Happy Mother's Day

It's one of the toughest but most rewarding roles out there! Being a mum or the primary carer responsible for growing, guiding and shaping the lives of the tiny little humans we love so much.

Like Melbourne weather, being a mum to Ava is like four seasons in one day. She humours me, frustrates me, pushes all my buttons and melts my heart all in a single breath. 

Last week over breakfast she sheepishly said to me, "Mum, a rice bubble just went up my nose." Like it kinda just leapt up there on its own. Seriously? Should I be freaked out, or relieved that it's gluten and sugar free? 

Then there's the spontaneous kisses and proclamations of love. They thrill me and melt my heart, no matter how cheeky she is being. She surprises and challenges me every day. 

We fight, we talk, we laugh and we cry. Poor Brett struggles to understand what the hell we are on about most of the time. The bond between mother and daughter cannot be described, nor can it ever be underestimated. 

These moments will be forever etched in my heart and memory. It's a joy and a privilege to be the Mum of such an amazing little girl. 

Through the sleep deprivation, the inexplicable meltdowns, her sharp wit and heart melting belly laugh and let's not forget the excruciating pain of stepping on Barbie limbs there's nothing quite like motherhood. 

I feel so blessed to be Mum to such an amazing child and incredibly lucky to have the support of a loving partner, family and friends. Because it really does take a village to raise a child. 

Happy Morhers Day to all the amazing mums out there. Whether you're the Mum to your own child/tribe, caring for others, doing it all on your own, mourning an angel baby or trying desperately to conceive - my heartfelt gratitude, solidarity and love goes out to you. 

And of course the biggest shout out of all goes out to my Mum. Thank you for being such a shining example of motherhood. And I'm sorry about those moody gothic teen years... We both know that Ava will pay me back for those painful years tenfold. 

15 reasons my toddler cried today

Some days parenting a toddler is really hard. There's some things that simply can't be explained or accurately described in those books you read when you are pregnant and blissfully unaware of what you are getting yourself into. 

Nothing seems to go right and you find yourself at loggerheads with a 3 year old who appears to have taken on the personality of Napoleon. Barking orders, screaming when things don't go her way and pushing buttons that I never knew I had. Tears are inevitable and sometimes Ava cries too...

Today was one of those days. It actually started quite early this morning as I left the house to do the first yoga class I've done in 3 years. I thought I'd start my Sunday all zen like. Umm, nice try.

I guess the combination of being 3, fiercely independent, extremely smart and really knowing exactly what she wants at all times can get a bit much sometimes. Today was one of those days, where I just couldn't get it right for my little girl.  

So here's just some of the reasons Ava cried today.

1. I'm thirsty
2. I don't want water
3. Daddy cut my apple into triangles, I want it round 
4. The blender is too noisy
5. The hand dryer is too noisy
6. I fell over, it was Daddy's fault
7. I don't want chicken soup
8. I want to butter my own toast
9. I want Mummy to butter my toast
10. I don't want toast
11. I don't want dinner
12. I'm dirty
13. I don't want a shower
14. I want my special shower cap
15. I'm hungry, I want my dinner

Thanks goodness today is nearly over. Ava is finally asleep and as exhausted as I feel, I'm actually looking forward to her calling out to me at 4am for a snuggle in Mamma's bed. All the meltdowns, rages, defiance and endless negotiation is forgotten as I carry her warm and cuddly little body into our bed for a few hours of precious snuggles.

When life hands you lemons...

Sometimes life doesn't go as planned. Out of the blue it can throw you a pile of sour lemons that hit you fair and square between the eyes. Leaving you feeling dazed, confused and totally off kilter.

Like most Mammas I have many balls in the air. Juggling bills, work, that endless to do list and a good dose of guilt like a cirque du soleil pro.  But inevitably my lack of coordination appears, a curve ball or two hits and it all comes crashing down. It's been a pretty crappy few weeks for Burnsy and I punctuated with very little sleep. Its fair to say that I have not been on top of my game. But you know what? Today I am ok with that.  

Its another 5am saturday morning wake up. But instead of lamenting the hour I have spent the morning silently stalking my friends on Facebook, reading my favourite blogs and listening to those familiar and comforting early morning sounds of the Inner West. Chirping birds, light traffic, Santo watering his cabbages next door and of course Burnsie snoring. 

I finally feel calm and relaxed. Not sure if that's the residual panadol in my blood stream or the fact that my little munchkin is not here pulling me out of bed to watch cartoons and make her some breakfast!

Ava has been with her Nanny for a few days. Its the longest period I have ever been away from her, I have missed her like crazy and a I can't wait to see her today. But it's also reminded me that taking time out for myself is the best thing I can do for my family. A cranky, run down and overtired Mamma is not a very fun Mamma - that's for sure.

Now weeks like these need not come by again any time too soon, that's for sure! But without the sour, you can never truly appreciate the sweetness in life! 

So it's what you do with those lemons that make all the difference!! Personally I like to squeeze them onto pancakes or juice them with apples, celery, kale and ginger - so yummy! 

What gets you back on track when things don't go to plan?

Our Sunday morning Mecca

I love our little home in the inner west, it's close to the city but just far enough away to avoid the feeling of being stuck in a perpetual rat race.

We have everything we need at our finger tips. Amazing coffee, parks, shops, kids activities and community right here on our doorstep.

One of our favourite weekly rituals is the Marrickville Organic Markets. Held at the Addison Road Community Centre, it's become our Sunday morning Mecca. 

Every Sunday morning Ava asks me if we will see the ponies and get a face painting. Even this week, while on holiday in Melbourne, she asked for a face painting!

I recently caught up with the lovely Jane from Marrickville Sundays to answer 5 questions about why we love the super child friendly organic markets. Checkout the blog here, it's a must read for all Inner Westies with kids and market lovers alike!

Your bandaid is where?

For a once free spirited drifter, it amazes me how much I love routine these days. I rely on routine to keep me focused and to get things done. Without goals and routine you would probably find me curled up in a corner rocking.  

Night time routines are especially critical at the Burnsie residence. Ava's bedtime routine involves two or three stories,  a selection of teddies and babies to be tucked in and Ava's choice of one parent remaining for snuggles "under the covers".  "You wanna come under covers with me Mamma?" How can that offer be refused??? 

Of course bedtime routine also comes with a plethora of stalling tactics! Ranging from the timeless, "I'm thirsty, I need a drink" to "I need to go to the toilet", the former is now mitigated by strategically placed water bottles. Ava's current favourite is "my tummy hurts, I want some Spider-Man C" (that's actually vitamin C - obviously) and then there was the cryptic "where"s my talice?" It took days and countless meltdowns  to figure out her talice was the remote control to the mobile we had over her cot when she was a baby. Ok then.....

I love our routine for my nights under the covers, I hear all about Ava's friends at day care, she tells me about her favourite games and we make up silly stories. Brett loves his nights under the covers because in addition to snuggling up with his little princess in a bed half his size, he often falls asleep before Ava. And as an added bonus he avoids cleaning the kitchen. 

Last night's bedtime routine was no exception. It was late, 2 stories were negotiated, the night's stalling tactic involved a sore finger and Dora bandaid to make it all better.  Then Daddy was instructed to climb under the covers.

After 30 minutes I thought I better go in to wake up Burnsie. Any longer and ill be stuck cleaning the  kitchen on my own and he will need a physio from falling asleep in a 1.5 metre bed. 

Before I managed to drag myself away from the heater I heard a wail. Oh  dear, had Burnsie just rolled on Ava? No way, not enough room to breath, let alone roll in that bed. 

My bandaid my bandaid wailed Ava running out to me. "Ummm i think her bandaide is up her nose", says Burnsie way too calmly. WTF? 

Ava had somehow managed to shove her Dora bandaid up her nose!!! I silently and momentarily freaked out while envisioning an xray of Dora's face grinning at me, firmly lodged in the frontal lobe of her brain. 

Brett was still half asleep but in action mode.  Ava was pretty distressed and wanted to go to the doctors. Holding her close, I was strangely calm and composed. Brett who is always calm and knows what to do in an emergency, asked her to blow her nose a few times. After what felt like an eternity and with a lot of gentle persuasion she blew her nose. Luckily it appeared and I was able to pull it out.

What an ordeal! I just wanted to hold my baby girl all night and tell her it was ok. Bless the little angel, she said she was sorry for putting Dora up her nose. But after 2 minutes she had moved on and wanted to tell me about her new alligator story. 

Even though I was totally freaked out, I was very proud of myself for not completely losing my shit. But regardless, I don't ever want to have to go through that again!!! 

Embarrassing stuff kids say

"Mummy, that lady has big boobies just like you!" Yes, you read that correctly. This is what Miss 3 yells out on the train today while pointing at an attractive young South American girl sitting opposite us.

Umm, thanks for that! If you have heard my daughter's voice lately you will have a pretty good idea how this played out. She's a foghorn, not sure where she gets that from. And if that statement didn't get everyone's attention, there's more.

Next thing she lifts up her top. Oh to clarify, Ava lifts her top. Unfortunately for my dear hubby it was not the attractive young girl lifting her top. She was probably totally mortified that her boobs are being compared to mine. Despite sitting opposite the crazy family (that would be us) she is completely avoiding any eye contact whatsoever. I am also hoping like hell that this girl does not understand a word of English. Not that it mattered, the lady next to us definitely understood English.

So with her top lifted for all on the train to see, Miss fog horn screeches "When I'm a grown up I'm going to have big nipples and boobies just like mummy."  Gold. No really, it was gold. I had to give it to her, Burnsie and I had nowhere to go from there. We were speechless.

It's times like this I have mixed feelings about having a smart and articulate toddler. I know it's not unusual for kids to embarrass their parents in public, it was just a bit of a shock when it happened on a busy Inner West train.

It's not the first outburst. Previous gems include. "Mummy I have to go to the toilet. I have a wedgie." And "Mu Mummy has a baby in her tummy". The former was true, the latter was not for the record !!

Ever since my sister came to stay with the gorgeous 12 week old Gabi, Ava has been obsessed with babies and boobs. She pretends to breast feed from me and talks endlessly about her boobies. Is this normal?

My Mum calls it karma! I think there may have been a few occasions that I embarrassed her a little when I was Ava's age. So is it karma or just normal curious and innocent toddler behaviour ?

Ava's 3rd birthday party

Gotta love a party loaded with sugar!! It's not often that I wilfully feed Ava bucket loads of sweets, but birthdays come only once a year, so why not make the most of it.

Bursie really outdid himself with this cake - although it wasn't gluten free so I am already paying for the cheeky slice I had to have. My contribution! I did the writing and a bit (ok a lot) of micro management of the final touches...poor Burnsie.  

Ava seriously lost her shit (but in a good way) when she saw it before that party this morning. She said it was the bestest cake ever in the whole wide world.

I should also mention that our rather fancy Ilve oven decided to pack it in the night before the party! Seriously???  It's only 4 years old grrrr!  Luckily the cake was done, it just meant that we had less savoury adult food as I had planned on baking a batch of GF mini vegetarian quiches. 

Ava and her best friend Marli had a ball playing together in the park. They have known each other since they were born. 

We didn't invite too many kids, just Ava's cousins and her best park buddies Marli and Emily. She had so much fun running around the park, playing chasing and bossing us all around too!

The kids enjoyed blowing bubbles, playing pass the parcel and snacking on a mix of both wholesome and sweet treats.

These fruit cups were really easy to make and were a hit with the kids and adults. We chopped up watermelon, cantaloupe, nectarines, grapes and berries that morning, put them into a big container, then filled the cups at the park. Simple, beautiful and really healthy!

For a twist on fairy bread, we made wholemeal hundreds and thousands pin wheels which disappeared pretty quickly.

To make these I asked the baker to cut the bread loaf long ways. You should have seen his face, he had never been asked to do this before and thought I was totally insane.

Actually, I think he was worried that his cutting machine would destroy the bread! However he cut the bread perfectly and it was so much easier to make them rather than cutting long ways yourself.

Tip!! Flatten the bread out with a rolling pin before you butter it and sprinkle on the hundreds and thousands. Once flattened out they are so much easier to roll up. Then you cut each roll into three pin wheels. So easy.

Can you spot the dodgy one I made???

The marshmallow sticks are another super easy and very pretty sweet treat. What kid doesn't like marshmallows??

Bunsie insisted on making home made LCMs. I am not a fan, they are sickly sweet and full of sugar. As you can imagine the kids loved them...

So it kind of backfired for Burnsie, he was hoping to have them all to himself.

What to do with a 2 year old with all this rain?

What to do with a 2 year old when the rain keeps pouring down and there's no sign of any reprieve?  Simple, grab your umbrella, put on a raincoat and gum boots and get out there!

Miss Ava Mae is completely obsessed with Peppa Pig. And anyone familiar with Peppa Pig will know that Peppa's favourite pastime is jumping in muddy puddles. So when the rain hit this weekend we decided if you can't beat them, join them!!

Little kids truly live in the present, something we should all try to do every now and then. The pure joy on Ava's face as she splashed muddy water everywhere, including all over me, was priceless.  I have to admit, I really enjoyed jumping up and down in the filthy water. After last week's heat, the rain and cooler weather was quite refreshing.

And in saying that, we are lucky that the rain here is enough to be annoying but has not caused havoc like it has in far Norther NSW and Queensland. My heart goes out to the many people affected and we will be doing our bit by donating to the Red Cross Flood appeal.

What do you do to keep the kids entertained when the weather turns to crap? 

Missing my early morning wake up call

Ava is having her first ever sleep over! She is staying with our dear friend Franki who is Mum to Ava's adorable BFF Maxwell.

As you can see from the photo Maxwell's mum sent me, Ava is having a terrible time. Good luck getting those two monkeys to sleep Franki, was my reply! I reckon there was alot of giggling and very little sleeping for some time!!

And thankfully no sign of the usual dinner time tanty here! In fact, I doubt she will want to return to us at all, she looks like she is having far too much fun.

It's funny how kids are so well behaved outside their home and routine. Ava is a good girl, but dinner time is often fraught with vegetable stand offs, I spy something green and debates on whether dessert will be forthcoming or not!!

Being Ava's first night away from hone without us I knew i was going to miss my baby tremendously. But like most firsts, it was a far bigger deal for Brett and I than it was for Ava!

I had all the usual worries! Will she sleep ok, what if she cries in the night, how will Franki cope if she wants to play at 5am???

Despite the worries I was really looking forward to a nice sleep in this morning. Ha, but here I am wide awake since 6am. I'm so used to hearing my darling foghorn screeching out "Mummy, Mummy it's morning time. Get up Mummy."

I miss the sound of her little feet jumping out of bed and running down the hall to us.

I miss her little face appearing at my bedside, sweetly telling me its morning time and I really need to play. That sweet voice getting louder and more urgent, Mummy GET UP!!

My pathetic attempt at begging for just 10 more minutes, please!!!! Come on Ava, Mummy needs more sleep...

Whilst sleep is the panacea for most parents, it's amazing how it eludes you at times like this. Seriously, when there's opportunity to sleep in like a student and even have a relaxing, hot coffee in bed!!! What is wrong with this picture?

I guess as much as I love sleep, I love and miss my little girl more. Does this happen to other parents or just me???

Nudie in the garden

42c here yesterday, so what better way to cool off than watering the garden.

Getting crafty for Christmas

 

It's that time of year again, can you believe it??? I cant... i still have shopping to do, gifts to wrap, goodies to bake and then there's the cards I misplaced halfway through writing them. Sorry to all our friends who normally get a card, didn't quite get it together to buy more cards. Sheesh, hand me a wine please!!!

Despite the chaos, for us Christmas means spending time with close family and friends, eating delicious food and enjoying Ava as she discovers Santa and all the elements of the season. Well ummmmm mainly the the presents. We may not be religious, but I do want to instill in her the meaning of Christmas beyond the advertising assault of the season!

It's also a time of baking for the Burnsies! Burnsy has been hard at it, whipping up a batch of shortbread for the teachers at day care.

Home baked goods make the perfect DIY gift. Ava helped out (licking the bowl counts in my books), they are low cost and you can up cycle everyday household items to put them in.

We used an old coffee jar, ribbon, a few stickers and a card from last Christmas. These yummy treats are not gluten free, so I've had to give them a miss this year. But this weekend I'll be testing out a new GF recipe, watch this space!!

This is summer in Oz

There's nothing quite like the rare sight of a sprinkler to bring back childhood memories of long, hot summer days! Running under the spray of cool water, the hot sun beating down on our bare skin, this is what summer in Oz was all about before water restrictions and slip slop slap were invented.

My grandfather used to set up the hose, a sprinkler and plastic sheeting in the back yard as a makeshift water slide and obstacle course. The hose and sprinkler would run for hours while Grandpa squirted washing detergent onto the plastic. We'd all take turns flinging ourselves headfirst down the plastic, slipping off halfway or making it all the way down only to tumble into the garden at the bottom. Then we'd run through the sprinkler to remove some dirt and detergent, back up the garden to do it all again and again! There was the occasional bruise or grass burn after a particularly fast slippery slide, but there was always laughter and squeals for more bubbles please Grandpa!

Fast forward 30 something years... This water baby is now a city dwelling, water tight-ass with a mere square meter of grass where my girl can nude up for some time limited sprinkler action. I am a bit of a greenie, and want to instill my love of our planet in Ava. I want her to know how precious our resources are and how important it is to appreciate and conserve what Mother Nature has created. But most of all I am a Mum who was once a kid too.

I may be a try hard environmentalist, but I'm not the fun police!!! I want Ava to enjoy life's simple pleasures, like running naked through the sprinkler on a hot day. Have you or your little ones run under the sprinkler lately? 

Poos and tanties. A day of firsts for the darling Ava Mae!

I'm a proud Mum, with another day marking a couple of major firsts in Ava's toddler years!

Today Ava did her first poo in the potty! Very exciting, until she tried to pick it up... Yes charming I know, you should have seen Burnsie's face! But these are the things that can make your day (almost) as much as a new pair of Jimmy Choos when you are a new mamma!!

And the other first? Ava had her first full blown tanty at the shops. She has plenty at home, believe me! But this was her first major tanty in the middle of The Metro. It was your full scale, back arching, ear piercing, blood curdling, floor kicking tanty.

I should have seen the signs early on. She chanted Elmo, Elmo, Elmo through K-mart; I said "No sweetheart, you can watch Elmo on tv". Then she wanted the green bananas we got in Aldi; again I said "No sweetheart, they are not ripe. Here, have a sayo." Then she wanted a balloon from the kitchen salesman; finally I said "Yes have a balloon my darling, please!!" Amazing that she hadn't lost it before this point really!

Finally it was the Wiggles big red car ride that pushed us over the edge. She wanted to get in and I let her. Then, when it was time to go all hell broke loose. Ava let out a blood curdling scream, like I had just ripped her heart out.

It was amazing to watch the number of young males who had previously been lounging about, suddenly leg it towards the exit. I got pity stares from fellow parents and judging sideways glares from young hipsters who had never dealt with a strong willed toddler before.

I freaked out a little and tried to comfort her whilst shoving her dummy in her mouth, knowing full well that was not going to work. So like the doting mother I am at home, I put her down on the floor and ignored her until she settled down so we could walk back to the car. I then let her push all the buttons in the lift and let her think she was the one pushing the trolly.

In reality, Ava allowed me to believe that I was the one in control. HAHA!