Month of Firsts and Steps

September was also Steptember where Matt, friends Dan & Cate Innis, and I all joined the Cerebral Palsy Alliance challenge to get 10,000 steps a day for the month. Although the purpose was to raise funds for cerebral palsy, we mostly did it for an extra push to get out and move more. I'm happy to say it worked! I got around 230,000 steps for the month and would have done better, but I was very sick and weak the last week. Now I know what kind of things I can add to my routine to do it, I don't feel like it is such a hard task.

Firsts For The Month:

Sakura had her first steps!!

She has been easily cruising around with a stroller or while holding fingers, but Matt and I did the classic sitting across the room to encourage her and she did splendidly! Now she has quite a bit more confidence to walk around, but still seems to prefer to hold to one hand.

First sleep through the night

I'm not going to count on this being a regular thing because it started when we were both sick and neither of us are 100% yet. Nevertheless, I have enjoyed a solid 7-9 hours of straight sleep the last 5 nights. Sometimes she will go to bed as early as 7pm and sleep till 6am!

First time trying cloth nappies

Matt saw a lady on Shark Tank advertising cloth nappies and wanted some. She stated that you could save around $5000 by switching to cloth. So, I told Matt we'd try them and see how it goes. I bought one new one and the rest are a nappy hire kit so I could try all kinds of brands and styles. The verdict: I hate cloth nappies. The first poo nappy was awful. The instructions say to plop the poo in the toilet - well my breastfed baby has sticky gooey poo with chunks (sorry for the visual). So Matt decided to stick the liner in the toilet and flush it multiple times. Most of it came off. I washed it as per instructions but as you can see it still stained it. I soaked it in Vanish - no effect, spot treated it with Vanish - lots better but still stained, left it to dry out in the sun for days - no change. It is better than the pic above, but geez this is a hassle. The hire nappies request you not to use Vanish or tough detergents so that makes it even harder. Some don't have removable liners so even rinsing off the poo initially is a pain. Most I find a little tricky to put on and size correctly, and a few have leaked despite having an extra liner. I also learned that with heavy use they may only last one child as well. So for $500 you may have all you need for cloth nappies, but the extra washing, rinsing, scrubbing, hanging out to dry, and complete inconvenience does not feel like anything is being saved. As my child screamed because she wanted to get her fingers in the toilet while I tried to rinse a whole nappy with attached liners in the toilet, I decided there was no way this was worth it to me.

First sticky date pudding 

I think I used to avoid dates because they sounded gross, but I've used them in lots of recipes by now. At a relief society conference they made a gluten and dairy free sticky date pudding with toffee sauce. I got the recipe and later made my own. It is VERY yummy! Unfortunately this is not one of the healthiest desserts though. (The recipe above I modified to make it more paleo friendly).

My first circle quilted blanket

My first circle quilt!

I made two blankets this last month. I made a circle quilted blanket that I am so proud of! It is just what I needed for a larger playmat type of blanket. I also finished the blanket that my sister sent me material from the U.S. for (yellow elephant and zebras). Sakura has already shown she likes it and, as it is a bit larger than traditional baby blankets, I hope she will enjoy it for a long time.

First strawberry panic

After I had cut about half of them..

It is strawberry season and one farm had eight cases where people found needles in their packaged strawberries from the store. This created a panic and so many strawberry farms have been hurting from the loss in sales. I found out from a friend that a farm was selling a tray of strawberries for $10. After getting a tray (5kg worth) of strawberries, Matt and I decided we might as well get another tray since we had space for it. In support of Aussie farmers we ended up with 10kg of delicious strawberries. We froze the majority, but it was hard to refrain from eating every juicy one you cut. It's hard to believe not too long ago I didn't like raw strawberries!

First week back for Pathway Connect 

English 106 has officially started! I was dreading going back to class after a two week break, but the first day back changed my mood. This is definitely going to be a fun semester with some awesome new people to join our group. Our first writing assignment was a love letter to an object. Topic choices varied from holiday homes, juice, junk food, and for me, my sewing machine. Only good things to come.

Local Events

Hand-made Markets

Teddy Bear Picnic at Pine Rivers Park

Cate and Finnley Innis on their way to try the pirate ship!

Under 5's By The Sea at Deception Bay

Ariel was one of the singers/performers present

Lawnton Kindy Carnival

We watched Zootopia

Other Events This Month:

We watched some good movies this month included Next Gen on Netflix, Ready Player One, Bigfoot Junior. I also watched some romantic movies while sick including the classic Pride & Prejudice (BBC version), and some Netflix Originals titled To All The Boys I've Loved Before, and Sierra Burgess is a Loser. For Sunday appropriate movies we watched The Cokeville Miracle (we cried), 17 Miracles, Return with Honor, and The Ultimate Gift. Thank you Living Scriptures for the movies!

Sewing for the youth

The youth were making foldable chairs for camp and needed help sewing. We had our own production line going from people pinning fabric, sewing, and building frames. My favourite was just chatting away with the ladies that were sewing with me. I guess I have a funny way of having a good time.

Playgroup with friends and bubs. 

7th Anniversary

We had plans to have a fancy dinner at the Summit restaurant which overlooks Brisbane. Despite my best efforts we couldn't find a babysitter. We went to Grill'd for dinner and because Sakura was more keen on climbing the table than letting me eat, Matt took her on a walk while I sat alone to finish eating. No pictures to commemorate the event. Maybe we should just go back to forgetting our anniversary?

We are moving!

Our lease ends 14 November and we will be moving. Matt would like to live farther south near Chermside where it is more central to a lot of his job sites. The necessity though is having space for both cars and Matt's painting gear, outdoor space for Sakura, and room to grow. We are hoping we won't have to move again until we buy a house so there is a lot of pressure on this one. What makes it tricky is that we leave for the U.S. at the end of this month and return five days before our lease ends. This does not leave much time to find a place, but worst case scenario there are a few good properties that meet our criteria except for being in the area Matt wants. We pray on a regular basis we will find the right place to rent next. I don't want to leave our ward, but I understand Matt's desire for an easier commute so we shall see what we end up with.