I found this really useful book called “What happy working mothers know” by Cathey Greenberg and Barrett Avigdor.  Click here to visit their website.  Their book is based on positive psychology principles providing women with practical guidance to achieve a happy work/life balance.  With Christie and I returning to work (and me Uni) life has certainly pick up a notch!  As I’m working primarily from home I thought I’d better get a handle on my time management and consider how to maintain a happy work/life balance.  I’m hoping this book will provide some valuable insights!  

I love the way the authors refer to the mother as the CEO of the family “setting the tone and goals for their families” Pg 11.   This I can definitely relate to.  At 9 1/2 months Alora is much more alert and I’ve noticed she’s quite sensitive to my mood.  As a result I’ve been making an effort not to stress in front of her over uni assignments or work projects etc. 

If anyone has any other good books or website to view – please advise!

3D scan of Sienna at 20 weeks

 At 20 weeks Matt and I had a 3D ultrasound done of our baby. It was so exciting. We had no idea that she was a girl at the time but from the close up images of her face we could tell that she was going to look just like her daddy. We were able to take home pictures as well as a DVD of her moving around in my tummy. It was fantastic to share these with family and friends.

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What a week!  Following the teething saga, Alora has been sick with a cold, and conjunctivitis.  The last few nights she has been waking up crying every two hours!!  It’s been like having a new born all over again!  I’m exhausted!  After the second night I figured this behaviour can’t be normal for just a cold so yesterday morning I took her to the doctor.  I felt like an over protective mum as she was no longer showing symptoms of a cold but something was obviously wrong …

I’m so glad I went!  (Mothers instincts are soooo powerful.)  The doctor checked her over and it seems she has an ear infection – something I wouldn’t have been able to detect.  She’s been administered oral antibiotics.  In just a day she has improved tenfold!  She did wake twice last night however, she woke this morning in a good mood (!!!) and hasn’t been as whiny or clingy … back to the happy little bub we know and love. 

The motto of this blog is: when in doubt – GO to the doctor!

Alora has had a shocking week with teething! She’s getting her 4th tooth on her bottom jaw along with a front tooth. She keeps waking after a couple of hours sleep at night very upset and disorientated.

I’ve started using Hyland’s teething relief tablets (Christie and I bought these on Bartercard from the Oakley Pharmacy). They are a homeopathic remedy which I’ve been adding to her milk. On the bottle it says to dissolve on the tongue (good luck!) or in water so I figured they’ll do the job in her milk and we won’t have a fuss over administering!! I think she’s getting better using these tablets, she hasn’t been as clingy or irritable during the day.

If anyone has any other advise, I’d love to hear from you… I also use Bonjela and a teething amber braclet.

Today Alora and I joined a playgroup! We’re going to a group in Labrador called ‘Milk Monsters’ – quite apt! The group meet every friday for 1 – 1 1/2 hrs in this gorgeous little wooden house. They have a toy library where you can borrow toys for up to a month – which I know will come in handy when Alora gets a bit bigger.

The centre is close to a hockey field and on this particular day there was a competition on so the group decided to hold the session in the park across the road. Roseline, the playgroup leader, held a music session and we got the colourful parachute out which Alora loved by letting out a huge excited yelp! Also, a mobile coffee vendor visits every week to keep the mum’s going. This week he even came to the park! How’s that for service?!

I can’t wait to see all the bubbies playing with each other and learn some valuable parenting tips and advice from the other mums!

Having an 8 month old baby doesn’t make it easy to stay in bed and look after yourself. Although for me I have been so lucky. My husband Matt asked the grandparents to look after Sienna over the weekend so he could take care of me and on Monday he took a day off work, he attended to her every need including the numerous times that she woke over those nights (I think she was playing games with him!).

What a champion! To all the husbands out there that believe in sharing the responsibilites of parenting, I commend you. I think Matt now has a new appreciation of what I do and I now have such a renewed appreciation of him as a husband and father.

Today we visited Sea world using our Qld V.I.P pass.  We had such a fantastic afternoon.  The dolphin show was my favourite – Alora slept through the whole thing!

Alora was facinated by the shark bay enclosure.  I feed her her milk whilst we were in the underground gallery – it was the first time in a long time she didn’t wriggle around – she sat mesmerised by the fish and sharks.

The Qld V.I.P pass is such a great innovative.  $99 for a years pass to Sea world, Movie world and Wet n wild.  We can’t wait for summer when we’ll take Alora to the children’s pools at Wet n wild! 

You can buy your pass on line at the my fun website. https://shop.myfun.com.au/home.asp

I don’t understand why so many daycare centres are parked on busy street corners and main roads.  In December 2003 Sophie Delezio almost lost her life when a car crashed through the wall of her daycare centre and burst into flames. This little girl’s life will never be the same. So many centres I visited where on street corners and they only had a brick wall between the road and the outside pay area. I found this quite frightening so it was really important for us to find a centre that was safe.

We also wanted to send her somewhere that had an open door policy. This means we can visit her during the day and it has been fantastic! Matt is a sales rep so he has been able to pop in during the day for a quick cuddle and my dad (Poppy) also visits her every Tuesday as he is in the area for work.

It was very hard for me to leave her the first time but since she always has a smile on her face when she is there, I am pretty comfortable to head off to work and not worry.

The ladies at the centre always seem so glad to see her and give her lots of cuddles. It is nice to know that Sienna is in good hands and that she is well looked after.

We are getting a family photo taken tomorrow at the centre for only $10.00. It should be fun!

Over the weekend Scottie set up Alora’s high chair (which we bought on Bartercard from Better Baby Deals).  She was getting a little bit too big for her bouncy chair and thought it was great fun to bounce whilst I was trying to feed her!  I’ve tried to get Alora used to sitting by surrounding her with cushions or putting her in my comfy chair.  I think the high chair will give her more (safer) practice at sitting!

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