Mums are wonderful! (+ Giveaway!)

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW FINISHED!!

Keep reading to find out how you can win a copy of Natalie Green’s Mums Are Wonderful.

Your newborn baby is screaming the house down, you have dishes piled up from dinner two nights ago and you can’t remember whether you had a shower today.

It’s days like this that a little encouragement and inspiration and knowing that it’s all normal can make a world of difference.

When Natalie Green became a mum, her coping mechanism was to create mantras and affirmations, which she repeated internally,  to remind herself that everything was normal and most new mums feel this way.

Mums Are Wonderful is a collection of her affirmations, paired with gorgeous black and white photos of mums (and some dads) with their babies.

“Put adoring visitors to use by asking them to make the tea, do your laundry or hold the baby while you freshen up or relax”

“Surround yourself with those whose opinions you trust”

“Look after yourself: happy mum = happy bub”

I don’t know about you but when I was a new mum, I didn’t often get a chance to just read so I’d often steal a few moments to read while I was nursing my baby. Mums Are Wonderful is designed for those “one spare hand” moments.

Mums Are Wonderful would be a perfect addition to a baby shower gift!

About the Author
Natalie Green is a new mum herself. She has worked as a public relations consultant for 10 years and was inspired to write this book because: “considering myself a very capable and adaptable person, nothing really prepared me for the intense, overwhelming experience of parenthood.” Her self-reflection, along with input from family and friends with newborns, produced the gems in Mums are Wonderful!

Photographs by Vanessa Petri of Hourglass Photography

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The Giveaway:

I have 4 copies of Natalie Green’s “Mums are Wonderful” book to giveaway to 4 Mummified Times Five readers.

To enter, all you need to do is tell me your best piece of advice to new mums. Winners will be chosen randomly.

Giveaway closes on Sunday, 10 May @ 6pm.

Open to Australian residents only.

In the case that a winner cannot be contacted, I will redraw after 7 days.

Good luck!

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More books!

We have two book cases in our living room. One is Bill’s. One is mine. We had made the decision that once our book cases are full, if we buy more books we have to cull some of the books already in the book case.

I’m not so much of a hoarder with my books. I’m happy to give the ones that I have read away to friends or family, or to charity. Bill, on the other hand, is not so keen on giving away his books. I tried, when we were packing but to no avail.

So when I came across a box which contained novels, magazines, Christian books and various other titles, Bill just looked at me as if to say “OK, so whatcha gonna do with them?” Because my book case is full now but these are books that I really want to keep and I don’t have any others that I want to get rid of now.

So I’m hiding the box under our bed….what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him!

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THAT wasn’t in the job description!

When I was asked to review a new book by Lindy Bruce called Motherhood and Me, I was really looking forward to reading it. It came at a good time – just when I was questioning who I was and the many hats that I wear.

I’ve often been heard to say that even though I love being “mama” and “wife”, I’m beginning to forget who “Tina” is.

Mothers get so caught up in nappy changes, potty training, school runs and everything else comes with mothering that they forget who they are and a lot of the time they don’t realise that it’s happening until they have completely lost themselves.

Motherhood and Me encourages you to listen to, and trust, your inner voice. You’re encouraged to work through the journal time sections at the end of each chapter and take the time to re-ignite something that has always been inside you – your individuality, your sparkle, your true potential.

It’s written in a fun way and helps you “learn to embrace what is wonderful about motherhood and gracefully survive the rest.”

So, with a pretty journal and a pink feather pen in hand, I’m slowly working my way through Motherhood and Me, based on Lindy Bruce’s excerpts from her  personal journals about her own experiences, feedback from other mums attending her workshops, spiritual texts and psychological principles.

Nothing like discovering that your circle of life actually looks like a muddled mess! Even more reason for me to find Tina!

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Twilight virgin?

Am I the only one on this entire planet that hasn’t gotten bitten by the Twilight bug?

Rachel, aka A Juggling Mum has been busy creating a new blog devoted to the Twilight series (not sure if she’s launched it yet – I was nosy and asked for a sneak peek!), a whole heap of Twitter pals have been chatting about it non-stop, even some of my Facebook pals have Twilight-related statuses!

Update: Rachel just informed me that her Twilight site is up and running! Go and check it out!

I KNOW that I’m going to have to get the books and read them because my curiosity is going to get the better of me LOL I’m sure I won’t become addicted to it like some un-named people I know *wink* or will I?!

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When’s nap time?!

Annabelle has decided that she will decide when her nap times will be and while her naps suit me, I know it can be hard when little bubs don’t want to go down for their naps and the mamas start looking a little like my frazzled woman logo! LOL

So when I received an email from best-selling author, Elizabeth Pantley about her new book, “The No-Cry Nap Solution: Guaranteed Gentle Ways to Solve All Your Naptime Problems”, I knew I had to mention it to you!

Will your child only nap in your arms, in a swing, or after elaborate rituals? Does your child take cat naps — or none at all? Let world-renowned, trusted parenting author Elizabeth Pantley help you. She’ll guide you with the same sensitive expertise and gentle approach used in her other No-Cry bestsellers about sleep, discipline and potty training.

Research proves that daily naps improve health, mood, growth, intelligence and well-being. Yet children often resist the naps they need and parents don’t know how to make them happen. The results are fussy, crying babies and cranky, grouchy kids who also have trouble sleeping at night!

In The No-Cry Nap Solution Pantley explains to parents of children ages newborn to kindergarten the importance of napping to both behavior during the day and sleeping during (and through!) the night. She then shares with you her gentle, loving child-friendly techniques–tested on families of all sizes and circumstances–and shows you how you can customize her solutions for your own family.

Pantley addresses issues such as children who resist naps, dealing with schedule changes, turning short naps into longer ones, helping a child go from needing motion for sleep to “stationery” sleep, nursing at naptime, daycare-related napping problems, newborn “in-arms” or “in-sling” napping issues, and much more.

Check out Elizabeth Pantley’s website for more info and to check out her other books.

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