Daddy's Girl

Somehow, in the midst of preparing for another international move (yip, we're Perth bound next month!) and spending every other free minute we have attending to the needs of one demanding little miss, I failed to say a big Happy First Aussie Father's day to Gav! He's changed hundreds of nappies, sung her to sleep, taken her for walks and coffee at Starbucks and already has a list of things to bring up at her 21st birthday. She's a lucky girl.

I got a few shots of her and her dad enjoying some QT the other day while Leah had her "air time" (she thinks adorable baby outfits are quite overrated and would rather spend her afternoons lying - on a waterproof mat - in the buff).

Love, love, love them!!!

Quote of the month: "We don't need to be competitive parents... Leah's the best." ;-)

International Lady of Leisure

Our little lady is now one month old! To celebrate, she kicked back this weekend in the adorable SA suit her Aunty Ames sent her. Such an angel when she's not yelling louder than a vuvuzela.

Angel Pie

It may be the hormones that are still a little crazy, but I get teary just looking at these pics. Gav and I still can't believe that we created this perfect little lady. She's two weeks old now, those little cheeks (and bum cheeks) are getting chubbier and I'm already starting to panic that she's growing up too quickly.

And she's teaching us so much...

Lesson 1: You can never have enough towels, fresh cot sheets and burp cloths!

Lesson 2: Never brave the change without a nappy shield.

Every moment is new and brilliantly entertaining.

Ready and waiting

Right now I have a whole new level of respect for elephant cows. Pregnant for 22 months, cracked heels and no man around to have a little "poor achy me" moan to every now and again!! Thirty eight weeks down, two to go and I'm trying not to be impatient. According to Doc, Thumper is ready. The question is... are we?!

Beach Boys

It's 30 something degrees C outside and I'm hibernating. I finally finished putting together a few pics of my dear friend Jacquie's boys that we took a while ago on a wadi bashing expedition and trip to Sifa beach... a little reminder of what it's like to not care if you're covered in sand and whether anybody's watching.

Buns in the Oven

And I mean real buns. There is a reason for my lack of food blogs at the mo. My slightly obsessive need for order has kicked in and everything I've been cooking has immediately gone into cold storage so that Gav and I can enjoy every second with 'Thumper' when he/she arrives... no cooking required.

I digress, though. Back to buns. A while ago, I found a hot cross bun recipe by Teri Gruss that worked brilliantly, so I decided to try a savoury version. They weren't half bad!

G-free Breakfast Buns

½ cup g-free bread flour

¼ cup buckwheat flour

¾ cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup arrowroot starch

1 tblsp instant yeast

1½ tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp salt

2 beaten eggs

¾ cup milk + 3 tsp (use a non dairy alternative if you need to)

2 tbsp oil

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp vinegar

Warm up the oven to about 50C. Mix all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Beat the eggs and sugar in a jug and add the milk, oil and vinegar. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until well combined. Scoop out the mixture and, using slightly damp hands, shape it into small buns (makes about 8) on a greased baking tray. Turn the oven off and leave the tray in the oven for an hour to rise. Then crank up the oven to 190C, and put a tray of water in the bottom, which helps with g-free baking, and bake the buns for about 20 minutes, till golden. Serve slightly toasted with scrambled eggs, smoked salmon and chives fresh from the garden.

Note: If pregnant, zap that smoked salmon in the microwave for a few seconds. Raw salmon is a no no.

Thirtysomething

I can still remember the theme tune for Thirtysomething. Yip, it's stuck there in the memory bank of great 80s show tunes. Golden Girls, Who's The Boss, MacGuyver, Dallas...

Thirthysomething's tune, however, is the only thing I can remember about that show as it fell into the "grown-up" genre. I'm almost tempted to download the series now that I'm old enough to watch it. Apparently I'm a grown-up now (well supposed to be)!

That doesn't mean I'm too old for cupcakes, though. And my rather awesome husband impressed me with these masterpieces to celebrate my introduction into thirtysomethingness.

The other thing that's thirtysomething (weeks) is our bump! We had our final scan last week and we're on countdown now with about eight weeks to go. We can't wait!

Le Bonheur

I do wonder what Samuel Johnson was thinking when he said that when a man is tired of London he is tired of life. He really should have hopped aboard the speediest ship to Paris. Now I'm not going to pit the Eiffel Tower against Big Ben, the Seine against the Thames, Versailles against Buckingham, ale against a good red, or cheddar against brie, but Paris is just dreamy in the springtime.

The sad fact that I had to tear my gaze away from the vino and fromage selections on every menu aside, it was the perfect place to enjoy a rendezvous for two before 'Thumper' arrives, kicking and screaming.

Le bump

Blue skies and cherry blossoms

Mon amour xox

Strange sightings at Sacré-Coeur

People watching

A perfect day at the palace

Je t'aime...