Our Idiot Brother

Apparently EVERYONE has one....

I'm sure that anyone who has a brother has maybe once or twice called them an idiot. I actually have two idiot brothers :)

Nuffnang is giving bloggers opportunity to score a double pass to head to the movies in gold class style to see the new movie 'Our Idiot Brother' starring Paul Rudd and Zooey Deschanel.

Ned Rochlin (played by Paul Rudd) is a somewhat gullible guy and sees the positives in all people he comes across - which sometimes lands him in tricky situations. Selling drugs to a uniformed police officer is just one of those situations!
Upon Ned's release from jail, his girlfriend kicks him out and won't allow him custody of Willie Nelson his adored pooch. Ned is forced to move in with his three resenting sisters played by Zooey Deschanel, Elizabeth Banks and Emily Mortimer. Whilst reluctant at first, his sisters come to realise that maybe Ned isn't such an idiot after all.

Watch the clip below - a light hearted comedy with a life lesson too!

DVD and Blu Ray available on March 15th.

Enjoy guys
xo

Ouch!

I went for a run today. Yep me. I know - I shocked myself too!

As part of my 12WBT journey I have to do pre tests to gauge my level of fitness and part of that was a 1km timetrial. It's been a while since I ran anywhere to be honest. I have bad knees and use that as an excuse too! This morning I asked B to come down to the oval with me and time how long it took me to run a kilometer. I set myself a goal of being able to do it within 8 minutes and managed to do it with a time of 6m37s.

It wasn't pretty, I had to stop and walk for a bit - but nethertheless I acheived my goal and completed the fitness test! Onwards and upwards. B, Little man and I then went and did the grocery shopping using the meal plans set. I am looking forward to eating some nice and healthy meals. Looking at the menu and the amounts of meat allocated it has already made me realise that I overeat! But I guess that is the whole point! I then spent my afternoon cooking up a storm in the kitchen. Some of those meals are going to be delish :) I'm trying to pre cook as much as I can. That way I'm organised and less tempted to grab take-away.

As I'm a glutton for punishment at the moment I also went to the gym and did a 500cal workout while the little man had his afternoon nap. I am not too sure how I am going to get myself off the couch tonight though! My body is exhausted. As soon as I sat down I felt my muscles relax and now they are stiffening. I'm thinking an early night and lots of sleep will help :) Luckily for me Sundays are a rest day!

Hope your weekend is looking good!
xx

Happy Fathers Day B!

Today is Fathers Day - and the first one for B and the little man.

Little Man was super excited about the day and decided he couldn't wait to see his daddy! So started crying out at 4:30am...... B went into him and got him back to sleep but the day started for us @ 6:15 (how I wish my son took after me with loving sleep....). B received some new socks (his request) a picture from the little man and will receive a photobook when artscow comes through with the goods!

Little Man making his picture a few days ago

We had a nice family breakfast of bacon and eggs and then headed to the beach for a day out with Daddy.

It rained on the way there and I was thinking it would be horrible but when we arrived the rain stopped and the clouds started to part.

Somehow B managed to sneak a fishing rod into the car.... so we dropped him off to have a fish and little man and I went shopping for our picnic lunch. We passed a market on the way and pulled in for a look.
There wasn't very much there but I did pick up some delish choc peppermint fudge for B and I. Although it was $5 a piece so it would have wanted to be good!

Then we headed back to meet B. I decided to grab out the baby bjorn (perhaps for the last time as he is WAY too heavy) and walk across the sand to see if B had been catching any. Little man loves being outside and he was flapping his arms and kicking his legs like crazy! Probably one of the reasons why I think it was the last time!

Our picnic lunch was beautiful - A nice simple day spent with the two people who make my world spin.
Happy first Fathers Day B. We are so lucky to have you!
xx

Love

Love is a beautiful thing and this week I am grateful for the love I have in my life.

I'm Grateful for B - he is an amazing husband and father, I still smile when I see the way he interacts with the little man. He is so hands on with him, without me having to do a thing! He is and always has been a wonderful source of support for me through this journey of motherhood and I love him more each day. (soppy I know).

I'm grateful for each and every day I have had so far with the little man. I still am amazed at how much I can love a single human being. He has in 11 months taught me more than I ever thought possible. His smiles light up my days. His laughter melts my heart and his growing personality makes me so proud on a daily basis. I'm grateful for all that he teaches me about being a mum. He has definitely made me a better person :)

Lastly I am grateful for my family. I love how close we are. This week has showed me once again that when it comes down to it my family will be there to help me out - no matter how much they need to put themselves out. My sister, my brothers, my mum and dad would do anything for me and in turn my little man. With the illnesses and events we have had this year, the love in our family has proven to be strong. I love the way that we are always here for each other.

Love. So blessed to have a life full of it.
xx

A little dose of Sunshine

This week Melbourne has turned on the weather and it has been fantastic! I'm the first to admit that I hate winter so having 5+ 20 degree days smack bang in the middle of it has been quite enjoyable.

Before I had the little man in my life I think my hate for winter wasn't as passionate but as any parents out there would know - with winter comes sickness and to be honest I am SO over having a house full of snot :) The little man has had an on/off runny nose and cough since April and for want of a better word it SUCKS!

So because of the never ceasing sickness and lack of sunshine over the past few months there have been few opportunities to get outside and enjoy the weather. Last Saturday with the sunshine gods turning it on B and I decided to take the little man for a play at the park - and also to suss out a place suitable to have his birthday party.

We packed the pram and some lunch, tried to find a hat that fit the little man and off we set. The place we found would be perfect if it wasn't for all the graffiti (note to self - email council about that). It has a BBQ area and seating and an awesome playground for the kidlets. The most important part though was that the little man gave his tick of approval.

It was only his second trip to the park - but I think that he is definitely going to be an outdoorsy kid! He had so much fun bouncing around, sliding and even playing in the sand.Afterwards we took him for a nice walk around the lake, it was a lovely family day out in the sunshine. I am so looking forward to many more of these throughout summer!

The sunshine this week got me thinking about how a little vitamin D improves my mood. I found it easy to get out of bed every morning and hit up the gym (something that I constantly battle with) which in turn increased my motivation and energy levels! I had such a lovely week - but am I the only one who feels these effects from sunshine and beautiful weather? Anyone else have these feelings?

Keep it up Melbourne - I'm loving it

xx

Party Time??

I am starting to organise the little man's 1st birthday party. I have always said I wasn't going to go huge - but when I sat down to make a FB event write a list I was amazed at how big it got so quickly.

I do have a big family but am I going overboard? I want to invite friends that have already played a big part in his life too. Clearly I know the little man is not going to remember the day but isn't it also about celebrating us? a year of being a family? The year that our lives changed for the better?

I don't know......

Well anyway my ideas for the day go like this. A BBQ at a local park where there are playgrounds/skateparks etc for the older kids. This way I dont have to make my house spotless, nor will I have guests still hanging around well into the night!

We will do drinks/sausages/salads and have a pinata and maybe some lolly bags if I get around to it :) Mostly I just want to have a low key day celebrating the first year of the little mans life.

I have never organised a kids party before so I really don't know what else I should do. Any ideas for me? I'm feeling a bit under pressure, particularly when speaking with the mums in my mothers group! They all have such creative ideas.
I'm thinking of going with a NEMO theme as that is what is on the little mans walls (and his daddy is a obsessed fisherman!) Think blues and greens and maybe a splash of orange.

And then comes the big part - THE CAKE!?!?!?!?!?!
Think I might have to cruise the net for a Nemo cake :) It is going to test my chef skills thats for sure.

So if you have organised kids parties and have a tip or two for me please share. I need all the help I can get!
xx

Flowers, pretty flowers.

Once upon a time I received a bunch of flowers for my birthday. They were pretty. But I made a mistake. One that B is still punishing me for reminding me of :)
We were away, staying in a caravan for the weekend of my birthday when I received the flowers, and I didn't have any vases to put them in. B and I had only gone away for a few days and were returning home on the day of my birthday and so I thought I'd wait to get home to put them into water. That was the first mistake.

Then we got home and excitedly I put down everything in the lounge room even the flowers. Then my parents took me out for dinner to celebrate my birthday and when we got home I went to sleeeeeep.

My little sister ended up putting the flowers into water for me. To B this was significant. He didn't believe me when I said I simply forgot to put them in a vase. Which I honestly sort of did. Anyways I did feel guilty about it. He was really upset that I hadn't looked after the flowers.

So since then I haven't received any bunches of flowers at all from B. I really miss that occasional surprise that I used to get -  mind you it has been over 6 years! I get kind of jealous when others share their stories of getting flowers. I wish I could rewind the clock and put them in water!!!
It's been a long time - obviously he isn't upset about it anymore. He says it's the principle of it. He's very stubborn huh!

* B does give me a rose on our anniversary. One for each year of marriage :) So that's sweet.

Help me - What do you think I can do to change B's mind? Is there any hope of me getting flowers again?
Do you have a similar story? Is your partner stubborn?
xx

Eeerily quiet in here tonight....

Wow - so tonight is the first night our little man has slept away from us. It's so quiet in this house that it is scary ahaha.

My sister turns 21 tomorrow - and what did she want? A day with my little man :) Seriously I can understand that! He is tooooo cute. He usually spends tomorrow with my mum anyways so instead of her coming here to look after him he is staying the night there and my sister will bring him back tomorrow afternoon.

B and I are kind of lost without him. 8 months of putting our little man to sleep and going through our nightly routine it feels so strange not to have him in the house. B even emailed me from work today to say 'What are we going to do tonight? I  miss him already!'. I thought that was really cute!

So at work today people were asking what I was going to do with my night off and B got the same questions. So when we got home we decided to go out for dinner. Not because we wanted to really - just so as we'd have something to say when people ask tomorrow. How strange is that!

I cannot beleive how much stuff I had to pack for him for a one night stay! Food, clothes, bottles, bedding, bath stuff, nappies, toys..... it was like 4 bags worth!

So here I am feeling lonely in this big house and wondering... What do you do when your kids aren't around?
xx