Jikana Damaru: 03/30/11

a sweet harvest

We've been staying with my parents for a few days. It's lovely to be home again. Getting stuck into Mum's home cooking and enjoying the local produce here. Dad is a bit proud of his tomato crop and helping him pick them has been fun. It's a beautiful time to visit Orange - warm days, cool nights and Autumn leaves falling everywhere. Happy days!

Sofia's Bubblgum and Soda Birthday Party

We had a wonderful day celebrating Sofia's 5th Birthday last weekend and I am so excited to show you the pictures from the day.

Our theme was a Bubblegum and Soda Disco Party with the colours for the party being Yellow, Pink and Blue.

First of all a party invite was designed and I really wanted it to include an old fashioned gum ball machine. My original inspiration for the colour theme came from the lovely colours of the bon bon lollies which I wanted to include on the dessert table - not only are the colours beautiful but they taste delicious as well.

And here is the dessert table ...

I cannot tell you how excited I was when Jacki from Blissfully Sweet Cakes arrived with the Gumball machine cake - yes that is a cake and it matched the invite perfectly.

Truly amazing is how I describe Jacki's cakes - this one was a lemon poppyseed cake and it was delicious!

Amazing Cookies in the shape of Soda bottles and gumballs by Jacki from Blissfully Sweet Cakes

Pink Cookie Pops

Marshmallow pops and Fairy Floss

Caramel Popcorn in cones

Little personalised bottles of drink for each of the guests

Ice cream and cake served in the perfect little containers with "Sofia" spoons

For instructions on how to make this see my blog post here and to order your very own stamp go here

Honeycomb balls and giant balloons

Party Favours for each of the guests - what else but a mini gumball machine.

The birthday girl - Sofia

What is a disco party without a disco ball!

We are also very excited that Amy Atlas has featured Sofia's party on her blog today! Thanks Amy for your kind words.

Here are the wonderful suppliers of all the gorgeous goodies I used

Cakes and cookies - Blissfully Sweet Cakes

Balloons, Honeycomb balls, ice cream cups - Love to Celebrate

Printables - Sweet Style

Party Favours - Pink Frosting
Sofia Stamp - instructions here or go here to order your very own

We had the most wonderful day celebration Sofia's birthday - her friends were just delightful and made the day super special.

Images: [Sweet Style by Mrs A In The Cove]

15 Week Bumpdate

How Far Along: 15 weeks, 2 days

Baby: Is the size of an ORANGE

Total Weight Gained: I had an OB appt today- according to them I am -3.

Sleep: I'm up anywhere between 2 to 4 times a night to pee, and having a lot of crazy dreams, but still getting good sleep.

Maternity Clothes: I bought some! I bought a pair of jeans, capri's, and leggings. Although my bump is still pretty little they are SO much more comfortable around the abdomen. I was getting tired of tying a hair tie around the buttons of my pants, and having them press against me.

Best Moment of the Week: Cleaning out our guest room! It's all ready to paint now!!

Food Cravings/Aversions: Love fruits (apples, plums, & oranges are my fav's). Also loving noodles. Still disliking full slabs of meat.

Symptoms: I think I have almost all of energy back now! Still getting sick every few mornings :/ Days are pretty good though and my nights have gotten so much better, thanks to Pepcid!! I'm able to eat most of my dinner now, enjoy it, and not feel miserable after! A big relief.

Movement: I felt flutters!! I was laying in bed one morning, just thinking. And then all the sudden I thought.. wait.. what was that? 20 seconds later it happened again and I just knew it was my little bean kicking! It felt like tiny popcorns popping :) I felt it three times. And then last night (after a tiny bowl of chocolate chip cookies & vanilla bean ice cream) I was sitting on the couch and felt flutters again. I'm seriously in shock that I can feel my baby already!!

Gender: We find out on APRIL 28th at 19 1/2 weeks.

What I miss: Cold cuts. Cold cuts. Cold cuts.

What I'm looking forward to: Hitting 16 weeks/4 months!

Weekly Wisdom: Pepcid works very well. And chewing gum also helps!

Milestones: The bump is getting firmer by the day and the uterus has moved up quite a bit! Baby can now sense light (and shy away from it) and can wiggle his/her fingers and toes :)

Here's what we look like at 15 weeks, according to BabyCenter :)

Acorn & Will

I have loved Acorn & Will since I met the lovely Daniella at Vintage at Goodwood. I was delighted to see her at The Country Living Spring Fair as she sells the cutest vintage treasures that are both fun and affordable.

The stand was a joy to look at, from the shabby chic curio cabinet filled with cute vintage bunnies and colourful ducks to the array of decorative white shelves weighed down with candy filled jars and the prettiest vintage crockery. There were smatterings of Easter treasures, like the honeycomb bunnies, cheeky sheep and pastel yellow wind-up chickens. Check out her lovely site for lots of great gift ideas and Easter Goodies.

Have a sweet day!

In the Moment - Pure Fresh Simple

Last week I posted about being in the moment so I thought it would be a great reminder for me to do a post each week about being in the moment - something that I find in my day to day life that reminds me to be just that. My love of photography certainly reminds me of this as it helps me to stop and take things in - I have learnt to have my camera handy at all times and snap away at things I love, things that inspire.

Combined with my photography I love flowers and this week I purchased these gorgeous daliah's - they certainly remind me to stop and smell the roses ... be in the moment ... I hope you find time this week to be in the moment.

And on and on and on she goes

Silence is one of the greatest arts of conversation - Cicero

Yep, still talking.

I’m a babbler, a prattler, a discloser, a jabberer. I can’t stop talking. On and on and on I go.

I must drive people nuts with my incessant chatter. What am I, five?

It occurs to me regularly that I should just STFU, but I can’t hear myself over all my talking. Sometimes I am so embarrassed that I talk even more. It’s a nervous reaction.

I just love the sound of my own voice. And I think I’m funny too. It’s a headache-inducing combination.

Blah, blah, blah, blah.

Blah.

Do you suffer from a hearing inability due to your talking ability? Do you sometimes wish you were quieter, more introverted, The Mysterious Type? Any tips on making myself shut it?

[Image via Abuzeedo]