Night wake ups! Arggghhhhh!

So its been a busy couple of weeks...

The little one is still coughing, as am I... but as far as illnesses go, that one was not too bad, just tiring, happening to 3 out of 4 of us at the same time!  

Apologies that I haven't really had the time to write.

I thought I would share with you the night before last.  A normal bed time by our standards... dinner, pyjamas, teeth and toilet, an episode of Peppa Pig, and into bed for a book with Mum or Dad before blowing the lights out.

I took the opportunity to get an early night after a busy weekend... Dad had worked late one night and had a bucks party the next, so I hadn't really had any down time.

At about 3am H woke... I toileted her (as she no longer wears a nappy), but she had great difficulty in getting back to sleep (very unusual).  We are in a routine where she goes back to sleep by herself... but for some reason this night she couldn't.  I was getting increasingly frustrated as I was so desperately tired.   After an hour of her Dad and I getting up and down, up and down to a pretty upset little girl, I changed my tactics, from being annoyed (which I felt rather guilty about the following day) and turned it into a positive thing.  

We have been have quite a degree of success with sticker charts, so while we cuddled I suggested that the next morning we make a sticker chart together.  If she could go back to sleep without calling out and getting so upset for the rest of the night, she could have a sticker in the morning.  It worked perfectly, I left her room and didn't need to return until she woke later that morning!  

That morning we drew a caterpillar... she helped, drawing the face and two legs on each segment of its body, and we stuck our first sticker on (thanks Sal!).  

With each of our sticker charts we work toward something... a ride on a miniature train, a trip to the zoo...  They are all very achievable!

What we are working towards on this one is a biggie!  Baby O will soon move out of our bedroom into her own and we gave H the opportunity to share her bedroom.  H jumped at this chance... I said that she wont be ready to share with her sister until she can go back to sleep without any fuss.   

So far it seems to be working.

Fingers crossed!

Great... now I'm sick..

Sorry, its been a busy few days... so far 3 of us have had this cold... mine is not as bad as the girls...yet!  

I have a splitting headache... but with 2 little kids, you just have to soldier on!

I thought we would make play dough... keep H busy for a while... pressing biscuits!  We made a beautiful pink dough, a lovely consistency... thought I would share the recipe with you!  Easy Peasy to make!  So... here is the link!

http://www.k-3teacherresources.com/play-dough-recipe.html

Let me just say, I am looking forward to the girls Dad arriving home tonight!  

Will I even get a shower?

I have a feeling I'm not going to get very far today!  Hopefully I have time for a shower!

Between my clingy 3 year old and a very tired bub who keeps waking herself coughing, I think it is going to be a busy day.

I had to bribe H to take medicine (something she absolutely hates).  But she took it, and has settled a little.  Have also dosed Bub's up, 1st time since birth 5 and a half months ago!  Hoping it will help her to sleep.  

Need more medicine!  Don't want to run out!

A lovely day out...

So the girls are still sick... 

We kept them indoors for most of yesterday, but decided to take advantage of the sun today and explore the Cranbourne Royal Botanical Gardens - http://www.rbg.vic.gov.au/rbg-cranbourne.  

We parked near the entrance at a picnic area, had lunch, then walked a couple of km (H walked too) to a lookout and the 'Australian Garden'.  On our way we saw a Jacky Dragon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphibolurus_muricatus, and a Bandicoot http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandicoot.  

The lookout was fantastic, you could see Melbourne City, Port Phillip Bay, Western Port Bay, the Dandenong Ranges (where we live) and the Australian Garden that we were about to visit.  An impressive view on a clear day!

A couple of hundred metres down the hill was the Australian Garden, an enormous, beautifully landscaped and very interactive child friendly garden. 

I would say we spent a good couple of hours, going at H pace, wading in the rock pool waterway (a stream of paving bricks of different levels - a nice escape from the heat), hosting a Birthday Party in the shell of a house (inviting any one that would come in), playing in the beautifully landscaped park.  

Was a fantastic place to take a child.  There is a beautiful cafe and a gorgeous shop on site.  A real treasure of a find!  

Oh and I was pleased to discover on one of the pamphlets that they play host to a great many activities, including night walks - http://www.rbg.vic.gov.au/australian-garden/whats-on/whats-on-cranbourne/set-dates/for-the-family/night-prowl to discover native wildlife and the 'Gum nut fairies and elves gum tree adventure' - http://www.rbg.vic.gov.au/australian-garden/whats-on/whats-on-cranbourne/set-dates/school-holiday-programs-and-activities/gum-nut-fairies-and-elves where kids can dress up, be told stories and get creative with crafts!  

Just a stones throw from home!  What a find!

Sick girls...

My girls are sick.  Nothing too serious... a viral cold, no sore throat or ear infections or anything.  

Still... it makes you appreciate them being well.  

The last couple of days have been hard work.  My choices are 1. To keep the big girl up all day, when she is so obviously tired, or 2. Let her sleep through the day and have her not go to sleep until 9.30 at night.

The last few nights have been tiresome too... There have been more wake ups than usual, bad dreams and being upset at bed time... all fairly unusual in our house!  

For our big girls Birthday (which was last weekend), we gave her a voucher for 'A day out with Thomas' http://www.puffingbilly.com.au/news-events/day-out-with-thomas/ .  We were to go on Thomas tomorrow, but have postponed it for a week, so she will be feeling better and will get more out of it.  Disapointing for her, as we told her  on her birthday that we would be going on Thomas this weekend, but in the long run, the right thing to do.

Anyway, I think it will be a quiet weekend in this house, a lot of lounging round, reading, painting, baking and watching movies (our fav's at the moment... Toy Story, Curious George and Madeline!  

Wish me luck!
Have a lovely weekend!

Crazy weekend!

On Sunday after our weekly swimming lesson, we organised ourselves (which always takes some time), and headed down to the Werribee Open Range Zoo http://www.zoo.org.au/WerribeeOpenRangeZoo

We didn't arrive until about 2pm and on our arrival noticed we had forgotten to pack the bottles for bubs.  

I went inside the zoo to sit down and breast feed... (I don't find breast feeding anywhere that easy!), while Dad found a local supermarket and a carton of formula to last us the rest of the day.

As it happened my mobile battery was flat, so I had left that at home, so we had to organise to meet somewhere on what was quite a busy day at the zoo!  Thankfully it all worked out fine.

Thank goodness it all worked out okay... though bubs (who is actually on prescription formula) was a little out of sorts the following day.

Still we got there!

A big day!

The party is all over and done with... thank goodness!  

It was a lovely day, thanks to all that read my blog and that came along for coming.  H had a wonderful day, and was very disappointed as her last friend left! 

It was a slightly chaotic day, but loads of fun too.  The little one was an angel, sleeping in the Ergo the majority of the time! 

I loved it, but am glad its now over!

Now I can have my head back... it has been elsewhere since last week, thinking constantly about what I need to do, what I need to buy... etc! 

Looking forward to not having to think too much tomorrow!

Imaginary friends...

On our way to school (child care) this morning, we were listening to Justine Clarke's song 'My Beautiful friend'.  

H is very good at picking up on lyrics and is constantly asking me for explanations.

The lyrics of the song we were listening to this morning are as follows...

I've got a friend who's just pretend, and you can't see,

but my little friend is real to me...

It goes on, but these two lines were our main focus...

The entire trip to childcare was spent trying to explain what an imaginary friend is, how it isn't a real person, but an imaginary one... etc.  We talked about people we knew who used to have imaginary friends and what they were called, about how only that person could see their imaginary friend.

What a concept to explain!  Next we will be having the sex chat!  Argghhhhh!

High heel heaven!

Presents have started arriving.  Our girl is getting very excited! 

2 more sleeps and it will be her party! 

3 more sleeps until she turns 3!  

Tonight we decided to open 1 present... she was so excited!  

It was ripped open to reveal a purple hand bag, a purple brush and comb, purple hair ties, and purple high heels!  

Her favourite colour is purple... so you can imagine how excited she was!  

The heels and hand bag went on straight away!  When she got ready for bed, they were taken off and then put back on very quickly!

Funny to watch her clip clopping down the hall in PJs and high heels!

Busy little bees!

We are busy little bees... making things for H's Birthday Party on Saturday.  Decorations mainly pictures for the tops of cupcakes... streamers... banners... she is loving it! 
Apologies for not having been on here, but I have'nt had the time, and my brain feels like theres a ping pong game going on inside it! 

Bring on the weekend, and hopefully a more settled brain!

Stinking hot to electric blankets cold...

So it is our big girls 3rd Birthday next weekend... we are busy trying to organise ourselves and have one more week to do so.  

The thing hindering our efforts is the weather.  

We have gone from 38 degrees last week to low teens this week... and so far this weekend all we have had is rain!  I shouldn't really complain as much of New South Wales, Canberra and some parts of Victoria are in flood! http://www.theage.com.au/environment/weather 

So the main things that need to be done are to do with yard maintenance... mowing of lawns (which is almost pointless after all the rain in the last few days!), edging, pulling of weeds and plants, cleaning out of chicken coop, etc, etc, etc!  

What did we get done today?  NOTHING!  It has rained fairly solidly all day and as a consequence we have managed to get absolutely nothing done... am hoping for a bit of respite tomorrow!

7 day forecast brings good news though... Sun on her Birthday... am hoping things don't change too much between now and then. 

What your kids get up to when you are out of the room...

I left H inside looking at an album of her cousin C on F/book while I quickly hung a small load of washing.  I came inside maybe 3 minutes later to find an 'Age TV' video playing titled 'Kid's on Pills'...

http://www.theage.com.au/tv/show/kids-on-pills-20120106-1pny5.html  - The diagnoses of children with manic depression, bipolar disorder and ADHD have risen by a shocking 4,000 per cent in the past 10 years. Most commonly used to treat these disorders are psychotropic drugs, stimulants with similar effects to amphetamine, methamphetamine and cocaine. Prescriptions have risen 250 per cent despite criticism from many in the medical community. Kids on Pills explores the conflicting views of psychiatrists and psychologists and explores the effects on the children, families and schools involved.

Thank goodness she was only 40 seconds in...

Tantrums...

Currently listening to a tantrum... they seem to have escalated of late, over the most ridiculous things.

They really are hilarious.  Lots of short sharp screams and thumping of walls... lots of slowing down of words, so she is sure I understand her anger.  Oh, I definitely understand, I'm just choosing not to listen!  

It usually takes about 5 minutes (sometimes more) before she calms down and is ready to be reasonable.

Our rule is door open, she can come out when she is ready to listen and her behaviour has changed.   It seems to work for us.  

Funny little souls!