Crafty shite and a few other things

So we made it to the end of August and now into September.
I still don't know what happened to August. It went by in a blur.
It was a busy month. We had a family friend come stay for 2wks.
We had 4 family birthdays (Mums, Dads and Mine and Miss Midget).
We had a trip to Starship for Missys lump and yeah.

So Missys birthday went really well. All projects that we had set out to do as presents for her were completed and she was thrilled.

We had to acknowlegde that Mummy and Daddy told fibs and that the "trailer shed" was really her new play house. The afternoon of her birthday was the big unveiling. Once she figured out it was for her she promptly made a little track from the house to her little house taking what ever we would let her out there. We had touble getting her in that night. She was determined she was sleeping out there lol. So 3yrs old and ready to move into her own place. I knew she was advanced for her age but that was a bit more than Mummy was going to let happen. I can't imagine it would of lasted long though given theres no power out there or even a bed for that matter :)

As for my little project I'd been working on, I managed to get that completed on the 23rd with the help of my mothers sewing machine. We ended up giving it to Missy when we went down to Auckland for the hospital trip. She seems to like it and has been playing with it a bit since then. It's a bit hard to tell if its a hit due to her having received some many other toys during the course of the week.

Have also been dying to work on a little side project that I had thought of but wanted to wait till I'd finished the house.
Tinker Bell has become a favourite in this house well at least with Miss Midget. So I found a picture online which looked pretty cool with Tinker Bell and all her fairy friends and decided I would try and make them. The last photo in the long list below will give you a indication on how I'm getting on :).

Oh also big news here. The Dummy fairy came and visited on Thursday night. I am now rather sleep deprived as it's about night 3 we're up to tonight without dummy. Miss Midget is doing well though and hasn't asked for the dummy to many times. She did say this morning she missed it though. We just gently remind her that the dummy fairy gave it to a baby that needed one as she was now a big girl and didn't need dummy. She's seems ok with this answer, I do however think she is now trying to substitute her bottle for dummy. So I guess that'll be the next to go.
We haven't been to concerned with the bottle due her food intake during the day (somedays getting her to eat anything is a mission impossible) but I'm thinking now that we will need to seriously look at the bottle as I don't particularly want to be going through this all over again in just a little while.

Anyway thats it for me. My eyes are starting to hang out of my head. I hear my bed calling my name which is a pretty good sign it's sleep time :).
Will update you all on the lump and the starship appointment another day.
 


Playing with the door of her new house

 

Playing with her awesome stove top her Nanny Jan & Popa John made.



Awesome butterflies given to Missy by Nanny Pam and Popa Les

 

Outside view of my house project

Inside view of my house project

My side project :)

 

Where has the year gone?

Well I just realized we're almost half way through this year.
If anyone knows where the first part of the year has gone please let me know as I'm sure it was only January a blink ago.

Man guess everyone is going to start with their mid year reflections and hopes for the rest of the year.
Not sure I have a lot to reflect on. Well I'm sure I do but not sure I want to do it in a public forum :).

I'm happy and thankful that my little family appear to be on track and that we are all happy and to a degree healthy (Apart of early winter sniffles and coughs - they don't count though).

I'm also thankful I have a pretty cool job that is understanding of my need to spend time with Miss Midget. As well as the fact that I can help out where I can :).

I'm super stoked that my daughter has turned back into her sweet loveable happy self instead of the poor wee poppet we had. It's good to see she's happy and she's enjoying everything again :).
I'm also super stoked she's eating her dinner to a degree again (I really hated her dinner time for a while there, still do but while we're going good I'm thankful :)).

This year has been interesting, starting off at Mum and Dad's and working our way back home. Life is funny what happens. Wouldn't have it any other way though. Learnt far to much to want to change any of it :).

It's also crazy that Miss Midget is going to be turning 3 soon. Lots of plans are going into her birthday present. So the little kitchen area I wanted to make for her has turned into a full on play house out the back. So now to actually start building the thing. This will be the fun part :). Oh and find paint for it :).
Just as we'll we're building it out of pallets so the woods all sorted. Now to see if we can build something like the picture I have stuck in my head (I blame pinterest for all the ideas I have for this thing and also my imagine. In my little picture of it it's got a porch and everything. Poor Mr D, don't think he knows what he's in for yet :)).

Alright guys, well I'm off.

Catch ya later.

D

Surviving the Rest Home visit

I'm sure like many others out there you too have loved ones in a rest home, whether it be Grandparents, Parents or loved family friends.


If your like me visiting these loved ones can turn into a major mission, not only because 9x out of 10 I have a Miss Midget in tow but there are all these things you have to take into account.


A) Is it near Morning Tea, Lunch, Afternoon Tea or the very early Dinner? If answer is yes, are your loved ones liable to parade you around the rest home and show you off to all their friends turning your 1/2 hour / hour visit into a few hours affair where you become the side show? If yes my suggestion is unless you have the time and enegry to cope with such an adventure avoid these times or at least have a exit strategy just in case.

B) Do you need to warn them that you are coming? Are they likely to be in their room? - The answer for my grandparents is yes I do need to warn them that I am coming otherwise I could spend a eternity trying to find my way around the rabbit warren and am liable to get lost trying to find them. You can also run the risk of it turning into a A) problem where you turn into the side show. Also if you don't warn them there is the chance that they could be napping etc.

C) Have you rung them in the last few days, this is counting the warning you give them for your visit? - If yours are anything like mine be prepared to hear the same stories again that you heard via the phone. Actually just be prepared to hear the stories again anyway. My grandmother is especially good at telling the same story about 3x in a 30min - 1 hour visit. While this is really no fault of hers. She really just wants to make conversation and due to the fact she's 87 almost 88 I count 3x times a story as not so bad.

D) - Is there a possibility that you may not make the date you told them about? - If there is a slight possibility that you may not be able to make the date that you have told them about then you need to tell them. This will help if you need to make the dreaded "I can't make it" phone call. Also do take into account that your visit is most probably going to be the highlight of their day/week so do not cancel lightly.


Once I have taken all of the above into account then I add the Miss Midget factor -


E) - Is Miss Midget in a good mood? - No She's not? Try and put her in better mood before visit or warn Grandparents that she's not in the happiest of moods and that it will be a short visit. If there is a meltdown prior to leaving, gauge how bad and continue at own risk.

F) What do I need to keep her happy for the time we are at the rest home? - Apart from all the mandatory kids things you take when you are out (bag of nappies and spare clothes just in case) what else does Miss Midget need to make it through this visit? Toys and whatever else you can think of. Food like biscuits is always good as long as she's not going to spread mess around their room etc. I of course am taking into account that she is a sideshow all on her own being 2 and half and learning so many new things so some time will be wasted while she shows Nana Lil and Popa Ken all her new tricks. 

G) The latest stumbling block we've had to face is - Is anyone sick? Me? Miss Midget? Nana or Popa? - If the answer is yes unfortunately all of the above goes out the window and it's best to not visit. If your the one sick then it's best not to spread the bugs to the home. Things spread like wild fire there and due to the people they have in these places best not to tempt fate. If you are taking little kids with you and the people your visiting are sick then again best not to go cause the bugs can get nasty (the bugs not the loved ones lol).

So these are most of the things I take into account when I visit my grandparents.
I might just add I do love them dearly and do go visit where I can just as you can see taking most of these things into a account you almost have to prepare for war before you get there but it nice to make their day and show off my Miss Midget :).