playdates and picnics in the park

This morning I took two of my monkeys to the park for a playdate with my mothers group. Little Miss started the day somewhere around 5am so she stayed home with hubby for a much needed sleep. I met my mothers group when I was pregnant with Monkey Man, and we attended antenatal classes together at the hospital. I hear lots of horror stories about mothers groups being cliquey and bitchy but I love mine, and wish we could catch up more often. Maybe the vibe is different in ours due to how we met but I'm very grateful for our group. We've been through those last few anxious months of your first pregnancy together. We've been though the first few weeks of no sleep, endless screaming and the whole 'what have I done' thing you go through with a newborn which funnily enough is magnified when its your first. Since then some of us have had more babies, most have returned to work in some capacity and we're all at various stages of toilet training and bed transition. Seeing our babies become little people is truly special but honestly if there wasn't photos to remember by I doubt many of us would remember the always screaming, feeding constantly, needy babies we had. Its so hard to imagine your bossy, chatty, speedy, independent 2 year old as a newborn baby.

So this morning there was 7 mums and well.... alot more kids than that. When we sat them down for a snack we laughed at just how much they outnumber us.

Watching them run and play, seeing them all play together was pure entertainment and frequent heart attacks all at once. Monkey Man was either jumping off something, falling down, climbing to the highest peak of everything or heading off into the horizon at 100 miles an hour, at every given chance. Luckily for me, Missy Moo is a calmer and more reserved personality and stayed close to me pretty much the entire time. After a (tiny fluffy friendly) dog jumped up to greet her she freaked completely and wrapped herself round me like a koala for the remainder of our time there. I could take them to the park every morning and let them run, with me chasing them and I'd be fit in no time. Their energy truly knows no limits. 

My cheeky monkeys:

oh to be a toddler again, when life is simple, food is prepared and served for you and someone else worries about everything you do, wear, say etc etc etc. I look forward to watching all our babies growing together, and can't wait to meet the newest additions due later this year. 

xx

Toddler Free Friday

Today was Toddler Free Friday (TFF). The one day of the week where it's just Little Miss and I. Like every TFF I had a rest day, I got my hair and nails done, a massage and a few sneaky cocktails. I window shopped, dreaming of the things I will buy when I'm rich.... All the stay at home mums are nodding along right now. NOT!!! I wish my TFF was anything like this. No, my Friday is the one day of my week I have to achieve what feels like a million things in a few short hours. Today I had all 3 monkeys dressed and out of the house at 7.30am. A huge achievement, trust me. I dropped the toddlers at daycare admittedly with no breakfast (a banana can't really be considered breakfast can it?) but they refused at home and I can't force them nor did I have time to try. No worries though, they were both all over the communal toast platter like a plague of locusts, within seconds. Thankgod for daycare, I mean seriously. I don't normally drop them at daycare that early so the breakfast platters were new to me but they definitely eased my mummy guilt. I then headed off to the dentist, which Monkey Man really wanted to come to. Trust me son, once you've been once I doubt you'll be screaming to go to the dentist.

I've been having some pain in a tooth so needed it checked, and as far as appointments go it was 8 this morning or mid next week with 3 under 3 in tow. For the safety and well being of everyone concerned, 8am today was the only choice. Thankfully no fillings needed, a good clean, a telling off for leaving it two years between visits (I was busy having babies!!) and I was out the door.

Little Miss and I had a cafe breakfast in a cleverly gained, free hour - I did groceries online last night for this reason, or in case I had to have 55 million fillings and got stuck at the dentist. Little Miss was clearly a fan of raisin toast with it and porridge stuck all over get face. She made her presence known by dropping toast everywhere and shrieking but meh, who cares!

I had a hot chocolate and just enjoyed sitting for a bit as I suspected it would be the last chance I got to do either all day. And I was right.

After the dentist and breakfast I rushed home to put Little Miss to bed. A friend sat with her as I had a funeral to go to during morning sleep time. A cranky Little Miss is not nice to be around so its important she gets that first sleep. I changed, applied some face, showed my friend where everything was and raced out the door. I got there a few minutes late but I made it. The funeral was a lovely service, as funerals go, goodbyes were said and tears were shed. I hate seeing loved ones cry and I think I find that the most upsetting, as opposed to being sad about the loved one dying - depending on the circumstances of course. During the service I went hunting in my Mary Poppins type handbag for a tissue and a compact to check my face and reapply of course. I found a tissue and $100 cash I stashed how long ago?? Woohoo!! result! Who cares what the face looks like when I've got cash in my pocket! I raced home again to collect Little Miss and relieve my friend, allowing her to actually enjoy some of her day off and raced back to the wake, or after party or whatever you call the 'refreshments after the service'. Made it back and nearly everyone was gone. Ok. How long was I gone? Anyway, stayed for a a while then hobbled back to the car with blisters on my feet growing by the second. I suggested to Mum we get back to somewhere near home and go for a coffee. I had to collect the toddlers in an hour and a half so wanted to be closer to home just in case.

Once Mum and I had finished our drinks I hobbled back to the car - why oh why didn't I take spare shoes - and headed off to collect my monkeys. I got the call I've been waiting since Wednesday for, I didn't get the job. All good feedback but apparantly I am over qualified and the second round interviews have been granted to two ladies 'much junior' to me and they believe 'I will be bored in the role'. I'm disappointed re the location and the company but the actual job not so much. I wanted it, but then wasn't upset when I didn't get it which says to me its not THE job. Not to worry though, something will come up. There is no rush as I can now get the kids into the daycare I want rather than just taking whatever I could get, and I can find THE job.

I collected my two very tired, filthy dirty, monkeys from a long day at daycare. Missy Moo was so tired she cried when she saw me and wanted lots of 'cuddles'. Monkey Man had a great day and was so SO proud to tell me he did his first wee on the toilet today!! Woot!! Go little dude! He talked about it all afternoon and was busting to tell Daddy when he got home and asked me if he could ring Nanny and tell her. God love him. Missy Moo carried on for a few hours after she went to bed, crying, screaming to get up, which she does pretty much every Friday. I think she just gets herself so tired that she's beyond overtired, she's hysterical. Online shopping delivered my groceries an hour or so after the kids went to bed and hubby watched the football while I caught up on the interweb. Friday evenings are always eventful here!

Toddler Free Fridays are exhausting and stressful at times but so necessary for us. My monkeys need a break from me as much as I need one from them and they love love LOVE daycare. The centre they go to is warm and friendly and all the staff, regardless of which room they work in, know all the kids names and little things about them. They're just lovely. Little Miss is on a waiting list for a Friday place and then, perhaps when I am completely child free on a Friday (provided I'm not working of course) then I will go get my hair and nails done after a massage and with a cocktail in hand - of couse! Until then, we soldier on.

blogging is not just a hobby, its another universe

In the short time I've been blogging, I read many many blogs. Some are emotive and moving (see Hummingbirds Song, Married With A Blog & Enjoying The Small Things) and others are wet your pants hilarious (Good Golly Miss Holly, Woogsworld & Wheres My Glow). Overall they are all honest and inspiring and when I grow up, if I ever get good at this blogging lark, I'd love to be like any of these women. I'd love to swear in here as much as I do in real life but keep reminding myself that I want my kids to read this one day so I refrain... Many bloggers make money from doing their thing, they're sponsored and go on international trips and to conferences with other bloggers to talk about well, blogging amongst other things. Yes really. Sometimes they win awesome prizes like a brand new Ford Territory and a trip to New York - hello Beth aka Baby Mac. Congrats by the way, a well deserved prize!! It really is another universe this whole blogging thing. I've had a friend telling me for months I should get sponsors, do product endorsements and trials and make some money from this. You can check out the current Top 50 bloggers below, these women are awesome! To be completely truthful though I have no idea where to start being awesome myself.

image taken from Kidspot

I've honestly never thought I'd make any money out of doing this, and that wasn't my intention when I began. I'm writing my blog as a form of baby book, one place to capture the milestones and funny moments my kids have. With three kids I was attempting to write in three baby books, I was also writing on facebook, on forums and on the wall calendar. It was confusing and I was creating more work for myself then I had to. I try to capture whats going on in my personal non mum life, weight loss, work, whatever. I know I will forget all this stuff, I mean I'm lucky to remember what we did last week without writing it down. I like to think that one day there will be enough content in here to print it out, maybe into a book and show it to my kids, or even my grandkids. They can laugh at what a nut job I was or still am.

I also wanted a place to vent my frustrations. Being a stay at home mum with 3 little ones can be lonely and isolating. I have friends but many have fewer/older/younger kids than me, or live far away and many are working mums so their free/family time is precious. Yes I can go out with the monkeys in tow but sometimes the effort involved in getting everyone out, while working around alternating sleep and meal times is frankly not worth it. Rushing to get things done in the small window of time I have available is stressful for everyone involved and if not absolutely necessary why endure it. We have playdates at home, we visit friends and we do go out but quality adult time and conversation is limited for me right now. I think this is part of why I want to try part time work. I also want to get to the occasional gym glass without worrying about creche times or mother guilt. There has to be more than play school, play dates and play-dough. I know there is, I know its out there, I just need to find it and become a part of it. As my children get older the limitations will ease and it will get easier to get out and about with and without them. Until then the community of bloggers out there grants me a few minutes of adult conversation, and reminds me that I'm not alone and for that I am so grateful. If some are making money from it, than I'm happy for them and like I said, maybe when I grow up can I be like them? There are many mums out there in similar positions to me and like me they stay sane by writing their thoughts and feelings down. I thank them for sharing, and for showing me that my crazy thoughts are not mine alone. Now where and how do I get me a new car??


xx

breakfast of champions

Breakfast at our house is typically a chaotic time as I'm sure it is in any household with kids. With three little ones demanding food at the same time, and usually different food, it's loud and busy to say the least. For a few months now I've been saying we need a new toaster. Why? Well for starters ours is a few years old and while its still functioning, it seems to cook each subsequent piece a bit more so unless you watch it, the toast gets darker and darker. It's slow, and its a conventional 2 slice toaster. With 3 kids and 2 adults to feed, well we need more efficiency.

Breakfast typically goes something like this:

• Missy Moo is the first to demand 'tea' as both my toddlers call every meal.
• She's clicked into her chair and so begins the questioning to decipher what she wants to eat. I detest this with a passion as I truly feel she's too young to have an opinion but have found if I just serve up what I choose then its pushed away or thrown on the floor. Another thing I detest. I've been a parent for a while and I'm still not sure which of these I detest more?
• Once we've worked out what she wants I will get her choice started, be it cereal, toast, yoghurt or crumpets - yes she gets options but only suitable breakfast options.
• Its usually around now that Little Miss starts squawking for her breakfast - she can smell food right? Food prep is abandoned so I can pop her into her chair.
• I now have two girls carrying on wanting food.
• Back to food prep I go, and given Little Miss has porridge but neither of the toddlers do I am always getting two different meals ready at this stage.
• Monkey Man generally starts dancing around my feet, between my legs and pulling things off the bench about now. Yes, he's hungry too.
• I go to put him into his chair, he runs of course as its a game.
• Both girls are making it loud and clear they're hungry so whats taking so long.
• I catch Monkey Man and into his chair he goes, back to food prep I go.
• Monkey Man starts voicing his opinion, loudly so I can hear him over the girls.
• Guarantee he wants something completely different to Missy Moo, every.single.morning. If she's requested toast he will start shouting for 'bubbles and reeros' (rice bubbles and cheerios) and vice versa.
• 3 different meals are served as quickly as I can manage whilst watching the toast, warming the porridge and defrosting the crumpets that I forgot to take out of the freezer last night. damnit.
• The toddlers are occupied until their bowl or plate is empty so I quickly feed Little Miss her porridge. She of course bobs and wiggles around in her chair watching everything Missy Moo and Monkey Man do, any birds that go past the windows, anything interesting on the TV and heaven forbid I should have the dishwasher, washing machine or dryer on.
• I shovel food into her trying to time the completion of her meal around the same time as the toddlers finish their first course.
• Second course for the toddlers is pretty much the opposite of what they had first time around, which is easy enough to do, in theory. If one requests toast I will ask the other if they too want toast, I mean its quicker to make two pieces at once right? The answer is almost always no but as soon as they see the other with toast they start demanding their own. I'm wise to this and generally make two pieces at once and can magically give them both toast at once. Hubby often gets caught with this though, rookie mistake hahaha. If this toast is the second or even third course for one of them its generally not eaten, its the principle of the matter that 'they have toast so therefore so must I'.
• All 3 are generally cleaned up and let down from the table at once and I then try and clean up under the table and in their chairs. The mess is unbelievable on 'bubbles' or toast days!!

Trying to get my own piece of toast is however generally a long 4 step process. I make a couple of slices of toast for myself and one or both are eaten by our seagulls, I mean toddlers. I fight them for a bit but give in eventually and hand it over. I try again to make my own toast and that too is generally devoured by my clearly starving children. This is after their own breakfast by the way. I make a 3rd attempt and by this stage the kids are fighting over something and everything. While I break it up and send them to separate corners my toast burns to charcoal. A 4th attempt? Really? Can I even be bothered? Is there actually any bread left? I toast myself the last piece of bread, the crusty part, watching it so it doesn't burn, staying in the kitchen with toddlers climbing up my legs, between my legs, under my feet etc. I'm telling them to get out of the fridge, stop hitting, kicking or climbing on each other while buttering my crusty toast. Two bites into it, one or all three of the kids has a #2 situation to deal with and I'm so over the thought of toast, breakfast full stop and the effort that went into it, that into the bin it goes and off I go to change a nappy or three. I dread to think how much food we waste here.

Yes we need a new, 4 slice toaster. Maybe an industrial sized one? How do big families cope? I typed 'toasters' into google to do a bit of research as to whats new and great and got the following. Gotta love the internet! Perhaps one of these be our new family sized, super efficient toaster??

xx

your legacy??

With a couple of deaths in the family over the last few weeks, and a funeral to attend on Friday its got me thinking about death a bit. When a loved one dies close family members are left with the task of sorting and packing their belongings. Going through clothes, photos, jewellery, ornaments etc can be a lovely trip down memory lane albeit very sad. So I've been thinking about death a bit, not in a morbid way but more along the lines of my legacy. When I die what will I leave behind? A husband (possibly, men die before women apparantly), 3 beautiful children who will hopefully have their own families by then and what? What else have I achieved? I've travelled a little, we own our house (in collaboration with the bank) and I have family and friends who will hopefully remember me fondly but other than that what do I have? I'm a little proud of my blog but as no one knows my passwords, does it die with me? Assuming of course that blogging still exists in like 50 years. The bulk of our photos are stored digitally so no one will have to go through albums and boxes of photos and get all teary over memories. I post on forums and chatrooms, facebook pages but what would happen if I just stopped? Would anyone notice? Today so much is digital, even baby books are becoming more and more digital. I'm determined to have old fashioned books and photo albums/books for my kids first years so they can look at them and see how they were, when they achieved things. Most likely I will have forgotten by the time they ask me so I should really document it now while I remember. I'm sure with 3 under 3 I will age alot faster (hahaha) so really should get onto writing this stuff down now. Thankgod for my blog, most of it is recorded here. I should consider writing my passwords down somewhere safe hey, or at least printing my blogs and photos out? I should get onto achieving things from my bucket list...

xx

Moves Like Jagger

Oh yeah, my kids can dance. They definitely have the moves like jagger! This afternoon while I sat on the deck with the laptop trying to research daycare centres, my kids decided to have a dance session. Monkey Man demanded music from the laptop and as soon as the song started, they were off! Those moves are so cute! There is no rhythm whatsoever but boy can they go go go! Missy Moo loves dancing and I can see us starting dance lessons when she gets older. Will I become a 'dance' mum?? Gawd I hope not.

Why was I researching daycare centres? Well I had an interview this morning and I am very pleased with how it went, however it did cement one thing for me and thats that I do want to go back to work. It was my first interview and who knows what the outcome will be. Apparantly the 4 people that were interviewed will be notified on Wednesday if/who are progressing to the second round of interviews. 165 people applied for this job - appears part time work is in high demand? - and only 4 were interviewed so I feel pretty special to be one of those 4. The premises and the people were lovely and I'd be more than happy to work there - cross your fingers for me please! I haven't gotten the job yet, or any job for that matter but I figured it wouldn't hurt to make some calls to daycare centres. I had a suspicion it wouldn't be easy to get 3 kids into the same centre on the same days, and my suspicion was confirmed when after 25 phone calls I was told for a 25th time that 'they were full'. We're on a few waiting lists so please cross your fingers that by the time I go back to work that the stars align and we get daycare places at the same time.

After using my brain for a change I am exhausted so I'm gonna try and have an early night tonight. Not sure I can remember the last time I went to bed before midnight??

xx

its all about me - update #2

It's been a while since I did an update on me and how I'm going so here goes:

Mentally I've decided I need more. I love and adore my kids but am feeling I need more than being a full time Stay At Home Mum. I admire women that can do this 24/7, they really don't get enough credit for doing the hardest job in the world. Being a part time working mum might not work for me but I've decided to try it and see how it goes. Now to find a job - first interview in 6 years is taking place on Monday! eek!!

Emotionally I'm up and down. We've had a couple of deaths in the family this last few weeks which are always sad. Of course I am sad for the loss of loved ones but believe my role in all of this is to support those grieving. My Mum is a bit of a wreck right now so I think I'm meant to be holding her hand. A good friend lost her beloved grandma and is just devastated, and I'm too far away to hold her hand but am trying to virtually help her in any way I can. Sometimes you just need someone to listen to you have a whinge. On the flip side, in the whole circle of life spirit, a few friends and family members have announced pregnancies, a friend is due to have her first baby in a few weeks and Tori Spelling announced her 4th pregnancy, only 5 months since her 3rd was born. I'm copping lots of crap from friends about how she wants to be me! hahahaha For the record I love Tori and am so happy for her. If she's announced at 3 months, which she normally does, then there will be about 11 months between Hattie and her new bub so there is fun times ahead for Tori and her family. Its babies babies everywhere I look. And for the record, I'm thrilled for others and pleased it's not me *wink*.

Physically I've lost nearly 18kg since the beginning of February and am feeling good. I lost another 10kg after having my Little Miss but seeing she was 4kg I didn't exactly have to do much to drop that first 10kg. I'm still not seeing it when I look at myself but can feel and see it in my clothes. I'm comfortably wearing jeans 2 sizes smaller than I was a year ago, and tops 3-4 sizes smaller which is just phenomenal. I can't remember the last time I wore these sizes and I gotta tell you, it feels good. Inspired by my good friend Marnie who shared a before and after pic on her blog today, I thought I would do the same. The before pic on the left was nearly 2 months ago, and 18kg ago.... Can you see the difference?

xx

Little Miss to Big Miss (and vice versa)

Today my Little Miss graduated from the high chair to a booster chair all of her own. During meal times she bounces around trying to see what Monkey Man and Missy Moo are doing or eating. She strains her neck to see what they're doing so I figured it was time for her to join the crew. Both Monkey Man and Missy Moo were very excited to have their little sister sit up with them, Monkey Man was telling us over and over again 'there's numbers on her chair' and indeed there is. Little Miss seemed quite pleased with her new seat:

Welcome to feeding time at the zoo:

I'm hoping that my Little Miss grasps the concept of feeding herself quickly as there is 3 of them and 1 of me most meal times. So far she loves her food, and she's at the *ahem* high end of the growth chart so she's clearly getting enough food. My little baby is growing up, soon she will be a Big Miss. They really do grow up too fast.

Speaking of weight, mine continues to go down which I'm thrilled about. I still don't see it when I look at myself, however I have to be honest and admit I can feel it in my clothes. Today I tried on a dress two sizes smaller than my normal size, for a laugh, and it fit! I was shocked and so happy. I purchased it, just cuz I loved fitting into a smaller size - how vain is that? Meh I couldn't care less! Funnily enough it turns out I'm going from Big Miss to Little Miss. Who would'a thunk it??



xx

those damn shopping centre rides

Next time you hear a screaming child in a shopping centre, I promise you there is a high chance the cause of those screams is one of those damn coin operated rides. They are kryptonite to parents!

My kids love them, especially the Thomas shaped ones. Fcuk! Many many meltdowns happen during my day due to those freaking rides! If the time permits, or the tantrum is big enough (dont judge me), or they ask nicely enough (nawww) then I let them sit on the rides. Until yesterday Missy Moo never knew the rides moved. I really believe she thought you sat and climbed on them and that was it. Monkey Man has been on a few moving rides but seems content to sit and climb on them rather than insisting we put the money in. I was happy enough about this as when I was a child there were stories about kids being electrocuted on those damn rides, and those are the stories that stay with you.

Yesterday I took them to the Drs to double check they were daycare approved, and the snot river was nothing more than colds. All was ok, daycare was a go the next day so off to coles we went for breadrolls and mayo. We slowly walked into the shops, Monkey Man stopping to touch everything on the ground, to touch every poster and sign, Missy Moo dawdling along and staring up at everyone she passed. When we get to the supermarket there is of course no double toddler trolley in sight, so I asked for one. While a polite but spotty 12 year old went off to find one for us I wondered how I was meant to keep these kids entertained and for how long. Monkey Man promptly started 'just looking' at the flower arrangements, with his grubby fingers. I asked him a few times to stop touching, to look with his eys and was of course ignored. Missy Moo decided she was going to work and started heading behind the service desk. With a child going in each direction I started to feel very overwhelmed. Panic was setting in. I spotted a giant blue saviour, a Thomas ride just outside the door. 'Look kids, its Thomas!' I heard the words fall out of my mouth before I had really thought it through. How would I get them off the ride without double meltdowns?? sigh

The joy on their faces when the coin dropped in, the lights and sounds came on and Thomas started moving, that joy was seriously worth the tantrums about to go down.

Best $2 I spent in ages. Our trolley arrived, the ride ended, tantrums ensued but rest assured, calm was restored by a couple of chocolate milks... How I love the silence bought by chocolate milk, how I love the double trolleys. Where do I get a triple?

ps apologies for dodgy iphone photos

my pretty new blog

The online world is truly an amazing place. I've said it before and will no doubt say it again. A couple of months back I participated in an online auction organised by the lovely Naomi from Seven Cherubs. Naomi was deeply upset after her friend, Lisa King lost her husband and the father of her boys, Aaron, suddenly and tragically. To make matters worse, Lisa and Aaron and had only buried their son a few months before. I mean really, can you imagine? Stories like these happen everyday, and whilst I've always found them heartbreaking, since becoming a mother myself I find them almost unbearable. The thought of losing any of my children, or my husband just rips me to pieces. A few years back my husband drowned, and not only did he come close to being a quadraplegic, but he almost died. I still can't watch Bondi Rescue or hear ambulance sirens without having flashbacks to that night. I don't think I ever will. Thankfully we had two mates with us who saved his life while I fell apart. I will forever be in their debt. When I hear of other people suffering such terrible tragedies I want to help. I donate to charities, to fun runs and shave my head for money appeals, I bake cakes for cake sales and hope to teach my own kids how important it is to give back. So I saw Naomi's auction and had to get involved. I bid on a few items and was outbid, but one item appealed to me over all others; a blog make-over. I bid, and I bid fiercely. I was not going to be outbid. And I won!! don't you love the feeling when you 'win' an item in an auction or on ebay - yes you bought it and have to pay but woohoo you won something!. Naomi put me in touch with Katrina from The Media Maid and so began a beautiful friendship.

Katrina and I have been emailing back and forth for some time now, her listening to my constant pedantic thoughts, translating my pathetic descriptions of how I wanted my blog to look, and patiently answering my requests for a 'slightly different blue'! The poor thing is probably so glad to see the back end of me and I couldn't blame her. She's trying to run a business, and has 3 kidlets of her own! I really hope all her clients aren't like me. The funny part of it all is, until yesterday I had no idea she was Katrina from The Block (2011), a TV show hubby and I watched religiously. We laughed at Katrina and Amie's funny moments, cheered on their triumphs and the various 'reunited with their kids' moments had a pregnant/post baby me crying every time. I loved Katrina, and I'm not just saying that because she's helped me, I really did. She was funny and honest, I laughed at her going to get her nails done when she should have been building a kitchen or something - I mean thats something I would do! And yay for my first celeb moment. They say good things happen in threes so I'm owed two more right? I wonder if Michael Buble is participating in any online auctions??

So thankyou Naomi and Katrina for my awesome 'prize'... I think my new and improved blog looks fabulouso, don't you? I wonder what I can go an 'win' tonight?

3x3 slept through - miracles DO happen!

oh happy days! all of my monkeys slept through the night. This is the 3rd time Little Miss has slept through in her 7 mths.... not so unusual for Monkey Man and Missy Moo who generally sleep through these days but to have all 3 sleep through at once? simply amazing. Shame my hubby had to go to work and thus woke me up as I reckon I could have slept all day.... I never knew sleep would be such a focal point of motherhood. You spend the first year or so wondering why they wont sleep when you want them to, why they need so much help learning to sleep, going to sleep and staying asleep. You have to get them to sleep in a cot rather than a bassinette, a bed rather than a cot, a cot rather than the pram or car seat,  any bed other than yours! How long they sleep for, where they sleep, when they sleep... it becomes an obsession. And yet you have the least amount of sleep you've ever had. The kids are sleeping soundly, thus so should you but instead you're tidying up, setting up for the next day, having some adult time, getting waxed, plucked, dyed, blow dried as its the only time you have child free... sigh, and just when you're sleeping soundly your crack-of-dawn-waking-children ruin your dream about George Clooney with a deafening scream, you stumble out of bed with horrible but grey-free bed hair and curse yourself for staying up til 1am blogging, facebooking and pinning on pinterest, swearing you will go to bed earlier tonight. But you don't. Or is it just me??

another day, another monkey-ism

I hauled the troops to the local shops this mornings as I needed to go to the post office and chemist and wanted to go to one shop (note the difference). I also needed tissues for the snot fest that is my children right now. I dressed the kids, packed the car, threw some clothes on (will I ever get time for makeup again?) and loaded everyone into their seats all in about 20 minutes - not quite my personal best time but whatever. Off we went, everyone was singing along to Bananas In Pyjamas and things seemed to be going well. Load the pram, strap the baby on and into the post office we go, which of course has the longest queue in the world. Grab the parcel satchels I need and join the mile long queue, telling Monkey Man and Missy Moo not to touch anything over and over again. Why must they put kids products at kid/pram height right where you need to line up?? It won't work on me, I won't buy their stuff out of spite! Anyway, we finally get to the front of the queue and I've explained to Monkey Man at least 500 times that no he cannot get out, he cannot have a book/stamp/tiger/mcqueen/anything. My son's favourite line is at the moment is 'I want......' which has got to be one of my least favourite requests ever. I go to pay for the satchels and my card is declined. Ok, maybe I entered my pin incorrectly? Try again and nope, declined with a 'contact bank' message. Fcuk! This is not good. I'm so embarrassed but miraculously have a small amount of cash on me, which I never ever do. I pay and slink out of the shop feeling a combination of shame and anger. It's not easy to slink pushing a semi trailer of a pram, trust me. The lady at the check-out gave me the most condescending look of pity, other shoppers looked at me with disgust and were clearly not impressed I took so long or that I appear to have no money, or both.

I've been having issues with the security chip on my bank card, I assume due to one or all three of my kids chewing on it, so ordered a new one a few days ago. I was assured my existing card would be fully functional until the new one arrived. They lied!! I called me bank, and politely asked for my card status to be checked. As suspected, it was cancelled. FCUK!!! I'm now stuck at the shops with 3 kids, things to do and no money. My new card is on its way so its useless to me right now, and I'm in the only shopping centre in Sydney that has no access to my bank. I'm politely told I can go to any branch, present photo ID and get cash out that way. Ok, ok... don't panic. Just push 40kg of babies to the bank down the road and all will be well. Head for the nearest exit and, its pouring. farrrrrrrrk!!! I'm about to explode at this point. I ring my husband and yell at him about incompetent retards that seem to just like to mess people about. Feel better and decide to feed the kids and think of plan B. I order them a milkshake and some mini donuts and decide to put the hoods up over the kids in the pram, the sleep hood over Little Miss who's struggling to stay awake on my chest at this point and walk very fast in the rain. I need cash, the petrol light was on in the car on my way here so I have to fill up and out of spite I refuse to go home without the things I came here for. It's the principle of the matter! So the kids are distracted by sugary goodness, Little Miss is dosing and the rain has stopped so this is my chance, go! All the way there I'm puffing and muttering to myself about stupid banks ruining my plans. I'm served quickly and am given the cash I need by a lovely teller who starts clucking over my children. Before I know it she's out from behind the security screen and practically frothing at the mouth over my kids, how cute they are, how old are they, what are their names etc etc. This is lovely but not necessary, and its certainly not necessary to have all the staff joining in. One of the girls asked Monkey Man a question, his name I think and at that moment it all went quiet in the bank. Monkey Man responded clear as day with; THIS IS A STUPID BANK! Everyone goes silent, then laughs and with red cheeks and lots of apologies I had to slink out of a shop for the second time that day. We'd been out for an hour and a half max.

We headed back to the shopping centre, the kids were well and truly on a sugar high by this stage and Little Miss was sound asleep on my chest. Monkey Man was carrying on about getting out of the pram, wanting this and that, yelling at me every 3 seconds and Missy Moo was getting sleepy so I knew I didn't have long to get things done and get out. Within minutes of being back in the shops Missy Moo went to sleep in the pram, which is a total pain in the arse as she now won't sleep when we get home. It's 11am. Monkey Man is practically bouncing out of the pram and demanding everything. I scramble around a couple of shops and grab a few things. Then realise the one shop I wanted to go to isn't here at all, I've confused it with another shop. Holy mother of god! I want to slap myself, hard! I head to the car, unload everyone and head home. Missy Moo is now wide awake and clearly believes she's had her sleep of the day, which means I've got buckleys of getting her to sleep once we get home. Monkey Man is screaming in the backseat about wanting a green car for his birthday party, needing a bread roll and how he's not tired, not at all. The sugar high is officially over. We get home, I'm exhausted and frustrated as I achieved nothing. I forgot the tissues, the ingredients for tonights dinner and didnt get to the chemist. The kids are seriously out of routine and most likely won't sleep today. What a waste of a morning.

Wordless Wednesday - no sleep

it's lucky it's wordless wednesday as the words I'd like to use to describe my feelings are not nice, polite or socially acceptable in many circles. Less than 3 hours sleep. Enough said

kung-fu toddlers at 7am, and this is AFTER they've been up for an hour and a half, sigh

and this little miss kept me up til after 2am.... lucky she's cute

don't know where he gets it from

I watched my kids harrass our gardener (not as posh as it sounds, trust me!!) this afternoon. They followed him around the deck endlessly calling his name, asking him inane questions and telling him useless facts about trains or buzz or babies. Andrew, or Roo Roo as Missy Moo calls him, handled it so well, he didn't tell them to go away or leave him alone although I'm sure he considered it many times whilst he was being hassled. I worry that he must find them so annoying and irritating when he's just trying to get the yard done before it rains, again. I am almost embarrassed about how they carry on when he's here. Not really, but I often wonder what he thinks of this situation. I'm not really explaining myself well here. Kids will be kids but I spose when you're not used to it, it can be a little full on. I'm used to it and still have moments where I find it all a little full on. Poor Andrew always handles the attention well and still manages to get the job done, and this afternoon he told me what lovely kids they are, and how his 'little followers' provide him many entertaining stories to tell his mates. Nawwww how cute is that!!

Monkey Man talks to complete strangers everywhere we go, he's not shy at all. He's a bossy little thing of not even 3 yet, telling me frequently 'be quiet, I'm on the phone!'... today he told me to 'stop bossing him around'!! Missy Moo is getting more outgoing as she gets older. She was very shy to begin with and is still hesitant of strangers but within minutes she goes about her normal business. Chatting away, poking her tongue out, smiling that scrunched up face smile that toddlers do so well. She LOVEs the word NO(!) right now and I hear that often, with attitude to boot. I watch them grow and change and see nothing of myself in them, physically that is. Personality wise, thats a different story.

As a child I used to harrass our neighbour, walking up and down the fence line telling him tales and asking questions as he was trying to garden. I used to talk to complete strangers, telling them secrets and things I shouldn't like all about Mummy and Daddy's big fight last night! And bossy? You've never known a bossier child. I HAD to be the Dr, the teacher, the parent, the choreographer (dont ask) in every game, so long as it was the dominant role. As an adult, I'm still bossy. Meh, someone has to be in charge, right? When my hubby challenges my role as boss thats when we have issues!! hahahaha. I never woke up well, mornings were not my thing and if looks could kill, you'd never want to be on the receiving end of one of my deadly scowls. At first glance, with blonde hair and blue eyes, I don't see myself when I look at my kids, apart from their dimples - those are mine. However as soon as they speak, they yell at each other, as soon as they crease their brows and scowl at me or each other, bam! there I am in 1 and 2 year old mini me versions. It's kinda scary watching yourself all over again.

you are amazing

Someone sent me this image today, and I thought it was too cute not to share. Today was a crappy mummy day. My kids were cranky, they were stuck inside due to the weather and the snot fest thats happening in their bodies. I wiped endless noses, eyes and bums. Whinging was of epic proportion, as were tantrums, fights and the word NO was frequently shouted by all parties, except Little Miss who just squeals. I went on domestic strike, doing the bare minimal in the form of a load of washing and cleaning up after meals. I didn't even really eat much myself as that would mean more cleaning up. And I too was cranky despite a fantastic nights sleep, perhaps because I didn't eat enough? Receiving a little pick me up like this was not only welcomed but it was lovely. Sometimes you just need someone to tell you you're doing a great job, and even if you're not, you're loved anyway. So thankyou, you're amazing too and don't you forget it either xxx

Wiggle Mania

My Missy Moo is obsessed with The Wiggles.... She wakes up asking for them, she asks for more before the end credits have even started, anything she sees in yellow, red, blue or purple is obviously from The Wiggles and she throws a mega tanty if she can't have every Wiggles product in the shopping centre (which is often as there is alot). She can't say Wiggles properly so instead we get 'giggles' but we all know what it means. We've watched the many DVDs so many times that I'm pretty sure I know every song word for word. Missy Moo LOVES to dance to certain songs, Move Your Arms Like Henry is a favourite as is Rock-A-Bye Your Bear which isnt complete without lots of 'sshhh shhh shhh' and the associated finger over the mouth. It's really cute to watch, she shakes her hips like no child I've seen before. According to Missy Moo 'giggles' is the number one choice and she never seems to tire of it unlike the rest of us who are all pretty tired of those skivvys. As soon as her chants for 'giggles' start, Monkey Man counters with 'nooooo wiggles, ENOUGH wiggles!' and so the argument starts, and continues until one or both end up in tears and the bloody DVD ends up on nine times out of ten anyway.

We have a few DVDs but she likes the same two all the time, we have 'giggles' in the car DVD player and in the stereo so its wiggles, wiggles, wiggles everywhere we go. Her favourite biscuits are wiggles branded and she often 'needs' a wiggles band-aid despite there being nothing visibly wrong. The wiggles guitar and tea set we have, both gifts, are way up there in Missy Moo's eyes as favourite toys and are played with often and daily. Dorothy the Dinosaur is coming to an RSL club near us soon and I have to take Missy Moo along. I reckon she will love it, she will freak out but she will also wonder where the 'giggles' are? I've not taken either of the kids to see The Wiggles in concert as I didn't think they would appreciate it nor have the attention span for it yet. I planned to do a concert this year and then the whole Sam-Greg thing happened, and well I didn't like the way it was handled. I don't really want to spend money and support a group that treated someone so badly, so I have dug my heels in and not done so, yet. But now my daughter is obsessed, I fear I may have to part with some cash for concert tickets one day soon. Bugger! I would have much preferred to see Sam in concert but my 2 and 1 year olds couldn't care less as long as there is a yellow wiggle and I reluctantly admit thats all that matters. I reckon I'm not the only Mum who would prefer Sam.

So Missy Moo loves The Wiggles, Monkey Man loves Thomas and Buzz and of course Lightning McQueen. I wonder what Little Miss will be into? Will we have to endure another year or more of the current faves or will there be a new kid in town? Only time will tell...

miserable but cute monkeys

All 3 of my monkeys have colds, which means Little Miss is sick for really the first time ever. The snot is flowing and the whinging is epic, and alas I too am getting it. I passed out, fully dressed, on our bed last night sometime between bathtime, stories and the end of In The Night Garden. I woke briefly to crying from Little Miss, heard my hubby coming up the stairs to her and promptly went back to sleep. I woke again at some unknown time, the house was dark but not silent as hubby was still up watching TV and I got under the covers. I woke again at a later unknown time, hubby was snoring next to me (so the house was almost silent) and this time the house was very dark. No idea what times I woke but I slept til 6.30 this morning. Oops! I clearly needed it. A sleep like that combined with weird dreams means I am getting sick but there is no time for mums to be sick is there? We soldier on as the kids need mothering and the house needs tending. Well apart from putting a load of washing in the machine and tidying up after kids meals, I'm going on a domestic strike today and will do nothing more. Between wiping noses and eyes, cleaning up vomit, picking up thrown food and listening to non-stop whinging and sleep refusal screams I figure I will be busy enough. At least I can take cold n flu tablets now due to not being pregnant or breastfeeding. You don't realise how much you miss the little things in life til they're no longer an option.

On Saturday when the sickness started I went hunting for baby and childrens panadol and I realised a) how much medicine we have and b) how much of that is out of date! I threw so much out after emptying the cupboard completely. When was the last time you went through your medicine cupboard?

I just heard a moment of cuteness between Monkey Man and Missy Moo:
Monkey Man: you give me a cuddle
Missy Moo: yeah
cuddle happens
Missy Moo: awwwwwww
Monkey Man: we best friends

nawwww is that not just the cutest thing you've ever heard!!

mumma's boy is growing up

My biggest baby, my first born, Monkey Man is currently sound asleep in bed. Nothing unusual there as he generally sleeps 7-7 every night. Tonight though, he's in his 'big boy bed'.... we took the sides off his cot this afternoon as we decided it was time. He's not trying to climb out, he's not too big for the cot and to be honest he seems very attached to his cot. I don't know if this is due to having two siblings who are also babies, that they're all so close in age or if he just loves his cot but whatever the reason he loves the cot!

About 10 months ago, a few months before Little Miss was born we attempted to move Monkey Man to a bed. We bought him a king single ensemble with trundle bed, he helped choose it, some car sheets and we thought he was all excited about moving to a big bed, and we'd save ourselves the hassle of buying a 3rd cot. He was excited and climbed up onto the bed, everything seemed well. Night one went really well, he went to sleep happily and with no fuss. He slept through, falling out only once and we simply put him back into bed and back to sleep he went, to be honest I don't think he actually woke up. Both hubby and I patted ourselves on the back in the morning and said how easy it was. Well that was definitely the calm before the storm or we jinxed ourselves. The next night he woke up about 4am, screaming like he was being murdered. Nothing calmed him down, and I think from memory hubby got into bed with him for his last few hours of sleep. Ok, so that was bad but from there each night got worse, with him waking earlier each night and screaming for hours upon hours, a vicous scream too. Nothing we did calmed him down, we took turns getting into bed with him, we took turns bringing him into our bed (yes I know these are all bad!) but desperation and sleep deprivation do strange things to you, and I was fairly pregnant too which didn't help things. After about ten nights I rang Trescillian for advice, we were desperate. I had a very 'helpful' lady ask me why we moved him, how old he was, had he climbed out of the cot, was he too big for the cot, etc etc. I answered her questions, I was honest and told her we moved him to try and avoid buying a (3rd) cot, and we wanted to see if he was ready. I mean how else do you know unless you try? If a child is not able to communicate clearly and explain they want to sleep in a big bed, how do you know? I felt pretty guilty at this point, and sad, and angry that I was being lectured when I was calling for help. My little boy had been sleeping 7-7 without exception and we broke him. Her advice was to put him back in the cot and hope for the best. Word for word. Ok, was hoping for more but ok, we'll go with that... So we did, we put him back in the cot. We had 3 nights of crying wake-ups but nothing like the murderous screams of the previous nights and once that settled down we have not looked back.

So here we are today, ten months later and Monkey Man is 2 and a half. Again there is no reason to move him but both hubby and I feel its time to try again. So we've talked to him over the last few days about how he's a big boy and how its time to go into a big bed. We're not brave enough to try the proper bed yet so that will stay in the spare room for the time being. Today, the sides of the cot came off. When we went upstairs for a bath he went into his room and spotted the change straight away. The excitement and sheer joy on his face was priceless. I wish we'd had a camera handy as it would have made a great photo. He told us his new bed was 'very nice' and 'very great' hahaha. After his bath he wanted to go straight to bed which he never wants to do. We heard him walking/running around in his room a bit once we came downstairs but it didn't last long and he's now sound asleep. We will check on him when we go to bed and I'm expecting to see his bed full of toys that he retrieved from his wardrobe but hey, he's asleep, for now. I'm not getting excited yet though as last time well, that didn't go so well. Cross your fingers for us that this could be the time. I know I'm gonna get the shock of my life the first time he appears at our bed but they can't stay babies forever right? Thankfully he can't open his bedroom door yet so it will be a while before his little face appears in mine at 5am telling me its time for 'downstairs'. Until then I'll pretend he's in his cot sleeping like a baby, my baby.

ETA: Night 3 and all is well. 2 nights so far of 7-7 without a peep, and so far tonight is looking to be the same BUT we're not talking about this as you never, ever speak of a sleeping child. EVER!!

Wordless Wednesday - water fun

I've been seeing many 'wordless wednesday' posts, such as these by Hummingbird's Song and My Little Drummer Boys sooo I decided I might just play along, here goes:

and one of Little Miss who was asleep during the fun *love*

That was fun (and wet!) I might just do wordless wednesday again xx