eleven

Dear Baby Moo

Lately I have felt the need to write to you - to express how much joy you bring to my life. You have only recently turned eleven months old and never ever did I imagine that I would love being YOUR Mama as much as I do. I hope the day never arrives where I 'HAVE' to go back to work - because I love my work being right here at home with YOU.

You make me experience so many emotions - you make me smile, laugh, giggle and growl when you are being naughty! You make me feel like my heart is going to explode when you smile your cheeky smile at me....and you make me cry a river when you jump hurdles without even looking like it was an effort!

You constantly teach me to slow down and get on the floor with you to play the drums with milo tins, or to sit and read you a story. You love nothing more than when Daddy and I forget about the daily chores and spend the whole day playing in your cubby house or playing 'chaseys!' (when one chases the other around the house - fantastic exercise for Mummy & Daddy!). There is nothing more I love than hearing your giggly scream as Daddy and I pretend to chase you and kiss you all over!

I love hearing you talk....and you love to hear yourself talk too!! I love the way you say 'My Mama' to your Daddy when he is hugging me....and when you say 'Dad Dad Dad Dad' endlessly just like I taught you! You LOVE to talk....just like your Mama!

I love our mornings together - when Daddy has gone to work and it's just you and me. I love dancing together in our PJs, putting the washing on together and just generally being the bestest friends that we are. I love it when you beg for me to let you 'help' me - with your love of the dishwasher, and unloading the washing machine instead of loading it! Your favourite thing ever is to unload the FOLDED washing all over the floor....and every time it makes me laugh and smile!

So as Daddy & I search for your first birthday present and plan your party - I am so sad to think you won't be my baby anymore....but yet exhilarated by what lies ahead. If the next 12 years are as much fun as the last 11 months....then I can't wait! You are the most beautiful, and loving daughter I could ask for....

and I promise to love you until the moon and back forever....no matter what.

Love Always

Your Mama X

the end is near....

When I started up this blog - I promised myself that I would blog for a year to document my first year of being a Mama to Baby Moo.

Baby Moo is turning one next month so Mama Butterfly will be ending soon.

I have enjoyed blogging and sharing my special life and journey with you all! Thanks for following and enjoy the last few weeks of Mama Butterfly as I plan for a very special birthday party for my angel.

rain rain go away!

Here on Wondalli....it is wet....like I mean REAAALLLLY wet!

We are stranded on the farm and cut off from town due to flood waters. Today the waters peaked to 0.8 metres....that is just HUGE!

But in true Dalli Cottage style, we decided to make the most of it - so we joined our gorgeous friends and neighbours and headed off to do a touch of fishing and yabbying in the flood waters! I placed Baby Moo in her bjorn and we waded our feet in the water and watched everyone chasing the yabbies and fish over the road!

Its amazing what mood the floods bring....it makes us stop and enjoy the sunshine...but hopefully the rain will stay away for a while now while everything starts to dry up to allow for the wheat to be harvested and the sorghum to be planted! At this rate, Mr H will be working on Baby Moo's birthday....surely he will be able to manage a few hours off though....keep your fingers crossed for us!

Mr & Mrs Woods

My beautiful sister Emma got married to the man of her dreams on Saturday. She made such a stunning bride who was not only gorgeous but so relaxed and calm. I cried so many tears of joy over the wedding weekend. I found myself even shedding a tear just watching her with Lachlan - sharing their vows, their first kiss, their wedding dance, watching them have their photos taken....everything was just so beautiful.

A few special moments from the day were when Emma and Lachlan (and the rest of the congregation) shared some tears when the vows were being said. It was amazingly special - as it appeared that Emma and Lachlan realised that their day was finally a reality! Lachlan will probably deny that there were any tears on his behalf....but I am sure to confirm he had a few swelling up in his eyes!!

Another special moment that I will NEVER forget was Emma and Lach's first dance....to Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love"....I get tears just thinking about it. Imagine a room full of friends and family singing along to their first wedding dance song....the room filled with so much love and adoration for the newlyweds. It was SOOO special.



Thank you to Lach and Emma for letting me be a part of your special day. It was by far the BEST wedding I have ever been to - I have never seen so many people having so much fun! And I promise that I am not obligated to say that!! :)

PS I am sorry for my melt-down (I couldn't find my earrings prior to the wedding!! EEK!)

our poor little ladies....

We absolutely love our chooks and always have such a lovely time with our gorgeous chookies. They are so beautiful and quiet that they would walk right up to Baby Moo to say hello and let us pat them. They eat grain right out of our hands and are always happy for a quick hold....

that was until the events took place....our very own chook massacre....

the farm dog 'Soot' came up for a visit....next thing we know - we are down 2 chooks and have some very very upset and scared chookies that luckily survived the attack. The poor darlings were so scared....

So the next job for Mr H is to build a little 'exercise' pen for our chookies so they may be safe while free from their nests....which sucks as I absolutely loved for them to be able to roam around the compound and check out their surroundings at their own pace. However, Soot is the Queen of Wondalli so....it looks like the chookies will have to earn their right to roam free and climb their way up the pecking order!!

RIP our lovely ladies who didn't survive the savage attack and I promise to protect your friends from all predators....well will try my best anyway!!

My madeit.com.au store

I apologise for the lack of blogging....I didn't realise how much I wasn't blogging until I just had a look at my analytics page and my visits are down 52%! Oops!

My little business has been securing the majority of my free time at the moment and I have now set up The Dalli Cottage Collection madeit.com.au store!

Be sure to visit us and let me know what you think!!

birthday wishes...

Yesterday was my birthday and I was awoken by my beautiful Mr H and Moo with some fabulous pressies. Mr H outdid himself again as he proved that he does listen to me and bought me a MIXMASTER! I have been complaining about my handheld beaters that only have one FAST speed so he did so well!!

I was absolutely showered in messages, phone calls and birthday cakes...yes...I managed to score THREE home-made birthday cakes from my Mama, and my 2 very special friends!

It calls for the end of my birth 'week' celebrations....

I was completely spoilt....

Lunch at ARIA & Mamma Mia for some early celebrations....



and lunch on my birthday with my special visitors - my parents and my gorgeous Mama friends...



It's all over for another year....for today it's back to reality...washing, cleaning and sewing....all while eating A LOT of cake!

Meet the ladies....

While I was away over the weekend, Baby Moo made her first purchase....



She is now the proud owner of 11 Chooks and boy does she love them!

When we ask her where the chookies live....she points towards their pen and proceeds to say 'Bawk, Bawk, Bawk'....it makes my heart melt every time!

They are such lovely and quiet hens...and they especially love the Wondalli wheat! They fight and swabble over it....they must know what is the best! :)



However....they are yet to produce eggs.....hmmmm....any tips on how to make them productive??

Afternoon Naps....

I remember when Moo was first born....when she slept in the afternoons, I would join her and we would both wake up happy. Since taking on so many commitments, I haven't been able to indulge in this pleasure for such a loooong time.

But today....my body begged me to stop, to retire to our beautiful comfy couch, to close my eyes and relish in a few afternoon zzzzzz's! And boy do I feel refreshed.

Before my sleep I was in zombie-mode....I honestly felt like my body was walking, talking, eating but my brain was already asleep. At lunch, Mr H was talking to me and I looked at him, and responded....but ten minutes later, I had no recollection that he even spoke to me! That he when he begged for me to take a nap.

And I did....and so did Moo.

When was the last time you treated yourself to a nap? When you listened to your body and obeyed? I recently watched a segment on OPRAH called 'Overwhelmed'....it was a definite eye opener - to stop, and not live MY life in the fast lane. I managed to find the segment on her website...give yourself 15 minutes to read this....it may save yours and your families lives.



My baby indulges in an afternoon sleep every day....doesn't it look DIVINE!

My weekend away from Moo....

Firstly, apologies for the lack of blog posts. Life has been hectic and time has been minimal! I only asked myself today why I commit to so many things....but I will blog about that another day!

I am proud to report that I survived my first weekend away from Baby Moo....and although it nearly killed me...she was just FINE and didn't miss me at all!! Mr H did a terrific job as a sole parent - and even made the living room a huge cubby house (with sheets & blankets) much to Moo's delight! I was so thankful of Mr H for being such a terrific Dad. I rang endless times just making sure they were coping alright and each time he said to me 'Go and HAVE FUN!'. Never once did he make me feel bad and he now understands just how big of a JOB being a Mama is....

The weekend was so lovely and my favourite memory was on Friday - just spending time with my beautiful sister Emma and my Mama. We soaked up a lazy lunch at ARIA (OMG - so delicious) and then had so much fun shopping and laughing the afternoon away. We then headed over the bridge to the Lyric Theatre to watch Mamma Mia....and that was just fantastic too. We went to bed with a buzzzz that night - it was such an amazing day.



Em's Hens Party went without a hitch and although our nude model at our sketching wasn't 'our' idea of HOT....it was still FUN! Em looked like she enjoyed her day and night and now the final count down is on!!



Another fantastic memory from the weekend was attending Em's wedding dress fitting. I cried....she looks so radiant, beautiful and classic. It will be tissues all round on the wedding day thats for sure!!

Only 10 days until the wedding!! I am so excited for the gorgeous couple....

ten months

Family Rules

Baby Moo turns ONE in October so I have been trawling the internet in the bid to find the ultimate birthday gift....that's not plastic, tacky and takes up all the room in our tiny cottage.

I found this absolutely STUNNING website called Ministyle...{click on the link to go the website}..and guess what....I ended up buying something for the cottage.

Check out this gorgeous print - our new family rules.



I have requested for the print to be customised to a beige & white theme to match our kitchen and it will be proudly hung on our kitchen wall. What a beautiful reminder of what life is all about!

Be sure to visit Ministyle....you are guaranteed to drooool!

Dress Ups!

I had another day of soaking up my gorgeous Moo....

I decided that she is growing up too quickly so we have declared one of her party dresses - her breakfast dress....that way at least it is getting some wear....and plus it looks like it belongs in the 80's at a Prom!! Who knows what Mimi was thinking when she bought it!!



Moo kept it on for the whole morning before her morning nap! I felt like getting a dress for myself so we can play dress ups together....fairies, princesses....sounds like fun doesn't it!! Perhaps a trip to the Op Shop tomorrow will be in order!

Breaking the mould....

I decided to break the mould today and mess around my unwritten routine....


Instead of watching the morning news....I turned up the tunes on our Ipod docking station, put on my favourite music and danced with Moo around the cottage.


Instead of washing, cleaning and working....I played for hours with Moo and we laughed and giggled until our cheeks hurt.


Instead of doing jobs throughout Mr H's lunch break....we both played with Moo as a family for a whole hour.


Today, instead of worrying about the mess....I took a moment to soak up and relish my simple yet glorious life.

How often do you stop worrying about the mess - and get down on the floor with your kids and MAKE the mess? Or stop worrying about the jobs to do - and instead stop to tell your husbo just how much you love and adore him?

I made the choice today to stop and smell our daisies (they are blooming at our front door!), have that extra long kiss with Mr H, and that extra giggle and cuddle with Baby Moo.


As a result....tonight I have a spring in my step and a twinkle in my eye.....the simplicity of life has done me wonders.....so when are you going to break YOUR mould??

A week in the life of ME....

This week so many terrific memories were created....so I thought I would share...

Off to Talwood for a playdate with some very special friends! We decided to do a roadtrip and put the three bubbas in the back of the Prado....and I was in the boot! After 30 mins trying to get the carseats in the back....we eventually made it onto the road!! That was until there was a big BANG d we realised that 20km out of town we had a flat tyre.....and then we realised we had no phone service and three HUNGRY bubbas!! Thankfully 2 lovely blokes stopped to rescue to the damsels in distress (yes, thats us!) and taught us the kind act of humanity!

Such great friends....Eva, Macie and Scarlett - all patiently waiting for the tyre to be changed! Scarlett is hiding in her carseat!

Creating memories and laughing our heads off at the drama - my very special friends Jen and Kath. To think that our gorgeous children have created our special friendshipn gives me goosebumps. I thank my lucky stars to have met these amazing women.

Our visitors to the Dalli Cottage...Aunty Em and Uncle Lach off to a wedding! Can you believe that this gorgeous couple are going to be saying their vows in 3 WEEKS!

A weekend at the Dalli Cottage with Mimi & Poppy visiting from Toowoomba. Macie was in her element as Ma and Pa (Mr H's parents) came to visit too.....

It was Ma and Aunty Jenna's birthdays on Saturday so we decided that we would make a special birthday card for each of them from Moo! According to Moo - Blue is the new black....and we need to cover ourselves in it! A few phonecalls were made to Aunty Em (who is a teacher) to see if there are any secrets to getting texta off children....just for the record - there aren't any except for good old soap and scrubbing!!

We have had a big week with lots of visits to town, playdates and visitors to the cottage! This is usually how Moo ends her days when she has been busy socialising.....I soak up these cuddles with my gorgeous girl and try to memorise every single part of her....she just seems to be growing up so quickly.

Mr H's first Fathers Day! This is his present from Moo - and he has already hung it proudly on the wall next to our bed. These photos are courtesy of Pa who came to visit today. Aren't they just stunning?

If this isn't the photo of pure unconditional love....then I don't know what is!

So....that is a week in the life of ME....I am going to start doing this a bit more - a photo can say so many more words sometimes....and I feel that I seem to have a case of 'Bloggy-Blank' at the moment!

Lots of Love

Han XX