Family Photo - January 2012

As part of my new years resolutions I am going to make an effort to take more family photos.
I must take at least one a month.
Seems an easy task seeing as we have a new baby?
Well not so. We have millions of photos of Abigail. Lots of photos of one of us with her, but hardly any family shots!
My aim will be to post them at the end of each month.
So for January, we managed the following:

Swimming together in my parents pool on the 22nd of January - This was the best out of many a shonky shot!

Our 'self portrait' on Australia Day - 26th January

Now admittedly we were only in the same state at the same time for 16 days out of 31 (that does include today). We will aim much higher for February.

Do you make an effort to take family photos?

Starting Solids

Just wanted to share a little video with you...
Abi is so totally totally uninterested in solids.
We tried a few weeks ago for about 2 weeks with no luck. Decided to give it a break and start again today... Not much luck again today, but we will keep persevering.

Got any tips you can share?

Tag - I'm it (You're it!)

Pic via www.weheartit.com - Your/You're spelt a bit wrong for this context though!

I've been tagged twice! In this 'Tag - You're it game... 
So thanks to Nat from In the Night Sky and  Miss Directions you're about to get to know me a little better!

First Things First, The Rules:

1.             You must post the rules.

2.             Post eleven fun facts about yourself on the blog post.

3.             Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create eleven new questions to ask the people you've tagged.

4.             Tag eleven people and link them on your post

5.            Let them know you've tagged them!

Eleven Fun Facts About Me:  


With 22 questions to answer and the fact that I got home at 1am this morning.... I don't have the mental capacity for 11 more facts about me...
I think you are getting enough with me answering these 22 questions!

Questions For Me from Nat @ In the night sky:
    

1.  How do you get to work? 
At the moment I'm on maternity leave, but in he past I drove because my office was quite a distance away from me and because being an account exec I was on the road visiting people all the time!
   

 

2.  Are you a shower or a bath person?
I shower all the time, but don't mind the odd bath. At the moment I'm normally in the bath with my daughter because it's easier getting in with her than leaning over and hurting my back. 
    

3.  What is your favourite drink (either Alcoholic or non)? 
I'm a huge water drinker. I don't drink soft drink, but put a glass of champagne in my hand and I wont say no!
    

4.  Do you like your name? If not, what would you change it to?
Love my name. It's always been a name that I have never known any other Samantha's, but now 2 of my closest friends are also Sam's!
    

5.  What is your favourite city or country? 
Melbourne - My family are there. And I adore New York and can't wait to go back again one day/
    

6.  Are you a summer or winter person?
 Can I be an inbetweenie? I don't like it too hot and I hate the humidity in Sydney, but the rain drives me crazy too!
    

7.  What would be your dream job?
 I'm 32 and I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up! At the moment my dream job is just being a mumma for Abigail.
    

8.  What is your favourite movie?
 Perhaps Pulp Fiction? Dirty Dancing? Grease? My husband is the movie lover in our family
    

9. Ever done something crazy for love? Don't think so, I'm pretty boring. Although this time 5 years ago after only a few dates with a guy and a few too many drinks I hit him up to see where the relationship was going, what did he want from it and told him I wasn't willing to muck around I was getting too old! (He's now my husband!) 
  

10.  Are you an early bird or a night owl?
 Somewhere in the middle. I'm normally well and truly in bed by 10pm at the latest these days, and up at 7am when Abigail wakes.
   

11.  Do you like the colour of your bathroom?

Nope. We can't wait to renovate it! It must have been done on the cheap and it's not great (corner spa bath anyone?) I prefer neutrals and a nice white bathroom.



Questions for me from Miss Directions:
    

1.  What is your worst shoe-wearing experience? A pair of heels I bought at Zara in Hong Kong ended up cutting my feet to shreds. Ever since I have never bought cheap shoes 

2.  Have you ever received a love letter (not email, the true old fashioned kind)? Does a “Happy Anniversary” card that my husband gave me on Australia Day this year count? Our first date was Aus Day 5 years ago.

3.  Have you ever embarrassed yourself running for a bus/train/tram? I don’t do public transport!

4.  Do you prefer Barbie or Lego? I had heaps and heaps of Barbies when I was younger.

5.  If someone offered to pay you to enjoy a hobby for the rest of your life, what would it be? Currently I just want to be the best mummy I can be. Abi is my world at the moment. I suppose I would love to have a cute shop with beautiful things in it. But one where I didn’t have to work all that much!

6.  If you had to go on a sudden holiday to an unknown destination and had 5 minutes to pack, what would you be sure to grab? Sunnies and lip gloss!

7.  What subject did you secretly love (if any) at school? Media studies. I loved photography and the teacher was excellent.

8.  How long can you hold your breath for?  Only 38 seconds!

9.  Is there a recurring theme to your dreams/nightmares? I hardly ever remember my dreams. Wish I did though.

10.  What did you want to be when you grew up? I haven’t grown up yet! I still don’t know what I want to do!

11.  Do you pick the red pill or the blue pill? Hmm… I choose blue! It’s always been my favorite colour.

So there has been stacks of people that have already done this and a lot of them people that I know who follow and comment on my blog. I'm going to stop it here. It was fun! Some of those questions have had me thinking.

And as I said earlier... I just don't have the mental capacity... I went out with some girlfriends last night and got home after 1am... then had to 'dream feed' Agi a bottle and then she woke at around 5am for another feed... I'm tired... I'm going to try and get Abi to have another nap soon so I can have one too!

Happy Australia Day!

We had a little 'do' at home yesterday with a few close friends.
We ate prawns, lamb and I made a pavlova!
We listened to the Triple J's hottest 100 and had a few laughs.
Here's our day in pictures...

Looking like a 'boof head' baby in her Lifesaver singlet my dad bought her in Port Douglas
I was home alone at this stage and had to hold Aib and take the photo at the same time!

Back of singlet! (In Training!) It's cute!

Self family portrait. It's hard trying to fit 3 heads in!
We all wore 'Aussie' themed tops.
Erin's was "I only drink beer on days that end in Y"
Mine was an old Supre "Oz Day" top and Abi had hers.

Abi and I wanting of our guests to arrive! We both wore denim skirts too!

Aussie flag on the dining table, bunting hung around, matching napkins, red S & P  mills to match! 

Table centre piece. I used old jars. There's even some rosemary in there! 

Super proud of my pavlova! It worked out! I've never made one before.
Covered in lots of cream! Raspberries (Have you noticed the price of raspberries  - EXPENSIVE)
Strawberries and a peppermint crisp

Hanging a flag from out balcony! 

A great end to the day! Bathing our little ones all together! So cute!
Alexandra, Abigail and Arkie.

Did you do anything special? Or have a good old relax at home?
How exciting is it that it's Friday and the weekend tomorrow!!!

PWP

Today I got organised early and out the door nearly before my husband!
We are having a few friends over tomorrow to celebrate Australia Day!
I was super excited when I got to the shops and I was FINALLY able to park in one of these:

Abigail was just 5 months old the other day and this was the very first time I have ever been able to snag a PWP (parents with prams) spot!
Look I know, blogging about getting a PWP spot seems pretty poor, but bear with me...

So. The PWP spot. Do you agree? I kind of do.
I love that the spots are bigger and you have room to open the car doors wider and move the pram around etc...
But what I don't agree with is where they are located to the entrance to the shops. I have legs. Good ones in fact. I really don't think that I must park right next to the entrance of the shop.
Why not have a few extra PWP spots, but just move them a little away from the entrance?


What do you think? Are you a PWP fan? 
Do you always look for a spot close to the entrance or just park where you can get a spot?

5 months old!

Because we are away I will hold off for a day or so on my "Dear Abigail" post.
But we couldn't go past the milestone without a photo or two!

We are practicing sitting every day! Sometimes with success... Sometimes not!

time for me

Since having Abi I hardly ever get time for me.
My husband works long hours and lots of days. We sometimes joke that its a bit like I'm a single parent!
I'm lucky to have him and I'm lucky that because  he works so hard I don't have to rush straight back to work
Finding time for me and just me can be hard. I'm pretty much on call 24/7.
Spending time in Melbourne is great! Sometimes its just the little things like spending a few extra minutes in the shower that mean so much!
Thanks to a wonderful mum (and sister when she's not working) I get a chance for a little 'me' time.
And today that me time consisted of a pedicure! And a fringe trim!
So I'm feeling great!!!

OPI - Melon for Troy (what a strange name)

What things do you do when taking some time out for you?

Nana + Baking

Today is my nana's 70th birthday.
We are having a big party for her and my parents house on Saturday, but we are still going over to see her tonight to wish her a happy birthday.
I thought I'd make the cake!
My mum has so many recipe books. It's crazy!
The first one I pulled out was "The Australian Womens Weekly" Cakes and Slices Cookbook (it's a super old one! Not one of the new ones you may have seen floating around the place)
I made the 'Honey Coconut cake with caramel icing'
It is actually supposed to be made in a loaf/lamington tin, but I adapted it to suit a round cake tin.

CAKE
1/4 cup coconut
125g butter
3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 eggs
2 tablespoons of honey
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 cup milk
CARAMEL ICING
60g butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 cups icing sugar

Cake:
grease and line your cake tin. make sure to line the base with baking paper.
Stir coconut constantly over heat in a heavy frying pan until light and golden brown. Remove and leave to cool.
Cream the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer till light and fluffy, beat in eggs one at a time, add honey and beat till well combined. stir in sifted flour and milk. Bake in a moderate oven for around 30-40 minutes. Stand for 5 minutes before turning to a wire rack to cool.
Spread the cooled cake with icing and sprinkle over the toasted coconut.
Icing:
Melt butter in a saucepan, add sugar and stir constantly over the heat for 2 minutes without boiling. Stir in  the milk and then gradually stir in the sifted icing sugar. Stir until combined and smooth.

Now I just hope it tastes good!

little friends

Yesterday I caught up with a very good friend of mine. We met in grade 6. We were super close in high school. Lost contact. Then found it again.
We both used to say we never wanted children...
Our due dates were 2.5 weeks apart...
My baby couldn't wait to join us. Her baby did some extra baking.
There is a 5 week age gap between our 2 beautiful girls.
Here they are!
Abigail and Tess... (They are actually the same size! But here Abi looks like the big boofer!)

little bear

While I've been away with my family in Melbourne we went back to the beach for a few days.
Unfortunately the weather was pretty crappy, so we went to Queenscliff for the day.
While wanndering around some of the shops I spotted these cute bears.
At $27.50 I thought they were a bit expensive, but really liked them and thought they would look really cute on the dresser on Abigail's room.
I bought them! And the lady in the shop for some reason only charged me $7.50 !!! Bargain! I'm hoping the TV will be gone off the dresser by the time i get home and I can pop them straight on!

how cute

Just wanted to share...
Abi's first solids...

"mum, this is shit"

Loving a good deal

Everyone loves a good deal. Well they do don't they?
Well I do anyway!

On Sunday we spent some family time together after Abi had her morning marathon nap! (nearly 3 hours!)
Now shopping is pretty boring for my husband, and especially when it's food shopping... But we were pretty desperate! We ran out of toilet paper!

Off to Birkenhead Point where we could take a look around and get the groceries done too.

First stop. Bed Bath and Table.
We have never had a Christmas Tree. But we know there will be no getting away with it next year with a little toddler around so we decided to take advantage of their 70% off decorations!

We spent $69 on decorations that before Christmas would have cost us so much more... Looks like we will be going with a traditional red, white and green theme. 

Next stop was Witchery... Well I have had a $20 credit on my loyalty card!

I couldn't quite believe my eyes when I spotted a denim jacket for $29.95 !!! Thinking that I would get my 5% discount and then the $20 credit! Wowzers! I'm super duper happy with my new denim jacket that has cost me $8.45 !!! I've never owned a denim jacket, so I'm super happy and excited about this one!

We were going so well! But it was time for groceries... But wait! There's Cotton On Kids! Abi does need some stuff for Winter so lets take a look

Two long sleeve little tops in a 00 and 0. Abi is still fitting into Cotton On 0000 + 000 so it will be some time till she is in these ones. (Actually weighed her yesterday and she was 6.80kgs!)

I've been good and trying to get a few things in order and one meant going through Abi's wardrobe (I'm sure she has more clothes than me!) and sorting out what's what... I came across a super cute little ennie meenie suit that she hasn't worn! Boo... It was a 0-3 months and although it fit I thought what a waste to get only a wear or two out of it, she has enough anyway...

So I took it back to Bambini, a little shop in Balmain where I know it was purchased from.

I was in luck! They took it back! Yay! And I spent the money on the following:

Front of skirt - GANT

Back of skirt - Cute little pleats 

I couldn't believe it when I picked up this little GANT skirt that was $110 and reduced to $25 Woo Hoo! And then I got this cute little Gaia baby top too! The lady was super nice and when she said I still had another $10 I could spend I couldn't believe it! And I got a cute little Oobi pouch thingy that I'm sure I will find some use for...

Do you love a god deal?

What 'deals' have you got or come across lately?

(Now, while I'm at it... I need to go and finish packing! Abigail and I are back off to Melbourne again today... Going down for a few special birthdays and some fun with the family... I'd say the posts will become a little less frequent for a little while.. But you never know!)

project A - an update

So one of the main focuses of project A was to finish Abigail's room.
Yesterday I posted a photo of our new air conditioning! (Giving you a little look into Abigail's room)
It was supposed to be done by Christmas... I'm a very bad mother... Still not finished...
It's getting there. we still have a few things to do... But it all takes time. And twice as long in time because Abigail is now taking up most of my time.

Here's the little munchkin playing in her cot while I took the photos.
The painting is a water colour we purchased well before Abigail was even conceived.

These shelves were already in the room, but a little wonky, so we bought some pink ribbon and put it around the edges.
I'm really happy with the result and much cheaper than replacing them!
Note the ridiculous amount of toys on the shelf... And that's not all of them!

Here is a crappy shot of the mobile.
My sister gave it to us for Abigail's Sydney Baby Shower.
It's hand made by someone she knows.

I have actually given a sneak peek of this part of her room before.
Note that the mobile is not up in this photo...
My mum was swinging them playing with Abi a while ago and they fell off!
It has been put back up again (yesterday) But I couldn't be bothered re photoing the room
Under the change table is a bit of a mess and needs a tidy, but this is real life stuff! Nothing is perfect!

I love this new fitted sheet I bought the other day! All the colours fit in nicely with the colours we have in the room.
THe blanket is a hand knitted beautiful blanket that my mum bought for Abi.
THe sleep sheep is the best! And the teddies are NOT left in the cot (or the blanket) When she is sleeping.

This stool is used all the time in Abi's room. It was left in our old house when we bought it.
It's from IKEA. I have decided I'm going to paint it a nice pastichio green colour to keep in Abi's room.
I need to get a valance to hid the stuff we have stored under Abi's bed.

I have blogged about this little pram before. We bought it when on holiday in Noosa.
It's filled with yet more toys...

We bought this antique dresser off ebay, but husband repaired the top and sanded it back.
It is truly lovely and one the TV that is supposed to go in our bedroom in FINALLY in there, I can sort out what I'm going to put in the dresser..
Another 'real life' shot showing crap all over the dresser...

And there you have it... Where we are up to so far...

Hot Cold Hot Cold

I've been spending quite a bit of time in Melbourne with the family and they have air conditioning...
I get home and we have a few warm days. We live in a 1880's terrace. The bedrooms are upstairs. Abi's doesn't seem to cope well with the heat and doesn't sleep well. It's hot at night. I know this because we have this fancy pants monitor that I got given at one of my baby showers.

So... We decided to put in split systems in the two bedrooms. Downstairs doesn't seem to be all that hot and with upstairs cooling it's bound to help the down stairs when it's really hot anyway.

Here's Abi's

And a little look at her bedroom! (Post tomorrow on what we have done)

And here is ours

Oh! And look at that empty TV wall bracket that my husband insisted I buy a TV for ...  "It will be great for when Abi is a new born Sam and you have to get up all the time to feed her" Hmm, Look out for tomorrows post on where the TV is.

So now we are all air conditioned up! Pretty exciting! And a super duper deal we got too!!! Cheapest by far!!! If your in the Sydney area and interested let me know I'd be happy to pass the details on. 

The people that did it were recommended to me from one of the girls in my mothers group so I don't even know them. I couldn't even get the units cheaper from my contacts at Harvey Norman!

So this is how we plan to keep cool this summer... How about you?

new stuff

Look what we just bought!

Nespresso CitiZ + Milk

Pretty cool huh! We got some Harvey Norman vouchers for Christmas because we wanted to get a coffee machine.

Even though we live really close (as in across the road) to coffee shops, sometimes it would be nice to just stay in your PJ's and have a coffee at home. It can also be hard to get out with Abi sometimes and I'm not a huge fan of the coffee from the place across the road from us... Their bacon and egg rolls are another story!

Normally $499, reduced to $399, plus a little discount from my lovely folk at HN Broadway, add on 3 years Product Care (extended warranty) I only paid $384.30! But it gets better! Take away the $50 cash back promotion and the $150 of HN vouchers from my sister... And it's costing us a grand total of $184.30 Nice one! 

It comes with a heap of different pods to try and see what ones you like best! So there's a few coffees to be had there. Then we can buy  the ones we like from Nespresso (online!) and I was told they work out to be a bit over 60 cents!

We are just getting it all set up and sorted and will start testing it out once I buy some milk! (review to come!)

Normally my birthday come around and I never know what I want... Not this year! My husband bought me a beautiful bangle that I wanted. My sister got me some flats from Witchery. When mum and dad asked me what I wanted (well mum did) I knew in an instant! 

Being at home a lot more often, it's sometimes very quiet. Being used to having the radio on in the car or in the office at work I just normally had the TV on at home for background noise.

So instead, I thought what about an ipod/iphone dock, but one with a radio!

And hey presto!

Sony micro system

I'm loving it! It's a ipod/iphone (unfortunately not ipad) dock, with digital radio and a CD player too! I got the white over the black. And I like that we can mount it on the wall if we like. At this stage we wont, because I like that it's portable and we can take it outside. That's going to come in handy for our Australia day BBQ listening to Triple J's Hottest 100!

(all photos via Google image search)

Holiday Fun! Part 3

And then we decided to stay!
My most wonderful husband offered to let me stay in Melbourne for some extra time and fly home.
He drive the car back to Sydney and went back to work.

Last cuddles with daddy and pulling funny faces

My brother in law being put to work at the beach house.

Snoozing in the pram while going for walks and enjoying the sunshine

Lots of tummy time and getting really strong!

Going for walks along the beach

Chats with pop!

New Years Eve - Never having another one without my husband.
I had a lovely time, but was a little lonely amongst all the couples come 12am and the fireworks.

Preparing canapes for NYE - Chicken rice paper rolls and crustini with phili and smoked salmon

Practicing rolling - Not there just yet.

Had an awesome time at the beach with my family! Going back for a few days next week with my mum and sister! Can't wait to head to a few of my favorite places.

What's everyone been up to??? I really need to get catching up and commenting on all your blogs!

Oh and I seriously need to take more photos of things other than my daughter!

Holiday Fun! Part 2

Christmas. Out first Christmas with our baby girl!
Same time last year we opened all the presents and then as a final Christmas gift to the family we announced that I was pregnant!

Christmas morning present opening outfit! ('bum pants' from Best and Less I think?)
Checking out all the presents under the tree!

Abi opening her first present from Santa! A talking/singing puppy!
Please excuse my attire! But it's Christmas morning and presents are always opened in our PJ's!

Abi checking out the haul of gifts from Santa and everyone else!

Mick the dog not too impressed with his bon bon.
Yes, you can get bon bon's for dogs!

Mmm! I like this wrapping paper!

Trying to get a shot of Abigail in her party dress... She would rather eat it than pose...
I did however finally get a decent shot!
HERE

Abi and I at the Christmas tree! we never ended up getting a family photo on Christmas day :-(

My uncle (he's actually younger than me) carving what I think it Turkey?
He is a new dad too!

My nana, Lily my new baby cousin and my brother Jack

Me and my aunties! Maureen, Julie who married my mum's brother and Jen who is the new mum! 

Little sis and Abigail.

Abigail and Lily! Abi thought it was the coolest having someone her own size to talk to!
And that she did! Very loudly! They were so lovely to watch and what Christmas is really all about. 

It was warm in the afternoon, so after lunch the dress came off and Abi wore her party bon bon hat!
Not long after this photo was taken, it stormed right over and started to pour with rain.
We didn't get the hail where we were, but the power went out just after 7pm as I was bathing Abi.
It didn't come back on till sometime after 12, but before 1.30am