I have been allocating my meager EI income towards S's birthday party, so I have mostly been drinking coffee at home and continuing to work on my own perfect cookie. J came over the other day to give me some pointers, including spooning the flour into the measuring cup. Here was the end result, an almost perfect chocolate chip cookie, based on Tara O'Brady's recipe:

The chocolate chunks didn't melt chocolate, so I couldn't create that pool of chocolate effect. Not a bad bunch though, these didn't last the whole week.

Now that the party has come and gone, I realise that party planning made me feel very grumpy. Every little thing got on my nerves, no amount of coffee helped my mood, and it felt like we were stuck in a cycle of nap refusals and tantrums. My reality was that whatever mental capacity I had after taking care of my two under two was completely taken over by planning, especially the last week. We didn't have a cake until the last minute, when we created a donut cake. We turned our extremely minimal balloon decorations into an activity, where the kids could pick a balloon and blow it up themselves. 

By the end of it, I couldn't even focus on taking a proper photo. Sorry fam for ruining our family picture! 

Not sure what your reality of this last mercury retrograde was like, but mine was a whirlwind of planning and hormones and moods. The end result was a lot of fun, and I am glad I will never have to plan another 2 year old party for S again. 

1. Organising - I've watched and rewatched The Home Edit a few times now... 

2. Postpartum hair loss - how has this already started?! As I am typing this now, another strand of my hair is floating down onto the pile that is building up on the floor by the side of my bed.

3. Travelling to warm locations with beach, sunshine, blue sky. Mexico? Hawaii? Australia - would we survive the 20 hour flight with the kids?

4. Visiting coffee shops, iced lattes, espresso tonics, green smoothies, donuts:

Today, H picked up Lee's Donuts, a strawberry and a chocolate, from Sorry Coffee at Brentwood. They're not the best donuts in the world, but they're reliable. They have that thicker, cake-y consistency, nothing fancy, just a simple layer of frosting on top. I was seriously craving some sugar when I woke up this morning around 10AM, so H really saved me. 

Waking at 10AM with a newborn and a toddler, how do you swing that miracle, you ask? 

My lovely husband takes care of the toddler when he's home on the weekends, and keeps her away from our room while I snooze. Of course, it's interrupted sleep because I am breastfeeding on demand, so when I slept for a 3 hour stretch last night, I woke up ready to take on the world again.

H and baby S went to the farmer's market and picked up a few of our usual things, including a bag of carrots from Klipper's, an apple that S picks up as we choose our carrots, and baked goods from whoever is at the market that day. This week, it was Ritchie’s:

They brought home a spinach sourdough as well as a cinnamon bun for me. The bun was not the soft gooey type, unlike Grounds for Coffee, and I wouldn't purchase it again because their recipe was more salty than my usual preference. 

Their sourdough was quite unique in that it incorporated spinach and had a green tinge inside! Your kids won't know that they're actually getting a serving of vegetables while eating carbs. The loaf was soft and chewy, and I can see why they would have a line up.

H has kindly brought back numerous pastries and chocolate chip cookies, which I crave tremendously. It's better for me to eat these not so healthy things and break some rules of my 1st month post partum, and he knows it. Throughout week 2 of baby P's life, I am starting to feel the strongest emotions - greatest joys from seeing S and P interact, and the saddest tears from so many things. As my doctor said, pregnancy is a lot of ups and downs, it's a rollercoaster. 

Wild hormonal ride.