Zeke turned 4!

I can hardly believe it, and that it's been over a week. My oldest boy is now not a toddler, but a full blown pre-schooler or kid. 4 isn't little anymore!

For the first time since he was born, we were able to have his big party on his birthday (sickness, conflicting plans or just being broke meant his party has happened on a different day every year thus far) and we went with a Super Hero theme. Red and blue invitations were sent out, calling all super heroes to action, and Zeke carefully wrote each person's name (well copied after I wrote it first) on each one, and signed his name!

Meanwhile I got busy cutting (as it turns out way too much!) white fleece capes and hot gluing ribbons to tie the neck. I chose fleece because it's no-sew lol, but also warm given the winter weather we've had lately. Had a bit of a mad scramble to borrow an iron as well, when I realised once I'd washed them they came out wrinkled! The kids were able to paint/draw on them with fabric paints and take them home instead of lolly bags. I made way too many, even though they were a big hit, but if anyone wants some white fleece, let me know!

We hired the same community room we hired for Liam's, which is a great place, playground, toys already provided and small tables and chairs for the kids :) The only downside is a pretty tiny kitchen, which gets cramped once all the party food was in there!

Overall, the day went great (other than losing the combination for the key safe and having to ring the coordinator on her day off to find it again) Zeke had a ball, and everyone was dressed in their super hero best! He was spoiled totally rotten with all his lovely gifts as well.

After much discussion about cakes (and repeatedly changing his mind) he decided on quite a simple request "A chocolate rectangle cake with Smarties" again the one-egg chocolate cake recipe came to good use, although in triplicate for the size of my big cake pan. With so many people coming who had varied diet exclusions I picked up a packet mix for a smaller dairy, egg and wheat free cake as well. (I must learn how to bake those better, it resembled a brick by the time I was done!)

I guess the part everyone is really waiting for are some pictures. Stupidly enough I managed not to get anything of the finished capes the kiddos were wearing though.... mum brain! I've only added a few here, for the full selection you need to know me on Facebook or G+.

Batman! (Daddy)

Baby Zorro - my nephew Elijah

Alan painting his cape

I was Super Mum, I also wore ugg boots and breast feeding friendly clothing

Batman and Super Granny

Waiting for cake!

Blowing out the candles

Close up of my artwork because I'm proud like that lol!

Spiderman dressed up and ready to go!

Opening birthday presents in the morning :) 

4 my goodness, slowly he's becoming more rational about some things and occasionally listening to reason, he's becoming independent in his behaviour, getting dressed on his own (or with the odd "Hurry up!" lol) he can make himself his own breakfast (just cereal and milk) and can communicate with everyone a lot more clearly. He also considers everyone his friend, which is just adorable! Of course with the new found independence and communication skills comes a desire to test those boundaries and when he does watch out! He loves music and singing, especially with Liam, although he can get a little over enthusiastic, and he's crazy imaginative these days, everything we do has an element of pretend in it, I never know what he'll come up with next.

Happy (belated) birthday Zeke, my funny, feisty, determined little dude. The boy who made me a mama, and sent me down the path of becoming a birth geek. 4 years... I couldn't imagine life without you.

Making a "Winter Cake"

So, Zeke, as he does from time to time said "I have an idea!" This exclamation is usually followed by a request for art and craft, or a walk to the bakery or milk bar. This time it was "Let's make a winter cake!" Well, what is a winter cake you ask? It turns out he had nothing firmer in mind than a winter cake, although after some questioning we determined it was chocolate. Anyone who knows me knows that I love decorating cakes, although far from a professional finish by any means, I really enjoy coming up with creative ideas to get different effects, themes etc. So, after some quick thinking, and a trip to the shops, our cake ended up with:

A round chocolate cake, layered with cream. (It was kind of based on this recipe my go-to for chocolate cake but done by eye)

"Snow" Icing - butter cream with an egg white whipped in for fluffiness.

Marshmallow Snowmen - assembled with Royal Icing, features added with icing gel in tubes and a hat made from squares of Rolo slab chocolate. Ended up needing half a skewer to get them to stand up.

"Frozen" Jelly Lake - light blue jelly (I diluted for a better colour and added more gelatine to set) set thinly and a slab put into the icing. Sprinkled with some extra jelly crystals for some frozen sparkle.

Chocolate trees - Flake trunks with pieces of Curly Wurly 'glued' with melted chocolate. Messy and time consuming to make! Look amazing though :)

Fresh fallen snow - dessicated coconut and jelly crystals sprinkled over to finish.

Of course, onto pictures! I'm going to apologise now for the weird layout!

Mixing with the egg beaters - he thinks the electric is too noisy!

Too much like hard work - electric it is!

Sifting the flour vigorously

Stirring again

Tasting to see if it's chocolatey enough. 

Building Snowmen

Into the fridge to set. 

Painting on some eyes and a mouth

And a 'carrot' nose

Snowmen all finished :) 

Layering cream onto the cake

Icing and a piece of jelly for the pond

Other decorations added

You can see the jelly sparkle here 

A tree and some snowmen! 

A Bedtime Conversation

So Zeke and I were cuddled up in bed reading a book, that finishes with a message of making the world a beautiful place for everyone to live in, emotionally as well as environmentally. We agreed that it's nice to make the world a happy, safe place for everyone to be, and moved on to talking about emotions, what makes him feel happy, sad etc, and what faces he pulls, and so on. The conversation was just so beautiful, I had to write it down.

Me: What about happy, what do you do that makes you happy?
Zeke: Smile!
M: That's right. What makes you feel happy? I feel happy when I get a hug and that makes me smile. What about you?
Z: Play with mine friends!
M: Yes, it's nice to play with friends isn't it?
Z: Yeah! You happy when you play with your friends?
M: Yes, and when I play games with you too.
Z: Daddy happy?
M: Yes, Daddy is happy too. How about feeling sad? What do we do then?
Z: Cry (sad voice and face to match)
M: Yup, I cry when something is sad too. What makes you feel sad?
Z: No play computer.
M: When you're not allowed a turn on the computer?
Z: Yes, makes me feel sad.
M: Fair enough. Do you feel angry sometimes? What happens then?
Z: Frown (big grumpy face)
M: Oh that's a grumpy look! What makes you feel angry?
Z: Liam takes mine toys.
M: That's not very nice is it?
Z: No (still sounding miffed)
M: So being happy is nice hey?
Z: Yup, I likes happy.
M: But being sad and angry aren't as much fun?
Z: No. Not fun.
M: You can feel surprised sometimes, what makes you feel surprised?
Z: Puzzles!
M: When you put the pieces together?
Z; Yes, I see picture - surprise!
M: Oh, that is a nice surprise! What else can we feel? How about scared?
Z: (pulls frightened face)
M: What makes you feel like that?
Z: Efelants! (Elephants)
M: Elephants are scary?
Z: Yes, efelants big!
M: Definitely, things that are bigger than you can be scary sometimes. But sometimes we feel safe instead. What makes you feel safe?
Z: (Blank look) I like your zip mummy.
M: Thank you. Safe means that you are happy somewhere, and it feels nice and good.
Z: (Leans over and hugs me) 
M: Do you feel safe when you get a hug mate?
Z: Yes!

For the record, I've never known him to be scared of elephants, he is obsessed with his Babar movie, and was pretending to be an elephant just last night...

Just had to share. I didn't want to forget this moment.

Flying Solo

So Ryan's out tonight, which means I have the boys alone. (Well had, seeing as they are both now in bed.) It's not too unusual, given that I stay at home with them, but bedtime alone is a totally different kettle of fish. By the end of the day their mood tends toward hyper (usually because they're excited about Ryan's coming home) and getting dinner and bed done can be something of a marathon between hyperactivity, bickering and clinginess.

It's nights like this I wonder if a stricter routine wouldn't make things more smooth, but at the same time I know it wouldn't really work here, we played till we were ready for dinner, then following their cues moved to bath and bed. They still get what they need, when they need it, I don't need a clock to know when they need it. I listen to them and give them what they need, and as well as getting their needs met they a) feel confident and secure with me and b) learn to communicate better with me, because if I respond as soon as they speak clearly, they tend to go for instant gratification the next time around and come out with a clear request right away! Speaking of clear communication Liam has learned to say milk - at least I get some warning before he attacks my shirt for a feed now!

Although the night ended up later than I would have liked for both of them, they are both fed, bathed and asleep none the less. Due to overcooking last night, I managed to have a proper meal for them tonight, as I usually resort to takeaway on the nights Ryan's out. Liam and I got some lovely one to one time when Zeke went down for a nap immediately after Ryan left. He says something that sounds like "Ah wuv bu" and follows it up with a kiss - I think it's I love you - how gorgeous is that? Then, not long after Zeke got up, Liam went down so Zeke and I had a play alone too.

We had a bit of an adventure with the bath tonight too. Went in to begin running it and noticed a nasty ugly black spider sitting near one of the jets (we have a corner spa bath) While I looked around for something to get rid of it, it disappeared into the jet itself. Closer inspection showed it had built a web around the entrance too, and had been established for a while. Not sure how I missed it, I guess it's because I mostly have showers and the jet are high up the side so it's normally not that full for the boys, I guess it never got disturbed before. Anyway, I tried pouring water into the jet to flush it out without success, and realised I'd have to turn the spa on to blast it out - apparently it's not just air, it's water too, so I had to fill the bath first. Meanwhile Liam and Zeke were losing it about not having the bath already even though water was going in. Got the water to a level where the spa would function, turned it on and out came the arachnid and a big chunk of web. Gross! The boys kept losing their cool, because now they had to wait while I let some of the cold water out and added hot - in retrospect I should have just filled it with warm water, got the spider out and stuck them in. Finally they were in, although Liam decided he didn't want to stay long. Zeke more or less got clean as well :)

As hectic as it can be, it's kind of nice being the only one here at bedtime. Zeke usually prefers Ryan to read to him at bedtime, so I get a chance. We read Dr Suess ABC book, he's obviously read it a few times, he knows some pages by heart! Liam tries to read along with us too, although he's mostly interested in the page numbers.

Well it's late now, and I've had some time to myself, blogged away and should probably get some sleep. Feeling a little bit awesome tonight though - one on one time with both boys, proper dinner, hunted down a spider and bed. Not a bad job if I say so myself :)

Our "visitor" - not as big as it looks, the camera was zoomed in pretty close for  maximum gross effect.

Welcome

So... another new blog. The "feel" of my older ones just doesn't fit me anymore. Which is why this one is all about finding my groove, working out that balance of life, being a mother, a wife, a friend, sister, wannabe doula, aunty, and me at the same time. How I fit into the world, and what I put into it. There will be a lot of day to day life stuff I'm sure, cute things the boys do, how big the laundry pile is getting and so forth, but I'm kind of hoping  to blog about my changing perception and space of life as I go too.

I guess I should tell you a little about me to begin with hey? I'm Miranda, and a 20-something (not that I'm afraid of age, just that 20-something is valid for so much longer lol, I turned 26 yesterday!) stay at home mum. Ryan and I recently celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary and our 8-year togetherness anniversary is coming up soon too.

Our sons are Zeke, who is nearly 4, a lively, imaginative, determined, bright little boy. He is a generous, hysterically funny being, who when he's not being absolutely cheeky and wicked can make anyone laugh, and even then when he's being naughty you have to smile too! He was a c-section in 2008 after a failed induction and a pretty shitty labour experience all round.

Then there's Liam, the first word that comes to mind for anyone who describes him is sweet. He's so loving, and very cute, he just melts into your body for cuddles and has recently learned to give (very wet) kisses. He is very musical, he already loves singing and doing actions to songs, and just ADORES Zeke, who in turn loves him. He was my VBAC baby - a moment I am so very proud of.

There's part of how I've changed. I would never have considered including the basic details of my sons' births in their bio as important before, but pregnancy, birth and motherhood are really important to me now, and the way my babies came into the world is an important part of my history and who I am these days.

Ryan, my delightful computer geek/muso/homebrewing/car enthusiast/RC hobbyist husband. We met almost 9 years ago, and eventually got our act together as a couple. Good move I reckon, we are delightfully in tune with one another and on the same page about pretty much everything, roles in our household, what we want to teach the boys, world views, political stuff (although he's a bit more opinionated than me), our relationship, equality and inequality - like I said pretty much everything. I could not have found a better half for my slightly neurotic self :)

That's pretty typical 'me' as well - go to tell you about myself, and explain who I live with, but the truth is much of my personality and existence is for those three wonderful boys in my house, I am all about being the best wife and mother I can be for them. In my down time, I've been known to read, cross stitch, listen to music, draw (badly), learn to play guitar (very poorly, I'm sub-beginner) read blogs, write blogs, write poems or stories, cook, attempt to find a hair style I'm okay with, cook, and I've been told I decorate a pretty awesome birthday cake. I'm hoping to work a little of all of that into this blog... one big rich mish mash of the elements that make up Miranda :)

I can also never get enough sleep, coffee, chocolate or cheese.

I dabble in natural and attached parenting, with doses of everything in between. I don't like to label myself to one particular theory on anything, I feel it's too restrictive. What I do best is summed up as "parenting by heart" which means (with a little research here and there) I follow my instinct as to what is best for my family. More often than not, that's a natural approach (babywearing, co-sleeping etc) but there are plenty of parts of me that are less natural/attached/gentle parenting as well, based on what feels right and works for us.

So yes, a new blog. Very exciting stuff. My lovely shiny new laptop definitely helps me with this too :) Let's see if this journey takes off.