Sunday 30 December 2012

closing time...

And so another year comes to a close.
Before you point it out, yes I have not posted for aaaaaages...I couldn't tell you why really other than I simply haven't felt like it. That's all really.

This, 2012, has been a good year. We have welcomed Maggie into the family, J has gotten a new job, Elanor has started kindy and I...well...I'm not sure really. But I have been doing stuff, I swear! I am in a strange place at the moment where I feel a bit like I'm just doing the minimum to get by, a kind of groundhog day funk. I'm sure it'll pass.

In the coming year I look forward to being part of friends' weddings, welcoming some bebes, furthering my sewing, nurturing relationships, taking steps towards making our big build a reality, getting tattooed, making time for husband/wife dates, hanging with the littles, a trip or two around the place, perhaps adding to our brood, doing some sweet baking and learning how to crochet...amongst other things...



Sayonara 2012...it's been nice.

Sunday 11 November 2012

Saturday 3 November 2012

inadequecy anxiety...!!

I am having my first full cast meeting and read through for TT this afternoon, in half an hour to be exact (get of the computer Katie. Iknow, I know!) and am having some last minute nerves...
What if they lose faith in me from the outset? What if they think I don't know what I'm talking about...I do find it quite hard to put into words that people understand what is happening in my head... What if, what if?!
I think I feel pressure as one of my leads is like...THE summer Shakespeare, you know? Like he has been doing it so long and always (sound like he) knows what he's talking about and is so calm and collected and yes, OK, I have an intellectual crush - don't worry, we all know about it and countless other women do too.
I have everything I want to say in my head, let's just hope it comes out in normal people speak!

Anyway, smallest babe is asleep, biggest is pottering in the garden with J, biscuits are baked and iced tea is in the fridge. Wish me luck?


Thursday 1 November 2012

and so it begins....

This year, well technically next year, but...this year I am directing the Slip of the Tongue Shakespeare at the Hamilton Gardens Arts Festival.We're doing The Tempest, 'cos it's one of my favourites and that's as good a reason as any, right?

It's going to have a broken down old circusy (it's a word spellcheck, leave me alone!) kind of feel...strings of lights...yellowed lace...red tail coat and the like, crossed with a steampunk thing going on for the shipwrecked ones. Well, that's the idea anyway.

I have already had my first fail. My Oxford Shakespeare was too fat for the copy machine so I had to be rescued by a man who, by the end of this process, is going to be more than deserving of a nice bottle of thank you whiskey from me.

This weekend is the first read through... it begins...

Sunday 28 October 2012

Biscuits a-plenty!

I have found the perfect biscuit recipe for Mamas... You can split the mix once it's ready and flavour it with...anything really - ginger, sprinkles, chocolate chips, raisins, lavender...

I imagine, not being a mother of school children, that this would be an awesome lunchbox baking trick.

500g butter
1 cup sugar
4 1/2 cups flour
6 tbsp condensed milk
vanilla esc.
4 tsp baking powder

cream the butter and sugar...add the condensed milk and vanilla...mix in the dry ingredients. This is when you split and flavour or put some in the freezer.
This batch I have done choc chippie, raspberry essence and coconut and sprinkles (flatten the top into hundreds and thousands).
Roll into walnut size balls and put on a baking tray.
Bake for around 20mins at 160 degrees C.

this is a half batch...made about 30(ish)!



Tuesday 16 October 2012

Christmas for the Mr...

So the Mr has been coveting deco arm chairs for a while now... Eventually we hope to turn what is currently my sister's room into a space in which he can counsel clients from home. It's pretty much perfect for it - outside door, parking space, own bathroom. Anyway, this chair would go in there one day but for now it will grace our lounge and will be more than big enough for Daddy/Ellie bedtime stories.


I found it on trademe so now am hunting for fabric to recover it (and possibly the foot stool depending on the condition). I'm pretty sure he'll be STOKED...just thinking of a big reveal plan for Christmas morn! 

Will keep you updated on project progress...

Monday 15 October 2012

Birthday birthday...

So we have been convinced up until this point that we were going to get Elanor a kune kune for her upcoming 3rd birthday...like these guy...


ohmygosh couldn't you just eat them up! Not literally, of course. We thought it'd 1. be a cool gift 2. be a good way to teach her about caring for animals and why we as a family don't eat them and 3. be like a little dog and they'd be the best of friends forever and ever! But....as Jason quite rightly said last night, the thought of bringing in something else that we (because it will be all on us for a few years) have to be responsible for, with the "sleep situation" and everything else seems...well...a bit mad! So the piggy may have to wait until next year. Or, if I get my way, until Christmas, because we all know Maggie will be sleeping like a champ by then har har har...

Now we're stuck as to what to get her, as we'd be so set on a pig...thinking caps ON!


Wednesday 10 October 2012

Miss Maggie SIX(!)Months...






Maggie is 6 months old...where has it gone?? This month we had a guest spot in Miss Rosemary's chair on our trip to Wellington. Good chair. Very good chair! Maggie has been watching us eat intently and has been licking a variety of foods (including the pictured carrot). She has begun a love affair with Farley's rusks...mine still continues to this day...shame! Sleeping-wise she is getting worse and worse, but we'll focus on the cute smushyness and not the feed me every hour in the night-ness. It's official - she's mobile! Getting around in an army crawl style but she is getting up there on fours so stair-gate at the ready! We are all enjoying being four (mostly!) and are looking forward to getting amongst some sunshine and embracing the changes in and around us.

I guess we're on the slow decline (!) to Christmas now, but we have two birthdays before then - mine and Ellie's. Well, three because my Dad's is on Saturday too. Cake ahoy!

another no-cry sleep update...

no cry? NO cry?! Is this even possible? At the moment I would tell you not. Maggie seems inconsolable when she wakes up every hour or so, until I feed her that is.
We have been going with the book but I guess we have to "re-evaluate our plan" and try again....?
I am getting seriously over it but what can you do?
Remaining fluid and going with it is hard when all you want to do is rest your weary head for more than an hour and, to be honest, I thought we'd have it "sorted" by now. It's true, no to babies are the same...not even ones that came from the same belly, made from the same parts. Oh well...

Monday 1 October 2012

no-cry sleep solution update...

I was going to do an update yesterday morning but after the cussing awful sleep Sunday night, I thought I'd wait!
It is going quite well, I guess. We are down to waking every 3 hours now so about 3 times a night. I must say it was hard at first, not feeding her every time she woke but then I realized she wasn't actually hungry because she went (almost) straight back to sleep after a cuddle or a pat.
I am guilty of, if she doesn't go straight back to sleep, giving in and feeding her back to sleep. Which must be fine with me because I'm doing it - if that makes sense.

So for now...this is good.
We truly were spoilt with the first babe sleep-wise. We were thinking the other day that when Elanor was about this age we went to our friends' wedding...and someone else fed her a bottle of expressed milk and put her to bed for the night. Craziness! Not so with this one...and apart from the tiredness, I don't mind all tht much that she seems to need me a little bit more.


Friday 28 September 2012

mental health time...

Lately I have been feeling a little...well, not good. I guess all the things that come with having small ones - tired, messy...like all I do is change, wipe, wash, hang, repeat...there are only so many games of hide and seek a Mama can play with a toddler who tells you exactly where she's going to hide first! In short, it was time for some mental health time and a near perfect opportunity presented itself....


It was so good to just lie for a couple of hours, talk, have time to think and I even almost nodded off at one point! And now I feel that my equilibrium has been restored and I am refreshed and ready to change, wipe, wash and hang with new vigor!

Some people like hot stone massages and facials...but I'd rather get stuck with a high speed neddle over and over...go figure.

Plus, to make the boys at Custom Collective even more super cool, they don't even bat an eyelid at a bit of baby-feeding in the shop. Chur!

Tuesday 25 September 2012

something to make me smile...

these beautiful people are coming to NZ next March...sighs of joy.
we'll see if we'll see.


Sunday 23 September 2012

feeling stupid...

I am feeling like a bit of a moron at the moment...it could be the intense mouth pain, lack of sleep or countless distractions but I get one job, ONE job to do and I muck it up.
I am not used to feeling stupid. I am usually quite bright. Mind you, I am usually a lot of things that I am not at the moment... patient, warm (not in a temperature sense), energetic, focused (in a scatty sort of way...), able to remain fluid and roll with the punches, sharp... you get the picture.
Perhaps I need to set myself a cerebral project without a strict deadline and see if that helps me to shake these feelings of moronity - not even a word ow. I know.

Failing that, I need to go to the beach...




 

Saturday 22 September 2012

Nercodancer - 'Til undeath do us part...


as you do...

is it weird that this is what makes me feel normal?


 as part of the Hamilton Fringe 2012 we are doing an even where basically we dress up as zombie brides and dance in the centre of town.  I have been feeling a bit off lately (had 3 teeth pulled out of my head yesterday too so that'll help...) and dressing up and getting back to "work" has restored a little bit of my normal self. I am a person outside of and apart from being a Mama and we often let ourselves forget that...good job we have fake blood and slashed up wedding dresses to remind us!




Saturday 15 September 2012

no-cry sleep solution...

We are currently reading this book and trying to implement the things in it to get all of us some sweeter and much needed sleep. Except Elanor, of course; she always gets a solid (at least) 11 hours - lucky bugger!

Maggie has been getting worse with sleeping, both at night and napping. I won't bore you with the specifics as I know for a fact that other Mamas have it worse, but I realized it was becoming a problem for us (and in turn for her) as we hadn't done this before - Elanor has been a badass sleeper from about 6 weeks old. Not this time..Not Maggie...

So I picked up Pantley's no-cry sleep solution on the way out of La Leche League on Thursday and have been recording Maggie's sleep as shown in the book since Thursday night. Basic gist so far - she doesn't sleep enough. I could have told you that before...but seriously, she is getting around 3 hours less a day than she should" be and a big culprit is the nap, or the lack thereof. Maggie will nap for around 45 mins max, if I'm lucky and the wind is blowing in the right direction etc etc. I have been trying over the last two days to help her extend her naps and thus (hopefully) improve her night time sleeping. So far we are making baby steps (!) - she is asleep now and has been for an hour, but I'm not holding my breath.

As far as the book goes I am loving the ideas and coping/changing strategies in it. I also love the fact that the author is a mother of 4 (2 good sleepers and 2 not so much....hence the book) and that she includes anecdotes from real life test Mamas. I think the most important thing I have taken from the book so far is a strategy to help the babe get out of suckling until they are completely asleep and that change takes time.... I have never been and never will be part of the cry-it-out camp (cry what out exactly?) so Pantley's methods appeal on a number of levels. We are going to give it another night or so of recording then look at the situation and decide which changes we're going to put in place over the next 10 days or so. The from there...I'll keep you updated. 'Cos you so care...maybe you do, if your baby (current or future) isn't sleeping that well either and is leaving you looking and feeling like a trackpanted, muss-haired undead.


here's hoping for a bit more of this...


Wednesday 12 September 2012

Miss Maggie FiveMonths...

This is Maggie...she is now 5 months old. Wow!


..she is (as you can see) pretty free and easy with the smiles, most of the time.
Maggie loves rolling around the floor and kind of shunting herself forwards to get around.
She LOVES Elanor, boob and that little plastic teething fish (photo left).
Night time sleeping is becoming crappier but we're just weathering the storm for now.
She has big blue eyes, slightly ginger hair and a little red strawberry on her bum.

We are as in love as ever. Happy Whanau. 

Saturday 8 September 2012

one of those ones...

There are times when I feel like it is all getting on top of me. Now is one of those...
But it's before 8am...yes, yes it is.

Elanor got up at the sparrows fart (which she never ususally does) after I had been up and down up and down all night with the other (which is becoming a more frequent thing...). So far there are nappies in the washing machine I can't remember whether I've washed, my teeth are killing me, a wee on the carpet, tears because the giant hoodie won't stay on the rather small tiger and a spilled cup of tea. So yes, it is all getting on top of me pre-8am.

99.9% of the time I am madly in love with my children, whether they're being "good" or not but, and I hate to admit it, there is a small portion of time in which I want to leave the house on my own and do something for half a day. I know, I know, my time will come... In fact it is supposed to come in about 6 weeks when we're supposed to be going up to Auckland to see Mumford & Son but I am toying with the idea of selling the tickets (not that I've told the mister yet, or my parents, who bought mine for my birthday). Maggie will not take breast milk from anything but my breast and the pessimist in me doesn't see that changing in the next 6 weeks... I don't want to force it and upset her. I also don't want to leave her if she's going to be upset about it. Contradiction much...I just said I wanted to run away and do something on my own...but that's just one of those hazy daydream things without real consequences. You know the one where you're slim and beautifully dressed with perfectly tousled locks and you grab one of those small handbags you used to carry and run out of the door into a gorgeous spring day filled with lounging around in bar gardens, eating a whole bowl of curly fires to yourself and moseying around shops/gardens/galleries and everyone at home is fine... one of those ones.

My guess is that on days like these you just have to take comfort in those things that don't make you want to cry.

Wednesday 5 September 2012

baby brain major incident #1...

I think I've done well to get 4.5 months into baby #2's life without major dumb-dumb boo boos... yesterday I fell. Hard. I booked tickets FROM wellington TO auckland and back again when really I wanted tickets TO wellington FROM auckland and back again... duh!
All sorted now after much crying on the phone to air NZ with a baby squeaking and a toddler yelling "my tun now, I'll talk to dada thanks" in the background and $40 more!

Brain. Please do not do that to me again. Or at least play fair and give me warning?
Thanks, love Kate

Tuesday 4 September 2012

taking a trip...

I am so so super jump around excited...but also a little nervous...the babes and I are taking a trip to Wellington, sans Daddy. I saw flights on grab a seat for $39 each way and thought please overdraft thank you! Neither of them have been to Wellington before (not that they'll remember or appreciate it!) and Maggie is yet to meet a very dear and special friend of mine, Rosemary.
Luckily the plane journey is only an hour...I just dread juggling babes, bags and paperwork at the airport but I'm sure we'll be fine. I mean, I flew all the way to England, granted I only had one little, but still...

HUZZAH!!

Monday 3 September 2012

late night nursery rhymes...

hickory dickory dock
the time is two o'clock
in the am, not the pm but it's pretty much the same.
diddle diddle dumpling sleepy grin
one boob out, one boob in
in out, in out, shake it all about
please, just drink.
now I lay me down to sleep...
see saw margery daw
what's that baby, you want some more?
I can't work any faster.
star light, star bright
here comes the morning light
this little piggy went weeweegiggleburpcry all the way home.
it's raining, it's pouring
is that daddy snoring?
he's gone back to sleep, but what's the use in being awake
it's me you want.
need.
 

 

Sunday 2 September 2012

one for the dads...

Today is Father's day...woohoo! In our house we made Daddy cards, framed a photo and made some yummy treats. Cheap, cheerful but most of all from the heart. Daddy was stoked.





And so, to the Dads...

strong, silent chief of chiefs.
why do dads have mustaches?
smiles come easily.

knees are for bouncing. 
late night bail-outs, taxi man.
our little secret.

sleepy chest cuddles.
reading the same book over.
thank you dads, thank you. 

xx

Thursday 30 August 2012

spring sprung...

it is definitely feeling like spring is beginning to ...spring (?) around here at the moment. Today we had our lunch al fresco out back and played in the grass for a while.






after the food was gone, Elanor was nowhere to be seen - as per...it seems like that girl never stops! It is days like these that I am SO grateful that my babes have all this green to run, roll and crawl around in; trees to climb, hills to slide down, sheep to talk to and all without leaving home. Blessed.


bring on a weekend full of this, please and thank you...

Tuesday 28 August 2012

babes...

I am totally into One Born Every Minute at the moment - I stay up especially (past my bedtime!!) on a Tuesday night to watch it... and cry. At least once. Every week.
It. Is. Amazing.
Then someone mentioned birth videos on Youtube....One Born ondemand!!
There is something so amazing about the miracle of birth and remembering all the things physical, mental, spiritual that it brought forth when it was your turn. Wow!
I can't wait for one of my friends to have a baby! Who's next??
and can I come? Just kidding....kind of....


Toasty love...

for all it's worth to my many thousands of followers (!!), here is a giveaway you should TOTALLY get amongst over at the Toast Clothing facebook page. Rhiannon is giving away a $25 voucher to her felt shop, woohoo! Thanks you lovely lady you xx

Sunday 26 August 2012

on ladies and bodies...

following on from my last post I have been thinking more about ladies and the strange relationships we seem to have with our bodies. Not being a man (!) I can't say that all men are totally fine with the way their bodies are but I think, generally, they are not as preoccupied with theirs as we ladies are with ours.

I have had an on-off (mainly on) negative relationship with my body for a good...ooh...15 years? One which has consisted of being a chubby kid, then skinnier then fat then skinny and thinking I was fat then medium then having a baby then being fat then having another baby and being in my current situation which is....what? Unhappy?

Why does this seem to be a common thing with women? Or is it only the women who I talk to, surely not. Why is it that we seem to spend most of our lives being unhappy with the body we currently have and walking around with grey clouds containing fluctuating numbers, lumpy bits, sexy chocolate bars and boring-ass  fat free yoghurt hanging over our heads? A study in 2006 showed that on the whole young girls were more afraid of becoming fat than they are of nuclear war, cancer or losing their parents. How on earth did we get to that point? It is scary to think, having two little girls of my own, that this is the way the "mainstream" is headed... or are we already there? Is it the media, ourselves, our peers...or d) all of the above, who have so ingrained thoughts of weight-watching into our minds and more importantly the minds of our little ones?

I realize that not all ladies struggle with these thoughts - more power to you sisters! But I am and probably always will be one of the ones who does. While I appreciate the whole fat activism, fat acceptance movement, it really isn't for me - just because you're fatter than me and love your body doesn't automatically mean that I should or am going to love mine. Sorry, I'm just not.  What I am after is...body acceptance, body peace I guess. If I cannot learn to be head over heels in love with the way I look, I want to at least be able to be at peace with it in order to be a positive role model for my daughters. NZ researchers have found that 54% of girls reported dieting – most having started prior to the age of 13 years (so young!) and that exposure to dieting-related media is associated with psycho-social distress and unhealthy dieting for young women.  I would like to bring up my girls in a household where we embrace curves and jiggly bits, where we don't look at ourselves or others and see a size, where they don't hear Mama talking about dieting or how fat she is, where we are at peace with our bodies and recognize the many, many good parts (inside and out).  I know I have a few years to sort myself out (babes currently being 2.5years and 4 months!) but after 15 years it's time to start a more concerted effort towards being at peace with the lady I am and the lady I will become.

I charge you all to do it too (unless you are one of the aforementioned non-strugglers). Do it for the little ladies in your lives, do it for yourselves...
See you in the peaceful place xx



not as much of an essay as I'd feared! 
   

Wednesday 22 August 2012

true post-baby body...

So I watched Jaquie Brown's new series "Keep calm and carry on" last night and she made a big deal of showing her "post-baby body"....I thought WOW, how brave - a NZ "celebrity" ready to show the nitty gritty...and to be honest I was disappointed. I looked at her and saw...nothing. Ok, maybe a little chub but really...nothing. I look at myself and see a pile of pizza dough big enough to make deep dish for a family of 6 stuck to my front. I guess I wanted to see a body that looks like mine, now 4 months postpartum... Why do we feel the need to compare?

It was probably a huuuuuge thing for her, I don't want to cheapen it and I guess we all have issues with our bodies, especially after pregnancy (post to come...!!) but after 2 children it is safe to say my body will NEVER be the same again and I think it will take me a long time to come to terms with this. It's quite possible that I won't, but that's nothing new for me (again, post to come!). So I wanted to do something brave...more brave than Jaquie Brown, I feel, as I actually have something to "show off". So, here she is... in all her glory.... my post-baby body...




That is all...

Saturday 18 August 2012

lemon (and coconut) cake...

this is the perfect cake to bring sunshine to a rainy Sunday afternoon...

175g self raising flour
175g caster sugar
125g butter/marg
2 eggs
65ml milk
fine shredded coconut (optional)
zest of lemon...as much as your family enjoy

3 Tbsp sugar
juice of 1 large or 2 small lemons


basically chuck everything (except the water and lemon juice) in a mixer and mix...pour into a prepared loaf tin and bake at 180 degrees for around 40-50mins (depending on your oven!). Poke holes in the still warm cake and pour over a syrup made from dissolving the sugar in the lemon juice. Leave to cool (if you can...) then devour....



Monday 13 August 2012

bathroom...

I got bored of looking at a white wall... so I used this tutorial to make a friendly reminder from some fabric I could find no other use for.

before...

hammer...?


after...










Public health warnings (and mine and Elanor's hands) have never looked so good...

Sunday 12 August 2012

and we're back...

after pity-party-5000 last week, we found things to make us smile this weekend. Including but not limited to a new character, Elanor breastfeeding Dora, sweet shades, new slippers, a pirate baby and Maggie looking up ways to use our land with Dada...







onwards and upwards
xx

Wednesday 8 August 2012

I'ma have a whinge up in here...

the title of this post should serve as a warning...turn back now if you don't want to hear it!

Still here? Ok then...brace yourself for some sweet, sweet negativity.

I am sick of looking like crap. "Sort your shit out then (or something to that effect" I hear you cry; if only it were that easy. Every week I promise myself I'll be good, I'll try and exercise, try and do my hair in the morning, try and ....try. Then I find myself at this end of the week feeling even worse because I haven't.
I avoid mirrors. I cried yesterday 'cos I didn't want to be filmed and I had agreed to be in some vain hope that I'd be looking better by the time it came around. Wah wah wah... you get the picture.

It's not like I want people to tell me I look good or anything (although that's always nice)...I want to feel good. I want to not have that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach when it's time to get dressed or when I catch an accidental glimpse of myself in a window or mirror. It will come in time, I know. But patience has never been one of my virtues.

On the upside, Elanor and I have been enjoying having a dance to this today.... dance party!


Monday 6 August 2012

If we're offending you please feel free to put a blanket over your head...

BFF #5: Remarkably, your breasts will only produce as much milk as your baby needs, no more and no less. When you start breastfeeding, your breasts will start producing more milk, but as feedings slow down, your body just naturally stops producing it. Magic!

I have never been afraid to nurse in public, right from the word go. I think it is due to super support from my husband and family and to thinking about it logically - baby needs food, feed baby.
I understand that some women do not feel comfortable feeding in public, something which is not made easier when people make comments like "why do you have to flop 'em out here"...and other such charming "tit" related comments. Please at least say breast or boob even and make yourself sound a tad more classy. Anyway...I digress.
I am always discreet about it but never hide. No blankets here thank you! More trouble than it's worth if you ask me. But that's me.

having a "coffee" out with Nana


Sunday 5 August 2012

frozen treats...

BFF #4: if babe has a bunged up nose, squirt some milk up it!

This is most of the milk I have collected since Maggie was born - around 3.6L of it.


The thing is....I'm going to have to use lots of it in the next 2-4 months... eep! I have connected with the Human Milk 4 Human Babies Aotearoa network so am hoping to give some away to someone that needs it.
Mags is not interested in a bottle and I don't want it going to waste really. I am still collecting about 400-600mL a week too. Got Milk? Heck yeah we do!


Saturday 4 August 2012

weaning...or not...

BFF #3: breast milk can be used to get rid of warts - true story!

I often find myself wondering how long Maggie will feed for (already?! I hear you screaming). Only because one day, out of the blue, at 10 months old Elanor just stopped. She was still feeding around 4-6 times a day and just stopped. I tried offering her the breast for about 2 weeks with the only result being me getting upset, so finally gave it up as a lost cause. It really threw me off...I was, for some reason, expecting a nice gentle weaning period. Not so. Which is why I wonder whether the same thing will happen again, or not.

check those delicious rolls!
 For now we are just packing on the pounds! Unfortunately that refers to both of us...but that's for another day. sigh.

Friday 3 August 2012

cryptic much?

I am in the very early stages of starting a new project.  I'm not entirely sure if it will be a "keeper" but let's just say I hope to heck it is! I am super excited but just have to sort things a few things out first then who knows, maybe this time next year I'll be playing a show in your town. Woop!

sweet, milky dreams...

Last feed before a big sleep...always a sweet one.



Night night

Wednesday 1 August 2012

on demand...

BFF #2: almost three-quarters of mamas produce more milk with their right breast (no correlation to being right or left - handed).

I have never been one to parent to a schedule and feeding is no different. With both babes this is where you have generally found me from 7.30pm until around anywhere between 9 and 10pm (when I slink with sleeping babe down to bed)...feeding. Cluster feeding.
Elanor gave this "routine" up around 6 months and just had a "dinner" feed then a "supper" feed. It will be interesting to see whether Maggie does the same. Either way, we just roll with the punches in this whare.



Sitting like this for 2 hours gives me the perfect excuse to watch Coronation St., read books and/or stare at my ever changing little one.

Tuesday 31 July 2012

diy Disco heels...

1 pair of black heels - $25, Kmart
a packet of black glitter
pva glue
paintbrush

basically, paint the glue on the bits of the shoe that you want to sparkle-ify (I have done the heel and the front platformy bit) and add the glitter. I also sprayed them with clear varnish afterwards...et voila!

should have cleaned them before I took the picture...damn you fantastic new camera getting all the detail!


Just to clear something up, 'cos I do hear you there sniggering "those will look good while you hang out the washing/play trains/change nappies Katie..." - they're for my exceedingly glamorous little sister. What? They could be for me...they could totally be for me.... they couldn't could they? sigh.

Breastfeeding week...

1st to 7th of August is Worldwide Breastfeeding Week, so I figured a shot a day of the little one at boob wouldn't go amiss... accompanied by some breastfeeding fun facts and some stories from the milky pirates of this household.

BFF#1:  Breastfed baby poo stinks less than formula fed baby poo - that's gotta be a plus!

this is how feeding is for us most of the day at the moment...Elanor has to get amongst the action...


Maggie is a great feeder, Jason calls her the BoobHound! If she is in his arms and I come in close enough for her to smell or see she'll wriggle and wriggle in my direction until he relinquishes her. Kind of have to feel sorry for Dadas but hey. get some boobs and make some tasty milk...then we'll talk.