Miss 6:)

Posted on September 18, 2014 by natalietrew

Miss 6!

It’s been so long since I wrote a blog. I’ve been like an animal that hibernates in the winter months and now that it’s spring I’m coming back out into the wilderness to play! I wish I was just hibernating instead this school term has been the busiest one ever!!! As it’s drawing to an end, I was determined to post a blog before the real fun of school holidays begins!

This term has had many ups and downs, but the super star of the term is my Miss 6:)

6 years ago when I birthed a beautiful thriving 10p2 baby girl I knew she was going to be something special. As I pulled her from me and placed her on my chest, she looked up at me and with not even a whimper, her big deep blue eyes radiated a sense of peace and harmony at me. Sienna Lynette aka ‘Sie Sie’ has been just that since the day she was born.

Being the middle child, Sie Sie puts up with the authority of her older brother and the cuteness of her baby sister – I can’t imagine it would be the easiest of gigs. But she does it well. She is everything in a daughter I would hope for…kind, loving, thoughtful, brave, outgoing, funny, tough and feisty…this girl doesn’t suffer fools at all.

She hates wearing dresses and would prefer to wear shorts over skirts. She loves her high-tops and wears a hat most days. But has the most beautiful thick long hair which she refuses to cut off and in the right mood you can have a good fashion conversation with her lol! She is my sporty spice who has such a competitive aggression that I hope one day will be put to great use lol! (She reminds me of the coach’s daughter in Remember the Titans lol)

My baby girl is a Miss 6-year-old now and since turning 5 plus 1, she has matured out of sight. She is showing resilience in all facets of life and it makes me just so proud how far she has come since starting prep as the youngest child at 4 and half. This past 18 months has been a huge learning curve for everyone. She has gone from a shy, timid, separation anxiety child to an outgoing, hard-working confident girl who is loved by everyone who meets her.

We had a massive celebration for her 6th birthday this year – a disco party in fact. Sienna made many decisions when it came to planning the party and once the day came and it all fared together, it was the perfect party that suited Sienna to a tea!

Highlights from The Disco Party…..

Since turning 6, Sienna has been super busy reaching several milestones. She has lost her two front teeth, learnt to ride her bike with no training wheels, she reached level 1 behaviour at school and went to the canteen at football a couple of weeks ago all on her own – she never would do anything on her own! She is just thriving at school and is so switched on, sometimes I forget she is only 6!

But like everyone Sienna is far from perfect. Although she is extremely mature, she still is a very normal 6-year-old when it comes to overreacting when tired or sick, displaying a bit of an attitude and can push your buttons if she’s in a mood and you’re not, but in general she is simple. She never wants for anything and is always the one to give in when her siblings aren’t willing to!

I’m looking forward to watching my baby girl grow and nourish into a young lady – what ever she does, it’s going to be something grand!

3….How can that be???

Posted on February 18, 2014 by natalietrew

This week my youngest baby turned 3…THREE…how can that be???

I will forever remember the drama that surrounded Mia’s birth. Being diagnosed with a dilated aorta and tricuspid aortic valve at 37 weeks pregnant was enough to take my pregnancy to a whole new level, as we entered into a scary world of the unknown. Would I survive? Was it safe to deliver? Cesarean? ICU? Risk after? Open heart surgery?…it’s safe to say I was completely frightened out of my wits!!!! But when she finally came out, 2 weeks early, it was such a relief to hold my precious baby girl and know that I’d made it through the hardest part and so did she!

Now 3 years on, my baby has gone so far past a baby it makes me really sad that I’ll never have ‘baby’ moments again!

Mia – aka cookie, pumpkin, poocoo, darling, chick…pretty much anything other than Mia lol, is growing into a funny, intelligent little lady. When I looked back at photos from her second birthday, it really hit home how much she’s grown. In a year her language development has been amazing and she has been completely toilet trained since before Christmas. She LOVES reading books and her favourite shows are Playschool and the Wiggles. She knows her colours, most of her shapes, counts to 20 and spells her own name.

Mia loves to help and she is a really good helper (most of the time lol). She is such a busy little bee now. Her week consists of hanging out with nanny while I work, play group, swimming lessons and helping me out with the house work and groceries. I really love hanging out with my mini me…she is so funny and makes me laugh a lot!! Mia was my most challenging baby and such a busy toddler, it’s so nice she’s reached an age where she’s great to take anywhere and unless she’s super tired, she really is a good girl!

To celebrate Mia’s birthday this year which was on a Monday and my work day, we decided to have a family day on Sunday down at Wynnum. The weather was absolutely amazing and everyone had an awesome time, particularly the birthday girl. We spent the day swimming and had fish and chips for lunch.

17th of February at 7.30pm Mia was exactly 3 years old! To celebrate the day, she spent it with nanny while I worked. They went to Maccas for morning tea and then did their usual – read books, sing songs, cuddle teddies and watch Playschool. I came straight home from work to cook dinner and ice her cake. This year’s theme was teddy bears. Mia loves teddies. She has so many of them and carries one around all the time. She was super excited it was her birthday, she didn’t even have her day nap so was pretty exhausted by the end of the day, but never stopped smiling:)

Mia turning 3 really hits home that my baby days are over. When I walk past the nappies in the supermarket, it reminds me I’ll never have a little babies bottom to kiss again. When I looked at the Best and Less catalogue this week and saw all the gorgeous new bonds all-in-ones , I think I actually had a tear in my eye. The only bit of baby I still hold onto is the fact that Mia is still in a cot…and she loves it so much I can’t see her vacating it anytime soon lol. But that day will come…later in the year the girls are going in together and that will be the day I’ll never have a nursery again…booohoooo;(

But for now I’m not going to dwell on that fact that my baby days are over, cause my mothering days will never be over. As the kids get older and they become more involved in sport and extra curricular activities, let alone everything that comes with going to school, they’ll need me more than ever!! This is Mia’s last year before she starts preschool next year and then she’ll be off to prep! I love my work days off with her, she is my little shadow and I will enjoy every moment I have with her before she starts school!

Me and my mini me…my very own baby angel … Happy 3rd birthday princess xoxoxo!

The Big 5!!!

Posted on June 30, 2013 by natalietrew

5 years ago on the 30th of June at 11.55am, my beautiful 10p 2oz baby girl was born. I still remember like it was yesterday pulling her from my inner soul to discover she was a girl!!!! I was so over joyed. After having a boy first, I really wanted a little girl and my wish was granted! She was MASSIVE (lol) but oh so devine. She never whimpered once and looked around at us all as if to say “I’m ready to take on this world!”

Sienna Lynette Trew has been a shining star from the minute she took her first breath on this earth. She is kind. She is thoughtful. She is so beautiful and sweet but also very funny and feisty! She never wants for much and is so easy to please. She has an anxiety attack if you mention the word dress (lol) and would prefer to wear shorts and joggers over skirts and ballet flats, but she has a great sense of style of her own. Sienna is the type of child to give you her last bite of food if you were starving or her last dollar if you were broke…she is just amazing!!!

Sienna was so so excited to be turning 5 this year, after all it is a whole hand worth of fingers to hold up now!!! And after what has been such an emotional month for our family, it was a lovely way to end the month on a happy note for once. Now that Sienna is in school, she had several celebrations…..

First was her school celebrations where I baked a batch of cupcakes for her and her fellow prep H students. They all sang happy birthday to her and enjoyed eating their cupcakes for morning tea…

Second was her party with her friends. Sienna was in control of her guest list and food, I just went out and bought and baked it all for her. She knew exactly what she wanted. I offered to put a tea party on with a few of her girl friends but she insisted on having her closest boy friends invited so the park it was. The day was spoilt by the weather, but that didn’t stop all the kids from having a ball….

The third and final day of celebrations was her official birthday which was yesterday! She is becoming so particular with what she wants it’s so adorable! Her request was straight hair and nails painted like me:), bowling with the family and of course lots of cake! For presents her only request was a microphone. So by granting her all of this, we had one very happy 5 year old on our hands yesterday….

The Cake:
Due to the passing of my dear nana at the beginning of the month and the weeks of her being in hospital leading up to her passing, I haven’t baked or decorated a cake or cupcake since grandad’s birthday on April 20th. That day, unbeknown to us, was the last birthday in the family celebrated with nana present – so to say Sienna’s birthday was bittersweet is an understatement!

It was nice to get back into something that I LoVe to do though. Sienna loves rainbows so this year’s birthday theme for her has been rainbow colours with purple as the predominant colour. I’ve always wanted to try a 6 layer rainbow cake and when I showed it to Sienna, she was so excited to be getting that as her birthday cake. This is how it turned out….

Sienna loved it as did everyone and I was extremely happy with my first attempt at a rainbow cake – one of my favourite cakes to date!

All in all Sienna had a wonderful 5th birthday filled with lots of love, fun and laughter. She was very spoilt and got a beautiful assortment of presents from one direction merchandise to matching nike shoes like mine. But her favourite present that she hasn’t put down is her microphone…we may have a singer and dancer on our hands! After such a turmoil month, I sincerely hope Sienna’s birthday marks the beginning of many happy memories for our family!

Thank you to everyone for all of Sienna’s birthday wishes and for anyone who helped make our little girl’s 5th birthday extra special!

All The Threes!

Posted on April 8, 2013 by natalietrew

Since the new year rolled over, we’ve celebrated Mia’s 2nd birthday, Bailey’s 7th, Kane’s, Dad’s and Easter and last Thursday on April 4th I celebrated my 33rd birthday! Like most years my birthday was on school holidays which I LOVE!! It was such a fantastic day, one of the best birthdays I’ve had, especially since becoming a mum!

I spent the day doing all the things I love to do best….
During the day I went down to Wynnum and had morning tea and fish and chips for lunch. Mum came with us as well as my two nephews. The kids had a ball kicking the footy around, playing on the playground and swimming! It was a bit windy but the sun was shining – it was glorious!

The afternoon was spent lazing around before we got ourselves ready to go out for dinner with the family. We ended up at Hotel HQ, the kids love the kid’s playroom there. Again it was a great night filled with beautiful food, yummy cake, lots of laughter and I was very spoilt by everyone…especially with a custom made frame with photos of My Party of 5 from my hubby and children:)

Love it…thanks babe!

I went to bed that night feeling happy and content! I was so overwhelmed with all the birthday messages I received either via Facebook, text and phone…I was definitely feeling the love!

And if my birthday wasn’t great enough, on Saturday night I organised a small party with my friends! Since turning 30 we’ve been through so much with my health, the kids and Kane’s job, this year I wanted a night out where we could get dressed up and celebrate a birthday where for the first time in a long time I haven’t been pregnant, breast feeding or recovering from surgery! We had a great night out at the Glen. 35 of our closest friends joined in the celebrations where we laughed a lot, chatted heaps and enjoyed a few drinks or three or four…lol! I really appreciated the effort people went to. I know how hard it is to get out and about these days, so it was great to see everyone relaxed and enjoying themselves. Once again my wonderful parents took care of our munchkins, but were able to pop in for a bit and my sister and brother in law stayed and drove us home:)!

And of course what’s a birthday without a cake…my latest edition!

To end what was a great few days of celebrations, I managed to get up to Garden City yesterday to spend my birthday money. I already what I wanted in mind and when I’m on a mission there is no stopping me! It took me exactly one hour to go from home and back with my money spent and everything bought that I wanted!

A new handbag and purse, pair of havaianas and the best of all a Tomas Sabo bracelet and charm:)…very lucky lady I am!

Thank you to everyone who made this year’s birthday extra special. I feel very blessed to have a wonderful husband, three amazing children, a loving family and a number of great friends! For now all the threes has been awesome, lets hope it continues!!!

80 Blessed Years!

Posted on August 19, 2012 by natalietrew

80 years ago today a beautiful lady was born into this world, and blessed this world is to have her! This lady is my dear nana Gloria! In her 80 years of life so far, she has experienced many great loves which have formed her family, but has also faced tragedies with the loss of a child, grandchild and parent. She has always been a devoted wife, mother and grandmother who would give you the jumper off her back or her last dollar if she had too!

Yesterday we celebrated nana’s 80th birthday just how she likes…being surrounded by family! My wonderful mother did a fabulous job organising such a fantastic day for everyone to enjoy! It was so lovely having most of nana’s grandchildren and great grandchildren present for such a huge milestone. And of course in true style we were able to capture many cherished moments…..

Nana and grandad with their children!

Nana and grandad with their grandchildren!

Nana and grandad with their great grandchildren!

My party of 5 with our dear Nana!

Nana’s cake I made for her:)

Aerial shot of the cake!

Mum put together a collection of things that my very talented nana made over the years…some of it is almost 40 years old!!!!

Nana and I….my fondest childhood memories included nana a lot!

As I was having a lovely chit chat with nan this arvo, it reminded me of all the wonderful girly chit chats we’ve had over the years! It makes me so upset at the thought of how Parkinson’s Disease has taken over my precious nana’s body and once where she was an active vibrant women who was very intelligent, now struggles with the day to day normal living of life. But in true Gloria form she never complains and always has time to give you a smile. As I kissed her soft forehead this arvo, I told her that she was the best and that she wasn’t going anywhere that we couldn’t survive without her….she replied with a beautiful smile and said “someone would replace me”, I replied with “never!” Because Gloria Holpen, the lady known to many of us as Nana Holpen, is simply irreplaceable!!!!

Happy 80th birthday Nana….I’m so glad you’ve had a wonderful weekend of celebrations!!!!!

Sweets FoR mY Sweet!

Posted on July 1, 2012 by natalietrew

Birthdays are such a great excuse to experiment with baking and decorating! My darling little girl Sienna turned 4 yesterday and because she is such a sweet little girl that never wants for much, I decided to create something special….her very own sweets table!

Sienna is the kind of child who you can take to the shops and she never asks for anything more than a $2 packet of chewy! She has always been like that. Right up until two days before her birthday she still hadn’t really asked for anything for her birthday, she was just so excited that she was turning 4! A few weeks ago, she finally decided she wanted a strawberry shortcake birthday cake, so with some google searches and some tweaking of my own I created her the magical strawberry shortcake birthday cake of her dreams!

This is my biggest master piece yet! I love the fact that the strawberry shortcake sitting on top of the cake was mine when I was little….she is almost 30 years old:)

I don’t do big birthday parties every year for our children, we have selected years for that, but we always celebrate a birthday in one way or another. All Sienna wanted to do on her birthday this year, was have a swim at the Runcorn Pool, have a BBQ and jump on her jumping castle! That she did. But I still felt bad because this was the year for her brother and sister to have birthday parties!

One way to Sienna’s heart is food and sweet food at that! Sweets/dessert tables are so much fun and I thank my friend Michelle Shaw for her inspiration of them! Because of the strawberry shortcake theme cake, I based my table theme, colours and food around that! The colours I choose were hot pink and green with flowers for a touch of decoration and the food was either strawberry related or pink in colour.

This is how it all turned out:
The food:)

Home made marshmallow….so easy to make!

Star shaped fairy bread….for my little shining star!

Caramel cupcakes finished with vanilla icing and a strawberry and pikelets with jam and cream!

Jam drop biscuits, smartie cookies and strawberries dipped in chocolate!
Other foods on her table included her favourite things: popcorn, Cheerios, watermelon, chips and dip!

The decorating:

I decorated a toy storage container to display her name and made a sign to say she was 4:)

Everything I used from bowls to cups to the glass water bottles were in the theme colours of hot pink and green! I even decorated a special cup for Sienna to use:)

I created little name tags for the food. As a table cloth, I used a hot pink piece of material I had in the cupboard and cut out green felt circles and scattered than out first before I put everything out!

The day was a huge success and my reward was seeing how much joy was expressed on my sweet little girl’s face all day long!

Happy 4th birthday my Sie Sie girl…you are the light that shines in our party of 5!

Stay tuned in the coming days when I shall blog some of the recipes I’ve used over the school holidays!

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