Even though I’m absent just at the minute, you can still find me on Instagram (admittedly most of the pics are of a squashy little baby right now) and I’ll hopefully be back on the blogging trail at the start of next month (baby-permitting). Apologies for the blog being so quiet right now. I’ll see you soon x

Sorry I’ve been absent all week. A certain someone turned up and turned our world around in a very short space of time. Violet was born on Monday morning 7lb 6oz / 50cm long. She has been an absolute delight from day one and we’ve fallen completely in love with her. I’m still working on the breastfeeding thing and Violet is working on switching her sleepy days and active/hungry nights around but I think we’ll get in a rhythm very soon. In the meantime, I’ll post when I can but catching up on sleep is my top priority right now.

Thankyou everyone for your kind words of congratulations. We feel incredibly blessed to have such a wonderful little addition to the family and also that we are surrounded by loving, supportive family and friends who have been fantastic at taking the pressure off by babysitting the rambunctious four year old while we struggle with lack of sleep.

Make a straw & shoelace necklace  |  Teach your kid to tie shoelaces

Jelly Moulds Set of 4 $9.95  |  Bird Whistles Set of 6 $9.95
Lark Store

These DIY jellyfish look like the real deal! Tutorial right here.

I love the idea of a teepee headboard/bed canopy! This is by Banana J Creations for $199 plus delivery.

It’s Monday and I’m not at work!!

It feels really weird to be at home on a work day. I finished up at my design job on Friday (they threw me a lovely mini baby shower) and now I’m in the what-do-I-do-while-I-wait-for-the-baby week! I guess I should probably pack my hospital bag and sort out the few things I haven’t bought yet. Still wondering if I should buy a BF pillow or just wing it with a normal couch cushion (one is always less concerned about these sorts of things the second time around).

In the week before our life changes (again), I’ve got time to think about where we were four years ago when we had no idea what to expect from our new Canadian baby. I had no idea the birth experience would go so awry (after twelve hours of non-stop painful labour, we discovered Aspen was not in a position to come out naturally so they decided to use forceps to turn her which meant she came out with one push (yay) but they accidentally sliced me internally in the process (not so yay) which resulted in a softball-sized haemotoma which they only discovered an hour later as I was slowly turning blue).

Needless to say, the stress my husband was under not knowing if I was going to live or die, being on the other side of the world to family, the eight plus weeks of recovery and resulting breast feeding problems and colic meant our first 4 months were pretty craycray! I can be glib about it now but in reality, that was a really tough time. I don’t know if I had postnatal depression or if I was just struggling mentally to deal with everything that was going on but every single day was a hard slog in that first four months.

This time around we live near both of our families, I’m booked in for a planned caesarian section on the advice of my Doctor and it all feels very civilised… I know when my new daughter will be here, when to turn up for the operation and I’ll have already discussed the details of the anaesthetic BEFORE it comes to fistycuffs during the pain-intensive labour experience. Note to all tattooed laydeez: If your entire back is tattooed, your anaesthesiologist can refuse to give you an epidural in the moment when you need it the most. Lesson well and truly learned. Hubby was amazing – he managed to convince the guy that there was one ink-free spot to work with!

So I’m a lot less anxious about what to expect this time around and maybe just a little impatient now that I’ve got time on my hands to sit and wait… Countdown to baby starts now…  are we there yet?

I love companies whose top priority is to reduce harmful chemical exposure – especially when it comes to kids. It’s no surprise I give a big blue thumbs up (and four fingers too) to the Pure Poppet Nailpolish range – Available at Rudy & The Dodo $9.95.

As a Mum, I know for a fact that kids don’t quite get the concept of keeping fingers out of mouths (or noses…major problem in our household). Nailpolish is notoriously one of the worst products for cancer causing/toxic chemicals so even though Aspen has started to become interested in all things girly (unfortunately the time had to come eventually),  I’ve steered clear of manicures…especially since she bites her nails.

When I saw Rudy & The Dodo was stocking a brand new non-toxic nailpolish, I volunteered Aspen and I to get our glam on! We tested ‘Bon Bon Blue’ but there are four other bright colours to choose from. Some quick points about Pure Poppet’s nailpolish:

• Safe and free of harsh chemicals
• Water based and non-toxic
• Child friendly alternative to solvent based polishes
• Low odour, long lasting but easy to remove
• Free of ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, nitrocellulose, acetone, and heavy metals
• No solvents, formaldehyde, Toluene, DBP, Phthalates or FD&C Colours
• Australian formulated and made

Note: Fingernails painted by me. Toenails painted by 4 year old.

I loved it. Mainly because I wasn’t stressing every time Aspen put her fingers in her mouth (or schnoz) plus a little pamper sesh was a nice change from the messy, dirt-encrusted play she usually goes in for.

Unfortunately while my nailpolish was still looking good two days later, Aspen’s had only remained on her toenails because of the constant use and handwashing her fingers are exposed to. It probably would have lasted longer if we’d done two coats instead of one. If you’re after a kid’s nailpolish for a little bit of pampering fun, I’d definitely give this product a try.

{ Product supplied by Rudy & The Dodo }

This isn’t so much a tutorial link as a hat tip to this fab idea by Megan at Mousehouse.

This makeup invitation is a great way to get the girls excited about her daughter’s “Girly Girl” 6th birthday but would also be great as an invite to a teenage party or hen’s night. Stay tuned for more fab ideas from Megan when the party happens in a few weeks! (via Megan’s Facebook Page)

I have so many things to thank people for… going all the way back to Christmas. Would it look weird to send a thankyou for a Christmas present four months late? Since we’re now in April (aka Grateful in April), I decided it was high time I got my thankyou’s happening.

Interesting fact: Gratitude is scientifically proven to be good for you and your children!

Cut this into postcard or greeting card size and give to birthday party attendees, gift givers…or just someone in your life that you’d like to say thankyou to. Maybe you can leave it at a restaurant after some really great service or send it to a friend who’s always there when you need them or even just leave it in a random location for someone to pick up and read. Go thankyou CRAZY, people!!!

{ Click image below to embiggen and download }

And thankyou for reading this blog. I truly appreciate it.

Red Leather Origami Necklace : HaKNIK $85  |  Little Luxe Ruby Shoes : DTLL $35

Not to sound even more like a grinch after my previous post but after Aspen’s third birthday, I started thinking more and more about the idea of the No-Gft-Party that’s been talked about around the parentsphere for a few years now. At last year’s party she had about eight friends attending and they all brought her a gift (or two or three).

Add to that the generous outpouring of gifts from family members and she ended up with a HUGE haul of toys for such a little girl! I’d like to say she was appreciative but after the party was over, they were very quickly conglomerated into her already large collection of toys and it just seemed like a waste. Not the thought put in by the guests but just that it was more ‘stuff’ that wasn’t really appreciated (and yes, part of that can also come down to not instilling those values adequately in my child which I do take on board).

I certainly don’t want her to feel like she can’t receive presents to celebrate her special day but I know myself that my favourite ever birthday parties as a kid involved lots of friends in attendance and the fun we had together rather than being showered with gifts.

So, my question to Aspen this year was: do you want to celebrate the day with lots of friends (with no gifts other than from family) OR have a small gathering of close friends (with gifts). Either option was fine but whatever the choice, the result was going to be (hopefully) that she didn’t end up with three tables full of presents and spending half the party opening them instead of enjoying the company of her friends.

I’ve gotta say she didn’t really ‘get’ the concept but we went with a party with lots of kids and I wrote on her invitation not to bring gifts. The type was really far too small. She still ended up with a truckload of gifts. It was obvious that (being very lovely, generous people), guests felt they should bring gifts and my little disclaimer wasn’t really taken on board.

SO! I decided to create a sticker that makes it clear to invitees that presents are NOT expected – just their presence… and voila! Here is the printable!

Click the following image to embiggen and download, 
print onto sticker paper, cut out and add to any invitation you like!

If you’re doing online invitations, click on the graphic
at the top to save it to your computer.

{Invitation examples are from Minted }