santa baby

omg this happened today.....!

She totally freaked and really can you blame her? Santa looks like the biggest creep! I went especially to this shopping centre as one of my friends got the BEST santa photos there with the most legit santa...I'm guessing it must his day off! Haha! Oh well, atleast this one makes me giggle! Naw I hope she learns to like Santa one day!

quack quack

Tallulah went to her first birthday party a couple of weekends ago. It was Hunter's birthday who is one of her little buddies in our mother's group. It was dress up. It was hilarious! Tallulah went as a duck and I made her outfit and of course she didn't like it one bit HAHA! She was one grumpy little duck and refused to wear her duck hat which was super cute by the way! But she still looked adorable! I ended up getting her to wear the full costume and took some sneaky snaps whilst distracting her! I am totally obsessed with kids parties and am looking forward to the up coming ones!



P.S Oh she LOVED this mouse wheely bug and she MAY be getting one (a tiger!) for Christmas!

we're going to the zoo zoo zoo

A couple of weeks ago we decided to take Tallulah to the Zoo! She has developed an obsession with animals and if she sees a dog on the street or an animal on the TV she points and makes this cute gurgling sound! haha so sweet. So we thought we'd take her to the Zoo to get up and close to the animals!

She loved the elephant, lions and the zebra! Oh and all the birds that were not part of the Zoo but hung out at the cafe trying to get some left over food. It was one of those beautiful days and we had so much fun even if Tallulah won't remember it Ross and I will! We ate macaroons & icey-poles on the grass and Tallulah loved crawling on the grass and loved loved the sand pit at one of the playgrounds. Then she fell asleep so Ross and I decided to check out the nocturnal house which is our favourite! Naw it was a great day and I am planning on getting an annual Zoo pass next year for Christmas which mean unlimited visits! hurrah!

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!

wearable fun

Today we have spent the morning with friends who live out of town which has been super great! Then we came home to hang out and I made this necklace which is kind of like a toy! haha! I found these funny child-like wooden shapes in a shop in Fremantle and turned them into a necklace. I miss making jewellery (I used to have my own jewellery label Dapple-Grey!) it was nice to make something again even though it was pretty darn basic. I am wearing now and Tallulah kind of loves it! We're off for an Italian feast tonight to Ciao Italia. Perthies have you been here? Its pretty ah-mazing and v. popular!

quite handy

As you might have noticed Ross & I like to eat out and about. Now we have a kiddo who likes to be tucked up in bed by 8pm we enjoy going out for brunch instead of dinner! Lots of the places we go don't offer highchairs and thats cool by us as Tallulah has never really been that fond of them.  Though she is soooo wriggly that we have to take turns eating which means one of us ends up eating cold eggs...yum! Anyways, one of our favourite haunts doesn't have highchairs but we noticed this super cute couple who had this clever contraption which hooked onto any chair so their baby could sit at table with them. I sent Ross over to spy on the brand and when we got home we googled it and discovered it called the Handysitt and was made by those design-savvy DutchDanes! Anyways we priced them in Aus and they were over $100 and out of our budget but then I thought to try my old friend eBay and found one which was pick up only in PERTH...omg the eBay gods were looking out for me!

So I had a bidding war and won it for $24...omg I was jumping up and down in excitement...Tallulah thought I had gone loopy. Now I just hoped Tallulah liked it haha. Well, we took it out for a test run on the weekend and its super super! She loved it and Ross and I got to eat at the same time which is a nice change! I have to say its great to BYO high chair as you can keep it clean and there are no long legs that seem to always get in the way and seriously some of the communal highchairs are super gross and grotty! Yay for the Handysitt which at the moment its my new favourite baby item!

mojo

oh yes, its a been a action-packed weekend! Weddings, picnics with overseas-visiting friends, fashion shows, champagne and baby cuddles! Its been real nice...though not without a little drama (from me not Tallulah!) as I got all stressed/nervous about going to Student Runway at Perth Fashion Festival (my work!) and had a little meltdown (about my hair and a belt....haha) but I was just being silly as the event was gorgeous and seeing all my work friends and boss and brilliant and cemented how ready I am to return to work and get busy! Its going to take a massive effort of organisation to juggle the mum/work thing but totally know its going to be amazing and I am a wee little excited! I got that buzz which I think I've been sorely missing this year but it actually hurts my brain to even think how I would have coped if I had gone back this year. This year about about learning how to be a mama but we are at the pointy end of the year and I've started to look forward to getting a bit of my old life back. Bring on 2012!

tester

I have been absent again, darn life is getting in the way! haha...Anyways last weekend we had our trial run of leaving Tallulah with my Mum from 2pm-11pm. Our dilemma is she refuses to take a bottle/sippy cup with breast milk or formula, she eats solids like a bird and we have 3 weddings over the next couple weeks where kids are not welcome (I am totally cool with this concept now!)...We just wanted to know what to expect as one of the weddings we are attending is about an hour away!

I am pleased to report she survived with not too much drama and went down to sleep at 9pm which is pretty great! However she didn't eat any of the million snacks I prepared for her. She drank water and ate O-N-E blueberry! Crazy! But my Mum loved it so we got the green light to go out and enjoy ourselves! Hurrah! Ross & I took full advantage of being footloose and fancy free; we went out to Bonsai (note: Tuna sashimi with avocado is ah-mazing!), then went to Cantina for dessert and espresso martinis! We seriously needed this night off from being parents. It was grande. I loved just hanging out, laughing and having a good old time with Mister Ross. It also made me a little sad that we haven't been doing this regularly....you get so caught up with putting baby to sleep, feeding baby, playing with baby your time gets all sucked up and then you crash into bed without having a real conversation some days.

But times are a-changing! We are determined to utilise these doting grandmas we have in our lives and go out with our friends and have F-U-N! Yes, I must admit drinking and water and eating a blueberry is a little worrying but she will adjust and I think this is also what she may need too! So this weekend I am off to the wedding of one of the mum's in my mother's group and then Ross and I are off to see Student Runway at Perth Fashion Festival, this was one of the fashion events I project managed before I had Tallulah (it was my baby before my real baby came along!), so it is totally weird going as a guest and not running the show....! But also super exciting that I just to sit and watch the show and enjoy the night! Hurrah!

I have so much to blog about eeeeeek! But Tallulah is asleep and I must paint my nails in time for the super fun weekend that is about to start! Have a lovely weekend! xx

friday fun-fun

 so blurry...my child is always moving!

 though loved this wee red chair!

 sunshine of my life..ahem yes I mean Lula haha

yes juice in a jug

so we're are all better OH YAY! Well, I still have a bit of cough but the dr said that it'll hang around for a while...wah! But atleast I feel semi human again! Man, being sick sucks balls. Maybe even more now I have a kiddo as I just couldn't catch a break and get better perhaps as I was already functioning on maybe minimum. 3 weeks later and we are all good yippee we can play with our baby friends again. So thats what we did on Friday. We went to super rad cafe in Fremantle called Ootong & Lincoln which like this awesome of baby-loving cafe. If you have a little tacker go there they can run a muck and everyone is super cool with it! When Ross & I first went there they made their own babyfood which you buy but it wasn't available this time...wah!

I think there was like 8 of us and we took over a little corner where the toybox was and the kiddos played on the floor whilst we dined on delicious food (think lentil burgers!) and lychee icey drinks! They also had this amazing vintage horse beanbag thing which I kind of wanted to steal....haha! It was SO SO SO nice to hang out with my babygroup. As I've said before they are pretty super people and Tallulah and I both had missed them lots whilst we'd been sickity-sick.

3 hours later we decided to head on home! Yeah, we had a good old time! Oooh did you see my new yellow Saltwaters? I am beyond excited....they perhaps are my new favourite thing in all the land (well not including Mister Ross and the babe! haha)

Hope everyone is having a super weekend! xx

P.S Thanks for all the comments on my previous post. I think on reflection my opinion might have changed a little. I fully get that a wedding is TOTALLY up to the couple who are getting married haha I just needed to vent! I am now totally cool with it and looking forward to a bit of a boogey on the dancefloor! yay!

no kids allowed

Source: google.com via Renee on Pinterest

Some recent events has made me wonder, when did kids become so unwelcomed in our culture? I believe even more now I have a kiddo of my own that kids should be embraced in every aspect of our society where possible. We have been invited to 3 weddings which we have been told that Tallulah was not welcomed. It kind of saddens me. I guess Ross and I are not married so we have never planned a wedding but if we were to I would have always included my friends and family's kids. Sure they may squawk, whinge or maybe cry during the nuptials or have a meltdown on the dancefloor but they surely have a place at weddings? Isn't part of being married becoming a family?

We were asked by the family who is holding one of the weddings what we were going to do with Tallulah. I told them straight out that because she is breastfed and refuses to take a bottle leaving her with my mum from 2pm-11pm is probably not going to work but we are going to have a practise run and if it doesn't work we won't be coming. I'm most worried about this wedding as its 45 minutes away from where we live. They were quick to say as a last resort we could bring Tallulah along. That made me feel more uncomfortable. I think Tallulah will be okay with my mum as she adores her but until we do our practise run I won't know for sure. It also makes me very grateful that we have family who can look after Tallulah, really if it weren't for them going to any of these weddings would not even be an option.

For those who are married did you have this rule at your wedding? Is the reason for stipulating no kids because kids are noisy?  

piglets in mud

So the sun was SHINING yesterday and boy have we missed it. We are actually hanging out for Spring which for us means picnics, picnics, picnics! We heart Spring because it means its not too hot and not too cold but lots of outdoor fun! Tallulah and I decided to ignore the damp grass and had an impromptu picnic in the park. Tallulah hasn't really played on lawn since she could crawl. OMG she is officially obsessed! Whilst I ate my agedashi tofu and soaked in the sun rays Tallulah crawled around shrieking at dogs, people and anyone who would listen. Then she found a muddy area and we decided to call it quits and go home. Man, she did not want to go home at all she had a mini meltdown. This sunny season is going to be a bundle of fun with this little lady! Mr Sun please shine some more and make everything dry so Tallulah can play on the grass and her mama doesn't have to keep changing her muddy pants...!

tallulahs new friend

little indi awww

About 3 weeks ago my friend Gemma who I have known since I was 6 gave birth to a little girl Indiana Faye! Tallulah and I were VERY excited and clapped with glee when we heard Gemma had a girl and immediately envisioned endless girly tea parties forevermore (watch out Gemma and Indi!) We went and visited the pretty ladies earlier this week and golly gosh Indi is just the sweetest newborn. Seeing her also made me realise how grown up and independent my little baby is now. Wow, they grow really fast and get so big in 8 months! Indi was light as a feather at 3.5kg so it actually blew me away that Tallulah was born 2.4kg; looking back she must have the tiniest, lightest little dot. While a had a little cuddle with Indi who made little baby noises, yawned and slept Tallulah was exploring the house, terrorising the cats and eating strawberries. I can't wait for when the girls are big enough to play together its going to be the cutest thing in the whole world. Yay for babies

Hello, Road

Where have we been? We've been down south hoorah! Last weekend we flipped Tallulah's car seat and decided to go down to Peppermint Grove Beach to visit my Dad who lives down there! I was curious to see if Tallulah would fuss in the car for the whole 3 hour drive but flipping the seat was the best thing we've done...! She slept till Bunbury then we had some lunch and stretched our legs then for the rest of the drive she fell back to sleep! Yeeeeha- high5!

We only stayed 1 night but it was fun to hang out, drink wine and eat home-cooked food! Tallulah had fun exploring a new house and we took her down to the beach but it was freezing and really windy! It was delightful and the little lady slept the WHOLE way back to Perth! So this little test-drive was super successful. Bring on summer roadtrips!

all full up

What a difference a week makes!  Far from my grumblings of being cooped up in the house we have been spreading the Renee and Tallulah love around. We caught up with two of my oldest and dearest girlfriends for morning tea last Friday. We've been friends since we were 6! Isn't that crazy! One of the ladies was due to have her baby during the next week so it was the last time we'd see her before she became a mama. Tallulah also taught herself to climb stairs whilst we were gossiping...though she is not so good on climbing down haha.

Then it was off to afternoon tea with one of my bestest friends who was in town from Melbourne for work and we managed to get in a sneaky cake date at Sherbet. If you live in Perth and love cake go here. Just do it!

Saturday night Tallulah was babysat by my Mum so Ross and I could celebrate one of my girlfriends wedding, which actually took place in New York (she was proposed to then they got married the next day, oh-so romantic!) They threw a party in the CBD for all their friends and family! Tallulah knew something was up and took ages to get to sleep but finally she went down around 8:30pm so we didn't miss out on that many cocktails!

On Sunday we went for brunch with my babygroup at Jodie & Steve's house. It was ace! I hadn't seen the ladies (and man!) for 2 weeks as people had been away and the weather was grim. It was so nice to catch up with them aswell as their husbands/partners! We ate delicious brekky tarts with my homemade relish, banana bread and fruit. It was also pretty cool to see that two of Tallulah's little baby friends were also crawling! Hurrah some buddies to explore with. They had a ball.

Ross had the Monday off and the weather was wet and super chilly so we decided to warm up with a breakfast date at Cantina then in the afternoon we did a little shopping and stopped by Five Bar and had a sneaky hot chocolate with a dash of spiced rum! Meanwhile Tallulah was none the wiser and slept in her pram. We capped the night off with homemade rhubarb and apple crumble.

Tuesday, Tallulah and I met the ladies with babies at a local Yum Cha restaurant and dined on many a dumpling then a couple of us wander onto The Cultural Centre for a coffee at Polly and to sit in the sunshine and chat! Nice day. Then I strolled back home and caught the train to Fremantle to have dinner with Ross' family. Tallulah fell asleep in her baby carrier on the train, too cute!

On Wednesday I had organised to meet up with Ross' mum, his sister and her two kiddos and my mum for lunch at Stickybeaks in Kings Park. It was kids paradise. Chloe our 3-year old niece was in heaven! It was a great day of playing with the kiddos and hanging with the family. Later that afternoon I found out my girlfriend had a little girl named Indiana Faye...so excited for Tallulah to get to know her! Indi is so beautiful and I'm pretty sure our girls will be best friends for ever haha!

Yesterday I had Tallulah's 8-month check up in the morning (I'll do a post on that another day!) then I met my new friend Dee and her little boy Milo at Lincoln's for a coffee then we took a stroll around Hyde Park to soak up some more rays and gossip!

Phew! What a week! Such a great week filled with friends and fun times! I hope you have had a great week and have a super weekend!

good face

my daily beauty fix; batiste dry shampoo, mineral foundation,clinique moisteriser, rimmel concealer, lancome lipstick, mac mascara, nars lip gloss, nars blush

things that make me still feel like Renee; vintage scarves, 2x large rings which I feel naked without, Daisy by Marc Jacobs, bee necklace, vintage earrings

hello, sally hansen nail strips- best invention ever!

We all know that having a tiny human in the house means less sleep, less 'me' time and generally less time for doing things of any sorts. Before Tallulah I would spend about 30-45 minutes getting ready in the mornings (which I still think is pretty good for a girly-girl!) I would carefully plan outfits, do my make-up and hair. Now I am lucky to get 10 minutes to myself to do all of this. I think my style hasn't changed all that much however comfort, easy access and quick results are what I'm now after.

I have found I don't really plan my outfits all that much it usually depends on what is clean however you'll never see this mama in a tracksuit! I used to own a vintage shop which means my wardrobe is stocked with pretty vintage dresses which I like to couple with tights/leggings and cardigans! However as many of these frocks are high necked a lot of them have been pushed to the back of the cupboard as I'm still breastfeeding and need easy access (though a few are still in high rotation!). Breastfeeding has changed what I wear in a major way. This winter I do confess I have embraced jeans and have found a bunch of super cute tops from Asos (how good is Asos!?) which now make up my daily uniform. I have always loved accessories and now love them a little more because seriously a scarf, a great ring and a cute necklace can make a simple outfit a little more special and deviate the eye from that dried up babyfood/drool!

My beauty routine has probably changed the most. I used to carefully do my make-up each morning and do the whole she-bang; eye liner, lipstick, eyeshadow, full foundation etc (note; I always tried to do that whole 'I'm wearing makeup but you can't tell' natural look which is always hard to achieve, right?!) but now I my routine is pretty simple. Mineral powder foundation (if anyone can recommend me a good brand please do I have tried a several and still searching for the perfect one!), mascara, blush (this makes me feel instantly better!), concealer (to hide those dark circles) and lip gloss! If I am going somewhere nice I might wear some lipstick which instantly makes me feel fancy! As for my hair? I blow-dry my sweep fringe and then let it dry naturally. Easy-peasy! Oh, and dry shampoo is my best friend. If you haven't got any, get some. NOW!

One thing I have embraced is doing my own nails. I'm kind of addicted to doing my own manicure every Sunday night when Tallulah goes to sleep. Its nice when I'm really tired and feel a little blah to look at my hands and see pretty nails haha whats with that?! I gave up wearing perfume when Tallulah was born which was big for me as I'm kind of obsessed but recently I have started wearing it again and my love affair continues. I'm more drawn to the subtle scents now though!

One of things I promised to myself when I found out I was a mama was that I would limit my pyjama days to a minimum. I'm proud to say I haven't had one yet! I do admit there has been a few days where I didn't get Tallulah and myself sorted until maybe 2pm! But for me there is something satisfying about getting ready for the day. It makes me feel good on the inside to look somewhat put together on the outside. Do you feel this way?

cabin fever

lotsa tea drinking! (my fave soursop!)

always entertains me

this mama has been napping when T is napping! unheard of!

lots of looking out the window at the rain and playing with toys!

We've been all cooped up in our little house all week...wah wah! The weather has been dreary and wet which means lots of inside activities which can get a little tiresome when you live in a teeny apartment! Whenever the sun popped out to say hello I would strap Tallulah into her pram and head the park which is nextdoor!

Tallulah loves her pram and loves going out, we like to go out and about everyday but big grey angry rain clouds has meant our little outings have been either cancelled or rather short. We are getting a little stir crazy! We missed out on mums and bubs group as there were thunderstorms and we also postponed two breakfast playdates...which means this mama can't wait for the weekend and to spend some time with friends and especially Ross! 

So this is what we've been doing...reading Frankie, drinking tea, snoozing and playing with toys, oh and watching a little Yo Gabba Gabba!

Hows your week been?

ladies in waiting

enroute to the movies!

Every Wednesday the Greater Union theatre near us offers a Babe in Arms movie session. Oh boy is it good! I love love love going to the movies and thought visits would be scarce now we have a kiddo so when I heard about these I jumped for joy! I've been several times with a few of my baby mama friends and its grande! There is usually a few other mamas in the session and they turn the volume up a little so you can hear over the baby cries- hilarious! Sometimes its like a domino effect one babe starts crying then they all cry, but really they are all so well behaved! Oh, did I mention its only $8.50?

This week we went and saw Bridesmaids...um SO funny! I had to put my hand over my mouth to stop cracking up so I wouldn't wake Tallulah who slept through the whole movie (hurrah!) Kristen Wiig is one funny lady. Its a good one!

Hope everyone is having a super weekend!

likeminded

Tallulah and some of her buddies! (this was REALLY hard to capture as T is the squirmy one of the group!)

Do you have a mum's group? I do and I love love them and not actually sure what I would do without them! I mentioned in a previous post that I actually haven't met as many great new people than I have in the last 6 months! We even have a stay-at-home dad in our group! We meet weekly in our suburb and you can find us at pub or one of our houses or a cafe. I look forward to Tuesdays as I know I going to spend the day hanging out with lovely ladies (and man) and gossip. We all tend to get a little hypo as we drink copulas amounts of coffee and talk non-stop. Its kinda funny! Our little babes LOVE it! I think they enjoy hearing their mamas converse and actually focus on something other than them!

Its really nice to have a bunch of friends who you can bounce baby ideas/problems/experiences with and won't get too bored with you rambling on about sleeping/breastfeeding/milestones. Its also really cute to see the babes together and how different and individual each baby is. Tallulah is the oldest by 4 days but she is the most active/handful/hypo of the bunch! haha everyone just thinks she is just getting me back for ignoring her for 9 months...

The other day we were out at a local bar/cafe and this random lady came up to our group and congratulated us for all being out with our babies and she said it was so nice to see. Really? I wouldn't have thought it was that odd to see 6 ladies with babies enjoying lunch out at a bar in 2011. How boring to think that there was a generation that thought if you had a baby you had to stay at home. It also made me realise I am super lucky to have this great group of mums. I hope our little babies are friends for life!

Party Animals

Had one of the b.e.s.t weekends we've had in awhile. As I mentioned in my last post we are embracing our nightlife again! Gosh, I missed it, I forgot how great fun it is to hang with my lovely friends, drinking wine and eating delish food at nighttime. Really there is no better way to spend a weekend. I'm pretty sure Tallulah didn't know what hit her, two nights out in a row! Party animals! She has mastered sleeping in her pram, OMG thankyou!!! I was starting to think I had purchased the wrong pram...

Its funny, I think I had convinced myself you can do everything you did before you had a baby, but in reality its not really that idyllic. Ross and I used to just pop down the road for a beer or cider and sometimes one afternoon beer turned into a boozy dinner and more drinks but unless you organise a babysitter this doesn't really happen. It takes more planning, doesn't?

We've embraced going to friends houses and having people over to ours and I must say I really love it! The drinks are cheaper, I love cooking and the best part Tallulah can join us! One of my best friends is expecting in July so there will be another little babe around which will be super! I really can't wait for more of my friends to join this baby world its pretty neat! Oh geez did I just say that? Hilare!

six bags of apples

OMG I have a six month old! How did this happen? Its nuts! We went for Tallulah's 6 month health appointment on Tuesday and she hasn't quite hit 6 kilos yet, she tipped the scales at 5.88kg and measures  63cm! She is one LONG yet SKINNY baby, quite like her papa!

She is oh-so happy sitting and playing with her toys now, she loves, loves it! She has also started to get up on her knees and hands and sway to and forth! Clever, girl! I feel crawling is not that far away! So in preparation we have just bought some baby safety gates so she won't be able to crawl into the kitchen or bathroom! We are expecting her to be a live wire as she is also going, going, going!

In other news we had our first dinner date with friends last night which was ah-mazing! We have been avoiding night time dates like a bad smell as Tallulah is always a little cranky! But we've decided this mama and papa need their night life back! And I must say I have missed it! It was such a lovely night out we met some friends for Hainan Chicken Rice at Tak Chee then went for Icey Ice! Tallulah was pretty entertaining and shriek and gurgled all night! Tonight we are going for pizza and wine at our friends, hooray for outings!

I hope everyone is having a super weekend! We just spent the morning dining on baked eggs, coffee and beetroot & choc cake at the new cafe Attic in Fremantle! Delightful!