Let Them Eat Cake... Fruit Cake!

I had a mother ask question the other day about her daughter's birthday cake. She wasn't allowed to take a proper, baked cake into her day care to celebrate her special day so she was looking for alternatives. And whilst it was disheartening and a little sad to read, and to acknowledge how different things are in 2012 to when I was younger, it was a great excuse to become more educated in varying forms of birthday 'cakes'.

And when you see what I have found, you'll see why they're 'cakes' and not cakes.

They're amazing. They're works of art.

Fruit Art!

These cakes are made from fresh fruit.

Watermelon, strawberries, bananas, grapes... all these amazing (and healthy!) fruits.

How EASY does this look?!
From: Family Fun Magazine

From: Indulgy

Fruit Train? This is THE best!
From: Tera Warner

Watermelon Shark
From: Manolo for the Big Girl

Ok, there's NO WAY I would even attempt this, but isn't it pretty?!
From: Fruit Catering

Watermelon Smiley Face
From: Tummy 2 Mummy

Turtle Power!
From: Urlybits


So next time, when you're looking at Birthday Cake ideas, how about a nice, fruit alternative?
You could always do cupcakes to go with it, but I think these fresh fruit varieties are awesome!

Yum Yum! xx

Never Can Say Goodbye, Boy

I never can say goodbye. No no no, no no no... No no no Ooooh Ooooh!

I've had a really emotional day today. I've been my normal self, but there's been something niggling at me... and tonight it came out and I burst into tears.

I don't do crying. I'm not a good cryer - I feel ugly, pathetic and completely vulnerable.

And I don't like vulnerable.

You see, if things work out the way we 'want' them to, my husband (my rock and best friend) could be moving interstate at the end of the Financial Year. Without us. And while I know this must be SO much harder for him than it is me, it only hit me last night, when checking out my diary and realising that it's really only 5-weeks away.

He hasn't even got the job. He hasn't even been interviewed, but there's *something* in my gut that tells me that it could be. And it scares me.

My husband is wanting a career change, and has been looking for a FIFO job on the mines with what feels like a million other people for about 12-months now. Not even ONE interview. And we learnt as a result that securing a job is a lot like winning lotto... and it's a case of not 'what' you know, but 'who' you know.

Luckily, if that's really the word I should be using right now, our best man and one of hubby's closest mates works for a company in WA that has a Trade Upgrade Program. Something hubby needs (apparently), desperately, as he is only a Light Vehicle Mechanic. It's a 2-year (maybe less) program where he'll get his trade upgraded with a company that has contracts throughout the Mining Industry all over Australia. So really it's a great opportunity for him to get into his chosen career... but it still means he will be living in another state as it's a residential position only.

Moving as a family isn't an option. With Logan's issues (and therefore a need for him to be in a stable environment), and with my new business... it's just not possible.

He will come home and visit us when he can. Cries.

I really don't know how I am going to cope. I am tough and I know that I will, but my husband will be living in another state. Another freaking state. That's almost laughable when you think about it.

"Hey Megs, where's Cammo?"

"Oh ya know... in PERTH!"

"Hey Megs, when will you see Cammo"

"No freaking idea!"

But really, this bed is kinda big when there's just me in it :( It's kinda sad to think of having him not there next to me, snoring as I type my blog entries (such as right now), or have him wave at the kids through the window when he gets home every night. Or kiss me goodbye every morning.

But as a team, we agreed that this was the BEST (and at the moment the only) choice for us.

That in the long term it would pay off.

But my goodness I regret agreeing to it. I wish I could take it all back and just latch onto him and not let go. But he needs this.

He deserves this.

Do you read me, Karma people?! He DESERVES this. Give it to him.

Thank Goodness for Sleeping Babies

With Logan I had it pretty lucky. He was and still is a fantastic sleeper.
And because of that I was in a false sense of security when it came to having another baby. I thought that I bred good sleeping babies. That by some genetic miracle, it was all me.

This lasted until Ryder was born and was anything but the cruisy baby I had experienced with his older brother. I was in Struggle Town and felt like a new mother. And I needed help.

You see, Ryder was a reflux baby. He had colic, wind, and was awake every 20-minutes for the first couple of weeks of his little life. I tried to breastfeed, I wasn't able to with Logan and really wanted to push myself harder... yet no matter what I did there was no supply. I was expressing, breastfeeding, topping up with formula, whilst dealing with next to no sleep. If it wasn't for the amazing support from my husband, and those close to me I don't think I would have coped. And the decision was made to stop stressing over something I obviously had no control over, and the fight to breastfeed was lost.

I cried. On and off for days.

I was a failure and was depriving my son of everything a mother should give.
That's what I kept telling myself, and it was ripping me up inside. To a certain extent it still does, but I can now reflect and see that there is no way I would have been able to satisfy him - he's just one of 'those' hungry, hungry babies.

It took a long time for Ryder to get into a good sleep routine. And having issues with reflux meant he was super clingy and we fell into a routine of putting him to sleep in our arms. I loved it, I loved the bonding it enabled us as parents, but at the same time it became more and more difficult to settle him as he became more aware of his surroundings. And he fought. And on one occasion Mummy got a black eye from said fighting.

On a bad night he'd wake hourly. On a normal night it was every 2-3 hours.

In Ryder's first 6-months, I can count on one hand how many times he slept through. He'd fall asleep at about 9pm (after fighting to the death with us for goodness knows how long) and would awake at about 3am, and then again at 6am. That to us was a Lotto win. And we'd awake in the middle of the night too scared to go and check up on him incase it woke him up, yet too scared not to go, in fear something had gone wrong.

You can only imagine the fear when he recently started sleeping 11-hours. Straight. And the elation that came when it wasn't a one-off. Thank goodness for sleeping babies! Mummy and Daddy are feeling alive.

And on a Sunday morning where we've actually had a sleep in, we feel human. Both of us. All of us.

Are you a Thinker or a Doer?

According to Home Hardware, there are 2 types of people in this world: Thinkers and Doers.

For those that don't know, it's an advertisement which consists of a conversation between an animated dog and cat for a local hardware company. It's not something I normally pay attention to, but I have been home sick for the past 2 days whilst both children have either been at school or day care. I've become reacquainted with Daytime TV.

Sorry Home Hardware, I disagree.

You see, I am both. I think, and then I do. I am both a thinker and a doer.
And the problems associated with that is I juggle. A lot.
I manage it all somehow, but it means a lot of lists, a lot of zoning out, and most of all organisation. Maybe a little bit of forgetfulness and thus, a little bit of forgiving.

Part of my problem with being the thinker AND the doer, is that I almost force myself into it. Accidentally.
Because I cannot keep my stupid mouth shut.

I get all these great ideas, and in my head I think to myself "lets see how it goes, work it out later", and almost by some kind of word-vomit, I blurt it out to the next person I see. It then means I HAVE to do it, for fear of not following through with an idea or a plan.

Instead of thinking "how cool would that be?!", instead it's "guess what I'm doing!"
ARGH! I'd really like to step outside my body and slap myself upside the head sometimes!

I aim to please, and hate to disappoint FAR too much.

But because of this 'weakness' I have found a hidden strength. I can push myself, and work far harder than I thought I could. I can achieve what I set out to and as a result, I am achieving a lot in a short space of time.

It was only last week that I celebrated the 3-month birthday of Adelaide Mummy Meetings.
A business that was born on the same day as the idea and concept. A simple case of 'Megs Word Vomit Ideas'... I had a thought, blurted it out, created it... and it boomed. Holy guacamole!

It was never intended that way but considering it did, I couldn't let it fail. I didn't want to be responsible for a flop. Subsequently it's probably been the busiest 3-months of my life, but it's been some of the best too. I've realised my calling. And for that, I couldn't feel more proud.

Being a Thinker and a Doer seems to suit me. But as I run out of time, I may have to shelve some of my thinking until all the doing is done!

Ha! Fat Chance....