Recipes and lllooooonnnnngggg days!

I have created a new page on my blog called Recipes and you can find the link right under my page header. Just click on the word Recipes and it will take you to a new page. Any recipe that you want just click on the name of it and it will take you to a place where you can download a Microsoft Word document with the recipe on it. That way you can save it to your computer or even print it off. I have made 2 slow cooker recipes out of my new book this week and will do some more next week.

The days have been so long at the moment. Mia is very out of sorts and is basically having no sleep during the day. She is cranky and definitely not herself. She has now started to lose her voice (which actually sounds really cute!!) so I am wondering if she is coming down with a cold in addition to her teething. On the up side we have been having really nice walks down at the lake lately and Mia has been loving going to the park and especially going on the swing.

An exciting thing happened yesterday on our walk around the lake. All of a sudden Mia's arm shot up and she pointed to the lake and said "duck". And lo and behold down at the edge of the lake there were 5 ducks. The rest of our walk she was OBSESSED with the ducks constantly pointing and saying "duck". It was just SO cute!! Here are some photos of our latest walk around the lake...







Big news is that construction has finally started on our house!! After all the hassles, stress and worry things are finally happening! The cutting out has been done and the slab will be poured next Saturday!! We are so excited!!!

Pop Art...and my Slow Cooker!

I have decided to try my hand at creating some pop art out of my photos. Using Adobe Photoshop I have created a few "masterpieces". It is quite a complex process and I still haven't got it to where I want it to be but I am making progress!! Here are a few of my "masterpieces"...





I have also bought a new cookbook called Busy Woman's Slow Cooker recipes. Now that winter is coming I want to use my slow cooker as much as I can! I cooked my first dish out of it yesterday and it was really nice. I am going to create a new page on my blog to put all these recipes so stay tuned!!

We had a public holiday yesterday and it was very nice to have David home. We took Mia to the park and we had nice family time together.

Using Lightroom

I have had a request to post before and after pictures showing what I do to edit the photos using Adobe Lightroom. Here are some examples using different techniques in the program...I usually use the presets and then tweak them from there...

Using the Antique Light preset...



Using the Black and White preset...




Using the Aged Photo preset...





Using the Direct Positive preset...



Using the Sepia preset...



On another note, out house building construction file has been sent to the site supervisor so I am expecting a call from him any day saying construction is starting.

More Lightroom

My essay is finished. I mailed it off to the University with 1 hour and 20 minutes to spare. Now to start catching up on my reading for the final exam! Once that is done then I have 3 more courses and then will be finished my Bachelor of Arts degree with a Double Psychology Major. Yippee!!

Mia and I have been having lovely walks around the lake the last few days. Now that the weather is getting cooler it is so much nicer! Her top 2 canine teeth have yet to appear. It is only a matter of time as the bulges in her gums are HUGE!!

I have been having more fun with Lightroom. Here are some of the latest pics...

Growing Up

Mia is growing up. She really is growing up. Not that anything drastic has happened over the last few days it is just that I am really noticing how much she has grown up over the last little while. When she plays with her toys she is actually "playing" with them the proper way - the way they are designed to be played with.

She is drawing with crayons...



She is pulling herself up on everything and constantly standing...



Soon she will be walking. I am actually really excited for her to walk. There is so much more that we can do when she starts walking!!

Other news...well the big news is that I have booked a flight to Hawaii for Mia and I at the end of October. We are going on a holiday with my parents who are flying to Hawaii from Canada. Unfortunately David will be working so he can't come. It should be an interesting time! I really hope Mia does well on the plane or else the 14 hour flight will be a long one. I also hope that the plane isn't full and that they will give me an empty seat next to me so Mia can sit there for a bit and not only on my lap!!

My University essay is due tomorrow. Still haven't written barely any of it yet...it is going to be a long night tonight. I have been so slack with it - just can't get my head around it!!

Remembering our first family holiday...

Since Mia's first birthday I have been reflecting on the year that was. Our first year as a family...my first year as a mum. As I have mentioned before it has been an amazing year. One that I cherish deeply...one that I never wanted to end. But now that the 1st year has ended I am SO looking forward to all the years to come. Upon my reflection I was remembering our first family holiday. In December 2009 we went for a holiday to the Gold Coast for a week...the week before I was due to go into the hospital for back surgery. It was a wonderful week. We went to the beach every day...went for nice family walks...went swimming a much as we could in the resort pool (we didn't swim in the ocean as there were SO many jellyfish - and they were the dangerous ones!)...had YUMMY fish and chips from the local fish and chip shop (best fish and chips I have EVER tasted!) and just spent wonderful quality time together as a family. Here are a few of my favourite photos from that wonderful time...

Random stuff...

Nothing much has happened here over the last couple of days. I am still sick with a head cold and poor Mia has a stuffy nose now. She is still teething and was pretty cranky yesterday and today. Hopefully things improve soon!!

Mia and I went for a lovely walk around the lake today and she had a swing at the park. We also sat by the lake so she could have some more time on the grass getting used to the feel of it. She doesn't really like it too much but each time she sits on it she gets better!!





I have my next University essay due a week from today so I guess I had better go and get writing!! Chow!

The Aftermath...and more pics!!

The saying is so true that when you alter a baby's routine it takes days for them to get back on track. It is now 2 days after Mia's birthday party and she still isn't back to "normal" ... whatever the heck that is anyways!! I suppose she wasn't "normal" before the party thanks to 4 molars and her 1 year needles but it has been a loooooonnnngggg couple of days since her party. She has been very cranky and clingy. Not that I mind her being clingy because I get extra cuddles!!! Her 4th molar is starting to come through but it keeps coming up and going back down. My poor little girl!! The days can only get better...can't they??!? It doesn't help that I feel like s**t due to a sore throat, stuffy nose (aka a MASSIVE head cold) and all I want to do is sleep the day away.

Nevermind all that. I got the pictures taken by Mia's Godfather David of her birthday party so here are some more pics of the fun from the day...






Not much other news here. We are just waiting on a call from our builder to say to construction is commencing...hopefully that will happen by the end of this week.

Oh, Mia is having a great time playing with her new birthday presents. Here are a couple of pics...

Mia's 1st Birthday Party

The day is almost over. Mia went to sleep at 5:30pm for the night because she was so tired from her big day. And what a day it was!!

We decorated the undercover picnik spot up at the park with pink and purple balloons, pink and purple streamers, a happy birthday banner and a couple of table cloths. We baked the cupcakes for the flower cake the night before but did all the icing this morning before the party. Then came cutting up the fruit, cutting the cheese and kabana and cutting the veggies for the veggie platter. Finally it was party time!!

Unfortunately the humidity was at a ridiculously high level so it was pretty stinkin' hot but other than that we all had a great time. The kids chowed down on the food, we sang happy birthday and ate cupcakes and finally we opened presents. Thank you to everyone who came - it was such a special occasion.

Mia was SO overtired by the time we got home. I gave her lunch and she didn't go to bed for a nap until 1:30 and she only slept for an hour so we spent the rest of the afternoon with a VERY crabby baby. But now she is asleep so hopefully she feels better tomorrow!!

Here is the finished cake...



I will post more photos when I get the CD of them from our "official photographer" Mia's Godfather David.

Mia's Boo Boo's

Yesterday was the dreaded day...the day Mia got her 1 year needles. It was so horrible!! 1 needle in the arm and 1 in each leg. The needles were SOOOOOO long and big and I felt so bad for my little sweetheart! She was definitely feeling the pain and cried harder than she has for any needles before. By the time we got back to the waiting room though she was smiling and laughing again. Here are her boo boo's...




We have been having a great time going for family walks over the last few days since David is on school holidays. We go for 2 walks a day together and Mia is LOVING her new bike! She can't get enough of it!!