Ooh - I Love Designer!

Handbags, shoes, jewellery.... if i could afford beautiful designer things, i'd have some. Designer is nice. What is designer, yet not nice? Designer babies.

Yep - designer babies. I know the debate has been had before but i watched an article on " The Morning Show " this morning that had my blood boiling. It was a story about how the ever-controversial website http://www.beautifulpeople.com/ has started taking "genetic donations " from its members, so that childless couples are able to use eggs and sperm that will result in attractive children. Basically the representative of the website, Greg Hodge, argues that attractiveness is an essential quality in todays societies and any couple using donor genetics, that wants the absolute best for their child, would choose to donations from his members.

Greg Hodge is the pretentious looking cock in black. Wanker.

I have never heard a bigger load of crap from a bigger egomaniac in my life. First off, what kind of shallow wanker starts a website exclusively for beautiful people, christening himself beautiful in the process? Second of all, each and every child in the entire world is beautiful to someone - my son is the epitome of gorgeous to me, but i think my friends baby falls into the " Not cute " category. Her mother, however, thinks she is the most beautiful baby to have ever graced the earth. Parents do not need to select physical characteristics ( down to specific hair and eye colour ) to find their children beautiful.

Also - whats "attractiveness"? Greg Hodge kept emphasising "attractiveness " as incredibly important - but attractive to who? You? Me? Him? There are literally billions of people on this planet - billions of whom i personally would not find in the least bit enticing. But i;m sure someone does. Take Larry King, the American talking head, for example - so NOT my cup of tea. He's old, and wrinkly, and reminds me of a lizard who's seen too much sun. But the man has been married 6 or 7 times ( or somewhere in that vicinity ) so clearly there have been women who have found him attractive enough to be involved with him. Kate Moss - skinny, no breasts, pinched face. In my opinion that is. And thats not the kind of attractive i'd like to be, but fashion execs and men everywhere think she's the bees knees.

What i'm trying to say here is that " designing " your baby, based simple on looks, is not only wrong ( IMO ) but shallow and ridiculous. Also - Greg Hodge of http://www.beautifulpeople.com/ ? Complete and utter cockwad.

Uh, How Do I Put This?

The first day of Project Sleepy-time ? Big. Fat. Fail.

I thought we were going to be ok, at first. He showed tired signs at around 8:20 am. I wrapped him up, gave me a quick snuggle and put him into his bed, as described in my last post. It took 45 minutes of crying ( and 2 minutes of me stroking his cheek, which i dont think was allowed ) to get him to sleep. 45 minutes i spent lying bag in a bean bag, with my eyes shut, pretending to be asleep. Not too bad for our first effort. I could put up with that.

Flynn woke after an hour and he was all smiley and cheery and generally adorable. I was going to try putting him to bed again around noon but my sister-in-law asked if i could look after my 18 month old neice while she went to the dentist ( yep, no problem ). Consequently, we didnt try to another nap until 1pm. This was when the fail came in. Long story short - my previously adorable son lie in his bed, wrapped up and tucked in, crying and screaming for two hours. This was only because, after an hour and half, i couldnt take anymore of being in the same room and i cracked, curled up on the floor in the fetal position and bawled my eyes out, before my mum rang and out of the blue and i begged her to come and help me.

Yes, you read that i right - i full on cracked. Crumbled. Came unstuck. But my mum took Flynn outside, and my dad helped me off the floor, and we had a chat and worked out a way to help me ( my dad, who walks every afternoon, is going to come and take Flynn with him so i can have an hour to myself to clean, or cook, or read, or nap... or whatever )..... and i am ok. And i will be ok tomorrow.

Maybe we are not ready for the Parental Presence method. Maybe it will be better tomorrow. Maybe it wont work at all and i'll just have to try something else. But i'm gonna keep trying cos that the kind of mumma i am - vunerable and perhaps slightly mental, but willing to do whatever i can for my bubba....

Welcome to Project Sleepy-Time

Name: Project Sleepy-Time

Aim : To get my son to learn to sleep without mummy having to cuddle him and pat him. That is, Mr Flynny needs to learn the skill of self-settling - i cannot keep hugging him to sleep. He is only one week off being 6 months old and i think i'm ready to give the whole self-settling thing a proper shot.

Method: After much reading and chatting to fellow mums and the Tresillian nurse on MSN Mums, i have decided to go with the so-called " Parental Presence " method. Heres how it works: i wrap Flynn up and give him the usual cuddle until he's calm/drowsy. Then, rather than keep the cuddling and patting going til he's comfortably pushing out the zzz's, i'm going to put him in his cot, tuck him in, give him a kiss and tell him its time to go to sleep. Now, the " parental presence " part - rather than leave the room i'm going to curl up in a bean bag right beside his bed, where he can see me, and pretend to be asleep. If he becomes agitated i'm to keep my eyes closed and say " Ssshhh, its time to go to sleep ". In theory i need to keep this pretend sleep thing going until Flynn falls asleep.

Dude - this is going to be hard! I am under no illusions that this is going to be both difficult, and time-consuming. I've tried controlled crying and, believe me, my son must have one hell of a stubborn streak - i've left him in his cot, alternately whingeing and crying ( with me checking on him every 10 minutes ) for almost 2 hours ( out of sheer frusturation ). Did he eventually fall asleep? No. No, after 2 hours it was time for him to have another feed. We've tried the controlled crying for over 2 weeks and not once has he fallen asleep in his cot on his own. Fail, controlled crying, fail.

So, " Parental Presence " method, here we come. Its now 7:41am on Monday morning - we have been awake for 40 minutes, have had one booby feed, will be having a yoghurt in about half an hour and i'm anticipating tired sign by 8:45am, at which point Project Sleepy-Time will come into effect. I'm thinking today is going to be full of crying, screaming, general non-cooperation and a frazzled mummy, but i'm determined to stick with it. Wish me luck!

Another Friday Flip Offs

Welcome once again to Friday Flip Offs, the end-of-week stress reliever, brought to by Gigi over at Kludgy Mom. Joining us in virtually flipping off all those things that have annoyed you this week, thus saving your friends and families from your real life wrath. Have at

To the washing man machine repair people - who sent back my machine unrepaired. After having Mick take the machine into the shop ( rather than you come to our home ) you returned it saying there was nothing wrong with it. We paid you $30 for this privilege. Upon doing a (thankfully ) small load of washing i discovered that it still wasnt spinning properly and washing was still sopping wet. Mick hasnt had time to take it back in this week - as you want to charge us a further $66 that we cant afford to come to our house and look at it - so it looks like i'll be without my machine for the third week running. Its getting really inconvenient to pack up my baby and a basket of washing and go out to do the laundry. Fix my damned machine or FLIP OFF!

To the NSW State of Origin selectors ( again ) -  job well done doodleheads. Instead of showing a bit of faith in a team that only lost the first match by 4 points, you chopped and changed 7 players and we lost the second game 36 -4.... and this years series. For the fifth straight year. If it were up to me i'd fire the lot of you... FLIP OFF!

To brownies, and slice, and all the stuff i love to bake - i love you, really i do, but your slowly making me fat. Not that fat is necessarily bad, its just not where i want to be. Therefore, i will only be baking once a week from now on - on a Wednesday, for mums group on a Thursday - and if the urge strikes me to bake any other time i will have to tell it to FLIP OFF!

To Pim Verbeek, Socceroos coach  - I know almost nothing about soccer, but i even i know the decision to NOT play our two best forwards was pretty damn stupid. You upset my brother and you upset the rest of the soccer-loving nation. Frankly i think most people cant wait til the World Cup is over and you can just FLIP OFF!

To my bathroom - which needs to be cleaned. Can't you just learn to clean yourself? Don't get me wrong, its not filthy or anything.... the floor is just covered in my hair ( damn breastfeeding! ) and the bath is accumulating a nice light covering of dust ( where the baby bath isnt sitting ). Its just with Flynn's teething this week, and subsequent clinginess and grumpiness, i just havent found time to get in there. So get thyself clean or FLIP OFF!

Mummy Tummy Begone!

Let me ask you this - how in the world am i going to be able to regularly indulge my love of baking without getting fat? I weighed myself the other day ( for the first time since having a baby ) and - argh! I weigh the same now as i did when i was 8 months pregnant! It kind of shocked me to tell you the truth. I managed to lose enough of the baby weight to fit back into my pre-pregnancy jeans but just in the last few weeks i'd noticed them getting a little uncomfortable around the middle. And no wonder - i am now only 3 kgs lighter than my heaviest ever weight ( but, strangely, still 2 clothing sizes smaller ).

I know we should pay more attention to how our clothes fit than we do to a particular number but i cant help it. I worked really hard a few years back to get some weight off - i lost a total of 20 kgs in about a year - and the thought of it creeping back on, even after having a baby, is creeping me out. And so this week has seen the implementation of " Operation Slim Down ". Its nothing drastic, mind you. I'd like to lose at least 10 kgs and get back to the weight i was before falling pregnant. I havent put a time frame on it because, as a new mum, the last thing i need is the added pressue of some kind of deadline. So, over the next few months or so, i plan on losing 10 kgs by taking Flynn for at least one walk everyday - even when its cold and i have to rug him up - and by doing a yoga routine at home at least once a week. Y'all know i love me some yoga and i think its the thing i've missed the most about my pre-baby life. I know enough to devise my own routine ( bearing in mind i wanted, and still want to oneday, train as a yoga teacher ) and have motivation enough to stick with it without having someone to push me. I dont really plan on changing me eating habits too much though. I eat fairly well - though i do eat more than i used to because breastfeeding makes me hungry! - its more the sedentary lifestyle of the last 6 months that has seen my mummy tummy stay put.

God helps me if my mummy tummy actually starts to spread - even though Mick tells me i'm beautiful i think we'll have to agree to disagree....

What I Like About You!

Ok, not actually you , out there reading this. This is actually another Blog This! challenge post, which for this week reads: Select 10 things you love about your life and tell us why. It could be certain people, where you live, your local shop...include images if you like.

So, in know real particular order ( or, i should say, the order that these things sprung into my head. Read into that what you will .... ) -

1. My son - well duh, of course Flynn was going to be on my list. Even with crying, teething, pooing, not pooing, hair pulling and vomiting, the almost-6 months he's been in my life have been the bestest time ever.

2. My fiance - Michael brightens my world. We very rarely fight and the few times we have i've only loved him more the next day. He tells me my mummy tummy is beautiful, says he's proud of me, loves my cooking and encourages me to be a good wife and mother. I love him big lots!

3. My family - my people are good people. I'm really close to my immediate family - if any of them ever move away, i'm not really sure how i'd cope. Seriously, i see either my mum and dad, my little sister, or my brother and his family at least 4 times a week. When i need adult conversation during the day ( being home alone with a baby can make you a little mental ) my family are the first ones i turn to. And, having a best friend be someone you've had a falling out with and are still trying to get back on track with, my family are my best friends too.

4. The internet - it connects me to the world; it informs, educates and entertains me. Its my window to the world beyond my front door which, with a baby, i sometimes feel i'm not really a part of. I love you inter-web!

5. My slow cooker - best.invention.ever. Its so convenient to be able to put dinner on at lunchtime and not have to worry about it at the busy end of the day. Plus, succulent, moist, meat falling off the bone? Heaven...

6. Cooking in general - I've totally fallen in love with cooking in the last few months. I'd cooked before of course, but it had only ever been out of necessity. Now, i love the ritual of sitting down with recipe books and cooking magazines, planning the menu for the week, writing my shopping list, buying the produce and then cooking each meal. It fills me with some strange kind of satisfaction when i get a dish right, or when i get a compliment on it. I love compliments!

7. Naps - really simple: naps are refreshing, and there is nothing better in winter than being able to snuggle up with a blanket and go to sleep. If i'm tired enough, when Flynn sleeps, i sleep. Naps make my world a better, and much easier, place.

8. Pepsi Max - thirst quencher! I'm not a big drinker of alcohol: i know zero about wine, cant stomach beer, and only make myself a Midori and lemonade every blue moon. So when i need something sweet and fizzy, Pepsi Max is the go to. Apologies to my sisters boyfriend for sneaking cans from their fridge...

9. My father sense of humour -  this could technically come under " My Family " but my dads sense of humour deserves a spot all its own. He's the wittiest person i know and has a special brand of sarcasm and dryness that just tickles my funny bone. Couldnt live without it.

10. Ugg boots - dont look at me like that. Yes, they arent really fashionable, and no, i dont wear them down the street (much ). But they're comfy and warm and snuggly and those are the things that rock my world.

We Have Success!

So - Mick and I finally managed to make it to the cinema today, taking advantage of our public holiday Monday. See, we havent been to the movies since November last year ( the last film we saw at the cinema was " 2012 " ) and its something i really missed doing. I had planned on going to see " Avatar " with my father the day after Boxing Day last year ... but was interrupted but the birth of my son. Mick and I had planned to go 2 weeks ago but thats when i came down with that horrible 24 hour virus - and i didnt much fancy having to flee the cinema and run to toilet to throw up every 15 minutes. So when we noticed that the film we wanted to see was being shown in the cinema with the crying room today, we though why not pack up Flynn and we could all go to the movies together?

And so, with a bit of trepidation, we did. I put a few extra toys in Flynns bag, made sure he had a blanket in his pram ( why are cinemas always cold? ) and off we went to see " Robin Hood ". I'm not going to a review post or anything but suffice to say i enjoyed it. It was my kind of thing - epic, well shot, well acted ( despite ole Rusty's accent going in and out ) and its been left open to a sequel. Oh, and it also features the divine Cate Blanchett, who i think is just an acting goddess. What i really loved though was how well Flynn went. He was a little over-awed at the size of the screen to begin with but he fell asleep about 20 minutes into the movie and stayed asleep for over and hour. After the movie we bought some pies from our local bakery and had our lunch in the park.

So quite the successful outing. It gives me confidence that we can go out and do things with Flynn now that he's a little older without me worrying that he;s going to chuck some kind of big tantrum or go on a crying jag. The sanctuary of the crying room helps though of course :)