Polly Dolly - In (The) Navy

Thirsday has rolled around again, which means its Polly Dolly time! ( As brough to you by the ever gorgeous Dani over at Danimezza ). This week, Dani must be feeling a little "blue " because she wants to see how Polly wears....

Polly has gone a little retro and matched this cute, striped, 50's style dress with red polka dot wedges. Cats eye sunglasses keep with the retro styling and the gold locket keeps the stripes/dots combo the focus. A bit of red lipgloss, neautral eyes behind the sunnies and layers of her favourite "day" fragrance and Polly is ready for her day!
How would you do navy stripes?

Happy Birthday!

....to my very handsome, kind of crazy, but insanely loveable husband Mick!

Unfortunately its a weekday which means he has to work, but i'm looking forward to having him home tonight and sharing birthday dinner and dessert with him. I'm doing a pork and pear tray bake ( pork rashers and pears in a maple syrup marinade, oven baked ) and a dessert i'm calling a Layered Dessert Brownie ( chopped up brownies layered in a tall glass with raspberries, homemade custard , chocolate sauce and coconut ). There is no birthday cake because, again unfortunately, poor Mick has to work later than normal on his birthday, so we are inviting the family around on Sunday morning to do a belated birthday celebration.

I was also hoping to suprise both my boys by putting up our Christmas tree while Flynn had his nap this afternoon - however, after going out to the shed (in the rain! ) to bring all the Christmas stuff back inside i discovered we are missing half our tree! Methinks my stupid wonderful husband may have accidentally thrown some of it out when he did a clean up earlier this year... bah humbug to that!

Ah well - hopefully my hubby is enjoying his birthday at work as much as he can, and i can do the tree tomorrow while Flynn sleeps. After all, its bad luck to put it up before December 1st anyway, isnt it?

How Much? This Much....

I posted a few pics last week of Flynn getting his giggle on, playing outside under our sprinkler. That seems to be what Aussie kids do - we're a country of water babies, and our kids love play in, and around, water.

Unfortunately this means there is a lot of drowning risks for our little ones too, especially when they're not being properly supervised. We all know about the dangers of swimming at the beach or in backyard pools, but just 15ml is enough for a small child to drown in. Just " this much ", as we might put it.
"This Much " is an apt name , then, for a new campaign aimed at educating Australians about the risk of childhood drowning. About being vigilant not just when at the pool or beach, but when our kids are in the bath or playing with a bucket under the backyard hose. Being able to hear them is not quite good enough - we need to be watching them too.

You can join the campaign - just like celebrity supporters such as David Wenham, Georgie Gardner and Amanda - by checking out the Facebook page or watch the video below and spread the message:

Mothers Helper

I read a very interesting article in this months Madison magazine, about mothers using alcohol as a coping mechanism to make it through the day. It seemed, to the author, that there is a growing number of mums who use the reward of a glass of wine at the end of the day as a way to make through the muck and mire that can be day-to-day child-rearing.


Baby's screaming and the toddler is drawing on the walls? Its ok, i can have a wine soon. No-ones done any homework, dinner is nowhere near ready and 3 kids still need to have a bath? No worries, i can crack open a nice red as soon as they're asleep.

I guess what the question the article was posing is a) when did this become the stressed-out mummy norm? and b) is it really acceptable, and where do we draw the line?

I am not a big drinker at all - yes i got myself merrily sloshed at my recent wedding, and shared a bottle of wine with my new husband a few nights on our honeymoon, but before that the most i'd had to drink in over a year was 3 glasses of wine at my hens party. Despite doing the typical teenage thing and getting drunk at the pub of a weekend ( which i gave up pretty early on - kept up the clubbing, but spent my nights dancing with a can of Coke in my hand ), i've never really understood the compulsion to drink. Maybe its because i'm yet to find a bevvie that just really hits the palate so well that i MUST have it, but i dont "get" the need for a wine/beer/Breezer after a long day. Especially when this need becomes not one glass a few nights a week but 3 or 4 glasses EVERY night.

I dont want you to think i'm passing judgment - unless this compulsion becomes full-blown alcoholism i dont see anything wrong with a tipple or two, i just dont "get " it. Kind of the same way my mum doesnt "get " blogging, or my brother doesnt understand my very real and deep love for " That 70's Show ".

Maybe i'm boring, but my preferred form of escapsim after a stressful day of Flynn-related craziness is to relax with a book, to escape into someone elses life for a half hour or so, and forget about the massive tantrum thats just been thrown or how many dirty nappies i've changed that day.

So is it just me - is a drink after the kids bedtime the best way to relax? Is there something i'm missing?

Coming Up Next

So - you might have heard but if you havent, two of my favourite bloggers are pregnant. The gorgeous Holly from Good Golly Miss Holly! and the beautiful Ames from Tutu Ames are both growing cute little baby-buns in their ovens and i couldnt be happier for them ( its funny how you can feel so happy for people you dont actually "know" ). Hopefully, i'll be next to the join them.

Because, yes - as happy as i am for both these beautiful ladies, i'm also just the teeny, tiniest bit jealous. I wants me another baby, and i want it now! Its no secret, I've mentioned the desire for a second child numerous times here on the blog. Mick and I have been married for 3 weeks tomorrow and , at the risk of being TMI, we started trying the day after the wedding. ( We would have started trying on the wedding night but, truthfully, who has energy left for that kind of thing after the wedding ? ) But....no luck yet.

My fingers are crossed our time will be soon. We've already started talking to Flynn about the possibility of another baby, and though he doesnt really understand, he does tell me " Bruvva mum. Baby bruvva. " Its the cutests thing - i cant wait to see how he'd actually be as a big brother. Fantastic, i'm sure. But, for now, its a wait and see. So whilst i loko forward to hearing all about Holly and Ames adventures in pregnancy, i cant wait to blog again about my own...

Polly Dolly - Drive Me Crazy

So Thursday - and what have we here? Another Polly Dolly challenge, devised by the gorgeous Dani over at Danimezza. This week, after road testing a new Volvo for the week, Dani has gone a bit car crazy, and wants to know what Polly would wear when she's off for a....

Polly is off for a romantic drive with her new husband ( wink, wink, nudge, nudge! ) and she's doing it 70's style. I'm a bit obsessed with leopard print at the moment so i've given her a 70's style maxi dress in a not-too-overwhelming leopard print, and paired with some wedges and a gorgeous pair of over-sized sunnies. A scarf is necessary to stop her hair blowing in the wind whilst they zip along in their (rented, of course... ) luxury convertible, as is the sunscreen. Sunburn is so not chic!

Bring On The Sun!

So the lovely Suger did a post a few days ago about how much she was enjoying the slow ride into summer, and about how when she left Sydney for Queensland she took the sun and the warmth with her. Well, Miss Suger - i want it back!

You cant do this in the cold...

Its only been four days but i am tired of the rain and am longing for the sun we had last week. I want to go the park with my mothers group and let our littlies run around in the sunshine, instead of having to take them to the indoor playground again. I want go be able to wear one of the cute dresses i bought on our honeymoon instead of having to rug up in one of Mick's big hoodies ( yep, it was that chilly today! ). And Flynn has been saying " Outside Mum. I want sprinkler! " for the last four days straight - he's not even 2 yet and already he has the "bug ", that seemingl Aussie knack to be outside and preferably with water during the warmer months.

.... or this! Bring back summer!

So, Suger and/or whoever else may be responsible for taking the sunshine and the warmth and replacing it with a very crappy psuedo-winter - give it back! I need my sunshine and i need it now!