for little miss three.

in a few weeks my little lady pea will be three.

here is what she will receive this year.

this list comes from a useful rhyme. not a new rhyme but helps us to choose the perfect items for special occasions. 

'something she wants...' 

a dollhouse. this one is perfect for right now.

from flatout frankie.

'something she needs...' 

a keepsake and friend for life.

from fabrik.

'something to wear...' 

a tutu...because she can & should.

from fabrik.

'something to read...'

a bit funny as this nearly three year old doesn't know the meaning.

The Quiet Book by deborah underwood.

oh dear piper, time does fly when you're having fun.
three of the sweetest years gone by in the blink of an eye.
♡ ashley

p.s. enter a little giveaway here

in the picture.

i am trying to stay in the picture with my girls.

if only they would hold still long enough. or be able to control their angry toddler faces.

♡ ashley

p.s. enter a little giveaway here

24 & 25/52

Piper: Your little toes wiggle and curl when you read your bedtime stories.

Poppy: At your very first tea party. Watching your sister flash by.

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Piper: Your little sister adores you, even when we think you are going to crush her like a baby seal. This was your first team bath. She survived.

Poppy: 5 months and not a moment to sit still.

linking up with jodi

♡ ashley

I will catch up on this project
I will catch up on this project
I will catch up on this project
If only I could stay after school and finish it!

pop here to enter a little giveaway.

a toddler bedtime routine & a giveaway.

Before I begin to write about our nighttime routine I want to thank the beautiful souls who helped reassure me in my whinge. indeed, things have changed, including my view of what poppy "should" be doing. 

calm is back in our home. 

alongside the sleep issues we were having with poppy we have been working on a plan for calming our wonderfully "spirited" two year old. it has been a work in progress. one we have slowly mastered. 

any family knows 5 pm marks a change in the family air. whether you call it "arsenic hour", "the witching hour", or my favourite "cocktail hour", it shifts and can easily become less than lovely. this is what we have been working to overcome.

Folks, I present our witching hour bewitching routine...

Every night after dinner, Piper heads to a warm bath...this is turned in to a special treat in the last week with her little sister joining in. just watching them giggle at each other is the best arsenic hour therapy.

post bath and warm pjs we make warm milk and honey. thanks to natalie for this advice. works wonders for the whole family {although sometimes mom and dad prefer a port.)

With warm milk in hands we settle in for some puzzle play and book savouring.

these amazing puzzles c/o stuck on you- a clever little company that creates personalised items. like sticky labels for school gear and gifts. I adore these puzzles as piper is learning to identify her name. she pulls them apart and puts them back together again and again.

before the final retreat for a quiet song and final book in her room we pull out the reward chart (see, how clever is stuck on you!) we chat about the day and dad and i come up with something she has done a marvelous job at...gentleness with her sister, patience while mommy was on the phone, helping daddy tidy up. the good stuff. when she gets ten she gets to choose an activity with us, games, walks, gardening, painting, time (that's what all toddlers want after all). this final step before bed helps her calm and look back over her day. reflect on the good. we all need to do that more.

one last book and bed.
goodnight sweetheart.

We want to share some stuck on you love. so we are giving away 2 x $20 vouchers for their shop.
well timed for their mid year clearance. to be in the running you must be a follower of this here blog and leave a comment below. winner drawn next Sunday and announced on this post.

sweet dreams to all.
♡ ashley

*the winners are: amanda and sophie. thanks for playing! xx

a whinge about sleep. wonder weeks. growth spurts and regressions. fail.

^^ Part of our big girl's bedtime rhythm.

I know that babies struggle to sleep. They have different cycles from us. Are all different. Sometimes just need to be held. Go through developmental spurts of growth and new skills that make it difficult impossible for them to sleep.

Thing is, Poppy seems to be having these weeks and spurts and regressions back to back to back to back.

I am exhausted. I have not had more than 2 hours of consecutive sleep in months. My head aches and my patience is suffering. I am trying to wait it out. Hoping it will pass.

As it is, she wakes every 2 hours at night (sometimes she throws in a random 4!), sometimes not going down til after 9 and then crying if we try and put her in her hammock, Cot? Don't even think about it.

I feed her to sleep (fail), pick her up as soon as she is upset (fail?), bring her to bed when she won't settle quickly (we have a king single we bought and pushed against the queen in our room because of this- fail) In the day, she WILL NOT sleep in a bed without someone holding her (fail). In the car, ergo or pram for a short sleep cycle (fail).

It leaves me wondering if I set this up....have I failed her? Will she be an insomniac adult searching for someone to hold her {I joke, kinda)

She doesn't want to sleep or settle alone. But I don't make her. We are busy getting out with a toddler so she sleeps on the run.  At 4.5 months, is this all normal? Have I made a monster?

I know I should be soaking it up and all that but I seem to only be soaking up coffee and arm pains.

Did your little one have sleep issues, did it change suddenly with age?

♡ the mombie

the winter rug. a review.

Winter means that we all move our most precious belongings from our rooms and hiding spots and meet out to the family room. The one room with heat, and hot tea and toast. Or warm milk and honey in the evenings.

For a toddler, the most precious things are toys and time. So we play, together.

In an open plan living space we need to have "areas" for what would traditionally be rooms. The tv area, the play area, the dining area, the reading area. Each of these divided with rugs and furnishings suiting our specific needs.

The play area is winter cosy with a kitchen, baskets of toys and a shaggy rug.

When www.oo.com.au emailed me to ask if we'd like to review a rug, I jumped at the chance to make our play area warmer and more inviting with this shaggy goodness.

We chose the twighlight shag rug in natural. fluffy and soft. With a tag on the back that promised no child labour was used in it's production. Cue happy dance.

Find more cosy rugs from oo here.

Read more about my thoughts on reviews here.

♡ ashley

sisters.

"In the cookies of life, sisters are the chocolate chips."

in the sandwich of life, i am the ham. 

coming from being the middle child (yup) with a brother on either side, i dreamed of having a sister.

these two don't "play" just yet, unless wrestling every saturday morning counts {completely toddler initiated and controlled} for now i know play is more like a lion hunting it's prey...

but i see amazing connections and joy for them in the future. 

it makes my heart sing.

are you from a sandwich {even a club} or a cookie family?

perhaps you are a carrot stick?

♡ ashley

A little product disclaimer.

Over the next little while I will be throwing in a few product reviews. This is not because I am turning to the dark side of product pushing or commercial blogging. But I have said yes to a few offers of goods for a review. They are items we find useful, beautiful or both and can't purchase on a single salary right now. Apologies as I do intend to keep my blog about our life and family. 

Just with a few treats here and there.

Photo has nothing to do with topic but gosh she's sweet. 

Xx Ashley

monthly stills. instagram land. celebrations for little wins & love ins.

1:: banana pancakes. made with mashed bananas and eggs. simple. num.

2:: snuggles. 

3:: rough day.

4:: benjamin bunny love.

5:: little hands of love.

6:: mouk time.

7:: & 8:: beach mom and bub.

9:: rest stop on a mini road trip.

10:: searched for shells on the beach. instead found some glasses. brilliant.

11:: surgeons waiting room.

12:: beer to celebrate finding someone who would help with this breastfeeding business! just one:)

13:: fairy in the beer garden.

14:: tongue tie- gone. baskin robbins to celebrate. we NEVER eat these. but as a kid every year i got a BR cake for my birthday party. this was the perfect way to celebrate the things we made it through in the last few months.

joining the ever lovely em.