Melissa » The Best Nest

Have you ever heard of mall-walking? No? It’s what old people do in the sweltering climes of America when it’s too hot to power walk outside. They don their shell suits and head inside for laps + air-con. I couldn’t fit in a shell suit if my life depended on it and we need sheltering from the rain and cold rather than the heat but Dave decided today that I needed to ‘GET OUT OF THE HOUSE’ and ‘GO FOR A WALK’ {his loud american self even louder than usual}.

So, I put up little resistance inwardly laughing at the naivety of the man – did he really think he would escape the mall with just a walk? A free walk. Too funny.

It was actually nice. E had decided that the lesser of two evils on offer today was to visit his great-grandmother instead of going to the mall so Dave and I were rolling solo. I don’t know why but being out in public and huge and preggo without Ethan makes me self-conscious. Strangers ignore you when you’re towing a surly 8yo, they don’t force conversations and ask ‘when the twins are due?’ or ‘is it my first?’. I’m not sure why it bothers me if people think Dave and I are expectant first time parents, but the assumption really doesn’t go down well. Though in saying that, we were out as a family and the Friendly Stranger assumed that Dave must be my ‘new’ husband and not Ethan’s Dad, simply because of the obvious age gap. People are lovely aren’t they?

So back to the mall, we were able to finish shopping for E’s bag of gifts from his Little Brother that we will take to the hospital with us, I crossed a couple of weird purchases off my mental list such as buying a regular 2 button mouse for my Mac because I simply can’t abide by NO right mouse button any longer. I got my eyebrows waxed which was awesome until the technician started some after-wax threading which is so damn painful it made hippo recoil! We found Ethan two pairs of Vans for $70! I loved them so much we bought him a size up for next year too;

vans-kids-old-skool-v-suede-skate-shoes-dress-blue-stv-navy2

A little peek into Country Road resulted in this win;

Country_Road_Cowboy_Shirt

I had been coveting this shirt online for ages, it was in the SALE with an extra 25% off! {shop here, $48.65} Obviously this is a post-hippo-purchase {PHP if you will}, but I’m thinking button-ups with a breast-feeding tank underneath are going to be my new wardrobe staples in the coming months.

So, mall-working for preggo-exercise; 4 out of five stars. Dave wasn’t done though, round two involved Pak ‘n Save laps and shopping for food which wasn’t nearly as much fun : (

This year I have made a conscious effort to always shoot in manual mode when I’m at home and able to take my time with a shot. Aperture adjustment is starting to make sense to me, so I may spend the next 6 months trying to learn a new technique (that is how long I have been fiddling around learning how to take the shot below; slow learner I know).
I am proud of this picture! Completely unedited btw. Leftover flowers from my baby shower, still looking good over a week later.

Have you explored the other side of the dial on your DSLR? Any tips for me?
Gerberas_on_window_sill

The New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards celebrates annually the depth and range of talent our home-grown authors can offer kiwi readers.

I pre-read a chapter of My Brothers War by David Hill before I unleashed it on Ethan and I’m glad I did. This book is definitely better suited to a reader aged 12+. In saying that, I couldn’t put it down and finished it in one sitting.

Hill offers a graphic, historical novel set in a young New Zealand torn between colonial allegiances and a new mind-set exploring a peaceful anti-war feeling that will persist to the current day (thank goodness!).
Two brothers write home of their very different experiences both before and during the war. William and Edmund, once divided and estranged by their polarising stance on the conflict find themselves on the French battlefield, each reconsidering the views held by the other and finding respect and validity where there was once only animosity and anger.

Make no mistake, the war is in no way glossed over, it is described in all of its gory, heart rending detail complete with imagery that pays tribute to the lives lost in Europe.

My Brothers War is a perfect novel for parents and young teens to read together and discuss. There is so much historical value in this beautiful novel it should be prescribed reading.

Five stars for sure.

My_brothers_war

My Brother's War cover image

Corned beef sandwich

I haven’t (yet!) experienced any mad pregnancy cravings, though there is still 6 weeks remaining before I am full term! There were a couple of weeks when I spent a LOT of time thinking about cream doughnuts, with real cream of course, but I can truthfully say I only indulged in approximately four. Go me.

One thing I have consistently enjoyed throughout the last 7.5 months is bread, rolls, bagels, crumpets and carbs in general. I hadn’t eaten carbs for 18 months before this pregnancy so I have really enjoyed cutting myself a bit of slack and chowing down on some good sammies.

At this late stage of pregnancy, fibre is very import {for reasons we shan’t speak of} so I was very happy to be able to enjoy a loaf of lovely, soft, white toast bread guilt free thanks to Natures Fresh Simply Fibre. White bread is a treat in our house due to it’s generally useless nutritional properties, however I will happily add this bread to our shopping cart as being able to enjoy thick white toast {smothered with Marmite and butter} without sacrificing fibre content is a definite win!

My darling Mother’s Day began earlier in the week when Dave asked me what I would love to do on Sunday; my reply surprised him as it did not involve either he nor Ethan, and it did not involve shopping (technically)! I had RSVP’d to a morning celebrating the arrival of ALAS Women’s Sleepwear at The Department Store.

We were treated to a scrummy brunch by Little Bird Organics whilst we got the chance to get acquainted with the gorgeous organic/Fairtrade textiles used in the sleepwear range and the inspirational ladies behind the ALAS brand and philosophy, Kelly and Betony.

Alas Pyjamas

After the eats and greets concluded {actually, if I’m being truthful the eats continued throughout the morning!}, we settled in to our crafting, and whipped up some beautiful dream catchers. I had been wanting one for the nursery so was quietly chuffed that I made my own and was able to incorporate some special bobs and beads from broken jewellery that I had saved over the years – for no good reason until now!

Crafting is good for the soul, as is beautiful, soft sleepwear {you wouldn’t believe how soft}. Thank you ALAS for a lovely Mother’s Day with some fab ladies x

Dream Catcher Workshop

Dream Catcher

Breakfast in Bed

Mother’s Day was perfection this year. Textbook even {until 1am when I finally conceded that sleeping in our bed was a battle I had lost and it was time to try semi-upright snoozing in the Lazy-Boy. Belly-too-big!). Ugh.
Back to perfect Mother’s Day.
There was brekkie in bed with little man, thoughtful, kind gifts of a pregnancy massage and manicure/pedicure vouchers (!!!) and then three blissful hours of adult time, crafting with one of my oldest friends at a gorgeous product launch for ALAS Sleepwear @ The Department Store in Takapuna – more on that later.
The sun was shining, and though real life returned later in the day and slapped us on the ass a bit it was a glorious Sunday x

PS. I hate that first picture with a passion unlike any other, but there I am people, huge and morning-ified in jumbo sized striped purple flannel PJ’s. You better be feeling good about yourself right now!

Breakfast