A Birds Eye View

Art Smocks

2012-01-27T08:00:00.001+11:00

My god-daughter recently turned 5, and if that wasn't a major milestone in her life, she is about to start primary school too!

When buying a gift, I like to give something that there is a high chance of no-one else giving, and something that will be utalised. So for Em's birthday I thought about getting her a personalised pencil case for school, but wasn't sure that no-one else would get her one. Her mother informed me that they have school issue library bags (boo! it wasn't pretty like the one in my head) but no art-smocks.

With that in mind I set off to find an adorable artsmock, and came across Miss Tilly and Me. Allison had the most adorable smocks, and was a complete gem to deal with. She even personalised Em's name on her smock for no added cost!

Within a few days this pretty was in my mailbox. I could not be more impressed with it.

The sewing is A+ and the attention to detail is supurb. It is a far cry from the old business shirt that I used to wear as an artsmock at school!

Exquisite Wall Decals For An Artistic Home

2012-01-26T09:45:00.000+11:00

Everyone deserves a lovely homeconsidering the amount they invest in them. Real estate as we all know involveshuge sums of money and only the fortunate ones could actually live their dreamswhen it comes to dream homes. You certainly do deserve the best considering allthe hard work you put in to realizing your dream home. Creating a dream home orpurchasing one doesn’t end with just the initial investment you put intopurchasing. Interior decoration also plays a part and you might have to shed alittle more out of your pockets for decorations, furnishings and regularmaintenance in order to prolong the longevity of your home for severalgenerations to come. Only then, your dream or investments would become worthwhile.Traditionally, when it came to interior decorations, people just used to paintvarious colors onto their walls and add exquisite furniture’s to make one’shome look livelier and lovely. It has become highly common these days. You canalmost find it in most households. If you have purchased a new home and youwant to live your dream, have you considered wall decals fora change? Certainly when it comes tointerior decorations, everyone seeks for creating a unique style that isn’tcommonly found anywhere else.

The solution you are looking for whenit comes to creating a unique home issue lies on wall decals. There are surplusamount of options with variety of designs, colors and styles when it comes tothese wall decals available in the market. Most merchants merchandising thesewall decals also allow you to customize your own stickers which has highlyaided towards creating a unique home. These wall decals are made out of vinylwhich adds more features to them, making them more flexible. In other words, vinyl wall decals canbe removed with much ease as and when you please and hence you have theflexibility of changing your wall decorations with variety of wall stickers asand when you please. This particular feature always gives your home a new lookand hence you can never get bored of the way your home looks. You have widevariety of options when it comes to choosing and hence wall decals haverevolutionized the art of interior decorations and now you can certainly havean artistic home. Wall decals are not just for residential purposes. They alsocontribute a lot towards creating a wonderful office environment. Walldecals with wall quotes are highly popular and more commonly used in everybusiness firm these days.

Eliza Wears

2012-01-26T08:00:00.000+11:00

I am teaching her early

2012-01-25T08:00:00.000+11:00

Eliza and I do a fair bit of shopping, however it took me until she was 6 months to go on her first trip to Bunnings! She was a huge fan, and has since demanded that I take her fairly regularly.

Who am I to argue?

To Buy or Not To Buy: Bumbo & Tray

2012-01-24T08:00:00.000+11:00

For us, this was $70 well spent. Eliza has been sitting in the bumbo since she was around 3 months old, first to get used to sitting, then as a table for food, and now as a substitute high chair if we go somewhere.

It really is handy, and very easy to wash when someone smears banana into the sides of it. Highly recommend it, and am planning on buying one for a friends baby on the way.

If you are looking for one, don't pay more than $55 for the seat and $20 for the tray. They are regularly on sale for these prices at Baby Bunting. There are ebay sellers selling them for much more than this and praying on sleep deprived mums who don't have time to research prices.

Bedroom Robe Doors

2012-01-23T08:00:00.000+11:00

This was actually completed last year, to just scrape in the list of things I wanted to complete for 2011.

It started out as a pretty boring task, remove doors and chisel out the hole for the flush sliders, so that I could paint them. It was meant to take a day.

It took three weeks. Which meant I had to look at this for three weeks (and this is the cleaned up version).

Why did it take so long? Well I started by using a brush to paint them. Huge mistake as the brush marks were visible, and unlike every other door in our house that has a textured finish, these ones have a smooth finish. FAIL #1. Sand back doors.

So I decided to spray paint them for a nice smooth finish. Added bonus was that we had a friends spray kit at home already. Fantastic. Until the paint ran as neither of us had much of an idea of how to spraypaint doors (top tip: use an airless system or a mighty big compressor. Neither of which we did). FAIL #2. Sand back doors again.

So we were starting to run out of options (and baby sleep time), so we went back to our old faithful: rolling. Which was a success, thank goodness as I was contemplating paying $300 for new doors at this point and sending them to a professional painter.

So now we have this view:

In our next house I am having a better system.

Family Photos

2012-01-20T08:00:00.000+11:00

We recently had some family photos taken of the three of us as a fundraiser for a local Kinder. I thought they would make ~~easy~~ awesome christmas presents for grandparents etc, so I paid the hefty price for the package. I had a promo coupon from Huggies for a 30x30 photo canvas from Snapfish, and thought "what the heck, might as well treat ourselves".

So we ended up with this photo above our TV. Being the awesome bargain hunter I am *scoff* I was patiently waiting for a sale on Snapfish, Big W or any other random photo site. The gods delivered and Snapfish had a half price canvas sale, so I ordered the other two poses.

I do love that picture of Eliza!

Eliza Wears

2012-01-19T12:00:00.000+11:00

Christmas Wrap Up

2012-01-19T08:00:00.000+11:00

Or unwrap. Which ever way you like to think of it.

Given Eliza is only 6 months old, and very oblivious to the whole christmas thing, I went with the minimalist approach to christmas this year: one present from us, and I worded up the big fella about only sending one present down the chimney too. At this stage I plan to keep it that way.

So, from us she received

A lot of wrapping paper.

Nah, really it was a Wheely Bug Mouse.

And from Santa she received a Boon Bug Pod

We hosted christmas lunch this year, with a total of 14 adults and 5 kids, all the presents took up half of our lounge room!

As a special treat (that I didn't know about until after the event) Eliza was given a bit of gingerbread cookie. My mum claims it contains no sugar, just golden syrup. Thanks mum.

All in all it was a lovely day, sleeps were missed, treats were plentiful and the love was flowing. Next time we host christmas I am asking for a bigger house though.

Now I just need to find an adult sized one of these!

Photo Challenge - Day 18

2012-01-18T20:55:00.000+11:00

Photo Challenge - Day 17

2012-01-18T20:54:00.000+11:00

Photo Challenge - Day 16

2012-01-18T20:52:00.000+11:00

Photo Challenge - Day 15

2012-01-18T20:50:00.002+11:00

Photo Challenge - Day 14

2012-01-18T20:49:00.000+11:00

Photo Challenge - Day 13

2012-01-18T20:48:00.000+11:00

I normally just chuck my purse and keys into the nappy bag, but today I actually managed to go out without Eliza - so no need for the bag.

Photo Challenge - Day 12

2012-01-18T20:47:00.000+11:00

Photo Challenge - Day 11

2012-01-18T20:45:00.000+11:00

Photo Challenge - Day 10

2012-01-18T20:44:00.000+11:00

Photo Challenge - Day 9

2012-01-18T20:43:00.000+11:00

Photo Challenge - Day 8

2012-01-18T20:42:00.000+11:00

Photo Challenge - Day 7

2012-01-18T20:41:00.000+11:00

Photo Challenge - Day 6

2012-01-18T20:38:00.002+11:00

House Hunting #58

2012-01-18T08:00:00.001+11:00

I will eventually stop this, but I have found a few lovely houses of late that I wanted to share.

There was no price listed on the site, just an expression of interest, however I suspect it will go for a pretty penny!

2011 in review

2012-01-17T08:00:00.001+11:00

Given that a certain little baby turned our world upsidedown, inside out and made it spin backwards, we didn't do too bad at getting our list completed.

Here is what we wanted to achieve (from here):

1. Paint the front door. Done!

2. Tile the fire place floor thingy.

3. Install a bigger air-con vent in the lounge room. Done! I don't think I ever blogged about this, but I ended up giving up. The aircon people were right, it couldn't be done with ease. In the end the husband put the other vent inline with it on the other side of the room. It works well actually.

4. Paint all the doors in the house. - I sort of completed this one. I need to paint our bedroom door and the sides of the laundry cupboard door, and thats it.

5. Do something with the front of the house. - In progress here, here, here and here.

6. Finish painting the skirting boards in the office and have the carpets replaced. Done and Done.

7. Hang the artwork I brought last March in our bedroom. Done

Not too shabby, I have a couple that are carrying into this year. Stay tuned for what we want to get done in 2012. It's going to be H.U.G.E*!

* Possibly an overstatement.

Drawer Knobs

2012-01-16T08:00:00.000+11:00

When I was buying the furniture for Eliza's room I wanted to get crystal knobs for her dresser, but worried that it would be too girly if I had a boy (and I was convinced I was having a boy). So I left the stock standard Ikea knobs on the dresser and forgot all about it.

Then whilst killing some time on ebay, I found some crystal knobs for less than $3 each. Bargain.

Aren't they pretty?

Milk Glass

2012-01-13T08:00:00.000+11:00

I do love a glass of chocolate milk, and thought this glass (pictured with lemon soft drink in it) was just too cute to walk past. It is just the right size too.

You can find them from The Little Big Company.

Eliza learns to type

2012-01-11T08:00:00.000+11:00

We're not sure how she managed it, but she got the oems symbol in her email to Nanny! How does one get the oems symbol???

To Buy or Not To Buy: Towels

2012-01-10T08:00:00.000+11:00

See this basket here? It is full of towels for Eliza. Hooded towels, plain towels, extra fluffy towels, and close to a million facewashers. And there is another basket in the bathroom. And a few on the clothes line.

To be honest, I wish I never brought any myself, as we got given majority as gifts, which was lovely, don't get me wrong, but we only ever use the same three towels: the pink hooded towel on top, a normal towel that my mum embroidered for Eliza to lay on whilst getting dressed/undressed, and a spare hooded when the pink one is in the wash. I tend to use the rest of them for drying my hair!

My advice? Save buying towels until after the birth, or if you must, only buy one or two beforehand. A regular bath towel is just as good too.

Jewelry Tree

2012-01-09T08:00:00.000+11:00

For sometime now I have been wanting something decent to hang my necklaces on. I had one of those metal bodice things, but it wasn't really cutting the mustard, and was a bit short for my necklaces.

I had seen these timber trees in stores and liked them, but always baulked at the $150 price tag. I liked them, but not that much!!! Then one day I was browsing online and saw them for $60 at Myer. Bingo!

As luck would have it, the day I went to Myer they had 30% off christmas stock, so it came at just over $40.

I do love a bargain!

Photo Challenge - Day 5

2012-01-06T20:50:00.003+11:00

(the husbands shoes)

Photo Challenge - Day 4

2012-01-06T20:48:00.003+11:00

Photo Challenge - Day 3

2012-01-06T20:47:00.003+11:00

Photo Challenge - Day 2

2012-01-06T20:43:00.000+11:00

Photo Challenge

2012-01-06T20:21:00.001+11:00

Day 1 - Me

How To Decorate Nursery Schools With Exquisite Nursery Wall Decals

2012-01-04T08:00:00.000+11:00

Morning peeps. Just popping in here with a guest post. I am being incredibly lazy, thanks to the current heatwave and am drinking coffee and lounging under the aircon vent. Talking takes too much energy, so it is lucky that Single Stone Studios are in a better climate than I am, and are willing to write more than a paragraph.

You might remember them from titles such as Wall Decals, and Wall Decals Updated and Growth Charts and Growth Charts Revisited They know their stuff, so I will let them take over.

How To Decorate Nursery Schools With Exquisite Nursery Wall Decals

Everyone at some point of timein their lives aspire to purchase their dream home. They end-up working hardfor several years to achieve their goals and dreams. Not all are fortunateenough to be born with ancestral properties and quite well off as well to dowhatever they want with the financial stability they have. At leastmiddle-class people need to struggle hard to earn savings of such kinds torealize their dreams and create a safe and secure environment for themselvesand their families. In fact they end-up working 24x7 all through the year attimes with barely anytime for even eating or sleeping to achieve the same. Ofcourse, these days there are other flexible options where you can avail forhome loans in banks, chit fund centers and other lending institutions with orwithout mortgage features to achieve your dreams immediately. Homes are quiteexpensive properties. Nevertheless, you will end-up working hard to save yourmortgage or pay your debts. Its understood that there is so much thought andplanning put into one's home when it comes to purchasing. It is your dream homeand it has to be according to the way you visualized it. Planning also involvesinterior decorations which are a very important part of building your dreams. Wall decals andstickers are the latest revelation in the market as it has become verypopular and widely used in many offices and homes for decoratingpurposes.

Your home consists of severalareas that need to be decorated appropriately. These areas are classified basedon their purpose or functionality. Usually you have a kitchen, master bedroom,other bedrooms, children bedrooms, bathrooms, study rooms, halls etc. All theseabove mentioned sectors of home serve their own purposes or functionality. Itis very important that you give a serious thought in to decorations for everyroom and create it accordingly. Do you have a new born child in your home? Doyou wish to have an exquisite and beautiful child specific room? You need tolook into babywall decals. There are varieties of options for both male as well as femalebabies when it comes to baby wall decals. You also have the general childrenwall decals for children rooms as well. These wall decals portray stars, dolls,ponies, superheroes, trees, parks to figuratively anything you want. Some walldecal manufacturing company provides customizing options using which you cancreate your own children wall decal according to your likes and dislikes. Thereare many websites online sharing details, giving examples as well as sellingthese wall decals. You can find examples of how various baby rooms aredecorated in a modern way in variety of homes which will give you a good ideaof how your baby room should look. These details will help you narrow down onyour decision making and come up with the perfect home which includes a wonderful,exquisite appropriate baby room as well.

Some of these wallstickers/posters also come with special quotes which make your home look bothlively as well as lovely giving you a homely feeling. Wall sticker quotesare quite popular and used predominantly in many homes and offices as it sendsa clear, appropriate and bold message.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T08:00:00.000+11:00

I am going to take a short holiday from blogging to enjoy the summer holidays with my family and friends. I hope that you have a magical time with your own loved one and I shall see you in the new year.

My gift to Eliza

2011-12-24T10:00:00.000+11:00

I received an email this morning from Pinkie McKay about special gifts that we can give our children (and each other). It touched me deeply, and I wanted to share it with you.

* Self confidence: Help your child understand and accept that nobody can be approved of all the time, and when she encounters disapproval she needn't feel immobilised, that she much trust herself, not the opinions of others. Give this gift with a hug.

*Possibilities: Give children the freedom to be anything they choose, rather than limit them by labels or roles. Teach them by example that a boy or girl can sew or play football, cry or be brave, mow lawns or do dishes. Give this gift with a smile.

*Life without needless fear: Encourage children to become 'doers' by showing them that you will tackle problems and not be a worrier yourself. Give this gift with a laugh.

*The gift of loving: Encourage children to be fully alive in every way. Allow them to have adventures, a chance for laughter, fun, creativity. Give them the supreme gift of being able to find happiness in virtually all circumstances. Give this gift everyday through the year.

Whilst for so many little children Christmas is about gifts, I want to teach Eliza that there is more to it than just a present under a tree.

PS: If you are a parent I highly recommend Pinkie. She is a down to earth person who encourages you to have confidence in yourself and your own parenting ways, rather than following some strict guidelines set out in a book. She has helped me many times and I highly recommend you sign up to her emails.

Eliza's Stocking

2011-12-23T08:00:00.000+11:00

I finally made a decision about what stocking to buy Eliza, this lovely burlap and linen number from Turnbow Designs.

Honestly, the picture doesn't do it justice (especially as it is hanging on our actual fireplace due to lack of mantel). It is so well made, and will last my little girl many years to come.

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells

2011-12-21T08:00:00.000+11:00

Jingle all the way...except for when the baby is asleep!

I brought my bell wreath from Myer recently and couldn't be happier with it. I like that it is festive but something a little different to the regular green wreaths.

Hair Clip Holder

2011-12-20T08:00:00.000+11:00

Eliza has a lot of hair clips, as something is needed to tame her wild spike. (I refer it as her Stegosaurus spike, as a reference to her being 'Dino' when I was pregnant, and me being 'Pregosaurus").

Moving right along, her clips got tossed into a glass bowl on her dresser most days, but I found this was a breeding ground for other crap too, like her dummy, random tags off new clothes and other mundane things.

I wanted to get the bowl off her change table and onto the wall, and came up with a very simple idea that I had seen around the place.

I started with an Ikea Ribba frame and a scrap of material.

As the frame didn't come with a bit of cardboard, I cut out the required size from a nappy box I was about to put in the recycle bin.

Given I was doing this during nap times I had to be quick and quiet about it, so out came the quietest tool I could find: sticky tape. Pulling the fabric tight I secured the ends with tape.

For the corners I folded them over neatly and added more tape.

It looked a little like this after all four corners were done

Even Lucy cat 'helped'. She loves laying there watching the birds and gets rather cranky when I use the desk for office type jobs.

Once all the sides were taped up I had this:

To be able to attach the clips I needed ribbon to make a criss cross pattern with. Out comes the ribbon, and you guessed it, more tape.

To get the measurements I went from corner to corner, and then used the thickness of my ruler from the outside of the ribbon. By some odd bit of luck, it fitted perfectly!

I forgot to photograph this part (partly because Eliza woke up, partly because I am forgetful), but to stop any of the ribbons moving I sewed a few stitches in each of the ribbon joins. I went through the board and everything, but you could use push pins if you wanted.

All done!

Once I made this one I decided that I wanted to make it bigger, so next time I go to Ikea I will get a bigger frame and start all over again. For now it sits on her dresser.

So there you go, a quick and easy craft project that can be done in under 2 hours.

Paint it black

2011-12-19T08:00:00.000+11:00

(as a 'I-didn't-really-need-to-know-that-fact' fact, I love that song, and it may have slightly inspired my choice of paint colour for our house).

I finally got around to painting the timber on the side of the front door. Not that you can see it behind one of the plants, but it's there.

On a side note, do you think I need to paint the bits around the door at the top?

Social Media Secret Santa

2011-12-16T08:00:00.001+11:00

This year the very lovely Telle from FatMumSlim arranged a Secret Santa for anyone with a blog or twitter, and I took part. Like most Secret Santas, we were each given a name of a fellow blogger to stalk and buy a present for.

My very lovely Secret Santa did an excellent job of stalking me, and brought a truely gorgeous gift.

Even the postpak was pretty, everything was nicely wrapped with ribbon and it had baubles scattered in there as well.

As Eliza was napping I was able to wrap it in peace. I was given a wooden Home sign (that now lives on the bookshelf in the office), some chocolate sea shells (which now live in my tummy/on my thighs), a Glasshouse candle (my absolute favourite kinda that now lives in the office so I can smell it as I write this post) and some lethal body lotion and soap. Seriously this stuff should be illegal, it smells that good.

I want to thank my Secret Santa, I love the gifts you chose and look forward to finding out who you are.

Eliza Wears

2011-12-15T08:00:00.000+11:00

We have really discovered rolling continuously now, and it is making it hard to get a picture of the front of her outfits!

Eliza - 6 months

2011-12-14T08:00:00.000+11:00

Weight: 7.0kg

Height: 65.5cm

Feeding: After a few weeks of not being able to work out your bottles, as you would barely drink, we got it sorted and can usually get 4/5 full bottles into you a day. Moving to formula has continued well for both of us, and has reduced the stress level of the household greatly. This month also saw you have your first solid foods. Since then you have tried and liked everything we have put in front of you. The only thing you weren't a fan of was when we served you a jar of beef and vegetables. I tried a bit, and I don't blame you for turning your head at it.

Sleeping: Oh how you are trying to wear Mummy down. Most nights I am up between 1 and 4am, and again at 6.30. We started you on a new routine that has set nap times during the day, and it seems to be worked well for us. The aim is to get you sleeping overnight with no wakings, but it doesn't seem to have made any difference to you at all. Ah well, it's not forever. {It took me many months to come to this acceptance}

Personality: We have taken to likening you to a cat, as you are temperamental and very cat like. You can be happy one moment and perfectly happy the next. You have started 'patting' the cat, however it looks to be more like yanking fur than patting. I don't think the cat is your biggest fan, but she does like it when you stroke her nicely, so she accepts it.

Everything you touch has to go in your mouth currently, no matter what it is. We have to watch you very carefully, as you will chew on anything, including your blankets!

Looks: *Sigh* you are still wearing your 000 onsies. We have well and truly got our value from them! It does mean that a lot of your summer clothes are a bit too big, but that doesn't matter. Your hair has thickened up and is now quite long at the back. Your fringe was starting to hand in your eyes, so we had your first hair cut this month, much to Mummies sadness - her little girl is growing up.

Activities: This month you went to your cousins first birthday party which you cried for most of, as you had some terrible tummy pains.

We went on your second trip to Ikea Richmond (third Ikea trip in total). You were slightly less perfect this time, spewing on yourself within 5 minutes of being there. We got what we needed and got out of there very quickly. You were asleep by the time we had reached the tollway.

This month also saw you spend two full days with Nanny K, as mummy had to go into a work for a few days. She said you cried for an hour for the first hour of your nap, however you were as good as gold after that. Mummy was terribly happy to see you each night when she got home - distance really does make the heart grow fonder.

First Haircut

2011-12-13T08:00:00.000+11:00

At 5 months, 3 weeks and 2 days my little girl had this giant mop on her head

Not something you usually see on such a little girl, I know. It was starting to get in her eyes, and look ratty, so we made the decision to have a tiny smidge of her fringe cut.

So much happier now. Least one of us is, I am still sobbing that my little girl is growing up so quickly.

Dear paint-maker

2011-12-12T08:00:00.000+11:00

Dear well know paint company with a fluffy dog for a mascot,

In the future, if you plan to discontinue a paint, could you possible let me know first? I really wasn't that appreciative of being told I can't get Super Bright base Extra Enamel paint anymore. Yes, you did offer me AquaEnamel, and that is also a great product, but it isn't Enamel and therefore ISN'T WHAT I WANT!

Now I have to paint all our windows and trim with undercoat before I can paint them with the coloured paint - a step I didn't need to do with the old paint.

Thanks :)

Christmas Tree

2011-12-09T08:00:00.000+11:00

For the last 5 years the husband has refused to let me have a real christmas tree. I nagged and nagged, and he said when we had a baby we could have a real tree (at this point we weren't even engaged).

Well, now we have the baby, so to the christmas tree farm we went!

With the perfect-est tree

The nice man came and cut it down for us

Eliza's first decoration.

It smells so pretty in our house these days.

Eliza Wears

2011-12-08T08:00:00.000+11:00

House Hunting #57

2011-12-07T08:00:00.000+11:00

Fancy fancy plaster work in the entrance - not sure I want to be dusting it all though.

Not a fan of the kitchen colour, it is a little bright for my liking (plus I hate stainless splashbacks). But that can easily be changed.

Hair Clips

2011-12-06T08:30:00.000+11:00

I have some shocking news for you all - my little girl has hair, and lots of it {I know, you are all dying of shock here}. So what does one do when she has a little girl with hair? You buy clips!

~~Our~~ My favourite clips are from Masterpieces Of Fun Art on etsy, as they are cute, come in a huge range of colours, and made from high quality materials. They are made on alligator clips, so you don't have to worry about hurting your babies head with hard snaps.

I am that in love with these clips that I have placed several orders for them, and have one to match every outfit that Eliza owns. They come with our hair of approval :)

Let the light shine in

2011-12-05T08:00:00.001+11:00

We are one step closer to finishing our veranda renovation - we removed the tin. It was actually a lot harder than we thought it would have been, as they were all linked together or something. I can't say I was paying that much attention due to ~~sitting under a tree watching the husband work~~ baby wrangling.

We are still debating if to have a bullnose or straight angled roof. I am leaning towards straight just because it would be cheaper, but bullnose would look better. We need to add some more timber beams to the frame and paint it, so we have time to make a decision.

I never realised how much light was being blocked by the roof, our hallway is so bright now! Apparently the flashing is going to be a bitch to fix, so we are on the quest to find a man to finish it. Suits me, as I want this done for Christmas and the weekends are running short. Of course, that means we need to find a man who can do the job quickly.

I neeeeeeed this...

2011-12-02T08:00:00.000+11:00

May have been what I said to a friend recently. Maybe.

But come on, how cute are these little guys?

Family Time

2011-11-30T08:00:00.000+11:00

When the husband took on his new job mid last year we knew it would involve being away at times. And that was fine whilst it was just the two of us. When Eliza entered the picture it got a little bit harder.

I was lucky that for the first 10 weeks of her life he was able to be home every night. But then that job ended and a new one started. Three hours from home. The first night was tough. The second a little easier, and eventually it became the norm.

However, it meant we started to really value weekend time as family time. It is the only time where the husband gets to see Eliza for more than 5 minutes as she is going to bed. We have had to decline many invitations recently as we prefer to be at home together, or it isn't plausible to take her out at night. We go visit local attractions, go for walks and generally just hang out. It also means that for two days of the week I can hand the baby over to someone else whilst I go to the toilet in peace.

Glamorous it is not, but it is lovely.

The girls

2011-11-29T08:00:00.000+11:00

Our cat isn't the hugest fan of Eliza, I suspect it has something to do with how Eliza grabs her fur and yanks it.

Such a picture of innocence.

What's left...

2011-11-28T08:00:00.000+11:00

So, now the concrete is laid, we need to finish the front. On the list, there is

new guttering.
replace the roofing iron.
paint the veranda poles and the surrounding trim from blue to grey.
put the lattice work back up.
build garden beds for the front of the veranda and the front of the master bedroom.

Sad thing is that I want this done before Christmas - which is only a few short weeks away!

Guest Post: Sweet Little Girl's Room Lighting

2011-11-25T08:00:00.000+11:00

Hi, I'm Susi, a writer for Arcadian Lighting, a wonderful website and blog to get ideas for the best lighting fixtures for your home and for decorating projects. I love guest blogging for fabulous blogs like Bird's Eye View. My guest post today focuses on sweet and stylish little girl's rooms. These eight are some of my favorite. I hope you like them, too! Enjoy!

This sweet girl's room has great style in its details. Pretty fabric on the roman shades and pillows add a lively pattern. Sweet Babar artwork adds a nostalgic touch.

For a little girl's room that also doubles as a play room, this sofa style bed is a clever design idea. The canopy makes it feel like a girly room, but the patterns, colors and art are anything but princess style.

Stylish girls' rooms don't have to be all pink to be sweet. I love the gray walls with just a hint of lavender that makes the colors of the bedding and curtains pop in this stylish girl's bedroom.

A clever idea for making a grand statement: use fabric to create a dramatic headboard and add swing arm wall lamps. These canopies are simple valances hung above swaths of pretty fabricóperfect for a girl's bedroom.

This romantic sleeping nook is perfect for a stylish and sweet girl's bedroom. Hang a curtain rod from the ceiling to create the nook with fabric curtains.

Twin beds dressed in white are a sweet option for a girl's bedroom. The bright pink walls give the room a modern style, while the beds add an old fashion touch.

Blue and white is not just for boys' bedrooms. This pretty blue and white bedroom features a modern floral pattern on both the walls and the bed that is stylish and girly. I love the hanging lantern and the chippy painted stool at the foot of the bed.

This room is almost over the top chic. I love the wallpaper's large scale Chinoiserie pattern and gorgeous color.What do you think of these darling little girl's rooms? For more decorating ideas for children's rooms and every room in your home, visit Arcadian Lighting's blog for fresh inspiration daily! (Images: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)

Eliza Wears

2011-11-24T08:00:00.000+11:00

House Hunting #56

2011-11-23T08:00:00.000+11:00

This house seems to be a slightly bigger fancier renovation of my current house, but I love it none the less - It is quite plain but just feels like home to me.

What's up Doc?

2011-11-22T08:00:00.000+11:00

Eliza had her first food that wasn't milk recently. Such a proud moment (which I have no idea why I am proud of, she didn't do much)

Yup, that was all the damage she did, she kinda mushed it a bit, nothing more.

I figured she wasn't interested. Clearly she preferred to chew on her mirror 2 minutes after I took her out of her highchair

Concrete!

2011-11-21T08:00:00.001+11:00

We finally have concrete!

It has been a little while since it was laid, and now it looks a little something like this. On one hand I kind of wish that we had it coloured, but it doesn't really matter.

There is a few things left to be done, but that's a post for another day.

Wall Art

2011-11-18T08:00:00.000+11:00

On a recent trip to Ikea I picked up a Ung Drill frame. I had no idea what I was going to do with it, I just knew it was kinda cool and had potential. Slowly a plan formulated in my mind, and a transformation occured.

I started with said frame (sorry, I forgot to take a photo of my frame)

And started to spraypaint it pink (Squirts Fuchsia for those interested)

It took a lot of coats (damn all those fiddly bits!) but just as my can needed replacing I had the right coverage to keep me happy (especially considering it took 8 light coats, each with an hours drying time in between, and the hardware store had since closed).

Eventually I ended up with this:

I did considering hanging it on the wall as is, but I wanted to finish my plan to see if it would work. So I took out the backing board and covered it with fabric. I had grand plans of using a bit of ply and stappling the fabric to it, but in the end good old sticky tape won.

Ta Da!

The next step was to affix the giant letter 'E' I had brought. This is where my plan came unstuck, as I didn't realise the letter would be so heavy. Double sided tape wouldn't hold it, so I turned to super glue.

And realised afterwards it was no where near centred. Drat!

My new plan is to have 'Eliza' scripted and put in the centre, but in the mean time it hangs on her wall all pretty like.

One day I will get around to finishing her bunting. One day.

Eliza Wears

2011-11-17T08:00:00.000+11:00

More Stockings

2011-11-16T08:00:00.000+11:00

After a lot of searching, I decided I wanted a neutral stocking for Eliza, something that isn't red and adorned with Santa or a reindeer. Here's a few I found that were timeless and neutral.

via Red Door Home

via My Adobe Cottage

via The Goodness Centric

via Katys Home Designs

via Casual Elegance Home

via Turnbow Designs

Mummy Uniform

2011-11-15T08:00:00.000+11:00

I have never been an overly fashionable person, but I like to think I looked 'nice'. Lately though, I have become victim of the "Mummy Fashion" trend.

Cargo jeans - check. Birkenstock sandles - check. Non-descript t-shirt - check. lack of makeup and hair - check.

I really do need some new clothes!

Getting My Sew on...

2011-11-14T08:00:00.000+11:00

I don't get a lot of time to sew these days, so my machine has gone sadly neglected under the dining room table, however I did whip up this little blanket recently.

I made the flower out of two yo-yo's and a button. I thought it was pretty darn cute.

A friend of mine recently lost a baby late in her pregnancy, which was a terribly sad thing that happened to a lovely couple. I had brought this fabric for her months ago as she loves yellow. I felt it was fitting to still give her the blanket to remember her little one at this very hard time for her.

Christmas Stockings

2011-11-11T08:00:00.000+11:00

As a kid I always had a christmas stocking and loved seeing what Santa had put in there for my cousins and I. My aunt is a wonderful sewer and made us each a stocking when we were around 3 and I still have fond memories of seeing them hanging on the mantel on Christmas Eve.

I don't have many family traditions, but this is one I would love to carry on for my own child. So now I need to find her a stocking.

via Pinterest (but sadly not on Pottery Barn now)

via Cottage Instincts

via Etsy

via Make it-love it

Eliza Wears

2011-11-10T08:00:00.000+11:00

We've added a third post to our collection, the "Look At My Socks" pose.

House Hunting #55

2011-11-09T08:00:00.001+11:00

I fell in love with this house on A-M's blog a few months back, as she showed the kitchen. Curiosity got the better of me and I had to see the rest of the house, as the kitchen is devine with a capital D.

I wasn't disappointed.

It took me a while to work out, but there is another living area downstairs.

oo oo, we went to the zoo!

2011-11-08T08:00:00.001+11:00

Eliza made her first trip to the zoo recently, something my stepfather could not understand. In my mind though, she totally loved the zoo and wants to return soon.

On the train watching the world go by.

She is still too young for the seat in the pram, so we propped her up so she could see the animals rather than the sky

Someone cracked it at the end of the day and was shoved into the Ergo to calm the crying {fail} and she was most unimpressed about the giant kangaroo!

It was a great day, we loved the zoo and can't wait to go back soon.

Eliza Wears

2011-11-07T08:00:00.000+11:00

The second last photo on the bottom is 'Daddy Styling'. I shook my head when I got home that day! A dress that is too small for her, calf length leggings and a onsie with a very different pink on it.

Ahh well, least he worked out how to dress her I suppose ;)

Postie

2011-11-04T08:00:00.000+11:00

I love our postie, she is awesome! Not long after I returned to work after uni she started putting our parcels in a more secure location, as she was concerned about them being taken during the day as we live on a busy street across from a school.

Now that I am home during the day she makes sure that she knocks on our bedroom window rather than the front door incase Eliza is asleep. And when Eliza is awake she always takes her for a quick cuddle whilst I sign for my goods.

I will miss her when we move!

Christmas Present Ideas

2011-11-03T08:00:00.000+11:00

It is that time of year again, and I am hinting at christmas present ideas.

Canon Speedlite 430 II Flash

Apple iPad with 3G

A new car (though that said, it is the car you want, not what I want)

And just incase you are feeling really generous, a new house, though we may wish to converse on which particular house for the sake of our marriage.

Eliza - 5 Months

2011-11-02T08:00:00.003+11:00

Weight: 6.54kg

Height: 63.5cm

Feeding: Your teeth started moving about this month and gave us a lot of grief, and we turned to a bottle on many occassions. You would scream and scream at Mummy and caused her a great deal of stress. This eventually lead to you refusing to attach at all and we moved onto formula at the end of the month. Mummy had very mixed feelings about this, but in the end it made for a much more peaceful relationship. We still haven't started on solids as you aren't showing any interest in eating.

Sleeping: It had to happen at one point, but our full nights sleep days have also ended. You now wake up once or twice overnight, depending on how you are feeling. Some nights you are very good and go straight back to sleep after a feed and a cuddle, however other nights you are in for a chat at 3am.

Personality: This month we discovered that you like animal noises, particularly cats, cows and ducks. You are not a fan of sheep or dogs. When mummy makes funny noises you giggle uncontrollably and bring out the hugest of smiles.

You like to watch Lucy cat, and will pat her if she comes close enough, though she doesn't like to have her fur pulled. This unfortunately is how you pat her though.

Looks: We are still wearing our 000 onsies, and will get a few more weeks out of them yet! Your eyes are still blue, so we are starting to think that you might have got them from Daddy's side of the family and will keep them.

Activities: We went to the Melbourne Zoo this month, which you loved. We went with Aunty C and Uncle D, who brought the divine Miss A with them. You were a very good girl and loved seeing the different animals, though no butterflies would land on your nose. We will have to go again soon.

We also went over to Bendigo to see Poppy J, and you dazzled him with your smiles. He hadn't seen you since you were two weeks old (yes, my dad is very slack) and saw a huge difference in you. Towards the end of the month we went to Melbourne on the train, which you slept majority of the way there and back, which we were very happy with.

The highlight of the month was taking you to the local show so we could play with the baby animal nursery. In true Eliza fashion, you patted the alpaca by pulling out his fur. I don't think he really liked that, but he didn't spit, so he must be used to it.

Lastly, we finally moved you over to the seat of the Bug, which you seem to enjoy. Your favourite toy in there is currently a set of linkies that you shove into your mouth as soon as you get your mits on them.

Confession Time

2011-11-01T08:00:00.000+11:00

I struggle with being a parent on a daily basis, and part of that is because I don't think I am good enough. Someone always seems to be giving me advice and telling me I am doing it wrong. Strangers, friends and family all do it. Family are the worst though. They cut deep with their criticism.

It has taken me to realise that no matter what I said I was doing, it would always be wrong, as it isn't their way. Somdays you just can't win.

Tram Rolls

2011-10-28T08:00:00.000+11:00

Tram Rolls are pretty popular these days, especially those with famous Melbourne/Sydney suburbs listed.

However, I although I liked them, I wanted one that meant something to me.

I have lived in many of the towns listed, and love that it is made up of regional Victorian towns. Plus it matches the colours in the border tile perfectly!

Eliza Wears

2011-10-27T08:00:00.000+11:00

House Hunting #54

2011-10-26T08:00:00.001+11:00

Play Mats

2011-10-25T08:00:00.000+11:00

I am in love with this play mat, it is bright but not gaudy, and best of all, it doesn't make noise! I wish I had seen it when I brought our activity mat, as the music it plays really does drive me up the wall.

Site Supervisor

2011-10-24T08:00:00.000+11:00

Seems we have a new site supervisor in our house.

Luckily the concrete was poured to her satisfaction, you don't want to get on the wrong side of this little miss!

Christmas Cards

2011-10-21T08:00:00.000+11:00

West Willow

Mink Cards

Luke Commasara

I really do need to stop thinking about Christmas, but time just keeps on passing me by!

Eliza wears

2011-10-20T08:00:00.000+11:00

Seems my child has only two poses - 'eating my shirt' or the 'startled possum'.

Whisky

2011-10-19T08:00:00.000+11:00

Dan Murphys

I was recently looking for a bottle of whisky to give for Fathers Day and come across this beauty. I love both my husband and my stepdad (who I was buying it for), but there was no way I was buying them a $10,700 bottle of whisky!

I am pretty sure it isn't a big seller either, who buys (and then drinks) a $10,700 bottle of grog?

Being a Mummy is hard

2011-10-18T08:00:00.000+11:00

I didn't have the easiest time getting pregnant, our fertility troubles were the hardest thing I had ever faced. I learnt a lot about myself, my husband, and our marriage. I never once thought that getting pregnant would be the easy part!

I really did think I was prepared for life with a newborn. I expected to be up at all hours of night, I expected to change dirty nappies and I expected to get the Day 3 Blues (oh yeah, they came. My poor Obs found me hysterical one morning reading the birth report - which was stupid as I have a complication free delivery). I read the books, went to classes and watched other parents.

And then Eliza arrived and everything I thought I knew went out the window. The first few weeks we ok, I was living on adrenalin. When I complained I was tired I didn't know that I could be even more tired than that. Each week brought a new level of exhaustion. A new level of self confidence that was just that little bit lower than the week before.

I do it easier than some, but I still do it tougher than others. Majority of weeks the husband leaves at 7.30am on Monday morning and comes home at 7.00 Friday night. My mum works shiftwork and might call in once a week if I am lucky, and I don't have friends that can really call in as they have their own lives to lead. Most days I cope, but some days I don't. Somedays I just want to run away and not come back, because that just seems easier.

Funny how they don't tell you this in the books though.

Babies+Renovating=Not Productive

2011-10-17T08:00:00.000+11:00

We knew that having a baby would suck up a fair bit of our time, and that renovating would have to take a back burner for a while, but we didn't quite bank on how much of a time sucker Eliza would be.

Call me stupid, but I kinda figured that we could renovate when she sleeps. I didn't bank on her only sleeping for 40 minutes at a time during the day, nor did I put any logical thought into how making a tonne of noise and having a baby sleeping at the time time.

So we have become fans of 'hiring a man' to do things for us. First we hired a man to rekey our house. Then a man to paint the lattice for us. And now we have hired a man to concrete a slab for us. Jobs we could have done ourselves, and would have normally have done ourselves, but our time is better spent with Eliza now.

It is kinda adictive. I am considering hiring a man to mow our lawns this week, as the husband has been working away wand our pet sheep have gone back to the farm for sheering. And when I return to work we will hire a cleaner for a few hours a week. Now if only I could hire a chef, things would be grand!

Scary Movies

2011-10-14T08:00:00.000+11:00

I am still trying to get the hang of this pinterest thing, but I did have a giggle at the above sign.

Eliza Wears

2011-10-13T08:00:00.000+11:00

The brown Gymboree giraffe dress is officially too small :( Quite a few of Eliza's clothes have now made it into the storage box. So many beautiful things.

House Hunting #53

2011-10-12T08:00:00.000+11:00

I love this office - all that space and storage!

One noise - *sigh*

To Buy or Not To Buy: Pumps

2011-10-11T08:00:00.000+11:00

Despite not wanting to, I seem to have brought A LOT of baby stuff. Somethings have been great, others not so great. I always found other peoples reviews interesting, so I thought I might have a crack at it too.

In the first three months, we loved our Medela Swing breast pump: I ummed and ahhed over buying or hiring a pump, and eventually decided to buy one. My chemist has a 90 day exchange policy, so I figured if I didn't use it within 2 months I would return it and get my money back. I figured that was a decent length of time to either get breastfeeding established, or to have thrown the towel in and be using formula (nothing wrong with either, just my preference was with breastfeeding).

Within three days of being home the box was open and I was pumping away thanks to an oversupply of milk. I now use it daily to express a feed just before bed, which becomes our freezer store. I like that the speed is variable, so I can increase pressure as needed, as well as the let down mode to gently get things moving. I also liked that there is a firm and soft cup in the box, as I preferred the soft cup in hospital.

Every now and then it throws a hissy fit and won't suction properly for no reason, but I find that turning it on and off again fixes that problem. It was expensive, however it is money I don't regret spending, as it has saved my behind more than once in the last few months, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. That said, if I wasn't sure I wanted to breastfeed, or knew I could breastfeed, I would hire one. It was the long refund period that had me sold.

Keys

2011-10-10T08:00:00.000+11:00

One of the things that always annoyed me about our house was the keys. There was a key for the front door, another for the back door, another for the dining room door, complete with a seperate key for the screen door. And then there was another two for the shed! So on my keyring I had 6 keys for our house, plus another 3 for my parents houses, and my car key.

So we decided to have the locks changed and keyed alike. The husband's best mate knew a bloke (gotta love how small towns work, everyone 'knows a bloke' to get things done) who was a locksmith and could do the job for us. All it took was a couple of hours and a couple of pineapples, and we were set.

It is so much easier to find the right key to get into our house now.

Everything you never wanted to know about me

2011-10-07T08:00:00.001+11:00

Have you met Loz? In case you haven't, she is all kinds of awesome. I always love a good Ninja story, as two things will happen - I will read and nod my head as I think Loz and I are pretty similar, and I will laugh as she has a great sense of humor and isn't afraid to show it!

At school I was known as Curnz after an episode of The Simpsons. I still get called it by school friends, much to my disgust (and change of surname).
I didn't enjoy being pregnant for 37 weeks. I think I managed to enjoy 3 weeks around 19 weeks, but it was all downhill from there. I thought I would love it, and tried to convince myself that I did, but on reflection, I didn't.
On a car trip longer than half an hour I must have something to eat. Doesn't matter what, an apple, chewing gum or something sweet, it must go into my mouth.
A lot of people don't like my boss in my office. I secretly think she is awesome and just don't speak up as I don't want them to not like me because of it.
My mum breastfed me until I was 3 and a half years old. I think that is weird and not something I would do.
I remember the most inane things, yet can't remember my own phone number most days. Knowing my mobile number would be handy, knowing what I wore on our first date 8 years ago is not.
My first word was 'puss', much to my mothers disgust.
I consumed more alcohol prior to turning 18 than I have since I turned 19 (and I am now 27).
I have a huge fear of anything happening to Eliza. The recent train accident has me running scared, and don't get me started on pools.
I wasn't qualified for my last job and they still gave it to me (without lying about my qualifications). I think they set their expectations too low, but am not complaining.

I never really know who to tag for these kinds of things, so I am putting it out there that everyone does it and we all learn about each other. Or you could just pretend you didn't know these 10 facts about me and continue drinking your coffee. Either one.

Eliza Wears

2011-10-06T08:00:00.000+11:00

I do love the pink bunny Esprit top she wore on Saturday, but it is now too small :( Sadly a few of my favourite items of Eliza's are too small - I need to get some storage boxes to put things in.

Breastfeeding is...

2011-10-05T08:00:00.001+11:00

Disclaimer: I have no qualms about using formula, hell Eliza gets the occasional formula feed every now and then when I need a break, and I don't believe that it has any impact on a child's development. Not everyone can breastfeed for many different reasons, and they shouldn't be judged for that. We all do the best for our children, and any food source is better than none. For me though, I wanted to breastfeed my child until 6 months. I have no idea why I picked 6 months, just seemed like a good point to reassess everything.

Not at all what I expected.

When I was pregnant I was naive. Baby+boob=fed baby. Plus the 'breast is best' brigade shove their knowledge down your throat like there is no tomorrow. I knew it would be uncomfortable for the few few weeks, but I would get used to it and all would be dandy. I figured I could get around feeding in public by buying wraps and covers to shield us, and if all else failed, I researched feeding rooms in every place I would possibly be going. It was going to be grand.

And then reality set in. I had some fantastic nurses at my hospital who helped me every step of the way. I would push the little green button each feed and they would come and watch and tell me if I was doing it right. And by their standards I was. I felt like a pro. I even managed to feed in front of friends and family.

And then we went home and reality set in. Reality that had me in tears every time she latched on. Each feed would require a huge number of latchings, which I thought was normal. No-one ever told me otherwise, and I just continued. Then it got harder, she would only latch on for two sucks and come off. Rinse and repeat. That made feeding in public the most uncomfortable I have ever been in my life. Lots of people looking up my clacker whilst I shoved a head out of my private parts was fine. People judging me as I tried to feed my screaming child in Ikea whilst juggling a wrap was not so fine. As the final straw, I had a case of mastitis that saw me fall in a heap on the floor, considering giving up.

Sadly my stupid pride stood in my way and stopped me from quitting, and I saw a Lactation Consultant who announced that Eliza had a tongue tie which wasn't helping, and I had flat nipples which also wasn't helping. Did you know that all nipples aren't the same, and that they can be flat? No, neither did I! But help was at hand, and I started using nipple shields. I reasoned with myself that I would make it to 2 months, then four.

Nipple shields are not ideal, they can apparently decrease your milk supply, require washing and are messy (or maybe I just have a sloppy eater?). But they are a means to an end. And it means that my nipple is now three times as long as it originally was, so there are less latchings to be dealt with. That said I will still take a feeding room over public, but if need be, I will flash everyone a boob for free.

At four months now, I am ok with my choice. My supply isn't as much as it used to be, but that also could be it self regulating itself. To make sure I have enough I express each night, just in case. There will come a day when I do give up, and it will be not that far away, but for now I am content.

And that is all we can ask for in life.

This post was inspired by my friend Amy over at Thinks I Never Knew. See what she has to say about breastfeeding her second child.

PS - Think my breastfeeding my daughter is pornographic? Deal with it, boobs were a food source before they were your funbags.

Quarter Roll

2011-10-04T08:00:00.000+11:00

I have to say, I don't blame Eliza for not wanting to roll, I hate being on my stomach too. She seems happy enough to get onto her side, and stay there.

Gotta love chubby little babies in all of their naked glory!

Lattice Work

2011-10-03T08:00:00.000+11:00

A feature of our house is the lattice work, despite all the shortcomings of our house's features, it still had the original lattice work.

We had to remove it to replace the posts, and made the decision to paint it before putting it back up. Unfortunately it was covered in 12 layers of paint in varying degrees of disrepair, and needed a bit of work with a wire brush before we could paint it. A friend of ours had access to a industrial sandblaster and a spraypainting booth, so we had him sandblast and paint it for us.

Now we just have to paint the posts and put all the lattice up again. I am not looking forward to it, as I think our mate lost some of the attachments.

Eliza - 4 Months

2011-10-01T08:00:00.006+10:00

Weight: 6.08kg

Height: 62cm

Feeding: Feeds have become a struggle, you love to stare at anything that isn't me, and that makes for some very interesting feeds. You have become very efficient at feeding, which means we spend more time doing things and less time sitting on the couch feeding (watching tv).

Sleeping: You have continued to sleep through the night, Mummy feels very lucky to not be getting up overnight. Your day sleeps have also improved, you now settle reasonably easily during the day, and will sleep for one and a half hours most sleeps.

Personality: You no longer reserve your smile for just Mummy or Daddy, you dish it out to anyone who looks at you, especially the ladies at the supermarket. However if you are grumpy about something you will refuse to look us in the eye, turning your head from us.

Looks: You are still sitting high on the height charts, but your weight has dropped below the 50th percentile, making us think you might be like your dad: tall and skinny! Your hair has continued to grow and is a huge source of delight to Mummy who loves to put clips in it. She also takes pride in showing it off to people, as many people said it would all fall out. How wrong they were!

Activities: We didn't go very far this month, only one trip to Melbourne and Geelong early in the month. Daddy has been working locally, so that means we tend to stick around home. We have been doing lots of reading during the day, particularly enjoying Spot and Dr Seuss.

We went to Uncle T's birthday party, and you were most unhappy. You gave poor Nanny a complex as everytime she looked at you, you screamed blue murder and couldn't be calmed. You soon got over it when Nanny looked after you a few days later.

You still won't roll properly, you occasionally will roll from side to side, but nothing eventful or frequent.

Woolies iPhone App

2011-09-30T08:00:00.000+10:00

I am a supermarkets dream shopper. I am too lazy to go to multiple stores, and I am easily persuaded by flashy advertising and free products. Oh how I love a free cookbook that comes with an ingredient I never knew I needed. And if they happen to offer me a rewards card, well then, even better.

Now, given I am a very loyal nerd, and the very easily convinced household shopper, I had a slight jizzim attack when I saw that Woolies had FINALLY launched their iPhone app.

Things I like about it:

Easy to navigate
Shows items in my shopping lists in the order they are within my local store
It lists every item stocked by the store - not just a small selection of their stock
The catalogue is updated weekly - terribly handy when my catalogue man does a runner
You can even read the catalogue and add items to your shopping list
There is even a recipe database - handy if you don't know what to make for dinner

Things I don't like:

It lists the back wall of my supermarket as an Asile. Not a huge thing, but kinda annoying when it tells me to get the milk and I am still at the start of the store
It lists a lot of products that aren't carried by my store

Should you download this App

If you shop at Woolies, and own an iPhone or Android phone, then sure, it is free afterall. If you shop elsewhere, there are other generic shopping apps that might be better suited to you

Eliza Wears

2011-09-29T08:00:00.001+10:00

House Hunting #52

2011-09-28T08:00:00.002+10:00

Oh, a pretty bluestone house.

Eliza - 3 Months

2011-09-27T08:00:00.000+10:00

Weight: 5.48kg

Height: 60cm

Feeding: Our weekly email suggested that you might start to become distracted when feeding, and oh boy they were right! Somedays we can not get you to turn your head towards the breast, as you are too busy starting at the fan.

Otherwise you are doing well, you are cutting back on your feeds now. Zantac has made such a big difference to you, you have a small dose three times a day which keeps the pain at bay. You no longer scream in pain during and after a feed, and you have even starting to do proper burps.

Sleeping: People hate it when I say this, but you are now sleeping through the night, and have done since you were 9 weeks old. You now go to bed between 6.30 and 7 o'clock tonight and wake up from 6 o'clock in the morning. In the last four weeks you have woken up during the night three times. We have been out a few nights, and even if you go to bed later in the night you will still wake up at the same time each morning.

Personality: Your personality has started to really show. You let us know when you are unhappy about something and will continue to be grumpy until you get your own way. Luckily you tend to be pretty agreeable on most things.

You love having your picture taken and will dish out the smiles as soon as you see the lens come towards you.

Looks: You are still a tall little girl, sitting on the 75th percentile, but you are still wearing 000 clothes. Your dresses are starting to get a little short now, but we just wear them with leggings. You have inherited your dad's flippers and have outgrown a lot of your socks though, and are now wearing 6-12 month socks!

There is some debate on who you look like these days, some people say Daddy, some say Mummy. You have Mummies colourings, nose and chin, and of course, her hair. You do have Daddies eyes though. Either way you are impossibly cute!

Activities: You still love the bath, though you have stopped screaming when we get you out of the bath which means we can both enjoy massage time. I am thinking that we will enrol in a massage class to learn how to do it properly, as we both enjoy it.

With your reflux easing with Zantac we have been letting you lay on the floor more, which means you get to stare at your new best friend, the ceiling fan. You enjoy spending time under your activity centre, but only when we play it on the Super Mario music - which unfortunately makes my ears bleed.

You celebrated Aunty K's birthday in great style, you flaked early into the night and slept in your capsule whilst we ate dinner. Once home you were a little unsettled, and promptly vomited all over Nanny and Poppy's lounge suite.

Daddy has been working away a fair bit, so we have had a few trips to visit him. We have been to Geelong several times where we went on our first trip to the beach, went to see the Home of the Elephant Book and met some more family members. Mummy does love going to Geelong as there are different shops to what we have at home. We have also been on a few shopping trips to Melbourne where you have got some very lovely clothes for summer.

Finally, your newest playmate was born at the end of the month, after making you wait 12 weeks! Hopefully Miss Anna will be more playful in the coming months.

The last three months have flown by, and we have to pinch ourselves to remind ourselves that you are all ours.

Jack of it

2011-09-26T08:00:00.000+10:00

Toodle pip to the old concrete. I still maintain that my idea of resurfacing it would have been a lot easier though - there is three tandem trailer loads of cement there which all required being picked up by hand!