Victory

I have been lucky enough to have breast feeding go relatively smoothly this time around. Noah would have the occasional bottle if I was out but at about 4 months old (while I was being pampered at the hairdresser) he flat out refused to take one anymore.

We tried a few times again but to no avail. So basically for the last 3 or 4 months I've been on a fairly short leash. Overall I haven't minded too much but I was starting to worry that I'd have to go back to work and he still wouldn't be taking a bottle.

Then a few days ago, Darren offered a bottle and he took it - just like that. So now we have a bottle everyday in the hope that he gets more used to it and doesn't reject it again. It means we're back to the old nightly sterilizing routine though but I'm so relieved because it will make going back to work that little bit easier.

 

Easy peasy

I had some leftover lasagne sheets that needed to be used so I attempted cannelloni tonight. I can't believe how easy it was. I mixed ricotta, frozen spinach, pinenuts and nutmeg together and then rolled it up into the lasagne sheets. I made a quick tomato sauce to go over the top, sprinkled with cheese and put it in the oven for 40 minutes.

Yum, will definitely be making this again.

 

Plane spotting

Grandma headed home to Melbourne today so the boys and I dropped her off at the airport this morning.

After we said our goodbyes we drove through McDonald's and parked the car at the side of the airport to watch the planes taking off and landing while we ate lunch. This has become a little tradition for Isaac and I whenever we do an airport run. 

There's so much activity at airports, especially one as big as Sydney, so there's always something interesting to look at and talk about.

Skater boy

I took Isaac to the park today. The intention was twofold, to get him to burn off some energy and to give us some one on one time while Grandma and Dad were with Noah.

The playground we went to is next to a skate park so instead of playing he preferred watching the big kids on their scooters and skateboards. I don't think the big kids appreciated being laughed at when falling down though :)

Quiet celebration

Where has the year gone? It feels like only yesterday we were celebrating Darren's 40th milestone birthday. After the big affair last year we kept it very simple for this birthday. A yummy lunch at a local bier house and a cake back at home.

Happy birthday Ozzy. Looking forward to another action packed year :)

Masterpieces

Wendy and I used the supplies we gathered yesterday to put together these fabric covered canvases for Noah's room. It was the first time either of us had used a staple gun but after a bit of practice we were working like pros. 

I'm really pleased with how they turned out - they look great. Now to decide which wall to hang them on...

Start your engines

Darren's mum arrived for a visit from Melbourne yesterday so today her and I (and Noah) did a spot of craft shopping. 

I took her to a store specialising in quilting supplies and then we headed to Spotlight to get some materials for wall hangings in the boy's rooms. We got the material I'd seen earlier for Noah's room and then found some cool papers in the scrap booking section that I'll attempt to use in Isaac's transport themed room. I even remembered some old number plates we have in the garage that I hope to be able to use as well.

Loving DIY and recycling at the moment.

Lasagne... from scratch

This is the remains of my first attempt at making lasagne from scratch - all by myself.

Usually when I've made it I've roped in someone else to make the bechamel sauce but with no one else around tonight I had to give it a go myself.

For a first attempt I'm very pleased with how it turned out and how easy it ended up being. Judging by the empty bowls I think everyone else enjoyed it too.

Update: I just realised that I can't technically say that I made this lasagne from scratch. I confess, I did use store bought lasagne sheets. Maybe next time I can use Darren's new pasta maker to roll out some sheets myself and then I can truly say I've made one from scratch. 

Bubbles

I feel like this blog could be Isaac's diary at times. I guess that's understandable when I spend most of my time with the kids lately and he does a lot more than Noah.

For a little change here's a cute photo of Noah in the bath tonight. He was a little upset during dinner but seemed to enjoy having a splash around before bed.

Good mates

Isaac has attended day care since he was just shy of 12 months old. In that time he has made some really good friends and clicked with two in particular. Liam, Harry and Isaac were always so happy to see each other of a morning and were often seen being mischievous or silly together. This year the trio has become a duo with Harry starting at a new preschool.

Lately Isaac has been saying that he misses Harry so we arranged a play date at a nearby park.

It was so great to see them together riding bikes and running amok on the play equipment. The only thing missing was Liam but we'll organise another one very soon because I love seeing these three cheeky monkeys so happy together.

 

This too shall pass

What a different boy Noah was today. At this age it's amazing the differences you can see from one day to the next. Being my second time around I'm more aware of how quickly things change so when we hit a rough patch I know that it will pass and before I know it he'll be off to school.

I love all the smiles and laughs we got today so I hope this phase doesn't pass too quickly.

Relaxation

Boy did I need some R&R today.

Noah has been more than a little whiny the last few weeks causing me to be quite tense. Luckily I received a voucher from a lovely friend for my birthday so, after a yummy lunch with my sister, I took some time out for a massage.

It was just what I needed to face the new week ahead.

Imagination

One of the great things about having children is seeing the world through their eyes and I'm always amazed at what Isaac sees in ordinary, everyday objects.

Today he saw a beak in a clothes peg and wings in an old beach towel with loose threads.

Look right, look left, look right again

 

I'd arranged to go in to meet Darren and his colleagues for lunch today so with Isaac's daycare just around the corner I decided to pick him up a bit early and take him home with me.

I'd parked the car near Darren's work for lunch so Isaac had to ride his bike back. I've seen him ride around our house or at a park but this was the first time I saw him in the big city. Darren has taught him really well and he has a good sense of road safety which puts my mind at ease a little when I send them off on Thursdays and Fridays.

Friendly faces

I'm lucky enough this time around to have some friends that are on maternity leave at the same time as me. Unfortunately, I don't get to catch up with them as often as I thought I might or would like - the time just seems to be flying by.

Today Noah and I spent the day with Alice and Riley. We had a yummy lunch and a lovely walk along the river. It was great to see how much Riley has grown over the last few months and compare notes. The boys are only 3 weeks apart so seeing them side by side now is quite cool as you can definitely see parts of their personalities emerging.

Zoom, zoom, zoom

The birthday party Isaac went to last weekend had cardboard box cars for the kids to race in. As a way of prying Isaac away from them at the end of the party I promised we would attempt to make one at home. I was feeling a little creative so we gave it a go today.

We used one of the cardboard boxes our fruit and veggies come in and I cut a little windscreen out of one of the flaps. We used foil for the lights and paper plates tied to the side of the box as wheels. Isaac was pretty impressed and loved zooming around the backyard in his new wheels.

DIY

Inspired by recent projects by my mother-in-law and sister-in-law, I spent some time browsing material in Spotlight today. I've been wanting to jazz up the boys bedrooms and found these fabrics that would be cute stretched over canvas' in Noah's room.

My mum is the DIY queen so I'm sure we can knock something up pretty fast during one of her next visits :)

Hot apple pie

Mmmmmm. On a cold night a warm piece of apple pie was perfect (who am I kidding any night is good for hot apple pie).

Tonight's was the store bought variety but for as long as I can remember my Nan has always made apple pie for special occasions. One of the highlights of our birthdays is having Nan make us an apple pie. She has kept her recipe a secret for many years but has recently talked about passing it down so it can continue to be enjoyed for generations.

As yet, no one has put their hand up to take the baton. With my recent ventures into baking maybe I should give it a go.

Motherly advice

Today is the day we say thank you to our mum's. I spent a lovely, relaxing day with my boys and enjoyed dinner with my mum and family. I even got some peace and quiet - what every mother dreams of - while Darren took the boys for a walk in the afternoon.

While I was leisurely reading the paper, I noticed the cover of Sunday Life magazine contained a few pieces of advice on motherhood. I thought they were perfect and should be on every mother's fridge as a constant reminder as they go about their hectic lives. We women can be hard on each other and even more so on ourselves so I especially like number two and four.

Happy Mother's Day!

Something new

Isaac was invited to a Taekwondo birthday party today for one of his friends at daycare. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from a party of this theme so we went along with open minds.

Firstly the mother's side of the family is Vietnamese so the food on offer was amazing (including the famous Vietnamese pork rolls). For the kids there were lots of games and activities including this obstacle course at the beginning. Isaac was a little apprehensive at first but after a walk through with me he loved it. His favourites were the commando crawling (which he used to do as a baby) and the mini trampolines.

I don't think he's going to be a black belt anytime soon but it was a great way to introduce him to something different.

Afternoon silliness

Mum and I attended the Mother's Day afternoon tea at Isaac's daycare today. The kids had baked some lovely scones for us and Mum and Isaac were being a little silly with the cream. It was lovely to see how happy he was to have us there and play tour guide. It feels strange to think that he won't be there next year, it's been like a home for him the last 3.5 years.

Pizza mia

Homemade pizza night tonight. I love getting Isaac involved in choosing his own toppings and putting them on his very own pizza. Usually more toppings end up in his mouth rather than the pizza though.

Row, row, row your boat

Our craft project today was to make boats out of old plastic bottles. We tied some long string around the necks of the bottles and took them down to the river so Isaac could run along the bank. 

Sounds good in theory right? Firstly the river bank wasn't so great and instead of floating along nicely as Isaac ran up and down, the bottle kept getting caught on the grass and sticks stopping him in his tracks. Then Isaac let go of his string while trying to get his boat to float a bit further out. Unfortunately it was too far out to reach it so now instead of a boat it was just litter.

We'd made a second boat so I decided to try using that to coax the first boat back to shore. Brilliant! I threw it out a few times and was slowly making progress until I too let go of the string. Now we had two pieces of litter in the river with no sticks long enough to reach either of them.

We tried for another 20 minutes or so to think of other ways of getting them back but all of our attempts were fruitless. I felt/feel unbelievably guilty but we ended up having to just leave them there. It was a shame too because Isaac had been so excited as we drove down to the river. Live and learn though, I think next time we'll stick to filling up the wheel barrow in the backyard.

The thought that counts

Although flowers are beautiful as they sit in vases in our homes, it's not really the flowers themselves women like receiving, it's the thought behind the flowers that we appreciate most.

Ouch!

It's that time again, vaccinations. I hate hearing little ones scream when the needles go in but it's all over very quickly and knowing it's the best for them in the long run makes it a little easier to bear.

Family fun day

We took a family trip to the zoo today.  Although Isaac enjoyed looking at all the animals I get the feeling he enjoyed the transport to and from the zoo more. First was a train, then a ferry, then the sky lift up to the zoo entrance. He was SO excited by the sky lift, I don't think he'd ever dreamed such a thing existed. 

We spent a good few hours walking around, had our packed lunch by the elephant enclosure and went to the seal show. With fantastic weather as well we couldn't have asked for a better day.

Garage Sale Trail

Today was Garage Sale Trail day.

I didn't have a lot of time to go exploring but I did manage to get to one sale a couple of doors down from us and to the market being held at Parramatta Town Hall. I like the concept but unfortunately no hidden treasures for me today.

Nappy change fun

For some reason Noah loves being on the change table. There's always lots of kicking and smiling so I like to keep him there for a while to have a play.

Tonight he was enjoying some cuddles and kisses with a cute little soft toy he was given by one of his great-aunts.

Welcome home

Aunty Tennille arrived home from her latest trip to New York today so it was a pleasant surprise when she popped in for a visit this afternoon. She got lots of cuddles from Noah, even if he was a bit confused as to who she was exactly.

Thrifty me

Darren kindly arranged to work from home today so that I could have some 'me' time. I'm very grateful that he thinks to do things like that for me and that his work is flexible enough to allow him to do it.

In the morning I spent some time just relaxing in the sun down at the lake and for the afternoon I took myself off to another op shop to indulge my new found enthusiasm for thrift shopping. There were no major bargains to be had today but I'm learning it's more the thrill of the chase that I enjoy.

I did pick up this cute little tea cup for 50c that I haven't quite decided what to do with yet. It will probably look nice as an ornament on a shelf somewhere.

Footprints

When Isaac was born I had his little footprints put onto a plark that sits in our bedroom as a constant reminder of how little he once was. Understandably I've wanted to do the same for Noah's feet but unfortunately the place I went to with Isaac is no longer in Sydney. After contacting the company, I leanrt that I could take the footprints myself and then send them off to get transfered to a plark - good news.

I thought it would be good to get some updated prints of Isaac's feet alongside Noah's so Mum and I gathered all the supplies today and got printing. After MANY attempts, and lots of paint on ourselves and the driveway, we managed to get a few good prints to choose from.

It's amazing to see how much Isaac's have grown and how big they are now in comparison to Noah's.