Stressful Times

I started today with a shower, then a bowl of yoghurt while feeding Isaac his Weetbix (he can do 2!). Then I had coffee with my friend and her son (4 days younger than Isaac - that's how and why we met). Then I dropped Isaac at Nan's and I've been spending all afternoon packing, re-packing, sorting things out ready to go on holiday! It's so difficult, especially when hubby has some things he needs packing that he decided would be a good idea to leave at work until the night before we leave!
The other problem is that Isaac will need toys on the plane... How many? will he sleep? will he be entertained by these few toys I have packed? My carry on bag is FULL of toys and food for him. There is no room for anything else, like passports, wallets, nappies, wipes, spare clothes in case he spews all over me and him. I thought I had it all sorted, but apparently toddlers need a lot more than I anticipated.
Even our suitcases are full of toys, portacot, portable high chair and the list goes on and on.
I only wanted to have 2 suitcases and 2 carry on bags... I think we will end up with 3 checked in bags and 3 carry on bags, plus a carry on kid. I hope he is happy to walk and pull along his own suitcase.

Day 17 Photo - Dungarees

Today I made my Mum come over and help me make some waterproof dungarees for Isaac. I had cut out the pattern and fabric, but then I got totally overwhelmed by the instructions on how to sew it together. Thank goodness for Mums! She showed me what to sew, and I sewed most of it. And I did all the finishing touches. It's slightly tight but I might extend the straps, or I might not haha. I was just so glad to get them finished before Winter! And I saved about $30.

Day 14, 15 & 16 - Toys, Sky and Randomness!

This weeks Friday challenge:
"1. A Duck
2. A Teaspoon/s
3. A Shoe/Foot
4. A Ball/Bead/round object
5. A Flower

Now with these I want you to be original and creative, thinking outside of the box. Instead of taking a pic of a Teaspoon sitting on a bench why not tie some to a tree..."

So I thought I'd take an unoriginal photo setting, but take out the 'shoe' and replace it with a 'duck' etc etc.
And here is the result:

Day 11, 12, & 13. Sewing and Craft

Tranquility

Emotion: Confusion "How do I get in my room?"

Colour: Blue - Fabric Scraps


I've been too busy/lazy to post on here for a few days... So here are the last 3 pics. This weeks theme is "Colours", I like that better than "Emotions" from last week.
Today I finally got around to cutting out Isaac's waterproof dungaree pattern and the fabric. I need to get some help from my Mum now to sew them... or how to assemble them, I don't want to stuff it up, but I think it'll be pretty easy once I get the hang of it. I saw some waterproof dungarees online 2 days ago, and they were about $45!!! If these go well, they will have only cost me about $15. That gives me $30 to spend on other stuff I don't need.

Day 10 Photo - Sick but Content Baby

This morning when Isaac woke up, he was still so sleepy. He can't have slept very well; he coughed a lot during the night. So I got 1 hour of nice cuddles from him this morning. Ya know, when they snuggle their head into your shoulder/neck, awwww so cute. It's one of the few times my heart has actually melted. I felt so sorry for him, but at the same time I was so happy I got that special time with him.
So since Isaac was so clingy today, I managed to get this photo of Isaac and Daddy having cuddles, so cute. I had to crop Daddy out of the shot, he won't give me permission to put any of his photos anywhere on the Internet, he's such a Diva.
I bought some waterproof fabric today to make Isaac some overalls to keep him clean and dry when we are outside in the rain and puddles! So I just have to make them now, hopefully my Mum will help me this week before Winter is over.

Day 9 Photos - Friday Five Week 2

This weeks Friday Five:
1. Something you Created
2. Something Old
3. Something Wet
4. Something you want to eat
5. Something close up

What I really wanted to eat is chocolate, but I have none in the house, as its contraband at the moment, until 1 Sept!! It's hard work. BUT, secretly, I did have a piece of Chocolate Birthday Cake today. And I did always say from the start, that it would be OK to have something like that on a special occasion, and I think Birthdays are very special, even if it is for a naughty sister-in-law :P
Isaac Update: He seemed a bit better today, his nose was running more, and his appetite was slightly better. And nothing yuck from his bum or mouth! I'm convinced it's a cold brought on by teething. So no doctor yet. But I self diagnosed him with google, so I've stopped looking at Google (thanks Angela). We had a nice quiet day at home, I even cancelled going to my much anticipated coffee meet up with mums from my ex-work.

Day 8 Photo - Fun Times

Even though I didn't want heaps of Isaac themed 'Emotion' photos for my photo challenge, this one was too good to resist.
Isaac has been a bit sick today. His nose is running, his face is all splotchy. He has diarrhea and he won't eat, and then what he did eat for dinner tonight he threw up on his high chair!
Every 10 minutes I think he is dying of some awful disease, because that's the fear the media put into us these days. I hate giving out Pamol (baby medicine)... It's not going to cure him, it'll just make him feel better, but I want to know if he's sick; I don't want to cover his symptoms up. He's only had it once before when he was teething really badly and me and hubby really needed some sleep!
Going to the doctor always seems to be a waste of time; $15 + petrol + the inconvenience of going out. But can you put a price on piece of mind?
But just to put all your minds at rest, I am keeping a very close eye on him, and I'll see how he is tomorrow, we may go to the doctors.
Sometimes, as a mother, it's so hard to know what to do. In fact, it's ALWAYS hard to know what to do. And I don't imagine it every gets easier, even when they're 29.

Day 7 Photo - Concentration

I managed to photograph this concentration from Isaac, it wasn't as extreme as I was hoping for, but it'll do for today. I loved that the bead was in his hand, and his little finger was sticking out, so cute!
I went to the garage today; my car has been producing strange burning smells. Turns out that I'd driven over some plastic palette wrapping, and it had melted itself onto my exhaust! Felt like a bit of a twit, if I'd looked under the car I would have seen it *oopsy daisy again*
So they charged me $20 to clean and scrape it off, which wasn't too bad I suppose; it could have been worse.
Come to think of it, I did park on top of some plastic stuff yesterday at the airport. It's one of those things you don't think about at the time, but looking back thru my memory banks I do recall seeing it.

Day 6 Photo - Emotions and stuff

So it turns out that for this "Photo a day" group, each week has a theme... oopsy daisy!
Last week the theme was WINTER. And this weeks theme is EMOTIONS.
Most of my pictures last week could squeeze into a WINTERY theme (gumboots, hot apple pie, playing inside, and hanging nappies inside). But I'm going to find emotions harder, because, although this is started thru a Mums Forum, I don't want it to be all toddler photos! And anyway, Isaac mostly only has happy or sad, he doesn't have angry or confused very often... And what are the chances I have the camera out for the split second he does!
I thought that "Tired" could be to days emotion.
I went into Isaac's room to disturb him after 20mins of being asleep, it's supposed to help them sleep longer, kinda reset their sleep cycle apparently. Anyway, this photo captures how he was sleeping. He had turned 180degrees, wrangled out of his sleeping bag/sack, and I didn't have his trousers on him because he spilt water all over them and they were drying off, good thing he had his long socks on.
You'll be pleased to know that I did move him back into his cot and put a blanket over him.

Day 5 Photo - Cloth Nappies

Today's photo WAS going to be of my hot chocolate topped with cream, but it turns out it wasn't very photogenic. So, instead it's of Isaac's Honey Child cloth nappies hanging up to dry.
I LOVE cloth nappies, except when the poo gets all over the nappy. I use liners to prevent this, but I think because Isaac is so much more active now, the liners tend to move out of the way. But this is only a problem when the poo is... ah... well, when it's not a nice solid one.
I think it's relaxing hanging them up in my OCD fashion and then folding them all when they are dry.
I would recommend cloth nappies to anyone if they are thinking of using them.

Day 4 Photo - Cheap Fun

This is one of Isaac's favourite games. Put the milk bottle lids in the yoghurt container. It's a really cheap game! It's also very messy and he mostly likes to finish the game with the lids NOT in the yoghurt pottle.

Cold but Sunny day in Auckland

It's only day 3 in my photo challenge, and already I've lost a little bit of enthusiasm. It seemed like more of a chore today, and this should be fun and exciting. I think I'll need to plan ahead a bit better and write a weekly list of what I want to photograph based on what I've done that day and really use my creative streak.
One of my Facebook friends suggested that I photograph Isaac's feet, or things around his feet and where they've been (since I started with gumboots). I liked that idea, but at the same time I don't want it to be based on Isaac. Maybe I could do August based on Isaac? Or perhaps do a Steph photo a day, AND an Isaac photo a day?
So for July I'll photograph something me or Isaac have done during the day that I can be creative with, as I'm no photographer, but would like to get better at it.
Anyhoo, the Big Ben Apple Pie was YUMMY! And my hubby makes the best whipped cream, with far too much icing sugar added DELICIOUS!

Friday Five - Take One

As part of my July - Photo A Day challenge, every Friday is Friday Five, there are five specific things I have to photograph. Today is
1. A Self Photo
2. Your Favourite Place
3. Your Favourite Colour
4. Your Favourite Item of clothing
5. Your Favourite Household Appliance

My Fave place is Bastion Point in Mission Bay. So I was going to Mission Bay anyway to meet some OhBaby Mums for coffee, so I went to Bastion Point afterwards. Isaac had a blast! He loved running/walking/crawling around the grass and he LAUGHED his head off when I carried him down the steps, bouncing. It was so cute.

July - A photo a day challenge

So, Today I have joined a group... I belong to a web forum "OhBaby" which is mostly mums with kids, and there is a thread on there about starting a Facebook group "July - A photo a day". So I joined it with great motivation.
My husband has a beautiful camera (photographed above with my crappy camera, also pictured). So I thought it would be a good opportunity to use it.
But now, I am thinking it's going to be harder than I thought. I can't even update this blog, let alone take a photo a day and upload it daily!
I've decided to post my photo a day on my blog as well for the month of July.
So my first picture for July, there is a story behind this photo too, which is always great. I went to Marshalls Farm near Tauranga (aka Marshmellows Farm), and Isaac had nice white fabric shoes on, they got poo and dirt all over them. So I made it my mission yesterday to buy Isaac gumboots. I found some plain boring black ones at The Warehouse for $13. Then this morning I go into the shed, and sitting there, in the middle of the shed is a pair of cool blue gumboots! My darling husband didn't tell me there was a pair there (He'd been given a box of outdoor toys etc about 6 weeks ago). He goes in the shed EVERY DAY! I dug the barcode tags out the rubbish bit and returned the warehouse gumboots today. Talk about a mission alright!
So here is the first photo: