And it's set to get even better before the week is over.

1. Aldi had children's books for $5 this week and titles included Graeme Base hardcovers, Disney hardcovers, Margaret Wise Brown hardcovers, Willibee the Bumblebee (by the Wonky Donkey writer) and lots of Scholastic books like Dear Zoo. We grabbed Animalia, Goodnight Little One, Willibee the Bumblebee and a couple of others to add to E's well documented library.
2. Coles has Babylove nappypants at 50% so just $8.50 a bag which for the walker size (25 nappies) equates to 34c a pair. At that price I stocked up in prep for tackling toilet training when I start maternity leave.
3. Target has long sleeve children's tops for $4 from today ... only down from $5 but still great to stock up on for kindy & play. We have lots already but they wash and wear so well plus little boys tend to get dirty a lot so extras in the cupboard never hurt.
4. Mary Higgins Clark finally has a new book out - I've Got You Under My Skin. Hoping I will get some time on my aforementioned maternity leave (only 1 week to go) to read this.
5. A bunny sippy cup for E for Easter ... only $5 from Target and holiday themed. How could I resist?
6. Mix apparel ruffle band lounge/sleep pants on sale for only $8 (from $14). In a soft jersey, I figured these will be perfect for hospital with nursing singlets and for home after so I bought a pair in navy and grey marle.
7. Lindt Lady Bug Boxes were $7.50 on sale at Coles and will make the perfect gifts for E's kindy carers ... now I just need to remember to take them in before Easter.

Its been a crazy time lately with my nesting instincts and control freak desires all conspiring to make me feel disorganised with an all consuming urge to clean, organise, declutter, prepare... you get the idea. That's fine of course but throw in full time work, a strong willed toddler and a husband who works weekends and you have a recipe for chaos right there.

Over the weekend, my time for getting household chores and errands done, E was at his most uncooperative of course. We started Saturday with a trip to Target for their one day sale with my mum (Grammy) and my niece Hayley. I took the Donkey to restrain the pair of toddlers and mum and I set off in high spirits. Fast forward 45 minutes later and the toddlers are carrying on like you wouldn't believe, I couldn't pick up or look at a single item and was the recipient of sympathetic looks everywhere - everyone just assumes E and my niece are twins. I did what any other pregnant mother already juggling 2 under 2 would do ... I left mum browsing racks and hightailed it to the nearest cafe for milkshakes to stop the screeching. To my absolute utter delight, the cafe had a back raised playroom with only one entry point so I set the munchkins loose, parked myself at the doorway and let them go until mum finished and we headed home - I was in no mood to shop by this point. After such a 'fun' morning we headed home for naptime (I should have napped but spent the time baking bread instead) and stayed in for the afternoon to play and enjoy the air conditioning rather than the freakishly humid temps outside. I admit, the morning took all my energy and patience so it was better for us both to stay home.

Sunday was a little lot more fun for us both with an outing much better suited to an active toddler. We met a friend of mine and her two boys at the rockpools for a play, swim and morning tea after. E was in heaven running around, splashing, investigating and having fun ... which meant I had a blast too and enjoyed some adult conversation.





Here are some pics of our adventures lately:

Cuddles with Grandpa

Brekky with my boys - this was amazing!

Just chillin' like a teenager

Helping with the household chores aka child labour

New kicks - Ltd Edition Batman Converse

Testing out the new wheels with cousin Lillee

Seal show at Seaworld with daddy

Visiting Grammy in hospital and into everything with his number 1 partner in crime

Fresh bread made in the Thermie for lunch

Rare treats with mummy - I may have eaten most of this cupcake

It's our third wedding anniversary today and in true romantic style, S has gone above and beyond with a gift to commemorate it.... He agreed to the purchase of a Thermomix! I know, it doesn't get much better than that and to say I'm excited is an understatement. Enough to make up for the fact that I'm home watching The Block with a sleeping E while he is playing soccer. That said, we did have a night out earlier in the week to make up for it.

So If we were following gift guides, it should have been leather on the traditional list (hmmmm could have been interesting) and glass, crystal or pearls on the modern. I wouldn't say no to a strand of pearls but hey, a thermie will end up being a heck of a lot more useful and particularly with B2 joining us soon.

Its that time of the year where the baby sales have started ... yes, this is my life, I know when the baby sales start now ;) In case you didn't know, Target has their baby catalogue out now at http://catalogues.target.com.au/catalogue/target-catalogue--baby/13899126488415.html#pageNo=0 as does Baby Bunting.

Here are a few items we have picked up for E and for B2... I may be severely limited in my purchases for B2 not knowing the sex but that doesn't mean I can't make the most of E's last season fitting the babywear section!




Target was my first port of call (online of course) and I bought the final pieces of E's (already extremely extensive) winter wardrobe - don't you love the navy neon yellow grey marle colours?, some singlets for B2 - I'm a stickler for singlets under clothes for newborns thanks to my mum and granny, newborn nappies - you can never have enough and its one thing I don't want to have to be ducking out for with a toddler and newborn, a couple of neutral rompers for B2 - E lived in Bonds and these Target suits when he was born and they wash so well - and .

I also bought a few necessities from Baby Bunting including the Babylove Ezy Combo booster seat for E. With B2's arrival we have decided to use our Maxi Cosi capsule again then pop baby in E's convertible till 4 years seats and get E a new seat. The Babylove Ezy Combo is suitable from 6 months to 8 years and along with the Infa Secure, it has the highest safety rating for its category on CREP. On sale at the moment, its a steal for $189 given you can spend over $500 for lesser rated seats.

E has a lot of beautiful classic books we and friends and family have bought for him but S and I made two special purchases before he was born with the intention of reading them to E from birth. We bought Love You Forever and On the Night You Were Born and have read them to E almost every day since we came home from hospital. He loves books and these two especially, settling next to us straight away for them or bringing them to us and sitting in our lap. While B2 will be able to share E's book collection, we want to find 2 special books we can share with baby in the same way we have for E. I found this beautiful Baby Bedtime by Mem Fox (love all her books) which is perfect and am also considering Kissed by the Moon by Alison Lester or another Nancy Tillman book like The Crown on Your Head or Wherever You Are. I will probably get all 3, earmark one for B2 and share the other 2 between our children.

We've also decided to buy a second  video monitor for B2. We love our Oricom Secure 710 video monitor we use for E and have decided with the move to transition him to his own room, we would prefer the peace of mind of continuing to use the monitor in his room to reassure ourselves he is okay without having to get up to check on him. With this in mind, so that I am not potentially carrying two monitor units around the house though (I'm clearly dreaming imagining I will have both asleep at the same time), we have elected to buy an iBaby monitor that is compatible with my iPhone and iPad devices for B2. A friend uses both monitors for her 2 children and finds they suit her family's needs well and give her good peace of mind.

I'm finally back from a whirlwind break that started on Christmas Eve, included our annual family camping break at Lennox Heads from Christmas Day and a return home on the 5th to truckloads of washing, mountains of gifts and toys to assemble/find homes for and of course, Christmas decorations to pull down. Is there anything sadder than packing all the cheer back into boxes? That's why this year, my focus is on decorating for every season and holiday I can... Hey, I'll be on mat leave so I might as well make the most of it.

I haven't shared a shopping update in a while I realised so here goes, these are some of my latest buys:

Bonds had 40% off their online store so of course I  bought up big with Wondersuits, Wonderbundles (how adorable are these too by the way?), singlets and underwear for me. There is a bit a lot of pink in there I know (I just realised quite how much when I unpacked the order) and no, we haven't found out the sex of B2, I just love the prints and figure if we have another boy then these will be great gifts for future nieces or easily returned for boy suitable prints and given my paranoia of never being able to source favourite items again, I just couldn't not buy.

Christmas decorations... I just can't resist buying decorations but I do have strict guidelines around colour (we only use red, green, gold & silver on the tree). I love the little angels from Target and I'm a big fan of the Myer trim shop where I bought the gold leaves and ??? I'm still searching for the perfect wreath though... years of searching in fact has yielded me with nothing I love.

I love Kmart for cheap and cheerful homewares (not as much as my sister but that's another story) and these glass stacking jars are only $15! Yes, $15! Ideal for the bench top or for entertaining, you can use each piece individually or stacked as part of a lolly/dessert buffet, to hold coffee pods as ours is right now or even in the bathroom to hold toiletries, hair bands etc. I sent S out to search for them initially and he tells me he was stopped several times on the way back to the car to ask where he had bought it from so this of course meant I had to race back to the shop to grab another for fear of them selling out and discontinuing them.


Its the time of 40% off sales clearly and Jeans West jumped on the bandwagon. I heard great things about their range of maternity jeans during my last pregnancy but as I have never liked pants or jeans much I didn't other with any maternity jeans last time and didn't miss them. Fast forward a
nd since having E, I now love pants and jeans with a scary number of pairs accumulated in only 16 months. As B2 is due mid May, I expect a pair of maternity jeans will come in handy now given my newfound love for pants so I bought a pair of the Jeans West jeggings in indigo. I've worn them twice already and while I like the fabric, colour etc, I feel they are just a little too thick and honestly, I HATE the over the belly band ... this may change come Winter though so we shall see. JW have also launched a new Juniors range and there are some gorgeous pieces for boys and girls. I have been looking for some denim shorts for E for ages but hadn't found any that were soft and thin enough for our warmer climate so I was pretty pleased when both pairs on offer met my requirements. I also couldn't resist the gorgeous striped tee. The quality seems good in the boys range and the prices aren't too bad, around $25 for a pair of denim shorts.

I have also gone a bit crazy over Christmas pjs for Ethan and bought a near matching pair for E and my niece Lillee at Target (on sale for $10 a pair and great quality) plus the cute little elf ones from Kmart for only $10 along with a Santa sippy cup for Christmas day. I'm still on the hunt however for the perfect Christmas Day outfit and can't find anything that I love that isn't going to cause E to swelter uncomfortably.