My ongoing confessions to a not so perfect life:

I don't blow dry my hair ... ever! Ain't no one got time for that with 2 little boys to get out the door ... make that 3 (the husband). Plus I have no idea how to other than wave the dryer around in my hair. The only time my hair ever gets a blow dry is when I finally get to the hairdresser.

Christmas 2013

I'm definitely going to try and break out the Christmas decorations and maybe even our tree this weekend - S will pay lip service to it being to early but he won't stop me. I live for this time of year and am happy to follow a slightly delayed retail calendar when it comes to decorating. #itsthemostwonderfultimeoftheyear

The KFC $5 lunch box is back and we have an outlet within walking distance to work... you do the math.

I quite enjoyed S being in Europe for 10 days last month  ... I liked drinking my wine in peace once the dinner/bath/bedtime battle was won and eating stir fried veg or ice cream and popcorn for dinner.

I spent my last night before he came home on a Pitch Perfect 1 & 2 marathon ... it was a toss up between that and Harry Potter.

I've put on weight. I'm noticing it around my midsection mostly and I need to do something about it but I don't feel strongly enough to cut out the likely culprits - I'm looking at you Boatshed Bay and cheese.

The boys have been eating dry cereal for breakfast ... and fruit, but dry cereal, winning at the mum thing and providing my boys nourishing balanced meals clearly! Throwing out a fresh omelette/french toast/porridge for the 100th 10,000th time had me drawing a line and dry cereal it is. Plus side, its easier to clean up.

S had gut pain last night and I found it impossible to muster sympathy with his tossing and moaning and dramatic acting. He's a bit of a drama queen at the best of times and I've already used up my Florence Nightingale quota on a bout of man flu earlier this year.

I hide in the laundry (like actually hide behind the fridge not just stand in there) when I hear bath time coming to an end so I don't have to wrangle pajamas and the overtired 18m old for an extra few minutes. Usually I have a glass of wine in hand.

I play Candy Crush ... but I don't send invitations to my friends, I don't want them to know I play.

I set up an online gambling account to bet on the Melbourne Cup. Going to the TAB was just too much effort and it would be un-Australian not to have had a flutter. Despite a near perfect two decade first place record, I bombed this year.

Annabel Karmel toddler freezer meals get served regularly in our house ... and they are scoffed quicker than almost anything I cook. Mumma's get on to them, especially when they're half price.

I've struggled a little with post natal depression since having C and have days where I find it really hard to feel happy or joyful at all. I'm lucky enough to be surrounded by some wonderful people though and a caring husband who support and help me - some without even realising.

This may be a boring post to some so feel free to skip past, I won't be offended but it might just help other mummas out there... wardrobe organisation and keeping on top of it is a near fulltime job it seems given babies/toddlers need a new wardrobe every 2-3 months (or more) in those early years.

First things first, if you are drowning in clothes (like we do thanks to shopaholic me and grammy), separate everything into size and then type of garment - so all your 0000, 000, 00, 0 etc separated by size sorted into neat piles of onesies, shirts and shorts etc.

I must add, I'm paranoid about furniture in the boys' rooms after reading a horror story in an Australian newspaper about a 2 year old and a chest of drawers so given they have built in robes in their rooms,  I prefer fabric storage drawers hidden in the cupboard in addition to a wide deep change table/dresser in Cs room and a big heavy hard to move shelving unit for toys and books in Es room strapped to the wall. I can't stress enough to think through your furniture choices for your childrens' rooms with a thought to safety - will they/can they climb on it, will it tip over... consider buying straps and securing pieces to the wall.

The fabric drawers the best for organising! They are hidden away but still look good when the toddler leaves his doors open and they are labelled to help my husband find things and actually dress our boys in a public appropriate outfit. We are just coming into Spring here at the moment but still enjoy some cool days so are using both Winter and Summer wardrobes, our labels on Cs drawers and Es boxes are something like this:

• Hats, socks
• Singlets & underwear
• Daycare clothes - this includes a range of shorts, tees and l/sleeve tees that are all labelled & can be worn for DC and messy play 
• Leggings, tracksuit pants
• Tracksuit sets
• Pants, Jean
• Shorts
• Boardshorts, rashsuits/vests
• Winter pjs including onesies
• Summer pjs

I keep all the next season's items I buy in a box in their wardrobes and in the last month of the season when the weather typically changes here, I pull it out, arrange it and cull the existing wardrobe as necessary. This June, I found almost all C's size 0 l/s tees were too short over his little belly so removed all but a few of the bigger ones while all his pants and leggings are still great length and width wise so remain in a drawer labelled accordingly.

When culling the littlest guy's wardrobe, I pull my favourite pieces out of his culled pile (a Nike onesie or Sooki set) if its still in good condition,  and have been popping it it in a box I'm saving for my sister's baby #2 in case its a boy. All the rest that has been worn and/or washed to death goes to my mum for sorting and storing or to give away to family friends or charity.

When culling Es wardrobe, I obviously put aside anything in good condition (which is most of it as he has a lot of clothes) for C and it gets stored in the boxes in C's wardrobe labelled for season, size and type (pants/shirt/pjs). I tend to buy E a lot of Country Road and Target as I find it washes and wears well so even at full price, I get my moneys worth when it passes to C for round 2 and I'm finding even with his active traits, most pieces are still in at least good condition when he's through.

I've been pretty lucky size wise as E has been spot on in sync with seasons and average sizing therefore I have been able to time his wardrobe refreshes/replacements with the seasons. Whereas C has tracked a bit faster in growth than E and is ahead by one size at the same age ... which means lucky me, I get to shop for new clothes as we haven't been able to rely solely on Es hand me downs.

I find keeping up their wardrobes is constant job and I usually spend 10 mins in there every weekend rotating outfits or re-arranging things while the boys have a play in whichever room I'm in (under my feet of course) or if I jag a double nap like I did this weekend.

As I mentioned, I'm a little OCD with organisation, particularly wardrobes so I hope this might offer some helpful tips to others.

My ongoing confessions to a not so perfect life:

I love Wednesday nights! S is at soccer and if I get the boys down early, I have the lounge to myself, total control of the remotes and netflix and I don't have to make conversation. Dinner is also optional and ice cream or popcorn are totally acceptable.

I am hanging out for October and the start of The Originals and Vampire Diaries new season. Sad but true... my viewing taste is pretty trashy at best.

Domestos is one of my all time favourite cleaning products. Just squirt it around, leave it and come back later to wash off. It gets everything sparkling with no effort, whats not to love?

My assistant and I are having McDonalds for lunch today ... we've been totally sucked in by the start of the Monopoly promo. But beware, they have totally limited what you collect tickets on now - sneaky!

I still climb into the cot to settle my 1 year old if necessary. It works, keeps him quiet (and from waking the toddler) and gets us all sleep. And it keeps him out of our bed - important as the 3 year old often ends up in there by morning so despite being a King, it gets cramped.

I hide money from S ... not big sums but just a little here and there to shop without judgement. He wouldn't care if I bought something/anything but sometimes its nice to buy knowing you never need to have a conversation about it. I also fund a lot of purchases by selling my old things I don't need or wear anymore so I don't feel the need to share this income stream ;)

My 1 year old is totally being bribed by blueberries at the moment... to have him sit in his highchair or at the table, to eat another bite of dinner, to stop crying, to get in the bath... I'm totally not above bribery with food, I'm just lucky his preferred crack is blueberries and not smarties. 

I grate zucchini and add it to the pizza sauce I put on the boys' homemade pizzas. Much easier than negotiating with a 3 year old to actually knowingly eat zucchini.

I bought a pair of nude shoes on sale 2 months ago ... because they were on sale. To tell the truth, I'm yet to even cut the tags off and I suspect I bought a size too small. I told you I'm a shopaholic.

My favourite phrase to the baby this past week has been 'where's daddy, go find daddy' in an excited encouraging tone so that he toddles off looking for daddy instead of sitting at my feet shrieking & crying to be picked up because I'm 'muuuuummmmmaaaaa'.

My ongoing confessions to a not so perfect life:


I have no patience... none whatsoever. This is severely tested being a mother and I am good at managing it towards the boys but ours house renovations are killing me. I can see the end result, the final product and I want it now! But money and time amongst other factors are keeping the brakes on and I have been known to snap at S after his day off... 'I can't believe you only got one wall painted', not remembering we have two toddlers, the walls were spackled and now need plastering then sanding then two undercoats. My bad!


I finished The Originals and The Vampire Diaries entirely ... as in there are no more episodes to even watch ... and as a result, have entirely gone off TV. I am totally relating to these Netflix memes:

My ongoing confessions to a not so perfect life:


I finished work early last week ... and I went shopping. On. My. Own!
Yep, instead of heading straight home to see the boys like I usually do, I decided to be selfish and call in to the local complex for a browse.
This was motivated in part by the disastrous outcome of finishing early and racing home the week before - the one where the boys sat at my feet and screamed and carried on because they hadn't napped and mummy was home to torture.


I was that mum with the screaming toddler trailing after her at the park over the weekend... E had an epic meltdown and wouldn't come with me while I tried to remove him from the scene so I did what I remember my mother doing to me and walked off and of course he chased me down screaming (told you I was becoming my mother).