Beach Babe

 Yesterday we took Lucy to the beach for the first time.  It was an absolutely magical day, weather wise and just perfect to be sitting in the sun.  We packed up the beach umbrella and headed down the coast to Miami ... a favourite beach of mine as we used to have a holiday house there.  We found a spot and set ourselves up.  Lucy absolutely loved it!  She thought the sand was fabulous.  It ended up EVERYWHERE of course ... she even tried eating a handful!  The water was too cold for swimming but she enjoyed splashing her feet at the edge.  It was such a lovely outing and we have promised ourselves that we will do it again soon.

Yoga

Many years ago, my sisters and I started doing yoga.  We went to a lady's house in Wynnum where she had set up a yoga studio under her house.  I loved it but for one reason or another, we stopped going.

When I found out I was pregnant with Lucy, I really wanted to start doing yoga classes again.  I found a pregnancy yoga teacher at Thornlands and went to evening sessions there for a few months.  It was, however, really expensive! And the lady was very much into alternate birthing techniques which didn't really sit well with me.

I decided to search itunes to see if I could possibly download some yoga classes and do them myself at home.  I stumbled across the audio books section and found Yoga2Hear Guided Audio Yoga Sessions.  They were cheap to download, came with a helpful booklet and they even had Pregnancy ones!  Yay!!!

Starting Solids with Lucy

The day Lucy turned four months old I wanted to try giving her some baby rice cereal.  I was so excited for her to be trying her first solids.  Lucy, however, wasn't so keen.  She didn't quite know what to do with this weird stuff in her mouth and it ended up being a messy job.  At the same time, we were having some breast feeding issues and unfortunately Lucy wasn't gaining the weight that she should.  So the solids were put on hold for a while.

I tried her again at five months and this time she was much more interested.  I found it really difficult to work out what foods to introduce when and found myself doing a lot of research.  There are so many different opinions out there and it took me ages to formulate a plan as to how we would progress.  Being the teacher that I am, I typed up a meal plan for Lucy, printed it out, stuck it on the fridge and highlighted what was eaten each day ... I am a highlighter addict!

Here is the meal plan ...

Maree's Baby Shower

On the weekend we hosted a baby shower for my sister.  Maree is due to have her baby boy in two weeks time ... super exciting!  We had the shower at Gen's house and we all chipped in with the food, decorations, favours, etc.  The food was super yummy ... we had cheese and asparagus croissants, devils on horseback, mini quiches, finger sandwiches, and chicken balls.  Sweets were served after the presents were opened and they included passionfruit slice, scones, pikelets, cupcakes, lemon cake, caramel slice, chocolate cake and merengues.
The party favours were blue sugar coated almonds in cute little jars.  Maree got lots of great presents.  I loved the Crobots crocheting book and the baby-safe jewellery from Jellystone Designs.  My aunty crocheted some baby cocoons that were really cute ... might have a go at making one myself!

 

Baby boy is due to arrive on Mother's Day and if all goes to plan I am hoping to be in the delivery room with Maree and her partner.  I can't wait to meet the next addition to our family!

Winter Weather is here ...

My Mum is coming over to babysit Lucy tonight while Luke and I head out to the footy.  Unfortunately she is unwell with a cold so I thought I would whip up some delish soup for her dinner ... plus this rainy, cool weather is perfect for soup eating!

Zucchini And Leek Soup

Ingredients

2 Leeks

2 Sticks Celery

750g Zucchini

1 Carrot

1 Large Potato

60g (3 tbs) Butter

3 ½ cups Water

4 Chicken Stock Cubes

Salt (one teaspoon), Pepper

2 tbs chopped parsley

1/3 cup Cream (if desired)

Crusty Bread to serve

Method

Trim leeks, wash thoroughly.

Slice celery, leeks, zucchini.  Peel and slice carrot and potato.

Heat butter in large saucepan and add vegetables.  Stir to coat.

Cover and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally (don’t let veggies brown).

Add water, crumbled stock cubes, salt and pepper.  Mix well.

Bring soup to boil, reduce heat, simmer covered for 15 minutes or until veggies are tender.

Stir in parsley.  Puree veggies and liquid in electric blender (1 cup at a time on medium speed).

Return soup to saucepan, add cream, reheat without boiling.

** Serve with crusty bread

Show and Tell

As the weather gets cooler, it is time to dig out the crochet hook and balls of yarn.  This seems to be a bit of a family addiction as Mum and 2 of my sisters are keen on crochet too, as well as my Aunties and cousins!  After digging out my stash of wool and unfinished projects from last year, I decided to make scarves ... one for me and one for Lucy.

Mum then introduced me to the fantastic blog Attic 24 ... I was hooked!  My first mission was to master the ripple blanket.  The pattern on the blog is easy to follow once you work out the different stitches.  I made a "Raspberry Ripple" pram blanket for Lucy, then I started on a "Tiggers Bounce" pram blanket for my nephew who is due in 2 weeks (more on that to come!).

   

  

ANZAC Day

ANZAC Day is almost here.  In the past we have tried to make it to a dawn service.  I have been to one at Morningside and one at Wynnum.  The most moving service was the one at Currumbin.  Thousands of people make the annual early morning trek to the Gold Coast to attend this event and I highly recommend it.  Although we had to park ages away and it was quite a bit of a walk, it was definitely well worth it.  That same year we also went to the RSL and played two-up ... so much fun!  It is great to see everybody getting into the spirit and remembering those who served and are serving for our country.

I have just pulled a second batch of yummy ANZAC biscuits out of the oven ... something I always make each year, usually with the kiddos at school. Luke and I have already made a dint in the first batch ... yummo!
Here is the recipe I use:
Ingredients
> 1 cup flour
> 1 cup rolled oats
> 1 cup coconut
> 1 cup sugar
> 155g melted butter
> 1 tsp bicarb soda
> 1 tbs golden syrup
> 2 tbs hot water

Method
> Combine first 4 ingredients and mix.
> Add butter.
> In a bowl, mix together last 3 ingredients.
> Add these to the oats mixture and stir to combine.
> Place small balls of the mixture on an oven tray covered with baking powder.  Evenly space them as they will spread.
> Cook in moderate oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.
> Allow to cool and try not to eat them!

Have a great ANZAC Day ... Lest We Forget