Seriously lost my blogging mojo....

I've been so busy with being pregnant and nurturing a new life that I've lost my blogging mojo. Hopefully it will come back at some stage, but until then, I'll continue to lurk, occasionally comment and if the mood strikes me - post!

Take care out there in bloggy land!!

Joanne
xx

Sock Monkey

I have been wanting to make one for ages seeing as they are so expensive in the shops, but hadn't gotten around to it until earlier this week. I think it's pretty good (if I may say so myself and especially because I had to do it all by hand because my sewing machine decided to chuck a tanty!) for a first attempt, and now I want to make more!

Sophie loves it and has carried it round everywhere (and I mean everywhere - it has to sit on the potty when she is on the toilet!!) for the last few days and taken it to bed every night. She told me she loves it like she loves Mummy and Daddy - awwww!

Next I want to make a stripey one for a friend's baby shower - I figure it will be something quite original!! For the baby though, I'll embroider the eyes and nose instead of buttons - safer I think!

Thanks to Heather for her instructions so very long ago....I finally did it!!

Without further ado, here is the as yet unnamed sock monkey...

Progress on the '34' list - almost done!!

1. Declutter the house – 1 room per month should be quick enough!! (All done!)
2. Clean out our garage and sell/donate what we don't use (this goes for #1 also). (Done!)
3. Make our bedroom pretty and functional. (Done!)
4. Stick to the budget – create weekly shopping lists/meal plans. (Done every week so far)
5. Plant (and maintain) a garden for and with my daughter. (Done! and she loves it!)
6. Do one activity per term with my daughter (dance, swimming, music etc). (Swim T1, Music T2, Playcentre T3 and 4 - so Done!)
7. Go on date nights with hubby – aim for one per month......this one isn't going so well - we've done 3 this year!
8. Sell our house.
9. Buy a bigger house.
10. Wear nice lingerie under my clothes. (Did so, well until I got pregnant anyway!!)
11. Listen, instead of just hearing, what people say to me. (Trying....)
12. Read 50 books. (Up to 46 so far - nearly there!)
13. Create an artwork.
14. Frame all the pictures and artworks that are waiting to be framed. (Done! and finished the picture wall too!)
15. Socialise more with friends – make an effort! (Have definitely been doing this!!)
16. Start Christmas shopping early in the year. (Almost finished Christmas shopping - only have hubby and Gran to go!)
17. Take a family holiday. (This is in planning stage...)
18. Blog more often. (Oops!)
19. Cut and colour my hair. (Colour is done.....cut I've decided not to do now...)
20. Do something every week that's just for me.
21. Start sewing again. (I've been doing quite a lot of sewing for Sophie)
22. Get to goal weight by the end of the year (that’s 6kg to lose). (This one is on hold until AFTER the baby arrives!!)
23. Exercise one hour, at least 3 times a week. (Same as #22)
24. Sort through my wardrobe – be ruthless! (Done!)
25. Take my daughter to the zoo. (Did and it was awesome!!)
26. Visit my gran every week. (Loving this one!)
27. Spend more time with friends and family – enjoy them! (Yes if Mum isn't busy!)
28. Practice more ARK (acts of random kindness). (Done!)
29. Sort out the garden – make it low maintenance – and then actually maintain it! (Done!)
30. Find a pair of sunglasses that actually suit me. (Done!)
31. Write in my daughter’s journal more often. (Have done so every fortnight so far)
32. Play more and be silly more.
33. See at least 2 movies IN the movie theatre – perhaps with hubby?
34. Try a new recipe at least once a month. (Have tried quite a few new recipes this year, so yes!)

Ups and downs.....

The downs: Sophie fell into the corner of the deck on Sunday afternoon, split her lip open (top and bottom - no stitches thank God!!), and knocked a tooth back (so far it's staying in).....then developed an infection during the night Monday night and has hardly slept, ate or had much fun all week. She seems to be on the mend a bit now, the antibiotics seem to have kicked in. Spent most of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights in her bed comforting her and holding her while she cried herself to sleep.....poor bubba! (Thank goodness we forked out on her mattress though - it's really comfortable!!).

The ups: Due to not sleeping much, Sophie is chatting to herself late into the night (read 11/12pm!!). Last night, both hubby and I were exhausted and getting a bit frustrated that she just wouldn't go to sleep.....then we heard her singing.....the alphabet song - a,b, c, d....etc - so, so cute!! I didn't realise that she knew how to sing it and she sang it perfectly - all the letters in the right order and everything!! We were lying there listening to this tiny little voice singing out and both just filled with pride - it's moments like that that make it all worth it!! Then I said to her "Go to sleep Sophie" and she yells out "ok Mummy!".....wish it were that simple!!

The Polyvore Challenge......

Seen it about on a few friends blogs, so decided I'd jump on the bandwagon.

The challenge is: create an outfit based on jeans, a top and whatever accessories you want to add - what is your twist on this basic outfit? Show your personal style.

My outfit is classy and feminine with just a bit of quirk and sexiness - all that I aspire to.....lol

Jeans etc by mummabee featuring True Religion jeans

In a baking frenzy!

Have a friend coming over tomorrow, and will be baking carrot/ginger muffins with cream cheese icing and chocolate chip cookies....but the baking bug has hit me big time so I can't wait until tomorrow to get started!

Came across this fantastic recipe for super easy scones recently on a forum I frequent and will be making these today (in a few minutes actually!).

3 cups self raising flour
1 cup cream
1 cup lemonade (must be fizzy - doesn't matter if cold or room temp)

Mix all ingredients together to form a sticky dough. Cut into individual scones and bake at 220 degrees celcius for 10 minutes.

There you go - easy peasy! I'll report back on how yummy they are!! With pics if I can stand the wait!!

Feeling a bit low actually.....

Just feeling a bit sooky lala and sensitive at the moment, and it doesn't help when you have comments like this given to you:

Re: discipline of a very challenging two and a bit year old "I find that 'X' only really acts up when I don't pay enough attention to her....are you ignoring Sophie a lot more recently?" Yeh, that's helpful....thanks.

Re: toilet training "My eldest was toilet trained at 18 months but of course she was a much loved and wanted child"....oh, so my child not trained at 2 1/2 years is because I don't want her or love her enough....thanks for that.

Re: a present given to someone "Oh that really wasn't necessary....you should have just given me a card....but maybe that would have cost you more"....yeh, yeh, I know you're joking, but that's not nice.

So, after a week of being kicked while I'm down, I'm just going to the bottom of the garden to eat worms.....see you when I get back.