Christmas .... in 19 words

Christmas in 19 Words

Food: turkey, rumballs & trifle.

People: family, peeps & friends.

Heartstrings: savouring togetherness.

Remember: nativity & God's love.

Prayers: Peace, Hope & Joy.

Okay, I am going for a triple bunger link-a-do thing here... Are you ready?

Firstly... I love Christmas and am thankful for it. So I am linking with 'Thankful Thursdays' over at 'Kate Says Stuff'.

Secondly, I am linking in with '5 sentence fiction' with 'Lillie McFerrin Writes'. I chose to write five sentences, with the theme '19'. I chose to use 19 words in response to the prompt. {This is so writerly geeky!}

Thirdly, I am using some happy snaps I took on my iPhone from the Christmas lights display we went to the other night with the kids. So I am linking in with some iPPP over at 'A Belle A Bean & A Chicago Dog'.

Thankful Thursday - Failed Controlled Crying?

BabyCool has not been the easiest of babies. Cute - YES! Easy - NO! He decided at 6 weeks that really, to be honest, he preferred to feed only on one 'side' {male family members read this blog, cannot say 'breast'}. That is right, for 12 months, he was a 'Uni-Boober' of his own decision. 

He has also been a terrible sleeper. Terrible. For the first few weeks he literally slept ON me at night. I got loads of sleep, but it was all while sitting up holding a tiny boy against me. It was lovely, but it quickly grew thin, I just wasn't getting good quality sleep. So then it was a comedy of errors trying to get him to sleep anywhere else. I thought I had won a tactical warfare game when I worked out that he liked to sleep on his tummy, with the bassinet propped up on 3 thin books, being jiggled while listening to a doppler sound on my iPhone. 


Anyway, things were pretty bad a few months ago when it would take over an hour of jiggling to get him to sleep during the day, most days he would then only sleep for 20-40 minutes. This was not enough - for him or me! He was cranky and clingy and grizzly most of the time and spent most of the afternoons wailing and wailing. My poor boy. Thank goodness we never had to settle him through the night, because he was so darn tired he couldn't stay awake any longer!

So we tried controlled crying. {I think I may have just lost 14 readers with that sentence}. We did everything right, had the timer, had the plan, discussed it with our child health nurse etc etc. I could go into the numbers of minutes it took to get him to sleep and how much time we spent in his room - but - really who needs that kind of information? After a month of incessant timed screaming, I rang a child health nurse in tears. It just wasn't working. I was beside myself.


She was very kind and listened to my blubbering and said that for that day, to do whatever it took to get him to sleep. Whether it be rocking or shushing or whatever, just get him to sleep then have a nap myself. She told me to take a week off and just take stock. I never realised that Controlled Crying would not work. In my head, it made sense. In BabyCool's head, it was not going to work from the start.


During that week 'Off' from Controlled Crying, I rocked BabyCool to sleep and he went to sleep within minutes of being put in his cot, I still patted him, but he did the work of getting to sleep himself. I thought this was just because he was so tired from the 'Month of Misery' - but a couple of months down the road, and he is still doing it! He is now having two sleeps of a minimum 90 minutes!


This morning I had to have a chuckle while out at the grocery store.... 

My 1 year old little boy, who at 9 months who could stay awake from 5am - 7pm with a twenty minute nap, asleep in a shopping trolley...  Go figure. It just goes to show that I really know NOTHING, about babies. Not a thing.


I tell people we failed at Controlled Crying and I make a bit of a joke about it. But I am thankful that we did it. The hours of patting/shushing/rocking a baby to sleep before we tried Controlled Crying were hard, now he goes to sleep in under 10 minutes. I am claiming that as success, plus, I get to have those cuddles where I get to feel his little body go limp and see his eyelids flutter shut. In all of my days, I will never regret that. I am thankful for those moments. 


For the last two nights, he has gone to sleep on his own at night... We are both thankful that he can settle himself to sleep, but a little sad too... 


It seems appropriate to be Thankful on Thursday - with katesaysstuff and it is a bit of iPPP - with abelleabeanandachicagodog

Being At Home Is Cool - Thankful Thursday + iPPP

I am really beginning to embrace my staying-at-homeness lately. I have fought it for ages, thinking it was so dull and boring and surely there are people out there leading far more exciting lives than me. But - you know something..? It is nice being free to potter about and do nice things that I won't be able to do when I am gainfully employed again {the dream is to become a famous blogger/writer and haul in loads of cash and be able to maintain a hideously extravagant lifestyle that is the envy of the likes of Paris Hilton}.


It is nice to have my own schedule that I can adhere to...or not. Nice to go to the park, make grocery shopping a learning experience, read books, make proper dinners and enjoy hot chips for afternoon tea with the kids. These are {some of} the things I will miss when I have to do some teaching again. 


But for now, I am thankful for the time I have to do some of these nice things....


Like... going along to Kindy to decorate gingerbread men for a Christmas craft. Miss Z was so thrilled to have me there!

I made the gingerbread last night and have mini m&ms, cashous, sprinkles, marshmallows and some other sweets to plaster on to them. 

The kids had a ball!

Let us not discuss food hygiene, etiquette or design skills though. Let me just say the kids had a great time and it was really nice to do some 'teachering' again - I do love using my teacher voice!

Tomorrow I shall post the recipe for the gingerbread men - because that is what we stay-at-home mums do - we share recipes. 

I love linking up with Liz from 'A Belle, A Bean and A Chicago Dog' for some iPPP and Kate from 'Katesaysstuff' for Thankful Thursday.

     

Thankful Thursday - Sisters

My sisters have been on my thoughts a lot this past week. In fact, I have just returned home from visiting one of them. She minded BabyCool while I had my hair done - gotta love sisters who live in town!  On Mondays I look after my niece Miss H, so that means I get more chances to talk to my other sister, which is always a bonus.

Sisters are great. I love that we don't really have to do the whole weather, health check before getting on with the chat. We can just go straight to the point. And we all talk about such a wide variety of things, we talk food, clothes, shoes, food, people, parents, food, shoes, a tiny bit of juicy gossip and about our mutual love for all of our kids. 

I love that we are all so different. One is very book smart, one is very crafty smart and the other is... me. This means that we can be called upon for different reasons and we all bring something fresh to our relationship table. 

We don't always agree and we don't always 'get' each other, don't even talk to me about arranging a family outing, impossible, too many variables. But, we do have that common denominator of family, of genetics, of culture. I love that. 

So today, I am ever so thankful for my sisters. For a common bond. For a lifetime of learning to get along. And a lifetime of being friends. And a lifetime of having people to talk to that don't need the background story, because they have already been there. I found this quote which sums up my thoughts very nicely...

Image

Thank you my beautiful sisters. You make my life better for knowing you are in it.

Today I am linking up with Liz at A Belle, A Bean and A Chicago Dog for some iPPP and Kate at Kate Says Stuff for Thankful Thursday.

Thankful Thursday - A Letter To Dear BabyCool

  
I am linking up again with Kate at 'Kate Says Stuff' for 'Thankful Thursday'.


On Sunday, BabyCool turned one. Isn't he the cutest thing you ever did see?

Dear BabyCool,


Oh my goodness, I cannot believe you are one already! What an amazing year it has been. I am so thankful for so many reasons....

• I am thankful that you are here, your delivery still gives me chills.
• I am thankful for your loving nature, it melts my heart, every time.
• I am thankful for your love, it is so complete it hurts my heart {in a good way}.
• I am thankful that you sleep in your own cot, it wasn't always like this.
• I am thankful that you don't seem to remember how cranky mummy is when she gets woken through the night.
• I am thankful for the love you have for your sisters, it is so great to see you all playing together.
• I am thankful that your burns have almost healed completely and you will not have any permanent scars.
• I am thankful for your 'Koala Cuddles', you hold on so tight and bury in so deep that is both physically and emotionally hard to put you down.
• I am thankful that you are you, you are inquisitive, adventurous, stubborn, gentle, loving and oh so cuddly.

Happy birthday my little man, we are so glad you are part of our family.

Thankful Thursday - Good People

I am linking up today for the first time with, 'Kate Says Stuff' and her link-a-doo called, 'Thankful Thursday'....


I had a post all ready to go for today with cute photos and everything. I had come to the realisation that although the last few months have been unprecedented in dramarama - there are still so many good things in my life. Enough to make me know for sure that life is indeed cool. Things like smiling children, sunshine and leaves make me so thankful right now... All very nice things.


So why am I posting this one? Well, you have to read the back story....


A vomiting bug has swept through our three children over the past week. Yuckity-yuck-yuck, not something I am thankful for. There has been vomiting in the morning, all through the day, all through the night, on bean bags, in bunk beds, in hair, while breastfeeding, sigh. I feel like a ticking time-bomb - am I going to get it too?


This morning I vented a bit on facebook. I had had enough. I was up through the night with a baby who was sleeping at night, but now is not. I had just rinsed another bucket and discovered over-flowing washing and ironing I haven't been doing since having ill kidlets... So this morning, when I had one baby grabbing at me screaming for what felt like the millionth hour and a big girl sobbing because she felt so sick, I had had enough. Enough. Enough. I had told myself that she had a 24 hour bug and she would be bright as a button sitting at the table colouring in this morning. But no. More vomit.


While hanging out washing, I got a text. A lovely friend 'who was not on facebook' said she was coming over with some naturopathic things that she thought we could use. Within 20 minutes, she was on my door step.


Here is what she brought....

Who does this? Who goes out of their way to bring a stay-at-home-mum-who-vents-on-facebook probiotics and vitamins? Who stops past someone's house on their way to their busy job and important projects to bring some things she knows will help my poor babies' tummies? 


I will tell you who. A lovely lady who has walked a very hard road with her own children and their health. A lady who knows how hard it is to have unwell children and the strain that is on a mum's heart. A lady who knows that sometimes younger mums need someone further down the road to step in with a fresh perspective. 


So, thank you lovely lady. I know you know who you are. You have been encouraging, affirming and kind to a fault with me. I am touched by your generosity both in time and in the natural goodies that you brought. 


This lovely lady and I have been trying to catch up for a coffee for a long time, but life is busy for both of us in different ways. When we do see each other and chat heartily, she is one of those people who I just 'click' with. I wish I had more time in the day, more time to have conversations with lovely people who show so much love and kindness to me and mine.


One day, when my children are a bit bigger and more robust I hope to have the time and the thoughtfulness to do something like this for someone else who needs a helping hand. I have learnt a valuable lesson this morning. Even though there are many bad things happening in our world and even though there are people treating other people terribly, there are still people out there who aim to bring a bit of goodness into the world. And I am so refreshed.


I do have one regret in all of this though.... I wish I had taken the time to do my hair. I looked a right fright. Sigh.