Happy new year everyone

I hope the best of 2007 will be the worst of 2008 and a wonderful yar is had by all

2007 has been a big year for me, firstly i went withut internet for five whole months *gasps* sort of felt out of touch when i finally did get back online

My baby grew so much and has turned into such a cheeky bu shy one year old

My little girl has finally over come majority of her seperation issues and started occasional care and early pre entry kindy and grown up so much in a year it isnt funny

My dad spent 8months overseas and we all missed him so much, it was only meant to be 6weeks!!

There has been so many good points to 2007 that i hope theres even more to 2008

Tomorrow i will share my new year resolutions and plans for 2008!

I hope everyone has a wonderful night, so far today we have been in and out of the pool and watched the kids fireworks on tv and played with some glow sticks and sparlers now the kids are in bed its definately time for a drink or two or three and to spend time with Damien!

Two years and it feels like more!!

Well first off i should say Happy Bday to my lil brother who is 20 today! Hey Nikki when did you get so old? LOL

I still remember you as a 2/3 year old on a famous sydney red rattler coming home from Darling Harbour and the train jolted and you said 'oh shiiit' and had half the business men in suits have to leave the seats to go laugh and the other half hid behind their newspapers tryign to hide their laughter! Best bit was mum telling you off while trying not too laugh, and gosh thats a hard thing to do

But back to the original title, two years today Damien and i started going out, gosh that sounds so high school saying that lol

The time has gone so quickly that it feels like we have been together much longer, he is such a good dad to Bailey and Hartley, yes some days he drives me nuts but hey thats what its all about isnt it! Sometimes i nag him as he is a slacker at home but he goes out he works he supports Hartley, Bailey and I and allows me to be home with the kids, he allows me to do my hobby of sewing and have time at the weekend when i want to do that, heck unless i think about it i forget that Bailey isn't actually his biological daughter as he is the best dad to her, the only dad she really knows. I love the bond that they have and often i just love spying on them when their outside pottering around in the garden, or listening to the stories they make up when playing.

But two years has gone by really fast and i wonder where we will be in another two years time, i wonder if by then we will have another bubba or not, or have the boat we want to go out fishing with, or the old car to do up, or if we will have had two successful breeding seasons with the snakes.

Well while the house is quiet with Damien and Hartley having a nap and Bailey visiting mum and dad i might go get some sewing done and finish this bottle holder i started ages ago

Anyone up for a challenge?

I was checking out a blog ages ago and was interested in the Fat quarter challenge someone had done, basically the deal was to see what can be made from one fat quarter.

So i was wondering if anyone wanted to do a fat quarter challenge and see what can be made from a fat quarter.I think it would be good to see what different sewers come up with.

I know with new years eve so close i won't be doing much sewing till after then, so if anyone was interested we could start in the new year.

I still need to find a fat quarter i like to use but should be interesting to see what can be made out of a piece of material 18in by 22in

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!

I hope everyone has had a great day and is full of turkey and stuffing and all things yummy!

We had a wonderful day and visited both sides of each family, and were hardly home but it was great fun and not as stressful as last year was (mind you we did have a three week old baby and move house two days before!)

Santa brought Bailey what she asked for, water, a sleeping bag, and books, what a simple life to be happy to get water from santa, so gorgeous! We spent xmas eve visiting xmas lights for two hours then we spotted santa heading our way so came home and went off to bed, i think it took Bailey all of two minutes to fall asleep she was so excited and tired.

Hartley waved bubbye for the first time today and waved to uncle Calvin then just to show he knew how to do it waved bye to Poppy, Nanna, Aunty Kim, and his sister lol

I might upload some photos tomorrow as i can hear my bed calling me nice and loudly!

My latest creation

I made this Christmas shirt for Hartley to wear to Baileys Kindy party and got so many comments about how gorgeous it was, made me one very proud mummy!!

I think it was a big day for Hartley as he fell asleep in the pram on the way home which is very very rare for him!

How cute are sleeping babies?

And this is my time to say how gorgeous is the Maz-a-licious nappy cover?

So for for a change in my shop i am going to list these up for sale

Isnt his bum gorgeous?

And look at those gorgeous chubby thighs!

This was his birthday nappy cover i made for him to wear for his bday party, i have to say i am very happy with how it turned out, a few little mistakes but hey you get that! I wont share how many times i had to do the back elastic lol

His bday party was great we had family over and just got to relax and catch up, and we organised christmas lunch which i sscary to think how close christmas is!

Saying christmas i have officially gotten the bad mummy award for forgetting about Baileys advent calendar, so Tuesday when i go shopping i will pick up some bits to put in Baileys advent calendar that her lovely Aunty Liana made her two years ago, now to sort one out for Hartley, hmmm second vote for bad mummy award will be when he gets bought a store one with chocolate inside lol

This week is going to be busy we have playgroup monday, Kindy christmas party tuesday (which i am making Hartley a christmas shirt for and need to do tomorrow) and wednesday we are going to the zoo with playgroup, hmmm thursday can be our sit home and chill out day lol

22 days until christmas, where has this year gone?

Maybe i need to work out my to do list tomorrow and work out what Bailey and Hartley are getting for christmas :D

My baby boy turned one today......

Where did that year go?

It has totally flown past so quickly that it isnt funny.

I am happy to say his first birthday marks an achievement for me that i didnt know if i could make or not....... thats right i have been breastfeeding my boy for one whole year!!!! And i should add he loves it and its such a great comforter for him, and it has helped him grow into the big boy he is today as he has never had formula, he has had a few bottles of EBM but not too many as he realised he didnt like the fake nipple lol

This was a picture of Hartley having his bedtime feed last night, i finally got around to getting Damien to take a picture or two, i love how sleepy his eyes look but he just doesnt want to give in to sleep!

Gorgeous birthday card and present Bailey made for Hartley at kindy this morning, i wish i had the camera for when she showed hartley as his face lit up, it was so gorgeous!

Next up is the Raggedy edge blanket i made for Hartley, i chose to make it out of this lovely flanelette, which is a nice boy print without being too babyish or too old for my baby! Next time i think i will make one out of cotton and do a mix of prints, this blast off print i had no idea what i wanted to go with it, but i think this looks great and am happy with it, so that is all that matters. Oh i found the tutorial for this quilt on Helens blog which can be found here

Bailey chose to give Hartley this Elmo, which he absolutely loves! He is at the stage that he will crawl up to Budha (whose bottom is in the picture) and when shes lying down he will lie on her and cuddle her, he does it to teddies too, so a lounging elmo was needed, and i have lost count of how many times already it has been laid on for a cuddle!

I think Hartley loved this big CAT dump truck, he found out quickly all the sounds it makes and was walking it around the lounge room and sitting on it for a ride, it was gorgeous, as gorgeous as his giggle when it did the reversing noise!

Last picture is of the end result, actually i think halfway result of Daddy feeding Hartley birthday cake! Lets say he loved it! The cake was made by Bailey with a little help by me, and it went down very well

Ok I'll be back with more pictures tomorrow as there are a heap more but these were a few i wanted to share :)

Well i have been slack lately but things have been busy around here, and from sunday till wednesday i had a migraine that knocked me for six, it was my first and yeah really wasn't fun.

First started with Hartley teething and its still going these four eye teeth just dont want to come through yet, almost but not quite, and along with that he's picked up a pretty bad ear infection :( My poor lil baby!

Bailey is growing up very quickly, every day she comes out with something new, some days good some days bad, like her favourite thing to say lately is kakapoopoohead haha she thinks shes hilarious, and i have to admit its pretty cute!

Well 12 days till my baby turns one, and i just want to know where did all the time go?

Today we went to the local christmas pageant and Bailey loved it, i am sure Hartley liked it with everyone going past and all that but he was restricted to the pram where as bailey was standing dancing and waving to everyone telling them merry christmas, it was a really fun day, and lucky wasn't too too hot, then we popped home got towels and headed down to Moana and drove on the beach which Bailey thought was hilarious, and went for a swim, it was great the water was icey cold at first but then started feeling nice and cooling! And everyone had a nap this afternoon, but i do think the heat is causing my migraine to come back :(

Ok time for pics let me dig up some new ones, the ones from today are still on the camera with a flat battery so i'll post them next time.
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What happens when you let a three year old pick their own outfit?

Well they of course pick the dress from one outfit and the pants from the second, then lies on the lounge with her eyes closed!

It did look very cute and got some lovely comments from playgroup!

Hartley thought that was the moment to harrass her with an apple! And then while sitting

together Hartley wanted his hair brushed, this is something he loves lately, i will be brushing baileys hair and he comes up to me and cries till i start brushing his hair!

Next up is Bailey being very cheeky giggling that i cant get a picture of her, and umm well i could get a picture of her lol

And lastly my spunky monkey after swimming yesterday, such a cute picture i just had to share it!

Before i get asked yes his head is higher then the pram back when he sits up! He's getting so big it isnt funny, but he's so gorgeous though and is so so cheeky

Well what my blog about if my other babies aren't in it???

So i thought it is time to introduce my other loves :)

First up is Biggie the olive python, he is such a gentle giant and very placid, i think Bailey has a massive soft spot for him she helps looks after him by turning his light on each morning, now just wait till they both grow and shes going to claim him!

Now is our girl of the group, she is our newest baby and it took us almost two months to name her, and to match her attitude we called her Missy as she is a lil miss, she handles well once she is out of the vivarium but doesnt like being taken out, but i should add she is improving with time, and yes she loves soaking in her water bowl

Now here is my baby lapping up the bottle brush tree outside. This is Sakima, a gorgeous lil boy who had a major attitude problem but now knows we are boss and is used to being handled again now and only shows attitude when we go to put him back in his vivarium. But he's my gorgeous boy thopugh i wish he would start eating again grrrr fussy eating mister!

My ramblings

Well i don't know where to begin but an incident happened on the site i sell through, and to be honest it stinks of foul play. It may just be that i am overly suspisous but there has been some other things going on to that makes me that way, i always thought a little bit of friendly competition was healthy but obviously not.

Another thing i dont get i dont know why some people have to be so downright rude about other people whether it be on a forum or in a blog or face to face, but ome things i have come across lately just makes my head spin.

Now onto my news i love my two monkeys they make me smile so much no matter how i feel they always manage to make me smile, they are both ever so cheeky!

Sewing side of things well i have been questioning that but you can't please everyone and some people well can't be pleased at all, this is my lesson learnt and hopefully next time i wont be losing money or time from learning the same lesson!

I have sewn Bailey another top that was a huge hit at playgroup i might make one up for the shop, then get cracking on the boys stuff i have in mind. But this top pictured below was made from an embroided denim with red and pink butterflies over it and on the reverse is a pink soft cord with butterlies can you tell Miss bee loves butterflies at the moment?? I should add in these pics she is too busy looking at Missy our Darwin carpet python

Well after saturday night getting about two hours sleep from Hartley deciding it was play time all night long i decided he was getting moved into the room with Bailey, Damien said he will be up all night long waking Bailey up. Well the result was both Bailey and Hartley in bed at 7.25pm and asleep by 7.30pm and Hartley slept through the night till 6am and Bailey is still flat out!

So looks like moving Hartley out of our bedroom has worked for last night lets see how tonight goes!

Now today we are off to playgroup which Hartley and Bailey both love last one for two weeks while school holidays are on but i am alreayd thinking ahead for what to do during th holidays and so far on the list is a visit to the zoo!

Pants tutorial

Ok i might start off with explaining i have never done this before but i hope it makes sense!

This will be filled with pictures along the way to help those who are more visual learners :)

And i should add i cheated and had a half finished pair that is why when you get to the sewn crutch seam the waistband is already sewn :) These i started weeks ago for Hartley his first boardies i should add

First start off by sewing the leg seams, in the shorts pictured there is only a inner leg seam as i like having as few seams as possible next to Hartleys and Baileys legs.

Next step is to turn one leg the right way out:

Then i place the leg that is the right way out inside the other leg and match up the inner leg seams and the tops and bottoms so the crutch seam aligns (second pic is just to show that the other leg is in there!)

Then i sew around the crutch seam, i always sew with my machine first then overlock afterwards (sorry second pic looks odd as i hadnt laid the boardies down properly)

Then tie off lose ends of the threads and turn the right way out

And now all you have left to do is hem and sew the waistband :)

I hope this has helped some newbie sewers!

Well life has been busy, Hartley still is sick with a chest infection and fluid on the ears so is now on stronger antibiotics, but he's being a champ and taking it well. Then yesterday Bailey woke not well with a fever and very very quiet which is so not her, but this morning she seems ok.

So this weekend i didnt have time to get much sewing done and when i did sew i broke my overlocker :( So not happy about that as i love my overlocker but i guess today i will try and figure out whats up with it and fix it, so i did some simple sewing and made some fleece shorties to list in my shop and these almost didnt make it to the shop as i think they are just so cute! And i finally worked out how to applique (yes it took a while lol) and i have had some awesome African sunset material that i couldnt wait to adorn a top or two or three for a little boy, but you can see that here

I thought i might share a picture that i love!

I made this smock for Bailey and love it, it so suits her which is great. The material i have had sitting around for a year and had no idea what i wnated to do with it as it is so bright so i think the contrasting pocket is really effective, the smock itself is reversible and on the other side is all the bee material with a black pocket. So my little miss Bee has her own bee top that she tells everyone mummy made it for me, gotta love her! She's being so cheeky in the picture but still smiling not pulling faces like she tends to do when she sees the camera!

The second picture i dont know why i love but she looks like shes standing there waiting for vistitors, and her hair looks so cute in a messy bun!

I love the style of the smock top on her and have made some to list in my shop, and they seem pretty popular! Teh one in my shop is such a pretty girly print, you can see it here

For good measure i better find one of little man, who has started pulling himself up, but then after ten seconds his legs give way, which isnt surprising as he's just hit 13kg, hes growing so so fast my lil baby isnt really a baby anymore :(

This was taken the other day as the sun was going down, it was such a lovely spring day that i thought i might get him outside and take a picture of his Snugglepants cotton outer aio that i absolutely love!

The early bird really does get the worm

I was just doing my normal window shopping before bed and realised someone is selling something that i have cut out ready to be sewn :( Now i have no idea if i should still go ahead and sew it up or leave it and make it when my niece will fit into it as bailey is too big

Well i have had a semi productive evening and finished the camo bikes pencil roll and it turned out better then i thought and i have a different version that i will be making next time so there are two different types in the shop, so tomorrow i better go buy some pencils to go with them, and grab some of the material from SL that i liked last time but didnt grab.

Tomorrow Bailey has kindy in the morning and she surprises me everyday she is growing up so quickly i remember when she was a tiny newborn and i was having my first cuddle and i didnt want to leave her to go have a shower and get cleaned up. From that moment on i knew my sole purpose in life was to be a mum, fast forward to 41months later and i feel if we dont end up having number three that our family is perfect and that if number three does happen then it will still be perfect. Which is odd as i always wanted to have five kids but i'm so content with Bailey and Hartley.

On that note one day i should write out there births before my memory goes and i forget the details, i still remember the high that i had after having Hartley which i think was due to a quick intense labour gosh all that pain i think i was happy it was over and so excited to go see him in the special care nursery to make sure nothing was wrong, which it wasn't thankfully the scan was wrong and he was just a long long baby!

I love this photo of Bailey just captures her perfectly shows that cheeky happy girl she is

Theses photo were from fathers day, when i asked Damien what he wanted to do he said go fishing so we spent the afternoon fishing which we all love doing!

Thought i should update some pictures of the kids

My dad has just got home from just over eight months overseas and the kids were so excited to see him and this picture is from Fathers day Hartley doesnt look very happy as he was tired and wanted a feed not to smile at me, and Bailey as usual was being as cheeky as she could be!

Its been a while again since i last blogged, actually i am quite slack at blogging *ooops*

But i do have a excuse lol i have been getting no more then 4hrs sleep a night for almost two weeks and Hartley my baby giant has been sick and is starting to get better.

Kid news, well Bailey keeps getting bigger and showingus how quickly she is growing up and is such a gorgeous loving little girl. Hartley well he now has six teeth with his seventh almost through and although he has been sick he's still being such a happy little boy, he is going to be so cheeky when he is older!

Sewing wise well i have been busy getting ready for spring and summer sewing Hartley shorts and Bailey skirts, and last night i also perfected a present for my nephew which i hope he loves!

And after umming and ahhing for so so long (almost a year :o) i have finally opened up a shop to sell so sewn prjects through and i cant wait to see how well this hobby will go!


Sewing for the shop i have been swamped with custom orders which is great i love making little girl clothes that are totally girly! At the moment in store is the last of the fleece pants, a few custom twirly skirts, a gorgeous cherry halter neck dress with twirly skirt, and some nappy bamboo boosters and liners.

Hot tip is to keep checking my shop as there will be some cool gift ideas being listed as i have sewn them, like pencil rolls, knitting needle rolls, handbag tidies, and nappy wallets.

Some other great reusable products i have in the near future are reusable shopping bags in funky colours and patterns, some "booby pads" (love 3yo and names they call things!) made out of bamboo, and maybe some pretty girly clothes and boardies and short and singlet sets for the boys!

Ok time to get the monkeys off to bed so i can get some more sewing out of the way as tomorrow there will be no time for me to sew

Whats been happening here lately......

Well i have been busy sewing then my overlocker decided it didnt like me and it took almost two weeks to sort that out, but now i am getting back into my sewing during the day and have been doing some knitting at night while watching TV.

Knitting...........

I made this its a Calorimetry and i think i knitted it up a bit big but it was fun to do now i have to knit another one up as my DD has claimed this one! Thats ok as i have enough of this wool left, which by the way was wool that i dyed up and had a great time doing!

Other knitting i will show off once it has been finished :)

And to finish this post off heres a pic of my two monkeys!

This is a pic from a month or so ago

My big cheeky monkey doing what she does best!

My cheeky monkey still no teeth

The photo of bailey is from september time i think but its only on of a few of her wearing clothes as shes my lttle nudist hopefully something she will grow out of, but its a dressim proud to sayi made her, it has a top underneath it though as it was in the evening, an my big lil man picture is from the 4th of may he's just over five months old and so big hes already in size 1's, hes 9.8kg and about 74cm long so he's the average size of a baby twice his age but hes happy and healthy and that is all that matters ;-D

well i havent posted or sewn for ages well since Hartley was born so ow we're a little more sorted i whipped out the sewing machine and made some fleee pants for him as hes so hard to buy for hes so long and big for his age btu then i got creatve and added an extra bit so that i could also use them as a cover over his fitted nappies :)

I'll have to get some more pics of him wearing the aio and flece cover too :)

Oh yeah excuse the mess in the bacground did i ever mention i hate folding the washing?