Five Year Re-enactment

Surely it cannot be five years since I had my first precious cuddles as a new mum?

 

Alas, it is.  My big boy celebrated his fifth birthday on the 19th January.

Since we were away at the time, he had a couple of parties - one with family and friends in Dunsborough, and a low-key barbecue in Perth.  Plus there was a very exciting trip to Scitech on his birthday. He and Flynn both threw tantrums when it was time to leave - partly because they were having so much fun, and partly because the lights and noise were overstimulating.

He wanted a dinosaur cake, so I made him 'Stella Stegosaurus'
the Australian Women's Weekly cake book.

Scitech

I Can't Call Him 'Bubba Flynn' Anymore

Flynn turned two last Saturday, the 23rd September.  Although he's been 'toddling' for 10 months now, I guess his second birthday also officially marks toddlerhood and the 'terrible twos' (the 'terrible ones' have been bad enough).

We headed to Perth for the long weekend, but, sadly, his birthday wasn't all that happy.  He's been suffering from an ear infection (he's had a fair few) for the past couple of weeks and will be requiring grommets.  His birthday involved screaming, a visit to the doctor, and yet another lot of antibiotics.

All that aside, I can scarcely believe it was two years ago I met him and saw his red hair for the first time, and remarked, "Hello, Bubba.  Where did you come from?"

I love him so much!

Peppa Pig cake he took to daycare on the Monday before his birthday.
Or maybe it's George...not sure (Duncan said it can be a 'gender-
neutral pig').

He didn't want his photo taken.

Nope, still not keen on a photo.

We had a small party for him in Perth.  He also loves dinosaurs,
so I made this cake. I got the idea from here.

Not a Pinterest Christmas

I tried to do some Christmasy stuff with my boys (well, Rory in particular) this year, without falling into the trap of becoming a Pinterest mum.  Although, I still fall into the trap of comparing myself with other mums, I wanted to keep it low key while at least doing SOMETHING. 

This was our advent calendar.  Unlike last year's, we made it before December started and had all 25 days.  Rory painted one side, I wrote the numbers on the envelopes and he traced them.  I (mostly) remembered to put M&Ms in the envelopes.  The downside was that the Bible readings I printed off the internet went over Rory's head a bit and he lost interest very quickly.  We did read a few Christmas stories though.

The tree went up on the 1st December, with Rory, Flynn and Liz the nanny all helping.  The playpen was VERY necessary.  We'd really need an electric fence to stop Flynn grabbing baubles.

Flynn grabbed a packet of wipes and put them under the tree.
I'm not sure if that was his gift contribution, or if that's what
he wanted for Christmas.

I made these biscuits a couple of times from a recipe someone shared on Facebook.  I just used Milk Arrowroots to save time, iced them and decorated them with spearmint leaves and red M&Ms or Jaffas.

I took the boys to their daycare Christmas party on the 21st December.

My uncle's ex-partner made Flynn his own Christmas stocking, like she did for me and my brother, and my cousins when we were little.  Two years ago, I passed mine onto Rory, so she thought it was only right that she make one for Flynn.  She is so lovely and I'm glad we're still in touch.  I sewed Flynn's name onto it (alas I'm not much of a sewer).

My Last Baby

Flynn turned one last Friday the 23rd September and so I farewelled my last baby.  Never again will I have a little bubba nestled in my arms.  Despite all of the difficulties I've had, I will miss that stage.

Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to him growing up, being able to do more things.  But I just love bubbas.  Knowing that it would be oh so very unwise to have another one brings me much grief.

It was a happy day, celebrating my cheeky redheaded munchkin's first year of life outside the womb.  He is such a character and a delightful addition to our family.

Present time!

Big brothers are great for help with unwrapping presents.

I tried to make a '1' cake, but it didn't quite turn out.
Another cake fail.  Nevertheless, it was very tasty.

With Nanny (my mum).

What a difference a year makes! 

Cake Fail

I think I've mentioned a few times on this blog that novelty cakes are not my forte.  This was proved again on Duncan's 35th birthday back on the 21st July, when I attempted to make him a fish cake (he was about to embark on a blokes' fishing weekend).

But it tasted great and we all enjoyed it, which was the main thing.

Stay tuned for more cake fails.

Just keeping it real.

5 Things We've Been Up To Lately

1.  We went to a fantastic Christian conference in Perth in mid July.  Having a toddler in tow meant either Duncan and I had to spend time in the parenting room while the other went to the talks, but it was still a great time.  Here's Rory at a park in Fremantle while Duncan was at one of the sessions.

2.  We celebrated Duncan's 34th birthday on the 21st July.  This is the farm-themed cake I made for him (about the extent of my novelty cake-making ability).  Rory was NOT impressed that I borrowed his toys.

3.  I went away for a weekend by myself.  For the last two Mother's Days I've been telling Duncan that the best present I could receive was some time out/a mental health weekend/a 'Sarah retreat'.  So, I finally went away to Albany and housesat my parents' house while they were away.  It was a lovely time.  So quiet....but I did miss my fellows.

4.  I had my hair cut off.  I figured I'll be going through another postnatal moult soon enough and having a little bubba grab your hair while feeding is not very pleasant.

5.  We went to Dunsborough last weekend to see Duncan's family before the bubba is born.  Unfortunately Duncan had the flu so he missed out on seeing his relatives.  I took Rory out and about a bit.  He had a ball catching up with one of his 'besties', Sarah.

The Dreaded Allergy Testing....One Year On

Yesterday, we made a flying visit to Perth for Rory's follow-up allergy testing.  Yes, it's been a whole year since that devastating initial diagnosis.

I'm very happy to report that the visit was a resounding success.  So, so different to last time!  It was the same doctor, but he had a much friendlier bedside manner.  Last time Rory screamed like he was being murdered, but this time he was calm and co-operative, and even giggled as the allergens were placed on his arm.  He NEVER usually reacts well at doctors' surgeries, so that was definitely a miracle from God's hand.

The best news is that he has outgrown all of his minor allergies to some fruit and vegetables (tomatoes, squash, strawberries) and his dairy and egg allergies have significantly reduced.  We can now start the desensitisation process of first giving him biscuits containing dairy and egg, followed by cake, then pancakes, and quiche.  He has a follow-up appointment in October, and if all is going well, we can proceed further with hard-boiled eggs, butter and cheese.

He wasn't retested for his environmental allergies (cats, dustmites and grass) as the allergist believes they will be permanent.  I was a bit disappointed.  I guess I was hoping for a miracle.  I may not be able to ever get Ebony back, but I was hoping to get another kitty one day.

But overall, I'm so thankful to God that my little boy can now start enjoying some new foods.  The hard bit will be convincing him it's ok to eat them now.  He's so used to not being allowed certain things; he knows which things he can eat and that's that.

Cooking For Kids With Allergies

This has been my main challenge since March when Rory was diagnosed with multiple food allergies.  In hindsight though, God was preparing me for this since I was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis three and a half years ago.

Thanks to Libby (who comments on this blog) and Jessie from Itchin' Kitchen, my task has been made a lot easier.

Check out this website if you have children with allergies.  I love trying the different recipes.  Getting a toddler to try something new is the main challenge though.

Chicken and vegetable pies for Rory.

Friday Funny

DIARY OF A YOUNG WIFE

Monday
Now home from honeymoon and settled into our new home.
It's fun to cook for Tim.  Today I made an angel food cake and the recipe said, "beat 12 eggs separately."  Well, I didn't have enough bowls to do that, so I had to borrow 12 bowls to beat the eggs in.  The cake turned out fine though.

Tuesday
We wanted a fruit salad for supper.  The recipe said, "Serve without dressing."  So I didn't dress.  But Tim happened to bring a friend home for supper that night.  They both looked so startled when I served them.  I think it was the salad.

Wednesday
I decided to serve rice and found a recipe which said, "Wash thoroughly before steaming the rice."  So I heated some water and took a bath before steaming the rice.  Sounded kinda silly in the middle of the day.  I can't say it improved the rice anyhow.

Thursday
Today Tim asked for salad again.  I tried a new recipe.  It said, "Prepare ingredients, then toss on a bed of lettuce one hour before serving."  I hunted all over the place for a garden and, when I got one, I tossed my salad into the bed of lettuce and stood over there for over one hour so the dog would not take it.  Tim came over and asked if I felt alright.  I wonder why?  He must be stressed at work; I'll try to be supportive.

Friday
Today I found an easy recipe for cookies.  It said, "Put all ingredients in a bowl and beat it."  Beat it I did, to my mum's place.  There must have been something wrong with the recipe because when I came back home again, it looked the same as when I left it.

Saturday
Tim went shopping today and brought home a chicken.  He asked me to dress it for Sunday.  I'm sure I don't know how hens dress for Sunday.  I never noticed back on the farm, but I found an old doll dress and its little cute shoes.  I thought the hen looked really cute.  When Tim saw it, he started counting to ten.  Either he was really stressed because of his work, or he wanted the chicken to dance.
When I asked him what was wrong, he started crying and shouting out, "Why me?  Why me?"

Hmmm...I guess it must be his job.

Church Camp 2014

It was nice to be able to be a part of our church camp again this year (last year we had to give it a miss due to Rory being only a few weeks old). 

One of the activities for the weekend was a photo scavenger hunt.  We were given topics and had to creatively think of a photo to take that reflected the said topic.  Duncan and I decided to document Rory's weekend at his first-ever camp:

Sports action
This is Rory and his friend Allen

Bible scene

Food scene

Relaxing weekend

Beach action

Broken

 

Wildlife
This is Rory's beloved bedtime teddy

Our Saturday night entertainment involved getting creative with some fruit and vegetables, knives and toothpicks.  Since I feel very uncomfortable with wasting food, I made sure all toothpicks were removed and lots of people took bags of scraps home for their chooks.

As you can see, there are some VERY talented people in my church when it comes to food art:

Mr Potato Heads

My Mr Potato Head

Rockmelon Jack-O-Lanterns

Farm equipment

Farm equipment

Farm equipment

Food faces

Bible scene.
This is my entry hehe.  Yes, I know Eve wore fig leaves, but I
thought cabbage and spring onion underwear would be a winner.

Moses parting the Red Sea

Last supper

Nativity

It was lovely spending the weekend near Perkins Beach (between Albany and Denmark).  My Saturday afternoon swim was so refreshing.