Love, bubs and life on our little farm

With great pride and pleasure I would like to offer for sale my Mother's first collection of Baby Clothes. She hasn't had time to set up an internet shop so I will be selling this batch from here - payment will be by direct deposit.

So we have done all the hard yards on the paving of our back laundry courtyard and I can finally do some before and after shots.

The courtyard is a little fenced area that we inherited from the previous owners - it had coloured gravel down and little skanky dead garden beds around the edge. The clothes line was not set in the centre and there was a drain running across the centre that actually had 45 degree corner in it and did very little to move out all of the water that flows from our tank overflows on that side of the house. Consequently - it was hot and yukky underfoot in Summer and flooded and muddy in any wet times. Needless to say, I preferred to hang my washing out on the clothes horses on the back verandah.

During our work on the drains for all the yards - front, back and side, the laundry garden became the dumping zone and it became very messy. Not only that but a little brown tree snake moved in there and was constantly scaring us and trying to eat my lovely green tree frogs in front of me! So it was high time to spend some time on cleaning it up.




We ordered huge piles of soil, sand, roadbase and had a massive stack of our pavers of choice delivered. The driveway looked like a landscaping supply store!

We laid two different drains - a non-slotted pipe to move all the water from our drains further up that side of the house and then the black rigid drain that sits on top to catch the water from the courtyard itself. We moved out endless wheel barrows of clay soil to drop the level down to what was required for the paving. This was long and hard and complicated by endless rain. Sure, the rain made the clay soft enough to cut out but oh so heavy at the same time. Both Jase and I toned our arms nicely ;)





Jase built two large planter boxes for either side of the courtyard and we filled them with soil and mulch.

Next we moved in a bed of roadbase. We also paused at this point to have the house termite treated which included digging into our base - it slowed us down but was well worth it for the protection it will provide over the next 10 years. At this point it poured with rain but we had already booked all of the hire equipment we needed for the paving so we had to press on.

We dealt with ankle deep wet clay, puddles of water in our base and mud flying everywhere from the compacter. It was pretty bad!



We had to cut heaps of tiles which made the extremely heavy tile cutter worth hiring! We paved over the long weekend and had floodlights set up as we paved into the night. We had no one to help mind Elka so we tagged teamed and Elka also got to play in (and eat!) a lot of sand. I also had a big horse competition on at the same time which meant I was extra sore and tired. Finally at 9pm on the Monday night of the long weekend, we had finished the bulk of the paving.

I completed the job over the next week or so, evening up wonky pavers and sweeping in the gap sand. Finally we dug the hole for the clothesline and set it back in with concrete - its now dead in the centre and looks much better! The final step is to place polished black pebbles in the clothesline hole and to plant in the planter boxes. We are planning gardens of multi-levels - ie gradiating heights and the front plants will be "touch and smell" plants for Elka to play with.

It was not fun and a lot of hard work but we are very pleased with the result and it serves the purpose of being a great spot to hang out the clothes. Believe it or not, but far from putting us off paving we have two more paving jobs planned!

So its been a little quiet on the blogging front lately for me. I am adapting to working three days a week now and it does take a lot more balancing. So of course its my time on the internet that suffers (as it should!). However my boss did point this article out to me the other day and I liked finally seeing a positive article on working mothers and wanted to blog about it.

The study supports something I have felt recently - that Elka still gets just as much quality time with me when I am working as I put so much more effort into our hours together in the morning and evening. I found on my "Stay at home Mum" days I am much more likely to get distracted by housework, farm chores, trips out etc and in some ways she doesn't get as much one-on-one Mummy play time.

I really love picking her up from daycare and hearing about her day, chatting in the car and then coming home to have some playtime with her toys (which are extra interesting since she has had time away from them!). It really is quality time, made even more so by the fact that I am fresh and eager to soak up some time with her, since I have missed her all day.

So chins up working mums! We can do it all (or at least do our darndest trying!)

xoxo

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25710533-23289,00.html

WORKING mothers can shed some of their "mother guilt", after a new study found their babies received just as much time being nurtured as the babies of stay-at-home mums.

The groundbreaking research reveals little difference between how much time the babies of full-time working mothers are held, cuddled, read to and talked to compared with babies of mothers who do not work.

The report's co-author, Jennifer Baxter, a research fellow at the Australian Institute of Family Studies, said: "This may be through mothers working hours that allow them to maximise the quality time they spend with their child. The other factor is the extra time the child spends with their father, or other relatives, or carers.

"When mothers work full time they spend about 83 minutes less per day with their child compared to a stay-at-home mother, but the child spends an average 81 minutes more a day with their father."

The study, Breastfeeding and Infants' Time Use, draws on diary data kept by the parents of 3000 babies aged between three and 14 months.

AIFS director Alan Hayes said the research offered significant insights into the question mothers so often asked, about the effect on their child of returning to work. "Given the pressures on Australian families today, this study presents encouraging signs that they appear to try and manage the responsibilities of work and raising families in a way that does not negatively impact on children," Professor Hayes said.

Melbourne mother Belinda Quinn, on parental leave from her job as a commercial property manager to look after four-month-old Harvey, said her brief experience doing a little work from home had made her realise how resourceful working mothers became.

"Your day revolves around getting the work done so you can spend that quality time with your baby," 30-year-old Ms Quinn said. "I think working mothers probably outsource those things that stay-at-home mothers have to do, so both get that important time with their child. If I was working I'd have a cleaner and spend the time with Harvey. Through my own guilt I'd probably try and spend as much time with Harvey as I could rather."

The report also looked behind the positive correlation between breastfeeding and enhanced development, finding breastfed infants often did more activities than those who were not.

"Breastfed infants were more likely to have been reported to have spent some time crawling, climbing or swinging arms/legs, and some time colouring, drawing and looking at books or puzzles," the report found.

Breastfed children also spent significantly less time sleeping, eating other food and watching television.

Dr Baxter said: "We aren't condemning non-breastfeeding mothers, rather trying to explain that breastfeeding is not the only element to the development and nurturing of children. There are many other things that happen in a young child's day."

I finally have time to blog about Elka's Birthday Party that was on last Saturday. I am keen to record it all as I am sure it will all slip from my memory in a few years!

I was super busy with all the cooking and preparations on the days leading up to it. I was also battling a terrible cold and chest infection so it wasn't the easiest thing I have done. My parents weree supposed to come up on the Friday to mind Elka so that I could get lots of cleaning and setting up done.. well they didn't end up arriving until just before my In-Laws that evening, so rather than help, I just got a house full of guests to care for. Hmm thanks!

But that said, both sets of Grandparents were champions on the Saturday morning helping out with picking up the hire chairs, extra groceries, blowing up balloons etc and of course showering the Birthday Girl with lots of love.

There were two tables of food - one decked out in a purple tablecloth and one in green to match the green and purple polka-dot balloons. The menu included chocolate slice with white chocolate dots on top, vanilla cupcakes with choc-chip sprinkles, chocolate cupcakes with jaffa chocolate icing, a fruit platter, two cob loaf dips, smarties, fairy bread, cheerio frankfurts and sauce and puff pastry and mushroom palmiers fresh out of the oven. The kids also had a kiddie sized table with a cut fruit platter to munch on. There was beer, sparkling wine, sparkling apple juice and soft drink.

And of course the cake - it was a thick vanilla buttercake (great recipe!) cooked in the shape of the number one, iced in vienna cream icing and decorated with smarties. I was really pleased with how it turned out.

Unfortunately, there were showers of rain all day, so we had to set the party up on the back verandah, rather than the yard which catches the lovely afternoon winter sun. There was a play area for the kids with lots of toys and of course the horses, ducks and chickens get the little ones (and some of the big ones too!) entertained.

All of my antenatal class friends came, some mummies from my local Mummies group, my brother, both our parents and some old school friends with their lovely little ones. It was only a relatively small group - about 20 but perfect for the back verandah and it was all Elka's little friends that she loves to play with.

Elka loved the attention although she was pretty tired from all the excitement already. She discovered that she loved smarties and managed to con lots of people into letting her have some. She also destroyed a cupcake pretty quickly! She got lovely gifts including a beautiful wooden xylophone, an Etch-a-Sketch, beautiful clothes, her name as a wooden puzzle and lots of great books and puzzles. Her favourite is a mini dust pan and broom as she loves helping me clean the house - very cute ;)

And now for the pictures :)

The gorgeous and clever Leila has tagged me with some questions...

What is your current obsession?
It was until this weekend decorating food in polka dot's for Elka's birthday party....

What are you wearing today?
Grey knitted men style pants, grey and white stripy tailored shirt, a black knitted vest jumper and a cute black military jacket that I borrowed (stole) off my mum.. its a work day not a mummy day hence the lack of jeans ;)

What’s for dinner?
Some sort of Teriyaki chicken - its Jase's meal to cook so I haven't paid much attention..

What’s the last thing you bought?
Butter menthols and petrol (at the same time) - am still sick blah and living semi-rurally and commuting to the city means needing lots of petrol...

What are you listening to right now?
The ducks fighting outside and I can hear some Lorikeets. The farm is having a lovely peaceful morning..

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
Possibly Derbyshire to catch up with an old friend - I love where she lives, true Jane Austen country

Which language do you want to learn?
Japanese

What do you love most about where you currently live?
My beautiful acreage with the ghost white gum trees and green grass and big blue sky - its just so peaceful and filled with animals. I love having room for my horses and privacy but with so many facilities (read good shopping!) close by. I also love here for the beautiful weather all year round, semi-tropical plants and the beach being near by.

What is your favorite colour?
It changes every few years but is currently mint green or plum purple.

What is your favorite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe?
At the moment it is a toss up between a vintage skirt I bought in Paris (hehe sounds wanky but true!) or a cute knitted Witchery dress I bought for this season..

Describe your personal style?
I love fashion - I am normally fairly understated and try to achieve elegance. But I also try to be a little on trend but with my own interpretation. I am a funny mix of preppy and a little gothic romantic...

If you had $300 now, what would you spend it on?
Shoes and some new cardigans

What are you going to do after this?
Go to the dentist :( then to work

What are your favorite films?
Zoolander
Love Actually
Top Gun
Days of Thunder
Romeo and Juliet (Baz's version)

Your favourite smell?
Horse

Do you collect anything?
Antique books

What makes you follow a blog?
A genuine person who is writing for themselves not for an audience

Do you like to comment on blogs or just lurk?
I try to comment but sometimes I am short of time..

What’s one thing you dream of doing?
I have acheived most things I used to dream of :) and that is just so wonderful and something I am thankful for every day. I would like to get back into photography with a decent camera and take my mum on African safari one day (so far we have done Western Plains Zoo together LOL)

What is your biggest regret?
I have a few but honestly I wouldnt change anything as all my decisions have made me the person I am where I am today (cheesy but truly how I feel!)

What is your favourite thing to do on a rainy day?
Put on a DVD and have something yummy cooking in the oven. 2nd fav thing to do is to go shopping and sit in a cosy cafe drinking a hot choc and watching the rain :)

Do you have a tattoo?
No - I have very pale skin and a tatoo would look very harsh so I have never gotten on. I would love a little seahorse below my hipbone if I did get one though..

You have 1 minute before you die, what do you say to your loved one/s?
That I love them and that life is wonderful - make the most of every minute. I feel that I have.

A big thank you to the gorgeous Kirrily for the tag on this challenge.


It's really simple. I love how every photo tells a story. Some short stories, some long tales. I want to know what is your favourite photo of yourself. Everyone has one. The photo they look at and smile. It reminds them of something, some time, some place. A moment in time.So share the photo, share the story and then tag three other people. I want to see photos and stories all around the blogosphere.

Copy and paste the writing that is in bold as well as the polaroid above onto your blog, and then select three other people/blogs to tag.


Here is my choice - it was a hard one, I am very blessed with a wonderful life filled with loves and travels and I could have picked a million photos. But this photo stands out to me in particular. It was taken three years ago, when I was 25. Jase and I were celebrating our first wedding anniversary by backpacking around Europe. I was presenting my PhD work to an international conference in the UK and was very close to finishing my PhD so I had been frantically busy and stressed (I remember the night before we left for the trip I was at uni setting up experiments at 1am) and was now enjoying taking 7 weeks to spend with my husband eating and exploring Italy, France, the UK and Japan. *bliss*
We were soaking up the Spring sun in Positano on the Italian Almafi coast and I love how relaxed my face is (something you didn't see much during my PhD years). Our hotel was one of our "splurge" hotels and we were feeling very decadent and indulgent. All up - a very happy romantic time and that photo brings it all back to me.



I am tagging

Lydia at Twice Mice
Jo at You are Nearly There Joanna
and
Sarah at MamaP

..how we celebrated! I will mostly let the photos do the talking. And yes its a bubby heavy blogging week as I still have her Birthday Party on Saturday to come :) but hey my baby girl only turns one once and I want to record it all.

We woke up the Birthday Girl on a misty winter morning to discover the poor thing had a terrible wheezy chest. But she partied on regardless and a trip to the Drs didn't interrupt the festivities too much.

..my little baby girl joined us in the great big world. I can't believe Elka is one year old but at the same time I cant really remember life without her. She has filled our lives with so many laughs and hugs and has made me slow down and appreciate the view. I will blog separately about how we spent her birthday as we had a gorgeous special day.

I love being a mum - it was something I never knew if I was going to be good at. I had never been around babies. But it just works with Elka, I am very much her mum without even having to think about it. She has been a dream baby - very peaceful and content. She is a magic sleeper and I have loved using the Tizzy Hall routines with her, it all just makes sense with us. She has been sleeping through the night since she was 9 weeks old and from 6 months old has slept 12 hours a night without needing a feed every single night, I get to sleep in until 7am everyday which I love (besides work days!). Her day sleeps are lovely and long and have allowed me to ride the horse with the baby monitor tucked down my shirt - its been a luxury to be able to have that me time during the day. She is constantly cheery and loves to smile and laugh - she makes friends and admirers everytime we leave the house with her engaging manner. I loved being able to breastfeed and found that time was very special. I have loved watching her little mind and personality devlop and have joyously marked every one of her milestones as she grows into a little person. Its been a wonderful year - with so much more sleep than I ever expected!

She has learnt so much in the last month - she is talking lots - she can say mum, dad, duck, more, that, shoe, hello, bye, yeah... she tries to sing Baa Baa Black Sheep and does the moves to Twinkle Twinkle and Little Teapot. If you ask her to get something, she will go get it. She can point out her nose when asked. She can communicate that she wants a drink or some more food. She is extra smoochy and loves to give cuddles and kisses. I love having a shower with her as she relaxes into my chest making crooning noises and hugs me tight or caresses my face, very sweet. She is drinking cows milk now and has graduated to a sippy cup for her milk. She loves crackers with cream cheese at the moment. I can't eat an apple without sharing it with her. She loves to fetch her shoes and try to put them on so that we can go outside. She wanders around while I feed the animals and tries to break into the horse paddock when I am feeding them - she will be hard to keep out of there soon!


and now I am going to indulge myself with a walk down memory lane of the last year :)

So, these days I am a very spoiled woman who owns a generous amount of beautiful jewellery. Which means I find I am often verging on the conservative side of accesorising - my most daring bling would be my oversized Return to Tiffanys link bracelet.... hardly a walk on the wild side ;) My everyday earrings are diamond studs and when I am dressing up, its my larger diamond studs LOL.

However, I do try to be fairly on trend with my clothes and I feel my jewellery is a little "old" for some of my outfits. I am still in my 20's and need to remind myself of that sometimes! So I decided to challenge myself to wearing some more fun jewellery and funking up my accessories - I have been giving it a good go and enjoying it.

Yesterday I dived into Equip as they were having a fantastic sale. I picked up all below - a necklace, two earrings and two headbands for $18 all up.. bargain.

The Mum's reading this might understand the one difficulty with this new fashion challenge.... dangly earrings and necklaces are prime targets for little one's hands to grab, pull and yank. And yes I have had to detach Elka from my earrings quite a few times LOL. But hey looking good was never meant to be easy :)

So I had a Hunter Trial on the weekend, which is a competition made up of a showjumping and a cross country course. Its fun, its scary and its the biggest adrenaline rush ever. Its a predominately female heavy sport at the lower levels but incredibly physical. There are ambulances on course. Horses come racing back in riderless from the cross country course. I saw a rider come stumbling back in on foot with blood pouring from her face. In 2008 there were 12 deaths from cross country accidents.

For those that dont know much about it and I generally always get blank faces from people asking what I rode in - here is a description from good old Wikipedia:
The cross-country course is approximately two and three quarter to four miles (6 km) long, comprising some twenty-four to thirty-six fixed and solid obstacles. Obstacles usually are built to look "natural" (out of logs, for instance), however odd materials and decorations may be added to test the horse's bravery. Obstacles can include all those that might be found if riding across the countryside, including water, trees, logs, ditches, and banks.


Eventing which incorporates Showjumping, Cross Country and Dressage (which just happen to be my three favourite disciplines to compete in) is an Olympic sport. And the only Olympic sport in which men and women compete against each other.

So anyway, despite terribly wet slippery conditions, Spech and I made it around both the Showjumping and Cross Country courses without incidence (but without placing either, not that I mind - I am still in the beginner phase with him). Its the biggest buzz but does take a hell of a lot of strength. As a result - despite being "match fit" from quite a few months of regular training, I can barely move my arms and thighs from all the muscl strain. (Hence why I am blogging cause I am stranded on the lounge reluctant to get up!)

Its addictive like most adrenaline rush sports are. I can't wait to do it again! And am already looking forward to my next competition in a months time...
(photos from Wikipedia)

Photographic Challenge - "It's the little things".

Simple, everyday things which make your life a pleasure.
Limit of 10 images...no minimum. You don't have to be a fabulous photographer, just have fun. No words required, let your photos tell the story...

Here is my contribution - sometimes I am shallow, sometimes I am less so ;)

Just something I was musing over today whilst driving Elka to a play centre date (which was SO fun!).

I saw a discussion on Facebook where a girl had done one of those quizes which was "What is your ideal weight" (are you already seeing issues - who wants Facebook's opinion on that really!?) and the answer was obviously a weight much less than she was and she commented on how that made her feel crappy. Now her friends had reassured her with comments - like oh no you would be skeletal at that height/weight comments and "I was that weight and I am shorter than that and everyone told me I was too thin etc".

What caught my eye was that she was shorter than me and the "ideal weight" suggested for her was actually a couple of kilo's more than I weigh. So technically I am way under my own "ideal weight" (as according to the exact science that is Facebook of course). So why did I try on no less than three pairs of jeans this morning and finally despaired that all of them made my backside look ginormous and stalked out feeling frumpy?

Why are we so damn unfair on ourselves? I KNOW I am not fat - hell I am the lightest I have ever been as a teenager/adult and people have started greeting me with comments like "Oh Jase isn't feeing you enough". (I hope this doesnt sound eating disorderish - I promise you I am eating - I have just dropped some weight with going back to work/running after a toddler). So if I am supposedly my ideal weight and most definitely am a lot of other people's ideal weight - why can't I just be happy in my jeans?

What makes me sad is that I spent high school feeling like a huge lump - I was an athlete trained in spriting and a highly competitive horse rider, as fit as a non-professional sportsman could ever be, yet I always felt big. I look back at photos and shake my head - I had a great bod! What a waste of all that negative emotion. I am a lot kinder on myself now - that comes with being older, wiser and more comfortable in myself but as I have described above not always.

I am quite sure I not alone in these stupid wasteful emotions. Its so hard being a woman. You know the other day - I caught my reflection whilst wearing some tight jodpurs and knee high riding boots and I thought "Wow I LOVE how my legs look, best they ever have I reckon!". But do you know, one hour later in the same outfit, I passed the same reflection and thought "uurggh
I wish I was taller and more willowy". Gee I need a good forehead slap sometimes.

So I think I need to do myself a favour and start listening to the good voice and try to tune out that bad one for awhile. 'Cause otherwise I am worried that just like in high school, I wont appreciate what I have until its gone....

Hot

Heading to the sales today with my saved pennies

My little munchkin starting to communicate and understand so clearly - its amazing

My lovely hubby - he is just being his wonderful supportive self

Reminiscing about this time last year when I was eagerly awaiting the arrival of our little bundle, what a special time it was

Waiting patiently for builders to give us quotes on our extension plans...

The line up of first birthday invites on our fridge door - so cute! I love parties and its nice to see all the wonderful new friends we have made in the last year.


Not

The rain! It just won't stop.. trying to pave a courtyard in the wettest May in years is just. not. fun. We have all the hire machinery booked for this weekend and its not looking like the best weather!

My big horse cross country event this weekend - either it will be cancelled due to all this wet or it will be run in the dangerous conditions which is bad for everyone (its a dangerous enough sport in the dry)

Feeling naueseous for the last couple of days and not wanting to eat. Its reminding me of exactly how I felt in the first trimester of pregnancy and making me want to not ever get pregnant again! (well just reminding me how damn hard it can be)

I have decided to go back to work an extra day a week... as of next week. So that puts me at three days a week.

As I have mentioned many times before - stay at home mum I am not. Of course I love my time with Elka and adore pottering around but I need to get off the property and talk to other people and use my mind. Its just how I am.

Two days a week just wasn't enough time as a scientist - I couldn't achieve enough in the laboratory, was stressing out and taking home so much work anyway. So I am looking forward to it - I think I will be more relaxed....

I hate how working mothers feel they have to justify how much their child loves daycare so I wont go into a big guilt-laden rant about how much Elka thrives in daycare. Obviously I know my child and what is best for her and I am completely content with her in care three days a week. Enough said.

And I feel very blessed- lucky that I love my career and very fortunate that I can choose my work hours based on my whims rather than our finances.

And of course more work days means more lovely work outfits ;)

Today I had lots of visiting to do. So Elka and I were rushing around this morning getting ready. Now as any mum can tell you, as soon as you take your eye of the proverbial ball, all is lost. As I tried to straighten my hair, brush my teeth and stop Elka from making off with everything unattached in the bathroom, I looked away from bub for about 30 seconds and wasn't really paying attention to her noises and actions.

When I looked over at her again, I blinked, looked again and thought hmmm where has she found red paint from? And then the penny dropped, oh no thats not red paint, that is blood. Not just any blood but my baby's blood and its everywhere - on the vanity cupboards, the towel rack, the bath mat, the bath, her face, both her hands, her suit.... you get the picture.

Cue me trying to stay calm, sweeping her up and searching for the source of the gushing blood. A little detective work revealed that she was basically missing the very tip of her index finger. I am confused - whaaat? I cast my mind back to what she had been doing in the time I was not paying full attention - oh yes she was trying to get into Jase's bathroom drawer, which is of course baby proofed with a drawer locky thing. BUT it lets the drawer open a tiny bit and sure enough in that tiny gap I could see his super sharp razor facing upwards... with blood on it.

Bad Mum.Bad Mum.Bad Mum was running through my head but more important things to do than berate myself right then.

How easy do you think it is to apply firm pressure to the very tip of a tiny toddler finger? Especially one attached to a completely non-fussed toddler who just wants to go off and play since she can't see what all the fuss is about. We bled through more cotton wool then I care to think of.

But after raiding two first aid kits and the horses first aid kit, I managed to strap up her finger firmly and in a way that she couldn't pull it all off with her teeth like she was so desperately trying and the blood started to slow.

Phew, then it was just the blood soaked bathroom and outfits to deal with and we could head off on our mummy visits as though we were a perfect and totally in control mum and bub duo ;)

I am considering this my induction into the Toddler Era and will no longer consider a room is baby-proofed unless it is empty and padded........