Time flying by...

Tiny Toes Copyright Jessica Flett

Sorry I have been so absent in recent times... we have a new addition to the family. I know this is not news to many of you. We had a little girl in June and she is wonderful. It's hard to believe she is already 6 months old!

I was really sick throughout my pregnancy with her and since her arrival I have been up to my arm pits in all things children... nappies, feeding, sharing my time, setting routines and generally trying to get out of the house.

To be honest I found it a little easier when she was a newborn as far as getting out and about. Now she is on much more of a set rhythm and getting established on solids your windows of time to get out and about a few...especially with a Toddler in tow. It's takes sooooo much longer with two!! Those of you with more....I salut you!! Like anything that is new I know we will adapt and evolve over time and current frustrations will give way to new frustrations.

I am loving getting to know a new little person and having a little lady. Our little man has welcomed his Sister with open arms and I count my lucky stars. I am not so naive to think it will always be this smooth sailing but I'm just so thrilled we're off to a promising start. She absolutely adores him and he was the first one to make her giggle which just made me burst into a thousand pieces.

As I hopefully claw back some more time in my day going forward I hope to be able to get on here and post more frequently.

I hope you're all enjoying the beginning of the festive season and I hope you have wonderful Christmas's planned. I know I'm looking forward to our first Christmas as a family of four.

Jx

Welcome to the World...

A baby being born is a miracle and a cause for celebration. Becoming a parent for the first time is exciting, scary, painful, tiring, joyous, nerve wracking and amazing. The pressure you feel as a parent to be the best parent you can be knowing you are going to make mistakes along the way is immense (well it was and is for me)...

Now... imagine all of this with the eyes of the world on you and the pressure of parenting the future King of Great Britain. My heart goes out to Kate and William, what they and their little Prince will have to endure under the watchful eyes of the world.

I really hope the world's press can be respectful and give them some space so we don't have a repeat of Princess Diana. 

I admire Kate and William's balance of tradition and modern day. They are being respectful of the traditions whilst trying to do things their own way as well. For example I was thrilled to hear William was staying with Kate at the Hospital for their first night as parents. From experience that first night can be nerve wracking so sharing that together is wonderful.

I have no doubt William will fiercely protect his little family and give his son as normal an upbringing as possible.

I send all my warmest congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and to the Prince of Cambridge. Welcome to the world, you are much beloved.

Jx

Autumn Maternity Style...

I have been struggling with clothing this pregnancy. My jeans are just not doing it for me this time around. I recently purchased this skirt from Gap and am absolutely loving it. I wish I had bought it sooner. It will work when not pregnant as well so that's even better!!

I would love to hear any maternity clothing tips you have...
What were your favourite jeans?
Where did you shop?

Jx

Shoal Bay 2013...

Last month H and I had a week at Shoal Bay in Port Stephens with my parents. We have been going to Shoal Bay annually for nearly 30 years...

It's a great beach for kids as it's a bay so not too deep nor too rough. Nice calm waters...

They call it the blue water paradise and when the weather gods are shining down on you it really is...

This year we had very patchy weather but when we were able to get to the beach we made the most of it...

H was rocking his Bobbi Sunshine Swimwear... he looked terrific (in my very biased opinion!!)

Shoal Bay is only 2.5hrs from Sydney and a great spot for families or couples to Holiday. Port Stephens is a large area and includes areas such as Nelson Bay, Fingal Bay, Corlette, Soldiers Point, Anna Bay, Shoal Bay, Little Beach, Salamander Bay and many others.

It's well worth a visit for a weekend, a week or several...

Jx

Pretty Pink Dahlia...

I've never had Dahlia's in the house before and I'm loving them...

To me... they are a happy flower. Don't you think?...

I hope they put a smile on your face today... Jx

The job of maintaining oneself...

Yesterday I had a haircut for the second time since H was born (he is now 20 months old)... I have very boring, straight, dark brown hair that luckily doesn't need colouring so it is very low maintenance as hair goes...

Having said that I was mortified when I saw the look on my hairdressers face at the condition of my hair... which was nothing short of dismal. It was lank, lifeless, straggly, all one length and constantly tied up. He was polite about it and we had a joke but I was, in no uncertain terms, told my hair was terrible.

4 inches and many layers later I felt... and looked like a new woman! I felt so much lighter walking out of there and feel like I look the best I have in AGES!! (even Hubby agrees) Which is such a lovely feeling and not at all overrated... so good for the soul and self esteem.

I find hair, makeup, waxing and shaving all have a knock on effect. For me, I found the worst my hair got the more I dragged it up and back (so much easier when chasing after a toddler) which then looked awful so you think to yourself... what good will makeup do?... So you don't put any on etc, etc. You can see my pattern. Needless to say I have been getting around looking like something the cat dragged in...

Well... I am here on in endeavouring to invest more time and energy in the job of maintaining myself. I have already booked my next haircut. I'm off to book my eyebrow appointment and will try and put a bit of a face on more than I have been.

So... if you are at all like me, I urge you to spend a little more time on yourself as I promise you'll feel a million dollars afterwards. ... and couldn't we all do with a bit of that!?

Jx

P.S I know this is a relatively trivial issue in light of all the many things we face in our daily lives... but isn't it nice to focus on the fun things sometimes?

The face of determination...

When I have a spare moment (these are very rare) I am trying to play catch up with my photo books... and by catch up I mean the only one I have done is of our Wedding... which was nearly 3 years ago...

I have just started to put together one from H's first year. Wow!!!... what a walk down memory lane. Interesting timing with only 11 weeks before #2 arrives. There are so, so many photos.

I came across this photo and it completely cracked me up. I didn't appreciate it at the time I took it as I was probably trying to achieve something else in the photo. Just have a look at the complete determination on my little man's face. He was really getting into his crawling and the look on his face sums it up completely.

To me... this is the face of determination, perseverance and concentration...

Absolutely priceless... Jx

Magnolia Flower love... with a bit of Hipstamatic...

Our little Magnolia Gem in the backyard was flowering a couple of weeks ago. It was the first time since we planted it last July. I was very excited and couldn't resist taking some photos. I took them with my iPhone and got some regular ones and some others using the app Hipstamatic. My use of Hipstmatic has waned in recent times but due to this post from Carla Coulson my interest was reignited.

I was really happy with the photos and can't decide which is my favourite... the colour or the back and white...

What do you think?...

Here are the regular ones...

Here are the black and white Hipstamatic...

Here are the colour Hipstamatic ones...

Aren't they a romantic flower?...

Jx

Art Rooms... A gorgeous way to preserve your Child's artwork...

In February's edition of Home Beautiful (one of my favourite home magazines, as it combines design in everyday people's homes, it's all very real and practical) I found the following website, www.artrooms.com.au

Source

It's a great product for all of you with lots of kids artwork around the house. This company takes the artwork and makes framed collages with it.  Stunning for a study, playroom or kids bedroom.

Source

Bright and colourful and preserved forever... Gotta love that!!

I will be keeping this one on file...

Jx

Orange Cake - so easy and delicious...

My Mother has been making this Orange cake for years and it is sooo easy and sooo delicious. I wish I could tell you where the original recipe is from so if anyone can tell me I would love to know...

Orange Cake

1 whole orange, cut into 8 pieces

1 cup (225g) sugar

185g butter

3 eggs

1 ½ cup (225g) self raising flour

Blend whole orange and sugar for a short while. Add butter, eggs and self-raising flour and blend until smooth. Pour into bunt cake tin (i.e tin with a hole in the middle) or bar or round tin.

Bake in 180*C oven for 35-45 minutes.

You can ice it anyway you like. Mum iced her with plain icing flavoured with Orange Juice and Orange zest sprinkled over the top - Yummy!!

Jx

Murraya and Raindrops...

Our Murraya plants are flowering at the moment and looks and smells pretty... especially after rain. We have planted them in a garden bed at the front of the house and will hedge them up so when clipped they may not always have the chance to flower as well as they are now. They are growing so quickly which is the main reason we chose them for the front as we wanted something fast growing and lovely. We felt Murraya was a no brainer...

Jx

Eyelashes...

These eyelashes make my heart melt... Every time!!...

He is one lucky little man and he has his Daddy to thank!!

Jx

What I'm reading at the moment...

I am currently reading Maeve Binchy's latest book - A Week in Winter. I don't want to put it down. I have loved Maeve's books for many years and love reading every one of of them. Her latest one is no exception.

Maeve is an exceptional story teller. All her books are set in beautiful Ireland and she has such a way of drawing you into her characters' world. I am always sad when I finish one of her books and eagerly await the next one. Sadly she died in July 2012 and I am so sad about that.

If you are a fan of Maeve then you will know what I mean. If you don't know her please give her a go - I really think you'll enjoy her stories.

You can find A Week in Winter here and here. For a full list of Maeve's books click here.

I'm always keen to hear about new authors. I adore a good read. What are you reading at the moment?

Jx

Chic Maternity Style

Hi All...

Firstly... Happy New Year!! I hope you all had a wonderful festive season and your 2013 is off to a cracking start. It has certainly been a hot start to the year. I hope you've all managed to stay cool and out of bushfire danger.

Secondly... my apologies for my absence. I have had to take a break from ALPOTW due to severe morning sickness. We are having another baby in June and for whatever reason I have been horribly sick this time around. I am finally starting to feel my normal self again (as much as you can when you're pregnant!!!) and was just looking around the web at maternity style. I have found The Hatch Collection (via A Cup Of Jo) and think their clothes look gorgeous. I think I will buy myself a little something as a pick me up. Their pieces work for before, during and after baby which makes it even better.

I have found with this pregnancy a lot of the clothes I had for the first are not quite right as I was working full time so it was a work wardrobe. I don't want to buy too much or spend too much but still want to look my best if I can. So far I have been able to get by with bigger no maternity dresses and thank goodness for my maternity casual pants as I have been in them since 11 weeks - boy have I popped quickly!!

I love this caftan dress - it's on sale too - added bonus!!

Here

I love the tank too - cool and casual = easy to wear!

Here

I adore this but know I could never pull it off...

Here

I love this and am definitely getting one for the wardrobe as it will be perfect... I love a good hoodie and this way I still stand a chance of looking chic whilst being really comfy! Don't you love a good Win-Win?

Here

There are heaps of other great items so head over to their website and check them out. I really love that their pieces work for before, during and after pregnancy. They look chic and easy to wear... perfect for the awkward and sometimes depressing fashion moments pregnancy can present.

Over the next little while I'll probably be posting more pregnancy related posts like this one and some on getting ready for baby posts... I hope you enjoy them. If you're pregnant too... Congrats!!

Jx