Infant Weight Watchers... *rolls eyes*

As many of my readers may know I had a baby 12 weeks ago, a gorgeous little man who is the light of mine and hubby's life, born 7lb 13oz, the little guy was smaller than we expected as we were told to expect a 9lb or 10lb, needless to say we had a wardrobe full of 000 clothing that didn't initially fit, having to opt for the 0000 clothes first of all instead.. I didn't buy too many, thankfully because the little fella grew super quickly into his 000 wardrobe in no time at all (2 weeks later) and now he is moving into the 00 clothes! I already have 2 bag fulls of clothes that he has outgrown!

 My point though, isn't that I wasted money on lots of clothes (I have no problem with that at all.. I enjoy every minute of clothes shopping..  ) What concerns me of late, is the amount of people who feel its OK to comment on my babies size.. like he is a supermodel or something.. "Ooh he's a little chubby" "Look at those rolls" (although I for the life of me, can't see rolls.. ) or even "What a big boy".  Yes, he is quite tall and certainly doesn't have numerous rolls so I think he looks 100% adorable and 100% healthy!  My elder son grew in the same fashion and by 5 months he was a size 0.. now he is a super skinny 6 year old, I don't think he has an obese bone in his whole body..

I sometimes feel like asking these infant Jenny Craig activists if they think I should send bub to the gym, perhaps a calorie controlled diet? Cut out the carbs perhaps.. LOL. He drinks bottles for goodness sakes.. he is hardly down at McDonald's every day binge eating. It just amazes me how people think it's OK to make such comments.. I hardly think they'd like it if I pointed out their second chin, fat ass or the couple of extra kilo's they gain here and there.. so why do they think its OK to tell a baby they are fat?  

Just my random observation for the day.. :) 

Crazy Busy Disorganised Chaos.. But making progress :-)

Well life has slowly been returning to a 'new kind of normal' in our household this week. Jobs that were getting done by bedtime (such as making the bed, before you get in it.. or showering for the first time when you would normally be taking your nighttime shower etc..) have been getting done in a more timely fashion (even if mine and hubby's dinner was eaten at 11pm this evening!)  Organised chaos, isn't that what they call it?  Although I would probably still describe our household as disorganised chaos, compared to the 'before' shot.. but hey.. its early days and were still in the trial and error stage when it comes to forming a routine that works around Charlies, 'Non-routine'.  

 At this point in time, Hubby and I taking half the night each - one does the early bottle, one does the late and the bottle/s in between we are both awake for - we find we are both too drowsy to go this bottle alone & whilst one is feeding, the other is ironing the uniforms and preparing the lunches for the next day.  This seems to work well, although the last thing you feel like doing is ironing and preparing lunches at 2am.  Charlie seems to like sleep, but he tends to sleep more on his 'mobile basinettes' (aka - Mummy & Daddy) and his rocker over his basinette.  Im on top of the washing now (2 days ago after a few days rain was another story..) but the ironing pile makes Mt Everest look like a teensy hill - I really must tackle that tomorrow morning (although I think iv said that to myself for a month prior to Charlie's arrival!). 

My other littlies homework is all up to date and we have been enjoying our regular Thursday night shopping trip.. I like to keep things as normal as I can for him, I don't want him to feel like he is missing out now just because there is a baby in the house.  After all, he is my baby too and was used to having me largely to himself for 6 years.. Sometimes I feel insanely guilty when the times he wants to do something is bottle time, but getting him involved with Charlie and seeing their relationship is so heartwarming - he really is a great big brother and should be so proud of himself, as we are. 

Some of the things I am planning on embarking on next are;

* The ironing..

* The garden.. (planting out for Spring)

* Getting back into the swing of baking regularly

(I have 2 tubs of untouched cookie dough that cost a fortune sitting in the fridge..)

* Online shopping for groceries...

* Venturing out a little more..

* Organising a bills and budget folder to maximise my 'home' time.

*  Venturing back to work 1 day per week

So yes, I have a few things in the pipeline that I will chip away at for the next couple of months.. I know its early days yet and our family is still adjusting to adding a new little person to the mix, but we wouldn't have it any other way.. I can't say we are going to go back and have any more..we'll see what the future holds, but for now a grand total of 5 kids between, we couldn't ask for any more (Well maybe just a little more sleep.. hehehe).

The last 3 weeks..

The last 3 weeks in our household have been filled with baby goodness!! Our new addition, Charlie Oliver arrived on the 26th July and ever since our world has been a whirlwind of baby snuggles, bottles, sleepless nights and nappies :-)  But of course, we wouldn't change a thing because he is super adorable and we spend the majority of our days staring at the gorgeous little man... Born at 7lb 13oz, Charlie was  a lot smaller than i'd imagined him to be (after looking like I was carrying 3 babies of that size!) and when he was born, the first thing I exclaimed was 'Isn't he soo tiny!'  and hubby said 'Look at all that hair!' (after being used to bald, blonde babies).

We spent 4 days in the hospital, hubby stayed the first night with me, which was good as I was still attached to a drip from the c-section & it was nice for him to be able to get used to our little guy, we spent the majority of the night in awe of the little fella, amazed at how we made something so perfect. Since coming home, we've had a few sleepless nights (thank goodness for foxtel - we've watched quite a bit of Channel V and a whole heap of baby stories on Discovery Home & Health)  but we tend to take 'shifts' so we at least get a few hours sleep each -  I'v been doing the 'lates' and he the 'early's'. 

All of the other kids have settled in really well with a baby in the house and are all proud big Brothers and Sisters.. although my eldest Stepson has repeatedly forgotten his baby Brother's name, this is nothing unusual for him though.. he didn't remember his teachers name after the first term holidays.. odd!  

Well id best go and catch a few more Zzzz's whilst I can this morning.. Night all. 

Good afternoon Blog, long time - No see..

Well, I can't believe its been a month since I last posted on my blog! How time flies, when your having fun (or keeping busy, as in this case!) I am so thankful that it is school holidays and life has slowed down to the crawl that I intend to enjoy for the next 2 weeks..  So what has been happening in our little neck of the woods?  
* I had been busy with work but i'm finished now.. I finished up last Thursday, but prior to this I was trying to do a few days each week of relief work. 
* The days I wasn't doing relief work I was attending events at the kids school, doctors appointments or shopping.. filling most of my days in nicely from morning til school pickup!
* We finished organising the nursery, Hubby did a fantastic job in setting it all up and we decorated it together.. It is just as we'd both hoped and always imagined - very happy with it all.
* My Mum spent a few days in the hospital with a bad back, so I was up visiting her and helping her out in the week after she came home.. thankfully she is on the mend now, which is nice.. awful to see someone you love in so much agony.
*And on the weekend my Mum and Aunty threw me a lovely baby shower! Which was a gorgeous day with lots of gorgeous ladies in my life. I was in charge of creating the games, so that kept me busy for quite some time..

So nothing exciting or glamorous, just the day to day activities that keep us all busy.  So here I am - Kids on holidays, me on maternity leave, 4 weeks to go til the little Mr arrives and planning on enjoying the next few weeks before we're reintroduced to the world of babies.. Hope you have all been keeping well too..

Isn't technology amazing..

Yesterday I went along and had a non-diagnostic 4D scan performed, Initially I had said I wasn't going to, as I wanted to leave something as a 'surprise' but in the end I decided to book in for one as my earlier scans never really gave me much insight into the little life growing inside of me.  I was so glad I did have a 4D scan now, because it was an absolutely awesome experience!  The place where I went was so lovely and professional and the ladies they couldn't have been nicer.  Up to 10 people were allowed to come and view the images, so Hubby, the kids and Mum came along for the experience which was so lovely having them all there and they were so in awe of what they saw on screen also.  The room was set up with recliners for the guests and a super comfy double bed for me to lie on, which tilted so I could see the screen.  The screen was massive and very easy to see the images on.

What we saw was that our baby is definitely a boy !! And he was in there sucking on the cord, hanging onto his feet and then he snuggled up and went to sleep.  At the end of the scan we got a page full of images, a DVD of the session and a cute little keyring. Mum bought a few additional key rings for us all and off we went.. since then, its been odd when the little guy moves, in a way knowing what he looks like.. it feels pretty surreal but its definitely bought a different level to the bond I feel at this point in time I'm anticipating meeting this little person, in person and taking in those chubby cheeks and lips..

I loved sharing this moment with the kids too, like all of the cuddles they give my tummy and how they talk to the little guy through my belly button, its been adorable hearing my Son talking about being an older brother and how he wants to teach his little brother all about the world.  With a little under 2 months to go the little guy has already found a  firm place in our family and the hearts of us all.

Parties & Baby Shower Inspiration.. Baby Countdown is on..

Well as of yesterday there is officially 10 weeks to go until the little one makes his arrival, which put me in a kind of panic - today there is only 69 days to go!  69 days will go in the blink of an eye I'm sure and at this point in time, I feel so disorganised..

I'm more than 100% certain that by this point last time (my memory may be a little fuzzy it was 7 years ago now) that I was more organised than this, I think I was adding the finishing touches.. not just starting! But oh well, I do still have 69 days to pull this whole thing together & I usually work better under pressure.

Another thing that we decided upon yesterday was my baby shower date, which my Mum and Aunty were so lovely to want to organise for me, I love a party or an excuse to party plan so I'm really looking forward to it on the 26th June (exactly 1 month before the little man's arrival) and having a get together with the lovely ladies I call my friends and family.

An avid reader of some gorgeous blogs, I love how some of these talented ladies are able to pull the most beautiful parties together, so pretty.. Recently Bianca's blog 'A Little Delightful'  featured her daughter's 1st Birthday party, a gorgeous array of pink and white spots! and Jade from 'Super Organiser Mum' is currently in full swing planning her Son's 1st birthday party (Jade does the most delightful parties).

So I started to peek around for ideas for my own baby shower, and at the moment I am umming and ahhing whether to go for a blue/white polka dot theme or a red theme.. The blue and white appeals because I'm having a beautiful baby boy, but I also agree, I'm going to be seeing a lot of blue and white in 10 weeks time, so maybe red - my favourite colour (the colour I love to use in my clothing (although not so much since being pregnant) and the colour I use in the majority of my home decor is a natural choice for my baby shower. 

In any case, I'm sure I will soon make a decision - aren't the following things gorgeous! Lucky they all come in both blue and red, so no matter which colour I decide on, I might have to splurge either which way :)

These gorgeous party supplies and more can be found at;

Sweet Little Birdy

Little Styles

Pink Frosting

Ill post up some more gorgeous ideas later but for now I'm off to my first fortnightly Obstetrician appointment :) 

Shopping for Baby..

I must admit, this is something I have yet to start.. which is highly unusual for me! Any excuse to go shopping is usually good enough for me & you would think shopping for an impending arrival would be a great excuse! Initially I held off for the first 12 weeks, then til my next ultrasound, then til I started working again and now I figure I may as well wait until I know if I'm buying pink or blue (which I find out in approx 2 weeks).

 I'm a little over 17 weeks now, with 21 weeks until my delivery date (to the day! - eek)  so I've still got plenty of time to gather supplies.. no need to panic..  but if the last 17 weeks are anything to go by, time flies & the newest addition will be here in no time!   In the past week, I've visited the baby shop a total of 5 times to gather 'ideas' BUT I'm so indecisive.. Here are some of the products I am ogling at the moment..

The Strider Plus pram/travel system from Steelcraft.. Colour choice pending boy or girl! I think I may also use it in conjunction with the travel system capsule, however, as my Son was a larger baby I am still contemplating the practicality of this as bubs mightn't be in it very long..

The cot really has me stumped.. If the finances would allow it, I would go straight for the Boori Sleigh cot... But then common sense tells me, this cost more than my own King Size bed..

So perhaps I would choose something like this for a boy..



But then again, I don't know if this would be my choice if I were having a girl.. Perhaps I would choose something more like this..

Bedding choices are a little easier.. for a boy I love..

And for a girl I adore...

But Hubby, My Son and My Mum all love the following for a girl (thankfully they agree with the boy choice!) I don't mind this one either.. it will still brighten the room..

The following products I am loving also;

Avent Steam Steriliser (literally used mine til it blew up last time.. so its on my list..)

More than likely Avent bottles to go with.. Although I used NUK bottles last time as my Son didn't like the Avent bottles, I think the Avent accessories/teats etc are going to be easier to come by than the NUK ones, last time I found only certain stores stocked them.

I am interested in getting another baby swing this time round also..

And the list goes on and on and on.. car seat, baby carrier, wraps, dummies, nappies. I think the list may be never-ending and or endless, however, I guess I have the next 21 weeks to fill as much of it as I'm able.. (And I really don't think that will be a problem hehehe)