What The Flock - Audrey's Three!

This week Audrey celebrated her 3rd birthday and it's been a full week of festivities. 

It was a really fun one this year. I've been looking forward to the year that Audrey picks the theme for her party and she didn't disappoint when she picked a FLAMINGO PARTY!

I got her to decide about 3 months ago so I could get started on planning and prepping everything. Which has meant that for the last 3 months she's told us that 'tomorrow is her birthday' and we've had to explain that she was wrong.

It's been a full on year with the shop and i've been single parenting it a lot because of BJ's hours and i've been feeling really guilty about Aude having to spend a lot of time at home while i'm working my two jobs so I wanted to throw her a really fun party. I needed as much time as possible to make this party happen.

Audrey made a list of who she wanted to invite and I did the rest. I designed the invitations, made the decorations, the snacks and the cake of course. 

I design all of our invitations and I had a lot of fun with this one. Really happy with how it turned out. 

Once the invitation was out of the way I planned out all the other decorations and started bringing them to life. The thing I actually slacked on this year was the cake. I usually have a very detailed plan of what i'm going to make with drawings and even test cakes but this year I just had a vague idea of what I wanted to do. I whipped together the topper the week before her party and the rest of the cake I threw together the day before. 

I also managed to find a few minutes to chuck together some cute cookies. 

I was really proud of the paper garland I made for the wall. I honestly wasn't sure how it was going to turn out but I spent ages with my silhouette curio cutting out all the leaves and flowers and am really happy with the final result. It's been hanging up for 2 weeks now because I didn't want to have to do EVERYTHING on the day of the party. And it may be up for another 3 hahaha.

On top of the decorations we had a couple of games. Flamingo ring toss and Pass the parcel. Wasn't sure how Pass the parcel was going to go with a bunch of 3 year olds but it was a total success. And lastly, I couldn't resist in getting a giant inflatable flamingo for the kids to go nuts on. Surprisingly, it didn't pop and it was a huge hit.
Best $20 ever spent!

xx

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Working Mum

I often make myself feel bad about not taking Audrey out to the park or sitting on the floor for ages playing with her until I remind myself that I work full time... weather Audrey is home or at Child Care.

Audrey currently goes to Child Care one day a week but I work EVERY day.

I took about 6 days off when Audrey was born. But if you ask BJ I didn’t even take that long because I still checked emails and took calls.

I am lucky enough to be able to work from home but it does have its disadvantages. I am expected to be able to do things at the drop of a hat and because there is always work to do I never really give myself a break. If Audrey’s napping I’m working, she’s wake I’m working, BJ goes out one night I’m working.

I don’t feel bad about working. I am providing for my family and that is important to me. Even if the money weren’t needed I would still want to work because I don’t want to be a ‘stay at home’ mum. I don’t want the title of ‘Audrey’s mum’ to be the only thing that defines me.

I don’t have anything against stay at home mums. That’s just not for me.

But when I see on social media people having lunch at the park with their kids I do have those moments where I feel a little guilty. Like I should be doing more, I should be trying harder. But again I remind myself that my situation is different and that’s ok.

I also remind myself that Audrey is not missing out, she is not deprived of anything. She is loved and looked after. Plus she is a happy kid. I work this hard for her. To give her the best I possibly can. And from me working she has learnt to be very independent and that makes me happy.

She is not sitting watching a screen all day, she is not in any devices like a jolly jumpers while I work. She is playing with her toys and learning. Being independent has helped this kid learn some amazing things. If there is a milestone to hit, she’s done it... and in most cases, months earlier then expected.

We have had a routine since day one. It was necessary for me to be able to get all my work done around Audrey’s needs. Specific nap, bottle, meal and bath times. I can plan my whole week because I know that between ‘these times’ Audrey will be napping and between ‘these times’ she needs to be awake so that she will go down without any issues at bedtime.

Audrey is not one to sleep in the car or pram these days so to make life easier, I avoid putting us in situations where she’s going to miss a nap.

Though our routine has had to change several times as Audrey’s grown, we work hard to figure out the what works best for Audrey with her new routine and then we stick to it because that’s how this household runs smoothly and how we keep everyone happy.

We are reaching the point where Audrey is going to transition to one nap a day and honestly I’m not ready for the transitioning part of this change but I know that once we get her into a routine she will do great.

I guess I just wanted to write this to remind myself that I’m doing an ok job. 

Scratch that… I’m doing a great fucking job!!

And so are all the other working mums out there!! We all deserve a night out! (Kid free of course) 

We did do some drawing time this week... It's not a trip to the park but it's something

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