Home made ice cream

I love peanut butter. I love nutella. I love ice cream.... see where this is going???

Yep.
I have just made peanut butter and nutella ice cream.

I can give you my base recipe... the exact quantities of peanut butter and nutella are to your taste... so needless to say I added a bit.
Remember to freeze your ice cream maker bowl for 24 hours before making ice cream
OK basic recipe
1/2 cup of sugar (I reduced to quarter for this)
1 cup of milk
2 cups of cream

Dissolve the sugar in the milk and combine the cream. Mix well.

I melted a few table spoons of peanut butter and nutella in the microwave and whisked through the milk/cream /sugar.

Pour into ice cream maker and wait desperately for about 25 minutes (-/+ depending on how you like it and your machine)

USA

We have recently returned from a family holiday to the USA! 14 hour flight and 2 other flights to our destinations (Orlando) with a 4.5yr old and a 12 week old.....What were we thinking?! Actually both girls were pretty good and it was an amazing trip! Well worth the 18 months worth of planning and saving. Some very special memories were made.

We had breakfast with the Disney Princesses. The princesses came around to our tables for photos, a cuddle and signatures (if you had a signature book). Lumpy got to meet "Snow Wipe".
One of my life long dreams came true also... I got to ride on the Mad Hatters Tea cups!!!!

 Lumpy had a great time, she did so much walking around Disney! She wasn't as keen on the Kennedy Space Centre. The grown ups did enjoy the space centre though! A quote from the wise old owl 4.5year old "AT the Grand Canyon, There was a hole in the ground".

We loved it so much, we will go back when 2.0 is old enough (well actually tall enough) to go on the rides!

Flying and breastfeeding

As I had never done a long distance flight or any flight while breastfeeding, I researched and asked friends for advice on how things would go during the flight and with jet lag. -
I did struggle with jetlag on the flight over. I believe a combination of not sleeping on the 14 hour flight and breastfeeding extra demands on my body added to it! I was dizzy, nauseated, vomiting and absolutely exhausted. Fluids, rest, food and getting out in the air/sun helped reset my clock.

Here are my tips and advice
* Feed on demand, it can be unsettling for your little one and comfort feeding is ok. Yes it may throw out a routine, but flying/timezones/jetlag will also.

* Water, water, water. Drinking lots of fluid is great for supply and also helps your body recover from jet lag. Plenty of water on the plane and the day or so after.

* If possible try and get some sleep on the flight. It was not possible for me with a 12 week old and and 4 yr old on the 14 hour flight over. On the flight back I got a few hours sleep and I didn't have any jet lag symptoms.

* Relax! If he/she wants to comfort feed for the whole flight or large chunks of it, make sure you have a good book / some movies and relax.

* I had read many stories of supply drying up mid flight, so we had some formula sticks Just in case. Luckily (though I have no issue with using them if needed) they were not needed. So we also had to pack a bottle in carry on.

* Healthy foods in the days leading up to and after the flight to give your body the best fuel to keep going if you do suffer jetlag.

* Patience and time for your body and your baby to readjust. Limiting your sleep during the day (if you land in day light hours) and getting sun and fresh air to help your body clocks reset.

* Try and remember your tiny person is experiencing jetlag too. Yes I know i wanted to go to sleep, but 2.0 had other ideas and I did have to pass her to her dad so I could get a few hours sleep.

* Know that flying and jetlag don't have to have a negative impact on your supply, if you do notice a drop in supply keep up the on demand feeding, fluids and healthy food.

Edit * look up breastfeeding laws of where you are flying in to and each place you will visit!

Hope someone finds this helpful! Have and great trip!

Baby wearing

Miss Lumpy is very in love with her little sister! She likes to copy - changing her dolls, breast feeding her dolls, baby wearing her dolls.
We walked to the post office with bo th  of us wearing our baby!

Zucchini chips!

Looking for a tastier way to have zucchini?

Thinly slice your zucchini.
Dip into a small dish of milk
Then push into a plate of crumb - we used bread crumbs and parmesan cheese.

215° C for 15 minutes, flip sides and cook for another 10. Watch as they burn quick.

Dino dig

Lumpy is into dinosaurs lately and has been seeing archeological digs on her favourite shows. I decided to make some plaster fossils, and also use  some cheap (large container was about $2) small dinosaurs ams make our own dino dig!

Set up the box with the fossils, dinosaurs and some coloured sand. Place a few paint brushes and let her play! Lumpy loved digging. Her only criticism was that it isn't the same as on her show!

After the dig the dinosaur toys were played with in the sand - walking around and chatting to each other.

Water beads - observing and reporting

Water beads have been used for sensory play for a few years now. I only just recently got some off eBay.

I didn't want Lumpy just to play with them. I wanted her to to watch the process - observe what was happening and report and discuss what was happening.

At 4 different stages she looked at the beads, told me what was changing and then did a drawing of what she saw.
before we started i asked her what she thought would happen "they will shrunk"

She really loved this activity!