Speak to your children as if they are wise, kind, beautiful & magical!

To the best of my ability, I always try to speak to my children with intelligence and respect.
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I want my girls to know how amazing they are and that they can be and do anything they desire! I have always believed that, even as babies, children have have an amazing intelligence and understanding on a deep soul level of what we say to them, so I have always spoke to my girls as if I am speaking to an adult that I admire.
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I also want to try to instil in them, that when it comes to achieving their dreams, if the desire and dedication is there, they can achieve anything!
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I come from a family where hard work, dedication & determination was instilled into us. My parents started out with very little, my father didn't read, write or speak very good english (& still doesn't)... despite all this he was an amazing father & provider for our family, we always had a beautiful home, food on the table and everything we really needed (needed not wanted -no luxuries) and we had all this due to his hard work and dedication.  So I guess this is why I had always believed that I can achieve my dreams. It was never a spoken "you can achieve your dreams Angela" but I learnt from my families actions.
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Then in my early adult years I began to meet inspiring people, came across personal development, attended motivational seminars and started my journey into self discovery- & I have never looked back.
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I want my girls to have a head start in this mindset from our actions & our words. And I always want them to know that they can achieve anything & that their Mamma & Dadda have their backs 100%!

The importance of Connections, Friendships & Outside the home interactions for Mamma's

Recently I realised that my Mamma life was missing "connections" friendships & outside the home interactions! As much as I love my home and family, I had become a little too home-bound since the birth of our darling Lilah, 4mths ago.

I have had some huge learning curves last few months since our beautiful baby girl joined our family. As a Mamma of two now, I have been working so hard to get our daily routines sorted out and I had become a little too homebound and to be honest I had become a little afraid of venturing out with the two girls and just myself, due to the fear of the unpredictable nature of babies & stuffing up Lilah's routine...

Once Lilah arrived I had the initial stage of new adjustments/ new routines to sort out- in the early days I became very anxious, overwhelmed and exhausted with trying to figure these routines out and trying to combine an existing toddlers routine with a new babies routine- (wow now that was a lot more difficult than I thought- especially given that my husband works afternoon/night shift- dinner, bath, bed routines were all up to me), then we found our groove YEAH things were finally starting to fall into place, then maternity leave ended and I needed to fit getting back to work (Naturopathic consulting) into our daily routines too! In conjunction with all this, we also had to help our toddler Amelia adjust to a new family member, which 90% of the time was beautiful sibling connections and the other 10% was trying to get our toddler to understand "gentle hands with babies"! Amongst all these new lifestyle adjustments I totally lost track of making sure I was "connecting" with with friends, keeping some "me time/ exercise time" available and I wasn't getting out into the world! Apart from our weekly music class, we barely left the house! I started to feel I was slipping backwards, back to feeling anxious, overwhelmed, exhausted and wound up like the early days... Once I realised why these feelings had risen (lack of connections, me time, exercise & becoming too home bound), I made a conscious decision & effort to get out of the house a few times a week, to schedule my work times so I was able to get out for walks and say YES to to catching up with friends!
And it's funny, I had in my head that it was just too difficult and wasn't worth the stress to get out of the house with the girls, but once I did it, I actually realised its not that hard and it is DEFINITELY worth it, I felt human again!!! I just needed to time it right, around the girls routines so we all enjoyed it! And this little shift in my mindset of getting out to connect has made a huge difference to my moods & anxieties! And boy I have missed the socialising with other Mamma's! I must have seemed like a kid at a carnival!!! Excited to say the least!!! And equally as important the benefits to Amelia (our 2 & 1/2 yo) have been so amazing too, she's also enjoying the socialising catch ups with her friends too! A win win situation!

So heres your reminder Mamma's, make sure your wheel of life is a nice smooth wheel, if you want your life to be running smoothly!
Its so easy to get caught up in the daily grind of routines of family & work and forget to make connections & to enjoy the outdoor interactions, especially if your a home-body like I am!
Even if you love your home & family life you still need to get out for fresh air, a break and friendship connections!!!

Precious Moments- "finally holding your baby after nine long months!"

"She's here! She's finally here & she is perfect!"

These were my words as I held our beautiful Lilah for the first time!

After nine long months of worry and anticipation, copious highs and lows, so many times we were told we would have an answer and didn't get one.... Lilah arrived with an amazing 2 hr labour! She obviously knew that Mamma had gone through enough worries with the pregnancy & didn't need a lengthy labour too!

That feeling of her new born skin on mine, the sound of her cry (which sounded like a little mouse), gazing into her eyes in awe  that Oli & I created this amazing little human, the thought of how amazing Lilah had done in labour despite the doctors thinking she & her heart may struggle due to her small size (she sure showed them), that feeling of amazement of what my body had just done, the endorphin & oxytocin release rushing through my body! .
There is nothing that will ever match that feeling for me!

My baby girl is on her first lap around the sun!!!

Watch out world here comes Lilah Ruby- already 4 mths old!!!

Children learn what they live...

I always knew this theoretically, but until I heard my 2 year old repeat me word for word- in the exact same tone, I didn't quite realise how true this was!!!

We really do need to watch everything we say and do, because we have 2 little girls intensely watching and taking in everything!!!

Hearing Amelia, my toddler, talk to her dolly's (and US sometimes too) is a wake up call, sometimes I think, where did she hear that? was it us? she couldn't have heard me say that... really? Well yep she did... She is a sponge!!!

I try to be very conscious of how I speak & act around her, but sometimes when your tired, run down and you have a little toddler acting as little toddlers do (and yes I mean when they push your buttons) things can just slip out and you react before you think.

If Im onto it, I apologise and try to explain that Mamma was just a little tired and that I didn't mean to get cranky, but those actions were making Mamma sad...  BUT sometimes this later part gets skipped... And yep you guessed it, later that day she will be repeating my exact words in the exact tone to her poor little dolly...

Sometimes I feel like a bad Mamma because of this and wish I could be patient and calm all the time, so my girls never see the tired cranky me. But I try to remind myself that all emotions are normal, human and healthy. And it is through US that our children learn these emotions and how to deal with them. So as long as we SHOW our kiddies HOW to deal with these emotions better next time and express them in a different way, then its ok!

I also try to remind myself that my girls are also taking in all the wonderful loving things that I do. The heart melting ones are hearing my toddler say "I love you" or "are you ok" to me or her dolly's, this really makes everything ok! To know she is seeing and learning love and empathy from her Mamma & Dadda too!!!

Modern Cloth Nappies- MCN's!

Modern cloth nappies- MCN'S !!!
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My ultimate, favourite eco-friendly & natural baby item!

Modern cloth nappies are not only environmentally friendly, but they save you a tone of money, they are gentle on your little ones bottoms (as they don't contain all the nasty chemicals that disposables do), they look super cute and are so easy to use & clean- much easier and more effective than the old school cloth nappies, and less leakages too!

Earth Bubz will be stocking MCN value packs for Mamma's that wish to go full time or part time with cloth nappies!
And as with all our products we will only be stocking the brands we know, trust and use on our babies!

Some facts & FAQ's.

• Did you know a disposable nappy lasts 300 years in landfill?

• Most bubba's use over 6,000 nappies in just the first three years! Think about that! Imagine how many stinky nappies are sitting in landfill right now and that mountain of soiled nappies is growing as we speak!

• The average nappy contains dozens of chemicals, such as chlorines & bleaches, synthetic fragrances & "moisturises"which include phthalates (which are endocrine/hormone disruptors), chemical crystals (SAP super absorbent polymer) which contain petroleum and some nappies even contain formaldehyde in the glue lining! Definitely not something I want to be putting on my babies bottom!

• The average Mamma spends over $3000 on nappies in just 2 & 1/2 years. Cloth nappy packs range from $300 - $600 (depending on part/ full time usage). So even buying the most comprehensive pack is still a huge saving & even if only used with one child! But use these nappies again with your next bubba and the savings are phenomenal! 

• Cloth Nappies do not completely take / pull the fluid away from the bottoms (as disposables do), which may not sound like a great thing, but this actually is a good thing, as it assist with toilet training. When the time comes, your child will recognise and associate the "wet" feeling with the passing of urine sensation, which in-turn assists with the cognitive recognition of when they should "go to the toilet".  And as long as you are changing the nappy as recommended and using night appropriate nappies for better absorbency, you shouldn't get nappy rashes.

• Ensure you choose a good quality MCN, like the ones we will be stocking at Earth Bubz, to ensure the fit is correct and the materials are absorbent enough, so to avoid leakages and so they will last through all your children's years!

• Keeping a good wash routine for your MCN's is essential for bubba's hygiene and nappy longevity. Ensuring you follow the manufacturers wash and care instructions will also ensure you are getting the most out of your MCN's and will also ensure that you are looking after the environment. We recommend dry pailing, then machine washing (at least every 2 days) with a natural washing powder, on cold or warm (no hotter than 60 degrees) and line air drying in the sun where possible, if weather doesn't permit tumble drying on low is also an option.

If your still not convinced well then just take a look below at how cute the MCN prints are, that'll persuade you I'm sure!!!

Feel free to drop me a comment with any questions you have or to show your love for cloth nappies!

xoxoxo

ONLINE SHOP COMING SOON!

Ange xxx