Shiney pretty money.

So we are pretty poor.

I mean, we get by. We have a decent place to live, the bills are getting paid but we stick to a really tight budget (luckily im such an anal retentive Virgo that im great at this budgeting thing)... so tight that we cannot save a whole lot each fortnight. Which depresses me because of the fact I hate not having rainy day money or even WARNINGWARNINGEMERGENCY money. The emergency money I miss the most... because what if one cat gets sick (Oh hai [ex]hubby! help me out with your cats?), or god forbid both of them get sick? Or my car needs repairs (like it does now) or if we need something urgently for the baby or one of us. You know?

Rainy day money? Well, I really miss being able to go get a pair of new shoes when i need them instead of budgeting them in somewhere in the near future if i save enough money. Or even more indulgently.. get some clothes that fit me.

This morning, in my pitiful woahs me state I did some window shopping on my favourite t shirt site. I would love some new stretchy fitting tees and a couple of hoodies for the impending winter.. because really, i have nothing suitable for winter + pregnant me.

So I'm going to go ahead and share my picks with you :D (click on the picture to go to webpage)

 

  

 

Also... LOVING Mr Vintage... a kiwi store:

A love list:

♥ My long lashed boys
♥ Weekends full of friends, reading and relaxation
♥ Watching him eat and get messy
♥ Baby giggles when you are feeling blue
♥ Cooler nights and snuggles
♥ black and white stolen moments

Vaccinations, why I do.

I gotta say, I didn't think I would ever participate on these, Mostly because I'm already a 'bad' enough parent what with my formula feeding ways that i really don't need to attract any more flaming to my neck of the woods.

But.. vaccinations... This is actually one subject that kind of gets my back up and I've been trying to figure out why. So please excuse my babbling. 

Usually, i don't care how parents parent. I mean their choices are theirs for their own reasons and I'm seriously from the 'what works for you should be done' camp.
I would never co-sleep (i dont understand how ya'll do it :D), but if it works for you - hey i'm not going to fault you on it. Goodnight sleep tight! I don't breastfeed nor do i think its the be all or end all of my child's health (especially since hes been sick ONCE - which i believe is very good considering I work in a germ factory - had constipation or anything bad in this 13 month existence), I also believe that its severely overrated thanks to the major swing from pro breastfeeding propaganda. Yet if you think its damn right important to breastfeed until your babe is going to school - you go ahead and do that. Put your feet up and let me get you a glass of water to keep you hydrated. Good on you for your dedication.

But vaccinations, more to the point - people not vaccinating, just really baffles me.

After reading a post about this on Our Lady of Perpetual Bread Crumbs' blog about this subject I realised there are a whole lot of reasons for my bafflement.

1. Simply put, like many parenting things... Its what you do. And here in little old NZ? Its what you do.
I feel its a responsible thing to do to protect your child to the best of your ability. Saying that, I hadn't even come across the vaccination worries here that I do in posts from the United States. We were all vaccinated as children and in my opinion it only did us good.
BUT I'm not a medical professional. Nor are alot of the people harping on about how vaccinations are bad, like the ones going on about the links of autism and the MMR shot for example.I read alot, (alot alot) and I have read quite a few of the studies on this lately... but I'm really not about to walk into my doctors office (who has over 30 years of experience treating kids) and say "you know what, I think you are wrong" because of something i read on the internets or heard from some celebrity's lips.

2. I believe in herd protection. As Perpetua talked about also, I myself feel its my duty to protect the herd. Vaccinating does not offer a 100% guarantee against disease but the more people vaccinated means the less effect these horrible illnesses have on our society.
This is probably why the subject gets my back up a little when people don't vaccinate. Your other parenting choices do not effect me in any way, just like my badass formula feeding ways do not effect you, ....but this does for this very reason. 

3. and most importantly I think, I TRUST my health care system.
In this country vaccinations are free. My child's total health care is free until hes 6 and even then it only springs up to $20 a visit. All of our prescriptions are no more than $3 because of a government subsidy.
Until i read Perpetua's post on this subject I didn't even really factor this into why people don't vaccinate. People in the States it seems, do not trust their health care system or their doctors or their insurance companies because of all the money they swindle.
But, as in my point 1, I'm not a medical professional and I trust my doctor to do right by us. I trust the NZ vaccination schedule to do right by us.
And if anything, because they are really not getting anything out of it. As I said in a comment on Perpetua's post, why would they bother forking out all that cash so we can do this stuff for free if its just going to cost them even more later down the line when all these suspected side effects pop up?


4. It seems to trendy lately to do the opposite of what the professionals tell you to do.
Of course, I don't believe its ok to be a sleepy sheep who doesn't question anything or educate themselves on whats going on. Nor do I think its ok to sit back and let people decide what to do for you - you need to speak up if you do not like a direction your government (reasons to vote people!) or whatever is taking charge of something important to you. But at the same time, they are professionals for a reason. And you NEED to trust someone, no?

Sigh.. I dont know guys, I don't know.

Babe's Books of the week

Its been a slow week on the book front this week.
1. Because ZJ has gotten in sanely attached to 'Team Machines: 3-D Move and Play Fun' 
and 2. because I've been beyond tired. More like exhausted beyond belief.
So we have been sticking to the favourites mostly and only introducing a couple of new ones:

Who's In the Loo?
"Who's in the loo!? there is a very long queue..."
This book cracks me up. Our crazy american librarian often does this at storytime and while the kids are sitting there fascinated with who could possibly be spending so much time on the bog, the parents and nannies are cracking up laughing.
It has a nice rhyme to it, so its a great bedtime read.

Why I love my daddy
This is cute and also good to read when ZJ has been an absolute terror to change and get ready for bed. Its really hard keeping a 1 year old still long enough when all they want to do is get into everything and Simon often has a fight on his hands. So I like to read this one so Simon can hear it over the baby monitor and feel loved ;)

The Beignet That Almost Got Away
Following on with our New Orleans theme (because mama is home sick!) this is a cute little book about a couple of roaches trying to capture a beignet (a.k.a Little Pillows of Doom as a friend aptly named them) from the famous Cafe du Monde.
*sigh*.... beignetssss....

Rainy Night in New Orleans

Rainy Night in New Orleans, originally uploaded by olde_scratch.

 My friend in New Orleans went for a walk today to take some pictures for me. This is one of the few he took.

I've loved every second I've spent in that city and I miss it so.

One day I hope to take my babies there where they can soak up all the vibes that is the music, sounds and tastes of New Orleans.

I want to show them the fun of carnival and they can ride on our shoulders and scream 'throw me some beads mister!' Their honory aunts and uncle can string beads around their necks and pick up the special doubloons for them just like they did for their mama when she visited the first time.

Sigh... Missing my home away from home tonight.

Being a fearless formula feeder!

I recently did a guest post on the Fearless Formula Feeder, which is a rehashed and updated (not to mention a little more edited and grammatically correct..er kinda) of my post Confessions of a formula feeding mama back in September last year.

If anyone knows me, they know how passionate I am about this subject. I think its ridiculous the amount of pressure put on new mums to breastfeed and the guilt inflicted when they can't or choose not to.

Unfortunately, I'm not fearless at all and wow how i went back and forth after i sent the post off to Suzie at FFF! Comments about how selfish i am still reduce me to tears. I still sit up late at night reading lactivist blogs and torturing myself with their comments. When someone asks me how long i breastfed for I still balk at telling them the truth, because i know the looks I will get and the judging that will ensue.

One day I hope I can be Fearless.
But really, deep down, one day I hope that I don't need to be fearless.

Babe's Books of the week

I've posted before about how important I think it is to read to your babies. The benefits to me are obvious; not only does it help with your child's growing language, communication and memory skills but also teaches them numbers, letters and colours and stimulates imagination.

Maybe its just the librarian in me talking but I genuinely loved reading books as I was growing up (and still do!) and I think its because my parents instilled good reading habits with me when I was so young.

When ZJ was only a couple of months old I started him off with Touch and Feel books such as the 'Thats not my...' range (there are heaps of different ones). These are small enough for bubs to handle and tough enough to take their chewing and pulling. Each page has something to stimulate the babe's senses such as in 'Thats not my pirate' where the pirates shirt was too silky, his beard was too soft or his cutlass was too shiny!

We have 'bedtime stories' as part of the nightly routine now and Zander is up for it most nights. Sometimes he is too tired and the little devil lets me know by turning the pages really fast so i have to read quickly! We usually cut it down to one tiny book and a cuddle in these cases. I've gotten into the habit of reading the same 3-6 books throughout the week, and i really don't think it matters to have a new book every night - its the one on one time and the reading thats important at this stage.

Anyway to get to the point of this post, I am introducing 'The Babe's Books of the Week'. I hope to do this once a week but it may take me a while to get it up and running.

On the bookshelf this week...

Duck's Key: Where Can It Be?
This is a nice and simple book with only a few words per page - which is great for keeping attention spans in place! It also has lift up flaps on each page which baby can explore and help with.

Team Machines: 3-D Move and Play Fun
This one is a favourite with ZJ and I have to admit this one gets read alot. The kid has even pushed away the book i have been reading and grabbed this one so it must be ok with him.
It has a nice rolling rhythm to the words, and its also got movable parts on each page.

Today Is Monday In Louisiana
This book was sent to me by a good friend from New Orleans. Anyone who knows me knows I love that place to the depths of my core and this friend is trying to encourage ZJ too. I love this book because not only does it talk about all my favourite foods (mmm Gumbo, mmm jambalaya...) but it repeats each days food as you go on through the week which helps with the recall skills.

Gaston Goes to Mardi Gras
Obviously from the same place as the previous book. This one is only for special occasions but I have pulled it out for carnival season :) Its a bit longer so I find its only worth doing as a first book or when ZJ is super awake.

Sadly, it makes me very homesick for New Orleans so i have a wee cry each time i read it. A little sad, no!?

Twinkle, Twinkle, Time for Bed
This is a sweet and simple little book and perfect for finishing off the night with.






I would love to hear your favourite books are for reading to babies and any that you may recommend - I'm always looking for a good read!

Dear lord, I have a one year old

Hey bloggerverse! Its hard to imagine that I have a one year old kicking around. It doesn't really seem like that long ago I was laying in a hospital bed, utterly covered in tubes and devices recovering from a traumatic labour and c section. It doesnt feel like a year ago that I was wheeled down to NICU to hold my baby for the very first time.

I remember feeling utter awe and just how wonderful he was.

I remember when I was finally allowed to get out of that hell hole which was hospital and go home with my boys. It was such a lovely couple of weeks and when someone described it as a 'babymoon', I couldn't agree more. I was smitten, my partner was smitten and god we were just so happy. Everything fell into place and my baby thrived.

A now here he is...a year old! Its a such a joy to see him change and grow each day and turn into a little person.

♥

For those who never got to read my baby's birth story which I wrote back in February 2009, here it is....

11 months old and counting

Its been a busy couple of months and I've barely been on the computer at all.
It doesn't help that my computer seems to self destruct every 2 minutes either.

Tonight however, I've managed to get it working for more than those two minutes AND attach to my external hard drive so I've been madly downloading (and then uploading to flickr) the photos I have been taking lately.

Funny random thought though, I TRY not to be behind the camera too much when I'm at home with the boys. I remember a person saying a couple of years ago how she was always taking photos of her kids that she only seemed to see them through the view finder and shes missing them growing up! I laughed at the time but she was like 'I'm deadly serious'. So that's been stuck in my mind a lot whenever I pull the camera out and in some ways of gone to the opposite extreme and been a real slacker about taking any.

I guess now I'm conscious to actually balance it out and remember the moment first hand AS WELL, if possible, through a photo.

Speaking of moments, wow... how the pass quickly. I can't believe that we will have a one year old in a couple of weeks. I can't believe how much hes grown and how much of a cool little person he is turning into.

He is so clever, cunning and watchful. He only sees you do something once and has it figured out in his head. Luckily for us his fine motor skills are not so quick and his strength so little, that he hasn't quite figured out how to make his fingers unlock the gate to the stairs like Daddy, or get the baby jail protecting him from the kitchen/computer area down, even if he knows how it all works.

Yet.

2009

What a wonderful year.

This year:
♥ I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy who changed my life. I got to see him grow and develop every single day.
♥ I made some friends and lost some.
♥ I dealt with alot of body and self issues and I learned to accept change in my own skin.
♥ I played way out of my comfort zone.
♥ I learned what a wonderful thoughtful partner I have and how lucky I am.
♥ I spent a very chilly winter in a cold drafty horrid house.
♥ I failed and I won.
♥ I reconnected with people I thought were gone for good.
♥ I spent the first few days of spring playing in the grass with my boys.
♥ I was really poor.
♥ I mourned the ending of my marriage, got engaged and witnessed a friend happy on her wedding day.
♥ I tried new opportunities, some worked, some didn't.
♥ I developed a thicker skin.
and...
♥ I healed.