Banking

This concept was first introduced to me when I was teaching. Im not sure who exactly coined the phrase M,C, or B but emotional banking always helped behavior at school in the long run. I think I need to do some with Monkey.

Now he is sick and according to the doc his ear infection was pretty shocking (She was quite surprised we had taken so long to bring him in, unfortunately my Monkey doesn't show many signs of sickness until he is really bad so what can I do.) but after a weekend of temper tantrums and frustration (on both sides) this week we are focusing on banking up the positives, and focused time. I realise I have not been at my best when it comes to how I have delt with situations lately. Tiredness and pregnancy pain I suppose, but I think Monkey especially needs me to listen a little more carefully and with more intention. This can be especially difficult when there is so much to be done. Time to take a step back I think and refocus.

 So since we are off kindy and swimming we will hopefully be doing some activities I have been wanting to tackle with the babes and spending some time just doing stuff together. Active listening here I come!

This should be made a little easier by the beautiful weather there is forecast so far. Lovely warm sun so we can spend some time outside.

The banking started on Sunday evening with a little bike practice up and down the street.

Birthday Bugs and Beautiful Beaches

4 years ago I became a Mummy. I cant believe that time has past so fast and yet I feel I never been without my little Monkey. I don't know who was more excited about it me or Monkey.
Unfortunatly it wasnt an alltogether happy day for Monkey as he had to go to the doctor for a very nasty ear infection and cough and was put on Antibiotics. Luckily he has an amazing attitude even when he is sick and was happy for most of the day.

Practicing riding up and down the hall.

Fire Man Sam

First lego set - What bits are in there?

Now to read every book we got straight away.

Monkeys cake on birthday night

The weekend dawned with glorious sunshine. The perfect day to get our new car! We had to go for a drive... it was lunchtime anyway.  So all loaded in and off we went.

Doing a show in the boot!

Talk about a beast!!!

A drive down the coast looking at all the beaches, playgrounds, and sail boats was just what we all needed. We stopped at a fantastic cafe on the beach that even had gluten free options for Miss Boo. 

After we searched rock pools, dug in the sand and just took in all the lovely fresh sea air and wonderful views. 

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend.

Rainy Day

Its grey and rainy outside.

The kids have been couped up inside recovering from colds all day.

We are all going a bit stir crazey.

So what is a mummy to do???

Make playdough of course, there is nothing like playing with fresh warm playdough on a cold winters day.  Monkey chose his current favorite colour "Pink" and away we went. I Made it using my favorite tried and true no cook recipe with one adjustment. I didnt add the salt to the flour instead I dissolved as much as I could in the hot water and didn't use what hadn't dissolved. It was great no grainy bits and so soft! Both Monkey and Miss Boo loved it. Amazingly Miss Boo didnt even eat too much of it which she does with the really salty stuff (doubly glad as I had used normal flour not the gluten free kind).

There is something so relaxing about just sitting and squishing playdough. It was a great way to calm down end the day on a positive note.

Gluten Free...

Well we have started Miss Boo on a gluten free diet. Shes not allergic but we suspect an intolerance, which, if there is Im hoping shell grow out of. We don't eat much in the way of gluten filled food at night anyway but have noticed that especially if we have pizza for dinner she will be extremely unsettled at night and need lots of help sleeping. Since starting to explore this idea I have been doing some reading and some of the other common symptoms like having a distended tummy she regularly has at night. We cant remember if Monkeys tummy ever stuck out as much.., but just put our lack of noticing down to him being a little chubbie bubbie. Now I really do wonder!

Now I would love to say we have noticed a huge difference in the last week but unfortunately Miss Boo has been sick and up all night with us anyway. We are continuing and will see how it goes in the next few weeks.

It has been a huge learning curve for me trying to find food that she can have for snacks and lunches and things. I never knew that most rice puffs had gluten in, who'd have thought. When I look at the food Im starting to give her now its probably a lot better for her. Not that her diet was really bad or anything its just she's eating a lot more whole foods as snacks. I do have to think ahead a bit more when it comes to her lunch so if we are out I have something available especially as I still don't know the safe eat out options yet. But I am so far quite impressed with the selection of foods at my local supermarket.

Today I made my first gluten free treat. I made cupcakes for Monkey's kindy to celebrate his birthday. I have to confess I did make them from a packet as Im not confident enough to make gluten free cakes from scratch yet. I was really impressed with how they turned out. The icing wasn't too flash as it had to be dairy free and Monkey wanted pink and blue icing. They tasted a little like angel food cake however and went down a treat.

excuse the bad light.. they really were pink and blue!

Picture Dump

A few weeks ago I found what have to be one of the best set of crayons for kids. Most crayons I have found are hard to draw with and most leave a grainy texture on the paper and colour on your hands. These new ones look more like felts but are more like pastels to use. I pulled them out for Monkey to use this week. He loved them. I even tried them with Miss Boo but she was more interested in taking the lids off and putting them back on than drawing. It was great that she couldnt eat them like she does with normal crayons. Monkey and I did try using them to do a resist with watercolor paints but they didnt work, not sure if that was because they werent very good water colours or what. We'll give it another try later.

We have been using our sand pit and bubble machine lately even though it has been freezing. Having an outdoor space has been the best thing in the world. Miss boo has also discovered Monkeys trike and love climbing it and being pushed around. 

Ohhh bubbles...

Faster, faster....

I have also been organising Monkeys 4th birthday. It is going to be a octonauts party. Here are the imitations I made. I wanted the octonaut badge to look as though its underwater. Im still not sure how Im going to set up the party.

Being wet and cold has ment that we have had a lot of inside play. Mpnkey decided to turn his tent into a house complete with beds. He dragged all his bedding downstairs and piled it in the tent along with pillows from our bed. He has decided that he wants to spend the night in it one day so we will have to see what we can do.

 More outdoor fun with chalk drawing.

Yummy Chalk!!!

Showing off her new outfit from family in the UK.

 Finlly its weekend and daddy has gone out to get lunch so we sit and wait... our usual occupation in the evenings when He Man is on his way home from work!

"Daddy where are you?"

Check out Miss Tired Eyes only 2 -3 hours sleep last night!!!!

Natural

Pregnancy is not a natural state for me. Some women when pregnant glow, I am not one of these women. I tend to survive! I always want the elusive perfect happy pregnancy, the one where Im not in pain almost everyday and I don't have to take pills for various conditions from nausea to heartburn, but as He-Man says it "ain't going to happen" and it only seems to get worse each time.

There is however one thing I do love more than anything about being pregnant - the kicks! It was the one thing I missed after Monkey was born. I love the feeling of their little feet and hands and sometimes heads moving around my belly. The fact you can almost play games with them as you get further along. The movement is very reassuring and comforting to me. This time is no different except that I was told at 20 weeks the reason Im not feeling much movement is that the placenta is at the front. Well little one heard that and decided not to follow protocol so since then has been kicking enough for me to feel it. As if to say I am here, Im doing good and Im not going to let some doctor tell me how to act! I LOVE IT!!!! This week He-Man even got to feel his first kick.

This pregnancy still doesn't feel too real, maybe it was the lack of having to "try" so hard as we did the last two times or the fact I have been so ill, or maybe its just because Im so busy with my other two. I want this so badly and Im scared to really believe its going to happen.  The kicks are helping.