Cake Pops

I am sure you would have seen the latest craze taking over cupcakes as the number one new bite size delicious treat. Cake Pops!  I have been wanting to do a post on Cake Pops for quite a while now.  Seen as I am officially on 'holidays' I thought it's time I dedicate some 'spare time' to my blogging. Also, you may want to make some for your family & surprise them with something different on Christmas Day :)

I have attempted to make some in the past & I feel I had a reasonable amount of success with it too!

I have relied on a clip I found on You Tube by my fave blogger Bakerella, to show me the 'how to's & step-by-step' with making them the first time...until I eventually got around to purchasing her fabulous book titled 'Cake Pops: Tips, Tricks, and Recipes for More Than 40 Irresistible Mini Treats'.

Here are some pics of my first attempts :-)

I made these for my friend Kylie's Birthday (a year ago)

instead of the usual cake or cupcakes I would bring in.  

She liked them so much she refused to share them with her work collegues :-) 

Nice one Fitzy!!

These ones above are meant to be 'Mexican Themed Cake Pops'. 

Can you see the resemblance of the Mexican Flag? Please say yes ;-)

These were for our American friends 

Jay & Kristin's Mexican Themed Housewarming Party 

that they held when they arrived in Australia.

1st Birthday Cake Pops

I made these for our baby girl's 1st Birthday Party.  These were delicious!!! 

Red Velvet Cake Pops covered with white candy melts & decorations.  

I piped a '1' onto some of them & sprinkled them with sanding sugar for a 3D effect. 

I have the best time making these now that I have mastered some of the techniques required.  I must warn you though...they are very time consuming!!! 

The thing I love most about these is that they save me from throwing out any off-cuts from any sculpted cakes I make. I simply put all of the off-cuts of cake into an airtight container & pop it in the freezer.  When I have time, I have now started making the basic balls & freezing them.  This means I can use up the leftover icing & cake at the same time.  Also, when we have an occasion that comes up, all I have to do is decorate the cake pops! Decorating is the fun part!!

Tip: If you are making the cake balls & freezing them, be sure to transfer them from the freezer to the fridge a few days before you want to decorate them.  This gives them time to defrost slowly & hold their shape.

Coming up next is a post on my daughters 1st birthday party! It was so much fun!!!

xoxo T

Lessons learnt!

Well it feels like it's been one of those days where I should've stayed home...

Lessons learnt:

Don't attempt to go out to a breakfast with friends in the pouring Darwin rain when you have a 2-door car, trying to get a baby buckled in, while attempting to get your mini chihuahua out of the car because she's scared of the storm & wants to come with you...only for her to hide further under the foot pedals; then give up & get in only to have the umbrella unfold itself!

Kayla patting Midori in the middle of the storm while she 

hides in the corner of the bathroom shaking :-( 

You can see why I gave in & let her come with me to breakfast...

Next...low fuel when I'm already running late - yes this happened the other day but I refused to fill up at Woolies without a discount fuel voucher last time.

Awesome start to my Sunday but I must admit that it was made better by enjoying the lovely breaky with friends!!

Just one of the cutest kids I know...

MJ showing off his Baby-chino Choccy-mo @ breakfast :-)

MJ & Kayla playing a 'game' where Kayla drops things on the floor 

& MJ picks it up! Much more fun watching this game than playing it :-)

Then the mistake of accepting an invite to go to a fun afternoon tea with all of the Army WAGs (& what felt like an Army of children) when your baby should be napping, only to come home to a more grizzly one! Kayla did have a great time with the kidlets though, which was fun to watch.

Kayla & the Neagle Boys (Ethan & Daniel) 

playing in Lucy's Cubby House at the Afternoon Tea!

Note to all Darwin Crew:
I'm no longer available for catch ups between the hours of 10-11.30am & 3.30-4.30pm. Yes, I've become one of those parents whose life revolves around nap time...at least for the next 2 months while hubby's away & there's no one to share the grizzly baby night time moments with ;-)

Last lesson learnt...just deal with a grizzly baby through her dinner & bath time until as close to her usual bedtime as possible, instead of putting her to bed at 5pm only to now have to go wake her for dinner...hmmm...unless...surely one skipped meal can't hurt...can it? What to do....

I hope tomorrow is a better day.

Ahhhh.... I feel better already just from venting!

That is all!

xoxo T

P.S By the time I finished completing this post my baby girl awoke.  Dinner was smooth sailing & now she is at my feet enjoying some playtime with my shoes while I finish up.  Let's hope bath time & back-to-bed time are just as easy.

Goodnight all...

Minus one Hobby!

So, while thinking about what to do with all of my hobbies I forgot that there was another one in the cupboard that I had waiting for my time as well...Scrapbooking!!! Crazy, isn't it! So last night with the help of my dear friend Candice, I went through a few drawers & came across my scrapbooking supplies, along with the BAGS & BAGS of things collected since Hubby & I have been travelling together! I was tempted to get cracking & start them all...but I know that I don't have the time, & with a little pep talk & reminder from Candice about my 'lack of time' situation, I have decided that is the first hobby to go!!

Here's what I have been storing...
I think I could have been close to becoming a victim of hoarding if it weren't for me meeting my wonderful Hubby & having to cull my possessions 6 times in the 11years that we've been together :-)

I'm a little excited about it being gone actually.  I bought this fantastic book on Amazon.com to help me cull my sentimental collection down.

Just the Ticket: Ticket Stub Organiser [Ring-bound]

So let's see how long it takes me to sort through it all & see how much 'stuff' I have trouble parting with!!

Wish me luck!

xoxo T

Hobby OVERLOAD!!!!!

I have finally found a few minutes to write a quick post... I know, I know... I am still needing to fill you all in on our upcoming adventure of moving to the U.S of A! It's all very exciting!! For now though... I have been thinking lately that I have too many 'hobbies'...

With my MbellishD jewellery hobby & finding time to make my jewellery, as well as fine tuning my cake decorating skills & my neglected blog 'i love the sweeter things', I am a little overloaded with hobbies... Something has to give...but which one??

I mentioned to my dear hubby the other day that maybe I need to hang up my beads & be done with MbellishD for now, & start to concentrate on other things...his reply...FINALLY! Haha.  I guess he's noticed I have too many things on the go too.  I love making my jewellery but I just don't seem to have time for it anymore...unless I stay up all hours of the night.  But for those who have partners who travel away from home alot I am sure you can understand that I choose to spend the time after our baby girl goes down, to have our own down time together.

Then there is the cake decorating! I LOVE baking & decorating my cakes.  Everyone loves cake & it's definately a wider market than jewellery... Also I think my cakes taste damn delicious & I love making things look pretty...even if Darwin heat isn't the best place for cake decorating :-)

And lastly...my newly started & newly abandoned blog! When I started this blog I had no idea what I wanted to write about, but I knew I wanted to write...strange for someone who used to gossip in English Class instead of writing... With the amount of travel that we have done & all of the fantastic opportunities that we have coming our way with our move next year, I know that this blog is one of the hobbies I want to keep.  So where does that leave me...?

I am thinking that MbellishD may need to go..... Can anyone offer any suggestions or even any tips on how I may be able to keep it all going?? Maybe I just need to stop jet setting & settle in one place for more than a month & I may find the time to keep it all up...?

I'M BACK!!!

I'm Back!

My apologies for the limited posts of late - I have had a fairly hectic past few months since my last post.

We had visitors for the Dry Season, followed by a bit of drama trying to fatten up my daughter (all sorted now), along with a very sad passing of my Pop, RIP Andy.  Andy's passing entailed a trip to Brisy to visit family for a few weeks...all this with my hubby being away, uncontactable & dealing with a soon-to-be 8mth old who doesn't like doing any one thing for more than 15mins (tiring)... Oh & did I mention we recently found out that my Hubby has recieved his next posting.... & our little family of 3 is moving to the USA in January!!!?? Breathe...

Now... all that has passed, our visitors are making their journey back home, hubby is back in Darwin & at work (although he leaves us for a short trip again tomorrow morning - sad face), & I am trying to get on top of things at home & wondering what to do with my Mbellishd Jewellery sideline when I move...Oh & I have an order of 50 cupcakes to bake for this Friday....

I think that's enough for all of you to process for now... I know it's all I have time to write about at this moment as Kayla is bored with her toys & wants her Mumma's attention again... I think I am now realising why some women choose to go back to work early... drafting is a breeze compared to being a full-time Mummy...

I wouldn't change it for the world though... xo

I promise to post again soon!

xoxo T

Finger-painting with a 6mth old :-)

A delayed post...written last Friday Night & I had too much trouble uploading photos... so here it is finally!!

This is just a quick post seen as I am enjoying my Friday Night in with hubby.  We are preparing to watch some TV Series recordings, I'm planning on yet another night with ice cream (disregard that comment if you've read the one previously where I mentioned I was trying to be healthy....ice creams healthy right?) & after a late night last night, I am not feeling in the mood to be in front of the computer for too long tonight...

What a fun day I had last Sunday!  I lazed around in the morning, breaky in bed, read a little more of my fave book 'Mom Inc.' (which is very inspiring), & did some shopping online for Kayla at Amazon.  A Fisher Price Jumperoo is on it's way! Yay!! I'll let you know how much Kayla likes it once it arrives...

Then craft time! I made a 'memories box' for Kayla that will hold all of her cards in - welcome baby girl, birthday cards etc.  I will post pics shortly on that project...in the meantime, the most fun part on Sunday, was doing some hand painting with Kayla & Hubby. I just had to capture her teeny tiny 6mth old hand & foot prints for some frames we were given from friends when she was born.


Tip: If you are going to attempt this with your bubs, I highly recommend a 2nd set of hands :-)
I have so much more to catch up on 'blog-wise' but my Little Miss is awake & ready to have some playtime before lunch :-)
xoxo T

My 1st Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of the mummies out there & especially to those celebrating their first Mother's Day like I did yesterday! What a fantastic day.  I am so happy that having this special day breaks up the whole count down process to my birthday in August, yes I am one of those... I try to have a 'birthday month' but that has slowly worn off over the years I've been with Jase.  It slowed down to a birthday week, & now it's pretty much just a regular birthday...unless it falls on a weekend & then I claim the ENTIRE weekend!!! Anyhow, back to Mother's Day...

Pressie & cuddle time in bed for Mumma xoxo

Even though my baby girl is still just a teeny tiny baby, I am so lucky to have such a wonderful hubby.  He went to get Kayla up in the morning, changed her & brought her into bed for cuddles with her Mumma.  Gave me my pressie - a photoshoot for Kayla & I to capture our time together before she grows up too quickly, then we did the usual morning routine for Kayla & went back to bed for a nanna nap ourselves while Kayla had her morning nap.  After our fantastic sleep in, it was a cooked breakfast in bed for me!! Yummo! Then I also had a roast dinner cooked for me that night! Super spoilt or what!

What better way to end Mother's Day than having cuddles 

with my precious little girl before bed.

So now that hubby has set the high standard of gift giving & spoiling....I'm going to have to start thinking long & hard about Father's Day...bugger!

What did all of you other Mummies out there get from your precious little ones this year??? Hand made cards? Pasta necklaces? 

xoxo T

Mandorah Island...?

Ok, so who in Darwin thought that Mandorah was an island?? Please say yes! Haha! I am embarrassed to say that I did.  My hubby, daughter & in-laws all took a trip out to Mandorah for lunch last Sunday, as we have been in Darwin for quite some time now & had never been before.  I was chatting on the phone to my lovely sister-in-law (who's baking my very first little niece at the moment - due in July) on the drive to the ferry, when I mentioned we were going to Mandorah.  She asked where was that...I answered, it's a little island off the coast of Darwin... Hmmm... I look over to hubby who's driving, shaking his head, laughing at me, & I'm sure he was thinking - where did I find this woman?! :-)

Anyhow... so I learnt a little that weekend as well as enjoyed a fantastic day out with family doing something a little different for a change.  Here's a few happy snaps of our outing.

Good bye Darwin!

Kayla's first Ferry Ride :-)

Taking it all in, in the comfort of Daddy's arms. 

Kayla & Jase with her Gran & Gramps

A quick snap before docking at Mandorah Jetty.  

I think Kayla was over pics by this stage.

We had a great lunch & enjoyed the view of the ocean for a few hours before heading back to Darwin. It's amazing how a quick trip like this can make you feel like you're on a holiday. Oh, & it's a 'hot chips free zone' for those looking forward to a pub meal...don't expect to get hot chips with it.  I highly recommend the burgers though! Delicious!!

Are there any places in Darwin that are good to go for a quick getaway that you know of?? Tell us your fave spots in the comments below.  I'd love to check them out!!

xoxo T

So who's addicted to Pinterest?

I am a big fan of Pinboards.  The old fashioned kind, where I rip things out of catalogues & pin them on my boards for inspiration & organisation.  But since Pinterest has come about, my newly decorated pin board is not getting much love apart from a Family Home Projects List (which requires me to do a whole separate post on my love for free printables - the one above is from 'i heart organizing'), a gym timetable & a few discount fuel vouchers :-)

Here's a quick snapshot of how my crafty Decorated Pin board Project turned out.

I am pretty happy with it!

Instructions:

A simple layering of some pretty fabric stuck down using a spray adhesive (my new best friend) & some hot glue on the back of the board. Then add the stud detailing imitated using thumb tacks & pretty bejewelled push pins made using rhinestones glued onto thumbtacks, & there you have it! DIY beautiful pinboard :-)

But...back to the reason for this post...I have started searching for ideas for Kayla's 1st Birthday Party.  I know, I know...it's 7mths away still...but I like to be organised!  I also want it to be super cute, aswell as attempt to be crafty with it & do most of the baking myself.  Yes...my craft list is growing at a rapid rate...especially since finding Pinterest!

So here is a sneak peak of my online Pin board:

Kayla's 1st Birthday Ideas Board

So who else can admit to seeing a few hours fly by Pinning various things to your online Pinboard? Please tell me I'm not alone! ;-)

It would be great to follow you & your boards on Pinterest, so let me know in the comments below if you are a Pinner now too! Also, I would love to see if you have any great craft ideas for Kayla's 1st Birthday Party, so please email them in to tahnee.perrins@live.com.au if you have any to share with me.

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend coming up.

Now back to some Pinterest while Kayla is still napping :-)

xoxo T

Raspberry Frosting Recipe

I have had a few people comment on how delicious the Raspberry Frosting is that I have had on my latest cupcakes, & also some emailed in requests on posting the recipe to try it out themselves.

So here it is!

Ingredients

250 gm     Unsalted butter
1 cup        Icing sugar
150 gm     Raspberries

Instructions

Be sure to take the butter out of the fridge to allow it to soften up, sift your icing sugar, & puree` & strain your raspberries prior to starting your frosting.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until pale & fluffy.

Add in the icing sugar & beat until soft peaks form.  Be sure to scrap down the sides occasionally so that it all mixes evenly.

Add in your raspberry puree` & beat until combined.  Be sure to add in your puree` in small amounts & allow it to mix with the other ingredients instead of adding it all in at once.

In the last batch that I made, I only used half of the amount of puree` from the 150gm of raspberries as the flavour was quite sweet & also the colour I was after was a pale pink.  So add in as much or as little as you like.  Tip: If you add in too much puree` & want a lighter colour/taste, simply sift in a little more icing sugar until you get back to the desired colour/taste.

Then pipe or spread the frosting over your cupcakes & decorate as you please.  The cupcakes should last for up to 3 days in an airtight container on the bench.  For those that live in the wonderful humid climates like me, place them in an airtight container in the fridge, then take them out of the fridge 15-20mins before serving to allow the frosting to soften up before gobbling them up :-)

I can't take all of the credit for such delicious frosting like this.  I researched the recipe online after tasting the delicious cupcakes in Newcastle.  While searching, I came across this awesome site called Gourmet Traveller.  Head on over & check it out.  There are so many recipes on there that I would love to make someday. As mentioned above, I tweaked it a little to suit my needs.

Please send in some pictures of your cakes if you end up using this recipe! I would love to see how they turn out.

To end... here are some "I heart NY cupcakes" that I made last weekend for my lovely friends Dan & Candice.  They eloped last year to NYC to get married, so they had us over to help celebrate their 1st Wedding Anniversary & also eat up delicious hotdogs.

I have to note, that I am not completely happy with how these turned out...you know, with me being OCD & all.  So these are actually from my second batch of cupcakes I made Saturday afternoon...

I left the egg out of the first batch...& I was also meant to use ganache to ice them, however, I somehow burnt that! Luckily I had some of the Raspberry Frosting leftover & whipped these up for them instead.  Candice & Dan were happy with them, which is the main thing! Who says baby brain is just while you're pregnant?! It seems to have stuck around with me...especially when I'm already tired!

Congratulations on your 1st Wedding Anniversary Dan & Candice! 

Thank you so much for inviting us to be a part of your special celebration.  

I can not wait to meet baby G soon! 

Yes that's right readers...Candice is due in July & looks absolutely amazing!!!

xoxo T

Easter Cupcakes

I have been in a bit of a baking mood lately & thought before I bake anything else that I would do a few posts on past cakes.

Easter Cupcakes

I made these as our gift to our wonderful hosts Jay, Kristin & their two boys who had Jase, Kayla & I over for a tasty Easter Sunday dinner.

Vanilla butter-cake whipped to perfection

Cupcakes doing their thing in the oven

While the cupcakes are baking, I start on the frosting 

(some call it icing...but frosting sounds much tastier)!

Raspberry frosting made using real raspberries. Delicious!!!

Pipe the raspberry frosting onto the cupcakes...& then it's time to decorate!!!

Sprinkle some chocolate flakes on & add a candy coated Easter egg!! 

Voila! Easter cupcakes!

What delicious goodies did you make for your friends & family this Easter?? Send in your pics! I would love to post up some ideas for other readers.

xoxo T

I have readers!!!

So I am a little excited...ok...I am BIG time excited!!

I have only had my page for two months or so, & so far I have had 430 page readers on my blog.  Pretty darn happy with myself :-)

Oh... & I have 2 followers.  Thank you followers!!

I just thought I should do a quick post for those people who would like to follow my post on a regular basis.  When you choose to follow my post you will be sent an email each time I load a new post online. This will make it easier for those who rely on me placing a new link on my FB page to follow...yes Mummy Dearest, this tip is for you & others like you :-)

At the top left of the page is a tool bar.  You should see the word 'Follow'.  Click on that & it will open a window where you just follow the steps.  You can choose to follow publicly with your name, or be an anonymous follower.  This just means that when you post a comment below any of my posts, that your name will appear, or it will just appear as 'Anonymous'.

So that's it.  If you have any questions about the process, or get stuck just let me know.

Oh & one little family update for the week...

Our baby girl reached 5mths old last Wednesday!! It was a testing day for her Mumma too.  I am thinking that babies should be born with teeth...it's just so cruel to have them in so much pain, especially when they can't even do anything about it.  Poor little bubbas!

Here's a few little happy snaps of Kayla.

On the morning of her 5mth milestone :-)

 Playing baby games on the iPad with Daddy before he goes to work. Growing up so fast! 

She will want her own iPad before we know it!

I'm turning into my Mother! :-)

She used to take pics of us asleep the night before our next birthday...

& now I know why...the moments are irreplaceable. This was the night of her 5mth mark.

Out doing the grocery shopping with Mumma.  Kayla is kicking back relaxing & looking a little confused as to why we are shopping in Woolies instead of Pumpkin Patch :-)

Kayla was given her first taste of real food last week! She started with a pear at the Q Club.  

Here she is taste testing a rusk.  I'd like to say that that is 'real' food too...but those rusks taste like cardboard...I think I'd prefer to drink breastmilk instead too!!

Here's Daddy giving her some rice cereal.  A tad better than a rusk...? 

I have to say, that it was so nice having him home for one of her '1st' moments.  

All dressed in green & gold with Daddy ready for the Australia vs ...? Footy Game. 

It just shows how much attention I pay to footy. 

I was too busy having a catch up with my girlfriends while it was on.  

Much more enjoyable I'd say!

So content in her Mumma's arms after her long bath & feed.  

She is still such a tiny little bubba.

Thanks for reading, & I hope you decide to follow my blog on a regular basis.

xoxo T

A day of decorating!

I'm not sure about you, but my email inbox gets clogged up with discount offers everyday.  I don't mind so much, as I love searching for good deals.  It's a great way to try out new things which you may have been interested in before, but put it off due to the crazy prices.  I found a great deal for a cupcake decorating course with Whimsical Cakehouse on Scoopon a few months ago.  So I snapped up three coupons so that I could go along with my Mum & little sister.

The course was only $69 for 2hrs where you learn the basic techniques of decorating cupcakes.  We arrived to have a little workstation each with all tools in front of us to decorate 6 pre-made vanilla butter-cake cupcakes.  I was a little concerned that I wouldn't get my monies worth since I have been baking for a few years now, & teaching myself the decorating side of things (youtube.com is my friend in these circumstances) but I was very pleased with the knowledge gained from such a short course.

Here are a few pics I took as I went through each step...

Step One: Make a 'well'.
Greatest tip I could have learnt from this course was to cut out a well around the outside of your cupcakes.  This allows you to add more ganache while also being able to keep a fairly flat surface for later on when you go to decorate with fondant.

Step Two: Ganache.
No need to be super neat with this application so long as you don't get the ganache on the outside of the paper patty. If you want a flat surface later on, then keep the quantity added to a minimum, however if you want a little mound the pile it up :-)

Step Three: Hot Knifing.
Grab a mug of hot water & a palate knife.  This is more about getting the knife hot instead of the water, so make sure you tap off excess water before you start 'hot-knifing' your cupcakes.  I went for a flat smooth surface.  Not a surprise seen as my hubby tells me... I'm a little OCD.

Step Four: Fondant Layer.
Roll out some fondant icing.  If you love the taste of this stuff then go ahead & roll it as thick as you would like to eat it.  I am not a fan of the taste, so I like to roll it quite thin usually.  Cut out the circles using a circle cutter that is slightly bigger than the cupcake top.  Apply some sugar syrup (apricot jam mixed with boiling water & sieved) to your cupcake, then place the fondant on top & smooth down.

Step Five: Decorate to your hearts content!! Or in our case...within our time restraints of the course :-)

We used fondant & royal icing to decorate our cupcakes. Here's a pic of mine below!

Just divine!!!

A pic of the three decorators with our stunning cupcakes :-)

R to L: My mum Liz, my sister Karleah & Me!!

When we got home we couldn't wait to put them in a little tower 

& show them off to our family.

If you've attended a cupcake course & have any extra tips that you would like to share, I would love to read them.  Please post below.

xoxo T

Who could resist...? Not me!

Hmm... well I was going SO well with my 'lose the pre-baby weight' following my previous post "Time to quit the excuses"...I lost 4kgs in 2.5weeks! Who wouldn't be happy with that!!? I was feeling so good, more energy, less sugar crashes...but then came the time to do grocery shopping while hubby was away. Note to self...don't go shopping on an empty stomach - I'd heard it so many times before & am usually really good....but somehow, a packet of delicious Wagon Wheels found their way into my trolley...What the?! I was so prepared with my shopping list & only venturing down aisles I needed something from, skipping all of the confectionary & chippies sections - damn the impulse piles of goodness on the end of each aisle!!! I had all intention of sharing them with my friends whenever they popped in for a visit & catch up...really, I did...but somehow they all made it into my belly before anyone had a chance to visit! And that was just the start of it....

A trip to Newcastle to see my hubby on his work trip did not help the situation either...so many tasty restaurants & yummy baked goodies at cafes. Cocktails & catch ups with friends!  I held back as much as possible but let's face it...who can resist fluffy pancakes, caramel meringue pie, macaroons or cupcakes?!!

Here's a few pics of things I couldn't resist :-)

A Lychee Martini with my ole' pal Ames who might I add, is baking 

a little play mate in her belly for my daughter at the moment :-)

 Ok...so it's not a photo of food, but it's a pic of the amazing view over 

Merewether Beach that Hubby, Kayla & I were able to enjoy whilst eating 

a tasty cooked breaky at Merewether Surfhouse Cafe.  Could it get any better?! 
Oh & check out the awesome Mothers Group down there on the beach 
(if you can see that well)! 
They're called Surfing Mums n Bubs! Have they got it good or what?!

 And I have not yet visited a place where a new cupcake shop has opened 

without going to taste test yet...so... when I found out Newcastle had a cupcake store...

I just HAD to visit! Cupcake Espresso 

If you get a chance to go there, try the White Chocolate & Raspberry cupcake! Delicious! 

So delicious in fact...I came home to test out making my very own raspberry frosting 

(look out for pics of my attempt in future posts)

Sadly, I don't have a pic of the amazing Caramel Meringue Pie I had at Caves Beach Hotel with my good friend Cara (Cara took the photos, & wasn't happy with how she looked in the pic of us sharing the most tasty pie on this earth, so she deleted it...naughty Cara).  Nor do I have a pic of the amazing buttermilk pancakes with ice-cream, strawberries & banana that I consumed at the bustling cafe Soho on Darby, this fail is due to the fact that it looked so amazing that I didn't even think to take a pic & just dived straight in.  If you don't believe me, you will just have to go order some for yourself. 

So there you have it...I fell off the healthy eating band wagon while on holidays.  But hey...who hasn't?! Please say you're with me :-)

Oh...and then there was Easter...need I say more? 

So until next time, the healthy eating plan starts....

Now!

Join me & we can help keep each other on track :-)

xoxo T

P.S.  I owe an apology to my Hubby for consuming his Cadbury Creme Eggs whist he was away this week (yes...away again). I promise to replace them...& not eat a single one!!

So happy to have my baby back :-)

Well the last week & a half have tested my parenting skills...& my patience. My little girl was 4 mths old on Wednesday (so exciting) & she had turned into a super grumpy child the week leading up to that milestone (not so exciting)! 

My hubby was on night shift & then unfortunately had to leave us to go away on a work trip on the weekend.  So there I was playing 'single mum' with a grumpy child who is usually a perfect angel (really...she is).  Thank goodness there was a reason as to why Kayla turned into a grumpy-bum & thankfully the grumpy side only stuck around for 4-5days.

Teething! Ahhh... I never knew that babies started teething so early & I also found out that babies can be BORN with teeth! What the?! Looking back at the first grumpy day I had with her, it made sense...that explained her munching on her fingers & chewing on her dummy. I thought she was so clever being able to put her dummy in & out of her mouth with her tiny little hands too! So now that I knew the reason for the change in my daughters temperament, I could find a solution!  I had heard about the Amber Teething Necklaces through friends so I jumped straight online at All About Amber to order Kayla one.  I can't wait for it to arrive! But in the meantime...I needed something a little quicker than the mail man can deliver so I made a quick dash to Target & stocked up on teething rings & fun things to distract her from the pain...poor thing.  Do you think I purchased enough?!

On a happier note...my little baby girl who had been going through a stage of 'I'm not a baby & I want to sit up like a big girl' had turned into a 'clingy little baby who just wanted to be cuddled & soothed'! Yay for me! I soaked up those cuddly days like there was no tomorrow :-) 

So I now have my happy, precious little baby back...well, at least until her teeth decide to try & make an appearance again anyhow...  

What have your little bundles of joy been up to in the past week? I would love to hear any stories of tried & tested teething remedies also!

xoxo T