Tips - Toys

A good idea is to buy toys that are machine washable...

From around 3 months babies want to put EVERYTHING in their mouths so your toys need to be clean, the best toys we have are the ones that can be thrown into the machine as soon as they are dropped on the floor with no fuss... We have a lot of toys with mechanisms in them so they cant be washed, this is a pain, making time to surface wash them us just another thing on the never ending list of things to do...

The Contented Little Baby Book - Gina Ford

This book is great to give you an idea of how our day could go with a new born... You might want to keep in mind that this sort of strict routine may not work for everyone... At 7 weeks I implemented it, tailoring it to suit our needs, and from the first night she was sleeping 9 hours straight through the night... That in itself makes me feel like this book is worth its weight in gold... There is a lot of information, and reasons for the routines and most importantly the actual routines... Definitely worth a read, I treat it like a bible!

I love you, man

My expectations were high for theis film, I would have been fuming if we went to all the trouble of going to the movies and seeing another film like Observe and Report which sucked... This film did not suck by any means of the word! Well written, well acted, 'laugh out loud' several times funny... Just see it!

From www.rottentomatoes.com

After years of swiping scenes from the leading men in such movies as KNOCKED UP and THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN, Paul Rudd finally headlines a star vehicle of his own. Unlike those Judd Apatow productions, it's John Hamburg (ALONG CAME POLLY) who directs I LOVE YOU, MAN, albeit with many of the touchstones of Apatow's highly successful freaks-and-geeks-with-heart aesthetic. In other words, this is not an Apatow film, but, with the male capacity for--and simultaneous inability to express--fraternal love as its core comic conceit (and emotional centerpiece), it may as well be. Rudd plays Peter Klaven, a real estate agent with a blossoming career and an imminent marriage to Zooey (THE OFFICE's Rashida Jones)--basically, he's lucky in all things except male bonding. The narrative arc centers on his quest for platonic man-love--as opposed to, say, finding the girl of his dreams--and follows the boilerplate dictates of a standard rom-com with a subversive wink. In this case, boy meets boy, boys bond over their common love of Rush and Andre the Giant, boys break up and make up, etc. Rudd and co-star Jason Segel (FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL), a fellow Apatow alum who plays Sydney Fife, the Type B object of Klaven's affection, imbue their roles with winning charisma and elevate the plot with real and nuanced chemistry. With a whip-smart pace, the film continually tills fresh comic ground as Hamburg finds punctuation points in every scene and never lets a gag overstay its welcome. While the supporting cast features many memorable turns by the likes of Jon Favreau, Jaime Pressly, and Andy Samberg, I LOVE YOU, MAN ultimately belongs to Rudd, who approaches insecurity and social awkwardness with the same dead-eye marksmanship that Peter Sellers did for slapstick.

New kicks...

After having Marley I have not really cared too much about things for me, clothes and kicks have fallen by the wayside as I have embraced motherhood with every ounce of my being... But lately Mark has been doing a bit of over time and we used the cash to get some new kicks... The top ones I have wanted for years, literally, and to my surprise they were restocked in a limited Asian release and surprisingly when I saw them my size was one of two sizes left... Definitely a sign! So I bought them... The blue ones were an impulse by encouraged by Mark, I'm hoping that I can pull them off, not usually into shiny shoes!

Changeling

I meant to watch this long ago and on finding it again I put it on... It was quite stressful to watch, I think the fact it was based on true events made it worse, but was definitely a good film... Great acting, story, costumes... It is just a shame that life for a woman was that effed up back then... It makes me glad that I am not living in that era...

From www.rottentomatoes.com
At first, Clint Eastwood's CHANGELING could appear to be following too closely in the footsteps of his earlier Oscar winner, MYSTIC RIVER, since both films center on a missing child. But while his previous film was based on a Dennis Lehane novel, CHANGELING carries a particular weight because it is based on a true story, and one that isn't largely known. Angelina Jolie stars as Christine Collins, a single mother working in 1928 Los Angeles when her son goes missing. A boy is returned to her months later by the police, but she is shocked and disheartened when she realizes that the boy isn't her son. Joined by a crusading pastor (John Malkovich), Christine battles for justice against the corrupt L.A.P.D. while she continues to search for her child. Eventually her fight against the cops lands her in a mental hospital, where she is surrounded by others with a similar plight. At times, CHANGELING is incredibly difficult to watch. Jolie gives an authentic, anguished performance, and the on-screen tragedy is quite disturbing, largely because of its basis in reality. But Eastwood has crafted another Oscar-worthy film that is certainly worth sitting through, even if a tissue or two is required. Screenwriter J. Michael Straczynski had been best known for his work in science fiction (BABYLON FIVE) and graphic novels, but he makes an adept transition to feature drama with this film. Its unusual focus--on the victim and her struggle for justice, rather than on the criminal and the crime--brings further depth to the film. As always, Amy Ryan (an Oscar nominee for GONE BABY GONE) perfectly morphs into her role (this time as a prostitute imprisoned in the mental hospital), and the film's many child actors are compelling to watch.

Observe and Report - Film

Being a fan of Seth Rogen we made the most of a date and went to see this film... MISTAKE... This film was so very bad that I fell asleep in the cinema! I sat through the first 50 minutes, it was not funny, nothing much happened, to be honest I'm not even sure why it was made, or whether someone held a gun to Seths dogs head to make him do it! So very bad, do not pay to see this movie, and its probably best avoided altogether...

Juju Sundin’s Birth Skills Book

This book gave me a feeling of empowerment before I even went into labour… For the first twelve hours of my labour we used lots of the skills mentioned and I did feel that they helped… It was also a good way to involve my husband in the process, both reading the book, planning the techniques and utilising them... After twelve hours I opted for an epidural, but would recommend this book even if you are planning on an epidural...

Juju Sundin’s Birth Skills Book

Taken from http://www.jujusundin.com/

This objective of this book is to bring you and your partner right ‘inside’ the classes in my specialised birth skills education programme in Sydney.
So many of you are wanting to learn powerful and effective skills to help you through labour pain. So many of you want a clear, simple, yet informative manual for your partner who may be resistant to long detailed childbirth, parenting and breastfeeding books. It is sometimes difficult for these same partners to extract from these books the vital information and practical ideas to help you on the day. They need to know exactly what their role is during labour and exactly how to help you through your pain – and even if you have chosen a medically assisted birth, your partner still needs to know what to do for you at home, in the car, in the car park, getting you through the hospital entrance, in the lift, and during your initial monitoring. So many of you are in country areas and do not have access to these classes. This book is also for the busy working woman who doesn’t have a lot of time and is saying ‘just tell me what to do and how to do it – I want the short list and I want the detail and it has to make sense’. This book is also for all the women who are feeling anxious and fearful about childbirth. I can assure you Sarah and I both relate to you, and we wrote this book for you too. When I am on the phone taking my class bookings, I think off the top of my head, about 90% of women express their fear of childbirth. What I say to them is, ‘once you come and learn about the labour process, all the powerful positive hormones and chemicals at play, how you can influence those AND learn powerful tools and techniques to help you, then your fear will be turned into a working machine of positive, powerful, purposeful action. And, your partner will learn exactly what to do to help you with this. Sarah and her husband used these same tools and techniques for the birth of their two children. When I first met Sarah her attitude was ‘I’m just going to have an epidural’. By the end of the course her attitude was ‘bring it on’.So this book is all about the tools and techniques I teach, and have been teaching over a thirty year period, and all about how the learner experiences those lessons. That’s where Sarah comes in. You will learn from me, and you will experience the class as though you are right next to Sarah on the floor. Many couples say that what they learned at classes was inspirational. I find what Sarah has written in Birth Skills inspirational. We loved writing it, and we hope that you love reading and learning from it.

Aveda Ante Natal Massage Chadstone

Aveda Chadstone
Shop 408,
Chadstone Shopping Centre,
1341 Dandenong Rd
Chadstone VIC 3148
(03) 9948 8324

I was given this massage for my 30th birthday, I upgraded to a full hour, figuring it would be best for me and the baby... I wanted to use it while I was pregnant as I was having some coccyx pain and they advertisedpregnancy massage so I thought it would give me some long term help...

On entering the staff were lovely... Maria was my masseur, and we had a good talk about my needs etc as a pregnant woman before we got to the room... The waiting area was lovely... The room was a beautiful space, lovely ambiance, but very small... There was lovely relaxing music on, but half way through the massage it became more like electro with loads of bass, making me think more about moving then being still...

Maria started with a foot soak and massage which was lovely, and really set me up to think that this was going to be the best massage ever... But after that things went a little downhill, they advertise as having pregnancy massage which is why I chose to go there whilst pregnant, once in they said that they don't have pregnancy beds so the massage would have to be on my sides... Getting a pregnancy massage when you are that big on your side just doesn't make for comfort, besides the hope of being on your tummy is half the excitement...Maria gave me what felt like a rub down, no deep work, nothing to make me feel better long term, just a very light running of the hands over the body... I specifically stated that my coccyx was killing me and yet she didn't go there at all, strangely she did rub my belly, she did ask first, but I was caught completely off guard and agreed...

The second half of the massage was on my back, which really hurt my hips and butt... So by the time it was over I felt like I needed a massage... The best bit was the scalp/face massage at the end, I probably would have been happier if she just did my feet and scalp/face - the definite highlights...

Avenue Q at the Comedy Theatre

We got our tickets for Christmas and have looked forward to it ever since... I didn't really know what to expect, but I didn't expect to see the puppeteers, which totally threw me... It took a little while to get used to the idea of seeing them and through out the show I phased in and out of focusing on them...

Really well written, very funny, great characters and songs... 'If you were gay' was probably my favourite, but most of them were quite amusing... Was an adult take on Sesame Street with actors and puppets interacting, and some of the puppets are obvious parodies of Sesame Street characters, awesome... If you are a fan of Jim Henson's puppets/Sesame Street its worth checking (even though it is not affiliated with them), if you are even slightly curious about what its like you should check it, if seeing puppets shag is going to ruin all of your childhood visions of puppets then do not check it!