28 August 2014

My wish for my girls

I love my girls. I love spending time with each of them. They are at that age where they are developing their own little personalities.

Popette who turns 6 in January, is such a caring, fun, creative, know-it-all. I can already see that she's going to take after her Daddy. I call him a "walking encyclopedia" as he's always rattling off various facts and useless bits of information (no idea how he remembers it all).

Just the other day, Popette told us that cows milk gets cleaned so we can drink it, lol.

Popette dressed up for the Book Week parade

She is such a sensitive girl (much like myself) and has loads of empathy for someone so young, and is so much fun to be around. She loves to create. I will often find her at the dining room table drawing. She loves creating little books with pictures she has drawn along with a little story.

Cherub who is turning 3 next month is full of life. She laughs all the time. She is always curious and asks me the same questions again and again. She loves to cuddle (gets that from me), and is becoming a cheeky little miss.

Cherub playing tea parties with her dinosaurs

She is just starting to push boundaries and will politely ignore me when I ask her to do something or says something like "Not yet Mumma". I can see that we'll be dealing with the "terrible 3's" with Cherub!

When I was younger I used to describe myself as an "outgoing person with a bubbly personality", but over the years I seem to have become more reserved, and take a long time to get to know someone. I'm sure there are people who think I'm either a) stuck-up, b) cold or c) not interested, which isn't the case. The truth is that I sometimes find it difficult to talk to people. There have been instances when I've gotten myself so wound up about an upcoming catch-up I've made myself feel sick. 

I tend to get a little anxious when I'm around people I don't know all that well. I always seem to get tongue-tied right at the moment I'm trying to tell a story or explain something to someone, and find that I can't spit out what I am trying to say, making myself look like an idiot. I'm sure people look at me and think "What's up with her?"

My wish for my girls is that they are comfortable in their skin, and can laugh at their jokes, be confident to speak out and not afraid to share their thoughts or opinions. I want them to chase their dreams and not shy away from what others think.

I hope they will be more outgoing than I am and make friends easily. I worry that they'll become like me and find it difficult to talk to people.

If you had one wish for your child what would it be?

22 August 2014

Being grateful: My Hubby, bed and getting better

My poor family has been visited by sickness yet again! Its been the worst winter we've had in a long time. Popette has been sick on & off for the past couple of weeks, first with an ear infection, then a viral infection which meant missing 3 days of school.

Poor Hubby caught influenza-type A after a day procedure at hospital last Wednesday, and came down with flu symptoms the very next day. Then over the weekend I caught it as well. I have spent the most of this week bed ridden. Its the worst we've been in a long time.

The view from my bedroom window

If that wasn't bad enough, our little Cherub has been experiencing high temperatures on and off for the past week.

Throughout all this sickness the things I am most grateful for are:

*Although he too was sick, I am so grateful for my Hubby who took extra time off work to care for me and help out with the girls. He has taken Popette to school every morning, and picked her up after school most days, or taken the girls to the shops so I could relax in bed. I know he's extremely busy at work, and has a lot on his plate. But he has not complained once. He has also allowed me to sleep in our bed, so I can get the rest I need while he toughs it out on the sofa bed.

*While I have a love/hate relationship with my pillow. I am grateful for my warm and cozy bed. It's been lovely to snuggle under my doona and rest up while I've been sick. I've spent a lot of time laying in my bed "trying" to get some sleep, caught up on blogs, and trashy mags.

* While I am still struggling in the mornings and when I go to bed at night, I am grateful that I am making a slow recovery and have some energy to get a few things done around the house, and spend some time with the girls, whereas the past few days I could only retreat to my bedroom.

12 August 2014

I won't get this time again

Before I had Popette my Hubby & I made the decision that I would give up my well paid job in web development to become a stay-at-home parent. We didn't have family that were in a position to look after Popette, nor was I willing to place Popette into full-time care while I went back to working a 40 hour week.

When Popette was born 11 weeks early, I knew then that I wanted to be there for her and make sure she was hitting her milestones and growing up to be a normal little girl.

I didn't want to be spending my days working in a job that I didn't enjoy, or to come home feeling stressed and tired, and not be able to give my daughter the attention she deserved.

I wanted to be there for the milestones, watch my little ones play, help them become confident, strong, happy kids and enjoy every moment with them while they are little.

As everyone says, this time goes by so quickly.

I know I won't get this time again.

Lately I've been contemplating returning to work on a part-time basis, I'm still unsure what I want to do, but I know returning to work will mean that I am taken away from Cherub and I miss things like:

* Her little voice asking me "Mumma, come sit and play" or "Mumma painting!". 

Painting a picture! (Not quite)

* Have Cherub drag me away from the computer saying "Mummy pleasssee" and making me sit on the floor and play blocks or read a story.

* Hear an excited little voice say "bubbles" when I fill up the kitchen sink to do the dishes. She sees bubbles and wants to play, whereas I see dishes that need to be done.


Blowing bubbles

* Those moments watching her with her dollhouse, or serve cups of tea to her dinosaurs and teddies.

* Receiving random cuddles and kisses.



Cuddles

* Taking her down the road in her pram, and see her little hand creep out from the top.

* Watch Cherub get all excited when we pick Popette up from school, or see Daddy arriving home from work.

* Hear Cherub say "Hello" to things like the Moon, Sun, or to our dog. She is such a friendly little girl.

* Taking Cherub for a ride on her bike in the sunshine


Riding her trike

* Hearing my eldest sing Frozen songs (over and over again), while it drives me crazy, I love hearing her sing.

* Watching my littlest climb up the ladder of the slippery dip all by herself, and excitedly slide down to the bottom.

* Help out in Popette's class with the reading groups on a Thursday morning. I enjoy spending this time with Popette and seeing her participate in class.

* Take the girls to music class and watch them sing (or not) and play instruments

* Take the girls to the park and push them on the swing.


Swinging high

While there are days when I feel frustrated and be in need of a little break from both my girls, most days I am grateful to be their Mummy and to share this time with them.

06 August 2014

Reclaiming my hobbies

This year one of my guiding words is reclaim. It stands for reclaiming my health & fitness, saying goodbye to mess and clutter and reclaiming my home, and finally reclaiming some of my old hobbies that I used to enjoy before becoming a Mum.

One of my guiding words this year

I remember a time when I would happily sit in the dining room, painting, drawing, sewing, or scrapbooking when Popette or Cherub was having a nap. They were hobbies that used to make me happy, and I would get so caught up in what I was doing that I would forget about the time.

But after a while it became hard to focus on them, or I found that I wasn't in a creative mood or felt tired from the kids. Instead of creating, I went onto the energy zapping app of all times, Facebook, and got caught up with what my friends were doing.

Checking it occasionally is fine, but I let it become so addictive that I found myself spending way too much time on there, sharing way too much information.

It was when I bumped into someone down the road and tried having a conversation with them, all I could hear is them say "Yeah I saw it on Facebook", it made me wonder when my life became so important that I had to share everything, with everyone on Facebook. I know I need to take a big step back from it, and get back to doing the things that make me happy.

So for the first time in forever (sounds like a song!), I bought some fabric from Spotlight and started a new sewing project. Popette who is obsessed with everything Frozen, has been begging me to make her an Elsa dress. So when I spotted some beautiful teal organza with sparkly snowflakes, along with satin in the same colour, I knew I had to buy a couple meters. Of course I couldn't just make a dress for Popette, and bought some blue satin to make a Cinderella dress for Cherub.

I'm not the best sewer, so I know I have my work cut out for me, but I know how much Popette will adore it. Especially since it will be made by her Mumma. I am also getting back into my drawing and doodling in my art journal, and have plans to create a painting for our lounge room wall.

Are you a painter or sewer? Have you made anything for your kids?