18 Months Ago…….

Posted on August 17, 2012 by natalietrew

Exactly 18 months ago a beautiful little chubby baby girl was placed in my arms. She was our miracle, a true angel who literally saved my life! We’ve had many ups and downs with our Mia bear, from silent reflux, a turned eye, glue ear, chronic middle ear infections to croup! But despite all of this, she is growing into a funny, affectionate, playful little lady who we absolutely adore the ground she walks on!

It blows me away how fast time has gone and that my youngest born is already 18 months old! This age can be so trying at times and for our spirited child as we call her, a lot of the time lol, but it’s also a beautiful age. They are still so pure and innocent with really not a care in the world! They laugh at themselves and don’t care what they look like or wear. All they want is your undivided attention and affection and they are as happy as a pig in mud!

Mia has never been a fan of the camera, which is sad really because she is the most adorable thing and has a smile that makes your heart melt! But the photos I do capture of her, really depict the little lady she is becoming!

The Funny Mia:

The Adventurous Mia:

The Serious Mia:

The Cheeky Mia:

The Affectionate Mia:

The Cranky Mia:

The Peaceful Mia:

The Mischievous Mia:

The Drifter Mia:

The Adorable Mia:

These photos really depict a day in the life of our little Miss Mia (aka Mimi). She displays each and every one of these emotions on a daily basis, which makes the day very interesting for us! She really has left her baby days behind her and is in full steam toddler mode. Her talking is so cute and new words are added to her collection of vocab everyday….my favourite “ove you!” She is just one of the kids now and what they do she must do or at least have a go! She really lights up our lives and just like 18 months ago, at the end of the day she still needs to borrow her head on my chest to feel happy, warm, loved and comforted!

Mia Natalie Trew….18 months today!

Quality Time….One at a time!

Posted on August 15, 2012 by natalietrew

It’s been over 6 years since I was pregnant with my first born baby. That pregnancy was my favourite. Not only was it my easiest, but I had the time to relish in everything that comes with being pregnant. I could put my feet up and lie down whenever I wanted to, sit and enjoy the movements of my growing baby, shop in peace for baby items, enjoy time with my husband and sleep as much as I wanted to!!!! Then after my first baby was born it was so lovely spending all my time bonding with my little man. He went everywhere with me and it was just beautiful being able to share this time together and me be there for every waking moment and milestone that he achieved! I would take a billion photos of him everyday and had his first year scrapbooking album completed by the time his first birthday rolled around. First children are the lucky ones really because they not only get a large quantity of time that is purely revolved around them, they certainly get the most quality time spent with them!

Since having my first baby I have gone onto having two more children and nothing is like having your first baby. Now you can’t only dedicate your time and effort into one child, you have to share yourself around. Although one child is easy, it’s nice to have more than one. Giving my first born a sibling/(s) was so important to me as I grew up with two sisters and I couldn’t imagine life without them. Even though once you have more than one child you give up that one on one time with your children, you then get to enjoy watching your children interact and form a sibling relationship. Things change, but I think for the better. I love being a mum of three. It’s certainly fair from a walk in the park, but I love a challenge….apparently lol! One thing I make sure though, is that each of my children get to spend one on one time with my husband or myself. It was our choice to have children and to keep adding to our family, so I believe that every child deserves some individual attention every now and again.

We spend most of our time together as a family of 5, but there are times when we do things with one child at a time depending on the activity. Recently our eldest learnt how to ride his bike without training wheels, so once or twice a week Bailey and I go for a bike ride. We have so much fun and I can focus on just him and his new found love of bike riding. Bailey also plays football and my husband is the assistant coach, so going to training twice a week with dad on his own without his little sisters has been cool for him. In the past I would take him to swimming lessons at 5pm while my husband had the girls at home and when Bailey achieves something special, one of us take him out for ice-cream or to the shops to buy him a little something!

I keep a closer eye on my middle child. I’ve already written a blog about middle child syndrome and that it does exist in our house. We have been blessed with a fairly easy going middle child in Sienna, but being a four year old she can be emotional at times and feels the pinch of having an older brother who is always achieving and a baby sister who is a toddler therefore needs lots of attention! I feel the worst for Sienna. She will miss out on the most quantity of time with me. She has had me to herself for a whole big total of 5 weeks! Bailey got me for 2 and a half years and my baby will have me for 3 years to herself after this year. I feel I have a lot to make up to Sienna. Like with Bailey we take her out and treat her if she achieves something special. Her time with us on her own is when Mia has a day sleep and Bailey is at school. Often we’ll just cuddle on the lounge or read a book together. On the weekend I took her out to dinner and ice-cream as Bailey had spent all day with his best friend and we missed out on going to the Ekka as my husband had to work all day. Not once did that little girl complain and taking her out was so worth the happiness that covered her beautiful little face!

Mia being the youngest and our baby, has lots of moments in time where she gets to have one of us all to herself! Often I’ll take her out with me while Kane has the older two or vice versa. And while she is 18 months now, she was breast fed for 15 months, therefore she had lots of me to herself and those moments were the most precious! Just recently I had a week off work while she was sick and was able to spend two whole days with her while Bay and Sie were at school….we had a ball together and was an insight into how life will be once Sienna starts prep next year!

I love going on family outings all of us together. They are the moments I live for during the week, when you’re not having the best week, you know the weekend will make up for it…spending time as a family. But I also think that it’s vital that each of our children can have our full undivided attention every once in a while. I’d hate to think that one of them or all of them felt like they were never being heard or fussed over. I try my hardest as a mother to make sure when we are altogether that my attention is evenly shared, but there are days when I feel like its not enough, which is why I feel so much more content when I’m able to spend quality time, one at a time with each of my precious babies!

Taking The Good With The Bad!

Posted on August 10, 2012 by natalietrew

I write this blog now as the Olympics are almost coming to a close. I love the Olympics. I’ve watched it religiously since I was a little girl and yes I will admit that I always imagined standing up on the podium receiving a gold medal and singing proudly to our National Anthem lol! Who didn’t….most children who love sport dream this! It is such a massive achievement to make an Olympic team and compete against the world’s best athletes.

But imagine being on an absolute high, training day in and day out for four years, putting your body through grueling sessions to be prepared for your event. You compete, you try your hardest and it doesn’t pay off. You may not have made the final or you did and you didn’t win a medal or you may have won a silver or bronze! But instead of giving our athletes the recognition they deserve for making it to the Olympics, let alone a final or a medal, the media asks stupid questions like you must be disappointed – when you’ve won a medal??? I can only speak of the Australian media, but it has been so disappointing how negative they have been at times during these games! I agree there are times when our athletes or sporting teams cross a line and do inappropriate things, but when they’ve tried their hardest and don’t get the recognition they deserve it makes me so sad for them.

From criticising swimmers about their weight to making our athletes who win silver or bronze feeling bad they didn’t win gold! I have to ask the question why? Why can’t we embrace a world class event for what it is? I would be so grateful and thrilled that I was good enough to make an Olympic team, a medal would be the icing on the cake. So we’ve not had the best Olympics, in fact as a 32 year old women, this is the least amount of golds I remember us winning in all the Olympics I’ve ever witnessed, but instead of getting behind our athletes we are doing the opposite!

We may not have won a heap of gold medals or were pipped at the line several times for a gold, silver or bronze, but we still did well! We managed an Australian athlete in most finals, came a place in so many events and we have won several golds! Even if we came last in a final, in the whole scheme of things we still did well. I’d love to tell people I made the Olympic final in the 400m running…that would mean I was the 8th best 400m runner in the world…now that’s not bad at all!!! But do we celebrate this enough….I don’t think we do! Too much focus is always spent on finding that story of the person who wins, as much as that is wonderful, it’s nice to hear from athletes who have managed a PB and the excitement and joy they get from that!

Seeing the emotion on Sprenger’s face when he won silver for the 100m breaststroke brought a tear to my eye and channel nine hardly made any fuss over it! Our mens 400m relay team sadly missed the final and instead of giving words of encouragement, a commentator was asking one of our runners are you ready for the criticism you are going to get now you haven’t performed your best? What the? It’s bad enough some of our athletes put so much pressure on themselves, the media doesn’t need to add salt to their wounds!

As a proud Aussie I’d like to stand up and say well done to our Australian Olympic team! You did us proud and we know you will learn from these Olympics and come back stronger than ever in four years time! We can’t be world beaters all the time in our pet events, and we certainly weren’t far off it anyway! But like anything you have to take the good with the bad and as a nation we need to support and congratulate our athletes for representing our country with great pride and dignity…..well most of them anyway:)!!

Aussie Aussie Aussie!!!!!!

Polish Queen:)

Posted on August 7, 2012 by natalietrew

I miss seeing my toes in winter! Like I’ve stated several times, I love winter fashion and am obsessed with ballet flats, but one thing I miss while wearing enclosed shoes is sporting my polished toes because I am the toe nail polish queen! I don’t know about you, but I can’t live without having my toe nails painted! It may sound silly, but I almost feel naked or my outfit seems incomplete without them done. I’m exactly the same with lipgloss and mascara and deodorant for that matter lol! Now that spring is around the corner, it’s time to stock up on nail polish for the upcoming seasons of thongs and sandles. And what better way to start with all the sales that are around!

I bought a beautiful shade on the weekend at Cotton On for $3!!!!! Recently I have also purchased quite a few lovely shades at Woolies for the same price! I wear mostly pink and red tones and I love my new favourite colour coral. I mostly paint just my toes, but occasionally I’ll paint my finger nails. The problem I have with my finger nails is that it chips too easily and once it chips I can’t stand it! At least with your toes if it chips it’s further away to the eye so less noticeable! I’ve purchased a few pairs of open toe ballet flats recently, which is a nice balance to wear a reasonably enclosed shoe but still able to show off painted toe nails and will be great for spring!

I’m also loving that my eldest daughter has taken to loving having her toes polished as well:) I have to disclose that my son loved it when he was little lol and I have to say no now otherwise he would still want them done lol! Painting your nails and having girly time is a lovely bonding session to spend with your daughter, I can’t wait for when my girls are older so we can go and have manicures and pedicures together!

Sleep is for Wimps!

Posted on August 5, 2012 by natalietrew

Sleep….what’s that? Or should I say what’s a full night uninterrupted sleep feel like? Pre-children I loved my sleep. I needed my sleep to survive each day and without it I would slowly turn into a crazy lady by the end of the day. I was one of the lucky ones while I was pregnant I slept and slept and slept. Then I was blessed with my first baby as he only woke for one feed a night and slept through at 8 weeks old! Even with all of his ear infections he would only wake up every now and again! He is still our best sleeper to this day! Then our first daughter came along!!!!!

I was expecting her to sleep like her brother but for the first couple of weeks was having two night feeds….what’s up with that?? I thought Lol. She settled nicely into one night feed before long and at 6 weeks old slept through! I was feeling so blessed. That was short lived though. By three months old and still waking every night I started to get a little frustrated – why can’t every baby sleep through at 8 weeks old?? Anyway she finally slept through at 5 months old which is when she started sucking her thumb!

I was feeling fantastic again. It’s amazing how getting great night sleeps contribute to a huge part of your life in terms of happiness, self-esteem, energy and patience!!! We were blessed for two months and then our sleeping life took a turn for the worst! From 7 months old until around 3 years old, Sienna slept terribly! Between her bad ears and allergies it took its toll on her sleep at night which meant there were many a day where I felt like I was surviving on nothing! Those days were tough. Everyone use to say sleep when they are sleeping…it was a bit hard when I was working a couple of days a week and running around after a toddler and baby, plus making sure our house chores were done! But somehow I managed. I had to, I didn’t have any other choice!

By the time Sienna finally settled Mia was a few months old (who was our worst sleeping newborn baby, day and night) and we just went from one awake child to another! And of course the more children you have the greater the chance someone will wake up! It’s only happened a handful of times, but when all three wake up, you get to the point where you think why am I even bothering to sleep! Mia finally slept through at about 11 months old and by this stage I worked out I’d had about almost 4 years of broken sleep! But in all of this, we do expect as parents that for a number of years our ‘good’ sleep will be stolen from us. And you do get use to it! You have days where you cope and days where the exhaustion gets the better of you, but I keep telling myself, it won’t be like this forever!

Like anything it’s all about mind over matter. I only get about 3-4 good night sleeps a month at the moment and when I do I embrace those moments and relish in every bit of energy I get out of that. I make sure I go to bed at a reasonable hour at night and I very rarely sleep in the day, but I do make sure I sit down for a half hour to an hour while Mia is having a day sleep. When I’ve had a bad night now, I try and think happy thoughts or thoughts that I have had a good night, otherwise if you dwell on how much sleep you didn’t get, you make yourself feel worse! Exercising has definitely helped me overcome that real exhaustion and gives me the energy I need to survive on at 5pm when you feel like you could collapse! But the biggest thing I say to myself now is “sleep is for wimps!” lol. The more you talk to yourself in your head, the better you will feel….as long as it’s positive talk:)!

A peaceful sleeping baby or child is like gold for a parent:)

Knowing When You’re Complete!

Posted on August 2, 2012 by natalietrew

I love this time of my life! In the past 10 years I’ve married my true love, bought a house that we’ve turned into a home and produced three of the most adorable babies we could have ever wished for! All while going through many ups and downs which is called LIFE! We’ve come to the crossroads of the reproductive part of our life when a decision needs to be made….are we complete yet?

For some people that question is very easy to answer, most people know while they are pregnant with a baby that it will be their last, but for me I always knew letting go of having any more babies wouldn’t be an easy decision. I feel like this has come upon me so quickly! It only feels like yesterday I was trying on my wedding dress and wearing it like a princess, now it’s three kids later and only feels like I’ve blinked my eyes shut for a second. For years I dreamt of the day I’d become a mum for the first time and I’ve absolutely loved every waking moment (maybe not every lol) and a part of me wishes this part of my life would just stand still for a little while. Call me crazy but I could cry at the thought of never carrying another baby inside, feeling it kick for the first time, watching my belly grow, giving birth and experiencing the moments after that, breastfeeding, being the only one who can provide a source of food, snuggling and bonding with a newborn….yep definitely brings tears to my eyes!

But then I look at the three little blessings we have and take in consideration my heart condition and I know that it is time to say we are complete! Ideally if I didn’t have a heart condition I’d love to have just one more, but like my husband says I say that every time lol! Four would be a nice even number. With Sienna at school next year and Mia home for another three years, it would be nice to have two older ones and two little ones, but that isn’t going to be the case for us. Most days I’m completely at peace with this decision, but a teeny tiny part of me will always wish we had of. I knew from the minute my first born was placed in my arms that being a mum was the job I was meant to do and from that moment I have embraced each day and captured all the wonderful moments that I’ve been able to cherish while staying at home with each of them!

What has helped make this decision and allowed me to be at peace with it?
Well Mia for starters lol! I love this little bear more than life itself, but man she is full on lol! I often say if she was my first I probably would have only had one lol! But I seriously look at things realistically. Our house is just big enough for the five of us so another child would mean a bigger house and car for that matter and along with that comes an added expense! Two out of three of our children will be in school next year and before long they all will be. It’s nice to go out now and watch the three of our children have fun together. Mia still has a day sleep but we manage around that and she is getting to an age where she copes with whatever we do! And the most obvious reason is my heart. Mia was a blessing for us, so I’m very much at peace with the three angels I have and being healthy for them.

So with all of this said my mind is now adjusting to moving forward. We have so much to look forward to and as the kids grow older and start playing sport and being involved in extra curricular activities at school, we will be busier than ever! Before Mia was born, I always saw a third child sitting next to Bailey and Sienna. Now when I see my three cherubs sitting together I see a complete picture and that my friends is why I know my family is complete!

Sales Galore!!!!

Posted on July 31, 2012 by natalietrew

A common sign that is hanging in shop windows at the moment boldly exclaims – sales, sales, sales!!!! I love end of season sales, it always makes me wonder why I even bother purchasing stuff at the beginning of a season! If only we had enough will power to wait until now we’d have so much more money to spend!

The fashion this winter has been awesome! From tights, to coloured skinny jeans, to long flowing cardigans. Yet there has still been the oldie but goodie stuff around like boots, ballet flats, jackets and jeans! I’m so looking forward to the warmer weather, but I will miss wearing my winter attire!

You think by now we should have reached our limit of needing anymore winter clothes, but I don’t know about anyone else, no matter what time of year if I find something I love and is a bargain price I’ll gladly buy it! I’ve spent my whole winter trying to find a nice quality hoodie, but I’m still searching and am about to retire until next winter! On the weekend I was told to check out Cotton On, so after work yesterday I stopped in at Browns Plains Plaza….I came out with everything but a hoodie – oops!

I couldn’t help myself but the bargains were calling my name! I only had a small amount of time and had to get some groceries, but I still managed to purchase two pairs of shoes, a jacket, cardi and two tops for a total of $60!!! Most of the stuff I bought were originally priced at $40 and came down to as low as $5!!!!

My jacket was $40 reduced to $15 at Big W…it came in navy blue as well, I think I’ll go back and get that one too:)

I did go into Cotton On but didn’t purchase a hoodie….I do love these three items though:) $15 cardi and the two tops were $5 each!

My shoes were the best bargain….$10 each from Famous Footwear!!!

Imagine if it wasn’t a work day and I had more time to shop….omg!!! It’s clear to me that these days, there is no reason why anyone can’t dress respectably or make sure their children have shoes on their feet. I bought Sienna a beautiful coral pair of high top shoes at Big W last week for $3 and a red and white spotted pair for $3 as well! There are sales galore at the moment and there is nothing better than walking out of a shop with a bargain in your shopping bag!!!!

Our Sleeping Baby Is Looking Down on Us!

Posted on July 29, 2012 by natalietrew

Miscarriage. It’s a word that you hear so often these days. The statistics are quite high really with 1 in 8 women miscarrying and as small as 1 in four as a lot of miscarriages happen in the first two weeks of conception so aren’t actually recorded down, as women wouldn’t always realise they were pregnant. It makes you wonder why? What are we doing to our bodies? Is there something in our food? Is it contraception methods we used before wanting to fall pregnant? Lifestyle? My reason for writing this blog is to give women hope. My first pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. Up until then I had hardly heard of anyone having a miscarriage. But once I started to tell people, suddenly so many women started sharing their stories with me and I went from feeling so alone to feeling like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Once I knew there were others around me who had experienced the same emotions of this particular loss, it actually helped with my healing process.

This is my story………
It’s been over 7 years now since I miscarried. We’d been married for almost 6 months. I couldn’t wait to start trying for a family of our own. If I had it my way I would have started on our wedding night, but we decided to wait for a few months and enjoy just being a married couple. A few months later, it was the start of a new year and we were on holidays so we figured there was no time like the present. I was hoping to be like the line of women in my family, who were instant breeding machines, but no such luck! Three months later though we were thrilled when the ‘YOU ARE PREGNANT’ line showed up on the stick! You cold not wipe the smile off both our faces, we were over the moon and couldn’t help but share our excitement with our family and close friends. Then the smile was wiped off my face when I was struck down with terrible morning sickness from the start! But I still smiled because I was going to be a mum!!!

Even though at this stage your baby is the size of a grain of rice, it is still a life and a life that you somehow bond with straightaway. From the minute you are given the confirmation of your pregnancy, you instantly start to plan in your head and you can’t help but love this life that you and your partner have created! I was just over 6 weeks when I started spotting. I remember it so clearly as I was at work and it was my birthday!!! I kept telling myself that everything was going to be ok. I went to my GP who ordered a scan and told me to go home and rest. I felt so helpless and completely useless for not being able to have any control over what was happening. I had a scan which showed nothing more than the fact that there was an embryo in my uterus with a heartbeat. This left me feeling very hopeful that everything would be ok. My GP was quite hopeful too and wanted me to have a week of bed rest and feet up, but he also told me that if anything was to happen at this stage of a pregnancy there is nothing they can do.

During the week I spent in bed I kept spotting on and off but nothing too serious. I kept telling my little baby rice grain to hang in there. It wasn’t until the sixth day in bed I work up feeling really positive that everything was going to be ok….this was obviously the calm before the storm. Mum had come over to check up on me and I felt like I was feeling better. I was sitting out the back on our garden bed in the sun and then things begun. I started getting period like cramps and I knew something wasn’t right. Within about half an hour or so from that first cramp, I passed a large blood clot and that signaled to me that my little baby rice grain couldn’t hold on anymore – I was 7 and a half weeks pregnant:( I went to the emergency department at the Mater Hospital who took great care of me. My blood test results confirmed that I had miscarried and I was booked in for a D and C (curette) the next morning! The whole thing happened so quickly and all I remember is I was left feeling guttered! It’s the worst feeling when something you want so desperately is given to you and then taken away from you without anyone having any control over it!

Arriving home from hospital was hard as it meant life had to begin again. It was the beginning of the healing process and the beginning of picking yourself up and moving on. I was so lucky as Kane was extremely sensitive and supportive of what I was going through and my family and friends were a huge help with all of their beautiful words of prayers and best wishes. Facing people for the first time was hard. Going back to work was the hardest. And of course everywhere I looked someone was pregnant or announcing they were pregnant. I was so happy for them but so sad for us! I felt so alone and even though my husband was experiencing a loss to, we physically go through something they’ll never know. But one thing that helped with my healing process, was talking to other women who had experienced a miscarriage as well. My beautiful mother was my rock as she had had a miscarriage at 16 weeks which was far more devastating then what I was going through. Mum had to give birth to her baby and had already felt it kick and was showing before she lost her baby. This allowed me to be thankful that I didn’t reach this point and that no matter how much pain and sadness I was going through, there is always someone else out there worse off than I!

A month passed and my cycle went straight back to normal. One good thing that came out of all of this was that I knew I was able to fall pregnant and this is what kept me positive. 6 weeks after I’d miscarried we were given our little miracle and today he is 6 years old….Bailey Kane Trew:) I often look at Bay and think if we didn’t have a miscarriage our only baby boy wouldn’t have been born. Since Bailey we went on to have two healthy baby girls, Sienna and Mia who are 4 and 18 months old. Of course with each pregnancy I always had an uneasy feeling that I would miscarry again, but I tried to not let that spoil the joy and excitement of what we were going through. I often wonder what our first little baby was and what it would have been like but now I have this vision that our baby that is sleeping is always looking down on us!

There is hope at the end of a miscarriage and I as well as so many women around the world are living proof of that. It makes me sad when I hear that someone has had a miscarriage, as it always brings me back to the day I was left feeling guttered and helpless. But with great support, determination and a positive attitude, the family you have always longed for will be created. The day I miscarried I remember thinking if I only have one baby I would be so grateful and grateful I am as I’ve been blessed with three of the most precious angels, which have helped us create our Party of 5!

“Somebody please talk to me!”

Posted on July 27, 2012 by natalietrew

When we first enter the unfamiliar world of parenting so many people are quick to give us advice on feeding, changing, sleeping, dummies, bottles and the like, but where is the advice on simple things and extremely important things like how important it is to speak to our children! I’ve been teaching just over a decade now and one common deficiency I’m seeing more and more is the number of children who are coming to prep with a lack of oral language skills!

Whether it be their lack of ability to ask a question, respond to a question, follow an instruction, speak in simple sentences or being able to be understood, are all problems little people are facing when entering the school system. From the second our babies are born into this world, their little ears are responding to noise and the most precious gift a mother can give to her baby is her voice!
I think the problem is we forget to talk to our babies until they start responding first with a noise or a word, but a babies first response without noise is eye contact and listening to what is being said to them! We know ourselves if we are unable to use our voice we use eye contact as a way to communicate and we attain information by listening and that is what a baby does.

I can’t help myself, from the time my babies take their first breath I’m in their face talking to them. Between a nappy change, feeding, bathing, burping and playing, these are all perfect opportunities to bond with our babies and expose them to language. I’ve always taken these opportunities to sing a nursery rhyme, tell them about the wonderful things of the world or simply explain what I’m doing – “mummy is going to change your nappy”, “it’s bedtime now” right from birth my babies have heard cues like this. Our babies are like sponges and they are learning from a newborn. It’s amazing as they get older you see the benefit of talking to your baby. My youngest is almost 18 months and her language is evolving everyday! Not only is she communicating clearly through a variety of words, her receptive language (understanding what we say) is fantastic! Last year when my son was in prep, one thing his teacher always complimented him on was his oral language and my daughter’s preschool teacher just recently said how well she holds a conversation.

It makes me think that so many wonderful mothers, who if educated properly on this subject, would take it on board more. It’s common knowledge that reading to our babies as early as in utero is so important for our children, but very rarely do you read a lot of information about just generally talking to our babies. We are already a part of a world where speaking is becoming less and less due to an abundance of technology compared to even 10 years ago! It’s so easy to forget to do something so simple especially when life is so busy all the time, but if we made a habit of it and integrated talking to our children into our day to day chores and routines, it wouldn’t seem like work then.

It makes me sad to think that there are so many babies being born who spend their first five years with very little exposure to a wide variety of language and that all they needed from day one was someone to consistently engage with them. Our babies need to learn how to communicate orally as god knows by the time they are 10 and discover all the ins and outs of technology, talking becomes less and less. I always wondered when my babies were little babies and would look up at me, what they were thinking….I’m sure they were saying in their head “somebody please talk to me!” and that is what I’ve always done!

Mia only days old listening to me…….she doesn’t seem very interested in what I’m saying, but she will thank me one day for all the stories and bits of information I’ve told her:)

My Cake Album!

Posted on July 25, 2012 by natalietrew

I look at some of the things I do now and think how much I’ve changed! I guess it’s more that I’ve evolved over time rather than changed. I’ve always been able to cook and bake but have never had a passion for it. It was one of those things I did every now and again or I’d be right into it for a while and then I’d get bored! Then I became a mum and I had more of a reason to bake….especially birthday cakes!

I’ve always baked and decorated my kid’s birthday cakes from when my first born turned 1. I look back at the first few years and think OMG I really have evolved lol! Then I had a little girl and I think it was the fact I was able to play around with lots of pink and pretty things that I started going out of my comfort zone and creating something really special for my little ones:) At first I stuck to just cupcakes but by the time my daughter turned two I wanted to prove to myself I was more than just about cupcakes!

Since then I’ve made cakes from a designed cake tin, numbers, a horse track, two and three tier cakes and have done many themes! Originally I only created my cakes for my children, but now when there is a special event in the family I’m the cake lady they come too:) I even did my daughter’s christening cake last year (it only took to the third child to finally have a go)!

Here is a preview of the cakes I’ve baked and created over the past couple of years:

Before I do a cake I start with the theme of choice and then work from there with colours and decorations. I believe it’s not just about the cake. I use my large chopping board as my cake board and decorate that as much as the cake. I use my love of scrapbooking to help create the touches on the board which I think go nicely with the cake! At first I concentrated more on the decorating side of things and only used packet mixes, but as of late I’ve been experimenting with different cake recipes and baking from scratch!

I love doing my cakes and I know I have many more ahead of me. With each cake brings about a new experience. I have two special ones to do in the next couple of months, my nana’s 80th and my mum’s 60. These are sure to be special as they are for two very special women in my life. Keep an eye out in the future for any updates of future cakes that I create:)!

Mum’s 60th cake:)

Nana’s 80th cake:)

Sister inlaw’s 18th Star Wars themed cupcakes!

Halloween masterpiece;)

My very first Christmas Cake!

Christmas Cupcakes!

Mia’s 2nd birthday cake!

Bay’s 7th birthday Xbox cake:)

30th Broncos cake:)

Easter Masterpiece….choc chip cupcakes with buttercream icing and mini choc eggs and glitter dust to decorate!

Dad’s lolly cake:)

I even made my own birthday cake and cupcakes this year:)

It’s been two months since I baked or decorated a cake or cupcake. We’ve been through some very tough and sad times of late with the passing of my nana and other family tragedies. But this week we’ve spent celebrating my daughter’s 5th birthday!!! Over the past couple of weeks I’ve done a batch of cupcakes for Sienna and her class, a cupcake masterpiece for her birthday party and my very first rainbow cake! All were loved by my daughter and it was great to get back into doing something that I love!
Here are the finished products…

My Party of 5

Author Archives: natalietrew

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My Cake Album!

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