This Time Last Year

This time last year I shared here that Luke & I were having a baby after we had our 13 week scan and saw Romy for the first time. However, at the time we didn't know we were having a girl for sure, but I felt like we were. And now a year later, we have a healthy 7 month old baby girl. Sometimes a year feels like no time at all, but when I think about all of the things that have happened in our lives in the past year it blows my mind how drastic life can change. Luke & I knew that once Romy came into our lives things would change and be very different, but we didn't know just how different they would be. I had no idea what being a Mother would be like, and now that I am and have been for the past 7 months I cannot even begin to imagine what things will be like this time next year. Romy will most likely be walking about, talking and telling us how she feels. We will probably be living in a different house. And most likely be doing different things. Every year Luke & I seem to be living somewhere different, surrounded by different people and changing circumstances and things. It can be exhausting, but it can also be exciting. This time next year we hope to be settled, without plans to move after the holiday period. And that is something I am looking forward to. 

We have a plane to catch, brb

Romy & I are heading off for the weekend to the Gold Coast to visit some of my cousins. And to go to my cousin's baby's first birthday party & have a mini pre-Christmas dinner as we all won't be together this year. Also a lot of my family will be meeting Romy for the first time so this trip is especially exciting. It will also be Romy's first plane ride! During the week I caught a quick segment on a morning talk show about the negative experiences some parents had with their babies on public transport and now I am starting to get nervous about being that mum on the plan with the crying baby. Years ago when Danielle posted about her first travelling experience, I remember reading along unable to relate, and thinking how far off that ordeal would be for me. And in a few short hours I'll be able to cross it of my 'things that scare me' list. Have a great weekend!

Unspoken Pillow Talk

Almost everyday for the past few weeks this happens. It is a little unspoken pillow placement war that Luke & I have going. I prefer the top option, while Luke is a fan of the bottom. I'm not so sure that Luke is aware of it, but every time he comes home or is in our lounge room, he will automatically rearrange the scatter cushions side by side and I will put them back later on. I find it too amusing to be bothered by, or bring it up with Luke as I would like to see how long it takes him to realise that I do actually put the sugar skull in front on purpose!

A Romy Moment

Tonight when I was feeding Romy her vegetables, she did the loudest pop off I have ever heard from her! As I was hysterically laughing (like an adult of course!), she looked at me with the biggest smile on her face and lost it too! We stopped laughing at the same time and then she opened her mouth for her next mouthful of veggies and that was that. It is one of my favourite Romy moments so far. 

Around My House

Just a little sticky beak around my house. 

Sets-Of-Things Anxiety

Many moons ago I couldn't stand the idea of not having a set of plates all the same. In one instance, Luke broke a plate out of one of our dinner sets that I couldn't replace, so I replaced the whole set because it did my head in. Things like that used to really bother me unnecessarily. And it wasn't until our last move that I started to ease up after I developed a case of the dropsies during my pregnancy. I don't like to make changes to our dinning wares unless we're moving or changing absolutely everything up in our house, and a couple of months ago Luke & I decided to do both. When we moved into our current house we decided we wanted to fill our house with lots of mis matching things with pops of colour. Ordinarily Luke likes wooden furniture, and I like all white things so our compromise was colours and it has been a lot easier on all fronts. I don't need to over think purchases and take 15 minutes to decide whether our place mats will match our dinning set, or get sets-of-things anxiety about a plate breaking. I received lots of neat little side plates from long forgotten tea sets that my sister picked up at op-shops for my baby shower earlier in the year. Its nice having things like pizza and toast off dainty floral plates everyday. When I have finished a couple of other illustrative and nesting projects I intend on adding to my collection.

A Long Black For The Night Owl

[ spill the beans ]

For as long as I can remember I have been able to drink late afternoon lattes and can still call it a night quite early. The only good a late night coffee would do me was having to get up and actually make it myself. However the past couple of days that I have had evening coffees (I know, coffee at night is bad but this broken sleep business is tough!) I've been rushing around once Luke & Romy have turned in for the night and have been getting a lot of things done. Last night I did some late night rearranging around the nest, started reading a book, tidied the house, blogged, read up on a couple of things, worked on an illustration and had absolutely everything sorted for our morning routine. By the time I got into bed I was beat, but I used my evening wisely and I fell asleep pretty impressed with my productive evening. I didn't have the guilts about not getting everything done before the day is over. And because I crossed a couple of extra things off of my weekly to-do-list, I was able to have a super relaxed day with Romy today. 

A Little Blogging Rant

When I first started this blog over two years ago, I blogged to an audience of under ten for the first six or so months. As defeating as it was at first, those initial months writing and sharing my daily adventures on this space were really fun. At that point I only really followed a couple of blogs myself and didn't realise that there was such a thing as 'professional' or 'life style' bloggers. Let alone bloggers that made money off of their personal blogs, and for some was a full time job. It was an oddly enticing little universe to become a part of. My first few readers were people I knew personally, and a couple of random lurkers, I didn't know how to get my blog out there or really how to find blogs. The first blog I came across was Sometimes Sweet while I was googling tattoo ideas in an image search. After months of reading it I started my first blog, that has since been deleted, & started to add more blogs to my bookmarks menu. The following year I started Tastes Like Love as a way to motivate myself into being more creative. I wanted a space I could share my illustrations and little bits and pieces of my everyday life and interests on and blogging was the perfect method in which to do so. 

It took me a while to hop on the button swap wagon, and when I did that was when I started to have friendly interaction with other bloggers over this weird little hobby. I also found so many new and exciting blogs to read, and they really inspired my own blogging style and content. It was a whole other different kind of internet universe. Some people find it odd to read about other peoples lives that you have never met or been a part of personally, but it has never struck me as odd and I think that is why I find blogging fun & interesting. I like to read little updates on peoples lives, and see the different styles of fashion in different parts of the world rather than seeing the glazed over, air brushed ad campaign version in a magazine. I have discovered a lot of really neat tv series, movies, bands, online stores and meal ideas through reading blogs. 

There has been days that I've woken up in a really uninspired mood where I struggle to achieve anything productive, and have had a complete turn around after reading how much some bloggers fit into their days. At first blogging was a hobby to motivate me, but overtime has become a part of my day to day life. I've been reading some of your blogs for a couple of years now that I get excited to read updates about Felicity's new blog design business & her latest designs, or read about Peta's new addition to her family. My reading blog list has dwindled over the last couple of months (along with my spare time), as my interests have changed. I used to read all kinds of blogs from all different ages but now that I have Romy, I try to make the very little guilt free spare time I have to read blogs count by sticking to blogs I can most relate to. Fashion based blogs are no longer relevant to me as I would much prefer to read about the trials and tribulations of a first time 'mummy blogger' or indie business bloggers.

I have definitely had days where I have wanted to delete this blog and find something else to occupy my time with, but I am glad that I have kept up this hobby as I have a catalogue of memories to look back through if I choose to. 

Expectations

The last three months I implemented a blogging schedule so I could get organised and utilise my free time wisely now that I have less of it. Today I was looking at my blog notes, and I had planned to write a post about Romy's transition into her own room of a night, however, this is yet to happen. And I had planned to write this post at the end of July, because I expected we would make this transition around the three month mark. But what I wasn't expecting was to be so clingy with her. During my pregnancy I had all of these fantastic ideas about how Luke & I were going to parent our baby, and have not explored a single one. Because actually being a parent is nothing like I expected it to be. Last night when Luke & I were discussing Romy's current sleeping arrangement, which is in her bassinet next to my side of the bed, I started to get really anxious about not having her so close to me. And my separation anxiety really kicked in when Luke suggested I go visit some friends in Newcastle (which is an hour away) and he would spend the day with her. I think I am going to have to make these big moves one at a time, and getting her accustomed to her own room is the first one.

It is easy to imagine certain situations and create your expectations based on how you felt about the visualisation. But mostly things aren't how you expected them to be. Like the casting choice for 50 Shades Of Grey. I really thought and hoped they would have cast Ryan Gosling as Christian Grey. I was so convinced that while reading the books I just imaged him as the character. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement.

To Live Would Be An Awfully Big Adventure

Now that Luke & I have a baby, we have been reminiscing a lot about the things we had as children, and our favourite books and movies. And what gems from our childhood we would like to share with Romy, and what classics we would like to read to her. I would love her to enjoy the likes of Winnie The Pooh, Peter Rabbit, Mr Men and Peter Pan. I love how wholesome and sweet they are, and how they encourage children to enjoy their childhood. One of the best things about being a parent is getting to create all of those fun and joyful moments for someone else, and getting to play with colourful bright toys and make up silly songs that only your own child would find amusing. Today we made up a song about Romy's teething woes and sang it to her while dancing around her like she was a roaring camp fire. It was totally embarrassing and lots of fun. In a way Luke & I get to have a second round at being a child as we make up ridiculous ways to comfort Romy and make her smile. 

Five Useless Things About Me

I'm a list maker. I make them about lots of things, I even make lists about making lists. I get a little list making high and just keep going! Rather than count sheep or count backwards when trying to get to sleep, I'll go through the next days to-do-list in my mind to help me ease into sleep. 

I own almost all of Jackie Collins' books. After I read Valley Of The Dolls when I was 15 my Mum suggested I try reading some Jackie Collins. We went to a second hand book store together and I picked up Hollywood Wives & Rockstar and fell in love with her novels! I know they're tacky, but I love how involved they are, and how she always has three of four different stories going on that make sense as they all come together in the end. Do not even get me started on Gino Santangelo!

I'm scared of snakes. Not the common scared of snakes type scared, the type where every single time I go to the toilet I think about them scared. When my Sister & I were younger there was a story on the news about a little boy finding a snake in his toilet and ever since then I've thought about it every time I need to pee. There have been a few times that I've given myself a panic attack because I was sure there was one in the toilet. I wish I was kidding.

I am one of those disgusting people that likes pimples. It drives my husband crazy! If he has a pimple on his face, or anywhere I can see, I will not be able to focus on our conversations until its gone and we've spoken about it. If I'm waiting for something in my car, or can't sleep, I will watch pimple/blackhead pore strip/abscess videos on youtube. It is a disgusting fascination that I share with a couple of my cousins, and when we have weekends away together it is a hot topic much to my sisters dismay. 

I take hanging clothes on the line way too seriously. If Luke helps out with the washing I can't watch him do it because he doesn't use the same coloured pegs on each item, or keep the clothes in their groups. I keep all the smalls together, the shirts together based on their style and if their mine or Luke's, and need all the pegs to be the same colour on each row. I especially like to fuss over and hang out Romy's little clothes. I end up adding extra time on this mundane task, but now that I'm a SAHM its okay!

Today We..

Woke up to some lovely Romy Bear snuggles

Ate blueberry bagels for breakfast

Played cafes at home

Worked on a nest project

Stocked our pantry

and made an afternoon trip to the shops.

Currently

Reading: My Sister & I have a mutual love for Mindy Kaling and she lent me her book,"Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)". And it is hilarious! I have just a little bit left of this read, but really love what I have read so far. She is a nutty little fancy pants.

Watching: "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" for the first time. Oh man, I don't even know what is happening in that show half the time it is so all over the place in the best kind of way. It is similar in tone to How I Met Your Mother, only with a darker sarcastic approach. Charlie Day is also really kind of cute.

Listening to: Empire Of The Sun's second album, Ice On The Dune. Luke Steel is quite possibly one of my favourite artists  of all time. The first time I ever saw him was when The Sleepy Jackson were supporting Silverchair years ago on their Across The Night tour. Before I saw them, I had heard 'Pack Of Nails' on the radio and I remember thinking how different and kooky he was. And ever since then each of his performances and projects have been crazier than the last. I'm enjoying Ice On The Dune a little more than Walking On A Dream at this point.

Thinking about: how there are getting fewer months towards the end of the year, and how the remaining ones are going to be quite busy. Romy has already grown so much in the past few weeks that I can only imagine how much more she is going to grow and progress. And how much more of my time I will be able to spend enjoying her sweet company.

Working on: starting my own Etsy store. This has been one of the major things I've really been wanting to do on my to-do-list the past couple of years and I finally feel ready to do it! I have been giving it a lot of thought lately and really committed to making that happen. I've got so many exciting ideas, and I can't wait to share more about this new project!

Loving: My new coffee machine! It was on my July wish list, and a couple of days ago Luke & I bought it! I no longer have to factor in leaving the house each morning to get a latte, I can now make it for myself in my pyjamas. 

Anticipating: the safe arrival of my friend Ali's baby boy! I am really excited that Ali & I have gone from being friends in our late teens, to friends as mothers in our mid twenties. Now that I know just how wonderful it is to be a Mum, I get really excited for other parents-to-be and the wonderful journey they are about to start. 

Romy's First Road Trip

On Sunday morning we left early for Romy's first road trip. Luke & I both were born and grew up in Gunnedah, and a lot of our extended family lives there. We both hadn't been back together in a good couple of years, so it was nice to catch up with family we hadn't seen in quite some time. I was a little worried before hand about how Romy would go for an extended period of time in the car, but she loved it! So much so that when we stopped at traffic lights or to give way she made little sad noises and would stop when we were in motion. So we were pretty lucky in that regard. The trip normally takes four hours, but we took our time and stopped for an hour to feed her, so we arrived late Sunday afternoon. After quickly catching up with Luke's dad and unpacking our things, we met up with my Nan & Aunty on my Dad's side. Afterwards we had pizza for dinner, which is a Sunday tradition for us that we were able to keep up with this week! 

On Monday we visited my Aunty, Uncle & Cousin on my Mum's side out at their farm for morning cups of tea in the sun. We ended up staying a little longer than we thought and didn't take Romy's bottle with us, so we had to leave to feed her. Shortly after we got back to Luke's Dad's house where we were staying, one of my Aunty's visited with her parents and one my Cousin. And following their visit was Luke's Aunty & Cousins. By this point in the afternoon Romy was getting quite overwhelmed and tired and she just wouldn't settle. After she finally settled, we had dinner and finished the evening looking through some old photos. It was really nice to hear stories about when Luke was a little boy. 

On Tuesday morning I caught up with an old friend and met her daughter Elsie, who was born shortly after Romy. The next stop after that was my Granny on my Mum's side. My Mum's Sister called in quickly also and she snapped up some cute family photos. There is only a small handful of photos of just Luke, Romy & I, so that was nice to have some more taken. We went back out to my Aunty & Uncles farm to have dinner, and it was such an enjoyable evening with baked risotto and homemade apple crumble. Romy was on her best behaviour and even skipped her nightly witching hour and was content to be nursed by everyone and fawned over!

On our last morning in Gunnedah we went out for breakfast at a cafe where my one of my Cousins works with Luke's Dad & his partner & her two girls. We loaded up on coffee and left around lunch time. The trip home went relatively fast and we called into my Sister's house on the way back to the Coast for surprise Romy hugs. When we finally got home it was quite late, so we unpacked, bought some wine and ordered in pizza. It was the perfect way to end our couple of days together. We both had the loveliest time, and getting away for a couple of days had encouraged us to plan some upcoming get aways and little day trips. 

We're Home!

We got home this evening from our little road trip, and I must say it was a success! Romy was a great car traveller, and adjusted quite well to the new environment & the steady stream of visitors. I'll post about Romy's first little trip away tomorrow, but for now there is unpacking, wine & pizza.

A New Direction: A Blog Post About Blog Posts

Towards the end of my pregnancy I started to think about what direction I wanted my blog to take after becoming a mother. I don't feel like motherhood solely defines me, and as everything is still so new and surreal, at this point I wouldn't feel comfortable primarily writing baby posts. There are a couple of mother-type blogs that I love to read and have picked up some really helpful bits of advice from, but I also like to read lifestyle blogs with cocktail recipes, outfit posts and bloggy-type photography (you know the kind!). Don't get me wrong, I will be trying my best to not post fifty photos a week of my beautiful daughter (for those follow me on instagram), so there still will be a generous amount of Romy Bear love here!

So last week while Romy was having an uncharacteristically long cat nap, I took the time to sit down with my thoughts about what I really wanted to put into my blog from this point onwards. I've been blogging at this space for almost two years now and even though I have shared my daily adventures that show little bits and pieces of what I like and how I spend my days, I don't really personalise my posts. I have a habit of spending too much time with an idea that the opportunity to pursue it passes. And this has especially been the case with posts for this blog. So I drew up a calendar and filled almost every day with a blog post and ideas for future features. After two years I finally have decided to go down the planned post route, and as a result I'm feeling really positive about my online adventures. And it has put me into a more organised headspace offline too. Luke & I have started to implement a routine for Romy now that she is more responsive, and I've been thinking more about how I can make better use of my time.

For now my 'Start Your Week Off With' feature will still be every Monday, and my 'Fancy Folk' feature will be up again as of this Friday. You can now expect some more lists, illustrations, daily adventures, personal updates and my journey into being a first time mum. Oh, and some consistency! And tomorrow my new blog design will hopefully be installed to keep up with the spirit of change.

Romy's First Shopping Center Meltdown

[Post shopping center meltdown]

Yesterday we had quite an eventful trip to the shops. After I had a coffee date with one of the Mum's I met at Mothers Group, Luke & I took Romy to the shops quickly so we could pick up some white onesies and groceries. Rather than go in and get exactly what we needed, we made the common shoppers mistake of 'just quickly' looking in shops we didn't need to. And trying on clothes for myself that weren't white onesies for Romy. As we were getting the last of our groceries Romy woke up with a vengeance and was quite vocal in telling me she was hungry. Luke could hear her from the opposite end of the grocery store! When I found where Luke was I told him I was taking Romy to the car. After I left, Luke went to walk down an isle when he overheard a group of older ladies having a discussion about how I was a bad mother because 'when babies cry they generally want something'. Luke politely told the busybodies that sometimes babies do cry, to which they snapped at him that he wasn't invited into their discussion as it was none of his business. He told them it was his business as that was in fact his baby and wife they were talking about, and that they shouldn't be so quick to judge as I was taking the baby out to the car to feed her (not that it was any of their business!). 

While that was happening inside the shopping center, I was taking Romy out to the car. I had my back turned for a second as I was unpacking the pram, and turned back around to put the carrier into the car when I saw that a stranger was trying to pick Romy up out of the pram! I had to try and contain my reaction incase this strange woman's intentions were malicious. I quickly picked Romy up & the woman tried to reassure me that it was okay for them to cry. Even though it was completely inappropriate for this woman to approach my child and try to pick her up in a bid to comfort her, I was very glad that was her intentions as they could have been much worse. This isn't the first negative experience we've had at the shops since we've had Romy. One of our first trips to the shops she cried as we were leaving the shopping center and on our way out we had several people make comments to us that we 'need to take that baby home and feed it'. I am constantly amazed at just how rude some people can be. It is totally unnecessary to go up to a stranger and tell them what they should do, when they are in fact in the process of doing just that very thing! 

At least when Romy is much older we'll be able to laugh about how outrageous shoppers found her as a baby!

Taking The Bear Out For The First Time

Last week Luke, Romy & I ventured out for our first family coffee date together. It has been a good couple of weeks since Luke & I have had the time to go out and just sit and talk over coffee without having to rush off to work or an appointment. And because Luke knows me so well he also ordered lemon tart for our afternoon tea! Romy was very well behaved and slept soundly in her pram. The cafe we went to is a five minute walk from our house, however we took the walk at a snails pace and got there after fifteen minutes. I'm still not feeling so fantastic after having a caesarean and didn't want to push myself too far, but I needed to get out of the house. I'm not used to being house bound for such long stretches, so the past two weeks have been a frustrating in that regard. Before Romy made her early arrival we had only been living in our new house for about three weeks, and hadn't done any wondering in our new area so I didn't know just how close we are to a decent cafe. So when I've made a full recovery it will make for a nice walk to grab a coffee. I've been itching to leave the house especially the last couple of days, and can't wait to have adventures with my new little family!

It's Oh So Quiet, Shh, Shh, Shh!

So glad to see our old flat finally empty!

It's been a little quiet around these parts the last week because over the Easter long weekend Luke & I moved house. Finally! With only seven more weeks until our baby arrives, we got around to looking for a place and organising our much anticipated move. And we picked the best weekend to do so - I had to work for the most part, and Luke had most of the weekend off. I was quite useless this house move being pregnant and all. Luke & my Mum basically did everything from packing up our old flat, going through our things, and moving them into our new house. And while I was at work, they spent the day together cleaning our old flat from top to bottom. We've now been in our new house for a week, and we are unpacking the last of our boxes and things are starting to take shape. Now, the exciting part, setting up the babies room and our little home projects we finally have the space for! I'm really excited to share some of our upcoming nesting projects and to finally put use to the DIY's I've been drooling over for months. 

So Long February!

Luke & I were talking the other night and mid conversation it dawned on me that at the end of this week it would be March. March! How did the third month of the new year creep up so quickly?! Right from the beginning of my pregnancy the main advice I got was to stay busy, and I am so glad that I have been because the time has just flown by so super quickly. So quickly in fact that this week I hit the 28 week mark and realisation that I need to get organised has officially kicked in! I've been getting two days off during the week now after having only one day off for the past couple of months, and with that extra day I've been able to achieve so much more. This month I've done a couple of my blood tests I've been putting off, booked a bunch of my hospital appointments, finally picked out the pram we're going to get, bought some other baby stuff that isn't in the form of a cute onesie, caught up with a friend for dinner, started to look for a new place to live, made the decision to get a new car, bought said new car, organised a new internet contract & updated my car insurance policy (both for which I'm now saving a bundle on!). I've also been able to cross off so many things on my to-do list such as finishing my cousin's wedding invitations as well as my baby shower invitations, make my friends resume look snappy, finish buying baby presents for some other lovely ladies, cook dinner for my parents, and spend some time planning some new things for this little blog that I've put on the back burner for the past couple of months. 

I definitely don't feel as though I have wasted much of my spare time this year, but I do feel as though I achieved a lot more throughout February. And the most important thing I was able to do, was to spend more quality time with Luke. We've both been so busy with work that we have only been able to see each other for an hour or two in the afternoons because of our different work schedules. So for March I intend on making the time to do things rather than leaving it up to chance to have the time for them. See you next year February!