in her sleep.

I "woke" (I don't know about you but I can never sleep properly if I've got either the Bear or the Butterfly in bed with me, I'm so paranoid about them getting caught under the blankets or something I stay in that half awake state) to her little nose pressed against mine and her bright blue eyes peering intently at me. She was fine, no sign of the night's horrors. I however was shattered and have been all day. Hubby was lovely enough to look after both the kids and send me back to bed for a couple of hours but geez, it really pointed out how much I need my sleep.

BC (Before Children) I would be in bed, fast asleep, at about 8:30/9:00pm every night (unless I was out partying in which case I'd go hard all night long then sleep all the next day) and would get up at about 6:00am. I would then have a nanna nap for an hour or so in the early afternoon. I loooved my sleep. I needed my sleep! Then the Bear came along, and with it his inherent dislike of sleep, and all that went out the window. I learnt that if I need to, I can function on very little sleep. I'm grumpy, clumsy, emotional and generally narky, but I can survive.  Five hours worked out to be my magic number. If I could get five hours straight, I was a human the next day. I still craved more, would walk past my bedroom and cast longing looks at my bed, but at least I was moving.

As the Bear grew I started getting more sleep, then the Butterfly arrived and blessed us with her love of sleep. Seriously, this girl took after me from day one and slept perfectly for hours on end. By six weeks old she was sleeping through 10 hours a night. Apparently though, that's changed :( I don't know what has happened but she's waking a few times a night now, and once again I'm back in the land of glancing wistfully at my bed. I know she will grow out of whatever is currently causing her grief and all I can do is keep reassuring her that everything is ok when she wakes during the night (I just don't have it in me to do controlled crying. I figure if I woke up during the night, desperately unhappy, I sure as hell would want hubby to give me a hug and tell me it's ok. Surely then my children deserve the same?!) but ohhh...... I hope she goes back to her old ways soon.

So tell me your hints or tricks people out there in blog land - how do you survive on little sleep when sleeping during the day just isn't an option?

xo

Welcome!

Image by nuchylee

Hello and welcome to my little corner of the blogging world! This is all quite exciting really. When I was little my favourite type of Christmas pressies were the things that I could do - a game, an art kit, a colouring in book, you get the idea. That excitement of starting something new, of having a fun little project just for me - that's what this little blog has given me. So welcome!

I'll give you a rundown of me and my life. I am a stay at home Mummy to two gorgeous, amazing and wonderful little ones. Bear, my son, is nearly 3 and has me in stitches (the laughing variety, not the physical type :D) every single day. He is oh-so-clever, cheeky as can be, increadibly loving and sweet and just the best little friend. Butterfly, my daughter, has just turned 9 months and melts my heart with her devine smiles (if she's really happy she scrunches her nose aswell, a huge treat for anyone who is blessed with it), fantastic sense of humour (seriously, and yes I know she's only 9 months but I'll explain more later), and leaves me in awe of how quickly and beautifully she is growing into her own little person.

My husband is the love of my life and my best friend in the world. We've got the type of marriage I dreamt of when I was little. He is my partner in everything. One of the things I love most about him is that he recognises that right now my job is to be a Mummy and he does everything he can to support me in that job, including letting me know that he thinks it's a hard job to do! Told you he is amazing :)

Throw in two fuzz heads (one big black dog and one little white one) and our very own house by the seaside and you've got the cast and setting of my life!  Let the fun begin :)