Having both of the girls home from school and preschool the last two weeks sick as well as giving me their germs really took it's toll on me this last week. I hardly got anything done that I had planned to do but I did manage to have a cooking day with the girls on Saturday. After cleaning the house in the morning we gathered our supplies ready to make chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing and shaved white chocolate on top.


Little Miss J  proceeded to lick the icing off two of the cupcakes whilst I wasn't looking. She had washed all of the evidence of chocolate icing off her face when I ran to get the camera. She had me in stitches. Miss O wasn't too keen on the shaved white chocolate on top of the chocolate icing. She loves both types of chocolate but not mixed together at the same time.....crazy child! 

Speaking of Miss O, when I picked her up from school on Thursday 18th of February, she looked terrible so I felt her head and I could tell right away she had a temperature. She told me that she had told the teacher at lunch time that she felt sick and the teacher replied "You will be fine". I could feel my face burning with anger!! Let's rewind almost 9 years ago......


For those of you who don't know me so well, Miss O is now 8yrs old, turning 9 this year. She was born prematurely at 24 weeks gestation so she was born just over 3 months early. Here is a photo of her 13 days after she was born and if you look closely the regular hospital scales say she is 0.555kg. She could fit in the palm of your hand and your fingers would fold over her like a blanket.

  
Due to Miss O's lungs not being fully developed, she was given large quantities of oxygen until she was able to breath on her own. She spent the first 3 1/2 months of her life in hospital before I could bring her home. I lived 3 1/2 hours away from the hospital so I stayed at the hospital for one week, went home for one week and so on. I was able to express milk for her for nearly 3 months before it ran out. I would freeze the milk in little sterile jars, pack it up in a special ice box and take it up to the hospital every second week. We called it the milk run...lol! The weeks I was at home expressing milk every 3 hours for her day and night (yes I set my alarm clock to wake me so I could plug my breast into an electric pump which totally made me feel like a cow) made me feel so strange. With no baby to feed or cuddle. They were the longest 3 1/2 months I have ever had. There were numerous operations, lung drains, blood transfusions, xrays, scans....the list go on. 

One of the complications of being born so early is that Miss O has chronic lung disease or bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) as well as being an asthmatic. Ever since Miss O could understand, she was told that if she feels sick at all she must either tell her family members or her teachers. Every school she has been to know Miss O's complete history. Her first school was an early intervention school, then preschool with an aid worker, then onto mainstream school until she turned 8yrs of age. Then the education department stepped in to assess her ('bout bloody time I say!!) as she has a severe developmental delay and finally took her out of mainstream school and put her in a special ed class with other children who have difficulties too. But she had to change school's at the beginning of this year which was really hard on her. She is a very shy girl and needs constant reminders of the little every day things you or I would take for granted. 

So the numerous people such as the principle, vice-principle, teachers and aid's who will be teaching Miss O throughout the year had been informed all about Miss O and her needs. We started the meetings a few months before school broke up last year. So that leads us back to Miss O letting the teacher know that she was sick and me picking her up from school and taking her home to find out that she had a temperature as well as wheezing from her asthma! For goodness sake, some people have no idea how fast asthma can knock you off your feet. And with Miss O, it happens really fast. For the first week and a half she stayed on the lounge and hardly moved as the congestion in her chest, the constant coughing as well as asthma take up so much of her energy and she is hardly able to move. So I marched right up there last week and demanded to have a meeting so I could explain to them once again that if Miss O tells any teacher she is sick, I am to be contacted immediately. There were a few other choice words that were said (nothing rude or no swearing, just a little bit of an irate mother coming out) so I hope they have got the message now! She went back today so I hope she has a good day today. 

Phew......that turned into a little bit of a long story didn't it....lol! From cupcakes to babies so I might as well finish with some inspiration!  Most of you know by now that I was asked to join the Kenner Road design team using their digital goodies over at 2P's, thank you so much to everyone who left me a congrats comment and email, you are all so very sweet!! Well I had my first blog post over on their blog about how to create a basic background using digital papers in Photoshop. I was so very excited and nervous I mean look at all the other amazing ladies on the design team, talk about major talent!! If your not a digi girl at all, go check it out when you get a chance, it's very basic but informative. There will be loads more info and digital inspiration over on the blog so make sure you check it out regularly. Here's a hybrid layout I created using the basic background tutorial over on the blog:

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The rest of the goodies are from KR paper kits Madeleine and Milk & Honey. The only other goodies I have had time to create is for Catherine Designs over at After 5 Designs. She just released this gorgeous mini kit called Feelin' Springy for only $2!! Now that's a bargain:


Here's an Easter card I created (yes it's a little bit early...lol) as well as a digital page using the above kit and the A5D March Collab:
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Look at that little crocheted heart.....
....loving these big time right now. I got a little carried away making them when I was watching over Miss O whilst she was sick. I even have some flowers too....but you will have to wait till I create something so I can stick them on it!


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Before I go I just wanted to let you know that the news I was supposed to tell you on the 1st of March is still coming......lol, I just haven't been given a release date as yet but as soon as I find out I will post about it. I can't wait to show you guys, I had soooooo much fun with it! Well that's it for me, off to get some dinner ready. Feeling lazy this afternoon, I really don't feel like cooking......wish the kids were old enough to make me something. Oh wait, Miss J makes a mean vegimite sandwich!!! Yes, I ♥ vegimite. I'm an aussie after all.....lol!!


EDIT:
After dinner tonight (yes I ended up cooking.....lol) we were outside on the porch having a cup of tea about to come come inside and watch MKR (my kitchen rules) and little Miss J was inside watching the beginning of the show when she runs outside and says "Mumma, there is absolutely no woom (room) for ewwa (error)" These quick little moments in life are to be remembered, documented and shared. How I love my dear little munchkins!!! Makes my heart melt, it does xox