I haven’t blogged for a while. We’ve been moving house, well we’re now living in our ’shed house’ as we like to call it. Don’t worry, it’s lined and has heating and cooling. So for the past 3 months my husband has been building this temporary ’shed house’ for us while we build a proper house. My husband is absolutely amazing, he started from scratch and has done everything! I seriously don’t know what else to call it though. It’s built inside just over half of our shed (it’s a huge shed!) which is on our 80 acre property. Absolutely love it our here! 360 views, so peaceful. The shed house is like a brand new little unit - it just doesn’t look like that from the outside! The kids are loving it too. There was really no yard for them in the other house we were in, so now they definitely can’t complain - not that they ever did! Anyway, it’s been pretty flat out the last couple of weeks, and probably won’t settle down for about another week yet. I’ve been back and forth from the block to the house everyday for the past two weeks, cleaning, packing, weeding and all the rest. The washing machine and dryer are still at the house, so I’ve also had to drag washing around everywhere. I’ve also had to drag the kids back and forth too, but man - they have been so good! When we were living at the other house, I was in a habit of having the TV on (probably way too much if you know what I mean!), because it’s been so cold and wet that they haven’t been able to go outside. Anyway, the TV is up at the block now and has been for about a week and a half, so I’ve had no TV at the house, where I have spent most of my days with the kids lately. I really don’t know how they’ve been entertaining themselves! There are no toys, just a big exercise ball and a lot of boxes, but they’re laughing, chasing each other around, helping me pack (having to re-do some of their packing - but that’s OK) and having the time of their lives! We go out and spend so much money on toys, when all they need is packing material! The last 2 or 3 days, I’ve been cleaning up the outside, so they have been just loving that! There’s big water puddles, so they can make a huge mess splashing around in their boots and how Luke loves sitting in the water (with all his clothes on mind you!) - just lovely! You can just imagine how much washing I’ve had lately, not that I’m worrying, because the kids have just been so happy. They especially love helping me, which is so cute! Half of the time, it’s not really helping me at all - especially Luke being younger, but I love it! I love the fact that they’re just wanting to help. They’re just gorgeous!
When I was pregnant with Jay, I was really looking forward to being a mum, but in particular, staying at home and not having to go out to work! I thought I could get so many things done! I’d have heaps more time to play bass, even get my painting skills up a bit and start my own Graphic Design business. What a shock!!! I’ve never worked harder in my life and it’s amazing how many people believe that lie! I honestly loved it though (and still do!). It’s just funny how you think and plan all these things before having your first baby, then straight after baby’s born, you almost forget! Jay was the sleepiest baby I’d seen or heard of before too. He was prem and slept through the night from 8 weeks old. I also had to wake him up ever 4 hours during the day to feed him. The first 3 months of his life, he slept. I couldn’t keep him awake any longer than 10 minutes after his feed (his feeds always took an hour!), but he did have colic between the 1st and 3rd month, which I think wore him out. With having the sleepiest baby in the world, I was flat out! I went back to my original size after 3 months because I was running around, doing this and that between sleeps. If you ask me now what I did back then and I’d have say, I have no idea! Even when people ask me now, “What have you been up to?” I really have to think about it! Let’s see; getting the kids dressed, nappy changes, cleaning the house, doing the washing, hanging them out, sorting / folding clothes, making beds, paying bills, grocery shopping, feed the dog, getting breakfast, lunch, tea ready and drinks & snacks in between, brushing teeth, bathing kids, toilet training / assistance, changing sheets, cleaning up spew (all the time for our two as newborns), cleaning poo / wee, spending time with the kids, reading stories, playing chasy (very popular!), dealing with attitude problems, tantrums, defiance, oh yeah – having my own shower, getting myself dressed & brushing my teeth (you get the idea!), all this takes a lot of time, but it’s sounds a bit funny when you say, “Getting kids ready, went to the shop.” It’s not a real conversation starter! It’s amazing how quick the time goes ‘sorting out things’! That’s what I end up usually saying! I would not have it any other way, I love being a mum and having fun with my kids. I laugh at a lot of things now instead of stressing out. Who cares if you don’t get things done sometimes that you’ve planned. It really doesn’t matter. Before I had kids, I was a real clean freak. Absolutely hated even a couple of dishes in the sink. After I had Jay, I used to stress out if I didn’t get the dishes done at least once a day (no dishwasher) and if there was a little bit of mess around. I just stopped worrying about one day, and did end up accomplishing my plans anyway (finding I’m doing more than my original plans now). I must say, the 4 hour feeds definitely helped! Both Jay and Luke were the same in that area, just slipped into that routine and now both have a 2 – 3 hour afternoon sleep in the arvo at the same time – oh how I love that!
POSITION :
Mother, Mum, Mom, Mama, Mummy, Mumma, Ma
JOB DESCRIPTION:
Long term, team players needed, for challenging permanent work in an, often chaotic environment. Candidates must possess excellent communication and organizational skills and be willing to work variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends and frequent 24 hour shifts on call. Some overnight travel required, including trips to primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities. Travel expenses not reimbursed. Extensive courier duties also required.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
The rest of your life. Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily, until someone needs $5. Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly. Also, must possess the physical stamina of a pack mule and be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat in case, this time, the screams from the backyard are not someone just crying wolf. Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges, such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets and stuck zippers. Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and coordinate production of multiple homework projects. Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings for clients of all ages and mental outlooks. Must be willing to be indispensable one minute, an embarrassment the next. Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a half million cheap, plastic toys, and battery operated devices. Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. Must assume final, complete accountability for the quality of the end product. Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and janitorial work throughout the facility.
POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT &PROMOTION:
Virtually none. Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills, so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE :
None required unfortunately. On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.
WAGES AND COMPENSATION:
Get this! You pay them! Offering frequent raises and bonuses. A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because of the assumption that Uni will help them become financially independent. When you die, you give them whatever is left. The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.
BENEFITS:
While no health or dental insurance, no pension, no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and no stock options are offered; this job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth and free hugs for life if you play your cards right.
I’ve come across this competition for those who think they have ‘The Cute Kid’. Now of course, I have the cutest photo there (coming from a very biased mum – like any other parent!). All you need to do is upload your child’s photo, and you could win a $25,000 College Tuition Fund. There is a $19.95 entry fee, which I thought was a bit steep, but you do get an 11 x 14 canvas portrait, a year of Parenting Magazine both for free, vouchers and discounts. It weighs each other out, especially if you’re actually after a canvas portrait! Oh it’s all a bit of fun!
I thought I might write a bit about my miscarriage. I haven’t really wanted to, but really felt I needed to, because so many women go through this horrible, devastating event. – Actually, most of my friends have. There’s supposedly a 1 in 5 chance of any pregnant woman going through this (so the doctor told me). The percentage is fairly highly, but no matter how common it is, it definitely has a huge impact on us. Mine happened in February this year. I can say now that I’m at peace about it and not hurt over it anymore, but at the time it was horrific and I was so confused and really upset. I know I could have gone two ways a little while after the miscarriage, either held on to the hurt or move on. I also became aware of a real heaviness on my heart about losing the baby and I the fact that I so desperately wanted another one. I really couldn’t focus on anything else. When I noticed what was happening, I started focusing on being thankful for what I already have, a beautiful family, great friends etc. I was also helping and supporting a couple of my friends who were going through some problems at this time, so after the miscarriage happened, I obviously wasn’t thinking about them too much anymore, so I also started supporting them again. It’s amazing what happens when you stop thinking about yourself so much and start helping and thinking of others! We live in such a selfish world and there’s so many people suffering & needing help out there. Anyway, the heaviness disappeared, and I really wasn’t worried about having another baby or not. Both my husband and I also felt that the baby was a girl, so we called her Leah. I really think that naming the baby has helped me too and we both believe that she is in a better place. It also reminds us that we have got another baby and that she’s being looked after. Every now and again when I do think about her, I really do feel a peace about her, she will always be my little girl, even though I have never seen her, I know she’s safe.
Now I know this can be a bit tricky for some. Our precious first-born needs to get used to the idea of this ‘intruder’ who has come into their world. They now have to share half their time with mum and / or dad. Usually at the start it’s way more than half. It’s even harder when they’re not at an age of understanding. I remember while I was pregnant with Luke that we constantly talked about ‘the baby coming’ and ‘the baby in mum’s tummy’ to Jay. He would come up to me, put his hand on my tummy and say ‘baby’ – so cute! He was just under 2yrs when Luke was born and I always made a point of involving Jay with ‘bub’ and he loved to help me. He hardly ever got jealous. The only time I can remember an issue arising was when I first started feeding. I thought I’d try and read a book to him at that time too, which worked really well. It’s amazing what you can juggle around with the things us parents can do! He ended up loving that time and it was special to him as well as myself.
There is so much pressure now to breastfeed. WE ALL KNOW that breastfeeding is the best for our babies, but man! We bleed, are in tears of frustration (and so is our new born), in so much pain and feels like our boobs are about to burst or explode, stressed to the max, our hormones are going wild, absolutely exhausted and when it’s our first baby – it’s even worse! Mind you, we’ve also just been through the worst pain, (but also totally out of it with what ever drugs we’ve demanded for!!!) and the longest so-called ‘work out’ we’ve ever been through in our lives! PLUS we have this fragile little life that we have full responsibility of. With me, all these feelings didn’t last too long. I breast fed both my kids. Jay (first born) until he was 13 months, Luke until he was 10 months. I’ll never forget the first night with Jay and trying to feed him. I just went through labor and he was born at 2am, so I didn’t get to sleep until about 7am and only for a couple of hours, then we had visitors pretty much all day, so I didn’t really get any sleep. Then that night, Jay woke up every 15 minutes to half an hour. I was sharing a room with another lady who just had a baby, and the midwives said that we had to take our babies out to the feeding room if they cried, so we didn’t wake the other mum or baby, which is fair enough. Anyway, I was pretty much in the feeding room for the whole night. It took about an hour and half to feed Jay, and then I had the nappy changing and settling, and all those things I mentioned above. I think it was about 5am that I just broke down and lost it. That was definitely the only night it was ever like that. Both Jay and Luke were extremely good with feeding and both fed every 4 hours from birth, but those nights happened a lot with people I know. They went through that for too long, because of all the pressure of persisting with breastfeeding. I’m definitely not saying you shouldn’t persist with breastfeeding. I loved it. It’s such a special bonding time and I do believe it is the best for your baby, but if it gets to the point where the mother is totally stressed out and the baby is stressed out, don’t worry about what people are telling you. Do what’s best for YOU and the baby. Babies pick up when their mum’s are stressed while breastfeeding. I’ve heard so many circumstances where the mum has changed to formula and both mum and bub are so much happier. Bub’s feeding is going in leaps and bounds and putting on so much weight! There’s nothing wrong with formula, and then there are natural supplements that can be given to babies now to boost their immune system. I know this can be a touchy subject, but there are times it needs to be brought up.
Test 1 Preparation
Women: To prepare for pregnancy:-
1. Put on a dressing gown and stick a beanbag down the front.
2. Leave it there.
3. After 9 months remove 5% of the beans.
Men: To prepare for children:-
1. Go to a local chemist, tip the contents of your wallet onto the counter and tell the pharmacist to help himself
2. Go to the supermarket. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home. Pick up the newspaper and read it for the last time.
Test 2 Knowledge
Find a couple who are already parents and berate them about their methods of discipline, lack of patience, appallingly low tolerance levels and how they have allowed their children to run wild. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child’s sleeping habits, toilet training, table manners and overall behaviour.
Enjoy it. It will be the last time in your life that you will have all the answers.
Test 3 Nights
To discover how the nights will feel:
1. Walk around the living room from 5pm to 10pm carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 4 - 6kg, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly.
2. At 10pm , put the bag down, set the alarm for midnight and go to sleep.
3. Get up at 11pm and walk the bag around the living room until 1am
4. Set the alarm for 3am .
5. As you can’t get back to sleep, get up at 2am and make a cup of tea.
6. Go to bed at 2.45am .
7. Get up again at 3am when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs in the dark until 4am .
9. Put the alarm on for 5am . Get up when it goes off.
10. Make breakfast.
Keep this up for 5 years. LOOK CHEERFUL.
Test 4 Dressing Small Children
1. Buy a live octopus and a string bag.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the string bag so that no arms hang out.
Time Allowed: 5 minutes.
Test 5 Cars
1. Forget the Mustang. Buy a practical 5-door wagon.
2. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment. Leave it there.
3. Get a coin. Insert it into the CD player.
4. Take a box of chocolate biscuits; mash them into the back seat.
5. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.
Test 6 Going For a Walk
Wait
Go out the front door
Come back in again
Go out
Come back in again
Go out again
Walk down the front path
Walk back up it
Walk down it again
Walk very slowly down the road for five minutes.
Stop, inspect minutely and ask at least 6 questions about every piece of used chewing gum, dirty tissue and dead insect along the way.
Retrace your steps
Scream that you have had as much as you can stand until the neighbours come out and stare at you.
Give up and go back into the house.
You are now just about ready to try taking a small child for a walk.
Test 7
Repeat everything you say at least 5 times.
Test 8 Grocery Shopping
1. Go to the local supermarket. Take with you the nearest thing you can find to a pre-school child - a fully grown goat is excellent. If you intend to have more than one child, take more than one goat.
2. Buy your weekly groceries without letting the goat(s) out of your sight.
3. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys.
Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.
Test 9 Feeding a 1 year-old
1. Hollow out a melon
2. Make a small hole in the side
3. Suspend the melon from the ceiling and swing it side to side
4. Now get a bowl of soggy cornflakes and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon while pretending to be an aeroplane.
5. Continue until half the cornflakes are gone.
6. Tip the rest into your lap, making sure that a lot of it falls on the floor.
Test 10 TV
1. Learn the names of every character from the Wiggles, Barney, Teletubbies and Disney.
2. Watch nothing else on television for at least 5 years.
Test 11 Mess
Can you stand the mess children make? To find out:
1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains
2. Hide a fish behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flowerbeds and then rub them on clean walls. Cover the stains with crayon. How does that look?
4. Empty every drawer/cupboard/storage box in your house onto the floor & leave it there.
Test 12 Long Trips with Toddlers
1. Make a recording of someone shouting ‘Mummy’ repeatedly. Important
Notes: No more than a 4 second delay between each Mummy. Include occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet.
2. Play this tape in your car, everywhere you go for the next 4 years.
You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.
Test 13 Conversations
1. Start talking to an adult of your choice.
2. Have someone else continually tug on your shirt hem or shirt sleeve while playing the Mummy tape listed above.
You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.
Test 14 Getting ready for work
1. Pick a day on which you have an important meeting.
2. Put on your finest work attire.
3. Take a cup of cream and put 1 cup of lemon juice in it
4. Stir
5. Dump half of it on your nice silk shirt
6. Saturate a towel with the other half of the mixture
7. Attempt to clean your shirt with the same saturated towel
8. Do not change (you have no time).
9. Go directly to work
You are now ready to have children. ENJOY!!
I know I definitely have been! I’ve been on a wild goose chase for about 7 months now! The first program I saw, I was just so hooked in with reading just the squeeze page that I just had to get it, and it came with a free report too – how cool!!! This is it! THIS is the answer! Sound familiar? Not realising that it was just a scam. Next program, with yet ANOTHER extremely convincing squeeze page and of course the free report AND it’s guaranteed! This would have to be it! Not likely! After a few programs that didn’t do me any good, I started Googling (not sure of spelling with that word, even if it is a word! You get the idea) everyone and all of the so called guru’s out there trying to find out which ones were the scams and which programs actually worked. I did find a couple of programs that worked, but had a few missing pieces in them, which you would then have to BUY the extended version or you need the coaching/mentoring program which would usually cost a lot more than the original program. I really loved the idea of earning money from home online, especially when A LOT of the programs would say, “Earn $200 a day in only 15 minutes!” or ”I take my kids out for the morning and make $1000 on autopilot!” Man, I ended up getting so sick of all of those quotes! I’ve been so determined to find the right program that really did mean what they say when writing quotes like that. I’d love to take my kids out and make that kind of money, anyone would! Which then led me to Joseph’s website. He has been through the same problems as me and just got so sick of all the scammers out there, so he created this website to stop it happening to anyone else. He has put together a list of the best programs to use to earn money online, and most importantly being scam free! Joseph and his team have also found the programs that are very easy, great for any beginner. They are all a bit different too, so you can choose the one that suits you and your lifestyle.
If you are really serious about wanting to earn money online, be it a business or just a bit of extra cash WITHOUT BEING SCAMMED, I highly recommend this website!
I thought I’d just write a quick little post (knowing me, it won’t be quick!) about my happy little boys. Man, they crack me up all the time! One thing I’ve always done since they were born, was to try and make them laugh. When they’re crying is the best time (not if I’ve just told them off though), because they snap out of it pretty quick. They really don’t cry for very long now either. I don’t know if that’s a result of that??? Who knows! They also make each other laugh all the time too and they’re not even doing anything in particular. It’s not while we’re playing games or anything, it’s pretty funny! They keep me entertained, more than I keep them entertained! I used to think sometimes that I really should spend more quality time with them, but I don’t worry about that anymore. Of course I spend time with my kids, but they don’t rely on me spending every minute of the day entertaining them and they’re happy, so that works great for me! I really believe kids do need to learn to entertain themselves at certain times everyday.
Stumble it!