The Test December 10, 2011

You’d think after years and years of doing tests and exams, it would prepare you for the stressful moments of real life tests like the one above..

You try not to give it two thoughts.. You don’t even think the test will be positive, but those 3 minutes of waiting to see whether you have 2 lines or one.. What will happen? Will it go smoothly? Will we have to move? How will our current bebe react? What will our family think? Which hospital will I use this time? What method for birth should I use this time?…….

When that one line shows, you breathe a sigh of relief.. But you also cant help but see babies everywhere and think ‘how cute’ they all are for those 2 weeks following.

Our day will come again when the two life changing lines will show .. But I really do wonder if when that happens if we will be anymore prepared for it then we are now? We barely thought we could cope last time when we found out using someone’s else’s bathroom, and crashing in a pile on our blow up bed on a floor trying to figure out if we could cope! No job, no money…. But everything in life works itself out..

For now we will focus on getting rid of our debt, and plan our return to the country we call home for support and love:)

Cartoons September 20, 2011

They say that babies/young children cant decipher whats true and whats not -  this being the case, letting the ‘youngin’s’ watch cartoons must be crazy for them! The whole scenerio reminds me of the movie ‘The Invention of Lying’ -  this movie is based around the fact that NO ONE in the world can lie.

After being subjected to cartoons one morning when our Mr wouldnt settle unless he had something to focus on, I started to think about this a little closer…

Aparently our children can drive our cars, go swimming without parental consent, can walk around and cross the the streets by themselves, use icecream machines when told they’re not allowed too, can eat sugary food, can hide animals in their backpacks, eat food where ever they want too, not tell their parents where they are going, use mum and dads power tools/appliances, run around with swords,  and can hang out with stray animals….

It makes me laugh as so many parents are worried about letting their kids watch Family guy/Simpsons/American dad/Southpark -  and yet the Disney Junior channel is teaching all the ‘bad’ things they talk about.

The best thing you can do as a parent/caregiver is to be there for them to explain situations and not let stray animals into your house.

 

First Timers September 17, 2011

Whether you’re a first time mum, or are buying a gift for a bub for the first time hopefully this can help you out.

Ive luckily got an online group of awesome mums who helped pitch in suggestions on what to buy, what not to buy, and things to be cautious about.

So here are some tips for gift buyers or first time mums on things you definitely should look at:

Cot/Bassinet Sheets and waterproofing – Baby will always be excreeting liquid whether that be dribbling, pooping, peeing or throwing up so having extra sheets and waterproofing to protect babies mattress will come in handy
Blankets -  always good to have a few for warmth during bottle feedings/pram/cot -  just make sure they’re machine washable -  you don’t wanna be handwashing anything if you can help it!
Wipes/Muslins -  My mum made me about 20 little muslin wipes, and 5 burp clothes and I have to wash them every 2-3 days because of how much we use them
Bibs – same as the muslins.. once you’re feeding bubs more than once a day, you’ll be amazed how quickly you go through them(especially when bubs is teething and dribbling constantly) When buying though I highly suggest checking how they go on -  i’ve had quite a few bibs that have crap Velcro and have scratched poor mr’s neck to buggary! check to see if the Velcro is sewing under fabric so there are no corners to it -  or even better, get one with a buttonclasp
Plastic Spoons, Containers, Plastic cups and bowls – these may not come in hand right away but they can be used for everything(bath time, distractions during nappy changes, playtime, food)
Baby safe/sensitive laundry powder/liquid – always good to have on hand
Nappies -  before stocking up massively on ‘newborn’ size… be cautious that your bub might not even fit them-   you can always stock up up on the next size up
Baby sleep bags and Baby wraps -  you can use Muslins for this as well at the start, but you will find that bubs will wiggle his way out of it/it will be annoying to re-wrap at 2am so the baby wraps are specially designed to not unwrap easily
Wall Decals -  quick and easy way to decorate babies room without damaging the wall(fantastic for renters!)
Camera -  you will never get this time back again.. and even though it might be an effort to take shots/get someone to take shots of you and your bub, you will cherish the pictures later in life massively!
Onesies -  these will ALWAYS come in handy… bedtime, day time, chuck in the baby bag for accidents while out, and they wont ride up like plain tshirts will, and they also double as extra protection for poo explosions

The following have mixed feelings among ladies and it totally comes down to how you live/what you have already/approach with caution:

Baby Baths – If you already have a bath and have a good back you will most likely not need this..but if you have a bad back(cant hold bubs while in the shower for too long) and don’t have a bath this is definitely a goer -  just see if you can fill this up/use it in the shower box to save any carrying
Baby Carriers/Slings – very mixed feelings on this -  I think if you live in your car and use your pram a lot when you get to places, you’ll probably find you wont use this at all. We don’t have a car and pram everywhere, and we find it easier just to put our wee one in it once we get to places
Baby Bouncers and bumbos(chairs) – fantastic if there is no one else around to help you, you can put your bub in it while you have a shower or cook -  but then can only really be used for the first 6 months.
Baby Jumpers – great fun if your bub likes it.. not so great if they scream constantly for the duration of their time in it
Changing Table – not needed in all honesty… unless you have a bad back and changing bub while standing up is easier for you.. and once they start moving change time becomes SO much harder anyway! I had one person mention that their change table converted to a shelf unit afterward.. if you do wanna buy one, see if you can do this so it can get a second life and isn’t just a piece of furniture to put in the garage
Baby Monitors – sometimes not needed… if you’re confident enough that you can hear your wee one from all the other rooms in your house you don’t need it. I have really bad tinnitus(ear ringing) and dont feel confident enough that I would hear bub.. so we have one, but these days we mainly use it for its melodies during the night time when bubs is unsettled.
High chairs -  expensive chairs aren’t always good..  Make sure it is safe/approved.. but also make sure its very basic/not many nooks and crannys… you don’t wanna be finding left over pumpkin stuck down a hole behind a fluffy pillow a couple weeks later. Ive got a $40 Ikea high chair and I could pretty much just hose it down
Breast Pumps – Breast feeding itself is a very sensitive subject – if you’re wanting to try breast feeding, then look into renting an electric one from the hospital.. and if you like it/it works for you, then have a hunt around. I have a manual one which I loved as it felt more natural to me.. but the electric ones are far more efficient
Baby Mobiles – good for like the first 3 months… then they tend to get in the way.. if you get one, see if you can hang it from the ceiling so bubs isn’t trying to grab it constantly.. and sometimes over the top of where you change your bubs is good for a distraction
Bath Seats – good if you are bathing more than one child in the same bath
Sterlizers – Mainly for bottle fed babies. If you can afford one/have the bench space for it/don’t mind using it all the time then go for it – otherwise on the stove top is fine..but you don’t need to sterilize bottles for that long – I think NZ says 6 months and various states around AU say 4-8 months
Bottle Warmers – probably not worth it.. quick zap in the microwave or a soak in hot water is fine.. but then again you only really need to do that if you keep your water/BM chilled or its winter.
Soft Toys – o so cute.. and o so annoying for any parent…they only need a few… after that you’ll be finding places to put them/always cleaning them up -  get a few ‘special’ ones
Breast Feeding Pillows – you don’t need specialised breast feeding pillows.. normal pillows like maternity pillows or tri pillows do they same trick.

When it comes to food and solids time.. you don’t NEED to buy all the baby food that the supermarkets put out for $2 a sachet, when you can buy a quarter pumpkin for $3 and make 10x the amount of what one sachet produces. And if you dont have a microwave already you don’t need it badly… as you can do everything on the stove top. Nearly 9 months on here and I think they only luxury I would get out of having a microwave would be heating up my coffee after it goes cold ten thousand times.

Prepepped foods for yourself and baby are the best -  make a big batch of something and freeze it down.. you will love yourself for it when your scrambling for something to fill you up so you can deal with the screaming teething baby who’s dribbling enough to fill a small paddling pool.

Possesiveness after birth September 12, 2011

If you think you already try and protect those close to you before having a baby, that protection feeling multiplies 200% after birth.

Any sticky situation feels like 200% worse, that step down to your backyard resembles a cliff now and that car that whips around the corner when you have a green light signal to cross – it gives you the impulse to sprint after the car and pull a few signals yourself.
I live on the 23rd floor… when I was pregnant I could go out on our deck for short bursts to wash our windows/water the plants.. but now I am petrified of our deck/never open the door, and constantly have bad thoughts about it as much as I try and push it out of my head.

This feeling to protect isn’t just all about physical stuff like tables/cupboards/locations/transport it also changes the way you think about your friends. Most of your friends you’ll be able to decipher if they’re true friends pretty quickly, but there are a few that linger that you’ll need to cut otherwise there can be emotional damage, but the ones that remain and are true friends will soon become like family to you, and your possessive/protective circle extends outward for them.

I also find that I come second priority .. My boys come first -  Muck with them…. and you’ve got an enemy in me. No one messes with my boys!

I’m finding that I have moments of weakness and moments of strength with situations directed at me.. sometimes people might say something that might seem/is nasty but I wont take it on board, will walk away and protect my boys from it happening again,  and other times it will destroy me as I was prepared/didn’t know I needed to protect myself from whats coming.

A couple months ago now a ‘friend’ that was lingering that I was hoping to include in my circle as I really enjoyed their company, trusted them and trusted them with my family – sent me an email from out of the blue. This email came at a time that I was already weak and home sick and it shook me to the core and has made me question myself ever since. For my TRUE friends out there… they know me well.. i’m a friend that would act like a family member, offer food, bed, company whenever it is needed, be on the phone with them for half an hour providing support before they break up with their last ever boyfriend, care packages, but more importantly that I can be their rock if they ever need it, and I’d like to think they would do the same for me. I have never questioned myself as I have been very confident with who I am. Usually I would have shrugged it off and got on with things.. but now I feel like i’m constantly offending people when i’m not. My strength in that sense will come back in time, and for now I will revolve myself around people who I care about/care about me.

Possessiveness/protectiveness is there for everyone…. but try having a baby and you’ll want to protect them from all the crap in the world, and then some!

I have come to realise – feeling bad is helped by mooshfacing with your wee one/s

Boxes August 26, 2011

Boxes are fantastic!

They store things, nice things come in them, and who doesnt remember playing around with a washing machine or fridge box when they were younger?

Lately we’ve been buying boxes of nappies as its ALOT cheaper than small bags worth -  but i’ve been keeping the boxes just incase they would be good for storage or something for our little man to play with. In my mummyinsanity one day I decided to make a car out of one of them….

a couple days later the mummyinsanity arrived again and a train was born!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOTE TO SELF -  Spouts of trains will only remain on train for 1 minute tops!

I showed the huggies guys what I’ve been doing with their boxes.. and they sent me:

A box(and nappies inside).

I now have 2 boxes waiting for mumminsanity to arrive again, my next plan is a plane and a rocket ship!

 

What was your favourite thing to do with a box when you were younger???

Another crafty idea!

I had some spare fabric left over from mr’s tent and pram, so I decided to make him a beanbag

one side is fauxfur, and the other is just plain polarfleece.. the beanbag itself is like a cookie shape with a blake piece of fabric around the outside, and i’ve sown in the beans for safety

We find this beanbag fantastic for nappy changes during the day, when we need to give him teething stuff, and a warm cuddly place to go after hes had a shower/bath

Flights with a 6 month old August 19, 2011

When booking this trip I must say my stress levels raised a little -  How can I keep a little one whose currently teething happy for a 2 hour wait,  4 hour flight, and a 1 hour transit back to sanity/comfort of a hotel room????

We luckily had a little money boost and grabbed some premium economy seats for 2 legs of our 3 leg trip -  but for a 6 month old it would be fine to have just basic economy seats as they’re still not 100% mobile..

My suggestions would be:
-Some panadol before hand or some bach remedies drops to calm the wee ones
-Let them have alot of tummy time before hand -  find somewhere safe and put down a blanket
-Try and keep them awake right up until the door is closed on the plane as sometimes waiting in your seat/waiting to taxi out/take off can be more than 45 min, and sometimes thats a sleep cycle for the little ones and they can wake up mid takeoff and feel the full effect of the pressure in their ears
-Something to distract them (we used a rattle) -  when the pain gets to them and they dont want to eat/suck on a dummy when we shook a rattle, it made him break away from screaming for 2 seconds so that he could suck on some food/dummy and help release the pressure
-Favourite toys – bring more than one just incase they get bored of the other one
-Bring any medication on board(like teething powders, panadols etc)
-Put the inflight telly onto cartoon channels -  it will be something to look at to keep them semi entertained
-Isle seat -  if you need to calm them down, its much easier getting up and rock them about
-ask for pillows and blankets before take off -  the belts that they give you to strap in your little one are ridiculous.. and the arm rests arent fantastic when you’re holding a little one so you will need to prop up your arm a little bit to relax on
-bring enough food with you to cover double the flight/wait time -  you never know when delays will happen

And mostly, don’t forget babies cry, and unfortunately they don’t understand  what air pressure is and don’t know how to unblock them, so relax and don’t forget to keep your own energy up (if you cant find time for a meal, make sure you have lollies or some snacks that are easy for you to eat)

^ this was our luxury on the way back -  our flight went from 4 hours to 6 hours long so we were lucky that we booked it as a wedding anniversary present to ourselves!! but luckily the air hostesses to him off our hands for 20 mins so we could have a breather due to the delay -  the staff are there to help you

Photographers August 18, 2011

We are very lucky that we are photographers ourselves and we can snap awesome photos of our MiniMan anytime we want but most of you wont have that luxury -  so here are some tips when searching for maternity/baby/kid photographers

Maternity Photos:

-The best time to book is 30-35 weeks – you’ll have your awesome baby bump and not look like you’ve given up/want this thing out now
-Don’t do anything you don’t feel comfortable with – if you feel uncomfortable it will show in the pictures
-Don’t pose with something that isn’t of interest – people will ask you about the pictures.. if you posing on a Harley but don’t own one/don’t want to own one, you’ll come to regret it
-Be open with the photographer -  if you want a mole or pimples that you want removed from the picture, let them know, same goes for if you have a mole that you don’t want edited out, otherwise they might not edit anything, or edit everything and it wont seem natural

Baby/Kid Photos:

-Always book around nap times -  if you have booked in advance and nap times have changed, see if they can shuffle appointments on that day
-Bring your child’s favourite toy/comfort thing -  you’ll most likely be standing on the sidelines acting like a crazy person waving their toy if they’re acting up
-Bring food and clothing changes – food for babies/kids can be used a mini bribe so it can sometimes make them sit still.. and clothing changes just in case they’re extra dribbly/throw up/you don’t trust the props that the photographer has
-If you don’t feel comfortable tell them or get out – if you feel uncomfortable with the photographer/gut feeling, get out & don’t sign anything/ask for the contract back, it can be embarrassing to do, but you wouldn’t order a drink from a bar, only to have dodgy floaters in it and not complain -  its business plain and simple

Overall Ask about all the costs before booking -  there are unfortunately a lot of creeps out there that will advertise for $100, but what they wont tell you is that all photos are above and beyond that, and I’ve heard some people say that some places charge $200 upwards for 1 printed photo
and RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH, photographers will only post the best of the best on their photosite, and will only post the good reviews, so since the internet is here, use it to your advantage, at the end of the day if you get a photographer that you get along with/enjoy their style, you will get the best pictures -  if you find bad reviews saying how much they charge/how they argued over xyz/ horrible editing/ bad printing and they’re recent, chances are they haven’t changed -  but also don’t book a photographer who only does natural shots when you are wanting a fun and friendly shoot

Last but not least -  don’t hesitate about getting photos done if you’re keen to -  moments pass by so quickly when you’re pregnant/have kids that sometimes you miss the perfect points, and if you miss them, you’ll regret them.