And his name is……

Our Elf on the Shelf arrived today, he was all wrapped up and in our fire place, where else would Santa leave him?!  Phoebe was so excited (and we all know I was too), I have been preparing her for his arrival, so that there was a little less to explain when he arrived to live with us until Christmas Eve.  She unwrapped him quickly and then proceeded to read the beautiful, hard cover book that he travels with. 

She understands the main points now:

• He is here to live with us, to see if we are being good or naughty.
• He leaves each night to go back to the North Pole to give Santa updates.
• He can’t talk but we can talk to him.
• She can’t touch him or else he looses his magic and might not have enough to come back from the North Pole.

And so, we had to give him a name and adopt him online,

Please meet, the newest member of the family, drum roll please …………………. Mr Scabby!!

Phoebe chose the name, it is indeed an unfortunate one.  I tried some soft convincing, maybe this name would be better.  But no, she wanted Mr Scabby, so that is his name.  Pop by often to see what he gets up to, it’s sure to be fun!

Bel x

 

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My Dancing Queen

The last few weeks have been full of dance concert rehearsals and driving around Phoebe, and I’ll be honest when I say more than once I wondered why I even said yes to her doing dancing!! When we put her into dancing, I made sure I chose a small dance school, where dancing was the priority and not caked on make-up and costumes.

Phoebe of course did have to wear make-up, which I am still not sure how I feel about. Granted, it was very light, especially in comparison to other dance schools I have seen. I don’t even know how to put make-up on myself, I was never taught by my Mum, maybe a good thing, sometimes bad, any who, I managed to make my little girl up.

She performed just as I thought she would and displayed her vivacious personality. And she was of course, cute and a little funny. I should’ve known how smart she was and how in tune with everything around her she is, when she refused to perform her second and final dance because “people were laughing at me mum!”. It was so hard to explain that even though they were laughing at her, it was in fact because she was so cute, not for a bad reason.

She eventually was convinced and went on. I was so proud of her, as was her Dad and the rest of the family. My daughter grew up a little more in front of my eyes!

Do your girls dance? And do they have to wear make-up, how do you feel about it?

Bel x

 

New beginnings?

This is a test post of sorts.  I have been blogging on a different platform for years now, but of late many things over there have been erking me!  Everything from troubles to uploading photos, to having to log out and then in again to comment on other blogs I follow.  Then there is the debarkle of everytime I go to post it wont allow me unless I exit out and then go into to edit and try to re-upload.

So, I am here, giving it a read hot go.  Things look a lot different, it’s going to take me some time.  I may loose some readers but I may also gain.  I am hoping that I wont encounter the problems I am at the moment.  I have managed to import all my previous posts from the other platform onto here, so that’s a great start.

Stick around, lets see how I evolve and hopefully I blossom!

Bel x

My plan of attack!

I’m not doing this to fit into my wedding dress, no not at all, considering my major fitting is on Monday! I feel blah! I don’t like how I feel, how I look in the mirror and how lazy I am. Something has to change. I need a different tack.

Last night it came to me, I’m a planner and a visual learner, so therefore I need to go forth and plan. In the darkness of my study, I made a grid, it started on Thursday (which is today) and goes for a week. I listed the exercise I planned to do for each day, had a box underneath which is blank for me to fill out the duration of time I did it for. Under that, I have another box, it’s called “lame excuses”, which, if I don’t move at all that day, I have to write my reason why…..because indeed, it will be lame, and will seem even more so if it is written down there for me to see.

Then I hit the scales, I weighed myself (though I’m not overly fussed about this number) and then I measured myself too, which I will use as more of a guide for me. This also went on my little document, in black and white. And now it belongs on my fridge door. I also have one hanging in my office at work. Did I mention I also emailed it to a friend – I’ll have to answer to her now too!

They say it takes 21 days to start a new habit, this is day one. I feel motivated in my tracksuit gear today. I’m looking forward to all I have planned.

Bel x

These are a few of my favorite things……..(today anyway!)

1. My deep mist pillow spray from the Body Shop. I think it works, I can’t be 100% sure, but it does make my pillow smell so dreamy. I have two bottles, one in my bedside table, and one in my toiletry bag for when I am away. Phoebe loves it too!

2. Stop! Cuddle time! Phoebe and I often sing this out to each other, and cuggle or huggle time, as we like to call it occurs. Special moments like these I treasure more while I am working so much.

3. Knowing that the 1st of December is right around the corner and the Christmas fun can begin! I have always loved Christmas but now that Phoebe is a little older and understands a bit more, I look forward to it even more.

4. A nice Smirnoff Black when I get home after a hard day at work! Even better when it is coupled with a hot bath!

5. Instagram! Although I’m a photographer, sometimes my camera is just too big and bulky to carry around with me. My iPhone however, is with me at all times. I’ll make a photo book at the end of the year to show all the photos I have taken with it, or else, they are going to go to waste and some of the most memorable moments are on there.

6. Friends….some have been extra special this week, with lovely thoughts and gestures that have warmed my heart.

7. My Sister, who despite having her own little man to look after, managed to have Phoebe this week while her Nan and Aunty were away in Bali. You are awesome, and this should prove you are in fact a super Mum!!

What are a few of your favorite things?

Bel x

He has arrived!!

First of all, I would like to say how amazing I think Amazon is, from the moment I ordered my Elf on the Shelf, they estimated the arrival time to be between the 17th of November and the 1st of December. I checked his shipping status, it said he had arrived in the country 4 days earlier, and that the estimated time of arrival was the 17th of November. He arrived on my doorstep on the 17th of November, see, amazing!

I saw him sitting on my shoe rack, Phoebe didn’t. I hurried him inside without her noticing and while she went to the toilet I quickly unwrapped him. I seriously think I am way more excited than she will be when she sees him. I wanted to show her that very moment, but with help from my friends, I’ve seen the error of my ways and have decided he shall re-arrive on our doorstep from Santa the night before the 1st of December. He was also a lot bigger than I expected (I hear the internet can make you look smaller, lol!).

A few of my friends have now ordered their own, some which their kids were now younger. I have sooooo many plans for him!! When he arrives, we have to name him online and adopt him (I hope his name is not Riley, Phoebe has named every doll in this house Riley). Then, each day he looks over her from somewhere in the house. At night, he returns to the North Pole to report back to Santa. But best of all, he can’t be touched, it may take away his magic and he might not be able to return!

Thanks to Pinterest again, I have so many fun things I can and am going to do with our little guy each morning. I don’t know really who is going to be having more fun, Phoebe or I! I love Christmas, and now it is going to be a little more fun and special with this new tradition we are about to begin. Stay tuned from December when I start to blog about his adventures at our house!

Have you got a family Christmas tradition?

Bel x

Family

It’s been a busy few weeks, that’s why I haven’t written so much, between work, after hours work commitments and dance rehearsals for Phoebe, not to mention preparing for Christmas, it’s been a little crazy here!

I’ve wanted to write, I just haven’t found the time (ok, a bit of laziness too). But today I want to write about family. There are days when I just think about mine and realise how truly blessed we are to have ours very close to us. My Mum lives in the same town, a quick drive from here, my sister and her family I can walk to in 20 minutes, and Michael’s family (which is quite large, seven siblings and one neice in total) also live a short walk away. My Dad and his wife are the only ones that are far, but Skype helps that, ahhh the technology!

When Phoebe was young I always had the support of my sister and also my great ex-next door neighbor (not sure she really knows how much she helped me), not to mention our close network of friends. You know, those crap days, where your baby is crying and your at our whits end and start crying yourself, who do you call? I used to call my sister. But if she wasn’t around, I had so many other people to back me up, to come running to the rescue and give me a break.

As soon as I returned to work, well even when Phoebe was just a seed in our minds, we knew we wouldn’t have to worry about childcare, Phoebe is lucky enough to be looked after by her Nan and her Aunty. For this, we are so grateful, it is peace of mind for us. We really are lucky! On Wednesday nights her Aunties take her to watch netball, and she is often on sleepovers too.

I know we are lucky, blessed, whatever you’d like to call it, but the last few weeks and it has really been cemented for me. So many people around me either don’t have their families closer don’t have them at all, some are completely supportive and helpful, others not so much. So I will continue to not take how lucky we are to have a supportive family living so close by!!

Bel x

Don’t panic! It might not be a panic attack!

It was years ago that I had my first real panic attack and knew that that was what it actually was. When I have one, even to this day, I get butterflies in my stomach, I tend to get diarrhea (sorry to be graphic but that is my main symptom) which then leads to the cause of my panic …. I would much rather stay at home for fear of embarrassing myself, having to go to the toilet in public (because no one does that do they – see irrational fear!), or being stuck in the car and needing to go to the toilet (which does happen but of course I have never had an accident – which is another fear). When having a panic attack, I let the people around me know by telling them “I’m feeling sick”, it’s kind of my code word!

But in the last few months I have noticed something different, a key, a clue to some of my panic attacks. So I started my own little experiment to see if I could be right and then of course I saw my Doctor and presented my evidence.

It turns out now, that after all this time, I have figured out that even though I am not Coeliac, I do in fact have an intolerance to wheat. Because wheat is a main staple in ones diet, especially mine, this would then lead to bloating, an upset belly and then of course, the immediate need to go to the loo – which drum roll please, would activate said panic attacks!

Since I have discovered this little key, I can say that I still suffer from the occasional panic attack but I have diminished them by 3/4’s!! I even managed a three hour drive to Echuca the

other week, with no medication for my panic attacks and no Imodium (to stop you know what!).

I am still on the path of discovery, one step at a time. What things I can eat and how much (for instance I know I can have a bowl of pasta for dinner but if I have the leftovers for lunch the next day, I am in strife). I am trying to find a bread that I can eat, that is my goal at the moment.

Does anyone know of a good bread or of anything else good to eat?

Bel x

Minor freak out!

There will be no pictures with this post today, because I’m having a minor wedding freak out!! I know I am pretty organized, so that’s why I am saying “minor” freak out. It’s just because the wedding is in March, I want a lot of things done before Christmas hits!

Almost a year and a half before the big day, we’d already booked the place, the time, the photographer, the celebrant and the caterer! Not to mention I found a dress I loved (freak out one – I hope it still fits!). So yeah, I am organised, mostly.

So today, when I started making a bit of a list, I started my freak out. I think it is probably more because I am working full-time this term and don’t have the extra couple of days to do things. That coupled with the fact that every weekend until Christmas is now taken up with parties, birthdays and other catch ups.

So I guess I just need to breathe and start crossing things slowly off the list. I know it will all be fine in the end, and I swear I have been an awesome bride until this point, no fuss what so ever. So off I go, have a bit of online shopping to do!

Surely I’m not the only bride to have a minor freak out!?

Bel x

Who’s got mail?

Mumvember continues for me this month, some days it’s little activities or tasks to do with Phoebe (and that I can take photo’s of) and other days it’s more about planning. Either way, I am really enjoy it all.

* Day 8 – leave your kids a love note.

I loved this one, because each night when we get home and check the mailbox, Phoebe is so disappointed that there is nothing in there for her. On her birthday when there was a card addressed to her, she actually cried, yep my three year cried tears of joy! So knowing how much she loves to get mail, I wrote her a quick letter in the morning and placed it in the letter box before we left without her seeing. When we arrived home, there was of course the obligatory bill or two, but underneath it all, her name scrawled on an envelope which she recognized.

Her Aunty (who was waiting at our doorstep), read the letter to her. It wasn’t long, it just told her how much I love her and how much I can’t wait for the holidays so we can spend lots of time together. It wasn’t much, but I think it made her day. I’m going to try and do it more often.

* Day 9 – make a date with yourself

For this I plan to go on a whole day of shopping on Saturday, kid free. Granted, it will be to finish the Christmas shopping, but I am going to dawdle a little and have a leisurely lunch.