the red carpet

There were three party dresses. Yep THREE! Obviously she only wore one and perhaps has a sneaky change in to another sneaky outfit change during her party.

So the reason I bought 3 dresses? Well, I prematurely bought one about 8 months ago when I was certain I was having a Toadstool theme party! Its super cute with gnomes and toadstools on it but then I decided Japanese theme was so much more relevant and fun! Then I found this amazing Rock your Baby dress and estimated she would be a size 0...haha Tallulah is so petit and I tried this dress on her about a month ago (the dress had been in her wardrobe for like 4 months!) and it was swimming on her....! Oh no!

Then I found this amazing little kimono wrap dress on etsy which was so reasonably priced and is made by a lady in Queensland and I fell in love with it and Tallulah looked so darn cute in it. I got some super cute ruffled black bloomers and because it was a wee chilly I put a white long sleeved top underneath! I even bought patent red mary-jane shoe WHICH I FORGOT TO PUT ON HER...haha didn't matter but seriously I drove to a far away shop to get them!

After we cut the cake I changed her into a this hilarious onesie I made with some felt and a hot glue gun....she became a life size sushi roll! Complete with a wasabi and ginger headband which surprisingly stayed on her head for about half an hour! She looked so cute!

I love her little Japanese dress and love that its handmade and will most definitely tuck it away when she out grows it! She looked perfect...naw my baby is one, can not believe it!

p.s. Outfit photos are so hard to capture when one has a rather 'spirited' baby!

paatii: japanese for party

On Sunday morning I got up early and finished off the last of the food and we piled everything into the car to go bags a spot in Hyde Park to set up The Party! It was not without some tantrums and drama queen antics (from me not Tallulah...poor Ross!) but we chose a great spot near a beautiful tree perfect to hang lanterns and decorations off! We laid big rugs on the floor and set up some chairs with some helium balloon!

As I mentioned before we decided on a Japanese theme for Tallulah's party! So I went with a white and red theme and cooked things like sushi rolls, edamame cups, sandwiches which looked like sushi, soba noodle cups, sweet sushi (my fave!), hello kitty cupcakes and many more delish treats! We even had japanese beer! We decorate the tree with these super cute polka dot and waffle lanterns I found on ebay. I found the Happy Birthday bunting at Typo. I kind of went to town with buying cute cupcake patty-pans, straws and cupcake stands. Haha it was really fun!

My mum helped me plant little succulents for party favours which were a really fun alternative to a lolly bag. I think the kiddos are still a little young to be chowing down lollies but thats not to say that lots of the kids including Tallulah got their first taste of chocolate, fairy bread and birthday cake!

Talking about cakes we decided on a Miffy cake which was rainbow inside (the only photo I forgot to get!! I'm hoping one of the guests will send me one!). So I was so unprepared about how long a kids cake took to do....haha and ours was kind of simple but took AGES! Geez! But it was received with ooooh and aaaaahs when it was cut which is just what we wanted!

We had a bubble machine which was a hit with the kids and a photobooth which was a hit with the adults. The photobooth was probably my most favourite thing as it was so nice to capture the fun mood of the party! The photobooth was also the cheapest thing to do. I bought some fabric and strung it up between two trees and then printed off moustaches and funny lips and stuck them on sticks. I also bought some funny glasses and made some signs! Looking through them this morning I found myself chuckling. Good fun.

It was really nice to get together with all of our different social circles and celebrate this amazing little person who has changed our lives and bought so much fun and laughter. Tallulah had THE best time. She was a little social butterfly hugging and playing with everyone she didn't stop! It was also nice having all Tallulah's little kiddo friends come and play they really made the party fun fun fun!

After everyone left Ross and I sat around with my mum and his parents and had a beer and gave ourselves a little gold star for throwing the most awesome first birthday!

Next post The Dress!

one oh one

Tallulah was officially ONE on Saturday! Tallulah woke up to an awesome ballpit and some presents which she loved opening but of course loved the wrapping paper and boxes better haha! The Beaufort Street Festival happened to land on 12th November which is Tallulahs birthday and as we live 30 seconds from Beaufort Street we spent lunch & dinner at the Festival eating dumplings and satays and drinking cider, playing on fake grass and strolling around the street. That part of the day was great.

What did I do with the rest of the day. I spent 6 hours in the kitchen baking cupcakes, zucchini tarts, cakes, slicing fruit, rolling sushi, dipping cake pops and the list goes on....who knew throwing a kids party could be so stressful and tiring. Ross and I asked ourselves many a time what were we thinking? Why did we not get this catered? Would anyone actually notice the effort we'd gone to?

We finally iced the cake at 10:45pm and then put our sorry selves to bed! Phew!

Next post- The Party! Followed by The Dress!

rain rain go away!

oh fingers crossed its sunny and dry in Perth on Sunday as its Tallulahs party! Can you believe it was 40 degrees last year and the forecast is cloudy with possible showers and 24!!! We are in party mode this week and boy am I excited though a wee concerned about the weather as we are having a picnic and have no contingency plan which really is very unlike me!

I've been planning her party forever! Its actually one of things I was most excited about when we discovered we had a baby! Really, who doesn't like a party? And considering I am an events coordinator and I didn't go back to work this year Tallulah's party has been a fun little project for me to plan!

We've decided on a Japanese picnic with a red polka theme which references the Japanese flag! Think sushi/noodles/lanterns and Miffy! Here is some of my inspiration. I'll post photos and all the details next week!

Oh weather gods please be sunny and delightful on Sunday! Oh and I have find some tights for Tallulah as I really didn't think it was going to be so chilly! Eeeek!

Source: thevillagecook.com via Renee on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Renee on Pinterest

Source: ashleymeaders.com via Renee on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Renee on Pinterest

milk it

Source: store.sprouthome.com via Allison on Pinterest

So wow. I am no longer breastfeeding. This is a pretty massive shift/milestone/moment in our lifes and something I am truly happy about!

Since Tallulah was a surprise and there was language barriers in Japan I never really got to choose whether I wanted to breastfeed or do formula or do both.I never got to research it or weigh up my options. Breastfeeding was the logical choice as we couldn't read the instructions on the formula tin. Then we left it too late to introduce a bottle probably because we were trying to figure out this whole parent thing. Fair enough. But it meant I had this little chip on my shoulder for a while because the choice wasn't mine. This little human made the choice and it was something I had to roll with!

If I had known I was having a baby I'm not really sure what I would have chosen. Probably a mix of both. I found breastfeeding really limiting, at times frustrating and god damn tiring. From about 3 months I tried to introduce a bottle, oh-man it was painful there was tears all round. It didn't matter if it was expressed breast milk or formula or a different bottle she didn't want a bar of it. So I just told myself she would wean herself. Everyone from doctors to health nurses to family told me that she would eventually do this when she was ready. I knew this but I am planning to go back to work early next year and really wanted to do it on my terms so when Tallulah was 8 months I spoke to my health nurse and decided to start to gradually wean her by dropping the occasional feed. Haha Tallulah was on to it and once again didn't want a bar of it...Tallulah also has never been a big eater. It seemed that she never ate enough to give up a feed or become full. It was REALLY frustrating and I was starting to get resentful and truly over it.

When she turned 11 months I knew that she wasn't going to gradually wean herself. So I decided that I would try something different. I decided to do it cold turkey. Its not recommended that this is the best option but for some reason I knew this was the method for us. I felt my breastmilk was like a drug and Tallulah was addicted.

We decided over the long weekend Ross would go to his parents house with Tallulah as I think the main reason she wasn't eating enough food was because I was there, it was easy and comforting to breastfeed and she could smell me all day long! I was nervous but on Friday morning I waved goodbye.

Apparently she was an angel whilst on holidays at her grandparents and ate food and only woke up once during the nights. OMG she even took a little bit of formula (I bought this Bellamy's Toddler Milk) from a sippy cup. Meanwhile I was a whole lot of pain as I had gone from roughly 8 feeds a day to nil. I had researched some natural methods to help with the pain and seriously they worked a treat! I used cold cabbage leaves and jasmine oil. After 2 days the tenderness subsided and things were looking up!

Ross and Tallulah came home on Monday morning and I was so nervous that she would be at my top wanting to be fed but nope she didn't care at all! WOW is all I can say. Thats not to say it has been kind of weird for me as before I knew I could soothe her with a breastfed but now I feel like we are treading on unknown ground and sometimes we find ourselves scratching our heads wondering what she wants whether its fingerfood or a bottle but we are getting there! And can I just say she eats SO much it is blowing my mind...! I am so happy its ridiculous!

In the end I am SO glad I did 11 1/2 months of breastfeeding I know (gold star I think!) I am really lucky that I was able to breastfeed with few issues as many women find they can't breastfeed. I know its so so so good for her too which is comforting. However I am rediscovering this new found freedom and I think Tallulah and I are so much happier for it. Not to mention I feel like I have a whole new wardrobe as so many of my vintage dresses were not breastfeeding friendly! Oh happy day!