Happy Birthday to my first favorite

My dear husband is 40 today!
Hip Hip Horay HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Weekend Sydney trips and birthday celebrations to be had! Can't wait! xxx

Oh so wanting his little girl to love cars and much as him.

Dear Abigail (ELEVEN Months Old)

Wearing a stunning little dress hand sewn by one of my friends!

My Dear Baby Girl!

You  are now 11 months old! Only one more month till you turn one! I can't believe it!
Crazy! This past year has flown by at the speed of lightening.
I haven't written you your monthly letter for a few months, but so so much has been going on!

You are now a super crawler! You can sand on your own! You slowly have started to cruise around furniture! You are chatty and talk ALL THE TIME.

I have finally  gone back to work. It's sad. But I am so lucky and so blessed that I was able to have a full 11 months off work and nearly all that time was with you because you decided to come and introduce yourself to us a little early.

There's more teeth! You have slowly been weaned too. I gave you your last breastfeed only a few days ago on Saturday morning. It was just the two of us. It was quiet, peaceful and a little sad really. But you are becoming a big girl now and becoming so so independent too.

The weaning was a slow process. We had to find a formula you would take (thank you Belamey's!) and we had to get you to start taking a bottle again too. Finally, slowly but surely your daytime feed was switched. With my return to work, I knew that already within my first week I was going to have a late night and not be able to feed you so we were able to sneak in the night time feed and you took to this with ease.
It was only a matter of time that we would switch the morning feed to a bottle of formula too. And sadly it came about more due to my supply going to barley nothing.

I'm so proud of both of us though! We struggled for so long when you were a tiny baby, but we got through it and I think it's fair to say that I successfully and exclusively breast fed you for the first 10 months of your life!

You are now eating so much! You love to try a wide variety of things now too! This is great and it does make meal times easier too.

Your blonde hair is slowly growing and getting thicker. But it's also getting a little darker again. Not surprising as the same thing happened to me when I was little.

There is so so much more and I could go on all day!
We just think you are amazing in every way and I sometimes wish I could freeze moments of time, but each and every day brings something new and exciting so best we just keep steam rolling on to ONE!

Love you to pieces my little girl!

Your Mummy.
xxx

Cosy and keeping warm in cold Melbourne

Hanging out in what looks like is going to be dad's new toy.. An old Mini Cooper

Dear Abigail - NINE months old

I am not...

Via Google images. A domestic goddess I am NOT!

I am many things... But there a few I am definitely not!
I am not a cleaner. I like clean. I like tidy. But I loath doing it.
And I can not iron to save myself!
While I have been off on maternity leave, it was only fair that I did the cleaning.
Before we moved from Sydney we would send out ironing out to be done. Mainly just my husbands shirts, and sometimes the odd thing of mine.

With the return to work, the deal was I would get another cleaner. Yippee! Wah Hoo!
But. Since we have moved everything is so much harder to find. Oh, and when you do, it's more expensive!
I went from living in the inner West of Sydney to the outer North East of Melbourne! I was sure everything was supposed to be cheaper!
Not so...

So, I now pay more to get my husbands shirts ironed. And I have to drop them off and pick them up! No door to door service anymore.
And I can't even find a cleaner! They don't answer their phones or reply to a message after they advertise in the local paper! Or you are too far from them! (Why did you advertise in my local paper then!) Or our house is too small!
And even after all that... They use my cleaning products, vacuum, mop etc... and I pay an extra $5 an hour more that I used to in Sydney!

Ok, rant over.

Do you have anything particular that you loath doing so you outsource it?
Have you had as much difficulty as me? (Or is it just me!)

Hello Hello?

Well it's been pretty crazy busy around here. And not a lot of blogging.
I've started work! It's good. I think.
Abi LOVES day care. I miss her. The smile and excitement and hug I get when I pick her up is priceless! I love it!

Mind the TERRIBLE mess that I have done my best to make furry and hide a little. But this is me and what I wore on my first day back!

Nothing flash or expensive but a Merino top from Glassons and a skirt from French Connection!

I have hardly taken any photos lately either. I must not forget to take photos... I don't want to miss out on my daughter growing up.
My husband took this shot of Abi and I last weekend. We went to the beach house and on the way home called into the Mill Market. You know the one that Sophie and Dale went to all the time on this past season of The Block? It's pretty awesome! And reasonable prices too!
We didn't buy anything, but very well could have!
Because we are currently living in a rental. we don't want to necessarily buy stuff for here, but rather wait till we buy again.
Although if I ever find an old french bakers stand for a price that doesn't blow my mind then I'll just find a place for it in our current house or store it at my folks house!

Having a turn on the old Vespa!

I've also been buying up big from rudy and the dodo! Have you checked out this online store yet? It's awesome and some really cool stuff too! Some birthday gifts for a few of Abi's friends and even some birthday gifts for her! Lot's of wooden toys which is always a nice change to all the plastic we seem to have here.
I love the way the box came addressed to me!

And how about this! Look at the first drawing Abi did at day care! Even on her first day!
What a little artist she is! (ha ha! Very proud parent here...)
Apparently they start a portfolio for the kids! How cool! Can't wait to see what else she does and I can't wait to start putting her 'art work' on my fridge!!!

And finally. I feel the need to share a good bargain with anyone! So here's one for today!
First Choice have Chandon on sale for $17.82 a bottle in any 6!
I think Chandon is an excellent every day champagne sparkling. Although if I could drink Veuve every day I would!
We have a baby shower being planned and also a first birthday coming up so I'm off to purchase some!

a million thanks

I really am struggling with going back to work. But I know why I am doing it and receiving words of support and encouragement from so many people on my post the other day really meant a lot.
And although I value each and every comment, there was one that really struck a cord with me.

So you don't need to go and find the comment, I want to publish it here and publicly thank Emmie for her words and taking the time to reply in so much detail! (I cried when I read these words)

emmie gemmie said...

Oh Sammie!I remember that feeling so well.. when that beautiful Stay-At-Home bubbles suddenly pops! and its back to reality :(

It speaks volumes that they have worked so hard to get you back, you are obviously a really valued employee, Good work Darlin!

It's wonderful that your Mum can take Abi 2 days/week and I bet Abi will love her 3 days at daycare. The settling in period can be a bit tough (it took Bay a couple of months but Abi is older and will hopefully get used to it a lot quicker!) but once they settle in they really love it, Bay now claps and trys to jump out of my arms when I drop her off.. she is always bringing home paintings and doing craft activities and playing with different toys and fun songs and games, which to be honest I doubt I would be doing with her to that extent even if I were still at home. She just loves the social aspect and has little friends, who call out each others names when they arrive for the day. So cute. They send me photos of what shes up to during the day and I an call or pop in anytime during the day if I want/need to.

The initial return can feel really hard, but it is certainly not all bad being back at work. It is great to be back in the adult world and I now savour all the time I spend with her, whereas I think I was starting to take her for granted while dealing with the drugery of being home day in and out. Of course the extra money takes the pressure off fiancially and I feel much more balanced in my relationship once I was earning some money again.

I think it is a great plan to return to work now, especially if it means you will be able to stay at home permanently in the future. I actually believe our kids need us more as they get older.. so I also hope that by putting the hard yards in now I will be able to cut down my working hours down the track.

But there is no doubt about it being a working Mama is a tough road.. at times you just feel like you are doing a $hit job at everything.. not as commited as you used to be at work, not home enough with your baby.. too tired to be there for your husband.. but working is a fact of life for most of us and be super gentle on yourself.

Great idea about getting a cleaner.. I love mine and consider it a non-negotiable.

THe afternoons after work can be a bit tough as everyone is feeling tired and worn out from work/daycare, I give myself a little pep talk on the way to pick Bay up.."its okay to feel tired but be tired and available to her, not tired and withdrawn" It's not her fault if Ive had a cr@p day at work. We usually go for a little wak as the fresh air helps re-energise us and we talk and explorethe neighbourhood and I always turn my phone off so Im not distracted and we have some quality time before the dinner/bathtime routine starts.

I am not shy of taking shortcuts with dinner either, everytime I cook I make double and so I only have to cook every other night :)

I suddenly became very strict with 7pm bedtime for Bay as night time is now the only down time that I get and important to wind down with your Mister.

If you are still breastfeeding come up with a plan of how you will manage it with work/daycare etc, hopefully your workplace will be supportive. If you can/want to I recomend continuing to feed for at least a little while as Abi will have a lot of changes to get used to in a short amount of time and it will be a big source of comfort for her.. not to mention help her fight off all the colds and flus she'll no doubt get once shes in daycare!

Goodluck Sammie and take care of yourself!

xoxoxoxoxo

Thanks Emmie. And thanks EVERYONE!
xxx

One Week

I have only one week till I head back to work.
We looked into both Child  Care and getting a nanny for Abigail and decided to Child Care for a number of reasons. The main one being that she LOVES other kids! And gets real enjoyment out of being around other children.
Yesterday Abigail went to orientation at her new Child Care from 9am - 12pm
When I picked her up she was in great spirits (considering she had been sick in the week leading up to it) and greeted me with a big smile.
Each and every day she is in Child Care they write down all about their day and you can see what they have been up to!
Here is yesterdays!

I quite like the carer and I am sure she is in good hands.
Doesn't stop the guilt and the missing her (and it was only for 3 hours!)

I think it will take a little getting used to. A whole lot of organisation. And lots of special quality time on the weekends.

How do/did you cope with sending your children to Child Care?

It must be good

So when two (1 & 2) people in one day blog about the same thing then it must be good? (And I'm not talking about 50 shades of Grey) Add that a celebrity (Rachel Zoe) is also a fan and I'm really keen to check things out.
I'm talking about Rowantree Design.
This stuff is just delightful! And I have spotted a few divine little dresses that could be prefect for when we finally christen Abigail later in the year.
I'm thinking one of these could be just perfect!

Old fashioned stunning!

So pretty! (All pics taken from the website-linked above)

My fav  of the whites

Is she allowed to wear colour?

So divine!

I just love new finds! I think that's one of the reasons I follow particular blogs!

What do you think of the dresses??? Have you purchased from this designer before?

Colds and Miserables

It's cold, wet, rainy and quite miserable here.
I've got a cold, Abi has a cold and Erin also has a cold.
Other than a little trip this morning to Bunnings we are cooped up and staying indoors!

I've been having a little play around working out an invite for Abi's first birthday. And I can't decide which one to choose!

Brown Recycled paper? Which design?

White card? Which design?

Poor baby. So sick. This is how she looked this morning. I think she it teething too.

So because w are staying in I have popped a roast in the oven to slow cook. Perfect for this horrible, miserable, rainy, being stuck at home sick day.