One Word

Meet Me At Mike's did this little meme last night and I thought it would be fun to play along.  If you play along let me know in the comments so I can check out your answers too.

1. Where is your mobile phone? Table

2. Your hair? Messy

3. Your mother? Amazing

4. Your father? Hilarious

5. Your favourite food? Cake

6. Your dream last night? None

7. Your favourite drink? Tea

8. Your dream/goal? Happiness

9. What room are you in? Lounge

10. Your hobby? Crafting

11. Your fear? Loss

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Home

13. Where were you last night? Mahnee's

14. Something that you aren’t? Athletic

15. Muffins? Yum!

16. Wish list item? Hunters

17. Where did you grow up? Goldie

18. Last thing you did? Ate

19. What are you wearing? Jeans

20. Your TV? Olympics

21. Your pet? Wanted

22. Friends? Crazy :-)

23. Your life? Fun

24. Your mood? Tired

25. Missing someone? Sister

26. Vehicle? Toyota

27. Something you’re not wearing? Shoes

28. Your favorite store? Kitty's

29. Your favorite color? Pink

30. When was the last time you laughed? Yesterday

31. Last time you cried? Unsure

32. Your best friend? Corey

33. One place that I go to over and over? Tamborine

34. One person who emails me regularly? Mum

35. Favorite place to eat? Mum's

3 Wise Owls

A wise old owl sat in an oak,

The more he heard, the less he spoke;

The less he spoke, the more he heard;
Why aren't we all like that wise old bird?

I really wanted to knit or crochet Squishy a rattle and when I found this adorable pattern I couldn't help but make 3.  One for Squishy and two for my niece and nephew (twins) who are due in around 6 weeks.

Pattern: Stripey Owl Baby Rattle by Lovely Little Life
Hook: 4mm
Wool: various leftovers from the stash

These rattles are so quick to make and are the perfect last minute gift for babies.  They are also great for using up all those little leftover bits of yarn that sit in the stash.  I made all three of these out of leftovers from previous projects.  I love that Squishy will have a little toy that matches her two cousins.  I think we will need to line them all up for a photo once they are all here.

Baby Vintage

One of the most exciting parts of having a little girl is all the adorable vintage clothing that I can buy for her.  I have spent many hours searching through etsy and have had to exercise a lot of self control not to buy every cute thing that I find.  The other week though I finally gave in and purchased a few items for her.

I am pretty sure that sailor dress is my absolute favourite thing I have ever seen!  These all came from Perfectly Vintaged on etsy.  I also bought this cute top and pants set but I couldn't get a decent photo of it.  I am so excited to be able to dress Squishy in all these cute outfits.  But do you know what is even more exciting then buying vintage on etsy......being given my baby clothes to dress Squishy in!

When my mum gave me the boxes of stuff from my childhood one box contained a bunch of clothes.  These pictured above are just a few of my favourites.  It is going to be so much fun to dress Squishy in these clothes and take some photos to compare her to how I looked as a baby.  The denim dress above was the dress I wore on my first birthday. Too cute!  No doubt her vintage wardrobe is going to grow and grow along with mine.  Don't be surprised how if there are more posts like this in the future.

Ombre Dresser Makeover

I have had the below picture saved in my pinterest for quite some time now and was really hoping that I would get a chance to make something similar for Squishy.  We have been debating for ages what to do for her clothes but finally last week got it sorted out.

Source: norskeinteriorblogger.blogspot.com via Kat on Pinterest

Corey had two dressers both full of clothes but most of them he didn't wear.  So last week when he was off work he spent a day sorting them out and the empty dresser got moved into Squishy's room.  That night I came home and was staring at it and thought "you know what will make this look even better..."  Then because I have the bestest husband in the whole wide world we took a trip to Bunnings and picked up some paint.

The pictures all make the colours look blue but they are actually a range of purples.  They are all Taubmans paints and if you are interested in the names just let me know and I will email them to you.

Because the dresser was wood laminate we had to put an undercoat on it first to help the paint grip.  If you did this with a natural untreated wood dresser it would be quicker because you could skip that first coat.  We were going to buy new handles but then decided just to paint over the existing ones so they would blend in with each drawer.

The very next day Corey (aka the bestest husband in the world) spent an entire day painting the drawers.  By the time I got home from work they were all done and hanging out in our garage to dry.  The next morning little Squishy had a brand new set of drawers.  The original plan was to put her drawers inside her cupboard to save space but these just looked so good that I rearranged the room so that they could be kept out.  The nursery is now slowly starting to look like a real room and I can't wait for it to be finished.  Hopefully it will be done in the next few weeks so I can share some pictures.

The Good, The Bad & The Bump(y)

The Good

• 9 weeks to go!!!
• Leisurely saturdays spent at the coffee club, spotlight & ikea.
• Being this <---> close to finishing Squishy's quilt.
• Finally feeling like I am making progress on my to do lists.
• Baby shower next weekend. I can't wait!

The Bad

• Being tired all the time. It's starting to get exhausting.
• Being on my own in the office. Can't wait for Anna to return tomorrow.
• Cold nights making my knees ache.

The Bump

Where are the weeks going? Only 9 more weeks and I am getting more excited with each passing day.  Next weekend is my baby shower which I am very excited for.  It will be nice to have a relaxing afternoon with the girls.  The last big thing we need to get is a car seat but I want to clean my car first.  Once that is in the car I will feel truly ready for Squishy's arrival.  The nursery is starting to look really good. I am loving watching it all come together.  I have a quarter of the binding on her quilt to finish hand stitching then a couple more things to make before I can share pictures.  But stayed tuned because the minute it is all done I will be taking some shots to share.  Oh and 1 more extremely exciting thing.....only 6 more weeks of work till I am on maternity leave!!! I can't wait!

July Reading List

This month was a slow month for reading. I do most of my reading on my lunch break but this past month at work has been so busy that I have been grabbing food whenever I get the chance and not having much time to actually stop.  Here is what I read:-

A Tiny Bit Marvelous is written from the perspective of four members of the one family.  It is quite interesting to read how they each perceive the same events in their life.  The best part of this book is the chapters written in the voice of the teenage daughter.  They way Dawn French writes these chapters cracks me up.  You can really imagine a 16 year old girl standing in front of you saying these things.  It's hilarious!

The Slap was given to me by my sister when she was up for dad's birthday and it took me a while to get through it.  I found it really interesting and thought provoking.  Especially for someone about to have a baby.  You most probably know what it's about but if not the story centres around a group of friends.  At the start of the book they have a bbq and one of the men slaps a child that is not his.  Each chapter is written from the point of view of a different member of the group and shows the different perspectives on the incident.  I found myself changing my mind on the incident with every chapter.  I got to the end of the book having more questions than answers on what I would do if something like this happened in my life.  It's a great book and definitely very thought provoking.

Hopefully August will be a bit more productive for me in the reading department otherwise I am going to struggle to hit my target of 52 books for the year.

Caramel Chip Cookies

Next time you are in the supermarket if you see a packet of caramel chips in the baking section do yourself a favour and buy them. Hell, buy 10 if they have them because these babies are delicious!  I spied a packet of these the other day for the first time and curiosity made me buy them.  I whipped up the recipe off the back of the packet and now I wish I had bought 10 packets because these cookies are just too good!  Do yourself a favour and walk, no, run down to the supermarket, buy a packet of these caramel chips and whip these cookies up asap.

Caramel Chip Cookies

125g butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup sr flour
250g caramel chips (mine were nestle but not sure if other brands make them too).

Preheat oven to 170*C/150*C for fan forced.  Grease and line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

Place butter, brown sugar and egg in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until pale and creamy.

Stir in flour.  Add caramel chips.  Mix until well combined.

Roll level tablespoons of mixture into balls and place on prepared trays 4cm apart.  Flatten slightly.  Bake for 15 minutes or until golden.  Cool on trays for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Fight your husband away from the cooling racks before he eats all the cookies! Yes Corey, I'm looking at you :-)