Making reading even more fun with crafts…

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Aidan loves reading! okay he loves me reading to him and then memorising the story and pretending to read it back to me. Since he is only two, things don’t hold his attention for very long (books included) so I often do crafts based on any new books he gets to make it more exciting.

Thanks to Kid’sBookClub he will be getting books every month now so MORE CRAFTING FOR ME!!! I mean for him, I totally do this for him not me 😉 The books come to our door with magazines for me and I can’t tell you how much I love the concept!!! you should totally join

https://www.kidsbookclub.co.za/cart.php

Some books for you and some for me mommy

 Last month we received Cloud Babies and My Favourite Food and I went with a my Favourite Food craft

Favourite food activity

The book is about a duck who goes around asking the other animals on the farm what their favourite food is. He tries their favourites but decides he prefers his… I could not get farm animals (okay I didn’t go look I just used what I had) so I went with an African feel 🙂
First I used foam stickers which I bought from Crazy store and stuck them on to pegs
Kind of like I did for this fun family wall activity

I then googled pictures of what the animals eat (yes the animals do not eat steaks but I did not want to traumatize my veggie son with pictures of animals eating animals that look like animals-you get me) I stuck them on a page using Microsoft Paint (my go to) and printed it out on card and covered it all in contact plastic.

Then all you do is give the page and pegs to your kid and have them “feed the animals” by pegging the animals onto their food choices 🙂

Happy feeding

Is it too late for a new year resolution

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*freedigitalphotos.net

So like thousands (millions even) of people who have come across their reflection and stood mortified as they realised how close bikini season is… I am embarking on a “weight loss trip”

I saw a picture of me the other day and HATED IT!!! I look like an “aunty”! you know, like frumpy and boring and big… Now I firmly believe that you can look good at any size, you can embrace your body and be fabulous at any size. BUT! you can only do it if you feel comfortable in your body which I currently DO NOT!

Not only because nothing fits or because I realise it’s summer and I will need to expose my arms to the world or the world to my arms…but because I just don’t feel healthy and energised.

With my medical history; fatty liver disease, insulin resistance and unexplained water retention (they have run EVERY TEST possible) I have known for a while that  I couldn’t live all “willy nilly” eating just anything. For the most part I’ve been good, steam instead of fry… low sugar, low salt, low fat and my Dr. even commended me for keeping my liver from acquiring more spots and keeping insulin under control all without medication. So I’m not doing horribly.

I realised though that if I wanted to feel comfortable in my own skin again I am going to have to become more active and eat even cleaner…

So that’s where I am today… I’m embarking on (yes every few months I say this, don’t be judgy, I’m trying)  a health journey… I’m back on MyFitnessPal which is an app that diarises your calories and exercise and “keeps you honest” if used correctly. I’ve had great success with it in the past so it’s time I put the effort in again.

More than the eating thing though, I want to get more active, that’s the point of all this. I really miss “fit Eleanor” I want to be able to run and jump and body board again… I can’t even carry Aidan for a long time even though he insists (I’m not that heavy mommy, just try, you can do it).
I don’t know if it’s because the sun is out, but I feel like I should be running outside enjoying the weather with my son, but the stairs put me in ICU… so no more excuses! here goes nothing, no in fact, here goes EVERYTHING

My favourite five baby products

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what this little person used



Aidan is two and a half years old he will actually be exactly that on Monday.

This means he is not a baby anymore, no matter how hard it is for me to accept this!
Recently I’ve had a few people ask me about products that worked for him in the baby stage and I swear I’m like uhmmmmmmmmmmmm didn’t he just come here this age? I forget everything…
I decided to sit down and remember the products I really loved from the baby stage, so I could have an answer for the “what worked for you questions” 🙂 so here goes: 
Disclaimer, every child is different and every parent has different views, these are just my opinions 🙂 what I put in italics is from the manufacturers but this is not  a sponsored post.

Telament drops 

 The mommy group I belong to swear by this stuff and so do I. When my nephew was born and struggled with painful winds I was very eager to suggest this stuff. My doctor recommended it for my “crying all hours of the night because of winds” baby and I remember after the first dose I was like *ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh*. As with everything do not go over the recommended allowance, I have been told that can cause tummy problems, cant remember if it’s diarrhea or constipation, either way, READ THE LEAFLET

Tommie Tippie Stage One Teether 

 ” The Stage 1 Easy Reach Teether is the first of 3 stages of teethers designed to soothe your baby through every teething stage. The triple-action design includes massaging surfaces, surfaces to bite on and a special channel for teething gel.”
This was a real lifesaver!!! put teething gel on and he chews away merrily, it saved us a lot of heartache. Funny thing is (Aidan who started teething early and practically had ALL his teeth by his first birthday, refused to go back to a dummy/pacifier after we introduced this at around 3 months – granted he was never biggest fan of the dummy, but after this it was a no go). Also it made him look like a tiny rugby player.

  Sudocrem bum cream

 I’ve mentioned my love for this stuff before in my baby bag to beauty bag post but it would be wrong to not list it here. This cream is great, honestly clears up rashes in a jiffy and is great for the whole family to use

 Pure Squish Baby Food 

Although I made most of Aidan’s baby food using my 6 steps to fool proof baby food I loved these for on the go times, No artificial additives and no mess. I bought the spoon attachment and it worked great. Aidan loved these and I regularly packed it into his lunch (well the toddler version) until recently but went off them when he decided “he was not a baby anymore”.

 Karvol Cradle Cap Cream

 Aidan had a case of cradle cap as a baby and this really helped, a skin condition sometimes seen in babies caused by excessive production of sebum, characterized by areas of yellowish or brownish scales on the top of the head. His was pretty bad so what I actually ended up doing as “his treatment” was to mix coconut oil and baby oil, and slather his head in it, leaving it on for over 30 minutes, I then just used a baby comb to comb his hair and the gross scales came off (don’t freak out if some hair comes out, it’s normal). After that I just kept using the karvol cradle cap cream and we never had problems again

Little teapot inspired body/hair butter recipe

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rooibos

So following the success of our Story book challenge where myself and three other bloggers did DIY challenges based on the stories; Cinderella,  Peter Pan, Charlie and the Chocolate factory, and Alice in Wonderland. We are now starting a challenge based on nursery rhymes, yeah for challenges 🙂 also we have a new addition to the DIYers Venean (she is sooo funny) and Amelia is sitting this one out while she gets all healthy again.

We will be doing the Little teapot, Twinkle little star, Mary quite contrary and Mary had a little lamb.

Today we start with:

Real Wahms of SA: Laura freelances

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Today I feature Laura from Harassed Mom who also happens to be a happily harassed Wahm.
I have mentioned that I love her blog before, she was actually one of the “first well known blogger with a following and stuff” I got up the courage to ask for an interview last year… see HERE and she replied and was friendly and I hyperventilated and she let me do craft posts for BlogShareConnect,and I passed out and now I’m all , “I know that chick really! not really” (because I’m creepy and we have not really met in person). Laura has recently become one half of the SAmomblogs management team… here is her story:

 

Tell us about your family
We are a modern day Brady Bunch. David and I have been together for 6 years, married for 2. We have four children, Cameron, our resident over achieving teenager, Kiara is the creative tween, Jack is the fussy four year old and Emma, the toddler, rules the roost with an iron fist.

Why did you become a work from home mom
When I met David, the older two kids had just started pre-primary and I was realising that they actually needed more of my time than they did when they were babies. I was taking time off work weekly to make sports events, meet with teachers, transport them here and there. I told David it was my goal to be able to be there for them more and so we made a plan to make it happen.

What was the most unexpected part of becoming a wahm
Just how much I would love it. I have never really been one who enjoys not having control or not knowing what is going to happen and being a WAHM nothing is guaranteed, one month could be fantastic and the next month disastrous. I never knew I would learn to accept that and almost prefer it to a normal 9-5 office job.

What has been the hardest part
All the above. The financial uncertainty is probably the hardest part.

What is the most rewarding
Being able to do what I really love and be there for the kids. It’s not all picture perfect but I get it right more often than not and on those days I high five myself a lot!

What is your day like
Mondays and Wednesdays – Up at 6h00 (usually we are awake earlier) to make breakfast and lunches, 6h50 I drop off the middle two kids, 8h00 Yoga, 9h30 – 13h30 I work. (Emma’s nanny comes on a Mon, Wed and Fri). 13h30 – 16h45 is mom taxi time – school pick ups, dancing and swimming. I cook in between all of that – kids at home eat at 17h00. David is home about 18h00, heat eats. Cam gets fetched at 18h30, he eats. Emma goes down at 18h30, Jack down 19h30 and big kids at 20h00. We are usually in bed by then too if we don’t do some work, its usually when David and I chat and catch up.
Tues and Thurs – Emma goes to her granny so I after I have dropped the kids, I start working and then it’s the same routine as Monday and Wed from 13h30.
Fridays – Emma and I go to Moms and Babes at 10h45 – 13h00.

Tell us about your business
Right now I am a freelance writer/blogger. I am also spending a lot of time with Heather on SA Mom Blogs, which is doing really well.

Where did business idea and name come from
It just sort of happened. I have been blogging for years but after a few failed business attempts it was the one thing that remained constant and the income started increasing and led to other freelancing opportunities.

Where do you see it going
Hopefully I can secure a few big regular clients to keep me busy and Heather and I have great plans for SA Mom Blogs.