The Weekly Knit

A few weeks ago I re-learnt how to knit. I was never a very good knitter - it was just something I could never figure out. Then I friend suggested that I needed to learn how to knit in the continental style - so I did and voila - I can knit. Now I am a bit addicted.

It is something I can do with the babe beside me or even asleep in my arms that is a little bit challenging and gives my creative left brain an outlet.

So after finishing the hat above I moved onto scarves. I made one last week that I'm not all that happy with - nothing to do with the knitting and everything to do with the choice of yarn.

So this week I am attempting this:

 

It is a Jo Sharp pattern for a mobius cowl/scarf. So far it is going well - no mistakes!

I am using a slightly different yarn - a Naturally Aran Tweed in a grey colour.

I'll post a pic when I'm done.

Time to start being around here a bit more

 

Baby B is 3 months old now - doesn't time fly! Blogging has really been last on my list of priorities as when B sleeps I usually have a million and one other things to do - or I am watching something trashy on Foxtel like How to look good naked or What Not To Wear USA.

As you can see from the pic  - we got our first delivery from Aussie Farmers Direct today. I thought that I would give it a go and see if it worked for us. While I prefer to go to the farmers markets I was finding that it didn't really work with my shopping/meal planning schedule all that well. Aussie Farmers Direct deliver here on a Thursday and that works out much better.

I am quite impressed with it so far.  Something unexpected I have liked is the reduction in plastic bags!

B at the park all rugged up in his Maya wrap.

Getting to grips with blogging again...

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I feel like I am trying to find my feet with blogging again. Back when I was working still I had all this time to think about what I was going to blog and to write down ideas and think about blog posts...and now...I'm lucky if I can string two thoughts together in my head.

There just seems to always be more things that I want to achieve/read/think about that is possible in the day.

I am even having trouble keeping up with the blogs I want to read via Google Reader!

I just bought the Planning with Kids book - because while I am a gun at being Organized - I always like to read other people's ideas - especially when I now have a temperamental 2 year old.

I am also thinking about keeping H boy home for an extra day each week - however if I do that then I need to have a few more solid plans in place for structuring our days at home.

I think that I need a book to write all this down in - hopefully I can make a bit more sense of it all!

inspiration

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Confession time...

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We have been eating alot of good food lately....What? I can hear you say - surely that is a good thing? well yes it might be, however, when I say good food I mean home cooked and full of tasty things like butter and sugar!  Lots of yummy, yummy dinners and desserts and sweet baked treats! Great for the soul but not so great for the waistline!! Especially when there is an extra 5 - 7 kg sitting on my frame right now!


So this past week I got motivated - where did that come from? I really don't know.  I have gotten back to daily walking with B in the pram and have been loving how I feel afterwards so much. Getting out in the fresh (and sometimes freezing) air is so invigorating and I come home feeling full of energy and loving life. That in itself is very motivating.

I have also cleaned up my diet a bit this week and cut some of the crap and the scales have responded nicely. I'm having a tight first couple of weeks and eating Paleo style to wake my metabolism up and then as the exercise intensity increases over the next few weeks I'll up the calories a little.

My initial goal is to be able to run the full lap around Lake Burley Griffin (Bridge to Bridge ~ 5km), then to do the local Women's and Girls Jog-along each month to have a gauge for progress.

In other news, I have come to a good arrangement with my Gym. The childcare situation was not resolved, however I think the B is a little bit too high needs anyway - he hates being in the pram and wont sleep in there for any length of time so it probably wouldn't have worked like it did for Harris anyway. B can go into the creche at the gym when he is 5 months, until then they have put me on what is called and 'External' membership. I pay $3 per week to keep my membership open for the next 3 months until B is old enough, if I am able to get to the gym on the weekend I just have to pay $5 for a session. It is a good compromise because I don't know if I will be able to get to the gym but should the opportunity arise I still have the option. It is a win-win and I am happy!

In the mean time between now and that three month point where I can return to the gym on a regular basis I will continue with the walking/running and do some home based strength work to build up a good baseline.

Slackness

So here we are 7 weeks into our baby # 2 journey and I am feeling slacker than ever. I have absolutely no motivation to go walking or to set up some sort of daily exercise routine at all. This is despite the fact that I am not really feeling all that great about the post baby body right now. All breastfeeding related weight loss seems to have stopped now and the scales are very stagnant. Better than going up but stagnant all the same.

Thinking about it there are two main roadblocks stopping me:

1) The Harris factor: I cannot manage to do any exercise that increases my heart rate at all on the days I have Harris and Mark goes to work. But that is only 2 days per week. The gym would solve this problem but I have solved the gym problem yet.

2) The cold factor. It is cold here in Winter and I am just not managing to get out of the house because my little head tells me it is too cold. This is something I can overcome but I need to get the head space right.

I'm just not sure how to get to the point of wanting to achieve something bad enough to make myself uncomfortable by pushing my body.

Perhaps I need a goal to work towards?

Photo Shoot with the kids in September?
Canberra 10km fun run in September????

Does the playground thing really start this early?

Every week on a Tuesday, H boy and I go along to a free local activity called Paint and Play. It is run at a local disused preschool and is full of fun activities for kids. It provides a great opportunity for wearing them out!

A few weeks ago I took hubby along with us so that he could see what we do while he is at work.
The deal is that when you arrive you sign the child in and give them a name tag. Some of the mums wear name tags also. Call me a snob or perhaps just introverted - I never make myself a name tag.

Hubby asked me why I don't and precedes to point out to me all of the missed opportunities for mother to mother conversations that I miss out on every week. So the next week I made a deal with him that I would wear a name tag and see what happened.

Sure enough one other mum stuck up a conversation with me.

Interestingly this girl is also someone whom I see around the place quite a bit. She looks like the kind of person I would get along with well - we have similarly aged children, clearly both enjoy shopping (the shops is often where I see her), and have similar taste in clothes.

The thing is, she is often with one of those imposing groups of well put together mums who in their 'uniform' of leggings, knee high boots and tunic tops with their designer baby kit bags and fancy prams completely intimidate me and I don't feel like I can strike up a conversation with them. I don't know how to take it from playgroup idle conversation to opportunities for friendship building.  Kind of like the cool girls at school - I would LOVE to be freinds with these people - they totally look like the kind of people I would get along with. The kind of people I was friends with in Brisbane but haven't me here in Canberra yet.

I guess that some people call these 'cool' groups the "Mummy Mafia" - but I don't always see them as the cool girls at school who will trip you in the hall (although if their child was in competition with yours for whatever reason I think I would be watching my back!) - lets face it women are always competing whether it be for good or bad.

But really - it doesn't matter how far we come from school - we always seem to revert back to what we wanted then - to fit in and be part of the crowd. To be normal and to have it all together - despite what goes on under the surface.

I know that I fit right back into the mold that I created for myself in high school - the one where I didn't have very much money and always had slightly awkward social skills. The one where I was slightly individual and for this I was ridiculed. I know I am not this person anymore but it does stop the old feelings from resurfacing.