Meet my Mama

Due to my intense pain from my awful dentist appointment (more on that later) and my consequent drug-induced haze - my Mama has come to visit the Dalli Cottage to look after me with the amazing power of Mama TLC.....so instead of me doing a post....I have asked my Mama to take over.....so here she is....MY Mama....the most beautiful Mama in the world....

How lovely of Mama Butterfly to give me such a lovely introduction. I am very proud of both my daughters who you will have been introduced to in this blog. My youngest is revelling in country life. She has proven herself to be a wonderful wife, mother to Moo, caring daughter and the creator of blogs and beautiful creations with her sewing. My other beautiful daughter who is to be married in September is my other pride and joy. As a mother to my gorgeous girls, I have watched them grow up to be beautiful women who astound me each day with their successes.

I have enjoyed reading Mama's blog each day too. Living 2 hours away from both my girls is a test especially now I'm a grandma. We talk, email or text every day and now have found SKYPE so I'm more in touch as I can watch Moo scooting around the cottage in her walker or playing in her cubby house. I could sit and watch her all day. Sadly, I'm going home today and know that I will miss Moo's kisses and cuddles till I see her again ( and anyday now she will be waking up with 2 little teeth). I also know that Mr H will look after Mama for me and hopefully today will be a better day for her with the pain in her tooth. Love to all Mama's readers.

(My girls - Han on the left and Em on the right)

xx

Ouch!

I have a tooth ache....and yes, admittedly I have had it for a while but it has really flared up to the point where my whole face aches, and nurofen is being digested religiously every 4 hours.

I am off to the dentist tomorrow - and just in case you didn't know....I hate dentists. I think they are evil and are gold diggers. I just want them to pull this tooth out but Mr H tells me that he will not allow this and I must have a root canal. Apparently he doesn't want me looking like this.....

I figure I could loose a few teeth so Moo can gain some. The poor darling is teething too....and has some serious lumps on her bottom gum....but as per usual - no teeth.

I have always hated dentists. My poor Mama would literally take me kicking and screaming while she would die of embarrasment. The dentists would do anything to make me feel comfortable - they would blow up their gloves and draw silly faces, they would turn TVs on and they would even force me to focus on scary clown on the roof. In the end they ALWAYS relented to the happy gas.....

Wish me luck. Apparently I am an adult now so I cant kick and scream which is very disappointing. But since I am an adult - can I tell them how much I hate how much they charge....in a very polite voice of course??

The power of FRIENDship

Never ever underestimate the power of friendship.

How do YOU like to catch up with your friends?

I love funny and quirky chats on Facebook - the ones that instantly bring a smile to your face and you find yourself wishing you were sharing the laugh over the table and not the computer screen;

I love taking an hour out of my busy schedule to have a coffee and a catch up with friends;

I love my weekly debriefs with our close friends to wash away the stress and worries with a few Bundys and a lot of laughs;

I love loooong lunches - the kind where the kids roll around and cause mayhem while the Mamas revitalise on being able to relate and love each other for WHO they really are.

I love Skype dates with a friend who I have known forever - and to see her blossoming pregnant belly even though she lives thousands and thousands of kilometres away in remote Western Australia.

I love randomly calling a friend who didn't expect to a phonecall from you - and to hear the joy and excitement in their voice when you say a big cheery HELLO!

I love playdates in the park or at a friends house;

I love, I love, I love!!!

.....yes I could go on for days and days and days....

I feel so ultimately blessed to have so many beautiful friends ontop of all my beautiful family. I love them all for their uniqueness, their friendship, their quirkiness and their individuality.

So no matter the distance, or the lack of time....try to MAKE time to stop and revitalise with a cup of coffee and a catch up.

You will be surprised how great you will feel afterwards!

The House of Love

I tackled the Target Toy Sale yesterday - and yes, I could have gone nuts with lots of toys and gadgets but I really surprised myself and realised that I really don't want a house full of commercial toys that Moo plays with for 2 minutes and then throws away! So instead of buying the noisy gadgetting-looking toys, I bought her a Walker which she fell in love with instantly!


Thankfully, Mr H agrees with me that we aren't big fans of filling our house up with commercial toys so he seized the oppurtunity that was just too good to miss! His parents have just purchased a new washing machine and what is better than a REALLY REALLY big box?

So after cutting a few windows and a door - here is Moo's new House of Love - where a smile is required for entry and happiness bursts through the windows.

Moo thought it required a paint job so in between sewing my orders (that keep on coming in!!) we set to work on the House of Love......and here is the result.....isn't it just gorgeous?

Once the paint is dry, I am sure we will find the perfect place for Moo's new toy! In the meantime, I must fight the temptation to make some pretty little curtains for her!! :)

Sunshine Award

To add to my gorgeous comment yesterday about my Blog - today, I received another beautiful surprise from a lovely Bloggy-friend Linda from LuLu Frou Frou (the home of the most GORGEOUS hair pretties).

She awarded me a beautiful Sunshine Award!

How LOVELY is that?

However, there are some conditions that I must abide before I am able to accept the Sunshine Award. I must forego seven Random Facts about Myself and then pass on the award to other inspiring bloggers. Sounds easy to me!! :)

So here goes.....7 Random Facts about Mama Butterfly

1. I have tried to learn how to play a million musical instruments - violin, cello, trumpet, guitar, drums and saxophone. Needless to say - I wasn't too flash hot with any of them....perhaps I am a bit tone-deaf? ;)

2. My left side of my body is stronger, larger and better than my right side. No word of a lie - even my hearing is better on my left side!

3. When I was a child, our family pet was a goldfish named Isabella and she died of constipation....well that is what my Mum told me and I believed it!

4. I am ridiculously petrified of snakes - real or plastic - in a cage or on the TV - I don't care - they freak the bejesus out of me.

5. I hate vegemite and Moo loves it....how did this happen?

6. I love pasta - any kind - I will eat it until the cows come home.

7. I talk in my sleep - much to the amusement of Mr H. One night I spoke about putting pineapples in a trolley.....you are laughing aren't you?

And now to pass on the love....here are 7 blogs that I love....

Life with Soul
NieNie Dialogues
Sunny Mummy
Big Teeth & Clouds
Seven Cherubs
Little Miss Emma
Potty Mouth Mama

Be sure to visit them and spread some bloggy love!! Thank you Linda for sharing the love. You have made my day! :)

Emotions and Playdough

I had my TEACHER hat on today as we finally did our first SKYPE lesson with Moo. Last week was planning & initiation and this week involved putting in all into practice! So after a late night sewing up toy bags for the lesson - we were ready to go!

To be honest with you - I was nervous - very very nervous. I had received Moo's IEP (Individual Education Plan) earlier that week and it was 16 PAGES LONG! Eek. Along with the IEP came a flood of emotions. I was questioning myself as to whether Mr H and I had made the right decision as I didn't want us to spend Macie's childhood analysing every sound she made or if she was meeting the development goals on her IEP. As a Mama, I have found that I really beat myself up about any decisions I make on behalf of Moo and hope to god that I have made the RIGHT ones!

With the nervousness nearly eating me up (Poor Mr H copping the brunt of it!) - we prepared for our lesson and as soon as I saw the gorgeous faces of Michelle and Linda from the Hear & Say Centre....the nervousness disappeared and I FELT reassured that I had made the right decision. Moo instantly smiled and waved when she 'saw' them on the screen and the lesson went well with only a few hiccups on Moo's part when she wanted to EAT the playdough and not PLAY with it!!

As usual I was bursting with pride for my little darling. She lasted 40 minutes without getting irritable with us and she responded so well to all the activities! Thankfully we were able to use familiar props with her favourite book 'This is the Mud' (Thanks Kath & Eva) so it wasn't all too new for her. Michelle did a terrific job planning the lesson as from the book, we then played with Playdough with all the farm animals getting STUCK! Macie just LOVED it....

Thankfully Michelle and Linda reassured me that while the IEP may be long - it is also a 6 month plan. After a great lesson and chat with them, I now feel completely confident that Mr H and I have made the right decision!!

With a little hard work, perseverence and persistance - all while ensuring that Moo is happy and learning in a FUN environment - will reap great rewards for the most important person - being my beautiful and gorgeous baby MOO.

Life works in mysterious ways....

Today, I received an e-mail from a friend of mine passing on some really lovely news....

The e-mail read as follows....

"I was chatting to a friend today and she said that she stumbled across a blog and thought it was fantastic! She said it made her want to be a better person. IT WAS YOUR BLOG!!! It really does make you want to be a better wife, better mother, and a better person."

I started this blog for many reasons. To document my feelings as a first-time Mama, to share our journey with Macie's hearing impairment, to fondly remember by childhood and to share MY life with my gorgeous Mr H, Baby Moo, my family and my friends.

Never ever would I have thought that I was giving people out there, in the big wide world, the inspiration to be a better person - and even now - the thought still brings tears to my eyes.

So to this person who has given me this random act of kindness - thank you for sharing the love. It is comments like these that revitalise me with sunshine to continue being the BEST person, wife, mama and friend that I can be.

To all those gorgeous people who follow my blog - thank you. I have no idea who really comes to visit my page daily but I hope that I make you smile, laugh, cry or perhaps you can relate to me and my life. Feel free to drop me a note to say hi.....going by today's note - it is guaranteed to make my day.

When??

24 weeks pregnant with Baby Moo. Can you see her lying to the one side?

The question hot on the lips of all my Mama friends is 'When'? When are you having your next baby?

It has been on my mind a lot lately - WHEN is the right time? WHEN am I ready to be pregnant and horrifically ill with morning sickness? WHEN is Mr H ready to be the father of two? WHEN will Moo be ready to be a big sister? WHEN WHEN WHEN!!

Usually I dimiss it with an answer something along the lines of....'Sometime next year'....'Maybe when Moo turns two'.....'I really have NO idea'......

It was only tonight that I looked back at my pregnancy photos and realised the miracle the evolved with having Moo as our daughter. Beautiful memories came flooding back - memories like seeing the positive sign on our pregnancy test, or the feeling of her kicking me for the first time. It really makes you all gooey inside and nearly going CLUCK CLUCK CLUCK!

So to be honest....I have no idea when we are going to have Baby #2 - I suppose it will be....

....when ALL of us are ready!!

What are you reading at the moment?

When I first met Mr H all those years ago, I was amazed to hear that he wasn't a big book person. He liked to read the Country Life and some hunting magazines but had never had the inclination to sit down with a good book and read.

Needless to say, I was determined to get my gorgeous Mr H to experience a good book. The kind where you are completely engrossed and wish that it never had an end.


After I finished reading the 'Twilight Saga' - I raved and ranted about just how GOOOOD the books were. Obviously I ranted for long enough as next thing I knew he was a Twi-hard and addicted to books!


Since then, he has read books that I haven't even had time to read. Books ranging from The Bra Boys, history books about the farm, autobiographies on his hero Steve Irwin, The Power of One by Bryce Courtney and many more!


Recently, I bought home a book from my local Mothers Group - being Jessica by Bryce Courtney. I had been reading the first chapter over and over as I kept falling asleep and next thing I know, Mr H was snuggled beside me completely engrossed in the book!


So here he is......my little book worm....

....sacrificing boring TV to sit and read.

It's good for the mind - it's great for the soul! And there is nothing better than lying in bed like a Nana & Papa playing footsies while reading a great book......ahhhh the romance!

Simon Says....

Ever feel like you are being copied by your little one in every possible way?

Baby Moo has been making every noise under the sun....consequently making her Mama and Mr H nearly burst with love and pride for her!

If we grunt - we usually hear a grunt aswell;
If we go hmmmmm - we get more of a HMMPF!
Moo will go Mwah to blow kisses;
Mamamamama when she is awake in her cot and getting upset - in that case it sounds more like Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaama!;
Dadadada (only getting the D sound right today) when he plays with her while changing her;
Squeals with her tongue out and lots of other gorgeous babbling noises!

Hopefully she wont pick up on the few naughties that I let fly today when I realised that my washing machine was leaking for the THIRD time! No doubt it would be stored in her memory bank and she will pronounce the 'S' word with the utmost precision in a very public place!! I can just imagine it!

It appears that Moo is going to be a real chatterbox just like her Mama. If you let me, I would talk to you until the sun comes up! Just ask Mr H....he knows that if I am not talking - it usually trouble in paradise! ;)

Our first encounter with Skype!

The webcam was on....
The microphone was testing 1, 2, 3....
Moo was in position...
I was out of my PJs....
and we were trying to tackle the big wide world of SKYPE!



Yes - thats right - we had our very first Hear & Say Skype session this morning with the beautiful ladies Michelle and Linda!

Just when I thought I was ready and raring I realised that....

The webcam was not on - instead I had the laptop camera on and it was UPSIDE DOWN MISS JANE!
The microphone was NOT testing 1, 2, 3 - they couldnt hear us at all!
Moo was still in position however she decided that eating her hearing aids instead of her rusk was much more exciting. Consequently, she managed to pull the tubing away from the mould in the process! I am praying that her new moulds will arrive in the post today!
And above all of that....I realised just how technogically retarded I am!

So after a few techno issues - we were finally the right way around and hearing each other talk!



Thankfully Mr H came home specially and tended to a crazy Baby Moo while I planned with the girls for Macie's upcoming week and next lesson. I loved the way I had a voice with what we will be doing in the lessons and incorporating the way that I parent/teach into the lesson planning. All the planning is based around a box of resources that is provided to us once a month. The box is full of goodies - farm animals, playdough and shape cutters, cars, aeroplanes, books, reptiles, duck puppets, etc!



There is also a container for BUBBLES....I was so excited to see them and instantly started blowing bubbles for Moo to play with. Much to my dismay...Moo was horrified from them and just plain scared! She screamed at me until I stopped blowing them and each time I pull the container out...she knows what is happening and hates them! Can you believe it? Michelle & Linda are determined to make Macie love the bubbles so that should be great to see!!

I only had ONE request.....and that was that no snakes are incorporated into the animal play (there is a plastic snake in the reptile pack!). The last thing we want is for Macie to associate the slimy evil creatures with PLAY!! Thankfully I am not the first parent who has requested this!! :)

So, I am happy to report that we survived our first encounter with Skype and live to share the tale with you! If today's lesson is an indicative of our journey with Hear & Say - then I am very excited...to say the least!



Thanks Girls!!

Doing MY bit

During my childhood I experienced nothing other than complete love and adoration from my parents. When a voice was raised at me - I knew that I had breached the boundaries and fully deserved to get scowled at. I was given a childhood that all children in this world deserve. A great schooling, fantastic holidays all over the world, a beautiful house and most importantly the most loving and inspirational parents one could ask for.

Today, Stacey from Sunny Mummy placed the most inspirational post on her blog. It was about her childhood and her experiences with domestic violence. She is doing 'her bit' to raise awareness for the victims of violence and in particular, the CHILDREN. By doing this, she is donating to a fantastic cause called Backpacks 4Aussie Kids (click on the name to be referred to their website for more information) - who are aiming to provide 1000 backpacks full of goodies to foster children who have been placed in Foster Care. By just donating a mere $25.00 to this fantastic cause - you could give a child some hope and some love. If you don't want to donate money - you could donate a backpack, some new knickers, a toy - ANYTHING to show your support.

It is causes like Backpack4Kids that we should be supporting. Something small can go a long way to make a child feel accepted and loved.

So, I am off tomorrow to buy some goodies to post to these lovely, inspirational people to show MY support from my family.

Why?

Because I would hope that the community would show me love and support if I was ever in need of their genoristy. So...it's time to do MY bit.

Perhaps food for thought?

Are you going to do YOUR bit?

Trail of Destruction....

After 10 days away, Baby Moo has been extremely unsettled, clingy, crying when we put her down, not wanting to sleep during the day and only wanting her Mama....which is very UNLIKE my Moo. She is usually such a happy bubba who is more than happy to play with her toys while I do jobs around the house.

Needless to say, I was really becoming drained with having a screaming 8 month old tugging at my legs begging to be picked up - or seeing her happily playing and then hear the tears start when I walked away!

So after introducing a new routine to Moo which allowed her to set of the rules and relaxing the rigid times I had for her sleep times - I am getting my gorgeous easy-going Moo back....

As a result, all the toys have come out of the toy box and there is a trail of destruction around the Dalli Cottage.....



This is only the mess from today! She has worked out how to get into my cupboards and consequently broken martini glasses (thankfully without any cuts to her hands) and has even worked out how to get into the cupboard with the bin....of all cupboards to get into!! Who would have thought that such a small child could create such a mess!

Lucky she melts my heart every time I look at her....as long as I have a happy smiley Moo - then I can handle the mess!!

PS As I wrote this blog she found my handbag - and thankfully NOT my lipstick!! It will only be a matter of time though! :)

Doggy Scam....

Remember the beautiful puppy that I posted on here that we were going to collect on our way home from our holiday??

Well there was NO puppy! Can you believe it? It was all a scam. We paid a $100 deposit and then the owner was a no-show! We couldnt believe it!

I should have seen the warning signs....but instead I decided to be trusting and went ahead with the purchase. We have reported the owner to the website, and am considering reporting them to the police.....

I can't believe people would use a puppy as a scam.

It's scary to think what the world is coming to isn't it?

However, with that awful experience behind us - we are now on the search for the puppy for Moo! We have some Jack Russell breeders not far from the farm so we are on their waiting list for their next litter.

As they say.....Good things happen to those who wait...

**In other news - we have finally reached 50 FOLLOWERS!!**

{The Hear & Say Centre}

We had our very first visit to the Hear & Say Centre on Friday to meet the team and have our very first lesson! It was daunting yet exciting and Moo did such a terrific job for a little girl who was exhausted from her beach holiday and just wanted to go home to her Daddy.

Our teacher, Michelle is lovely and thankfully Moo was very fond of her! Michelle's family actually live in town so it's a very small world and so nice to have someone who is familiar with our way of life. We sang songs, played with toys and had a great time - all while encouraging Moo to LISTEN rather than watch for the noise. I found that it is also going to take ME some retraining to produce the sound and then the visual, for example - say COW - MOOOOOO. I always show Moo the visual and then talk about it!!

From now on, we will be having all our classes with Michelle via SKYPE once a week. Thanks to Hear & Say's amazing funding, they have provided us with a brand new laptop, webcam and all the facilities to ensure that our lessons will not be disadvantaged due to our isolation! They have also provided us with a box of resources which the lessons will be based around!

We will keep you posted as to how our lessons go. Hopefully with Moo being in her own surroundings, she will really respond to the new noises and sounds. In the meantime, I have to work out how to use Skype and the webcam......should be interesting!

Here is a photo of the Team that we will be working with....



From left - Jackie Brown (Manager of Hear & Say) with Moo, Jane (the lovely lady who organised our Laptop) Michelle (Outreach Co-ordinator) and Michelle (Our Teacher!) - Yes there are THREE Michelle's that work at the Centre!!

And this is Moo in the car after our session - she was fast asleep within minutes. The poor little darling was just exhausted.

I'm back!

Moo and I are finally back into the arms of my beautiful Mr H after a week soaking up the sunshine and good company at the beach. We had a glorious holiday although it is always good to be home!

Don't you just love this photo! This is Moo just exploring the beach at her own pace. She crawled right down to the water, crawled after a little dog who came to say hello and tumbled over any sandcastles which were in her reach. She reminded us on how to have fun, live life, and enjoy the sunshine. Throughout the week she gave everyone so much joy. She is such a special little girl!

During our week we got up to so much!!!!

A gorgeous afternoon in the sunshine celebrating my sister Emma's Shower Tea! It was such a lovely afternoon having a sneaky glass of bubbles (Mr H played Mama for the afternoon with Moo!) and admiring the gorgeous bride! We are now on the countdown to her BIG day with only 10 weeks to go!!!!!


A day trip to Noosa to hit the shops and enjoy the sun. We had a beautiful lazy picnic overlooking the beach and ended up on the beach with our jeans rolled up enjoying the water! Moo absolutely loved it!

Meeting up with friends and family for coffee, lunch and never wanting them to have to go home. I really do wish we could have all our loved ones at our doorstep - I miss them all so much.



Heading up to Eumundi to check out the markets! Never did I imagine these markets to be so huge! More importantly, on the walk back to the car we found the Chocolate Factory - which is my idea of heaven! They were so amazing that we went to buy seconds!

However the highlight of the holiday was definitely celebrating my beautiful Mama's birthday at the Spirit House in Yadina. If you are ever in that neck of the woods - treat yourself to this experience. The food will knock your socks off - it is amazing.






** I absolutely LOVE this photo of my Mama. So beautiful. **

Just when you didn't think I could fit anything more in....we dropped into the Hear & Say Centre on the way home for Moo's first lesson! But more on that later....I promise!

So...I am now home with a mountain of washing, a very exhausted baby girl and my gorgeous husbo. I love holidays - but I really do love my little cosy cottage! I now must get my skates on with lots of blogging, sewing, creating, and catching up with all my friends!

PS After talking with all my friends and family in the past week - I realised just how many people tune in for the Mama Butterfly update. Thank you for supporting me - you have no idea how much it means to me.

PPS I also soaked up access to some BROADBAND over the holidays and added a few blinkies to my page....do you like?

Love Notes

For the first few days of our holiday, it is just Moo and I visiting my parents until Mr H can join us....

So in the meantime....there are lots of little love notes being sent via text message....

It goes something like this...

Me: Guess what?
Mr H: What babe?
Me: I am IN love...
Mr H: What? With who?
Me: YOU!

Or just random messages throughout the day....ones that make you smile and read 'I love you more than rainbows' or 'I couldn't sleep last night as you werent here'.....

I love the way we take just a simple 2 seconds out of our busy lives to tell each other how much we love and miss each other. Even when we are together, we always tell each other how much one means to the other.

We are never ever too busy to be IN love. We always make certain that life NEVER gets in the way. Do you?