one year old

on tuesday my family and i celebrated frankie girl's first birthday. there was no party, just my two girls and i {and my nan on skype} and a big cake for morning tea. i'm that womens weekly cake book mum. i don't cook much, but when i became a mum, something inside of me urged for a special home made cake to come out for birthday's. did you get novelty cakes as a kid? i did, i distinctly remember having the piano and the dressing table, clearly my favourites, but i'm sure i had others. great memories. and i would love for my kids to have the same sort of memories.

i firstly spotted the pink ombre layer cake on pinterest and i then saw on my instagram feed that jody from lemon rhodes had made one for her little one's 2nd birthday. jody posted her recipe on her blog, so i figured i would give it a try too. why not hey. you can find jody's blog and recipe here {thanks jody}. as always, my cake has a story - almost blew up my mix station and didn't have a supermarket open for supplies due to our public holiday - so i improvised with the icing, mine is just a vienna butter icing, still looks the part, although the raspberry flavoured icing would've been amazing.

it's a big milestone turning one. especially for the parents. what a year frankie's first year has been. she has such character already, summer calls her "the cheekiest baby ever", and that she certainly is. she waves bye bye now, she points her finger at you and puts her head down while doing it {erm... not sure where she gets that from}, she's loud, she's VERY loud, and she's mastered the cool head nod "dancing" when any slight beat hits her ears. this is my favourite of the moment, especially when we're in the car and i have my old skool house music playing. too damn cute.

i'm looking forward to the 12-24 month stage, i think this age is the best!



stepping out

i remember when i was pregnant with my second child, loads of mum's told me that it's much easier second time round. mmm... that hasn't been the case for me. so not the case. the last 12 months has been a long road, adjusting to the multi tasking of two beautiful children and a household, myself and a small business. i am one super organised person, and it has even caught me off guard and disorganised. it takes me approximately 2-3 weeks now to respond to a text. and only today, almost 12 months after my second baby came along, do i feel like i've caught up on the washing. the washing. one small child has thrown the washing regime waaaaaaaaay off track. but today i've caught up. i'm not even going to go there with the gardens (ha-hum, weeds)...!

my bestie goes out for a coffee every day. sometimes twice. truth be told, sometimes she even goes three times, depending on her day! it might only be a takeaway, or she may sit in. but this is her thing, the thing she likes to do for her. and sure, she no longer has a baby in her arms, her babies are walking and talking, more independant. and right now, for maybe quite possibly the first time yet, i miss my own independance. i miss me, i miss real coffee, i miss "having the time".

so i decided that one day a week i would go exploring this beautiful city i live in. get myself out of the house for an hour, away from the nursery and the routine, away from the chores and abc 4 kids, and into the fresh air. to go and find a place i have yet to visit. somewhere new, somewhere different, somewhere hidden. somewhere that might brew coffee, so i can skip my usual nescafe that day, and sit with my little people, sipping on awesome espresso, people watching and exploring. meeting and greeting.

so i started doing this a few weeks ago and thought i would blog about the places i have visited, and share my finds with you. i've got three to catch up on, stayed tuned...