Something new each day....

This week Avalon is moving even faster.... it amazes me how quickly she is developing and in a matter of days I can see a huge difference in her movements. I really need eyes in the back of my head now as I turn and she is halfway across the room crawling.

She freely pulls herself up on to people, the couch, the TV stand. She is couch surfing to get where she needs to be. I marvel watching her and seeing her look at her hands and feet and the wondrous new things they are doing.

I must add she is also a terribly flirt... I catch her repeatedly making sweets eyes at just about any man we encounter. Grant had a friend over the other night and she would not leave his side, it makes me so happy to see her so confident socially with others- always smiling and cuddling up to my friends. I love that whenever we are in a store she is full of smiles for the clerks, my baby girl does me proud. I still have moments where I can't believe someone so beautiful is mine.... but I am gushing.

She is high five-ing with her Dad, "singing" in her own little way and talking to her toys (I would love to understand what she is saying!) She says Mum, Dad, Hi, Kitty (although it sounds like Titty) and let us not forget the infamous shimmy dance. I love to watch her wiggle her little bottom as she stands at her walker.

I am rubbish at filling out 'baby books' and I hope I always have this to look back on and marvel at the milestones she is reaching. We are so proud of our little girl.

UPDATE!!

Avalon just walked behind her Vtech walker... all by herself... and Grant was home to see it *heart explodes* x

Old friends/New friends...

K & A in Germany February 2008

Today I finally caught up with two very dear friends I haven't seen in three years.

It was a long time coming and as Amy said, 'It is a sign of a good friend that we can just pick up where we left off.'

Kelly, Amy and I met when we were all posted to Elmpt Barracks in Germany with our husbands.The three of us child-free, I guess we gravitated toward each other as it was difficult (well, for me anyway) to make friends on the camp if you didn't have children. There seemed to be a plethora of social groups for Mother's and their children but nothing for women that had not taken that step and had only married the men we loved and found ourselves whisked away to a foreign country... anyway, I digress.

Kelly's lovely other half actually organised a 'playdate' between her and I (Thanks Chris!) and Amy and I worked in the same building.

These two ladies were absolute gems for my sanity (and my social life) whilst living in Germany, I had a handful of friends and a job I enjoyed yet theses two I felt an immediate kinship with. I don't know how to describe it other than we just clicked. We all shared a deep love for sarcasm, trash TV and Chinese Food-- and we all suffered fools very lightly which often had us in snitches over cups of coffee. I had the honour of going to Amy's 12 week ultrasound and Kelly took great pity on me and drove me around when I was car-less.

I was so sad to say good bye to them in 2008. It wasn't fun (but a way of army life) to move again so soon as I had only been in Germany 11 months. I don't really like change and I find it difficult to make good friends- what can I say, if we don't have a commonality, it just isn't going to work.

The three of us have kept in contact thanks to social networking and that has been a fantastic tool in keeping each other up to date with the other's lives and of course a good gossip every now and then.

Fast forward three years and we find ourselves living within an hour (or two) from each other and having four children between us! How lovely to introduce our little "A's" to each other (Avalon, Amelia, Amber and Ava) and again, connect with like-minded Mamas!

Thank you for the laughs girls and we must do it more often, It didn't take me long after that move three years ago to realise you were two of a kind.

Backstage Pass...

Big Daddy and I love ourselves a live music gig... it can hardly be beat... Today I was reminiscing about some of the amazing concerts we have been to together over the past 5 years and I can't wait to take Avalon along too.

Music is a big part of our lives and I want Avalon to grow with an appreciation for it too.
Although I no longer play (I grew up taking piano, guitar and clarinet lessons) Grant still plays the guitar, composing songs for Miss A and playing her classical lullabies. I love listening to him play as it always soothes me, and it works well when Avalon needs some chill out time too.

You really can't beat live music, the smaller the venue the better in my opinion, although we usually end up in some huge arena. I love the roar of the crowd- the feeling of anticipation and the warm cider. Yep, suits me just fine.

I had always wanted to see 3 bands live; Metallica, REM & Pearl Jam and we have managed to do that over the past few years (Pearl Jam twice no less.) I am not sure who is next on the list, we will see what the summer brings.

We really wanted to venture to Sonisphere this summer to see The Big 4 (Anthrax, Slayer, Metallica & Megadeth) but it is too long to leave Avalon (2-3 days) and we would love to take her but I think the metal mayhem experience may be a little too much- even with the sale of family passes.

Here are some of our memories....

Nightwish supported by PAIN @ London Astoria 2008

Pearl Jam 2009 (and 8 weeks pregnant) Avalon's first gig!

Guess.... 2008

That surely is a happy face.

The mighty Metallica @ O2 Wembley

Blues & Roots Festival, Byron Bay 2007 (the weekend before we got married)

Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals, Byron Bay 2007

REM supported by Editors 2008 @ Twickenham

Hard Rock Calling 2010~ and our first time away from Avalon (a long 8 hours).... it was such an amazing day and one of our best dates ever.

festival feet....

Mr. Eddie Vedder

This is the idea!

~LOVE~

5 in 60 seconds... Books

Here are 5 of my favourite novels... in no particular order.... the first that came to mind in under a minute.

I decided not to ponder too long on this or else I WILL change my mind... so for whatever reason, when I think of the films I love-- these stood out.

All of these works cover a different genre of writing yet they have left a lasting impression on my writing and way of thinking. They are also all novels that I have re-read again and again.

Time to PAR-TAY!!

Today we attended our very first 1st Birthday Party. I have a feeling there will be many more this year and we are all looking forward to it!

The De Souzas had an absolute blast and wish Lily, Izzy & Tomos a very Happy Birthday, it has been an absolute pleasure getting to know you over the past 12 months and seeing you grow.

The hypocrasy of FACEBOOB from a Lactivist Mama

This week my facebook account was disabled.

Why I hear you ask? Well, because I dared to upload a photo of me, breastfeeding my daughter less than an hour after her birth. Without a doubt, this is one of my most cherished memories and an awesome snapshot of this time in my life.

Here is the offending photograph; me in all my breastfeeding, birthy glow glory...

Last Tuesday afternoon I received an email from Facebook to say that I had violated their terms and conditions by uploading an 'offensive' photo.

Since they work hard to keep Facebook 'safe for children' it was deleted and my account was disabled until further notice. I assume it was disabled as I recall at least 2 other occasions where I have had a photograph removed and received warning- oh yes, both were breastfeeding photos.

I queried why my account had been de-activated, and after 24 hours, it was re-activated, with the above photo removed and an 'understanding' from me that this was offensive material. Seriously.

Now, this is not a new issue; it has been happening for a very long time and people are angry.
I have had a number of friends whose accounts have been disabled due to them uploading similar 'offensive' content. One of my good friends has had her fan page disabled for well over a month as I type this; with no explanation. It is beyond ridiculous!

I was so worried about my 100 photo albums I have on the account, all uploaded over the past 3 years, I really can't afford to lose them. Some of my fellow lactivist friends have seen so much of their hard work be discarded because of an anonymous report from someone. That is all it takes. A 'tip off' from a person who finds the idea of feeding a child disgusting (yes, I can't wrap my head around it.) Maybe if these folks had been breastfed more as children they wouldn't feel the way they do about boobies *oh snap!*

So what do I think? Besides thinking Facebook is run by misogynistic, sexist, infantile men? That people are offended by women feeding children because they are conditioned to believe that breasts are only for men to ogle, that formula is 'just as good' as breastmilk, that if you are going to breastfeed your child, it is a private thing that should not been done in public.

Don't even get me started on my theory that most complaints about this come from women!  As my friend Dave said, 'What man complains about breasts- any breasts?' (thanks for the giggle, Dave.)

You can find groups on social networking sites like Facebook for just about anything, including I Love Boobs yet women are having photos from their personal accounts deleted because nourishing a child the way nature intended is offensive. Quite simply. Tools.

We as a society need to see women feeding their children as they have been for centuries, new mothers need to be supported and encouraged before and after birth to give their children the very best start in life. It is not hard, and it is not easy- SUPPORT and EDUCATION. The more we see it, the more 'normal' breastfeeding will appear. Yes, it saddens me to even have to type that.

So what can I do? I am a friend to offer you any help/tips I can, an ear to listen to when you need to talk about what is going on and how you feel, a Mother that breastfeeds her 10 month old in Starbucks, on a train, on a plane, in a meeting with HR (yes- I did!) ANYWHERE she needs to be fed. End of.

So, the marvellous thing here is that on my blog, I can post whatever I like.

Since I believe so strongly in the value and importance of breastfeeding and SEEING IT, so it is not considered 'weird, uncomfortable or indiscreet'... feast your eyes on this goodness...

Not me... but a great postcard I found in Mt. Tambourine

I promise you, I am not an exhibitionist, but my mind boggles that people are offended by a child being nourished, seriously?? What the fuck is wrong with people? For my photo to be deleted someone had to report it, and that someone is probably on my 'friends list' and to that person I say, "Number one, get help as you have a problem and number 2, DON'T LOOK.... 'unfriend me'... whatever!"

So, quite frankly Facebook, you can suck it! (pun intended.)

Je t'aime

I will admit, Valentines day has never been a huge 'deal' in our house (nor was it for me growing up.) I remember my parents didn't celebrate it but I have a cherished memory of receiving an 'anonymous' rose one year~ beautifully wrapped in a cylinder with babies breath flowers. For a chubby girl with little self esteem it certainly brightened my day... even if it turned out to be from my Father.... Thanks Dad, I love you.

I guess without sounding a little cynical, Grant and I have not put a whole lot of weight in it, it is also 2 days from his birthday as well so that explains a lot. Either way, I like to think we do nice things for each other all the time...

So that being said, I decided to get Grant a little token gift this year, along with his birthday gift; a little box of Belgian chocolates and the trinket box Avalon made. I myself, received this:

Yep, the boy did well. A canvas of photographs....It was so thoughtful and covered our time together over the past (almost) 6 years; dating, London, Australia, married, Germany, Pregnant, Avalon. A memory canvas for our wall.

Grant was only home for a couple of days before he was off on military exercise for another week so we made the most of the weekend. Saturday was his birthday and I wanted to do something a little different this year and I put together a hamper for him. I had spent the week before running around and collecting some bits and pieces I knew he would enjoy.

Grant's favourites; wine, sweets, biltong, Rooibos, Chocolate, books, recipe folder and tea sub, Avalon's coaster.

As usual, the day started with cuddles...

......then a pancake breakfast courtesy of Aunt Jemima (ha!)

After our fill, we decided on a day in Basingstoke (or Basingraad, as Grant calls it.) After a wonder and a shop, it was Spanish tapas time at La Tasca....

"I want bread, dad!"

mmmmmmmmm

So a lovely day was had by all, although we were all very tired from a not so great night's sleep before. Unfortunately, G had to leave again on the Sunday for a week.... but.... Happy 31st Birthday my love>