Our day at Australia Zoo

Hi all,

I know it's been awhile since I last blogged. Things seem to be getting away from me lately. But as you can see from the following photos we have been to Australia Zoo. If you go to Australia Zoo in August you can get a pass for the rest of the year. All it costs you is your entry. So for Em & myself it cost us $91. But now we can go as often as we want for the rest of the year. Pretty good deal I think. So our Mothers' group has decided that we'd try for at least once a month at the zoo. That way we get lots of value for our money ;).

Em had a wonderful time riding this pony, her friend Emily rode a littler grey pony while Em was on this one.

I just love the tigers, they would be one of my favourite animals. I think they are such a beautiful creature, Em thought they where pretty good as well.

Em just had to go to the Kangaroos!!!! She drove me insane until we got there ;). All the kangaroos are fairly placid, as long as you are calm. So we got to pat some. I made sure that Em understood that you can't pat the wild ones that roam around her Pa Pa's place though.

This poor wombat was being picked on by the other wombats, which is why she's wearing a "Dryasabone" dog coat. So her bald spots heal & she doesn't get too cold.

I tried to convince Em to sit in this croc's mouth but she wouldn't be in it. Instead she was happy to sit on his head. We had to be quick as there where heaps of people wanting to get their photo with this croc.

Thank you all for stopping by & I hope you all have a great weekend ahead :D TTFN xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Thank you from my "little Dear" :D

Thank you from my "little Dear" :D
Originally uploaded by pajalu (Paula)

Hi all,

I am sorry I haven't been online that much of late :(. I have been staying away on purpose. I tend to want to check out lots of different things & of course that all takes time. So I've been staying away so I can get more organised with Lilly & the family.

This picture is for everyone that took part in the blog hop for me :D. Thank you so much ladies!!! It was such a wonderful surprise & so unexpected. This is the only way I can think of to thank everyone straight away. I was going to upload all the cards I have recieved but unfortunately that takes a lot of time that gets spent looking after kids (husbands & cats). Mainly because I would then want to add links to each person that sent me a card.

At the moment half of my craft room is upstairs around our kitchen table (we very rarely use it for eating at). I wanted to be able to craft with in ear shot of Lilly, plus it's a lot warmer upstairs at this time of year. So as you have probably guessed Lilly is on the kitchen table ;) posing with the card.

Sorry if I am not making a lot of sense at the moment - sleep depravation is not good for the brain cells lol.

Em & Lilly are both doing ok. Last week they got their immunisation needles - Lilly's 8 week needles & Em's 4 yr needles. Poor babies, they where so brave. Em didn't cry at all, I guess the promise of a Freddo frog & Macca's (McDonalds) afterwards was a good reward. I also didn't cry (this time) as I was trying to not put my fear of needles onto Em. Lilly was a little unsettled but did really well.

Poor Em is in the wars, not only did she get her needles but she is also teething again. Had I known this last week I would have put off her needles till after her b'day. Em is at home at the moment as her school called as she was feeling poorly today. So after a quick trip to the chemist on the way home she should be right to go to school tomorrow I am hoping.

Well I had better be going as I'm making a cassarole for tea & it is going to take a couple of hours to cook.

Have a wonderful week everyone & happy crafting xoxoxoxoxo TTFN

New stamps :D

Hi all,

Well I finally have gotten my inky hands on some Greeting Farm stamps. Oh boy all I can say is WOW!!!! These stamps are fantastic! I am so going to be getting me some more of these fantastic creations. I have gotten three sets of these & my dear friend Helen has gotten some as well. My LSS even rang me as soon as they came in so I was one of the very first to get my hands on them, gotta love that :D. I have some more cards here on my flickr stream.

I am finally putting my limited supply of Copics to good use. I am having a blast putting these cards together. I used a few of the challenge sketches from some of my favourite blogs as a starting point. I am going to give these cards to my LSS for them to display if they want. So with that in mind I brought a few of the newest pattern papers they have in stock. On the Amellia cards I have used Basic Grey (love that company!) Koshi range & for the Oliver cards I am using the Transportation Range by Best Creation Inc. Which is sooo cute especially for little boys.

On non crafty stuff - Lilly & Em are doing really well. I can't believe that Lilly is now five weeks (& one day) old already! Where does the time fly? Em is relishing her roll as a big sister & tries to be as helpful as a four year old can be. Doug has started back at work this week & things seem to be running smoothly.

Helen came over for a visit today & we had a wonderful time together disscussing this, that & everything in between. We shared some wonderful home cooking & reciepes. Em was so happy to see Helen that she got over excited & played up (a lot). Even after Helen went home she was naughty & ended up crying herself to sleep, poor thing. Lilly went out in sympathy & was very unsettled as well. So our house was rather noisy for a while tonight. They joys of kids :D, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Well Doug has just pulled up in the drive (it's his early night) so will go now. Have a great weekend & happy crafting every one xoxoxoxo TTFN

A LO of Em & Lilly

Hi all,

I know it's been a while since I last blogged :(. I have been busy trying to keep up with the every day stuff of having a new baby & juggling Lilly around all the things that I do with Em. I have been lucky that my dh has taken a month off to help me. Unfortunately that is fast comming to an end, as Doug starts work on Wednesday night. In a way I am looking forward to things getting back to "normal", men have a way of getting under foot don't they ;D.

I thought I would post a small LO I have just done this afternoon. It's a 6"x6" LO that I put into a bound Scrapbook that I made ages ago. As you can see I used one of my most favourite photos' for this LO. I just love the way Em is holding Lilly & is so happy about that.

I used another LO as my template. I have done a larger version of this page with another photo of Lilly & was using up some of the left overs for this page. I am really starting to enjoy scrapping again, plus I have managed to include some stamping & copic colouring on this LO as well.

I thought I would share a photo of Missy Em (with her sheep), Lilly & the very lovely Dawn :D.


Dawn & her dh had a holiday here on the Sunshine Coast a few weeks ago & was nice enough to visit us. Em was so excited (me too!) to meet Dawn. Em especially loves her sheep that Dawn gave to her. So much so that the sheep had to go to pre-prep the very next day so Em could show it off. I was lucky enough to get some chocolates (I still have one or two left ;D) & Lilly got some bibs, which fit her perfectly.

Materials used in LO:
Hawthorn & Bramble stamps,
Copic Ciaos - YR23, YG67, E50, BV02, BV04, BV08
Snugglebug papers by Little Yellow Bycycle
Snugglebug stickers by Little Yellow Bycycle
Prima flower
Assorted ribbons

Have a great week ahead every one & happy crafting TTFN

Em & Lilly

Em loves her sissy "Lilly Bug"

All the Laird "Girls"

Lilly Kimberley Laird or "Lilly Bug"



Hi all,

Well as you can see Lilly "Bug" is here :D. Lilly came into the world on Friday the 4th of June at 10.43pm & weighed in at 7 pounds 13 & 1/2 ounces or 3.57Kg. Lilly is two weeks early but healthy.

I was induced in the end as my Hypertention/Pre-Eclempsia was not improving. Some of my platelets where dropping which meant that for medical reasons it was better that Lilly came early. We had an 8 hour labour & Doug was with me for the most of it. Although at one stage the midwives & I decided that he needed to have a sleep so sent him back to our room for an hour or so (he'd just come off night shift). I had a great labour this time around. I also had two wonderful midwifes who made the whole experience wonderful.

I am really settled this time around as Lilly doesn't have the problems that Em had when she was born, plus being number 2 child I know a bit more than I did last time. Also so far I am not showing any signs of Post Natal Depression & so far have only had a few Baby Blue tears. I am hoping that in the next few weeks I will be able to get myself into some sort of routine with everything so I can feel that I am not all over the place.

Well it's time to wake sleeping Lilly Bug for her bottle & make sure Em has some lunch as well. Have a great week ahead every one & I hope to come & visit your blogs soon. TTFN xoxoxoxoxoxo

Bug is a brat!!! ;)

Hi all,

Well lets see since I last wrote things don't seem to have improved that much with Bug. I seem to be suffering from high blood pressure again (I am not happy!). Which could mean that Bug will be making his/her way into the world a whole lot sooner than planned.

On Tuesday I had a midwife meeting which nearly landed me in hospital again. As my blood pressure was really high. So that meant I had to do some extra waiting whilst a few tests where done & my Obstertrian was contacted. Luckily my test came back in the clear & my obst. decided instead of a stay in hospital I had to see her today.

So today I had a meeting with a midwife that specialises in psychology as I had PND with Em. So it was decided that because of my history that I should have a few sessions with her to develope a plan to help me if I need it for when Bug is born. Which unfortunately had to be rushed so I could make my next appointment with my Obst.

When I got to my Dr's I had to do another test that wasn't as good as my last one & my blood pressure isn't as high as it was, but it's still up :(. I may have the beginnings of Pre-Eclampsia. We wont really know for certain until Friday when we get the test results back from the blood tests that I did today. If it looks like I do have the beginning stages or if my blood pressure is still high I will have to go to hospital to be monitored overnight. If things don't improve or I don't go into labour naturally then I will have to be induced, or if worse comes to worse I will have to have a caesar (so not looking forward to that idea).

So don't be surprised if the next time you hear from me I'll be a lot thinnner (hopefully) & Bug will be on the outside ;D.

Thank you all for your words of encouragement & I hope to visit your blogs very soon (amidst the chaos of my life). TTFN

Have you missed me?

*Warning non crafty post* ;D
Hi all,

Just thought that I should try to get my act together enough to let you know about what I've been up to over the last few days/weeks? For some reason I've been mainly busy with all sorts of stuff that isn't crafting/computing related (boo hoo). I have managed to do a little bit of crafting. I was asked to make some house warming cards & Christmas tags by two mothers from the mothers' group Em & I go to. Then my dear friend Esther has finished quilting Em's quilt. So I've made the binding & sewn it down & am in the middle of finishing the binding by hand.

I did manage to squeeze in a pleasurable couple of hours with my good friend Helen this last Friday. We had a great time using my new Tim Holtz die Bird Cage, then doing some experementing with Shrinky Dink plastic. Em loves Helen & her dd, so was a little bit dissappointed when only Helen showed up but that soon changed when Helen gave Em a heap of books from her dd. Em was in heavan!!! She adores reading books & made Helen read to her.

Bug is still "cooking" but did decide that he/she needed some extra attention yesterday. I woke about 2am (isn't that always the way) with a dull back ache that wouldn't go away. So I suffered it out till about 4ish then decided to break out the hot water bottle. Which was great until it decided to spring a leak so guess who was tiptoeing around our bedroom trying to change jammies in the dark as not to wake dh ;). Then at 5am I decided I needed to have a "girly hot" shower (my dh complains that I have the water that hot he'd get 3rd degree burns). By 7am I rang the hospital to have a chat with a midwife. As I never went through a "proper" labour with Em (long story for another time). So I ended up spending all day yesterday in the hospital, which was quite restfull really. I sent Em to my parents for the day (she ended up staying the night as well) & Doug home as he'd just come off night shift & needed some sleep. It turns out I was having some contractions (very mild ones - not too painful), but my blood pressure was up. At one stage it was 160 over 100 (I suffered higher blood pressure than that when I was preggers with Em). Which is the first time in this pregnancy that I've had this problem. I think Bug wanted some of the attention that Em got whilst I was preggers with her.

We are hoping that Bug decides not to be in too much of a rush to come out. As my parents are going to Glen Innes tomorrow & will be back on Friday. It has been decided that Em will stay with them whilst I'm in hospital. Mainly because we trust them more with her than we do Doug's dad & his partner. Also Doug's dad is a lot older so there isn't much patience for a 3.5 yr old & some of her "funny" habits.

Well that's enough dribble from me for one day. Plus I've got to go check on my Pea & Ham Soup that is bubbling away upstairs ;). Have a great week ahead every one - TTFN.