calling all sewing experts

I need your help!

I have just become the owner of this vintage Singer sewing machine and sewing cabinet. My father in law is moving house and is clearing out lots of things at the moment, and this lovely machine belonged to my husband's mother, who, sadly, we lost in 2001. I'm so glad to be the recipient of it (as well as lots of other lovely pieces of furniture I'm sure to blog about later) but there's a wee problem. I don't know how to use it! I have vague recollections of 'threading a bobbin' or two in Year 8 Home Ec. classes, but those distant memories in my head are not really enough to help me out right now. 

Fortunately, my mum sews and another lovely friend does too, so I may have to enlist their help to firstly see if this thing works ok, and then to show me the basics. I also know that many of you out there are also super creative, crafty types and might be able to point me in the direction of some super cool blogs or tutorials that might guide me along my 'learning to sew' journey as well.

So tell me my friends, what are the best 'learn to sew' blogs and sites that you have used? 

You never know, I might just become one of those super crafty mamas one day too! Anything is possible!!

point + shoot: random and spontaneous

One of the things I am learning about myself now that the kids are getting a little grown up is that I'm not spontaneous enough. Or I haven't been able to be. One of the two....I guess it's hard to be too spontaneous with little kids, but now that they are 3 and 2, I'm finding it easier to be, and this weekend we just randomly upped and headed off for fish + chips for dinner, then played at another park with a little beach. 

Now usually come 5pm there is no way I'm heading anywhere but on the the dinner, bath, bed train with the kids. I never wanted to mess with that little routine. But they aren't babies anymore, and I'm realising more and more that these are the moments that create memories for them. It doesn't have to be extravagent or crazy, just a simple dinner in the park, watching their delight at throwing food to the seagulls (what kid doesn't do that?) swinging on swings, playing in the sand, splashing their feet in the water and loving being out doing something different.

2011 will be the year of being spontaneous and fun!

point + shoot

need a pick me up....

 

I need me some of this right now.....chocolate espresso mousse cake. Get the low down for the recipe at Birthday Girl. Mmmmmmm.

stuck on you {sponsored post}

I know these little gifts weren't for me but I was super excited receiving them in the mail nevertheless. I've always loved Stuck On You for labels and when they offered some items to send our way to test out I was more than thrilled! Little did I know they read our minds and delivered a nice big new backpack for Josh with his favourite thing ever on it - cars - plus a lovely big pencil case for the princess herself, Zoe.

I actually really needed to replace Josh's bag from last year. I spent a fair bit on getting him what I thought would be a good quality bag last year only to have the stitching come away in bits and it turned out to be too small for what he needed to take with him to preschool. The Stuck On You bag is a great size with three compartments. This is great for us as it means I can put his change of clothes in one section, then his sheet, hat and lunch in the middle, and the front can carry little toys or notes from school. There's even room for his drink bottle on the side. Josh has been so excited with it, putting it on his back and hopping on his scooter and pretending to ride to school.

Miss Zoe hasn't missed out either. She is a great big stash of pencils she likes to draw with, and the pencil case houses these nicely. It looks like it would be very easy to wash too should it get a little dirty.

If you have a little one heading to school soon, pop over to Stuck On You today for the Back To School sale that ends at midnight! You won't be disappointed with your purchase!

point + shoot {daddy & his girl}

i loved watching daddy & daughter share a little moment over a pink cupcake on the weekend.

point + shoot

pampers {a sponsored post}

Late last year, I was asked to participate in trialling The Pampers Golden Sleep Program. This 12 step program was developed to help mums address their baby's sleep issues in conjunction with Tresillian. I was pretty happy to review the program given that I had eight months of issues with Zoe in her first year and was severely sleep deprived. She has now come good at night and it's now Josh at nearly 4 who is waking a lot and ending up in bed with us every night. I still find myself not getting a great sleep with all the disturbances and then having a restless preschooler next to me, often using my hip as his pillow. Comfortable, not.

I was sent all the information as well as a pack of Pampers Dry Max nappies. I was very happy to try the new Pampers out as we are Pampers users anyway, and the variety that we were using were trim but the new Dry Max ones are trimmer again! They are ultra thin but super duper absorbent! Josh was always a super wee'er overnight so I wish Pampers had been around when he was little. Zoe isn't so much but these still keep her nice and dry overnight.

Anyway, the 12 step program turned out to be the things that I had learnt and done with both my babes.

In a nutshell, they are (with my comments included):

1. Having realistic expectations (check!)

2. Teaching your baby how to settle (I did this to the best of my ability, but my method for this involved my presence and help for them until they were comfortable doing it on their own)

3. Looking out for tired signs (check!)

4. Understanding how much sleep your baby needs (each baby is different and I learned to read them both and work out what they needed to keep them happy little vegemites)

5. Understanding that your baby's sleep cycle is different to adults (I'm a reader and I came across this information in a few baby books)

6. Setting a routine for your baby (we never anything too strict, more of a general pattern to the day that was flexible depending on other priorities, this step was more about preparing little ones for bedtime approaching which we like to do with reading before lights out at night)

7. Wrapping your baby (big fans of wrapping although Zoe less so, she was out of wraps by about 5 months, Josh not until 8 or 9 months. Wrapping really helped my newborns sleep better)

8. Settling in arms in the early weeks (definitely!)

9. Hands on settling for baby's under 6 months (definitely!)

10. Comfort settling babies over 6 months (a little of this for us but still quite hands on)

11. Parental presence for parents who like to stay with their baby (this was more us)

12. Crying is part of normal behaviour (understood, but I always wanted to stop the crying as quickly as possible if I could work out what need the baby had, I never liked my babes crying for long, especially if there was something I could do to resolve it).

Overall, I think the program is pretty sound. It also includes information to help dispel some myths like 'newborns should be independent and sleep on their own' as I think there are still a lot of first time mums out there who think this or at least are unsure of what the expectation is of a newborn, and it's great that it can help these mums feel ok and completely normal if they are nursing their babies to sleep. Nothing is more beautiful.

At the end of the day, it's important to acknowledge that even after following these steps, it's not a magic formula for a perfectly sleeping baby. We did all these things with Zoe from the time she was a newborn - she slept perfectly for the first four months and then for the next eight months of her first year she slept terribly at night. Despite being consistent and doing everything within our power to get her to stay asleep, nothing worked except my getting up several times a night to comfort her and help her back off to sleep. Finally at 12 months, she just didn't need my help anymore. We didn't do anything differently, it just happened when it did. I spoke to several experts at the time and was on a list to attend a sleep clinic for a week with Zoe but after already doing everything they were advising me, not even the experts could tell me what the problem was. I just think Zoe wanted me near her (albeit several times a night) for whatever reason for that period.....to comfort her back to sleep. Yes it was exhausting but it was what it was and I'm just thankful she's a great little sleeper now.

Thanks for reading if you got this far! Would love your thoughts on your babies/children's sleep too......how do your kids sleep?

i want to live in this house

Isn't this house just so lovely? The interior was designed by Anna at Black + Spiro (images from her blog).

We've been fortunate enough to have received some beautiful antique furniture in the last few weeks from my husband's side of the family, so it's got me thinking about the house again, and how I'd love it to look. This house in the pictures above is pretty close to what I'd love. I have a bit of a thing for white, I have to admit, and always seem to go for painting walls in white or neutral tones, but I also love splashes of colour and a bit of quirkiness. Colour is so easy to change and when you get bored (as I often do!) you can mix things up again or remove the bits you don't like anymore!

We now have an antique dining table and chairs that need reupholstering. So I'm actually thinking at some point of doing a DIY job on the chairs and choosing a colourful fabric, better than the red velvet that is currently on them. I think I'm going to refer to these pics down the track for a little inspiration.