DIY christmas: glitter branches

So these are literally what the title says. Branches/sticks with glitter on them. But they look AMAZING! I have a theme going on in each room of our house as each room is so different. Our kitchen is rustic, red, white and provincial. Our lounge is red, gold and very traditional. And our bedroom is silver, white, black and glamorous. So these silver glitter branches are going into our bedroom :)

So how do you make them? I bought wood glue for this project but I've seen people use spray glue and similar things. Then I went on the hunt for silver glitter and I actually couldn't find it anywhere in the small town that I live in. I did however find something that was labeled glitter, but it looks more like cut up tinsel almost. Its basically big flakes of glitter. And it came out surprisingly awesome! Then I went for a walk through our garden and gathered up some sticks. I got more then I needed so I could arrange the ones that turned out best in my vase :) Using a paint brush I painted on the glue to a section of my first stick and then sprinkled the glitter over. I had a plate underneath to catch all the glitter that didn't stick so I could re use it. 

So I just continued this until all the sticks were finished and then let them dry for a few hours. Im sure they were dried well before then but I had mummy duties to attend to!

So here they are looking fabulous in our bedroom!!

Xxx

James is 6 months old!!!!

Happy 6 months to you, 

Happy 6 months to you,

Happy 6 months dear James,

Zzzzzzzzzzzz.

Being a mum of 3 is so incredibly tiring! If you had asked me at age 10 what I was going to be when I was older, I probably would have said a mum of 5. It was always a dream of mine to be a mother but gee 10 year old me, dream a little smaller!

James has 3rd child and typical boy syndrome. Lazy!! Haha. He began to roll over around 4 months old, said 'aa-da' at 4 months old, he cut his first tooth at 6 months old, began solid food at 6 months old, started saying 'ba ba ba' at 6 months old and that's really about it. 

Ok ok maybe I have 3rd child syndrome. Been there done that, fly off the roof and maybe ill be amazed lol. You have to have more then 2 children to understand where I'm coming from I think! He can sit for a few seconds before he looses his balance but he's showing no interest in crawling just yet. I'm not really fussed though as it means I don't have to chase after my little man. He stays put while I chase after his big sister!

We've given fun nicknames to all our kids. There's Caity-wiener, Mary-Jane pain in the brain or booger, there's May May and James is now bud, buddy or mate. 

My little mate, as I like to call him, is the funniest little man. He has the biggest personality. He hates fruit. The face he makes is just priceless. He loves veggies. He gets a little bit of separation anxiety sometime, he just loves his cuddles. He has the exact facial expressions as his daddy. And he knows when his daddy is due home as he cries until Tom gives him a cuddle. 

He has the biggest blue eyes, non existent eyebrows and thick blonde hair. He has a bottle every 3 hours, breakfast lunch and dinner (solids) and he sleeps through from about 7:30pm-7:30am :) James and Tom play a game together where they shake their heads as if to say no. It's actually quite hilarious to watch. And the cheeky bugger LOVES to blow raspberries haha! His tongue spends more time out of his mouth then it does in!

James can defiantly be dramatic. He has already established a 'fake cry' and he throws the funniest hissy fits, throwing his head back and crying as if to say 'oh what a hard hard life I have' lol. I can't believe so much personality can be in such a little human being. 

As for my postpartum update, I was fortunate enough to loose all the baby weight within a few days of giving birth but then I lost another 5 kilos on top of that which I couldn't afford to loose. Weighing in at 64kgs, 178cms tall. 

This is the part of the story where most people roll their eyes and say that I'm being silly but honestly I liked my weight before, too skinny does not suit me. So I've been on a strict diet of what ever the hell I can fit in my mouth but too much junk food makes me feel terrible. Toms home for breakfast lunch and dinner so I've been cooking up a storm every day and am happy to say I've finally gained a couple of kilos! Around 66kgs now. I'd like to be at 70kgs with muscle tone so as soon as I'm in the 'mum of 3' routine, I'm going to put aside time each day to do weights ect. 

Also my hair had majorly fallen out. Apparently that's all normal and it will grow back in time. I already have tonnes of 2 inch long hairs growing back so I should have a full head of luscious hair by next year, ready to marry the man of my dreams :) But for now I've opted for a short hair cut which says 'I CHOSE to be bald' not 'I'm GOING bald!'

So that it for me. Kudos to all you mummy's!

Xxx

From the city to the country. The big move!

It's been a while since I've blogged. But I knew this would happen. I don't know how people keep up with new baby's and blogs, for me it's just impossible!! James is 6 months old now and a lot has happened in the past 6 months, but ill save that for another blog. 

The house we were living in was starting to get a bit small for our medium sized family of 5 so we decided to start looking for houses. We never like the town we were in, I'd been there for 8 years and had been wanting to leave ever since I got there. Tom grew up a few towns over and swore he would never live there, but his love for me saw him living with me, in a town we both hated for the past year and a half! Awww shucks!!

So where would we go? We could live in a brand new modern brick house in an estate, full of brand new house that were built so close to each other that you could hear your neighbour chewing their breakfast each morning. A concrete back yard the size of a bedroom. Don't get me wrong, if I was by myself or REALLY liked my neighbours, these areas would be fine. It just wasn't for us.

How about sunny North? Beautiful weather, tropical plants and a fun loving life. Only problem is the plane rides every month so the girls could see their fathers. Too far.

So how about in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by trees, grass and the occasional person. I'd dreamed of living on a farm since I was a little girl and Tom has always been a cowboy at heart. So we began to look. 

And what do you know?! A brand new 4 bedroom, 2 lounge room, GIANT brick house smack bang in the middle of 750 hectares of beautiful fields, bulls, and rustic sheds was just begging for someone to move into it. Perfection! We visited this house (and town it was in) every spare day we had while we waited to be approved. It was straight out of a picture book. A loving fiance, 3 amazing kids, a beautiful house set on a beautiful property. What more could you want? Well a job would be nice but we will get to that in a minute. 

WE GOT IT!!! Yep, We prayed and prayed. I had made myself sick with anticipation but the overwhelming joy I felt when I heard those words made it all worth it. We'd already been packing while we waited for an answer. So moving should be easy right? WRONG! I totally underestimated how much (crap) very useful stuff we had and just how on earth were we supposed to move it? This is when I realised the strain that would be put on our poor car and the price of fuel meant the car was had to be crossed off the 'ways to move' list. So we booked a truck. And we packed it. By we I mean Tom and I. Yep, just us. We're tough like that lol, we like to be independent. 

I bet you now have this vision of a perfect pair, smiling a lot, with perfect hair, not breaking a sweat, lifting the feather light furniture with ease. Standing back, hand in hand, looking at a perfectly clean empty house, reminiscing on all those wonderful times had in that house. 

Hahaha well lets just take out a sledge hammer and shatter that vision in to thousands of pieces, then jump up and down on those shattered pieces. Then maybe the neighbours dog can come over and poop on those millions of pieces of shattered vision... Ok maybe it wasn't that bad but there was a lot of swearing, nasty bruises, shut-up's, and then to top it off we got to sleep on the floor (mattresses were packed away of course) for two lovely nights. Oh and to top that top off, we realised the night before that we weren't going to be able to make it in 1 load so we would need to do 2. And then we realised we couldn't make the 8hours of driving, 2 hours of unpacking, 2 hours of re packing and get the truck back in time. So to make this possible, we had to leave at 5am. We had spent all day packing and then all night cleaning the walls, the windows, the floors. Any surface you could possibly clean was cleaned. We put on loud country music and danced around the house all night long like a pair of delirious idiots. Our night sleeping on the floor began at 2am. By 5am we were pulling out of our driveway to our new life. And by 9pm we were spending our first night together in our new home :) 

A few weeks went past, Caitlin had started at her new school, we began to meet the locals and life had really slowed down, in a good way. Things just move slower in the country. I spent my spare time sitting in a sunny window crocheting and the kids spent their time on the play equipment outside. But Tom spent his days driving from town to town looking for a job without any luck. Every one wanted experienced farmers. By the third week he finally hit the jackpot. What he had been waiting for his whole life. He'd had opportunities to work on farms before but they were always at the wrong time or in the wrong state. The dairy farm owners asked Tom to come for an interview but specified that they wanted his family there too. We figured things just worked differently in the country.

The interview lasted 2 hours. We talked about the obvious things like what experience he had, his work ethics, how much he wanted this job. But we also talked about the responsibilities of owning a farm if Tom ever decided to, family priorities, and most importantly, if we were accepted for this job, we were to live on the farm (in a separate house of course) and consider ourselves as one big happy family. Now we understood why they wanted the whole family there! I've got to say, I've never felt so welcomed into a job in my life. We were taken for a drive around the farm and shown through the house we would be living in. A partially renovated 3 bedroom farm house. Defiantly not the worst house I've lived in but not as luxurious as our current house either. The brand new kitchen and giant walk in robe had to be my favourite part and then I realised how much character the house actually had. Very French provincial style. And the gardens were gorgeous. I had a fight with myself, the house of my dreams versus the job of Tom's dreams. An isolated house with no work versus the nicest township and LOTS of work. 4 bedrooms versus 3. Materialistic versus suck it up princess. 

We were asked to think about the opportunity on offer and get back to them but we instantly knew what our answer was going to be. "YES!!". When the time comes our dream house will be built with our own 2 hands and we will work hard in the mean time to get it. 

So its time to pack again. We hired a truck 4 days later, slept on the floor AGAIN, and 5 days after the interview, we were living and working on a dairy farm :) 

Tom loves his job and I love this farm and the community were surrounded by. We share meals every now and then, our neighbour are all lovely and far away enough that I can sing at the top of my lungs and no one hears me ;) and our new 'family' are incredibly genourous and caring. The house has grown on me immensely. I've started planting my own flowers to add to the beautiful gardens and we've been allowed to do any work to the house that we want (which we haven't started yet!). Caitlin's been at her new school for 2 days now, so far so good, and I've started playgroup with Mary and James. Our new life has only just begun but I'm already inlove with it and the best decision we ever made was making the move from the city to the country :)

Xxx

Update in general

Holy crap on a cracker! I was meant to do a baby shower haul blog, but after doing the hour long video, and the fact that it was weeks ago now, I really cannot be bothered! I'm so sorry if anyone was waiting for this but if you would like to watch the videos, this is the first part of the present haul and part 2 and 3 and the story and belly update are on my channel!

I am so so so exhausted!! I feel like I've just jumped in a time machine back to the first trimester (why couldn't it be to a happier time?) minus the morning sickness, and add a huge, uncomfortable, contracting belly. Yep, braxton hicks are at there worst now!!! I struggle to breath through them, theres so much pressure i feel like my waters are going to pop and I basically can't move ;( 

Whinge whinge whinge right?!

Well I do have a few positive things to say but ill save them for the end and leave this post on a happy note :)

So back to my sooking... I'm emotional all over again. Eg, this phone I'm typing on keeps spell checking my words completely wrong, and I just want to throw it hard against the wall and then jump on it a few times. But I'm lucky enough to still have some logic left in me. It says that would be a bad idea.. 

I really want school holidays to be over. Not because I dislike Caitlin or any of this is her fault. She just likes to ask the same thing over and over and she does this thing where every time you speak to her she says "huh?" at least once. I've found myself yelling "OPEN YOUR FREAKIN EARS!!!" My poor child! She's now telling me she REEEEAAALLLYYY wants to go back to school. I wonder why! I think she well deserves a mummy daughter night out with lots of ice cream and pancakes!!

Don't even get me started on MJ! Why did she have to be such a genius?! She is currently saying to me "mummy, mummy, MUMMY, mummy, I want milk, I want milk, mummy, I want milk, MUMMY". Her new favourite sentence at 20 months is "I want....." Which she uses maybe 200 times a day. Her first sentence was "love you" at 18 months. I liked that sentence. Her favourite activity it to figure out ways to spill all the water out of her spill proof sippy cups. All over the house. ATM it's straight onto my bed. God help me.

So what do you get when you put an emotional, tired pregnant woman with an "I WANT" toddler and an off with the fairies 7 year old who can't stand her little sister? 

Mum: hiding in bed with a pillow over her head.

Caitlin: spacing out to the tv screaming "oi" at MJ every 2 seconds

MJ: pulling all my plastic stuff out of my kitchen cupboards still repeating "I want milk"..

I usually have alot more control over my household but I tried to keep everyone in check yesterday and ended up balling my eyes out until Tom came and saved the day. I cleaned our bedroom, but then dumped all the clean washing in there so it now looks like a tip. I cleaned the girls room, but then MJ and Caitlin decided to have a play date in there. I cleaned the lounge room about 5 times, who am I kidding? That room will never be clean. I tried doing dishes but by the time I got through the cups, there was no drying room left and I had to cook dinner. So now all the dinner dishes are added to that. Meanwhile im having constant braxton hicks which are becoming painful, especially when i have to bend down 1000 times a day to pick stuff up off the floor. I made the executive decision to turn on the sprinkler so I could sit for 5 minutes and threw MJ and Caitlin outside. Didn't take them long to get bored and for Caitlin to start getting frustrated with MJ. So I put dirt covered MJ in the shower while I finished off dinner then got her dressed and both girls fed. MJ's dinner ended up all over my freshly steam cleaned floor (My fault. Haven't got around to buying a plastic mat), all through her hair and basically her eye balls were the only thing not covered in dinner. By this point I was holding back tears so I put them both in the shower (again!) and collapsed on my bed in tears. Which is when my night in shining armour came home from golf and dressed the girls, put them to bed, and fed me a gallon of icy cold water. Oh I forgot to mention, it was really hot yesterday too.

I experienced alot of pain yesterday which is basically telling me I over did it, so today I'm relaxing while my children destroy my house. Which is why I'm in my bedroom (doors and ears open of course). So I don't freak out over the mess lol.

I'm hoping that my energy comes back soon because I was so excited to start writing lists for our hospital bags and what's left to buy for jelly bean. I got together all the clothes that I want for myself at the hospital, then I forced myself to do jelly beans clothes a few days later (I was tired by this point) and now every time I look at that bag, I cringe. I keep thinking, if I go into labour, at least I won't be spending my time in hospital naked. Who needs toiletries and comfort items? Lol. With MJ I was super excited to pack our bags. That thing was organised right down to the last hair tie!! And surprisingly not over packed. And as I said I got just as excited this time around but about 4 days ago I hit a brick wall and all my energy and giving a cr*p went out the window. It's actually quite depressing, maybe I need some retail therapy. Or maybe just some therapy? Lol.

Today is shopping/bill day. This day comes every Tuesday and I actually get really excited for this day because it starts off my week. And because I'm super organise so I feel a great achievement when all the bills are payed and the cupboards and fridge are full! I got out of bed around 7am. Fed myself and MJ (Caitlin feeds herself). Got dressed. Checked out all my social media sights. Wrote this post. And it's now 10:30am and I want to go back to bed!! What is wrong with me?????? I actually want to slap myself in the face. Please please please let this stage of pregnancy end soon! Some people take this opportunity to relax but I can't think of anything worse then spending the day sitting on my butt. When i put a movie on, within 5 minutes im up vacuuming or doing the dishes! 

Is anyone else going through this? Because I really feel for you!

Well after I post this I am getting up and heading out :) I think the only person who can help me is me (and a bunch of cuddles off Tom ;p) We were given a gift voucher for Coles Myer so I'm going to go take our last laybys off, which are full of hospital goodies, and I'm positive that will get me excited for finishing off our hospital bags. Ill still slowly add to them over the coming weeks but i'd like to have majority of it done by 35-36 weeks. And I will defiantly be posting a video and blog post on this! Promise ;)

Jelly bean is now head down which gives me quite a bit of pressure and I've been told I have an irritable uterus which means it contracts with almost any movement I or the baby do! But although this is really uncomfortable, it's giving me hope that this baby won't be late, unlike my girls who just didn't want to leave mummy!

My skin has cleared up nicely. I don't think I mentioned that it was bad but all the junk I ate over Xmas and with the very hot weather we had, I had a major, very painful break out. I'm really trying to take care of it so I'm glad it's showing such great improvement :) I kind of just use what ever is on hand so it's not worth doing a skincare routine for you guys. But I will get around to going into a beauty store once jelly bean is born and asking what products are best for my skin (oily, rosatia, large pores). Once I have all the proper products, I plan on doing a video :)

My weight has stabilised at 73-74kgs. Although this means I've only gained 4-5kgs, I don't feel underweight or malnourished so I'm actually happy about this. I'm defiantly more plump in the breast, belly and bum area so that's a good sign of weight gain!!

We haven't picked a name yet!! We have 2 that we like but they haven't made me go 'ding ding ding'. I'm trying not to stress about this and just let it come to me :) All my favourite names, Tom doesn't like and vice versa. So we're left with using names that we think are average. If you have any suggestions, leave them in the comments! I'm thinking the name will come to me in some major epiphany moment. I can imagine it now. Walking to the car with all my shopping in hand and suddenly all the bags break (my luck). Over runs a kind old man who offers to help pick up my groceries, although he is fragile himself, and he says "hi my names....." And it will be the best name ever. Or the worst, and ill end up rolling around on the ground laughing.. 

So that concludes all my updates and I really better go as MJ is now naked, sitting in the (not turned on) shower playing with cat food :) 

Xxx

DISCLAIMER: I would not trade being a mother for anything in the world! Sometimes we just need to let off some steam (or alot!). I wrote this blog post as I know many mothers have days like these  and can relate. Stay sane my fellow mummy's!

Xxx

32 week pregnancy update

This week has been one of the hottest weeks I can remember and I've had to go without aircon ;( It's been a constant 42-45c (107-113f) all week but I must say I coped pretty well considering I baby sat 2 out of the 5 hot days and had to have the dogs inside the whole time (out of the full sun). 

Plus there was the cakes and cupcakes I had to make for the baby shower, the last minute shopping and we steam cleaned the house twice!! Although I drank a tonne of water, I had to stop every half an hour because it really took its toll on me.

But on a happier note, we had our baby shower yesterday (I'm writing this on Sunday) and it was such a fantastic day! I usually plan these big parties and I end up stressed out over making the food and setting myself decorating tasks that I know I could never complete. And then of course the morning of my parties I end up with 10 text msgs off people cancelling for one reason or another and then half the people show. So basically most of my parties are epic fails! This time I was incredibly organised and very calm. I decided to take short cuts where I could, packet mix cake mixed with my own ingredients to make one very tasty cake, pre making what I could days before, set the main table up the day before ect. And then a large amount of people I didn't expect to show up, did! Most of them I hadn't seen in years so it was so fun to catch up! Ill tell you all about it in my next blog post plus a present haul of all the amazing presents we received.

Week: 32 weeks

Pregnancy symptoms: I've had a boob-spurt in the last few days. Suddenly my maternity bras from my last pregnancy don't fit! I'm having quite intense braxton hicks now. They take my breath away and almost feel like the start of labour. Apparently they get worse with each pregnancy :(

Moody/happy: I've been a little sooky this week but I put that down to the heat and all the things that have been on my mind. Although I have 8 weeks to go, I'm starting to want to have everything done like wash all jelly beans stuff, pack my hospital bags and clean up Mjs car seat to turn back into an infant seat. I think my impatience is stressing me out a little. I hope it goes away soon!! Tom bought me these beautiful flowers today to cheer me up!!! :)

Total weight gain: 73.3kgs again this week. I guess my weight gain has stopped for now.

New stuff: So I didn't know what to title this, obviously lol, but I did some shopping today and would like to share! Most of the stuff I layby'd as I don't need it just yet. I got a black 3/4 sleeved feeding top as the one I currently own is all stretched. I plan on using this after the baby is born. I got 2 tops that have a deep vneck to make it easy for breast feeding but they go loose under the breast so I can wear them as soon as bubs is born and not have to worry about left over belly flab! I got a 3 pack of singlet suits as I'm not the biggest fan of singlets but these are expensive compared to singlets so I'm doing half and half. I got all the minis for the hospital, a Johnson's pack for bubs and deodorant, shampoo, conditioner mouth wash and body wash for Tom and I. I got a toiletry bag for the hospital. I got a 3 pack of muslin swaddles and 3 pack of stretchy swaddles. It will be the end of summer, start of autumn here in Australia so although I like stretchy swaddles, I have muslin ones as well so he won't overheat if its a warm day. I got an extra towel as I only have one for him so far. I got some orthodontic dummies just incase. And I think that's about it!!!

Looking forward to: It's Tom's birthday in 2 weekends and I'm looking forward to spoiling him! I'm not sure what were doing over the weekend but I think he will be very pleased with his presents :)

Xxx

31 week pregnancy update!!!!

Week: 31 weeks :)

Pregnancy symptoms: If you watch my YouTube channel or read last weeks post, you will know that Tom and I are juicing! This has given me tonnes of energy :) I've been running around like a mad hatter cleaning and organising my house! But as of yesterday I got a bit slack and only had the one in the arvo and haven't had one yet today. I notice such a big difference. I'm struggling to keep my eyes open!! My indigestion has eased up since eating very healthy too. I pretty much don't have it anymore at all!!!  I've been trying hard to stick to my facial routine but once again, the last 2 days have been slack so I've only been cleansing my face once a day, but I'm still seeing an improvement. Otherwise I just feel a little uncomfortable as jelly bean makes his way up under my ribs but I think he dropped a little to make room to grow some more!

Moody/happy: Still pretty normal! I don't feel hormonal at all :)

Total weight gain: 73.7kgs-74kgs (my scales are being stupid and giving me either one of these each time I step on and off!)

Miss anything: I miss my energy! I wish I had energy to just get everything done without having to juice ect. It seems as though all my chores are dragging out so much! And it's getting quite warm too so I miss having a nice sip on hot days like these :(

Looking forward to: I've just received some of my baby shower stuff in the mail from eBay! And I bought a few items from kmart and woolworths so I'm getting really excited about my shower. To the point that I'm mad cleaning my house and yard lol. I get a bit perfectionist sometimes when I have the energy! Can't wait :) !!

Xxx

30 week pregnancy update

Only 10 weeks left!!!! I can't believe it :) I'm still slightly in denial that we're having a baby but at the same time I'm counting down the days.

Week: 30 weeks :)

Pregnancy symptoms: Mega Mega indigestion!!! Yep my junk food days are over. Looks like a healthy diet for the next 10 weeks is in order. Infact I lost a little weight over the past 2 days from eating healthy. Tom is on a juicing/ clean eating diet so I've joined in a bit and I'm feeling great :) To watch the first episode on his weight loss journey and juice recipes click here.

Moody/happy: Happy as Larry this week :)

Total weight gain: 73.3kgs! Lost all that Christmas pudding weight lol. I think I stabilised at this point with the girls. Then I gained a few kilos at the the end as they porked up :) Looks like it will happen again this time around.

Best moment this week: Tom and I welcomed the new year with a fire in our yard, some tunes and some non alcoholic sparkling! Then we were surprised as we were surrounded by fireworks from our neighbours! It was pretty magical :) 

We have now set up the bassinet in our room for jelly bean. I'm thinking he will sleep in this for 4-6months. It still needs all the material cleaned which I will do closer to his due date. We also had a problem with cupboard/drawer space so we came up with a very thought out solution. We have joined the girls bedrooms, Made a play room, and Tom's nan gave us a HUGE cupboard to store all his little clothes and things in. So that's in the play room too :) What a brilliant idea! It's working very well for us for the time being. No more destroyed bedrooms or lounge room and now we don't have to clutter our room with jelly beans stuff!

Xxx