Up, Up and Away

In just a few short hours we will be heading off on a plane for our first ever holiday as a family. It has taken A LOT to get to this point and only a few days ago we thought we weren't going at all, but now we are. I spent most of yesterday madly packing which is no easy task when you have 2 small children (one of whom is in cloth nappies) to pack for. There are cloth nappies stuffed into every available crevice.

I can't really believe we are going. We booked the flights when I was 5 months pregnant. At that time we had Zoe listed as 'Unknown Kau' on her ticket. Now, here she is ready to take her first flight. What a regular globetrotter she is, jet setting for the first time at the tender age of 6 months. Ok, maybe not globetrotter (we are only taking an hour flight to Byron Bay).

I am actually most excited for Malia. I think she is at a great age for her first flight and she is super excited about going on a plane. She has been talking about it for months. Every time she would see a plane in the sky she would turn to me (or anyone else who would listen) and say,

"We're going on a plane one day, but not today".

Well, that day has finally come.

I am trying hard to focus on her and the thrill it is for her, seeing as flying actually scares me senseless. I hate it so much and every time I go up I hate it more and become more afraid. Malia is actually one of the main reasons we chose to go (her and the $39 tickets Jetstar were offering that were just too good to pass up). With the flight taking only an hour we thought it would be a great introduction to flying for Malia. Hopefully she will not grow up with her mothers fear of flying.

I plan to keep a daily diary of our little holiday, take lots of photos and write a big post for everyone when we get back. Until then, Bon Voyage!

Da Da

So it begins. That's right everybody. Zoe has officially said her first word and it was "Da Da". She sounds so cute when she says it and we are so proud. Jonathan and I had been noticing a change in the way she was using her mouth to make sounds over the past few days but it was more like silent chomping most of the time with little actual sound, but today there was no denying it. She said "Da Da". It was great that we were all around to hear it and see it.

It's days like this that make me extra special glad that I decided to start this blog. I was telling Jonathan this morning that I felt so bad that most of Malia's milestones went unrecorded, however with the blog it just automatically happens as I go about the business of sharing our life with you all.

Our baby girl is growing up so, so fast.

Spit Happens

Thanks for the cool outfit Aunty Susanne! If you look closely at her chin you can see that spit does indeed happen.

Liquid Gold

Today I took Malia and Zoe to the doctor (Malia has the flu and tells me she does not feel happy every 5 minutes) and to do some grocery shopping. As we were out for such a long time I decided to get myself a drink. I know that 600ml bottles of Coke are not the best 'bang for your buck' but I checked the change in my wallet and thought I could manage it. I got $2.50 ready in my hand and kept my wallet open just in case I needed another 10 cents or so.

"How much will that be?" I asked. I really should have asked that before I sent her to get it from the fridge.

"$3.20", she replied casually.

"How much?" I said. A little shocked. Ok, a lot shocked.

"Yeah, $3.20. That's how much they are now. They will be $6 soon I reckon" was her answer.

I dug into my wallet (which is now completely bare by the way) and handed it over while muttering something about 2 litres being cheaper back in Woolworths where we had just come from. I should have just told her not to worry about it. I really wish I had. As I walked away I did say,

"Well that's the last time I will ever be buying one of those".

Now, before drinking it I checked it over thoroughly for the flecks of gold or genuine rays of sunshine that I thought would be in the bottle to warrant charging such a crazy amount, but no. Nothing. Just Coke. And diet as well. Even less stuff in it then the regular variety.

How much will products like this get before people just stop buying them? I've already stopped buying chocolate bars because I just can't quite believe that 30 grams of chocolate is worth $2 or more. I will have to keep this bottle and just keep filling it up myself out of the cheaper 2 litre bottles forever. Never again will I buy one of these out of 'convenience'.

I think I must be showing my age a little. I have lived long enough to see the real effects of inflation. I'm sure my parents generation think it's crazy that I would pay $4 for a loaf of bread that used to cost them 10 or 20 cents.

Even as I sit here and type I'm shaking my head in disbelief. I can' quite believe it cost THAT much. I can't quite believe I paid THAT much. Times sure are changing. Always changing. So take a long, hard look at that photo boys and girls because what you see there is the end of a dying breed (for this household anyway).

Craftblog To The Rescue

Today was another cold, dark day with nothing much to do. I felt sorry for poor Malia when she asked if she could go to preschool. She was SO bored and it was only 10am, so when I asked if she wanted to do some painting she jumped up and down and literally squealed with delight. We don't really do that kind of thing at home very often so it was a pretty big deal.

I set about getting everything set up. Changed her into old clothes, put on her clean, bright paint smock (I told you we don't paint often), hauled out the easel, pulled out the brushes and paint pots, found paper, but then.... DISASTER. I could not find the paint anywhere! I know I bought some when I bought all the other supplies, but for the life of me I could not remember where it was. I looked in every box, every cupboard, but it was no where to be found. I couldn't do this to her. She was ready to go. The thought of having to tell her she couldn't paint after all the setting up was just awful and far too cruel. It was then that I remembered Craftblog.

Only a few days before Fern from Craftblog had written a post about making non toxic paint for your toddlers using flour, water and food dye. 'I have ALL those things' I thought excitedly and with great relief that not all was lost just yet. So I grabbed my laptop and headed for the kitchen. Not being very crafty I was excited that I could finally put Craftblog to good use and boy did it save me from the pretty pickle I had found myself in. It was most definitely Craftblog to the rescue!

I mixed up red, yellow, green and even purple, at Malia's request. When she asked for purple I was like, 'Oooooo custom colour, I don't know', but it turned out rather well I thought. I found the amounts set out in the Craftblog post far too much for what we needed though. To fill our four pots I would do half, maybe even a quarter of the original recipe in the future.

It's great that it's non toxic as well. I wasn't really worried about Malia. She's old enough to know not to put it in her mouth. The same can't be said for our 15 year old dog Gizmo though, who I found up on her hind legs trying to lick the paint out of the pots several times throughout the painting session.

Malia had a pretty good time and rather enjoyed the fact that we had to 'make the paint' first. Our biggest foe ended up being the wind. We lost many paintings as a result. Every time I heard Malia yell 'Ahh' from the backyard I knew we had lost another one, but that's ok. Everyone knows that when it comes to painting, the best fun is in the process, not the end result.

Thank you Fern and Craftblog for making todays fun possible. Craftblog saves lives!

A Dark, Dismal Day

Today it was cold. It was dark and it was rainy. I had to go to the shops to get something for dinner and thought 'Well at least I will be able to get a coffee to warm me up. A smooth, warm coffee. Not to hot, not too strong. Just a perfect cup of coffee as alway', but no. Starbucks Penrith has closed it's doors and blacked out it's windows with dark plastic, never again to serve it's delicious Cinnamon Dolci Latte's near my humble home ever again. This fact is distressing me beyond belief.

I heard about the store closures a while back, but they clearly said it would really only affect the stores that did not do good trade. I wasn't worried. Penrith has a booming trade, but again, no. It's over. ALL OVER!

I don't understand it! I have bought enough coffee from Starbucks Penrith since it opened that I'm virtually a major shareholder in the company. Why was I not consulted about this? I don't even care about all the money I will save, or the fact that I may indeed become a healthier individual seeing as I only drink Starbucks coffee and not instant crapola, I mean coffee, from a jar at home. Even plunger coffee is not the same. I WANT IT BACK!!! BRING STARBUCKS BACK!!!

What's worse is that out of all the Starbucks locations that are even remotely close to me they decided to keep Mt Druitt open. Mt Druitt?? What is that about? Does anyone even live there? Ok, I know they do. I've been there, it's very nice, blah, blah, blah, but it's not 5 minutes drive from my front door. It's not going to be there every time I go shopping. It's not going to be there when I start back at work and want to quickly drive by before dropping Malia off at pre-school (wow, and Zoe too. That's scary, but a whole other subject). Where will I get my litre of coffee in one giant, venti sized cup now?

This is indeed a sad day. Starbucks management, if you're reading this:

WHAT WERE YOU THINKING??

Halfway There

I've heard people say that if a child makes it to the age of 1 that their parents should be congratulated as it's the hardest year of their lives. Well, we are half way there. Zoe is 6 months old today! I know what you're all thinking, because we're thinking it too. Where in the world did that time go? Everything is certainly going much faster with Miss Zoe than it ever did with Malia. I don't know whether it was because Malia was the first, or that she was easier than Zoe, or maybe harder. It's just different this time.

I think it's mainly because we are all so much busier now. For us it's just the fact that we have 2 children instead of one that doesn't afford us the luxury of just basking in her baby beauty 24/7. Having the first 6 months go in the blink of an eye certainly encourages us to make more time to do it though, because when we do it is so beautiful. She is so beautiful! I hear her daddy whisper it to her all the time. You can tell she takes his breath away when he goes in to pick her up from her bassinet after a sleep because she's doing all that adorable screaming, but when she sees him she just stops and looks up at him with those exquisite brown eyes and it just hits him. You can hear it in his voice. The way he speaks to her so softly and tells her how beautiful she is. What an incredible love it is, daddies and their daughters.

Miss Zoe is growing more each day. She loves nothing more than to watch and giggle as her sister does crazy things just to entertain her (Malia gets all the best smiles and laughs). She loves to look at herself in the mirror. We do the 'happy test' every time she gets out of bed which is to take her to a mirror and see how big her grin is (it's usually at least a 7/10 or higher). She scares the pants off me every time she attempts to sit up and then fall sideways. She's trying though, and getting better all the time.

She has also started to reach out and take anything you offer her (or anything within reach, even if you don't offer it to her). She's a mad fist sucker! If her mouth is open (even from laughing) she figures she may as well fill it up. She loves her new found skill of blowing the most magnificent raspberries in the world and practices them at every opportunity, breaking them up with a high pitched squeal/yodel (another new found trick) and she is still very much an observer of the world (just like she has been since she was a very little baby), taking everything in through those fine, beautiful eyes.

We love her so, so much and we are so happy that we have all survived the first 6 months to get to this point, where all the cutesy stuff really begins.

Happy Half Birthday Miss Zoe! Love you, love you.

First Flowers

Malia hasn't been sick, other than having a mild cold here and there, since she was 9 months old, so waking at midnight on Thursday with tummy pains was not something she or I were expecting. I rested in bed with her for about 2 hours with hot water bottles and cuddles while she moaned, wriggled and complained between small naps and just when I thought she was asleep for good, I heard 'it'. The sound of Malia spontaneously vomiting all over her bed. I promise not to get any more graphic than that, but lets just say there was much more of that along with stripping beds, washing sheets, holding foreheads and more until well into the next day.

Malia was miserable (except for the small glimpses of happiness that appeared after each vomit as she declared 'I feel better now'). The next day she laid on her little Care Bears lounge, not wanting to eat and longing for lots of cuddles. I felt so bad for her, so while I was out picking up medicine I bought what I hoped would be better than medicine for an unhappy three year old, a bouquet of happy yellow flowers just for her.

When I got home I gave them to her and said,

"These are some happy flowers to make you smile".

At first she seemed a little confused. Flowers in the house are usually mummy's, but when she realised they were just for she got very excited, exclaiming to her daddy,

"Look! Mummy buyed me flowers to make me happy", with a big smile on her face.

Mission accomplished I guess.

Buying Malia's first bouquet of flowers at the age of three might be setting myself up for something, but at the moment I really don't care. I just love to see her happy and joyful and whilst all it takes to do that is a kiss, a cuddle and a few bright yellow blooms, I'll do it. If only all her future problems would be fixed as easily! Hopefully, they will be.

In the last shot I asked her to show me on her face how the flowers make her feel. Aaaaah, there's my happy little girl. I'm glad to have her back.