Anyway, Kelly from Be a Fun Mum posted this today and I think I need (yes, NEED!) more dresses to get me through Summer…   I’ve already purchased a maxi dress from Sussan that I just love.  It’s so comfortable and light and stretchy and stripey and cool to wear and looks great!   I would wear it every day if I could!  I am also really loving a lot of nice things that ModCloth have on their web site right now too. 

To go with these dresses (there will be more, promise!), I need some shoes.  Something different (for me anyway).  I think I want some wedges.  Something heel-y-fied but a but a tad more practical, taking into account running after three kids.  Because in all honesty, that’s what any shoes I buy need to be up for.  And something very neutral and light in colour/texture to compliment all the Summery niceness and must have the flexibilty from a to be worn with anything from a dress to jeans.  Too much to ask from one pair of shoes?  I hope not! 

What do you think of these as a starting point?  I need to find something soon though, otherwise Summer will be here and gone and I still won’t have found The Shoe I’m after!  Suggestions and direction welcome! 

Lipstik ‘Rocks’ @ Shoe Be Doo

Jane Debster ‘Embassy’ @ Jane Debster

Zensu ‘Amy1′ @ Shoe Box

or… These Crocs ‘Hanalei’ @ Sole Central

Simona Ricci ‘Nico’ @ Shoe Box

After watching the video, I nearly pressed on the ‘Buy Now’ button…

This is Reuben in my new favourite thing in the entire Baby World Of Stuff – my Bubba Moe sling!

It is so comfortable to wear and has made the arsenic hours (anywhere between 4 and 7pm) at our house almost non existent.  Today I even braved a trip to the shops wearing Reuben in the sling and it was great!  He slept while Owen and I were able to walk around and check out different things without having to pram it or kill my arms or back carrying the baby for 2 hours.

So yesterday Mum, Owen and I went for a drive to Penrith for some supplies.  Why Penrith?   Well firstly because Spotlight and Lincraft are in the same homemaker type shopping complex, and secondly because I really need to clock up kilometres on the car, so going anywhere that is just that little bit further is a welcome trip.

While I wasn’t planning on buying anything at all, I came home with this:

Husqvarna Husky Star E10 Sewing Machine

I haven’t sewn anything since my grade 8 Home Economics class (with top marks for my sewing I would like to add!), leaving any sewing/mending/hemming to my more than capable Mum.  We now live a little too far away to just do the usual pop over to her place with a pair of pants to hem, or stash of material and a request/idea.

I figured I probably should at least have a go at saving ourselves the $19 it costs each time for Marc to have any new dress pants hemmed at the local alterations place!  And what better time to buy a sewing machine than when Mum is here to show me how to use the thing.

After traipsing round the countryside most of yesterday, we are going to have a day at home today and have a play with the new machine.  I informed Marc last night that first guinea pig was going to be his new dress pants that have been waiting to be hemmed for a few weeks.  He looked a little scared…  Wish me luck :)

Update

Well, I’ve successfully made a (not very exciting, but useful) replacement peg bag and here’s the proof :)

From this:

To this:

This afternoon I ordered groceries from Woolworths online.  Getting delivered tomorrow afternoon.  Because I’m lazy.  Because I can’t be bothered putting shoes on, brushing my hair and driving that 4 minutes in either direction.  Because I think we may just have enough milk to see us through to that magical delivery time tomorrow afternoon.

And because I love the fact that I can sit at my dining table while Owen has a sleep and check the pantry/fridge as I order.  It’s so annoying when you get home and find you’ve forgotten something, even more so if you had remembered to write it on your shopping list!

I like to call it lazy-productive :o)

As you all probably know by now, I prefer to shop online.  If I can buy something anytime of the day or night, calculate postage into the cost and it still is comparable to me driving to the shops and buying it, that online option will win every time.  Hands down.  No question about it.  With my laptop, on the couch, in my pjs with a cup of hot chocolate/cold water/Pepsi and my trusty bright pink VISA debit card handy, just to give you an image you know you needed :o)

This addiction (yes, for me it’s like my Tupperware thing…) all started when Owen was born and shopping online for nearly everything made my life our lives easier.  I say nearly everything, because I used to buy everything from our groceries to gifts to everyday items to flights to services from the oh-so-accessible and often cheaper World Wide Web!  If I could buy/do what ever it was I needed to do online, I would.  This trend has stuck fast with me.

Since we now do live away from all our friends and family (although not quite as far as Kristy and Gerrod) I, being the Birthday Remember-er and Official Gift Purchaser, have found it easier to continue to buy gifts online and often have them gift wrapped and delivered directly to the recipient.  Saves countless hours browsing the shops looking for ideas, and the hassle of dragging an uninterested toddler along for the ride.  And now, with the help of Wishpot anyone who wants to know, can find out what our family is interested in for their birthdays or Christmas.

Sorry about the photos.  His room is an odd shape, making it hard to get a whole room shot.  But you can get the general idea of what Owen’s room looks like now we have furniture in it.  The walls may change, but the furniture will stay the same for now…

Next job for me is to go through Owen’s baby clothes and associated paraphernalia and transfer all relevant things into this room.  In other words, have a huge clean out of all the boxes of baby things I’ve been hoarding and fill the drawers with only useful items.  This will be a whole lot easier now, as I can do a little bit at a time for the next 8 weeks, give or take.  I’d also like to get something on the walls, a nice cushion for the rocking chair and maybe paint the rocking chair white.  But in saying that, I wanted to do this over three years ago, and as you can see it never happened, so don’t hold your breath!

At least we can tick this one off our Before The Baby Gets Here To-Do List.  A list which I have yet to make!

Now for the wants part of this post.

This one is a complete want, and unlikely to fall into my hands unless my fairy godmother suddenly drops by and waives her magic wand.  At just a little over $350.00 from Mother and Child, I don’t think I’ll be getting one of these babies for me, my baby and three year old!  But what a stylish nappy bag, hu?

The other want I started looking for today, which will become a reality, is a baby sling.  I’m not entirely sure of what style to get and haven’t even tried one out yet but I know I want one!  We had a Baby Björn on loan to us when Owen was a littlie and that was great, until he became too heavy for me to bother with it, and for Marc it wasn’t much longer after that.  The only criticism I have for the Baby Björn is that Owen as was a chunky, chubby baby, he seemed to grow out of it way too early.  I’m glad we didn’t purchase one ourselves because we would not have gotten our money’s worth out of it.

This is the sling I’ve been reading about this afternoon.  I really like that it can be worn on your front or back.  It’s called the Peanut Shell, and retails for around $98.00 from Babes in Arms for this particular style and in 100% cotton.  The only thing with this one is, that it isn’t adjustable and you are buying a specific size for your shape and height.  I don’t know if Marc and I would be able to use the same sling.

So, any suggestions from out there Mums (or Dads)?  I’m all ears in this this department, but in the meantime I will continue my research into the what seems like the hundreds of different styles and try a few out before I settle on one.  I’ll try and remember to let you know which one I eventually choose!

Why buy them now?

Why not wait a couple of months, just in case he has a growth spurt?

This notion in itself is a little on the hilarious side.  If you have ever met Owen in person, you will know that he just isn’t going to be tall, even though Marc and I aren’t short people, the poor boy is a Carter through and through and will most likely be as tall as my Dad, and built the same.

Sorry O, there’s nothing we can do about that Buddy…

But I digress

Last year, I bought Owen some cotton PJs right at the beginning of the season, and could not, for love or money, get him another set.  I even tried Myer and David Jones as last resorts, hoping that because their kids clothes are more expensive than those of the department stores (Target, Big W, Kmart) they may have some stock all through the hotter months.  Nope.  The child gets super hot during the night and satin boxers don’t seem to be his thing (I’m sure this will change as he grows up), neither do the PJ sets made of t-shirt material.

Now I hear you say, well just make some, right?  Wrong.  I’m not a sewer.  I don’t own a sewing machine and I am not allowed to touch Mum’s machine.  Not because I have had a crack at it before and wrecked her machine in the past (although, I can see how that would happen), mainly because it’s a Mum thing.  I don’t think my sister, who can sew, even touches Mum’s machine!  But that’s what Mum’s are for (among other things), aren’t they?!  My Mum made him a couple of cotton sets and we made do until it got cooler again and he could wear the cute little satin boxers.

Since we find ourselves far away from all people who can sew, I know I will need to be on the look out for some new PJs from now on…  As it was, Big W only had one pair in size 3 left…  Plenty if he was a size 5 or 6 though!  I’ll not be making the same mistake as last year :o)

Here’s a picture of the Boy in his new PJs.

Dinosaurs and skateboards, what more could a three year old want!

My apologies for the photo, Owen was trying to watch Bananas In Pajamas (this is the truth, I swear!) while I tried these on him and would only stand still for one photo…< -->

I want this one from Awesome Beds 4 Kids:

Marc doesn’t want to buy anything that large (and not electrical…) online without seeing it in person.  I’m just guessing this is so he can judge the Owen-proofness of the bed.  What ever we pick is going to have a hard life ahead of it, so we do need to make sure it’s up for the challenge!

BUT we can’t find anything even close to this one down here.  The store is located at Helensvale on the Gold Coast and delivery is only $85!  Funnily enough, to get our new bedroom suite delivered from just a few suburbs away cost us $55 a few weeks ago.  AND if we aren’t satisfied, we can return it within 7 days (we would pay the return delivery costs).  Sounds pretty reasonable to me.  I might add in here that we LIVED ABOUT 40 MINUTES AWAY FROM HELENSVALE up until only a few months ago… argh

Shopping makes me (and Marc and Owen) tired (and cranky!), even more so when we don’t come home with anything, or at least anything to go home and think about, and maybe go back for.  I like this bed even more after our unsuccessful shopping expedition today and I think Marc is caving, just a little… :o)

This is proving to be way harder than deciding on a cot for him just over three years ago!  Frustratingly, all of our recent furniture purchases seem to take ages to actually come about.  When you have something very specific in mind, it’s hard to just settle for ‘close enough’.  And we are kind of have a time limit for this Owen-bed purchase, we want to get him all settled before Squirt arrives – due to make an entrance in just under thirteen weeks!

No pressure or anything!!!