EVERY time I now try to take a photo of Princess Ella, I get a: “but only if I can take your photo’’. This is the result.
Ella, pretending to be a model.
Me, in my dags with no hair or makeup, having a “moment” with Baby Holly.
Linking up with My Little Drummer Boys’ Wordless Wednesday. Click on the link to check out more photo posts.
DURING our holiday to Melbourne recently, I had cause to question whether I was living up to my primary school nickname of Smelly Kellie. Cow manure happens when you live on a farm. More correctly, I questioned whether I smelt of baby BO. Baby BO is more than just your typical smelly sock stink. More than just that musty armpit perfume. And definitely more than stinky undies smell. But let’s not go there.
You see, my youngest childless brother was enjoying kisses and cuddles with his new niece – Baby Holly . That was, until she spewed on him. For the rest of the day, all I heard was his constant complaints of how he stunk. Did he? Because if he stunk then, I must be downright putrid. Look out, here comes Pepe Le Pew – just minus the charm. And here I was thinking it was quite pleasant. Kind of like Johnson’s Baby Powder, complete with the white mess.
I did a quick check: were there any flies hanging around? I debated whether I needed to buy one of those hats with the corkscrews hanging off the brim. The worry was I often wore my breastfeeding singlets three days in a row without a thought that I might reek of sour milk. Mind you, Baby Holly seems rather comforted by my armpit odour as she nosedives for another feed.
Since that holiday I’ve begun changing my clothes more regularly. The downside has been the amount of washing piling up. I also can no longer make it to the front of the cue in the deli section of the supermarket as everyone stands back and makes way for me. However, there have been positives. Strangely, my clothes no longer peel off my skin like sticky tape to paper. People in the streets have begun to smile at me again. I feel … shiny. Could it really be all from getting rid of my baby BO?
Have you ever had to deal with a smelly situation – your own or someone else’s?
This week I’m grateful for:
I’m joining with Maxabella Loves to share what I’m grateful for.
IT IS with (dis)honour I accepted the award for Worst Parent of the Week. At the awards ceremony, I donned a beautiful blue pair of trackies, gorgeous white tracksuit top with Bolognese stain on the front and a dainty little pair of tan-coloured ugg boots with scuffed toes.
Today, I’d like to share my acceptance speech for the award and share the “Things I Know’’:
Thank you. Thank you. Please, you can all sit down now. I accept this, the Worst Parent of the Week award. Firstly, I’d like to thank my total negligence. If not for that one moment of distraction this week and my fast-paced eight-month-old daughter, Baby Holly, slipping through my arms and falling off my bed onto the floor, I wouldn’t be here tonight.
There were tears. Mainly from me. And The Bloke in The Shed – who was on the other end of the phone at the time of the accident. That was the “distraction’’ part. If he didn’t have hearing problems before, he certainly does now. This is aside from the selective hearing, which miraculously appeared about 18 months into our relationship.
I know the guilt I felt at the moment she hit the floor has yet to leave me. I know this will not be the last time I will feel this guilt, nor see her tears. I know that there’s a reason the progress we were making on her saying the word “mum’’ has now stagnated. I know that I’m sure to receive this award again – although I’d rather not. So thank you. I know that I deserve this award as a reminder to be a better parent. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to find a toilet cubicle to have a little cry – it has free “tissues’’.
I’m linking up with Shae from Yay For Home‘s Things I Know meme.
You can follow me and my bad parenting on Twitter at @ThreeLil and @MumPR, along with Facebook.
THIS week I was honoured with the editorship of The Advocate Newspaper. It’s the paper I grew up reading as a kid (mostly comics and the footy achievements of my brothers). It’s so much more than that though. It’s where I met Princess Kel.
Despite growing up in neighbouring towns, Kel and I were not destined to meet till that one day I happened to walk into the then Editor’s office as a young cadet to find this pretty little thing sitting there. Kel doesn’t remember that moment. I do. Like it was yesterday.
In those early days at the newspaper, our lives were heading in different directions… till events made us realise our shared feelings. A sneaky kiss in the newspaper’s file room (which funnily enough is now the IT dept) sealed the deal.
From then on, while being different individually, we have been almost as one. Our strengths and weaknesses complement each other. There is no doubt my sometimes over-the-top personality helped Kel evolve from a shy, young journo into a confident writer, while I would not be an Editor today without her calming hand and sound, measured advice.
Yet, our greatest achievement has nothing to do with the newspaper directly. It is the two princesses we have been blessed with – Ella and Holly. Whatever you achieve in your working life is great, but it can never supersede what you have as a family.
Follow me on Twitter at @Julian_OBrien or the TLP blog on Facebook.
WE ALL know the story of the princess and the pea. Well, Baby Holly doesn’t sleep on peas (unless you count having a wet nappy), but she can certainly sniff one out as soon as it hits boiling water. And the carrots and potatoes and anything else she’s able to get her hands on. She loves her food.
Linking up with My Little Drummer Boys’ Wordless Wednesday. Click on the link to check out more photo posts.
If your baby is having sleep issues, read through our Sleep Challenge.