Pictures speak

Not all shopping

Being a mother is seriously HARD work! It’s not glamorous ! Really they say the first 6 weeks are tuff I think the first 6 moths are exhausting( unless you are bless with a amazing sleeper that never cries) but life as a mum is hard your days weeks even moths roll into one cos quite frankly you do the same ,eat,play ,sleep bath thing every day, this can bore me to pieces, I am super lucky to not have to work that being said it’s a choice, I could easily go back but we have chosen to go without different things so that I can stay at home with my two boys. Ohh and child care is simply way to expensive!!
I do believe that it take a village to raise a child the more help you get and allow make if easier for you and gets your child aware of other people, different personalities, adjusting to situations.

My parenting theory is a very hand on, trying to establish my child’s own personality and independents. I am a huge lover of real play cooking, cleaning gardening, getting dirty ( he is a boy and I think I am sometimes a little lay back in my theory of hey the clothes can be washed and he can be bathed! Cos sometimes I swear there is more dirt in my bathroom then the entire front yard. But his a Boy and he loves it. I can see his imagination running wild when he is outside

If you visited my house during the day you would often mind a lounge full of blocks, pjs on, lunch can often my a picnic in the lounge but two happy boys and that’s all I care about is them.

Love love
Ash
The shopping mum

Mumma clothes! A winter wardrobe

Most of the time my outfit comes together in about 30 seconds .
Easy ways to look half human are

HVing wardrobe things that are easy to wash ( no ironing) can go in the dryer if need be.

Pants – legging (black), jeans and trackies are a must!
T shirts a few t shirts are great to put under things in winter a couple of black and a white

A warm long black cardigan
A jacket
A warm jumper
Boots and some flats
Some great scarfs this will mix up your outfits
A couple of necklaces and a hat!

Donator or seller

So their are two types of people in this world…. Nope just couldn’t think of a opening sentence. After putting a single bed mattress on a buy swap and sell page for free today it made me think, I could of easily said that I wanted $10 say for instance but
I chose to give it away for free my reasoning that I would love somebody to make use of it without having to pay, if they are in need of something and I no longer use then please come and get it!!

I tend to do this with all our things Im not seller, I simple fill bags and take then to op shop, call Diabetes Australia and get them to pick the items up etc.
But I have seen so many people selling all their old things on gum tree today and they sell so people are obviously wanting this and then I also think well it saves someone paying full price then it’s a win win.

So are you a donator or seller ? Do you prefer to buy 2nd hand items?

My pregnancy

Children are the most challenging and rewarding thing I have ever embarked on!

Well pregnancy isn’t something that comes easy for me! Well the whole getting pregnant thank god goes but the another 37 weeks is HARD word!

Where do I start well first time I found out I was pregnant seriously seems like a lifetime ago! But my 1st born is only nearly two next month but I can tell you I assumed a alien had landed inside my body and taken over and returned it 9 months later, not knowing I was pregnant I thought I had some serious disease I was bed ridden vomiting my entire existence up,not even capable of showing unless I had a plastic god damn chair in the shower!!! But for all that’s it’s worth it’s not normal everyone tell you it’s just morning sickness, so I assumed it was, not realizing people don’t actually get this sick. My entire pregnancy I put on 6 kg, had days that I would vomit 30-50 times including at night I would wake up vomiting. This being said I didn’t get any “good” medication I took your basic stuff they give for ” morning sickness ” and sucked it up cos hey everyone gets this right?!
It wasn’t untill my last scan that the baby wasn’t growing much that my doc got concerned and as I was barely putting on weight and then started loosing it again,as she dogged deeper I explained how many times a day I was vomiting and she was in shock looking back i properly should have explained just how sick I was …. I thought it was normal!!!
So we got to 36 weeks and my right kidney was slowing down and ended up with no function this was due to dehydration for all the vomiting. I was then put straight into hospital after I tore my throat from all that throwing up! My levels at this stage are pretty bad and it’s time to boost them all up with a lovely weeks worth of drips, meds and everything else.

A week later I delivered a beautiful little boy! He was perfect labour was 7 hours I had a epidural after 6 it was painful but oh my lord the pain I had from my kidneys at the later stages of my pregnancy that went on for weeks is on par with the labour.

But after all that 4.5 months later I went back and did it all again! This time I had drips 3 times a week good medication and realized that this kinda morning sickness isn’t normal!

Xx

Party time!

We will be having 2 kids parties this year a 1st and a 2nd. I love the idea of kids always celebrating their birthday even if it’s a simple afternoon tea I think everyone deserves one day out of the year to be spoilt and have all the attention on then. So this year I am clueless as to what I want to do. ( or lack of child parties ) so I’ve put it out to my Instagram business to be apart of the day to feature these products so all my followers are able to find a go to place to find great party idea

These are some of my food picks from Pinterest

A typical day

So where do I start as a mother of two boys under two who are both on solids our day is full on, a typical 24 hours is my 8 month old wakes at 5 for a bottle,he will wake takes about a hour to settle and feed so this takes us to around 6 I settle him in my bed so I don’t wake the toddler up. As he sooks after his morning bottle in the cot. Some days I go back to sleep but the toddler is up at 7 so I sometimes I make a coffee and push through,I feel it’s harder going back to sleep for 40 mins or so you feel worse off?!

We then have bottles in bed and watch tv, this last about 30 mins and we are up starting our first meal of the day. Both kids eat so by the time I cook the older one food the baby is yelling or banging his highchair for food!! So I then feed him forget I’ve made myself a coffee on the bench and that I should have breakfast but by the time I cook and feed the kids they are wanting to get up. So we get up get changed for the first time and then have a play somewhere in between this I try to do dishes this normally doesn’t work as one child is yelling and the other is standing on the highchair wanting to get up.

And who am I kidding of course I still haven’t showered and now it’s already time for bubbas morning sleep so I make a bottle feed him while entertaining my toddler. Put him down try to shower sometimes this doesn’t happen until 4pm as I feel utterly revolting and need to feel half human so have a super long 40second shower which results in my child either putting something in the toilet throwing my towel in the shower as I’ve been a whole 41 seconds or now feels the need to get in fully dressed!

By this stage we have had snacks changed another lot of nappies & clothds tried to put a naopy in the bin outside and now my toddler is crying cos he wants to be outside.( we live in melb it’s likely to be raining) We do lots if drawing, I try to vacuum get the cleaner out they are both scared of it so the vacuum sits there off a few hours (or days) we do a tidy – something that is never ending and my house always resembles toys r us. We do some activities etc and fast forward to dinner this is when I realise I forgot to defrost the chicken! So thinking of something else to cook. I set the boys up in the kitchen one doing a great job at making a complete mess of the floor I just cleaned! But hey he loves it and thinks his a great helping so we feed the kids and bath and bed some nights it’s a breeze and some hmm not so well do they eventually go to sleep I then dream feed my boy about 11 but he has also now starting making at 2 for a feed ( growth spurt they call it hmm) and then my friends it’s 5 am and we start it all again.

But it’s something I wouldn’t change for the world before I know it they will be 18 and I’ll be up awake waiting for them to come home.

Ps yep I put the dummy in about 6 times a night

Supermarket shopping

Hmmm so I am still undecided if I like supermarket shopping or not. I definetly do not enjoy if when I have to drag my two babies along one wants to “walk mumma walk 😤” and the other is now nearly 8 months and wants all the food he can possibly see. It always ends in disaster I but everything I don’t need and come home reminding my self why I say I will only ever do online grocery shopping. But then the following week comes and I do it all again, because
1. I end up going to coles AND woolworths AND the fruit shop!! Because when your buying things like nappies formula, copious amounts of preen and washing powder then it makes sense to purchase where it’s on sale for these items you can save a fortune!!

2. I go to the fruit shop for quality in not one to buy from coles or woolies as I’m not a fan or their produce I prefer fresh from the market fruit n veg and it’s much cheaper then coles.

3.how could I forget meat! With 3 boys in my family they like meat! And I like good quality meat not over ally expensive I would alter the cut of meat for better quality especially then they will one day all rv wanting porterhouse steak. My go to meat is osso bucco (SUPER EASY) and a great dish I never purchase this over $8.99 a kilo that’s too expensive. But you normally get about 6 pieces for $9 this could easily feed 4 adults and 2 kids as you put veg with it will the osso bucco up with carrots and celery it goes along way and taste amazing. Chicken wings these are a great easy dish fir kids can be thrown in the slow cooker marinated and then love it my two boys go silly over these!! Mince can be used in so many ways but I always only buy premium mince I would prefer to be less mince but better quality. Chicken is a great go to I always have it in the freezer.
5. I also use aussie farmers, this is a local farmers delivery service on Monday if you order 3 items you receive free delivery so I get 2 – 3 liters of milk and a loaf if bread easy way to start the week!

So that’s my weekly shopping tips, would love to know how you shop?!

Backyard blitz

With two boys under 2 who are already obsessed with outside I can tell I’m going to be spending a lot of time in our backyard. This being said it has to be functional, safe, lots of storage, and I’m a huge lover of real play. Below are pictures that I love and a relatively inexpensive (for a backyard make over)

For a cheaper alternative you can always just paint the fence in blackboard paint

How to dress up a bathroom on a budget

A plain bathroom is so easy to accessories without spending a fortune.
Simple towels- I hate mismatched towels so I tend to have white (yep before I had two boys) brown, and charcoal, these are simple classic colours, accessories your towels with a great hand towels, this can be something that costs a bit more but is on display and adds character to your bathroom. A couple of great pictures below are the ones I have

A great hand soap always makes a bathroom look good. And once you have finished using it just refill
Brands I like Aesop , thank you , method

To finish off a great bathroom use things like a basket to store toilet rolls , a indoor plant adds to much life to a dull bathroom

Enjoy!!! Plants all $15 from kmart as baskets $10 from kmart