Monday, April 21, 2014

16/52

"a portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week in 2014"
Luke & I have been feeling quite nostalgic this week & have been looking back at every single photo we have taken of Romy since her first day. And it is extremely hard to believe that it has been an entire year since this amazing little girl has come into our lives. 

Our Easter Long Weekend

On Good Friday we took Romy to the park
My parents, sister Ashleigh & brother-in-law Allan all came over for morning tea on Saturday, & Luke & I baked a fresh batch of scones for our family catch up. My parents just got back from an anniversary holiday to Thailand, so it was nice to hear all about their adventures.
On Sunday morning we met up with Ash & Al at the farmers market for a little morning market date. It was Luke's first time at the Newcastle farmers market, & he loved it!
 
And to finish our Easter long weekend off we celebrated Romy's very first birthday! 

Friday, April 18, 2014

Daily Adventures On A Good Friday

Things have been a little quiet around here because I still haven't got around to fixing our slow internet connection (guys, it's crazy slow), and Luke has officially finished up at his old job on the coast & is back with us full time. So we've been making the most of his spare time together before he starts at his new job next week. And for the first time in a good couple of years Luke actually has the Easter break off work, so we will be getting to spend a good couple of days together.

Today my sister Ashleigh was finally able to come visit again after being sick for a week, so we spent most of the morning with her while Romy was crawling around the place like a crazy nut. And when she went down for her nap & my sister left we made a cheese plate & had afternoon drinks while we watched the new episodes of The Mindy Project (I hate you Danny Costellano!), & then took Romy to the park after her nap. Normally as soon as we're outside at the park she wants to get amongst it as quick as she can, but today it took her a little longer to warm up to it all. She didn't crack a smile for the first half an hour we were there, and it wasn't until she saw a dog that she let her guard down & let some joy into her little soul! We took some of her toys with us so she could play with them, but our little darling doesn't seem to enjoy children's toys too much as she would much prefer to go through my bag & look at boring things like chewing gum & flybuys cards. It is little wonder though, she will be turning one in a couple of days after all! Happy Good Friday!

Monday, April 14, 2014

15/52

"a portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week in 2014"
This isn't so much of a portrait of Romy, but this picture really sums up her spirit this week. She has been into everything! We have the stairs barricaded off so she can't climb them, so she found another way to get onto the stairs through the sides. And she loves putting her head into the washing machine to either scream really loudly, or bang her xylophone stick on the inside because it makes a much louder noise than the xylophone keys!

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Pizza Sunday


Balsamic mushrooms, spinach, sundried tomato & avocado
Pizza Sunday almost didn't happen tonight, I was so close to just ordering pizza and letting that be it but as a last minute decision I decided to not be lazy and just make something. I also took the opportunity to use a bbq sauce base as Luke isn't a fan of the bbq base and I do prefer it.
I kept it simple tonight, I just sautéed a couple of mushrooms in a pan with brown sugar & balsamic, sprinkled two handfuls of baby spinach, sun dried tomatoes & avocado slivers and put that bad boy in the oven! 
It was a quick & tasty Pizza Sunday.

Friday, April 11, 2014

Single Parents Are Amazing

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Luke & I moved back to Newcastle from the Central Coast two weeks ago, & for the majority of that time Luke has still been staying at the Coast finishing up at his old work. I've mentioned before that our move was sudden because finding a house was quite difficult at this time of year because there are lots of people relocating for school & work, so the rental market gets quite competitive. So we didn't have a moving date set in stone for Luke to give his notice, so he handed it in when we moved and agreed to stay an extra week so the head chef could take his holidays. Which was nice for his head chef, but extremely annoying for me! I wasn't too worried about being by myself for two weeks with Romy, I spend the majority of my time with her alone while Luke is at work anyway. However, Luke does the morning bath routine while I get ready for the day, & then in the afternoons I get an hour to catch up on some stuff during his afternoon break. Which make my days run smoothly, and now that our routine has changed significantly and I am doing everything by myself, it is dawning on me just how amazing single parents are!

I don't want to offend anyone reading this and compare our situations, because they are completely different, but this time by myself has been an inspiring, personal challenge. Those single parents that do this day in and day out are just amazing! It can be extremely challenging raising a baby on the best of days, even when I have Luke to come home and relieve me of my parental responsibilities so I can run some errands in the afternoon. But to not have that, & then to be solely responsible 100% of the time for your child's every waking need, making meals, looking after yourself and maintaining a household - I don't know how you guys do it! I am normally a bit of a night owl & use my evenings to do things like drawing, making things, blogging, reading & watching box sets, but the past week or so I've been calling it a day not long after Romy goes to sleep. Aside from my week in hospital last year, I can't even remember a time where I consecutively went to bed earlier than 9 pm. 

I really shouldn't complain too much though, because while this time alone has been a challenge, & it has also been a much needed personal challenge. Before we moved I rarely made meals because I'm not too sharp in the kitchen & Luke is a chef, so if I wanted to try something Luke would happily make it for me. This was something I wanted to work on post-move & I definitely have made a start on my culinary skills & feel confident to try our new things with an open mind rather than chalking it down to 'I can't cook!'. On Luke's rostered days off he has been coming to Newcastle & this week I even made him dinner for a change without any of his help & it felt really good to be able to put together a proper meal that I used a recipe for. A couple of years ago I read somewhere that you should always try & take something from each situation you find yourself in, & I definitely feel that these past couple of weeks have been a reminder that I need to stop relying on other people so much & work on becoming more independent. 

Monday, April 7, 2014

14/52

"a portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week in 2014"
For a while there I didn't think we would ever see Romy's hair get any length to it, and then this week, almost overnight, her locks became very Rapunzel like. Well, almost. 

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Pizza Sunday


Mini Veggie Delight
This week's pizza Sunday was a solo effort as Luke is still staying at the coast while he finishes up at his old job. I didn't want to make an entire pizza for myself so I bought some smaller pizza bases to stick in the freezer for this week and next while I'm without my pizza partner.
On my mini veggie delights I put spinach, mushroom, red onion, avocado, cherry tomatoes & red capsicum. It was nice to just have a run of the mill veggie pizza. It didn't really look that appetising, but it was pretty tasty.

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Saturday Style / Be My Guest


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After a short moving-house-hiatus from these weekend style posts I am glad to get back into the swing of things sharing my thoughts on the guest room. Now, while not all guest rooms I have stayed in have been a home away from home (I once slept on a mattress near someones pet lizard enclosure - which was an overnight hell for me because I hate reptiles!), I have stayed in some pretty impressive ones and that little bit of extra effort in the guest room made all the difference. Your spare room doesn't need to be decked out like a motel room, but having a thought out space & some extra manchester can go a long way. 
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Friday, April 4, 2014

The Friendly Month

Luke & I have declared this month as 'the friendly month'. What is 'a friendly month' you ask? Well, this month we are not going to bicker, or argue and we're making extra effort to be more considerate of each others feelings. And most importantly, spend more quality time together which at times can be difficult with a baby. It seems simple enough, but when you haven't had enough sleep, you have a crawling 11 month old trying to climb up on you screaming whilst you're trying to make breakfast - it is easy to lose your cool and snap at each other. Somedays I'm so focused on Romy I have to remind myself to be considerate of others & not just talk about Romy, because all day everyday she is my entire world & focus.

We're almost a week into our friendly month and there has only been one small impatient retort so far. It is not as though Luke & I are heading for divorce court - don't get me wrong we're still best buddies, we're just tired and cranky best buddies. So there will be no snapping, no raised voices & no short answers. We will be making more time for each other to sit and talk together rather than sit and watch things together, and not let silly mundane things bother us because we're tired. Let's get friendly!

Thursday, April 3, 2014

April

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April is going to be a busy and exciting month! Romy will be turning one (so will her little friend Oscar Boy!) & we will be having a little birthday party for her, we have family visiting, it is my best friends birthday so I will be visiting her later in the month for a date in city with cocktails, Luke will be finishing up at his job on the coast, there are lots of house projects I would like to throw myself into, there will be lots of re-nesting and then there is getting back into the swing of things on here! After a stressful moving period I'm going to be glad to be the good kind of busy again.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

13/52

"a portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week in 2014"
This moving business has thrown Romy off her game a little, but not off her food thankfully! This afternoon she snuck an extra sneaky hour onto her midday siesta & woke up with a roaring appetite. While I put together her lunch she snacked on some super healthy banana bread that her Aunty Ash made, and then I almost lost my hand when I put her plate on the highchair tray! At the moment her most favourite thing is cheese. I usually cut one slice of cheese into smaller bits for her so they're easier to manage, but lately she has putting them all in her mouth at once! If she is eating something else and notices something more appealing on the plate, she will spit out whatever she is eating and replace it with whatever caught her eye!