Someone somewhere nearby has a fire going. Not a fireplace fire, like a bonfire or a beach fire. It smells like heaven on earth to me. The other piece of heaven on earth in my life tonight is the cookies I just made. You probably thought I was going to say something lovely about my husband or son but no, it's cookies. If you like brownies & you like cookies, you will like these little darlings:
http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/04/brownie-roll-out-cookies/

One of the many things I miss about America is brownies. Now I love plenty of things about Australia & they do many culinary things very well so I'm okay with them screwing up a few things. They just don't do brownies well so I found this recipe on Smitten Kitchen & it's absolutely perfect - brownie goodness but not as thick or heavy. I could eat a million, which isn't good since I'm constantly complaining that I still have most of my baby weight. I am getting serious about exercise starting on Monday - please send your inspirational exercise thoughts my way because I am terrible about sticking with it, especially in the bloody heat.

I'm also aiming to cook a lot more now that boy wonder can entertain himself a lot more and leave me a bit of freedom. Fresh food, creative yum yums, here I come. Should be interesting. If you've got some wonderful, healthyish recipes I should try please let me know.

Benny is a crazy stander these days. He pulls himself up on everything and can now stand up straight while holding on to everything. Now signs of walking anytime soon but he is still making me very proud. I'm going to concentrate on getting food into him as well, trying finger foods this time because I think he hates me trying to feed him - stubborn little nut. I have no idea where he gets the stubbornness. My mother & husband would say it's my legacy but don't listen to them.

Let's see, what else? Our bedroom looks nice and we updated the ensuite bathroom a bit too - just added a bamboo organizational shelfy thing and a bamboo trashcan instead of the crappy plastic one we had. And we got a new bathmat that wasn't disgusting. Moving on up to the eastside, indeed. We still can't come figure out what the hell we can do to our living/dining areas because it's an odd layout. I'm at least going to aim for some new throw pillows instead of the ones we've got to class it up a bit and declutter so our poor son doesn't get hurt in a knickknack avalanche. It's like my nesting instincts have shown up a little bit late but that's okay, at least I have the energy for them now!

Hmmm ... I'm going to go breathe in the beautiful firey smells and keep working on my shopping lists for tomorrow. I may also go hover over my sleeping son to admire that sweet sweet boy.

After

Okay, I'm posting these photos of our bedroom with many notes. I realise this isn't the most exciting redo ever done. The only new things are sheets, lamps, one new bedside table, the basket under my table (still looking for the right thing under Marcel's) & the digital picture frame. But it feels like a new world to me because it's neat & calm & uncluttered. There's nothing I can do about the baby rail on the side of the bed at this point.

And yes, our bedroom is the world's smallest room of all time. And that bathroom door is staying closed until I figure out what we can do to make that place more pleasant. Does anyone have a good mildew suggestion? Our shower never dries thanks to the lovely sea breeze so no amount of scrubbing can get everything out of there! Grrrrr.

I'm going to ask our property manager if we can paint. I would love to put a nice warm colour on the wall and fix the cruddy wood trim around the ceiling and paint it a nice bright white or something. Surely that's not too much to ask.

Man, I'm a good photographer. It's a small room with a weird wall situation so it's difficult to get it all in the shot! Shut up.

Turd Ferguson

A wise, wise woman who I love very much (Amy Hawkins)(used to be Smith for those of you who may have gone to Highland with us) had a great Facebook status today:

Wouldn't this world be wonderful if we tried to build each other up instead of tearing each other apart?

I have to agree with her whole heartedly. As much as I love to gossip, I can't stand the negative stuff - what do we think we're accomplishing by picking at each other? Life would be so beautiful if we concentrated on the good in others & actively looked for it in those we're not so crazy about.

In completely unrelated news, we finally bought a digital picture frame & it is residing on my new bedside table next to my new lamp in our slightly improved bedroom. I love the digital frame (thank you mom for funding this project!) but every time I catch the photo changing out of the corner of my eye, I have a moment of "What the hell was that?!" & have to turn around. Seriously, after about 13 times I should know what the hell that is.

I'm actually typing all of this while sitting on our bed, which is actually made at the moment. That's one of my crappy new goals in life - to make our bed every morning. Why does that make such a big difference? I'm also not letting baskets of clean clothes sit around in the bedroom. If I don't have time or energy to put them away, they will sit in the basket in the living room where we can trip over them but it won't disturb the peaceful lovely energy of the boudoir. I have also moved our dirty clothes hamper to the laundry room. I know I am blowing your minds with the gargantuan improvements going on in my little corner of the world but just you wait, the best is yet to come. Do you know what I've started??? I promised myself I would tell no one about this because it's embarrassing but I love telling embarrassing things about myself too much. I have started a house inspiration notebook. Yep, a notebook that is being filled with magazine cutouts, etc. of my favorite colours, styles & little tidbits I see here & there. It's just to get my brain working on what I want in our home. I feel like a 3rd grader making a collage or something but it's fun if nothing else so don't make fun of me until you try it yourself. And you never know, I may just get that $15,000 painting after all ... or just print out the picture I found of it online illegally & frame that. Ssshhhhh.

Ben is nuts. He has no use for his toys these days - he just wants to wander, open drawers, knock over laundry baskets, pull cords from their spots, shake whatever he can get his hands on, etc. I knew we should have named him Turd Ferguson. He's so much bloody fun, though! He's been very whiny today and is just now down for a decent nap so I'm hoping his mood will have improved. I did drag him out to the mall & not the one right next to us for a bit of shopping and to pick up my new iPod from the shipping company (don't ask, too much drama for this mama). Hey, I got myself a bargain! I bought a lamp for my bedside table last week for $21 & it's gorgeous - couldn't believe how cheap so I decided today that Marcel had to have one too on his table so we could match. With such a good price, who could argue? Well, I just looked at the receipt a while ago & shazam, it was only $12 this week. I wonder if I go back next week if they'll just give me one or pay me to take it away. I'll post pictures of my new, slightly improved bedroom one of these days.

Anyway, I have new magazines & a new book to read (I obviously swung by Borders as well) & this will be the only chance I have to crack them open while the boy is asleep. Have a happy Wednesday and remember not to be so critical today, we could all use a little building up.

Tuesday blah

I started off writing a list of what kind of mother I wanted to be in 2010 but the more I wrote, the douchier it sounded so I had to put a stop to it. Sometimes, brevity truly is the soul of wit (wee-ooo-wee-ooo, that douche alarm is starting up again) -  basically, I just want to cook new things & make sure the home is full of cookies & pies. I never want to keep Ben from enjoying anything just because I might look stupid (or fat from all the cookies & pies). I'm going to accept each & every one of his super slobbery kisses. And I want to encourage silliness, laughter, goofiness & reading. Yes, reading - it can't ALL be giggles.

Silly boy went swimming with us at a friend of a friend's house. He wasn't so sure about it at first but it grew on him and he had a great time. We're going to start going to a local pool on the weekends to keep it up. As soon as the ocean warms up a bit we'll try it out as well. The best thing is that next to Benny, I always look tanned. He is going to be very familiar with the world of sunblock and hats, I'm afraid.

We're redecorating our apartment soon. We've always treated it as an "in between" place. Why the quote marks? I don't know. Anyway, it was just a holding place until we either bought a place or moved back to America. But finally we've decided that we can't live with halfway style, it's driving us nuts. And by "we" & "us," I mean ME. I had a bit of a meltdown for a while and have decided to just make this place more like us NOW. I've started in the bedroom a bit but there's a lot of work to go and I am going to enjoy it - I love a good project for my feeble brain.

Okay, I had other things I wanted to include but I just can't remember what the hell it was. Obviously was incredibly important, right?

hot water

It's a big day in the Eisele household. It's not even 9am and I am showered with straightened hair and real clothes on. I've scrubbed the bathrooms, dusted my bedroom and even made the bed. What could possibly be happening to bring about such outrageous behavior? Did Prince Harry receive my letters and is finally coming over to discuss how he became the hot prince while his brother is quickly turning into an old lady? I have two kinds of people who talk to me about my blog - the family members who tell me I should write a book and Denise's husband Josh who says I use the word "boob" too much. You are both wrong. My boobs are the center my universe and I could never come up with enough drivel to fill a book. In any case, if I DID write a book it would probably be all my theories and thoughts on the royal family. Especially sweet, beautiful, Nazi uniform-wearing Harry ... who can not be Charles' son. Not that I have anything against Charles, who has one of my favorite voices of all time. And don't you dare start on Camilla or I'll force you to sit & listen to my lecture on the modern-day fairy tale princess who DOES NOT HAVE A HORSE FACE, you jerk.

Oh, a plumber's coming. That's the big news around here. We have iffy hot water pressure and it's basically non-existent in the guest bathroom. We're actually having guests next month (book your ticket, Ilse) so we decided they may want to bathe occasionally so I set out to start nagging our property managers again. Usually I call them a gazillion times and they blame someone else (yet I still like these people) & nothing happens. But I went on their website to get their phone number the other day and noticed they have an online request form so I tried that. 24 hours later, I got a phone call from a plumber. You witchy magical internet, you rock my world.

I wish I had more exciting things to tell you than our plumbing issues but I don't. I have managed to go 3 paragraphs without mentioning Ben in a blog so that's probably a record. Of course this blog is about me being a mother so that probably isn't a good thing. He is quite adorable today, using my favorite gentle falsetto voice this morning instead of his shrill yelping or his husky talking (which is always accompanied by him pulling his head back, exposing enough chins to house a small colony of woodland creatures). And he is pulling things off of our clothes drying rack at the moment and I swear to you on a stack of bibles that he just put a pair of underwear right back on the rack. I know it was an accident but it just thrilled my soul - nevermind there are still several things I need to go pick up & one pair of underwear that needs to be removed from his mouth. I am trying to not use the dryer these days, unless I'm drying towels, so we are currently living in a cotton jungle. I need to clean this up a bit and put some makeup on my face so I should go. I've only got another hour & 1/2 to pull myself together before the plumber arrives!

ready steady

I'm going a little insane, I have to admit. It's not depression but I have had some pretty blue days recently and I'm very restless. I'm happy as punch with my little man and still adore that husband of mine but something is not right in the world of Ashley. It's taken me weeks to decide that there are only two things I can do - dye my hair & redecorate the apartment. There it is. Making my hair appointment for this weekend if I can get in and I need to talk to our property manager to see if I can get permission to paint this ding dang place. I will keep you on top of all developments but we are starting this weekend with purging the apartment - Salvation Army, St. Vinnies and the like will be getting a big delivery of clothes, housewares, random abandoned suitcases, etc. Then I will begin the joyful search through thrift stores and antiquey places for ideas and items to make this place feel like us and not just a receptacle for IKEA furniture (no offence to our IKEA furniture, which I love). I imagine it will end up looking similar to Coco Chanel's Parisian apartment:

Why are you laughing?

All else is okay. Ben & I had a big sleep-in until 8.30 this morning and he slept well through the night so I think his sickness is well & truly getting behind him. He is a new little boy these days - full of adventure and laughing pretty much constantly. He's at the stage where when we turn our back on him, he's GONE. We catch up with him in time to close whatever drawers he's opened, move whichever knick knacks he's swiping or catch him right before his head whacks the floor/cabinet/chair/door. I keep thinking he's such a big boy but then I'll catch him sitting on the ground, staring up at the blinds flapping in the breeze with a look of absolute wonder in his eyes and he just looks so tiny. My heart grows another size & a half.

Today I am starting the food crusade again full time. I gave him a break over the holidays, just trying different things here & there. But today I am sitting him down again twice a day and giving him food. He did halfway okay this morning with his apple & mango puree so we'll see how this afternoon goes. It's just going to be painful until he can control the spoon himself because that's all he wants to do. Grrrr.

I'm off to give the boy his proper feeding now. He's such a boob man.

Greetings from Colonial Williamsburg

I'm not really at Colonial Williamsburg but my hair has reached an unruly new height of hideousness that resembles something that a colonial dweller might sport. I called my salon in a panic to get myself sorted ASAP but they're closed until Tuesday. I hope I can get it next week or I may be booking a ticket to Williamsburg so I can visit the wig shop and get something to cover up this mess.

So Christmas was wonderful with Mr. Benjamin. He got his 2nd tooth on Christmas Eve so nobody slept well in our home but he was an absolute delight opening presents and loved each & every one plus the wrapping! He's such a gorgeous boy & the day was perfect.

Thank goodness Christmas was nice because only days later, disaster struck. I caught a lovely gastro bug the day before New Year's Eve. This is bad enough on its own but just hours before we had booked a nice luxurious hotel for a quick getaway for the three of us. And no, we couldn't get a refund because we booked through a discount site (big discount but still very expensive). We were going to go Taronga Zoo and to the Sydney Aquarium and just have all the fun in the world with our little man. But nooooo! Instead, merely hours later I was puking & diarrhea'ing my brains out. It lasted for a good 13 solid hours then off & on for several more. Fair enough, I was getting better. Then the next day (New Year's Eve) Ben starting vomiting. It was terrible. I talked to the RN line a couple of times to make sure I was keeping him properly hydrated & we panicked here & there. Then he started the diarrhea too - good lord was that a tragic day in our home. We watched the fireworks on TV but were too frazzled and too terrified of where poop could be hiding so we just held hands at midnight instead of kissing. Ain't love grand?

Luckily, we're mostly better now. Still frazzled & a bit queasy but more hydrated and I've been able to retire the plastic trashcan I had by the bed & dragged around the few times I was able to roll out of my stupor.

I'm not sure if starting the year in such a disgusting way is a good or bad omen but there you go. All else is well in our life. Boy is still being adorable ... except for his new hobby of pinching the hell out of my breast while he nurses. Seriously, the little claw marks and mini bruises on me look pretty bad. I am even wearing a sexyish bra (sorry, it was supposed to be for our getaway or NYE but that didn't go well) and there's nothing that looks sexier than little red cuts that probably spell out "Please cut my nails" in Sanskrit or Navajo (or WingDings) poking out of the top of such a cute bra.

I have no resolutions for the year because my brain hurts too much. I'm going to be an awesome mom for the year but that's not a resolution, just a fact. If I believed in emoticons I'd put a smiley face there. I'd also like to use the phrase "moth-eaten horror" as much as possible after just hearing it on Antiques Roadshow.

Happy 2010 to you & yours!