Q: Am I suffering from CRS Syndrome???

A: YES - CRS Syndrome otherwise known as Can't Remember Shit

So I always thought that goldfish had a 3 second memory span but apparently it's more like three months. My memory is absolutely shocking right now and getting worse. 

I don't remember baby brain being nearly this bad with the R Man. Macca is over six months now and I feel like I am in either in a comedy movie, a nut house or the twilight zone. If you were to ask me which movie I was in, without a doubt I am Dori from Finding Nemo and the three second memory is true.

The similarities are just scary right now...

So far in he last  24hrs hours these are a just a few examples:

1.  From the bottom to the top of the stairs I forgot to set the alarm to remind me to turn of the sprinkler. Remembered after two hours and a 1/4 of the water tank later.

2. Asked a visiting friend if she wanted a cup of tea, put the tea bag in cup and that's it. Found the cup a few hours later with fresh tea bag in it next to the kettle. 

3. A friend's 4 yr old asked me "can i please watch Mr Maker" Moi "of course just let me finish filling in this form".  I turned around 3 seconds later, 4 yr old is still there and I ask him "what can I do for you". He looked at me like a complete freak "arhhh put on Mister Maker". I'm sure he was thinking what's up with this chick.

4. Went to supermarket, when I got there realized I forgotten what I wanted and tried to remember. Forgot about the shopping list in my bag I had written just before leaving home and only got 2 out of 10 things on it.

5. Finally straw was this morning, from the toilet to bathroom (all of two meters) I forgot I was going in there to get a tampon.  Won't even tell you how that one ended a little bit later...

Yep... this is defiantly me right now.

If I think to hard I start to freak myself out and stress that I have some early onset degenerative dementia or something like that but the thought soon passes and is forgotten. Imagine if I was back at work, it would just be embarrassing, not to mention professionally dangerous.

Much prettier don't forget

Lists are my savior right now, I don't just have 'to do' lists, I have a 'must remember' lists. My iphone has been a god send and probably kept me sane. I have the alarm set for morning and night to remind me to take my happy pills once in the day and even then I forget.

Worst of all I can't win an argument with my husband which frustrates me to no end.  He always has the trump card "well we both know what your memories like right now". At the time I am adamant I am right or remember, only to be proved wrong or find the missing object wherever I last left it and forgot.

Maybe a few memory games would help train the brain. Please save me from anymore Dora or Toy Story memory games, I think too much of those have put my brain to sleep. 

Maybe making these could keep me busy and a little more enthused. If I could just remember to do them. 

I just love these from the talented Shaunayounge

What a great use for left over fabrics from Sayyestohbok

I'm back to work in January so the baby brain better go before then or I'm in big trouble. Is this normal or what..... What's your most embarrassing or unbelievable baby brain moment?

So here's cheers to saying goodbye to the baby brain that has invaded my head!!!

Cheers Carla

In case you were wondering how I remembered everything to put in the post. I had a fleeting lucid moment when I found the shopping list and wrote it all down before in my note pad.

Fleeting moment of domesblissity..

Today is the last day of a pleasurable 5 day solo mission.  Usually by the end I am so sick of hearing my own voice yelling and my little boy whingeing but for some reason this time was different. 

Before I had Reilly I believed I was going to be a domestic goddess, cross happy chirpy kindy teacher rolled into one. Once I had Reilly I was devastated to realize I wasn't made to be a stay at home mum  and my visions of domestblissity were shattered. I am a better mum when I am working and being a mum.

 I had a moment on Saturday morning when I thought, awwwhhhh this is what I thought all of motherhood would be like. It was great, we were all laughing, there was no yelling, no whingeing and it stayed that way all morning. We made a paint string painting on a canvas (how mister maker is that - 10 points to me). Here are some pics of my fleeting moments of domesblissity, it doesn't happen all that often here so if you blink you might miss it. 

So here's cheers to the treasured moment's of domesblissity and making the most of them.

Cheers Carla

Virgin blogger...

Oh my goodness, I never new this world existed. So I have looked at one or two blogs for a few years but didn't really get how it worked.  It started with a friends blog Mondocherry. This is about their amazing fabric and paper work, their loves and family. Initially it was a good way to see what JJ was up to and how her family was growing because we lived in different countries.

My entry to the blog world...

From their I found one or two more blogs I liked and kept watching them, occasionally finding another one. Through this I found the world of party design and loved it. Again didn't really get how it worked and twitter was a celebrity thing I had no interest in.  I just looked at the blogs, bought their amazing products off etsy and dreamed of having their talent. These are the main ones I follow and I love.

I love these girls.. don't know how they do it...

Wish I had a quarter of her talent...

 Most amazing and inspiring woman, mum, wife, survivor.

Home grown Aussie goodness.

My experience of motherhood has been a roller coaster to say the least. I used to look at everyone else and think they have it all together, why is it so hard for me?. I struggled with post natal depression for the first year and an ego centric. My husband and I have very different childhoods so finding the middle ground was another struggle. Combine these factors and the stress on our marriage was immense.

I am sort of a what you see is what you get person. I don't have a problem with self disclosure if I trust you, I can have a good laugh at myself and any mistakes I make along the way. As my mummy friendships developed, I slowly aired my dirty laundry. I soon realized through the honesty of friends we were all just doing a really good at faking the illusion of perfection and coping, some much better than others.

dirty washing

Jen and I have spent many a cuppa laughing about the great things in our lives, the things which we struggle with and the illusion of motherhood. From this we thought we would have a crack at a blog about both sides of motherhood and the things we hide in the closet that can make us feel a failure and alone. I know for myself, knowing I am not the only one makes me better and normal.

Enter moi, the Virgin Blogger.  Jen is a little more experienced at the blog thing with Beautiful Creations,  it is a fashion, lifestyle blog for her online store Shimi.  So we started this blog and I entered the world of Twitter.  Low and behold there is a whole community of mum's sharing their not so perfect love. I love it, I love it , I love it. I only wish I had found this in the depths of my depression and struggle with motherhood over that first year. I think it would have been a great benefit, a place to vent and be told I was not so abnormal.

It may take a little while to get the public self disclosure mojo happening but I'll get there. So here I am bare and unedited joining the mummy blogging ranks. I hope my trials and tribulations bring others some laughter, joy and more than anything the feeling of normality.

Here's cheers to keeping it real and losing the blogging V plates.

Cheers Carla

What works and what doesn't work

I just used this piccy in another blog, but I love it so much I must use it again.

Maybe it has touched me so much because I at the moment feel like I could do a Karen Walker (Will & Grace) and skull half a bottle of Vodka no probs at the moment, and I am not a drinker.

Saturday, after being up from 6.30 cooking for the husbands family for a party that night I managed to get blamed for a whole myriad of problems by husband - the most serious of them being that we HAD NO COLD MILK.  That presented a tirade of sighs and "I can't believe it" and "why wouldn't you".  Finishing with "I'm not Angry" (to which I answers, "you shouldn't be"), "you made a mistake".  Huh??  Milk, we are talking about Milk here.....  

To be fair he is having a very hard time at work, however why does that need to then mean that we get a very hard time at home?  In my house it is not "Happy Wife, Happy Life", it is "Happy Husband, Happy Life".   And as he is not happy at the moment, why should anyone else be.  But when he is good, he is awesome!!!

So I am dealing with the husband be an old grump, plus trying to teach the two older ones that being angry doesn't achieve anything.  We have had weeks of sibling fighting and no matter how calmly I talk to them about it, it doesn't change.  No matter how loud I yell at them, it doesn't change.

Charley being as charming as ever....

So I am now BRIBING.  The best invention to serve the parent.  Good behaviour ALL day, and they receive a Fizz Whizz (provided there is some left after my long days).  5 consecutive days of good behaviour and we have a trip to the toy store.  And guess what....

IT'S WORKING.  

Friends again, even if it is for the love of sugar

I have only given out one packet of Fizz Whizz each in the last week, however good behaviour has increased 10 fold and yesterday was our first day with no fights.

Now, what can I bribe the husband with????

Jen

Long haul friendships

Finally this solo mission is over and Mr C is back later this morning. It feels like it has been a long week but at least it ended on a high with a great day yesterday. I get to finish the week off with a party tonight for one of my oldest friends KK. It's a Half way to 70, Wigs or Hat party. My legend of a mum is looking after my boys, Mr C will be knackered when he gets in from LA and will more than likely just stay at home. Waaawhooo, this means I will have the night completely to myself. I have missed you dearly my love but a night all to myself, none of my boys hanging of me at all, completely fancy free, vino in hand, sounds like bliss.

Now for a wig or hat, think I'll go hat. I'm not really a hat person so my selection is somewhat limited. I have a few old race day hats around the place. Sadly I have buckleys chance of fitting into the race day dresses they used to go with and the hats now live in the boys dress up box,. I do hope they aren't covered in too much food or paint. Oh how life has changed. 

Modern Millie

This one is a little scary.

This is my favorite

I don't know about others but the number of friendships I have been able to maintain since mummyhood  has diminished somewhat.  This is for varying reasons, most of all is being able to find the time.  I miss just hanging out with friends without being only half present in the conversation. You know when half of you is always keeping an eye on the kids, worrying where my child is, what is he doing, he needs to be fed, damn he's making a mess, how to i distract him, just let me have my cup of tea ect. Yes I was one of those deluded career/party women who thought a baby wouldn't change my life too much. Blahh Haah good on you Carla, everything changes.

Some of my pre mummy friendship will never be the same and that's all right. I can't go out partying till 2 in the morning anymore or hang out at the pub on a Sunday afternoon. Even if I could, I couldn't handle the following day with a hang over and hurricane Reilly. That's not to say your not friends anymore, it's just you catch up on life events rather sharing them. I've made wonderful new friends in the realm of mummyhood. The first six months or so was connecting with other mothers, from this you identify those you really connect with and would be friends even without kids, those are the friendship that have flourished.

Then there are those old friendships where time and distance make no difference. The long haul friends that no matter how long it has been you talk to them like it was yesterday and you can bear your soul or cry with ease. Without doubt that is my friend Kirsty or KK as Reilly likes to call her. We meet when we were in Grade 8, in our first year of high school. Scarily that's over 20 years ago now. There is a cassette tape somewhere out there of KK  and I aged 12 singing at the top of our lungs. The hits at the time were "The dogs are talking" by the Angels, "All I want to do is make love to you" by Heart and other fabulous 80's tunes. Hopefully that cassette will never see the light of day again.

KK is without doubt one of my most treasured friend. Over the years we have gone in our own directions, developed different friendship groups,  spent separate periods of time overseas and overall have very different lives. KK is fancy free, making the most it, staying out late, partying hard, dining out regularly and generally doing what she wants when she wants. You know all the things you miss. Whereas I am just little miss boredom in comparison. One of KK's biggest and best attributes is her loyalty.  Since we came back to Oz she has come round to dinner regularly and stayed when James is away. I so very much appreciate the effort she makes and the ability to just hang out together. I wish I could go to her more often and just hang with her but two kids and a husband in tow make the time few and far between. KK is a keeper, never offended if I drop of the radar for a while, always up for anything always there for special events and has a heart of gold. Happy Birthday KK you deserve a wonderful night and year to follow.

KK and skinny me at her birthday 3 years ago.

So here's cheers to the long haul friendships and a good night out.

Cheers Carla

The wonder of happy pills...

Me yesterday...

Yesterday was a shocker and I mean a SHOCKER. It was one of those days, if I said it was white Reilly argued it was pink and purple polka dots until he got his way, urrrggghhh. Mind you the day wasn't helped by my fragile state of mind and noble attempt to count down the happy pills (anti depressants). You know when you feel like your just about to really loose it, that surge and then you pull back. That's what I felt like all day and my poor little man had one snappy scrappy mother. Needless to say we bounced of each other and Reilly escalated as the day progressed, it was not pretty. Happy pills you are my friend and my enemy...

For those who don't know, I had quite bad post natal depression immediately after the birth of Reilly for about a year, that was nearly four years ago now. Since then I have had more than a few ups and downs. Post Natal Depression is an insidious bastard, it stole the first few months of precious moments with Reilly from all of us. In addition it also nearly destroyed my marriage. On the up over time it has  but taught me allot about myself and made me stronger. I am no longer embarrassed or ashamed and make no secret of my depression  or the importance of my happy pills (medication) in keeping me on the up.

Anyone who has been there knows how horrible post natal depression can be. How deep and dark the big hole is you fall down and how powerless and paralyzed you feel to do anything to get out of that hole.  The closer we got to Macca's birth at the start of the year, the more worried my husband and i got that I would go post natal again. I was determined I was not going back there.  Obviously when I found out I was up the duff I went back to check my med's with the psych. In an attempt to be proactive I went to the Post Natal Depression course at the Private Psych Hospital. Sharing and listening to others journey is incredibly powerful and normalizing. It was all a little overwhelming and took me back to some uncomfortable memories but gained a heaps of new skills that help me today. After Macca's  birth, with the support of my Psych I pumped the happy pills up and a little more and a little more. Thankfully No deep dark hole this time... touch wood....

Me and Macca

The Mac man is six months old next week and I have survived so far. I have kept my sanity for the most part and been able to enjoy both of my boys. So I figure it is time to ween of the happy pills a little. Don't get me wrong I have no problem taking the medication and if it was a choice between taking it or becoming unwell again I would happily take them the rest of my life. But I would like to get off them one day and be able to manage the depression through "good" thoughts, good diet and exercise, so I figure reducing my dose is a good place to start. Unfortunately I am still working on the exercise and diet.

I must, I must, I will, I will..

So two weeks have passed on 1.5 not 2 happy pills once a day and boy have I noticed it some days. Poor Mr C used to be my emotional and verbal whipping boy when I was unwell. I am by no means unwell right now but I have been reminded of some of those old feelings and frustration lately. Mr C will do something insignificant that shits me and inside I just erupt and sometimes comes out with a foul look, a snide comment or a profanity. Sadly Reilly has copped one or two of the explosions as well, on a bad day when he's being challenging (like any 3 1/2 year old) it can all go down hill quick. Or there are the blaahhh moments where I feel as flat as a tack and like all emotion has left my body. When I have these moments I have a giggle to myself at my ability to fake it, I hear my voice all upbeat talking to the kids but inside there is nothing for that bit of time.  On the upside the eruptions and catatonic states are getting few and far between and I am able to control myself better when they do. I pat myself on the back for that, good girl Carla, good girl.

As I sit here typing I realize how happy I am right now and that life is good bla bla bla. I'm not ready to give up the happy pills just yet, will just keep trucking along and enjoy the daycare days.

Life is good

Here's cheers to happy pills and getting the exercise going next....

Cheers Carla

I am no expert on the subject but if you are a new mum feeling more than just blue, like shit, crying at nothing, erupting like an Iceland volcano and generally not getting over being pissed at the world or in my case feeling nothing about the world or new baby. These are my tips based on my journey:

1. Don't ignore it the hole just gets bigger.

2. If you can't talk to your partner, family or a friend, breakdown to your doctor they are a good place to start and they can medicate.

3. Give yourself a break and lower your expectations of yourself, they are probably far to high. Nobody is perfect, some are just really good at faking it.

4. The shower is the best place to cry, no one has to know, no one has to see and your eyes don't get so puffy.

5. Remember you are not alone. I was amazed when I started to talk about my depressions (drip by drip), how many other mums we in the same or similar boat. I never ever would have thought it because they presented so well.

6. Don't let the shame, guilt and feelings of failure eat you up inside, it's the most destructive part of the illness. Even though it doesn't feel like it there are 10's of 1000's of mums just like you out there, you just have to find one or two good ones and you will start to feel a little more normal.....

http://www.beyondblue.org.au/index.aspx?

Well last night really sucked.....

I sit here in the half dark, half awake, listening to the birds chirp as the sun starts to creep up.  First night of 5 days solo and it sucked. Reilly came running in about 2am upset, so up he climbed into bed. Then from just after 2am Mackenzie was grizzling and crying. Tried patting, tried soothing, changed nappy, tried bottle, nuda... Let him wail for a while and nuda. After a game of to and fro in my head, do I give into the little bugger, but what if he is sick, but what if he is playing me, you are a heartless mother, what if picking him up he wins, the books say stay strong, can I bothered.  Let him cry some more and then there were three in the bed.

This could be me or Maca last night.

It took him ages to settle snuggled up to me in bed so that makes me think there is something wrong and it wasn't just him playing me. Good mother, good mum.. My throat has been throbbing the last few days and still is so I hope this isn't the start of another round of the lurgy in this house. If it is, at least Mr C is away so we won't have to deal with the man flu as well. With the amount of sleep I just had that would do my head in. Don't you love how when a man gets the flu the whole world is meant to stop, they are the sickest person in the world, they just have to have (in their head) TLC and the performance that goes on, "cough cough, i feel sick, cough cough, poor me, can't to anything (unless its for me), cough cough puppy dog face. Please, I don't know about your house but 'mum flu' doesn't even rate a mention in this house. I just plod along, nothing changes, no extra sleep in for me, no you stay in bed and I'll deal with the kids, no you just rest for the day. When was the last time you got to take a day off from being a mum to lie in bed all day with the lurgy? This is just me starting to dream of going back to bed and lying there all day. Not going to to happen....

My bed this morning

So cute

On the upside the monkeys are now fast alseep and the sun is up. It's that beautiful quite, still, part of the day when all you can here are the birds chirping, the air is crisp and the world hasn't gotten up yet. Nahhhh I'd rather be sleeping .

Here's cheers to the lurgy passing right over this house and some sleep tonight...

Cheers Carla

Gotcha...

So I had a wonderful 'gotcha' moment with Mr C yesterday. Now before I go on, I have to say I love my husband very much and while he can be a condescending, judgmental, ego centric, know it all twat at times, his strengths far outweigh his flaws. Just so you know, I can hang shit on him but heaven help anyone else who tries....

Me after sucking on the lemons

Anyway the story goes..... It was early evening and I was bathing the boys. My body and mind were having one of those melt down moments. You know when your body starts to ache, your heads stops working and you start thinking when will this be over, I can't be fucked today. So Mr C walks past and says "are you alright", Me "just tired", Mr C laughter haha "your tired" haha  while walking away. Needless to say that a argument ensued soon after during which Mr C produced some more pearlers "why are you so tired, you have just looked after the boys today" and "yeah it is a joke that you think your tired". To which I responded with numerous colorful profanities before walking around like I had sucked on a sour lemon the rest of the night.

sawdustcityllc

 To give some context Mr C is a international airline pilot and had just done Australia, Los Angles, Australia, Abu Dhabi, Australia, Los Angles, Australia in under three weeks, he was exhausted. To give further context he can also be a twat and has the insight of a flea on what it is like to look after two young boys given he hasn't done it for more than 90 minutes in his lifetime. From talking with friends I know I am not alone on this one which makes it a little easier. Why is it that men think they know everything and that being a mother is just about play dates, lattes, baking cookies and a walk in the park. So Mr C sucked up for a while, I sucked on a lemon some more and then got over it.

Fast forward to yesterday and Mr C took Reilly to a local carnival for the morning. They went on a few rides and had a snow cone. Mr C gets home two hours later and goes straight to the couch, "pheeeww I need to sit down, he (Reilly) is exhausting".  "Ohhh" I responded, "why so tired YOU JUST LOOKED AFTER HIM FOR TWO HOURS" followed by smug laughter. Mr C "ohhh I don't mean I'm tired from him it was just the carnival", Me "Funny that's not what you said two seconds ago and it's not like it was the two of them from dusk till dawn", condescending tone "come on, being tired after two hours is abit of a joke isn't it".  It really was very satisfying "gotcha" moment, Mr C knew it and we both had a good laugh.
 

 So here's cheers to next time my darling husband is an insensitive condescending twat, surviving the argument that with no doubt follow and continuing to love him just the way he is...

Cheers Carla

The highs and lows of getting old...

So the other day I was stressing about the abundance of gray hairs I have, which would better be described as streaks, cluster and great mass. In addition now all the hair I lost after being pregnant is growing back so I have all these gray spiky bits sticking up, it's just charming. But alas this was easily fixed by a box of dye....

Unfortunately I don't think a box of dye will be enough in a few decades. From what I can see the majority of growing old sucks dogs balls. This has been a big year for my grandparents (the boys great grandparents) and a mammoth year for my mum and aunt looking after them. My granddad god bless has got dementia and moved to an old people's home. This meant he had to leave my nanna in their home. How much would it suck being separated from your partner of over 60 years and watching him slowly disappear? In addition my nana is a twin and has therefor never really been alone her whole life until now. We thought once we got granddad into a home and everyone adjusted the bulk of the issues would be solved. How wrong we were. Thanks to my nana's undiagnosed and very crippling anxiety disorder there has been a domino of issues for my mum and aunt to deal with. These issues make grandad's pail in comparison. My nanna is miserable the majority of the time and blind to the impact of her anxiety on all around her.  I personally vote for drugs and we are all working on that one....

Nana Molly in her hay day...

Nana on the right with her twin WW2

In saying that today is a happy day, my Nana Molly turns 87. The highs of getting old in her case are sharing the bulk of her life with her best friend who is still partly here, being able to see her children have children, her children's children have children and be around to enjoy them. I have very fond memories of staying over at my grandparents as a child, nana would always cook a roast and the beans had a special taste (I think it was all the salt they were cooked with). The bathroom always smelt of talcum powers and I had them both all to myself. In the morning my granddad would put on his sandles and and we would walk to get the paper. I would get 20c to spend of lollies, picking each one individually. I would then carry the white paper bag home with my lollies and eat them after my breakfast of bacon and eggs.

Nana with my mum and aunt

Nana with my boys..

The last year has made me think allot about old age, taught me allot and scared the shit out of me . My mum and aunt have been to hell and back dealing with the decisions that had to be made and the ongoing drama of one kind or another. They are amazing daughters and amazing woman who I both adore and admire. I keep reminding mum that we will have to look after her one day and to be nice. Truth be told I would be the one completely lost without my mum. Again old age is really going to suck...

So here's cheers to 87 Nana. My birthday wish for you is a truck load of Valium so you can see the joy and good again and enjoy year number 87....

Cheers Carla

Thank god for the hair fairy...

So my colorful 3 year old boy Reilly has more than a few issues when it comes to anything to do with his hair or head. For as long as he has had enough hair to cut it has always been a drama and distressing for all involved. Subsequently his hair has always been allowed to grow quite long to put off cutting it and I won't even talk about the drama of washing it.  We tried everything bribes, tricks, distraction, stories you name it but nothing worked. In the end to cut it we used to wrap a towel around him to restrain his arms, hold him over the bath on a knee(while whispering shhhh, it's alright, your are so brave ect) and he would scream like a banshee while the other parent ran the clippers through his hair as quick as possible. We then sat there (shacking) waiting for the police to arrive after the neighbors reported we had been torturing our son. It was just horrible but the police never came....

Hairy Fairy

So in complete desperation and feeling sick at the thought of his distress at another hair cut I jokingly made up the Hair Fairy and SHE WORKED, abit!!! She leaves a personal letter and box at the front door, you have to fill the box with your cut hair, leave it at the door and then she will leave you a treat. First time we cut the hair ourselves and she left some chuppa chomps.  Next we went to local lady who cuts hair in her garage (piss poor attempt at a Hair Fairy in retrospect), we got half his head cut with clippers before the banshee appeared. We were pretty stoked with that progress so he got a sundae. We have put off cutting his hair lately with all the changes, the house move and the "no nappies in the new house" regime. Yesterday one of guys working on the pool asked Mr C how old his little girl was. That went down like lead so it was time for a new hair cut.

Before

After

The Hair Fairy left her box at the front door and a letter promising a McDonald's Sundae if he filled the box with his hair.  He was stoked as long as the "hair fairy just uses the clippers, no scissors mummy". Straight away we went looking for a new hair fairy at the local shops. We found the prettiest Hair Fairy with long wavy blonder hair (who payed along like a dream). Reilly sat on the seat proudly, got his hair cut with the clippers, then the scissors (no tears), thanked the Hair Fairy, gave her a big hug and told her he would be back again soon. We sent a picture to the letter writing Hair Fairy of the new hair cut and went and got the sundae which was "soooo delicious mummy". So here's cheers to the Hair Fairy.

All of a sudden my boy grew up in front of me. I liked the longer locks better, way cuter, but I am soooo proud of him. Now if only we could have a poo fairy to help get the poo's in the toilet.....

Cheers Carla

Too many beautiful things for my empty purse...

So I found this beautiful magazine at the news agent the other day and I love love love it. It is full of beautiful kids photography, clothes, decor, toys, party and cooking ideas. It is also full of articles on amazing women who make motherhood look so easy and stylish. You know the mother I used to wish I could be,  but, naaaahhhh, never going to happen.

http://www.littleonemag.com

Looking through this is  torture. My purse is empty and will be for a while due to the new house and big hole in the back yard that will soon be a pool. I can't however resist these beautiful harmonica and shakers from rudyandthedodo.com.au, their website has some amazing and beautiful things.  These will be a great stocking filler for my little maestro. The big present for the boys this year will be the honor of swimming in the pool.

So while we may be broke, have a big dirt pit in the backyard and a house full of red dust, the mag has given me some great idea's and inspiration that may or may not come to fruition. These book shelves in particular jumped out at me. My boy has heaps of books but will go through phases of obsessing about only one or two. I thought these book shelves from roseandlily were great for displaying them.  Mr C assures me he can do the little one no probs, think I might ask my dad if he could knock up a bigger one for the play room for Xmas.

This one for the play room..

Next to Reilly's bed would look great.

Gone are the days of longing for my house and my kids room to look like something out of a magazine. It's sort of like all the skinny models out there that sucker you into thinking size "nothing" is the ideal body shape, when reality is a little more warm, squidgy and comes in different shapes and sizes. Don't get me wrong my kids rooms are nice and coordinated but they only remain ordered for about 10 minutes before the next mini hurricane tears through. That is unless Mr C is home and his undiagnosed obsessional compulsive cleaning disorder gets sight of the room but that is a completely different story. Anyway my personal philosophy is their rooms should be their space to enjoy, but respect and there is no point cleaning it up until the end of the day, as it is just going to get all messed up again anyway.  In saying that, if my purse wasn't empty I would have gone on a spree  from the mag and their rooms would be looking amazing.  It would still  just be messed up again by 7.40 each morning.

Note to self -  

Number 23 on the to do list - get the men in my life to build the bookshelves for the boys.

Cheers Carla