A Creative Success....

So yesterday after dropping the girls to school and Bumble Bee I met my lovely sister Charmaine in town for coffee and caught up for a bit....but after getting home I found I was bored out of my brain..all house work was done and it was a horrible day outside and there really was nothing to do. Now I know some of you may be thinking 'enjoy the peace and quiet' and trust me I do and most times I don't mind having the house to myself but then there are sometimes I hate complete silence and being on my own....Not that I like the sound of kids screaming and fighting but I guess I'm just used to the noise of them being home.....Any way I was trying to decide what to do when I remembered I had some fabric in the cupboard I bought months ago as I was meant to make a change mat for Peta and forgot and some sheets too for that matter.....There was heaps of fabric there so I thought I'd make a a change mat for bub for home as the nappy bag I've bought has one built in that just unzips when you need it then zips away...such a good idea......also I've been wanting to do some sewing for ages but haven't had anything to do.....So I set up the sewing machine and pulled out the fabric from the cupboard and got to work.....this is one instance when I do love the house to myself as I don't have to worry about the girls getting in the way.....

I love my sewing machine....

 

Thankfully I can sew because my mum taught me when I was about 11yrs old, first to hand sew and I have to say to this day my buttons never come off and my mending never comes undone......and secondly to machine sew as well....I definitely prefer to machine sew and while I'm not the worlds best dress maker, when it comes to things like change mats, patchwork quilts etc they always come out amazingly well.....I've never made a change mat before until yesterday and I knew it couldn't be that difficult but I also no myself enough to know that if anything I do get too finicky or fussy I'm likely to turn into my Dad, curse the life out of it and throw whatever it is out a door or window...it's the Bergeron way after all....lol.......Thankfully I had a good feeling about this little project and remembered a few tips mum has told me over the years and got to work....and I have to say I'm really pleased with the way it came out, in fact even mum said she was impressed.....

 

The changing side of the mat....

 

The reverse side...I love this fabric...

 

Folded up ready to use....I hand sewed the buttons on myself and put them along the folding lines..

 

The next project for bub is to make some sheet sets for his bassinet as although you can buy bassinets, no one stocks sheets to fit the mattress, only cot sheets which are way too big.....so I will be picking up bubs bassinet very soon and getting to work on the sheets and I have some gorgeous fabric for those too.....oh and I'll also be making some bibs as they are ridiculously over priced and yet so easy to make....so I'll show you each thing I do as it gets done....

 

Well that's it from me tonight I hope everyone is having a good week and looking forward to the school holidays or enjoying them already as is the case for some of you.....I'll be back tomorrow at some point in time.....take care and  Au revoir for now....xo

Who Will Be First....

Bonjour and I hope everyone's morning is going well so far......If you know me then you know I'm friends with the lovely Nellie over at McCarthy Designs and Occasions and if you're new to my blog then pop over and check Nellies out too she also has an online shop by the same name.....anyhoo.....Nellie and I are both 20 weeks pregnant and we knew each other was pregnant before we told anyone in our circle of family and friends......we are enjoying this journey together very much and we only wished we lived closer to each other so we could catch up....it's amazing to me that two people who are both 20 weeks along can carry a baby so differently.....Nellie is tiny and barely showing and I'm exploding like there's no tomorrow.....hehe...Now I was a size 16 before I fell pregnant and thankfully I'm just exploding in front and haven't put on too much weight but I can feel in my bones I'm going to have another big baby....probably close to the 9lb mark I reckon....Luke was 9lb 6oz and I do believe this little man is taking after his big brother....



20 weeks and 2 days....no hiding this baby that's for sure...

It will be very interesting to see who goes into labour first and Nellie and I joke about instagramming and blogging about the bubs while we do midnight feeds....lol...

I will be updating the Baby Journey page very soon so keep your eyes open for all the latest news...we have bubs coming home outfit, will be picking up his furniture soon and making some sheet sets for him too with some gorgeous material I got from Spotlight.....Well I'm out of here for now as I have a few things to do and an impatient Bec complaining she's starving...yet again....take care and I'll be back soon....Au revoir...xo

 







Bye, Bye Clothes......And Hello Coffee....

Well have you ever had a favourite pair of pants, a dress, skirt or top that you love and have lived in and then it has fallen apart from so much wear?? I'm sure you all have and that's exactly what's happened to me tonight.....a pair of jeans I love to bits (and actually happen to be my most comfy jeans) died on me tonight....I bought them last winter from Rockmans and they fit like a dream and with the help of the Belly Belt they have still been serving me faithfully.....until tonight that is....I washed them last night, popped them on this morning while getting dressed yet it wasn't until I was getting changed tonight I noticed a small whole right next to the back pocket..!!....an unfixable whole unfortunately and on further exploration I noticed the same thing is happening on the other side next to the other pocket.....How could this be happening to me??.....So far I've managed pretty well in only buying a few maternity tops, two bras and one dress for summer but all my pants (all three pair) have been lasting thanks to help from the belly belt....without that I would have had to buy pants ages ago as I'm exploding at a ridiculous rate....

20 weeks and the belly is exploding....

 



My fave pair of Jeans...worn out already...

 



Back pockets worn out....

 

Love this detail on the front pocket....

 

The detail on the back pockets is one of the reasons I bought these jeans...

 

I have to admit I probably haven't loved a pair of jeans like these ones before...I bought them mostly for the detail that's on them plus I was also lucky enough to get a pair when they had been marked down from $70 to $30...!!!....I was quite happy that day.....Well I guess now I'm really going to have to start looking for maternity clothes as my clothes are dwindling down to nothing....thankfully t-shirts stretch with you while pregnant so they haven't been much of a problem but skirts, dresses and pants...well now that's going to be a shopping mission...

 

On the upside this week our little man has decided he'll let me drink coffee again...yey!! If you know me you know I love my real coffee and my coffee machine but from just a few weeks in bub decided he didn't like it at all....however I really felt like a coffee the other day and thought I'd try one and see if it would agree with me or not and thankfully bub let it go with no after effects.....personally I think he's taking after me and enjoyed the caffeine hit...lol.....however I'm not going crazy on the coffee just one cup a day will do me nicely....

 



Ah sweet coffee how I missed you....

 

Well that's it from me tonight, I have just had a brain storm and need to investigate something...more on that soon.....I hope everyone's had a good day and a good start to the week...this is the last week of term for us then two wonderful weeks of school holidays.....take care Au revoir for now....xo

 

 



Bedside Revamp, New Nails And We Have A.....!!

Bonjour mon amis....ok so I'm not back as quick as I said I would be but I'm back quicker than I have been lately so it's good to see you all and I must thank you all for still reading the blog even though I haven't been here much of late.

So last week I said I had some home decor going on and I sure did....some of you may remember I revamped Chris' bedside table back in April and had every intention of doing mine not long after but as things would have it not long after I did Chris' we moved house. This is the first chance I've had since moving to revamp my bedside, so last Wednesday while I had the house to myself I got to work on it...being pregnant definitely made it a little more challenging but I got it done....

In its place in our room on my side of  the bed..

 



Before the work began....

 



First coat down....

 

The almost finished product back where it belongs....

 

It's taken a little getting used to seeing my Pop's cupboard whitewashed but I'm so happy with it and there's just one more addition to it I have to make tomorrow but I will show you that soon...

 

This week I've also been doing my own mani's and pedi's as they can get quite expensive after a while and being that I'm a qualified nail tech I thought I'd start doing my own nails a little more often and treating myself. I have to admit doing my toes was a little difficult with the belly now getting in the way so I think the next pediure will be done at the salon...

 

I'm really happy with this job considering the belly was in the way...lol..

 



 I love using nail art as it dresses hands and toes up a tad more...

 

I love this red it remind me of 50's hollywood stars....

 

I'm really enjoying doing nails a lot at the moment and would love some models as I'm wanting to put together a portfolio to attract more clients, so if you live in Busselton and would love a mani at a very reasonable price leave me a comment or email and I'll get back to you......And yes I know I said models and then said reasonable price but I have to still cover cost of nail art etc so models will get an absolute best price....

 

Now the other news I have to tell you is that as some of you know we had our 19 week ultrasound yesterday and I'm very happy to report bub is doing very well, apart from not wanting to be measured....once again he was making things difficult but we got what we needed in the end and the technician also tells us we have a little fatty!!! I feel another 9lb baby coming on but I'm not surprised with the way I'm popping.....bub also made it difficult to see if we had a boy or a girl and as it turns out we have a......BOY!!......Chris was stunned and speechless for a while that bub was actually a boy....I think he really thought he was destined to have girls only.....but I knew it was a boy and I told him the minute the test came back positive I knew it would be a boy, so there was a lot of 'i told you so...' from me yesterday....lol.....really either way we would have been happy but I'm glad it's a boy and Chris has a son to carry on the family name......

 





Bub with his hand in his mouth....

 



 

So after we found out we had a boy we went pretty much straight to Best and Less and grabbed his coming home outfit which I spotted last week but decided to wait til after the ultrasound to get it, though I should have just got it as I knew we'd have a boy.....Chris loved it and I'm glad he was there to have a look at it and we actually got one a little different to what I was originally going to get but not much....

 

Bub will be coming home in this gorgeous outfit that daddy helped pick...

 

So there you have it, that has been our week.....I'm looking forward to getting more decor done, hopefully finding some models for nails and picking up bubs layby and having things set up by the end of december just in case he takes after Chris and decides to make an early appearance....well I hope you've all had a great start to the week and are enjoying the sunshine....take care and I'll be back soon...Au revoir...xo



Spring Has Sprung At Last....

Bonjour on this lovely sunny day...finally spring has sprung here in Busselton and it's the 11th day of september....last week we had some wild storms and plenty of rain but finally and thankfully we have some sunshine and clear skies and I'm loving it...!!

I hope you've all been well and enjoying Spring or Fall depending on where in the hemisphere you are.....we actually took a drive to the beach Sunday afternoon as it was just too nice a day to stay home all afternoon...the girls loved it and had a ball....Bec in particular has been asking me heaps lately when she can go back to the beach so she was super excited to put her bathers on, grab her towel and hop in the car....

Chris chasing the girls...cloudy but nice...

 

Beautiful rays coming through the clouds....

 

 

We really didn't do a great deal this weekend but it was just nice hanging out as a family enjoying the sunshine and doing some gardening and watching the girls play in the yard.....I also happened to notice that I have some new shoots on my standard Iceberg rose bush and I can't wait until it's flowering....Icebergs have been a favourite of mine for years now and I just can't resist them....

 

Looking forward to some beautiful blooms...

 

Last week I also had another good find at Thingz Living....my computer desk was looking good but lacking something...it needed a little more zsa zsa zsu....and I just happened to find exactly what it needed....a gorgeous picture...

 

Now it looks finished and I love this pic....

 

Last weekend while in Perth we had a great time catching up with friends and spending time at the convention and it was lovely to have a couple of days kid free which we haven't had in such a long time now....We had a great dinner Saturday night with Lyn and she surprised us with some pressies for bub.....

 

 Towels, flannels, wipes, chemical free bath wash and shampoo,

a rattle come teething ring and some thermals for next winter..

 

 Bubs' stuff so far...more linen than clothes...we'll fix that little

problem very soon....we have more singlets than outfits ...

 

I have been finding lately that I have been getting very tired with the pregnancy and little things are bothering me just a tad more than they usually would, espescially by the late afternoon....I really look forward to Chris walking through the door at the end of the day and last week he knew I had had enough of kids fighting and was tired and getting quite cranky so he did something very sweet for me.....he ran me a bath and made it all girly and lovely....take a look...

 



Candles and flower petals....such a romantic....love heaps...

 

It was lovely to just soak and relax...

 

The left over flowers....

 

Chris is such a sweety and a good husband and I'm sure I've been driving him crazy at times with getting cranky and tired but he doesn't get grumpy with me....

 

Sunday also marked the 18 week mark with the pregnancy so technically we are at the halfway point and I am popping like mad and have started to feel a few fluttery kicks....a few far and in between at the moment but no doubt they will pick up soon......Next Monday we have our 19 week ultrasound and hopefully they will be bale to tell us if we're having a boy or girl and I will let you all know....I'm still betting on a boy....Chris was betting on a girl but I think he's undecided now....really as long as they're healthy we'll be happy.....

 

The feet are slowly disappearing....18 weeks along...

 

Well I'm off for now as I have some washing to fold and some rissoles to prepare for dinner tonight but I will be back very soon (possibly tomorrow) as I have a few decor things going at the moment that I'd love to share with you....have a wonderful afternoon and take care and we'll talk again soon....Au revoir...xoxo



 















My Week So Far And Some Me Time....

Hello my lovely Home, Love & Life friends and how are you all doing today? Yesterday was one of those kind of blah days really....but more on that later.

I thought I'd catch you all up with how the week has been going so far.....it all started on the weekend really when we went to Bunnings to get some tomato bushes. I'm over paying up to $10 a kilo for them and being that we had great success growing our own tomatoes last year I thought, lets do it again this year. While we were there we also got some lettuce and basil, one of my most favourite herbs and the girls got their faces painted....

Two butterfly faces....they love Bunnings too...

 



Our veggie garden full of lettuce, tomatoes and basil...

 

So we came home and got straight into putting our new summer veggies in the ground and it was a lovely sunny day...I really didn't want it to end because although it wasn't quite warm enough for swimming it was just nice having all that sunshine out and on my skin. While we were outside I finally got around to potting the girls strawberry bushes that we bought last month along with their lovely pots and so far the strawberries are doing really well......I also happened to notice we have some beautiful Jasmine climbing up over our fence and it smells divine....the bush is actually on the neighbours side of the fence and being that the fence is going to be pulled down soon I thought I would take some cuttings and pot them up as I just love Jasmine so much and it's really hard to find in the gardening sections down here...

 



 Love the colour of these pots and we have lots of strawberries

coming along....

 

On a lovely sunny day you can smell this Jasmine wafting

through the backyard.....total love....

 

Also in the last week a friend has clipped the chickies wings for me so I can let them loose in the yard without worrying about them getting over the fence and let me just say they are loving their freedom and seem so much happier now.....they roam all day and go in as soon as it gets dark or if it starts to rain and the love chasing pigeons out of the yard.....so funny to watch....animals are very entertaining if you just sit back and watch them...

 



The girls totally enjoying their freedom....no eggs yet but it

shouldn't be long now...a few more weeks...

 

Sunday morning came with us getting up and going to the meeting which was wonderful...I always feel so at home there and love catching up with my fellow brothers and sisters...there's nothing quite like being somewhere spiritual.....So after the meeting we came home to not as nice weather as Saturday but the girls were outside playing and Chris was inside watching the Dockers win the footy...and while I watched it with him I couldn't help but think I should be doing my blog but I just didn't have the energy....Sundays are a pretty relaxed day for us really....there's always the meeting first then either visiting friends after or for lunch or just chilling out once we get home before the usual week starts up again.....(of course these are the Sundays there's no road trip otherwise it's rush, rush, rush....)

 

Sunday also happened to mark our 16 weeks along in the baby journey and I can't believe we're at this point already...only 2 1/2 weeks and we have our 19 week ultrasound....I'm actually looking forward to finding out if it's a boy or girl, though I'm still sure it'll be a boy and he's getting big..!! I have a feeling he'll take after Luke size wise.....though hopefully not as big as 9lb 6oz....ouch...!!

 



16 weeks and popping out all in front.....

 

I know most people take side photos of their bellies getting bigger but I've decided to stick with the straight down shot until my feet disappear (lets face it it's going to happen lol) then I'll switch to side shots.....as you can see for only 16 weeks my belly is getting a roundness to it and thank goodness for the woman who invented the belly belt because without that none of my pants would fit me any more....

 

Monday was back to school for Eva and off to work for Chris and like all mums I love it when the kids are at school...hehe...I spent the morning doing a little catch up washing from the weekend and just tidying really....there wasn't a great deal to do as I've turned into bit of a cleaning freak lately as I want everything organised and caught up with before the baby comes.....trust me I know I have time but Chris thought I was crazy for buying the bassinet, pram and change table so early on and now we're almost at the halfway point..!!! Who's crazy I ask you....not me that's for sure....you never know when babies are going to make their appearance so better to be prepared in my book....Anyhoo....here I was minding my business when a van pulls up across the road and it turns out it was the delivery guy dropping off our new totaly gym.....

 

I love this machine...

 

Chris and I both have gym memberships but I rarely get there now with both girls home and being so busy and by the time the evening rolls around I don't feel like going out in the cold and I'm usually knackered.....Chris tries to get to the gym most nights but some nights he's too tired too after a 12hr day at work.....we saw this total gym on t.v the other week before Chris headed off to work and thought it would be worth a shot.....I love it because I can do my pilates on it to help strengthen my back as I'm already getting alot of back pain with bub, espescially sciatic nerve pain.....Chris loves it because now he can work out every night without having to leave the house....we both gave it a test run Monday night and we're really happy with how easy it is to use and let me just say if you think it looks to easy on the add and you won't get the same feeling as using weights at the gym, think again...I'm still feeling it in my arms where I never felt it before even from going to the gym....I'm in love and I love the fact that I can use this even though I'm pregnant...woohoo...

 

Now we come to my blah days....I haven't been sleeping the best lately...I go off to sleep ok and then a couple of hours later I'm tossing and turning trying to get comfortable. I usually sleep on my side but on my stomach if that makes sense....and well as you know the bigger you get when pregnant the more uncomfortable it is to sleep on your side and impossible to sleep on your stomach. I've noticed I've been sleeping more on my back, which is something I never usually do and while it's not too uncomfortable I just don't sleep properly like I normally do and I'm finding because of this I'm getting less sleep which is making me just a tad irritible and cranky at times....So any way after a day of the girls constantly whinging and fighting with each other and not listening I sent them off to bed early as I was just so tired...this of course led to one of them calling out and whining and carrying on which I just was not in the mood for and neither was Chris....unfortuantely as all you girls know a side effect of being pregnant can be taking things to heart when we shouldn't....Chris snapped at me, I snapped at him and nobody went to bed happy really....however Chris and I don't hold grudges and we don't argue for long so, yesterday morning rolled around and he apologised for being grumpy at me and I got up with him and saw him off to work but I was still feeling a little flat as yet again I slept like hell and I hate arguing of any sort.....(the thing is too is that your kids fight and cause chaos and disturbance that affects you and your husband, then they go to bed and sleep it off and wake up happy as Larry in the morning like nothing happened while you and husband/wife still feel like crap...go figure but it's one of those things that irritate the life out of me..) Any way yesterday after seeing Chris off to work I got Eva to school, Bec to Bumble Bee and Luke headed off to intework for the day.....Wedensdays are the only day I have completely to myself and I have to admit I love it....I really didn't know what I was going to do but about 10:30 I decided to give myself a manicure as I haven't had one in ages and my hands always feel so good afterwards.....I should do it more often being that I'm a qualified nail tech but c'est la vie as they say....

 

 Even though I do this at home I still set up as if I'm doing a client...

 



 Thumb nail art...love these...simple yet effective...

 

Ring finger nail art...I added a red gem to this just to add a

little colour and a bit of zooshing....

 

Isn't it funny how doing something so simple for yourself can pick you up and make you feel much better...and I would just like to say thanks to all my lovely Instagramming friends for your lovely feedback on my nails and if you all lived closer I'd give you all manicures....xoxox

 

Well that's my week so far...tonight we're preparing for a weekend in Perth which I'll fill you all in on next week....for now I've still got some packing to do so I'm off for now but take care and havea great weekend....and if you want to follow me on instagram I'm home_love_life......catch you soon xox 



 



A Bargain Finding Week And A New Work Station....

Bonjour mon amis and how are we all doing today?? Yes I know I have been absent again for quite some time and seriously it's bugging the life out of me.....so many distractions lately that by the time I get motivated to blog I'm just too pooped.....so bear with me while I get back on track and into a regualr rythm again...thanks...xoxox

Well lets get on with it shall we....today I really just wanted to share with you all some great bargains I've managed to find over the last week. Like you I've been seeing all the adds on t.v and kmart saying they've slashed their prices but until I visited the store last week I didn't realise just how much they've cut their prices, so needless to say I walked away very happy with a trolley full of bargains. The only downside to visiting was they have next to nothing in maternity wear...one stand was all they had...I'm really beginning to wonder where all the pregnant women down here go for maternity clothes...?? I also managed a few good finds at Thingz Living and Best and Less during the last week as well.

Now I don't know about you but I love cushions on my couch and I haven't had any for ages except for my bird one....

Still loving this though it has a new spot in the house now....

And while it's plush and comfy it just looked not quite right being all on it's own on a 2 seater couch....So while I was in kmart last week I took a stroll over to haberdashery and saw some lovely cushions and then these caught my eye....

As you can see we have giant spots one side and stripes on the other...

Ok girls now how much would you expect to pay for these...$15, $10...?? Well I was prepared to pay ten because I just loved them and then when I looked at the price tag what do you know..they were only $2 each!!! yep you heard me...$2 each!!!...........so naturally I grabbed four so I had two for each couch....in fact I couldn't believe it at first as I never find these sorts of bargains but once it sank in I was doing my own little happy dance in kmart.....there were heaps there and I would have liked to get more for friends and family but we don't all have the same taste so I only took what I needed and left the rest for some other chicky to come across.....Now I was also looking for some new bowls as the ones that came with my dinner set are too narrow at the bottom and an absolute pain in the butt to stack in the dish drainer after washing.....so I headed over to crockery and came across these guys....

Love the blue....

The wood tray was also a great find at kmart for $10....maybe brekkie in bed on this after I have bub...lol

These are a great size bowl....

While in kitchenware I was after a new toaster and a thermos for those long weekend drives we love taking...we have a thermos a friend left us with but if it falls over it leaks so time for a more reliable one....

As I love red I couldn't go past this toaster for $20 and the thermos was only $5!!

I also managed to pick up a great desk for only $39 a 6 piece casserole and ramekin set for $12 and a few other bits and pieces at ridiculously low prices...lets just say I'll be back at kmart soon to see what other bargains I can find.

Happy with my purchases I headed home to start sprucing up the house with a cushion here and a bowl there and finding a spot for the toaster....I love finding places for new items when I get them home...I just need to remember that in this house it's still bit of a mission to do so.

So a bit later in the week I ducked into Best and Less to look for table cloths and what do you know I found some marked down to $5 each.....check out the pic above of the dining table as that's one and the other one is the same but with white, neutral, red and blue stripes....love them.....I also happened to visit Thingz Living (I sound like I do nothing but shop but trust me I've thrown my back out today thoroughly cleaning the house) as I was looking for a floor vase to fill a corner as I can't stand bare corners in a house....it really is a pet peeve I have.....anyhoo...I was walking through and there it was, white, rippled, square and just the right size and only $30....now of course I had to find something to put in it so I found some cool twiggy branches.....take a look....

I know my mum will try and pinch this...lol

This fills my dining room corner beautifully but even Chris agrees with me that it just needs a little something extra and when I figure out exactly what that is it'll be added.... 

Now I think the best thing I managed to put together this week was my work station area for the computer as I have been balancing it on my lap for the last three and a half months while using it and resting it on the girls Dora sofa when I'm done with it.....needless to say I've been paranoid it'll get broken but just coudn't find a desk, until I went to kmart last week and it's exactly what I wanted as we have limited space here and it couldn't be anything too big...



 I'm so happy with my little corner of the lounge room...it's just what I needed.....

I just had to get this sign...even though my house is anything

but peaceful I loved it and I can dream it is....also love the ball

candle holders....all from Thingz Living...

As you can see my bird cushion has a new home on this fab chair picked up from Thingz Living....

So as you can see I've had a productive week of setting up this little old house a bit more and keeping local businesses in business...lol....So how about you guys have you found any good bargains of late....are you a bargain hunter like me....do you haggle?? I haggle all the time and Chris always dies of embarassment but as I tell him if you don't ask you don't get.....most of the time the stores will haggle and come down in price so I'll keep doing it.....

I know some of you may be asking where is the French chocolate cake but I honestly just haven't had the time as it's quite involved but as soon as I get round to it I'll let you know...however I did manage to whip up a Lemon Meringue Pie last week and am doing another one this week as we have visitors for dinner Friday night......

I do so love Lemon Meringue....

Well I'm off for now as it has taken me literally all day to do this post as I keep getting interupted and now I need to organise some dinner and get some kidlets off to bed early as I could do with the peace and quiet....So take care, keep bargain hunting and sprucing up your house and if you have any ideas to share or know of great places for bargains let me know....Au revoir for now.....xoxox