I love cinnamon buns!

And so does the hubby!! I was inspired to do some baking because let's face it, I barely have time to shave my pits these days. I decided to try making some cinnamon buns in a cake tin, the idea of fussing around making the scroll part didn't appeal to me at all.

I gave this a go but there is a little tweaking I will do next time(there will be more test runs as I want to take this in for morning tea at work later next month).

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups plain flour (I would probably use around 2 cups next time)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp dry yeast
• 2/3 cup warm milk 
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg

Cinnamon mixture

• 3 tbsp butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• pinch ground cardamom

Icing

• 1 cup icing sugar
• 1-2 tbsp milk

Directions:

Lightly grease a square baking pan.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt. Dissolve the yeast in a measuring cup with the milk, then stir milk mixture, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and egg into the flour mixture. Mix well, until smooth. Pour into prepared pan and let rest for 15 minutes.
While the dough rests, mix together butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and cardamom in a small bowl using a fork until all the butter has been incorporated into the sugar and mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle evenly on top of rested dough and press the mixture down into the dough with your fingertips.
Place pan into a cold oven, then set the oven temperature to 175C.
Bake for about 30 minutes, until bread is lightly browned at the edges and the center of the bread springs back when lightly pressed. Some of the sugar mixture on top may still be bubbling.
Cool for at least 30 minutes before whisking the powdered sugar and milk together to form an icing and drizzling it onto the bread.

I found that the cinnamon mixture was a bit too much for the amount of bread, but I think I also put in a little too much yeast. I'll have to be a bit more careful next time and see how we go.

It is sweet and buttery and no good for my waistline at all!!

Ultrasonic Fat Cavitation

Also known as Non-Invasive Liposuction. This is a relatively new procedure to get the fat moving and lose some inches in your target area.

What is Fat Cavitation?
It's a high tech way of destroying fat in the stomach, thighs, bum and arms. It is pain free and non invasive.

How does it work?
Basically it is concentrated sonic energy that is directed at localised areas, which breaks down the fat cells. The fat cells break down into fluid and gets expelled out of your body via the liver like any other simple fatty acid consumed from food. That's it in a nutshell, I'm not good at being all technical.


How many treatments are necessary?
It varies from person to person, the most dramatic results are seen between 8-10 weeks(one session per week).

If you have Epilepsy, are pregnant or breastfeeding, have a pacemaker - you cannot have the treatment. There are other factors too that deem you unable to have this done, so I'd advise checking with your clinic if you have any health conditions.

Each session lasts about 30 minutes and no longer than 30 minutes.

You should not eat 2 hours before and 1 hour after treatment. You MUST drink 3 litres of water a day to help your body expel the fat. Stick to low fat food and exercise.

So, with my non technical 'technical' stuff out of the way, I decided to try it.

I chose my lower abdomen because I seem to lose weight there last - my poor boobs have shrunken away to two pancakes, but my gut is as big as ever. She got me to lie down on the massage table and slathered my belleh in oil. With a hand held device that was much like a dustbuster type thing, she vacuumed my stomach. This is to stimulate the lymphatic system and treatment area. It promotes circulation and fluidify (apparently it is a word, even though the spell checker says otherwise!) the zone to be treated. It didn't really hurt so much, it really did feel like she was dragging a vacuum cleaner nozzle across me. It was sort of pinchy and pully, but not too bad. This lasted for about a minute.

Then she covered me in ultrasound gel(much like the one they use when your have a pregnancy ultrasound). It was a metal round disc attached to a hand held piece. This was not painful at all, the disc was quite warm, almost hot at times and it vibrated. A lot.This process causes the fat cells to pressurize and heat up which in turn makes them implode(and fluidify! lol). The oddest thing about this is as soon as the ultrasound wand touched my skin, I started getting a high pitched hum or ringing in my ears. It was a little annoying at first but I was talking so much to the lovely woman that it didn't bother me too much towards the end. This stage lasted 20 minutes.

According to my after care paperwork, she was meant to use the vacuum on me again, but she didn't, so I may query that next week when I go in again.

I had this treatment almost 3 hours ago and I feel as though I've done a hundred sit ups. Something must be happening in there!! lol.

The treatment cost me $170 for a single treatment, but I decided to continue and bought another 3 for $299. Well worth it if you have stubborn fat areas to move but have struggled with but normal diet and exercise. Of course, I will have to keep up with my diet, water and exercising more - it would just be a waste of money otherwise.

I have taken a week 1 photo. Please don't look at my daggy pink knickers(how embarrassing!).

Gah! I can't believe I'm publishing this on my blog! I hope my post 5 baby belly doesn't scare you off!


Keep tuned for my weekly updates!

Growing up...

Kids. They grow up in a blink of an eye. I don't know about you, but I spent many of the first few months postpartum wishing the baby would hurry up and grow up so that I can get a bit of shut eye. I live for the day when I no longer have to change nappies. In saying that, as each birthday rolls around, it makes me feel so sad that my kids are getting older, becoming independent. Before I know it, it'll just be the Hubby and I rattling around in our house. Gee, what on earth will we do? We've never been just US. It's always been, us + kids.


Anyway, I will stress about that later(like next month when my eldest turns 9, that's HALFWAY to adulthood don't ya know?!).

So, on this day 4 years ago, I was about 38 weeks pregnant. Hubby was on annual leave from his mining job and had just arrived home days prior. Things were very uncomfortable for me - aching hips, HUUUUGE belly and intense braxton hicks for weeks and weeks. I'd noticed bub had quietened down a little bit that day and I was getting a little bit worried. A few pokes had him moving a little bit, but no extreme acrobatics like usual. A nap was much needed, so I lay down for a quick cat nap in case things started happening. I woke up around dinner time. The hubby was cooking dinner for the two boys and I decided to just call the hospital for assurance as the baby still wasn't moving much at all. She told me to come in and get checked out. *sigh* My mum was called and the kids overnight bags were packed, dinner was shoved into tupperware containers and dropped off to my mum with the kids.


THEN we were on the 30-40 minute drive to the hospital. It was about half way into the trip that I got a tightening. Enough to make me think 'wow, that one was different'. You see, with my first two babies I never went into labour naturally. Both times started with my waters breaking and being induced due to failure to progress(in hindsight, I should have just stayed home longer and gave my poor body a chance). I didn't believe that it was a real contraction.


We sit and watch Big Brother(It was a double eviction too!). I lay on the bed and they had the monitor on to keep an eye on bubs movements. All the while I was having these niggles and they were starting to hurt more. It got to around 8.30pm and they decided they were happy to let me go home. The niggles really were quite painful and I mentioned this. I was told that the contractions were very irregular so I couldn't possibly be in labour. Finally, they agreed to an internal before letting me leave. I will never forget the look of surprise on the midwife's face when she announced I was 4cm dialated....then my waters broke all over her hand and I was 5cm. No going back now, I was having a baby!!


There was a little more sitting around while they found me a room, it would have been around 9pm when I was taken up to the labour ward. I had my first two babies in the same hospital but it was totally different as they renovated when I was due with my second bub. The rooms were quite nice and we were greeted by a lovely midwife. She advised me I had tested positive to strep B the week before and I would need a cannula in. I would need 2 doses of antibiotics, 4 hours apart. My first dose was administered at 9.30pm.


A shower had been on my birth plan and I would have spent a good hour or so in there. The hubby was in charge of the small shower head, moving it around my lower belly during contractions while the main shower ran down my back. The water was total bliss. Tiredness was setting in though, so we went back to the bed so I could rest. I remember dozing between contractions, but it was becoming uncomfortable. I asked for drugs. My birth plan stated that I would refuse all drugs. I didn't think my midwife would have even cared(they ignored my birth plan the first two times). She did care though and offered an internal and promise of the bath afterwards. I agreed through gritted teeth. 7cm! I was 7cm and ready for that bath. Unfortunately the bath was down the corridor in a separate room, so she suggested I get back in the shower and she would get me when the bath was ready.


By now it was midnight. I was in the shower not 5 minutes when I got that urge to push. The look on the Hubby's face was pure shock. He was more concerned with turning the taps off than helping me back to the bed like I wanted. The midwife came in just as I reach the bed and a huuuuge contraction hit me.


'She's pushing' Hubby said.


I saw the doubtful look on the midwife's face and I wanted to slap her.


The next contraction hit and I was bent over the bed baring down. She sprung into action, helping me get comfortable and gently coaching me to push my baby out.


10 minutes it took and our chubby little Owen was born. 9lb and a short 49cm. The hubby cried.

Owen is 4. He is in kindergarten and loving every moment of it - he doesn't speak much there and he has informed us that he is 'shy at school'. He has made some wonderful little friends at school and he is learning so much. He truly is a joy to have, I just wish he would stop trying to be like his big brothers and stay my little boy for just a bit longer!!

Owen is 16 months and at the airport ready for his first plane trip.

Disaster zone AKA my kitchen.

I know that some of you are going to be horrified when you set your sights on the state of my kitchen. Cross my heart and hope to die that this kitchen was spotless on Friday. Today was a public holiday, so instead of my usual 2 days of cleaning up after the kids all day long I've been doing it for 3 days. The rapid rate that my kitchen goes from being clean to a total bomb site amazes me. No joke, it can happen in mere hours and I don't know how it's even possible. Kids!!

People often ask me how I manage my life, that I must be some kind of Super Mum. Believe me, I am far from it and here is the proof. My kitchen this morning:

Please note that the glasses and plate at the front of the bench are clean, they belong in the cupboard above the microwave but Jayden is too short to reach it to put them away. His daily chore is to empty the dishwasher and I may or may not have decided that this would be his chore because I despise doing the task myself.

It didn't take me long, but I felt much better when my kitchen looked like this:

There are still some dishes there, I had put a load in the dishwasher and they needed to go through the second run.

My kitchen is cute(you can't really see it but I made the curtains and they are of pink cupcakes(much to the Hubby's dismay!). I love the colours and the cupboard space, not to mention the bench space. You wouldn't believe the lack of bench space we've had in previous houses. The only thing I don't like is the oven being so low. Tahnee tries to swing off it like a monkey, it's a bit of a worry. There is no way of blocking the kitchen off to the rest of the house either.

So it is just me? Is my kitchen the only one that stays clean for an hour tops?

Listography - Decisions

I was over visiting My Big Nutshell after discovering her blog today and I came across her post about the top 5 decisions she was glad she made. Now I don't know about you but I LOVE to make lists. Each morning at work I turn on my computer, get my breakfast and coffee and make my to do list in my little notebook.

So, I made my way over to Kate Takes 5 and decided this is something I'd love to join in with. Here goes:

5 Decisions I am glad that I made.

1. Having my babies young. I never imagined that I would have 5 children and now that I do, I am glad I had my first baby at 18(even if it was with the wrong bloke!). I am 27 going on 28, with 5 gorgeous kids and an abundance of energy to keep up with them, running a household AND working full time - ok I admit, I am not so great at the housework thing, but I do do at least 3 loads of washing A DAY! If I had waited another 10 years I imagine that I wouldn't be able to keep up with my kids so much(dude, I have FOUR BOYS!) and I probably wouldn't have 5 kids. It's hard to imagine life without all 5 of my little horrors cherubs.


2. Leaving my ex and doing it alone. This would have been the hardest thing I had to face in my life thus far. I was 20 with an almost 2 year old and a 3 month old baby. My relationship with my then boyfriend was interlaced with drugs, alcohol and violence. I had nowhere to go, my parents were in the midst of a messy divorce but I did it. I managed to find a little villa to rent with my two babies and left him. It was like a weight had lifted off me and I was so much happier. Single parenthood was tough, but we survived and I have happy, well mannered kids as a result.


3. Buying a business with my husband and moving to the country. This was a HUGE step in our life and although we no longer have the business, we have learnt so much about owning a business and about ourselves. Living in the country was wonderful and so beneficial for the kids, they adored the space and freedom they had there. We would so do it again, but not with kids so young, it was a lot of pressure on us trying to run the pub 7 days a week and do normal family things with the kids. One thing is certain, it repaired our somewhat broken marriage after years of him working fly in, fly out.


4. Starting my own business. I started my own little venture, making hair accessories, hand bags and personalised pillows. It's been so rewarding and I'm a little sad that I've had to take a little step away from it when I started working full time. I am taking my business in a different directions and also another in partnership with a friend - yeah, I'm crazy doing that with everything else I have going on, but I LOVE it. Plus it gets awful lonely stuck at home with 5 kids when the hubby works night shift.


5. Choosing to birth at home. As a woman, birthing at home has got to be the most amazing and empowering experience ever! I learnt to trust my body and my baby. They arrived into the world peacefully and the only human contact they had during the first few hours were from myself and their Daddy. Our midwife - who was with us from day one, coming to our home for all our appointments - left and it was just us, our children and new baby all snuggled up in our own bed together in the comfort of our home. I would never step foot in a hospital to have a baby again, unless there was a medical reason to.

And that's my 5 decisions that I will never regret for as long as I live!

What are yours?

No longer shrinking.

I wonder whether you have noticed that I haven't been posting about my weight loss. As you can tell in the previous posts, my weight loss journey was going great...

Until I hit that magical number - 79kg.

My goal to be under 80kg has been one that I've had for maybe 5 years now. I got close. Many times. Usually I would fall pregnant and end up gaining all the weight I lost plus some. 79 was the magic number and I FINALLY made it there. Suddenly I felt a bit lost. It was kind of like the big build up of planning and excitement of your wedding day, the big day arrives and it's AMAZING. Then the next day you feel a bit lost and empty because there's nothing left to plan. So that's how I felt when I hit 79.

I have lost my way.

Om NOM NOM NOM

My old eating habits are creeping back. Why oh WHY did they have to open a Baskin Robbins right down the road when they know that I could eat my weight in Choc Chip Cookie Dough ice cream?! I have no self control and no discipline and I HATE MYSELF FOR IT. Whenever I put something bad into my mouth I will justify it by saying that I'll go for a jog on the treadmill tonight. But I don't.

The down side to gaining full time work is that I don't have TIME to go to the gym any more. I leave home at 6.30am to get to work, I get home around 3.30pm and the hubby is out the door at 4.30pm to go to his work. The treadmill only get used at night because I have little people with curious little fingers that I'd like for them to keep attached to their little hands. Getting 5 children, 3 of them who are 4 years old or younger, out of the house to go for a walk is impossible. I stop ever 5 seconds to tie shoelaces, look at bugs, console a screaming baby who would rather walk herself. I'm not sure what else to do. I do miss going to the gym, but I think that's more the social aspect because I doubt any normal person actually loves exercise.

It's really depressing. My body is in a terrible state after 5 kids and being overweight. I have an APRON made of tummy skin, people!! It is ugly, uncomfortable and makes me look a dress size or two bigger than I am. The chances of it just going away is pretty slim I would imagine. The more weight I lose, the more stretchy and saggy the skin is. At this point in time, I am seriously considering getting it removed once I reach my goal weight. Maybe this is why I am sabotaging myself? I have no idea.

In a nutshell, I'm in the poo and I have no idea how to get myself out!