Back from the dead

Please forgive me for I have sinned - it has been 937 days since my last blog post.

I feel a bit odd writing here again, but lately I have been overcome with a strong desire to get back into the blogging world. I want to re-ignite my passion for life again - get the creative juices flowing, have a place where I can (hopefully) connect with other like-minded people and share this rollercoaster of a life (even when the rollercoaster feels more like a roundabout). I'm not sure exactly what this blog will be yet, I'm just going to take it one step at a time.

So two and a half years have passed by since I was last on The Red Deer. During that time Grace has gone through kindy and is now in reception. Last time I blogged Grace was a three year old, now she is on her way to being six! She is creative, has a great sense of humour, is a sticker book addict and most importantly she loves her mummy (ha ha). Zoe is now in year 2 at school - my goodness, my big girl! I can't believe how quickly she is growing, seriously growing right before my eyes. Zoe is learning the piano, she loves to sing, read, and of course she loves her art and craft. That is one thing they both love - there is always drawing, colouring-in, gluing, sticky-taping, beading - something going on! So life with the little ladies is going well - they are both growing into such beautiful people and I am constantly amazed by them, and scared by how fast they are growing!

Life for me in the last two and half a years has been busy - of course looking after the little ladies, but also doing some part time work, volunteering, having two short-term relationships and all the little things that keep you busy. Right now I am still single-parenting, I have a job (yahoo!) at the University of Adelaide in academic support and I am getting my art and craft on!

Currently I am still working on the mega quilt - I think I am just over a quarter of the way there. I have also started a cross-stitch that I want to gift to my mum for Christmas, it has been a while since I did one and I'm really enjoying it. It seems that quilting and cross-stitch are what I am obsessed with at the moment - I am constantly thinking about patterns, fabric designs and all that fun stuff. I have so much to learn, but I am extremely keen and can't wait to get down and dirty in the textile world!

Well I think that is about it for now - and I promise (even if I am just promising to myself) that I will be back very soon - I've got to get this habit going! I'll finish up this post with a photo of the girls from every year I have been away - 2014, 2015 and 2016!

Grace - 4 months

I can't believe you are four months old already Grace - where did that last month go? Grace this month you have started developing your own little personality. You are smiling more and more every day - and when you smile it isn't just a little smile, you do it with your whole body. You let out your first giggle this month and it has to be one of the sweetest sounds I have ever heard. You are getting much better at grabbing your toys and I've seen you eying off your feet - you would love to grab on to them. You are still loving the boobs and you are sleeping like a little trooper - and for this mummy thanks you so, so much!

Your even getting into tummy time a bit more - trying to move around (but failing) to get your toys and trying to roll over.

We took you to the botanical gardens and...

You were not a fan.


But then I look into those eyes and how can I be angry with you - I love you baby girl! Can't wait to see what the next month brings.

Zoe - 28 months

Little Zoe - my how you have grown. You are becoming quite the little lady now.

You love being outdoors - and you especially love using your little watering can.

Reading time is still a favourite - especially when Pop is around to read with.

You are starting to get a bit of an appetite for food - perhaps there is hope at meal times after all.

You are starting to get very involved in your play time and quite often will tell me to go away so that you can play on your own. Little Miss Independent.

You somehow put up with mummy giving you very crooked fringe cuts.

You love to paint and draw - you are quite the budding artist.

You are looking more and more beautiful everyday. I love you little lady - can't wait to see what this next month brings!

Grace - 3 Months Old

I can't believe I am posting this already! Little Grace is growing up so fast it is just blowing me away. It seems like only yesterday I was coming home from the hospital nervous about how I was going to look after a newborn and a toddler, and now here we are as a little family - Zoe, Grace and I. There have definitely been some tough times, but I think overall we are going really well. Luckily Zoe seems to understand that when mum needs to feed Grace she will need to occupy herself - so Zoe will quietly play, and when it comes to putting Grace to bed, the dreaded television is switched on to keep Zoe happy.

This month Grace has turned into a super sleeper - it is rather strange for me because when Zoe was this age she was waking roughly three times a night and only cat napping during the day. Grace on the other hand generally has two decent naps and will then sleep from 10-12 hours straight at night. I love her for this. Grace is still feeding well and is growing very well - sitting at just over 7 kilograms now, which makes her very, very, healthy. She is also starting to discover her hands and feet, an occasional suck of the thumb and lots of wonderous looks at her feet - it is ultra cute. We are also starting to get happy times during the day instead of the constant whinge she was doing earlier - so it is lovely to hear those goos and gahs, and to see those huge gummy smiles.

And now for a few pics of my little lady...

Looking particularly gorgeous on her play mat from Pop and Liz.

Having a snooze in the baby carrier on her first ever trip to the beach.

Giving Zoe's art work on the fridge lots of gummy smiles.

Enjoying a bit of play time - this is something new!

Enjoying lots of cuddles with Auntie Emma.

Can't wait to see what the next month will bring!

Zoe - 27 Months Old

It has been a very long time since I have posted about my gorgeous little Zoe - I think the last time was way back in February 2010 when she was just 15 months old! Now Zoe is 27 months and quite the little lady. She loves talking, jumping, dancing, wearing pretty skirts and dresses, singing, cuddling and kissing. She is quite simply gorgeous! Don't get me wrong she can also be a handful, but in general she is a very well mannered and lovely little lady.

Zoe has had a very exciting month this month. Not only did we enjoy her third Christmas we also had family staying with us - my sister (otherwise known as Em) and my dad (otherwise known as Pot, since Zoe has decided that pop is too hard to say). Zoe had an absolute ball having so many people to play with - unfortunately she is stuck with me now :P

Here are some photos of what the little lady has been up to...

Going to the beach with Auntie Em.

Doing a gazillion crayon drawings.

Constantly counting.

Chilling out with Em and Pop.

Getting into the play dough with Em.

Can't wait to see what the next month will bring us!

New Years Eve and Sparkler Fun

My sister, Janice (our good friend) and I had a lot of fun with sparklers on New Years Eve - and my sister being the media studies gal that she is put together this short video using all of the photos that we took on the night.

I hope you like it...

Happy New Year!

So much has happened this year - I started studying my Bachelor of Business (Accounting), I discovered I was pregnant, my husband and I separated, I moved in next door to my mum, my gorgeous Zoe turned 2 and I welcomed little Grace into my family. There have definitely been lots of ups and downs - but I have to say that at the end of it I am happy and I am excited to see what 2011 will bring.

I hope you all had a great year in 2010 and I wish you all the best for 2011. 

Grace - 2 months old

Grace my darling baby girl you are now 2 months old and so much has happened this last month...

You gave us your first smile.

You discovered the bouncinet.

You fed a lot and grew a lot.

You found your favourite place to sleep.

You experienced your first Christmas.

Happy 2 month birthday baby girl! I can't wait to see what the next month brings.

Christmas Day

Well Christmas has come and gone, and I have to say it was one of the best ones I have had for a while. We started the day with the usual present opening, but this was the first Christmas where Zoe was able to open up her own presents - and she had a ball discovering all of her new toys. This year she was given a whole heap of play food, a tea set, the Fisher Price Little People backyard set, wooden blocks, a play toaster, a Dora the Explorer puzzle, some In The Night Garden books, a cute green pot and the big present from me...

A play kitchen! A very fitting present I think from a mum who loves to bake - and so far Zoe seems to think that it is pretty cool (but not as cool as her new tea set).

I gave a Grace a few rattles and some toys for the pram, not much - but she seemed pretty happy with it...

I was given a lovely towel set and some gorgeous new coffee mugs from my mother, a beautiful sarong from my sister, a sheet set from one of my best friends and a gorgeous little guardian angel and 'Dream' sign from my other best friend. The little guardian angel already seems to be doing its job in helping little miss Grace get to sleep. Thank you Auntie Leah!

After all of the present opening we let Zoe play while we had our Christmas brunch - ham and cheese croissants. The rest of the day was pretty relaxed with a nibbles dinner (cheeses, dips, turkish bread and oysters) outside in the glorious summer weather, and then later lots of chatting, laughter and pavlova (I'll post the recipe for that later this week).

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too.  What did Santa bring you?

I'm back....

And hopefully this time for good.

So let me give you a short update on what I have been up to.

• Very, very little baking has been going on in this household - I just haven't had the time or energy for it for quite some time now.

• I finished my second subject in my Bachelor of Business (Accounting) degree - and I got a high distinction

• And oh yeah - I had a baby!

Grace Ellen Zakarevicius
Born 29th October 2010 at 6:28pm
Weighing 4.1 kilograms (9 pounds 1 ounce)
Measuring 50cm

After a very quick (and painful) two hour labour my darling daughter arrived in this world. I won't bore you with the birth story, but it is suffice to say that I won't be doing that again in a rush! Ouch! Focusing on the positives though, there were no complications - Grace was perfect and I was up and about within minutes. Here we are just minutes after she was born...

And then after a lovely warm shower, with Grace dressed in her first ever wondersuit...


And in case you are wondering this was my last pregnancy photo that I got to take - it was taken the day before Grace was born, when I was exactly 39 weeks.


So that is my rather large news - only took me 7 weeks to tell the blogosphere, because now little Miss Grace is 7 weeks old and going strong.

I hope to keep this blog alive, but at this point in time I'm not sure what I will be blogging about because I am trying to lose a little bit of weight and baking does not fit into the weight loss equation very well. I'm sure I will think of something though.

Stay tuned!

23 Weeks Pregnant

23 weeks today and to be honest not much has changed in the last week. I have thoroughly cleaned the nursery - scrubbed the walls, cleaned the mirrors, cleaned the cupboard and mopped the floor. I also have picked out some things that I want to buy from Ikea once I have some money again. I think my next step is to make a list of general baby items that I need - I don't think it will be a very big list, but there are a few things like a monitor, car seat, pram, etc. Hopefully I can grab most of those things on sale or off of ebay.

Bubs is still pretty quiet in there - I feel a few kicks a day but not too many. I am feeling really good still - not too big or tired, just happily pregnant :)

Only 17 more weeks until I meet my new daughter!

22 Weeks

22 weeks pregnant today - and time is flying by now. I can't believe that I am already over the half way mark, it won't be long now until I get to meet my gorgeous baby girl.

This week bubs has been doing gymnastics in my belly, my mum even saw my belly move the other night - so definitely some big kicks going on.

I am feeling really good at the moment - got to love the second trimester - not too tired, not too big but definitely feeling pregnant. I love this stage of the pregnancy.

I am thinking of getting stuck into the nursery in the next week. I want to have it all done sooner rather than later - as I know when I start to get bigger that I might not feel like scrubbing walls and cleaning mirrors. I've also got lots of baby clothes, wraps and nappies to wash - can't wait to hang out all of the cute little things!

Jelly Bean at 21 Weeks

I can't believe that I am 21 weeks pregnant already, the time is seriously just flying by! Before my last scan I was quite nervous and worried because I hadn't felt much movement from the little one and everyone told me that you should feel the second one quicker. Luckily though it just turns out that my placenta is positioned at the front this time, making it far more difficult to feel the little kicks from my baby girl.


It seems that baby girl is going well in there, she is measuring slightly large, has a nice strong heart beat, has 10 fingers, 10 toes and all the bits. She is perfect! And I am over the moon to know that my baby is going so well.

Now the next time I see her will be when she is born - not long to go now! I better start getting the nursery ready.

Oh and if you are wondering this is how I am looking at 21 weeks pregnant - not too big yet, but there is a lot of room to grow...

It's a girl!

Hello all, sorry I have been absent for so long. Let us just say that life has been challenging lately and blogging has been the last thing on my mind. Just to keep everyone informed, Mat and I are currently separated and living apart, so Zoe and I are living alone at the moment. It has been a very difficult time but I know it is the best thing for the whole family right now - and hopefully Mat and I can get back together after some time apart.

Okay enough of the heavy stuff, and time to celebrate because yesterday I found out that I am expecting another baby girl! Zoe is going to have a little sister to play with and I am sure they will be the best of friends.

I have also decided that I am going to jump back on the blogging bandwagon - so watch this space as I will be updating regularly again.

Bye for now everyone!

Jelly Bean at 13 Weeks

Hello all!

I know it is has been a long time between posts and really there is no excuse for it, but I am just going to go ahead and blame being pregnant anyway! Thankfully morning sickness has now subsided - but the tiredness and general lack of motivation are definitely still here. Hopefully I will feel like baking again soon - but in the mean time I thought you might like to see some little snapshots of the jelly bean. This was from my scan last week just before 13 weeks - everything looks perfect so far!


Hopefully be 'seeing' you all again soon :)

Bun in the Oven - Week 8

So sorry for my long absence! Morning sickness is currently hitting me hard which means no cooking, no baking - and therefore no blogging! I didn't feel sick at all when I was pregnant with Zoe so this is a huge shock to the system. Most of the day is spent lying on the couch praying that I won't be sick. I am just hoping that by the end of the first trimester all of this yuckiness will be behind me and I will be back to my baking self.

I am feeling...

Sick!
.
Tired!
.
Gross in general

I am thinking...

That the jelly bean must be okay if I feel this sick
.
That I can't wait to feel better again

Bun in the Oven - Week 6

Image by FrancoisRoche

Well we had a major scare last Friday, I started bleeding and went to emergency. My HCG level (hormone level) was taken and it indicated that things might be okay. After a two day wait we got my HCG levels taken again on Monday and they had doubled - which is what is expected if the pregnancy is progressing. I also had my first ultrasound on Tuesday and got to see that gorgeous heartbeat! So it seems that everything is okay :)

I am feeling...

Ecstatic and scared at the same time
.
So happy after seeing that glorious heartbeat
.
Very nauseous - blergh, and toast is definitely the most appealing thing for me at the moment
.
Very tired and totally lacking any kind of energy


I am thinking...

That I must get around to weaning Zoe at some stage
.
(Or hoping should I say) that nothing happens to my precious bubba
.
About how I am going to manage with 2 littlies keeping me busy!