you're just like ice cream

Do you know what time of the day is my favourite time? Bed time. 

And not because of the obvious reason that it means the children of the house will sleep (though that's a bonus!). 

More specifically I love Josh's bedtime. Usually it means Zoe is already down for the night in her room, and then I scoot off to Josh's room, read him a bedtime story, then we turn the light off and snuggle under the covers and have a gorgeous little chat together about what we did that day. These moments are so beautiful and precious. Josh often comes up with wonderful insights regarding our day and every night - without fail- the chatting is peppered with lots of the following quote: 'I love you so much mummy'. Often accompanied with lots of cuddles. 

I remember the first time I heard those words from Josh, I just wanted to cry, my heart burst a thousand times over.

And tonight, he did something so adorable, I wanted to eat him up right then.

He gave me a kiss and said 'you're just like ice-cream'. At first, I wasn't quite sure what he was getting at. But then he leaned over me and proceeded to give me a succession of the most delicate little kisses on my cheek, including sound effects, and I realised he was telling me how sweet I was.

My heart burst a thousand times all over again.......

What does your little one say or do that makes your heart burst?

This blog post was sponsored by Kidspot's Baby Club. It's a lovely space for mums and mums-to-be to get together, chat, share, relate and even win some goodies. The best thing is that you can visit at any time of day or night, and if you haven't had time to shower or do your hair, no one will notice (and there's a pretty good chance no one else has either). Pop over now and register. Connect with other mums today.

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a diet to end all diets

I'm a chronic dieter. Always have been. Keeping myself at a healthy weight will always be a battle. I've done Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, Lite N Easy....you name it, I've more than likely tried it. They have all worked at some point, but I usually find myself back in the old place of being overweight. This time, I'm at an all time high and I'm desperate to regain my health and my vitality.

I've learnt a thing or two in my dieting travels. I've learnt that just about every diet will help you lose weight if you stick to the eating plan. But what they don't often deal with so well is the mental side of things. This is where the real battle lies for me. I can follow any diet but I will never learn to equip myself to deal with the daily temptations and excuses in my mind to not exercise, to eat another serving, to finish that chocolate block off so it won't be in the house anymore. My mind is my worst enemy. I knew that if I was to diet again, I would have to really want it in my mind, and it would need to be something that meant teaching me about lifelong changes to my eating and physical activity.

I sat and watched the latest The Biggest Loser series and would often find myself sitting on the lounge watching it while eating a bowl of ice-cream, or a serve of MacDonalds because I was too lazy to cook anything. I'd look at myself and not believe what I was seeing. Disgusting. The sort of person I would criticise.

Not long after The Biggest Loser finished I was playing around on Twitter and discovered Michelle Bridges on there. I started following her and before long I started coming across some of her tweets: 'Your excuses are your roadblocks. You know that, don't you?', 'Yeah, it's winter, yeah it's cold. NO you don't need a frickin pie or chips to 'warm u up'! Get a grip! You are the one steering this ship!', 'No, you don't need a family block of chocolate to watch the movie tonight!!get a grip! A freddo frog is totally fine! You'll thank me tom'. Oh my goodness, was she in my head? That's what it certainly felt like. I found it very confronting and felt very driven from that point that I really needed to do something about my diet and my health, and that I really did need to stop with all the excuses to not get on with it.

Through Michelle's tweets, I learnt about her 12-week Body Transformation program. Another diet program, but much more than that - inspiration and encouragement from Michelle as well as a nutrition and training plan. From watching TBL, I really began to appreciate how much more the trainers are than that. They are counsellors as well, and I certainly needed someone to help me with my inner demons on this weightloss journey and this was the perfect way to access the wisdom and inspiration from someone who I already knew had an amazing impact on people. I wanted Michelle to be MY personal trainer too.

Over a month ago, I joined up to the program. I've started training and following the nutrition plan. I'm even thinking about going in the City 2 Surf with my sister-in-law. And I've lost nearly 4kgs. I already feel so good and have loads more energy back, and better yet, I know I'm treating my body well. This weightloss journey for me is mainly about making myself into the healthiest person I can be for my husband and children. I want to be around for them, in the best way possible, for as long as possible. I've been cooking meals with the freshest of ingredients, I've been getting up early to exercise before the day begins.....and I feel alive. On Saturday morning, I ran around our front yard playing chasings with Josh, and I felt so good.

I can honestly say that this has been the best decision I have made in a long time. It truly is a transformation that is taking place. A change in my diet, a change in my physical activity and a change in my mind. Michelle's guidance is keeping me on track and I'm learning to put out the temptation 'fires' quickly (and there are LOTS of them!) and stay focused on my goal.

I'll see you at the end of my race, 15kgs lighter.


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hello out there?

Hello? Anybody still out there? 

Sorry I've been missing again....it seems it's EOFY* again. *sigh* that dreaded time of the year when hubby's company's books need to be reconciled and cross checked and checked again and re-balanced......urgh! I'm also just recovering from a horrible bout of gastro. Still not back to a normal diet yet, but nearly there.

Anyway, here I am for now, saying hello.

I'm also here to annouce another winner of the Little Innoscents giveaway. The original winner has not got back to me, even after I have tried emailing, so.......after using that random number generator thingy, the new winner is:

Cat

Cat, please email me over your address and I'll pop it in the mail for you and the bebito! Just in time for this cool weather too.

* End of financial year, in case you were wondering....;)

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review: mattel ocean wonders space saver swing and seat

This post is sponsored by Nuffnang.

'Swings were my life saver!'

Ever heard mums say that? I heard it loads, so when Zoe came around I had one ready to go. I thought it would also help soothe her if I had to attend to Josh at the same time as she was grizzly. Unfortunately as a wee babe she just didn't like being in the swing at all - there went my best laid plans. Fast forward to now and I was fortunate enough to receive this Fisher Price Ocean Wonders Space Saver Swing to trial with her, and she loves it!

Zoe loves to swing now she's a bit older - she has so much fun when she's in it and I don't even have to take her to the park! Just proves swings aren't limited for using with small babies.

The other great thing about this swing is it doesn't take up a lot of space - there are loads of swings out there that require nearly a whole room to themselves - this one can remain inconspicuous in a corner of the room.

As with most swings it has 5 different speeds as well as vibration and music. When my two were babies they definitely preferred the vibrations to the rocking. The seat also locks into a stable position too, so if you prefer to not use it as a swing, it can also just be somewhere to put bub with just the vibration and/or music option.

Other great features of the swing are that the seat pad is fully machine washable (as well as super easy to get off and back on) and there are handles to help you move it around safely. All in all I think this swing/seat is great value. I only wish it had been around a lot earlier - it's definitely the one to get if you want something practical and compact, and it's even easy on the eye, unlike a lot of baby equipment out there! I never liked those swings that had big frames around them and took up a lot of floor space, which is partly why I didn't get one with Josh. Then with Zoe I tried to get the most compact one, but this Ocean Wonders swing is by far more compact again. It's brilliant!

a giveaway winner

Phew! This looooong weekend is a busy one. I'm flat out catching up on a whole heap of work. Luckily I remembered to draw a winner of the Little Innoscents giveaway and I'd love to announce that the winner is:

Ebonie's Mummy

Congratulations! Make sure you send me your postal details so I can send you out your Little Innoscents vapour rub. I used mine again on Josh last night as he's got a terrible cough. It smells so good!

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little innoscents review & giveaway

Have you heard of Little Innoscents?

Last winter, I was fortunate enough to be introduced to Little Innoscents via a giveaway over at Mama Loves To Shop. They did a Little Innoscents feature and hosted a giveaway and I won a tub of the vapour rub balm. It was perfect timing too, as being winter, of course my kids had little colds here and there, so I had lots of opportunity to use this product. I haven't gone back to use my other vapour rub again. The Little Innoscents product is truly divine! Far less greasy than other products I've tried and rubs in beautifully while giving off the most sensational aromas. I've used this lots with Zoe now and it really helps her to breathe better at night as well as warm her little chest.

A young Australian mum with two adorable children, Antonette is the face and creator behind Little Innoscents – after a career in professional development and telecommunications, she now has over 6 years extensive experience in the alternative therapies industry and is qualified in both Health Science and Aromatherapy. Her mission was to provide Australian families with products that are organic, effective in treating various ailments, affordable, environmentally friendly AND funky. And she has certainly succeeded.

I have since sampled more of the gorgeous Little Innoscents product range and have to say that all truly live up to Antonette's mission. You can use these products with all your family too, not just on baby, and importantly they all work exactly as you expect them too.

Little Innoscents have given me a tub of their vapour rub to giveaway to one reader this week.

For a chance to win this beautiful product, you just need to comment below and tell me your favourite thing about winter. Giveaway will close on Sunday 13 June (evening) and I will draw and announce a winner next Monday morning on this blog.

Make sure you head over to the Little Innoscents website to learn more about their amazing products and to find the closest store to you to purchase the range. They have recently launched throughout Priceline stores too, so what better excuse to head there!

chocolate raspberry muffins....a rainy day delight

A little while ago, I was sent this cook book - NESTLE Survival for the active family cookbook (Australian Institute of Sport). It's a great little cookbook full of really family (and busy mummy) friendly recipes. As I flicked through the pages, I nodded my head several times thinking, yes, I could cook that, that looks yummy! Time ran away from me and I only just picked it up again recently and let the cooking bug finally get the better of me this weekend! I chose these delicious chocolate raspberry muffins to make as I knew they would go down very well with the kids (and me! perhaps with my morning coffee....)

Here's how you make them.

2 1/2 cups self raising flour

1/4 cup baking cocoa

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

3/4 cup caster sugar

1/2 cup white choc bits (I didn't have any so substituted with Lindt hot chocolate flakes.....mmmm)

1 tbsp margarine, melted

1 1/2 cups skim milk 

1 egg

300g frozen raspberries

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Line a 12 hole muffin pan with paper muffin cases. (I just lightly sprayed my pan with olive oil spray.)

Sift the flour, cocoa and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl. Stir in the sugar and choc bits and make a well in the centre.

In a small bowl, use a fork to whisk together the margarine, milk and egg, and then add it to the flour mixture. Stir gently until mixture is just combined. Don't overbeat!

Fold the raspberries through the mixture.

Spoon mixture into cases. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until muffins are well risen and spring back to the touch. Or in my case, intend to bake them for 20 minutes, but then get distracted by a million and one things during arsenic hour and forget to turn the oven off. Thankfully they weren't burnt, but probably a tad drier than if they had been taken out at the right time! Still delish though. 

Leave in the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool. Eat and enjoy!

I was on such a cooking frenzy this weekend. I also made a lovely harissa chicken with lentil mash and baby spinach and some salmon and dill bites for the kids (who wouldn't eat them). I don't really cook a lot, so it was nice to get in the kitchen and create some lovely food.

What did you get up to?