The best Pop in the world!

There is one word that never ceases to put a lump in your throat and a tear in your eye, that word is Cancer.

Yesterday after an endoscopy and colonoscopy, we received the phone call you never want. The dr's had found a tumor on my Pop's stomach.

What you don't realise is my Pop is a Super Hero.

He is not your typical 82 year old man. He is extraordinary.

Just to give you a bit of an idea. For his 80th Birthday my mum and dad bought him a ticket to Bali. Yes, read that again and let your jaw drop for the second time....it's no typo. For his 80TH BIRTHDAY my parents bought him his first overseas holiday, a trip to BALI. I was also celebrating my 30th Birthday on this trip as was my gorgeous cousin. It was a magical and memorable holiday for us.

To share a little bit of our Pop's extraordinariness......here is him below on the water slides at Safari Park. YES, this man is 80 at the time of this photo!

This amazing man has 6 children, 19 grandchildren and 27 great grandchildren with his 28th just announced. And....he is seriously the coolest guy ever. Everyone who meets him, LOVES him. Even people who don't really know him, they LOVE him too.

At this point we are waiting on further tests before the Dr's will give information regarding possible surgery or treatment but ALL of us have our fingers crossed and are praying hard for everything to be ok.

Pop is a fighter and has a huge support of people around him who love him so much.

He is an inspiration to me and a huge influence to everyone to live your life positively and without regret.

Pop, you are the most amazing man. Rely on those who love you and fight this with all your strength.

xxxxx

Cringe worthy status updates...

I honestly think society puts a lot of pressure on new mums to be as Cometti would say "centremeter perfect".
I know that when I see on Facebook "back to my pre-pregnancy weight", "baby sleeps through the night", "breast/bottle feeding" etc etc....I cringe.

As a mum of three girls, with my youngest being 5 months, I have survived MANY sleepless nights not to mention many weight fluctuations.

The weird thing about the whole sleeping through the night concept, is everyone has a different opinion on what that means....personally to me I think sleeping through is from 7pm til around 6-7am. You may think of it as something entirely different, and that's not right, or wrong. My firstborn daughter never slept through the night until 9 months of age and that was a once off. She more regularly slept through from about 18 months. My second born was great initially and then from about 9 months til just over 3 she drove me absolutely crazy waking multiple times a night. Miss 5 months, is also reminding us of how to survive on no sleep but as I say to myself every morning, "today is a new day" and I approach the day fresh without cursing about all the times I got up last night.

Then there is the whole other debarcle on "are you feeding your baby?", well of course I am otherwise I don't think it would be surviving, oh you mean am I breastfeeding?, is that really any business or concern of yours?
People who say or comment on this must have their answers ready to go, so if you reply yes, do you get the "Well done, it's best for baby" response and what if you say no, bubs is on the bottle...is the typical response then "breastfeeding isn't for everyone".....some people choose to breastfeed and some choose not to. I think you should do what feels right for you and when it feels right. If you lined up thirty Year 1 students, you could not pick which child was breast or bottle fed, there is no way anyone could!


Oh....and don't forget when you start your baby on solids, that's a whole other issue....."when are you starting them on solids?" will be one question which will also lead to a brain overload of information, comments and questions. People will comment, "its too early", "you better hurry up", "they will sleep better", "don't give fruit first as it will give them a sweet tooth", remember to watch out for allergies". Then the BIGGEST judgement "are you making your own baby food?" Surely you wouldn't dare give your child jar food. OMG. Seriously.....what would happen......do you honestly think anyone would notice! Baby food sure has come a LONG way since the 70's and 80's. With products out there like Rafferty's Garden (http://www.raffertysgarden.com) and so much information available on the internet, you have so many options available to you. You can get full ingredients listings on all products, not to mention you can buy organic JAR baby food! If you choose to make your own food, you can find unlimited recipe ideas on the net. Just google, "Baby Food Recipes" and find what you like. If you are actually worried about what people think but opt for jar food, tip the jar food into a plastic container!! Please tell me if anyone notices, because I assure you they won't!

One BIG tip - do what you want and what feels right for you and your baby. Block out any judgemental comments or negativity. YOU are doing the BEST job for your baby and being the BEST MUM you can be!

The tooth fairy

Miss 6 has lost two teeth in the past week.....as a child it was always something that freaked me out! The wobbly tooth - YUCK. The fallen out tooth with the hole in the gum, YUCKIER and then the new big PK chewing gum teeth in the cute little kids mouth, YUCKIEST.

So this past week, I have had to face my fears and deal with the wobbly teeth.

The first came with about 1.5hrs of crying over a hurting and extremely wobbly tooth that was no longer fixed to the root but was hanging onto the last bit of gum. She drove us both so crazy that I attempted to pull it out. It got to the point where I found myself almost restraining her to get the tooth out, it was then my husband said "stop, you're going to scar the poor kid for life!". The next night, hubby told Miss 6 that if she pulled the tooth out he would give her $5. After a couple attempts of trying to eat dinner, she informed us the tooth was hurting and disappeared. About 15 minutes later she walked out from the rear hallway proud as punch exclaiming "no need to talk about it anymore, I have pulled it out", there was her little tooth screwed up in a piece of tissue. Hubby gave her the $5, we placed the little tooth in an old small shotglass and placed it on the buffet unit. It has long been discussed that when the teeth did finally fall out Miss 6 did not want the tooth fairy in her room!

So in this little glass sat this baby tooth. Looking at it kind of made me go back to when I just hoped she would get teeth already, sleepless nights as a baby and gum aggravation, finally she got them and already I was about to say goodbye to one. Seems weird really how that works.

After Miss 6 went to bed I flashed back to many years ago when my sister and I found a small container hidden in mums room (from memory I think I would have been early teens) on opening it we saw all these little teeth. I was revolted! Mum had kept our baby teeth. YUCK times a million!

I turned straight to hubby and said "we won't be keeping this" - thankfully he agreed and tooth #1 went in the bin.

I then grabbed the beautiful silver glitter from the craft drawer, put the money in the glass and put a sprinkle of glitter over it.

Hubby turned to me and asked "did you have a deprived childhood?". I definitely did not! I just believe it's little simple things like this that add that something special to childhood. I remember finding out the Tooth Fairy wasn't real and I was devastated.....so if I can keep that little bit of magic growing while they believe then I will, because one day I hope my girls will look back with fond memories of these tiny little moments.......

Obviously someone was caring about my "losing teeth" fear, Miss 6 has her two bottom adult teeth up and ready behind the baby ones before their even out.

Two nights later and Miss 6 and Miss 4 disappear into the bathroom to brush their teeth. Miss 4 comes running out yelling "the other tooth is out!" along follows Miss 6 even prouder than the first time, she has successfully pulled out the 2nd wobbly tooth. So now, we have a big gap in the bottom row of teeth and a little bigger gap in her being my baby girl.

Nonetheless, she proudly puts the tooth in the small glass and awaits the tooth fairy for the second time in three days.

Better still............I haven't scarred the poor child as she doesn't refer at all to me trying to pull out the first one!!!

So when simple small things happen in your kids lives, you can easily turn them into big exciting things, with something as simple as silver glitter!

I saw the above this morning on Facebook and LOVE it. I suppose you can apply this to your kids birthday parties, if someone you know can do "everything" in your eyes, ask them to help you out! I know I do.
My mum's best friend who is like a second mum to me, is excellent at sewing (even though she doesn't believe she is), so I often ask her to help me out - whether it be for a themed tablecloth or a trestle backdrop......this helps me out a lot.

My two best friends help me always with the kids parties, they help prep and serve food and I love sharing my party theme with them early on and getting their ideas. Sometimes it's nice to have friends brainstorming as well as me, it gives fresh ideas to me and often a new perspective on something.

Most of all, never feel pressured to feel you have to do EVERYTHING. We're not wonder women. Just Mum's, who want the best for our kiddies.

What's going overboard?

I'll admit it, I have an almost "obsession" for kids parties. I love everything about them. The food, the decorations, the cake, the finishing touches, face painters, entertainment, music....the list never ends. I have often been accused of "going overboard" at my own girls parties. At what point do you think too much is too much?
I have met and heard many people comment on other children's parties, saying "how do I compete with that". Simple...you don't!! Everyone is only expected as a parent to do what is within your means physically, financially and imagination permitting for your own child's parties. With the amount of resources now available, especially on the internet, you can spend a very minimum amount for a very appealing and original party!

I take you back to my oldest daughter's 5th Birthday in December 2010. We decided on a Circus Theme. To build fun into the day, we dressed in character. Just seeing the kids faces when they arrived at the party seeing our full attire was worth every single cent spent.

When planning a party, I try think of the little (and inexpensive) things that contribute to the theme and that add so much to the overall effect. I purchased for $20 the Wiggles Wiggly Circus cd and played it during the party. Lollybags are a huge focus for me as I try to replace the traditional junk filled bag with something related to the theme. To coincide with the Circus theme we gave the children their own red nose and clown glasses. You will realise that the cost of something like this equates to what you would spend on lollies and generally the parents are much happier to receive something the kiddies can keep and use again, rather than contribute to an afternoon or evening of sugar fuelled behaviour!

Ebay will become your favourite friend, you wouldn't believe the stuff you can find that relates to the different party themes. I also love www.madeit.com.au and you can source some really amazing handmade products and you support many stay at home mums purchasing from there also (which of course is great). Ikea is also a great place for products. Just remember, it doesn't have to be a "party product" to fit in. Look at colours, patterns and designs that you can adapt to your party theme. For example Circus to me is red and white, so I found red plastic platters at the discount store and they looked awesome on the day because they all matched. Don't be afraid to ask if you are wanting something in particular, I have asked many times the owner of our local discount store for particular items and when he can, he has ordered them in for me. It's been far more affordable doing it that way than seeking a more expensive item just to look good. Partyware for me is preferrably plastic, especially given that we normally have in excess of 25 kids at our home parties.

There are endless ideas and endless ways to create a beautiful birthday party. I think the biggest key is brainstorming well in advance. When you see things whilst out and about - get them and put them away because when you go back closer to the date, it's highly likely you won't be able to get them and will be really disappointed. Food can always be adapted to the theme. I must admit I have been blessed with no food allergies with my girls, so this has been fairly easy for me (I hate to think about some parents who have to deal with food allergies on a daily basis as it would be a lot of work). The circus party included popcorn and fairy floss and a Candy Bar for kids to select what lollies they wanted. You can even buy lollypops and candy to match the theme. Ie, stick to red and white lollies for a Circus Theme. This is where the brainstorming will help. Start a folder on your computer labelled with your childs name and their birthday theme and when you see things that appeal to you and match your theme note them down. You can google food ideas and recipes and note them down also. It just reduces the stress come party time if you have a bit of an action plan as to what you are going to do and make.

So whether it looks like you've gone overboard or not, it doesn't really matter, as long as the kids enjoy and their birthday is memorable.

Oh and P.S - if you don't already know of Vistaprint, make it a Favourite on your toolbar NOW. You can get so many great things printed on this site for cheap plus if you sign up to receive their specials, often you can get them for FREE! You will only have to pay postage. Their small banners are great to put up as signage outside or even above your party table and they have an extensive range of designs, most matching with kids birthday party themes. Plus....just a tip, their postcards make excellent thank you cards to place in the lollybags. A nice personal touch.....