.. It’s Tuesday and Mat went to Adelaide on Sunday. We get him back late tomorrow night which will be great!

Sunday night there was a massive thunderstorm and so Travis, Cherry & I were all huddled together trying to be brave.

I was a bit scared the first night but I had a great nights sleep last night and hope to do the same tonight.

I went to work yesterday, Sue picked Travis, Cherry & I up and Harry dropped us home.

Last night my friend Jess came for a visit, we had dinner & commenced our ‘Biggest Loser’ competition.

Travis is being a very good boy, love that he sleeps well through the night and has been doing so for quite awhile now.

Today I am not at work so we may pop down to Beacon Lighting & order some ceiling fans.

Just the 3 of us .. is a post from: Life, Love & Cupcakes

Well today is the 3rd morning of my ‘detox’ and unfortunately I awoke feeling weak and seeing spots.

As I am breast feeding Travis I have decided to use the detox plan as a base diet and add a couple of things.

I am guessing I was feeling weak due to losing 2.5 kilos in just over 2 days, which can’t be good for the body (however I think had had a load of water retention as I have been on the toilet all day/night).

So yes, this morning along with my berries I had a bowl of cereal and I am feeling much better for it.

Detox come healthy eating plan .. is a post from: Life, Love & Cupcakes

Mat had to do some traveling for work today, he got up at 5am to travel to Tamworth.

He should be back by 6pm and even though that’s only a couple of hours later than when he would usually be home I mss him, as I know he isn’t just 20 minutes away.

However I should toughen up a bit as for the next 2 months he is doing a fair bit of travel for longer than just a day.

Missing him … is a post from: Life, Love & Cupcakes

Well it’s Monday, 11th January 2010. Christmas has been and gone & we are well into the New Year.

I have made 2 resolutions for 2010 to get my Driver’s licence & to get fit, be healthy and hopefully shed some unwanted kilos!

I went for my first driving lesson in over 2 years last Friday. Before the lesson I was having a load of anxiety (which i never get) about driving. I have been putting off getting my licence due to nerves, but I did it.

The lesson went for 2 hours and it was great. My instructor was very positive and said that I was doing really well, so I have booked another lesson for February. In between classes my mum & mother in law have offered to take me out on the road!

Initially I thought I had to log 50 hours of driving before going for my Provisional licence test but the instructor informed me of a change in law that people over the age of 25 can go for the test at any time. So yes, with a few more professional lessons & driving with my mum & Sue, I am hoping to be on the road (by myself) within a few months.

Now onto the health kick – I have decided to kick start my new ‘healthy lifestyle’ with a detox. My friend told me about a plan that has something to do with Alkaline & Acidic foods, I didn’t really understand the purpose but the foods allowed seemed super healthy so I thought I would give it a go.

I looked on the internet to see what I could find and it mentioned that to maintain health, the diet should consist of 60% alkaline forming foods and 40% acid forming foods. To restore health, the diet should consist of 80% alkaline forming foods and 20% acid forming foods.

After the initial detox I will incorporate some dairy products back into my diet and of course allow a ‘naughty’ day here and there.

I hope to pair this healthy eating plan with at least 3 visits (min) to the gym each week.

New year, New me? is a post from: Life, Love & Cupcakes

So there is 25 days left until Christmas, I have not done any shopping, however I do know what I want to purchase for everyone.

I only work 3 days per week so really I should have plenty of time to go to the shops, I just seem to put it off.

I am hoping to do majority of my shopping tomorrow.

I was going to put the Christmas tree up today however I do not have any decorations.

This is my first year putting up the tree, as we always travel to Gloucester for Christmas eve to spend with my parents & immediate family and on Christmas day we travel to various families houses & have lunch at Mat’s parents house.

This year however, since we have Travis I thought I should put in a little extra effort and have a Christmas tree up in our house!

I think I will put the actual tree up today & purchase decorations tomorrow and then decorate it.

I am also going to get a photo of Travis with Santa at the shops tomorrow, which I plan on doing every year until he decides he is too grown up for it.

Christmas in 25 days .. is a post from: Life, Love & Cupcakes

So today, I did a ‘first’.. I resigned from my employment for the past 8 years (anniversary tomorrow in fact, minus the 3 months maternity leave).

I was very nervous about going into work & letting them know as I wasn’t sure how they would react. It was fine, more than fine, they were quite happy for me ’sad to see me go, but happy for me’ which is EXACTLY what I needed to hear.

Raine & Horne was my first job, I started when I was 17 on 26th November 2001 until I went on maternity leave 1 August.

Mat & his parents were looking at hiring an admin person for their business Schiller & Mat asked me if I was interested. 3 days a week, family business, good pay & Travis could come in with me – how could I refuse.

We decided it best that I do a trial so we all were happy with me working there before I resigned from Raine & Horne. After my first day I pretty much knew I wanted to work for Schiller, a laid back work flow and yet busy enough so I won’t get bored.

4 weeks later (today) I went to Raine & Horne and resigned, I kind of felt a little bad working @ Schiller and not letting Raine & Horne know so today it felt like a huge weight had been lifted.

I will miss working with that team however I am sure we will still keep in touch!

This is a call .. is a post from: Life, Love & Cupcakes

One day I was watching Ready Steady Cook on TV and they were making all sorts of dishes but one that caught my eye (or mouth) was the Fried rice. It looked pretty easy to make so I thought I would have a crack & make it more easier and I thought I would share;

You will need;

Wok or large non stick fry pan

*Cooked & cooled white rice

Olive Oil (enough to shallow fry the eggs)

3 Eggs

Spring Onions (at least 3)

Ham (a couple of slices)

Method;

Finely chop spring onions

Roughly chop ham

Heat olive oil in wok til bubbling

Crack the eggs straight into the oil, let fry whilst stirring into a scrambled egg texture

Throw the white rice into the egg/oil whilst still bubbling.

Toss in the ham & spring onions

Stir through till the rice is coated in oil & cooked to your taste

*I cook my white rice in a steamer, to make it even easier you can purchase one of the Golden Circle 90sec rice packs, however as they are precooked, you may just need to toss into the wok without microwaving??

Easy (no)Peasy FRIED RICE is a post from: Life, Love & Cupcakes

My mum gave me this recipe years ago, she got it from an old ‘fats & figures’ cook book. If you do weight watchers they end up being about 1.5pts each and well worth it!

You will need;

2 & 1/4 cups of Wholemeal SR Flour

1/4 cup of Bran

1/4 cup of Artificial Sweetener

1 Tbsp of Baking Powder

1 cup of Sultanas

1 & 1/2 cups of Frozen or Fresh Blueberries

1 very ripe Banana

3/4 cup of Apple Sauce

1 & 1/4 cup of Skim Milk

2 Egg Whites

Method;

Place all dry ingredients & sultanas into a large mixing bowl, combine

Place all wet ingredients (except blueberries) into a smaller bowl – crushing in the banana & stir well

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, combine well

Fold the blueberries through the mixture

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C & bake for around 15-20 mins (check if cooked by sticking a skewer in the middle, if cooked no mixture will stick to the skewer).

* Makes 18

Healthy & Yummy Blueberry Muffins is a post from: Life, Love & Cupcakes

Mat & I always wanted me to breast feed Travis. We had read that there are lots of nutrients that mother’s milk gives a to a new born baby that cannot be replicated in formula.

When Travis was born I was that exhausted that the midwife basically had to ‘milk’ the colostrum from my breast.

He didn’t need much, she just put a bit in a syringe and then fed it to him.

My next feed with him didn’t go too well as my breasts were massive and swollen while the milk came in.

The next day they got a bit smaller but still quite large (F cup) but feeding got better, he was learning and I was learning is what I had to keep remembering.

I ended up feeding “football hold” as I just couldn’t do it “normally”.

When I got home I was finding breast feeding really difficult, my nipples were sore and cracking, he was not putting on enough weight and he kept kicking around while i was feeding him and I wasn’t sure if I was doing it correctly so I mad an appointment with the lactation consultant (which is a free service for new born babies up to 4 weeks old). She only tweaked my positioning & just gave me a routine to follow to bulk up his weight.

That week we went and visited my mum in Gloucester. The afternoon we arrived there I was really cold even though the weather was very hot. Early in the evening I was very tired, so tired in fact that I passed out on the lounge and was too weak to get up for about 2 hours.

The next morning I noticed a red section on my breast, we went back to Newcastle & kept an eye on it. We looked up Mastitis and I had all the symptoms including the weakness I had experienced the night before. I rang GP Access after hours and they got me in straight away. Mastitis was confirmed, as it was very early they gave me antibiotics and within 48 hours it had cleared up completely, which I am VERY thankful for as I have heard it can be VERY painful when left untreated.

Thank god my nipples got tougher after about a fortnight which made things a lot easier!

Travis put on the weight & was feeding better but still at times he just fusses but now he is older and I have great milk flow I can only assume he is getting fuller quicker as he is still putting on weight and appears content and settles well.

A couple of weeks down the track and after 2 days of constant fussiness on the breast I (and Mat) were at our wits end, then I noticed some white film on Travis’ tongue. I googled it & from what I could see he had Oral thrush, so we took him to the Doctors.

Not knowing that the Oral thrush was causing him to be fussy Mat & I were adamant that we were going to change from breast to formula, we thought that 9 weeks of breast we had given it a good go.

The doctor asked if I really wanted to put Travis on formula & I burst into tears and said no. She told me that the majority of his fussing would be from the thrush and that once he got the medicine he would settle down. He did, and I am still breast feeding him, although we have had to also swap positioning, I am now nursing him in the ‘normal’ position as he has gotten too long to feed in the ‘football position’.

I hope to make it to 6 months, as this is when I will be returning to work & my mum will be taking care of Travis for 2 days per week. Unless I become a master expresser, I don’t see any other option. It wlll also give Mat & I a bit of ‘freedom’ to be able to go away for the night if we choose to do so.

Breast feeding is a very hard thing for some women and very easy for others. I am still having ‘problems’ at times but is only Travis’ fussing so I just persist.

Breast is best… for Travis is a post from: Life, Love & Cupcakes

Ok, for the past couple of years I have had really ugly, dry, cracked feet, mainly in my heel area. Mat always rips me off and tells me to get a pedicure but I was always to embarrassed for my heels to be seen by others.

More recently my heels were that bad that it hurt when I walked and the cracks were nearly bleeding & I knew I had to do something about it.

For maybe a year or more I have seen a product on one of those ‘infomercials’, it was called a Ped egg.

The Ped egg promised to make smoothe feet out of even the most dry cracked feet, with no pain and no strain (ie it was easy). I have always been interested in making this purchase but never bothered as I didn’t think it would work.

One day this month while at the shops, Mat saw the Ped Egg on the shelf ‘as seen on TV’ it was $30 so I decided to get it, Mat had already put it in the trolley.

We also bought some Eulactol heel balm from the chemist to get the extra smooooothe and also some Daktarin for my fungified toe nails (3 on my left foot).

The next day I had a shower, dried my feet then … used the Ped Egg.

After only a couple of minutes my feet were noticeably smoother and some of the cracks had vanished! For some extra smoothing I placed the ‘emery’ pad on the bottom of the egg and filed away to even more smoothness. There is still one crack in my heel, only because it was so deep.

Once I put the cream on, they look great and they will help heel the deep crack so I can eventually Ped egg it away – if it wasn’t for my fungified toe nails I would be more than happy to go get a pedicure (although I do not need one now ;p) and wearing thongs or fancy strappy sandals won’t be a problem.

So yes I give the Ped Egg a big 9 out of 10 – highly recommended! (the only reason I didn’t give it 10/10 was that you can only ’shave’ one way or else the skin files will spill out).

Product Review: Ped Egg is a post from: Life, Love & Cupcakes