Farewell 2010

Cheers to you twenty-ten (or two thousand and ten?  It is the last day of the year and I still can't decide) you were great!!!

Our precious little Lottie joined us, I jumped on board the WAHM train and began my Lo & Lot Creations journey and I have been in love with all of the little moments that make my life great.

The Christmas season (becuase Christmas to me is more than just Christmas day, it is the whole freakin' month of December - I milk it completely) came and went way too quickly.  I had great intentions of writing a big how much I love Christmas blog post, but I think I got a little to carried away with the loving Christmas side of things that it didn't quite go to plan (not unlike my wrapping of present sessions, which started off with perfectly cut and taped, wraped with twine with a coordinating Lo and Lot Creations gift tag looped through and ended with paper that looked as if it had been cut by Willow and a tag scribbled on and slapped to the present with a piece of crooked sticky tape).  Plans don't always quite turn out, but I hid the crappy ones at the back and hid them with the ones that looked the way I had envisioned.  Problem solved.

The magic of Christmas was truly a sparklin' this Christmas Season, and here are 7 of the things that made me smile...

1.  Our Christmas Card

Photos by Zanzo Photography, card design by Lo & Lot Creations

2.  Christmas Carols Willow Style
When we were growing up Teann and I had a cassette tape of Christmas Carols by the Peppermint Candy Kids that we loved.  It was Christmas spirit in a little white case.  But could I find it anywhere?  No.  Cue Super Neighbour to the rescue with a "Do you have a good Christmas CD for the girls, because I have...."  Yep, it was the one.  And it got played every single day from December 1 until Christmas Day.  The lyrics weren't always exactly correct - "Oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh" was "On a farm it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh" and according to Willow the singing and dancing snowman at my parents house didn't sing a song about Frosty, it was "Lottie the Snowman" but we had soooo much fun singing and dancing and humming (Silent Night - Willow's favourite - odd pick I know) Christmas Carols!

3. Lottie's Jiggling and Clapping
Lottie has her own little love for music.  The snowman at Mum and Dad's would start with a clap, and Lottie would start doing a jig with her big open mouth smile, clap when it finished (because that's what she does.  She claps for me after most of my songs) and it would start again.  So for a while she was just clappin' at toys waiting for them to perform for her.  Her favourite Christmas carol was "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth"....And she got them!  After having the most massive and red gummies for weeks and weeks they arrived just in time for Christmas.  And all I can say is no wonder they took so long.  They are big teeth. 

4.  Lotties first Christmas
Last year we looked like this

This year we looked like this

5.  Our Christmas Tree Didn't Fall!
I had doubts over the practicallity of a Christmas tree with tempting presents wrapped up under it with a 2 year old and a 10 month old, but I am very proud to say that while the decorations seemed to all be crammed on the top half of the tree by Christmas day and Willow could point out her presents and just about everybody elses for that matter, there were no major tree or present incidents. 

6.  Christmas Cookies 
The dough was too soft, Willow's cookie cutting missed the edge of the dough and Lottie screamed everytime I put her down and so I had ice the biscuits with one hand.  But they were good.  And Santa thought so too.

7.  My Spiffy/Scary New Camera
My Surprise Christmas present from Mat this year was a new digital SLR camera.  I have been complaining about my camera and blaming it for my terrible photography skills for ages.  I am super excited about starting to use it (at the moment it is still all in the packaging - I am a little scared of it at the moment) but what will I blame my bad photography skills on now? 

My new camera is PERFECT for my new years resolution.  I am a complete slacker at taking photos and have missed so many of those little things that you are meant to take photos of.  There have been times that I haven't used the camera for months.  So my new years resolution for 2011 is to take a photo a day.  Anybody else in?

Farewell to 2010.  I am off to celebrate the new years arrival and with it the promise of more moments to make me smile.

Little Moments

I haven't done a seven things for a while, so I am going to do a whole post on the small moments and the little things that are happening in my life.  Because it is the little moments that make life big!  So here goes....

Days out 

I love taking my girls out and about, seeing new things, shaping who they are by interacting with the wider world around them.  We have been visiting, zooing, exploring Hobart and Richmond, birthday partying, swimming, craft fairing & marketing, tennising, playgrouping, and the general having to do the quick rush out of the house to get something done.  It is usually all wonderful and full of fun, and it was at a wonderful and fun day at the Teddy Bears Picnic, that Willow found a love of jumping castles.  I saw her looking at it with a curious look and I aked her if she would like to have a turn.  We waited in line, shoes off and I held her hand and told her that I would be just out here and if she got a little bit scared to just call out.  And so she climbed in, with no hesitation, and I waited there, with a little hesitation, waiting for the moment she thought it was all too scary, and that maybe she was a little bit too little for a jumping castle after all.  But she didn't, and instead I was the one to move around the side to the mesh walls so that I could see her.  And I waved like a mad woman and called out "Willow, darling, Mumma is just over here!"  And I'm sure I saw some of the other mothers look at me with a just let the kid go already look, but I didn't care.  And Willow didn't care either, she jumped and laughed and the only tears were when her turn was over and she had to come out.  She was a big girl, and it was wonderful to see her joy, but I held onto Lottie a little bit tighter. 

Days in

Days in are for reading books, dancing to music, baking, crafts and being all close together.  Days in are for catching our breath between the next days out and for being dorky and fun.  Day's in are Lotties favourite. She can crawl til her heart is content and when she gets sick of that she can walk with her look at me go smile behind anything that moves.  She's an explorer and her favourite expedition is usually to the shower, and if the bathroom door isn't closed, the expedition usually ends with a change of clothes.  We also need to keep the toilet door closed, becuase we really wouldn't want somebody to leave the toilet seat up, Lottie to get in there, pull out the toilet duck and get some in her mouth resulting in me calling the poison hotline.  I'm just sayin'.

Sometimes the toaster doesn't even manage to get packed away and by the time Mat gets home I wonder exactly where the day went and how the house managed to look as if we were halfway through moving the bedrooms into the lounge room, the kitchen into the bathroom, the laundry into the study (OK, you get the picture).  But when you have two gorgeous girls needing to be played with Mt Clothesmore can wait.

 Our photo shoot

You know you are going to find it impossible to not want to buy every single photo from the session when you have tears in the viewing.  I can't wait to get the photos back!

Soooo close to the Christmas Season

I can't believe we are half way through November already!  So excited about Lotties first Christmas and Willow's first Christmas with a sister.  We always put the Christmas tree up on the first day of December, but for the moment I am in a slight state of denial about how a Christmas tree is going to go this year.  I have visions of walking into the lounge room and seeing the Christmas tree flat on the ground with two sets of arms and legs poking out from underneath it.  We will work it out becuase quite frankly, not puting up a Christmas Tree is out of the question.

Grrrr.  Can't ger rid of this random space - sorry!

My little business adventure 

Six moths ago Lo and Lot Creations was nowhere on the radar of things that I wanted to do.  I hadn't realised that I missed having a chance to be creative, and along with that I hadn't realised that I missed being inspired by other peoples creativity.  There was a whole world of clip arts and dessert table and party styling that I never knew existed, and blogs that are of the most creative and professional parties ever, and I am just in awe. 

Sandpit

  

Mat built Willow and Lottie a sandpit, and it is the greatest!  As much as we used to love going outside, the extent of things to do was pretty limited, but now she has a sandpit that she loves just in time for summer.

Finding my i-pod

I used to loooove my music, but now sadly I don't think I could name any new songs that are being played on the radio, and the wiggles and playschool songs are what gets stuck in my head now.  My i-tunes catalogue used to be massive but when the hard drive of the computer crashed  I lost it all.  But I found my ipod and it is hooked up to the car and the music in the car is mine.  Hello again Lior, Pete Murray, Angus & Julia Stone, Jose Gonzales, The Waifs - you guys beat the Wiggles any day!  And Willow has one favourite Pete Murray's Happy Ground - So cute listening to her sing "Happy now, happy now, happy now I'm on happy ground" and mumble through the rest of the words.

My girls - They are my sunshine

I love it when I'm speaking to somebody and I say me and the girls.

I love it that Lottie is starting give glimpses of who she is going to be.  She gives the most gorgeous little screwed up nose, two big bottom teeth smiles, but she also has a cute little thinking serious face.  She doesn't have a little girly giggle, she has a deep goofy chuckle and does a dance that resembles a cowboy on a bucking bull with one arm waving in the air.  She rules her own world and she loves doing her own thing, which makes the times when she does cuddle in and give kisses even the more special. 

I love that Willow is so full of love and affection.  Sometimes I like to way overexagerate hurting myself just so that I can enjoy her taking care of me with her "Ohh, are you OK Mumma?  Where does it hurt?  Do you need a kiss better?  There you go, are you better nows?"  She gets carried away with her stories and pretending to talk on the phone and comes out with the strangest ideas that usually start with a big proclamation of "I know, how about...."  She speaks in sentences that are getting increasingly elaborate, and sometimes I just want her to slow down and speak in the baby language for just a litte longer and when she slips out an "ovo" instead of and "over" it makes me smile.

I asked Willow what she likes and she said "Lollies and smarties and sandpit and kissing baby Lucy and Daddy" (not quite sure why I wasn't mentioned here, becuase just personally I do think that I am her favourite...) and I am sure if Lottie could speak she would say paper and Row Row Row Your Boat.

To balance it out a little (becuase we need the not so special to make us appreciate the fantastic)....I am craving sleep like a crazy person, the sand from Willow's sand pit is also all over the pavers and all through the house and Willow cranked the oven up to max when I had a mega rich Donna Hay brownie in and it literally burned to a crisp.

Other than that, life is beautiful!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

OK, well it’s not really just yet, but in exactly one month it will be looking a lot like Christmas. We will be putting up the Christmas tree and decorations with the carols a carolling, the Christmas books will be put back into the book basket in the lounge room to be read over and over and over again and in exactly one month time I will be super organised and be sending out my Christmas Cards.

I could write a whole post on how much I love Christmas (and I think I just might) but for now I am going to put up some of the Lo & Lot Creations Christmas cards just in case anybody else is planning on being super organised like me and send their Christmas cards out at the start of the month (and why not just do that so that your friends and family have your gorgeous card for the whole Christmas season).

                                  

 And of course if you would like any changes or have your own ideas for a fantastic Christmas card that you would like me to create for you just let me know and I would love to help.




And if you are planning on throwing a fabulous Christmas party you might like to let your guests know with these too cute invitations.

And be really matchy with coordinating gift tags for all of your pressies under the tree!

Only 55 days to go - woo hoo!

Rocking the Last Minute

I have had a lot of practice at rocking the last minute.  I would sit in tutes at uni and listen to others talking about how relieved that they were about finishing the assignment that I hadn't even started, on numerous times I have spent my whole recess organising resources that I have needed to teach my next lesson and I didn't even have the pram and moses basket home until the day that Willow was born.  And Thursday was no exception.  When I told Mat that I needed him to have Thursday at home to help me get ready for my Lo & Lot Creations stall he quite reasonably asked "Wouldn't it be better to have everything organised before the day of the market?"   Well yes Mat, it would, but that's not how I roll.  If the last minute had a kingdom, I would be it's Queen.  I rock the last minute, and rock the last minute we did!  And these are the results of our rocking...

Friday morning after the excitement of the market was over, I wrote a list of things to do that doesn't involve Lo & Lot Creations (because that has a list of it's own....obviously).  Here it is...

• Baking x2.   (Check.  1 birthday cake for Mat and a lime & coconut cheesecake for dessert at Cousin Mat & Rach's family lunch at their house to announce that Sebby will have a baby brother or sister.  Congrats guys!!!)
• Housework  (yuk)
• Write Christmas present list (yes writing a list is on my list, and poor little Lottie's column is looking a lot shorter that Willow's)
• Book tropical holiday (I wish)
• Catch up on some of my favourite blogs
• Read a book in the hammock
• Make a long overdue doctors appointment (and for that matter an even longer overdue dentist appointment)
• Have a massage
• Restock Lottie's frozen food supplies (she won't eat food from a jar and I can't really blame her)
• Spend more time outside with the girls (have been working on this one already)
• Teach Lottie to sleep for longer than 1.5 hours at a time during the night (I am aiming for 3)
• Write more blog entries!

And to finish off this entry here are some photos of our out and about days....

My water babies!

Waiting for Mat's birthday lunch @ Seaport

Spring time!

Loving the spring time with my girls!

My Party Theme Obsession

It has been very busy in the Lo & Lot Creations Studio....
In my half awake half asleep feeding Lottie in the middle of the night dream world I work in a studio that has been styled to perfection!  It has desk space galore (maybe even two desks) beautifully coordinated ringbinders, magazine holders and boxes for storing all of my little crafty things, it is colourful, always tidy, inspiring, peaceful and all mine!  In reality not one piece of furntiture matches, the small desk is filled with a combination of Mathew's work things, football things and bills, and I can't take one step without treading on something or occasionally someone because two little distracting girls like to be with their Mumma.  Ok, so I wouldn't change that last part for the world, not even a world with matching stationary!
I have been doing custom orders for birth announcements, baby showers, engagement parties, and of course my main love, children's parties.  I have been adding to the range of party themes (and have twice as many ideas that I have fallen in love with jotted down in my notebook that I can't wait to work on) and I have been stocking up for my first Lo & Lot Creations market stall later on in the month!

Here is a list of the themes that are all a ready to go, with matching invitations, cupcake toppers, lolly bag toppers or tags, banners and more....

• Bright Owl Girl
• Bright Owl Boy
• Jungle Friends Girl
• Jungle Friends Boy
• Babushka Bonanza
• Frolic in the Forest
• Eeei Eeei Oh
• Ahoy there me hearties
• Little Gnome Girl
• Fairy Princess
• Vintage Fire Engine

I am loving a bit of a vintagey feel at the moment, so my plan is to add some more vintage themes to the collection, and then have to distinct styles; my Vintage Collection and my Brights collections.  Super super excited!!!

I'm also going to be launching a few new products at the market ready for Christmas.  As I said before - we have been a busy!

And while I haven't been doing the Lo & Lot Creations thing, I've been busy with the real Lo & Lot and fitting as much in to our days as possible!  Lottie is a pro crawler and stander, lover of paper, cackler and snorter and champion eater with her two little chompers.  Willow is a singer and jumper, more clever and thoughtful than she should be and completely addicted to her dummy.  We love our at home days together, and when we haven't been home we've been rocking it out in the capital for Powderfinger, finishing football for the year (yay just one more dinner to go - well done Mat for top 5 in association and Bracknell B&F), birthday parties, tennis days and playgroup.  

And you know Christmas is just around the corner when you can smell new potatoes with mint cooking for tea and the sun in still shining and not even looking like giving in to the moon!  Love Summer!!!

Spring has Sprung....

.... and it is pouring!  It started off with such promise; three magnificant days of warm sunshine and longer, drawn out days.  But today Winter is back with a message  that she has not finished with us just yet and we have been stuck back indoors baking, stickering, practicing crawling and visiting Aunty T for scones and Mars Bar Slice. 
Lottie is quite happy to be inside where her best crawling practice can take place.  She has been commando crawling so well for the last few weeks that she would give most army recruits a run for their money at bootcamp.  And she is quite happy rocking on all fours, but is yet to master the hand, knee, hand, knee motion.  Willow on the other hand loves to be outside, and especially loves to be outside at Ninna & Grandads house feeding the sheep and going on bear hunts and "'plashing" in puddles and climbing over woodchip piles.  But not the crows....
And speaking of Miss Willow, here is the photo of her that I forgot to post in my last 7 Things....

Mumma and Willow shopping date

And a couple more photos of my sweet, perfect girls....

Playing on Willow's Bed after a bath

Out for lunch with Aunty T

And here is my 7 things for this post…


1. I’m a winner!
Itty Bitty have the most gorgeous handmade hair accessories and jewellery (more on them in a post to come…) and I won this funky little owl pony tail holder. Any body who knows me knows that my hair is rarely doing anything other than hanging in a pony tail – so yay for me!

And this one only gets a mention because Mel requested it...I also won a timeout chocky bar! I nearly threw the wrapper away so very lucky I checked. Mel is my cousin Tim’s lovely fiancé, and she has the most exquisite rock on her finger in the world – Congrats again guys x x x


2. Donna Hay Kids Magazine

Sooooo many party ideas and inspirations. I am deliberately taking my time reading it when I have some quiet moments. No flicking through the pages while the girls are on the floor, this deserves my full, undivided attention (and a cup of tea and chocolate). How Springy is the front cover? And how cool are those bowls of icecream made of chocolate? Yep, thinking Lo & Lot Creations definitely needs and icecream party theme for the summer!


3. Lo & Lot Creations Boy Themes
I have finally created 2 dedicated Boy themes. They are “Ahoy There Me Hearties” and “Vintage Fire Engine” and I am loving the different feel that each of them has. I’ll post some pics soon!


4. Lottie’s Goodnight Book

Lottie now has 2 little toothy pegs! We have a little tradition that whoever finds the first tooth buys a book (Willow’s was appropriately “The Very Hungry Caterpillar) and I found Lottie’s (as I did Willow’s too) and finally got her her own little goodnight book. Love the illustrations, and love finally reading to her alone every night.


5. Kiss Me Song
For some reason I felt like listening to my old Dawson’s Creek Soundtrack and tracked it down at Mum & Dad’s house. On the drive home I (badly) sang along with Kiss Me by Sixpence None the Richer (I think) and Willow has been asking for the “Kiss Me song” ever since. I now use it as bribery. “Quickly let Mumma brush your hair and we will put on the Kiss Me Song” and then Willow and I sing along with Lottie on my hip, watching ourselves in the mirror dancing like crazy- happy people do.


6. Daffodils, Lambs, Magnolia Flowers, T-shirts & Cherry Blossom


7. Nice Smelling Candles
I brought some lovely smelling soy candles from a stall at the Niche Market and at the moment have a coconut and mandarin one burning. The smell is an instant mood uplifter, especially after a sleepless night!

And finally HAPPY FATHER’S DAY to my wonderful husband for being the wonderful father of my two wonderful girls and for making my life so wonderful.

6 months and 7 Things That Make Me Smile Part 2

Tuesday marked the half way mark to Lottie’s 1st Birthday.

The morning after her speedy entry into the world

Doing her best Steve Irwin impersonation

I’m not quite sure how that should make me feel, but I must admit that a part of me is quite sad about it. The days are going so fast that they are blurring by and I don’t feel like I have quite managed to capture the whole 6 months in memories. But the little details of day to day life that we may have let slip by have been more than made up for with love, kisses and cuddles. And when I think about those, I wonder how it can be that she has only been with us for 6 months. She has just slipped into her role as our Little Lot and Willow’s Little Sister as if it was always meant to be. And as much as I love watching the two sisters together, I cherish the time I spend breastfeeding her when I don’t have to share her with anyone.



And while Lottie is having her nap, and Willow is practicing her dancing to the Wiggles, I find a quick moment to jump on the computer to play with some designs for Lo & Lot Creations. And while the process is far from as fast as I would like it to be (because sometimes naps are just a little to quick and sometimes because I need a little dancing practice too) I have been able to complete a few orders and add some new themes to the collection.

Babushka Bonanza Baby Shower Invitation

Little Gnome Girl Name Print

Frolic in the Forest Baby Invitation

And as mentioned in the title of my post, here are the 7 things (of many) that have made me smile since my last post…






1. This Photo of Willow


We had a Mumma and Willow day in town, complete with lunch and icecream.


2. Winning Bracknell’s Got Talent


We had a Bracknell’s got Talent function for the Football Club, and us girls did the “Cell Block Tango” as our act. We had so many funny moments rehearsing and I wouldn’t want to be a Chicken in Mel’s house, but the best part was beating the boys who really thought that they had it in the bag.


3. Having Mat home for a Week


Mat took a week of holidays and instead of going away anywhere we had a week at home with trips to the aquatic centre (Willow is no longer scared of the dreaded bucket) and the park thrown in. We (he) did some odd jobs around the house and it was great having him here to look after the girls while I had some “me” time. We’re going to miss him this week!


4. Stalking other Blogs


I have a growing list of Blogs that I love! Lots of design and party blogs for inspiration make up the bulk of my list, but by far my favourite Blog is ‘Enjoying the Small Things’ by Kelle Hampton. She is so amazingly positive in everything she does and has a writing style that sucks me in totally. Read it!


5. My Lo & Lot Facebook page reaching 200 likers


6. Willow Sleeping


I can finally join the chorus of those proud parents who rightfully brag (yes Nicole I mean you) about their babies being fantastic sleepers and sleeping though the night…Only my baby is 2 years old. It may have taken her longer than others to get there , but after 2 whole years of her waking (and therefore us waking) numerous times during the night and needing to be rocked to sleep, then laid with to go to sleep, then sat with to go to sleep, we have reached a point where we can go through our good night ritual, close the door and have her go to sleep and stay asleep. All with NO TEARS! No crying has been my sleep philosophy all along and I am very glad to say that it has eventually paid off.


7. My Nin


It was my Nin’s (Mums Mum) 78th birthday on Friday, and she is by far the most vibrant 78 year old. She is more generous than anybody I know and is caring and full of love. On Saturday night she looked after the girls for me while I went to the Best and Fairest Count at the football club, and I love that she can spend special time with Willow & Lottie.

And finally, graphics in the Little Gnome Girl Print were purchased from Lilly Bimble and Frolic in the Forest graphics purchased from Cocoa Studio.  They both have too many gorgeous sets!

Hello Earl my old friend!

Well, I made it through the week with not even a milo crumb passing my lips, and while I would love to say that I felt an overwhelming sense of pride and achievement in my self and my will power, or even an urge to continue on this sacrafice for the greater good (of what I am not sure, 'cause it sure wasn't the greater good of sleeping) all I felt was a craving for a Caramello Koala.  And while the sleeping experiment was a fizzer, at least it is something I can wipe off my never-ending to do list.  OK, so going a week without chocolate and tea was never actually on my to do list, but sometimes I like to mix up the order a bit by doing something, then adding it to the list, then crossing it off - it makes the list look a bit healthier....Please tell me I am not the only one who does this....

And here is me with my first cup of tea and a block of Dairy Milk!  I already had the Caramello Koala before Rach arrived to have a cup of tea with me! 

And after 7 days of grumbling about about having no chocolate or tea (I know it is really nothing to complain about) I thought I would look on the brighter side of things and list 7 things that made me smile and not so grumbly-

1. The funny things Willow has been saying and doing.  I am going to dedicate a whole post one day to this topic, because there is just to many, and I want to be able to remember them down the track.  It is guaranteed though that she will come out with something that will make me giggle at least once a day....even if it is when she is laying in bed and should be asleep!
2. The way you can tell that Lottie just loves Willow.  She searches her out in a room and her eyes and smile just couldn't get any bigger when she finds her.  I have given up telling Willow to be gentle with her, becuase Lottie laughs harder the harder Willow plays.  And Lottie is quite fond of her hair to!  Yep, they are going to be Best Friends.
3. My new red owl T-Shirt.  My very lovely friend Michelle, found a T-Shirt that she loved, but thought that I might love it more so she gave it to me!  How nice is that!
4. Watching Home Movies.  Teann, Michelle and I had a night at home and instead of watching the movie that we were meant to watch, somehow we got distracted watching everything that was on my video camera since our Cairns Trip (Otherwise known as the Holiday from Hell because Willow was sick for the first and only time) last November.  And oh my Gosh, I did not realise how much Willow has changed since then.  And as much as I love having this to look back when they are all big, it doesn't even come close to capturing their real life wonderfulness.
5. Free Fonts. I found a really really cool free font site one night.  Mat didn't quite share my enthusiasm though and refused to look after my 3rd "Oh wow, look at this one!"  But just in case anybody else is excited by fonts here is the link I also have a few other sites to browse at thanks to the thoughtfulness of an old friend.  Thanks Emma!
6. Sunny Winters Days.  It has been so sunny, I wouldn't go as far to say warm, but it has been sunny enough to be able to go out in the fresh air for a while!
7. Chamomile Tea and Carrot Cake.  OK, not really, but they have played their role in getting me through the week, and we did have fun making the carrot cake.  Thanks Anah for doing the neighbourly thing and bringing the icing sugar!

Well that is it for a little while now!  The next post will be showing off my Baby Shower Invitations, in the meantime I will be hanging with Lo & Lot!

Days 4 & 5....

2 more days down without chocolate and tea…or improved sleep. If anything I think I have possibly found a link between chocolate, tea consumption and the immune system, as we are all a little worse for wear at the moment, particularly Lottie who has an awful cough. And even though my little sleep experiment has failed dismally, I am sticking to the 7 day ban just so that I can say that it is possible and so that I never have to do it again. Tomorrow is Saturday, and that is going to be tricky, because Saturday at the football has been dubbed as Designated Junk Food Day. I am on the countdown- only 2 more days!


Willow and I baked a carrot cake today to get me through these last 2 days.

Fake Smile!

Taking “we’ll put the egg in next” literally.

 

Sneaking some carrot!

Meanwhile over the last few days Lottie has got lost (and when I mean lost I mean she is nowhere near where I left her in the lounge room.  She can usually be found hard up against a chair).  She is such a little roller now!

And on some Lo & Lot Creations news, my first client Siah’s wedding invitations and RSVP postcards have been sent to the printers and we are loving how they have tuned out and I am mega mega excited about a website I found with AWESOME FREE fonts. Woohoo!

Day 3...

No tea have I drunk or chocolate have I ate, and that is all I am posting because it is getting too late!

And clearly it is messing with my head....

Day 2

Two days down (almost) and I would love to say that I am cruising through this, but honestly if I had a dollar for each time I have been tempted I would be on my way to Disneyland with the girls!  Grocery shopping last night was particularly painful, and Packed to the Rafters tonight is just not going to be the same without an Earl and Choc.  It is already affecting my social life too.  Teann usually comes over of a Tuesday night while the guys are at football training, but has decided to stay at home tonight so that she can indulge without having to feel guilty. 

On a positive note though, I have been playing around with an absolutely gorgeous Little Gnome Girl party theme.  Loving it to bits!  Hopefully I will be able to post soon, but in the meantime, here are a couple of Jungle themed (to match their bedrooms) name prints that I have done for some friends.  My Jungle Clips were purchased from Goodness & Fun.

And last night Lottie had her first try of solids!  Here are some absolutely shocking photos of her eating her rice cereal.  It doesn't look like it in the photos but she thought it was great, but apparently found it a bit hard to keep her eyes open and eat at the same time...

Day 1....Wish me luck!

Anybody who knows me knows that I love a cup of tea (preferably Earl Grey) and I love chocolate. I would choose sitting down on the couch with an Earl and some chocolate over most things. Throw in something to read (book, catalogues, magazine…I’m not fussy here) and I am in heaven. But this week my motto is “Cup of tea and chocolate free”.


I have two simple rules-


1) The only tea I am allowed to drink is Chamomile


2) No chocolate may pass these lips. Not even a chocolate coated Teddy Bear Biscuit.


And then at the end of this week, if by any chance Lottie is sleeping any better, I have one very big decision to make. Sleep or my tea and chocolate stash back….

And while I am not eating choc (as Willow calls it) or having an Earl I’ll have to indulge in another habit of mine….Lo and Lot Creations!

Speaking of, here is Lottie’s Thank you card and the boy version too!

And finally, we had a litle family trip to Hobart on Saturday.  It was a beautifuly sunny winters day to browse the Salamanca Market and I scored some gorgeous little hair bands from Apooki's stall at Mathilda's Market. 

Heres Willow sitting up in the pram while Lottie had a little nap underneath.  Smile!