Photo a day for 2009

Hi Everyone,
Just a little note for any of you who follow my photo-a-day-2009 on my flickr account!
You must have noticed that for the last couple of months I havent posted anything up! It was due to organising a wedding, being in the first trimester of my pregnancy and basically just falling behind.
It made me sad to think that i'd give up after doing it for 10 months but I also felt i couldnt be true in what I was writing as I was still hiding the pregnancy! Anyway, now I've decided im going to catch up!! I can be true in what I write as everyone knows about the new addition! I've got lots of work ahead of me!! haha!
So, anyways, just wanted to let you all know, im slowly beginging to update it all.
If your interested... its HERE.
Xx Jess

what a difference a year makes!!!!

This Year....

Last Year....

Xx Jess

a positive post.... (well almost)

So, I thought it would only be fair to reccommend some of the awesome companies and people we used for our wedding as well and remind you to spread the word NOT to use Crown Catering!!
If you haven't already read this post then go visit it and you'll see why they are the worst catering company out there! And I'd like to add, that we've been married for 16 days now and i'm STILL waiting for a response from Crown Catering to the two letters I wrote them. So one more time... do not use them!!!

Ok, here come the positives....

These people and companies were amazing and professional and If we were to 're-do' our wedding day again, we would definately be using all of these people....

Beautiful Moments Photography: (website link)
Cathy Crawley is an amazing photographer and when I saw her blog I knew I wanted her to capture our wedding day! As im no good with words anyway, go see for yourself.... she's just posted our wedding sneak peak photos which you can see HERE.

Blueys Party Hire: (website link)
We hired our Marquee, red carpet, tables, chairs & table cloths from them. They were so efficient they even asked if it was okay to set up the marquee a day earlier than arranged! How awesome is that?! It gave us an extra day to set up!!! They were professional and we got everything we asked for!

Euphoria Hair: (website link)
They did my hair and make up and also Siany my bridesmaid's hair. They were on time and real friendly

Super Juke Australia: (website link)
We had a jukebox at our wedding! It was awesome and it also doubles as a PA with 3 microphones. They delivered a day early and picked up the next morning. They were real professional and no fussing about with them!

Swartz Patisserie Wentworth Falls:
Made our yummy chocolate cake! It looked beautiful!
See a photo of cake HERE on Siany's flickr

Cuckoo's Nest in the Bush: (website link)
This is the awesome farm we were married at! Yes, you can stay there! They dont do weddings (I was super lucky cos im the daughter!) but you can book to stay for a night, a week or longer! IT's beautiful!! Thanks mum and dad!!!!

All the above companies/people were awesome and i highly reccommend them!
But remember...

Do.Not.Use Crown Catering, they are unprofessional and well.... sh*t (thats being polite!)

If anyone wants anymore infor on anything feel free to email me:
jessykummer(at)hotmail(dot)com

Xx Jess

AVOID using Crown Catering

Last week, we were married. It was FANTASTIC!!!! The day was perfect! So was the weather and EVERYTHING!
There was just one little thing that seemed to want to put a 'spanner in the works' and that was the so-called professional company Crown Catering.
Its a Sydney based company and I feel it is my duty to let everyone know what happened to us whilst using this company as we don't want it to happen to others.
So here is my Testimonial:

Pre Wedding:

We had organised for all cutlery, glasses and plates to be delivered up before the wedding. Crown Catering informed me that this would be a $100 delivery fee. Sure, I thought, after all, it is my wedding and I want things to go smoothly. Deliveries are made monday-friday and I'd hear from them in the week to know when they would be delivered.

I would just like to add, Crown Catering demands that they have FULL payment 3 days prior to the function. Which ofcourse, I was early with my FULL payment as I didn't want any hiccups.

On the thursday prior to the saturday wedding, I was getting a little concerned that I hadn't heard from them. I called three times throughout the day, only to be told that the person I was speaking to was unable to help me but they took my name and number and they'd get someont to get back to me asap.

Friday. Okay, I was worried now! I called Crown Catering at 9am, 10am & 11am. Oh, they took my name and would get someone to call. Eventually Matt got through to someone in the afternoon, only to be informed that it would not be delivered as it was not on the delivery list! I paid $100 already!!! So, after a lot of telephoning around my brother kindy offered to DRIVE the 2 hour drive to Sydney to pick all the dishes up! He arrived. Oh, the warehouse wasn't ready yet (approx 4:30pm by this time). Eventually the unenthuiastic staff members filled his car for him to drive back up to the mountains for another 2 hour drive in PEAK HOUR!

Oh well, we thought, at least we have everything before the wedding!! We stayed positive even when having to wash and polish all 80 wine glasses and 80 sparkling wine glasses, as we were given new ones that were still un washed!

Wedding:

Chef turns up in his old bomb of a station wagon car, windows wound down as I think its a model that existed before airconditioning was even invented! And ta da, all our food is in this car! It has been since he left Sydney for the 2 hour drive up. I didn't think about it at the time, but I'm sure the health authorities aren't approving of that amount (enough to feed 87 people) of food should be transported without refridgeration!?

Wedding goes well. My Dad, being the sticky beak that he is, goes and looks at the meat roasting on the spit and nearly had a cardiac arrest when he see's the TINY bit of meat roasting away.
"Mate!" he says to the chef, "This is the meat? You cant be serious! There is only about 3kg of meat there. It won't feed 90 people!!!".
"Don't worry", replies the chef. "i've got more pre-cooked meat that I brought up with me from Sydney.

Hmmmmmmm. Why didn't it click with me yet????!!!

Then came time for desserts. We had ordered fruit platters with cream and Pavlovas. Mmmmm!! Oh wait! The pavlovas never showed up!
Oh and I hope you didn't feel like a cup of tea or coffee at my wedding, as even though we PAID for china tea cups and PAID to hire an urn from Crown Catering, these things NEVER turned up!!!!

Never the less, we still all had a wonderful time and had fun! fun! fun! I loved our wedding!!!

Post Wedding:

Without getting into too much description.... 30. yes, THIRTY people fell ill. Mostly on the monday. With vomiting and dirroreah!!!! Food poisoning?? Well thats what my doctor told me! Thats what our friend that ended up in HOSPITAL was also told. And I tell you what, I was so upset to see Liberty (only 17 months old) vomiting uncontrollably eleven times on monday night. Yep, she ate the food.

Oh and our honeymoon?? Well, with Matt, Libby and I not being able to be too far from the toilet at anytime, sadly, we have had to cancel.

I contacted Crown Catering, I've been told that oh, thats never happened before (which bloody bit???!), and can she have it in writing. So I wrote... 8 days later, I haven't heard back. Nothing. Nada!

So, if you are thinking about using a caterer for any occasion, be it a wedding, christmas party, etc etc.
I warn you from experience. DO.NOT.USE. Crown Catering.

Edited To Add: I forgot to mention... all their dirty plates, cutlery, glasses etc are still sitting in the shed on my parents property waiting to be picked up!!! They promised me it would be picked up yesterday. Uhm, yeah, well that didn't happen!

Just Married!!!

On the weekend I married Matty my boyfriend of 6 years and the father to our baby girl Liberty, at a beautiful ceremony held at my parents farm!!
It was perfect!!!

I haven't seen many photos yet but I did steal this photo from Dar's blog. So go over to her blog for details of our wedding and also just to check out her blog as she is such a good writer and story teller!!!

Anyway, just wanted to let you know we are a very happy married couple!
And i'd also like to announce.....

We are expecting baby #2!!!!!! Due in May next year!!! It's all happening for us at the moment!!!
Xx Jess

Giveaway....

Everyone loves a giveaway right?!!!
If your into stationary like these beauties....

You have to go and visit Dar's blog!! Quickly!! Go there now!! All you have to do is leave a comment on her awesome blog to be in the running to win some 'mooo' thank you cards.

Xx Jess

tie dye

Yesterday Matty and I along with Liberty went to Centro to escape from this....

The dust storm that suffocated Sydney and plenty of NSW yesterday!! This is a photo of the roof of my silver car!

So, whilst we were shopping ~to escape the dust~ I bought Liberty some much needed bigger singlets! I actually bought them in a size 2 so she'll be able to grow into them! They only had white ones which Matt and I thought were a bit boring so we went to the sewing section and they had about 3 colours of dye to choose from, so we chose purple!

When Libby went down for her nap, I did the dyeing...

Here she is wearing one of the singlets (whilst also doing some crazy acrobatic stunt - haha)

Im happy with the results of my first time tie dying singlets for Lib! It was good fun to do too!!!
Now, to go clean the kitchen from orange dust and purple dye! hahaha
Xx Jess

Zoo Friends

Today, for our family day we went to Taronga Zoo! We did visit here back in April this year and seeing as we returned today we decided to become Zoo Friends! Seeing as we live so close it is definately worth becoming a friend. Especially the fact that we will get to see this little one grow...

Isn't he a little cutie!! I cant believe he weighs 164kg! wow!! Big appetite!! haha!

We also went to see the seal show! Libby just loves the seal show! She loved it heaps last time we went and again this time!! (she wasn't loving wearing her hat though - haha!)

We also went to the farm playground bit. Libby and I patted a little lamb and she was very interested in the pig. There was also a great playground for Libby to play around in! And ofcourse, we couldn't leave the show without seeing the gorgeous and always entertaining chimps!

We also went to the birl show and in total spent 4 hours exploring the zoo and riding on the gondola (ofcourse).

Xx Jess

nappy cake!

Hello!
So... here is cake #2 from the order from my friend. The request for this one was for it to be $50 and unisex!
Here's what I made...
Ingredients:

• 24 Huggies nappies
• 1 soft stuffed toy
• 'happy baby' dummy
• yellow muslin wrap
• hair brush
• comb
• 'johnsons & johnsons' baby powder
  

nappy cake!

Yippie! A friend of mine has ordered TWO nappy cakes from me!!! Thank you!!! This one here was requested to be for a baby girl due in spring, with a budget of $50.
Here's what I made...

Ingredients:

• 19 Huggies newborn nappies
• nail clippers
• nail scissors
• 2 pairs of socks
• a 'happy baby' dummy
• a soft lamb toy
• a pink Muslin wrap

Happy Fathers Day!!!

Happy 2nd Fathers day to Matty! Liberty loves you very very much!!
And ofcourse, Happy Fathers Day to my dad too!!!
Xx Jess

nappy cake!

Congratulations to our friends Leea and Matty A on the arrival of their beautiful and healthy baby girl, Zuri born this week! I was lucky enough to meet little Zuri when she was only 4 days old, so tiny!!!
Cant wait to see her again soon!!

I had to get 'baking' again! haha! I've decided to call my nappy cakes 'Jessycakes*'. I would love to be able to sell them somewhere but im not sure if they are good enough! A friend of ours has ordered 2 (which im in the process of making). I love making them and would love to have more orders. Now... to figure out how to do this.... hmm.

Anyways, here's Zuri's nappy cake....
Ingredients:

• 30 newborn nappies
• 'pumpkin patch' top
• 'pumpkin patch' pants
• hairbrush
• comb
• nail clippers
• nail scissors
• 'happy baby' dummy
• 'bright stars' teething rattle
• baby bottle

best friends

For the last couple of months I've been looking after Arabella 1 day a week (sometimes more, sometimes less). Its been good fun! Liberty and Arabella get on so well together! Bella is 5 months older and I think Libby looks up to her and is learning lots from her! They are both the sweetest little girls! Im so lucky to be able to watch them play together so often! I hope they will stay great friends whilst growing up!
Xx Jess

* dont forget to check out my photo-a-day-2009 flickr account HERE.

nappy cake!

*Congratulations* to Nicky and Matt on the arrival of their beautiful baby boy Rafferty! I got to meet Raff last week in the mountains when he was only 6 days old. He is so beautiful and Nicky is looking great!
So with the arrival of this beautiful baby came the arrival of another nappy cake!! haha
Here it is...

Ingredients:

• 30 newborn nappies
• a 'babyGAP' onesie
• 3 bibs
• a teething butterfly rattle toy
• a wooden rattle
• a 'happy baby' dummy
• a baby's bottle
• nail clippers
• nail scissors

Say What?!!!

Just wanted to jot down all the words Libby is now saying! So, here goes...

mumma
dadda
'buhbye' (for byebye)
Uh oh
gone
more
"guck" (duck)
"dath goo" (thank you)
"guh" (for both Grandmamy & Grandpapa)
bubble
ball
sock

Thats all I can think of at the moment. Her newest words are; more, which she loves to use after every snack I give her (haha) and also "dath goo" (thank you) which she mostly says when passing someone something, which I guess is normal as I always say thank you when I pass her a toy/food. So I now have to figure out how to get her to say thank you when she has recieved something not when she is giving it.

She knows her animals. She will point to them or pick them up out of the pile. She is starting to do a few animal noises too. She's done the duck noise for ages. She can now also "mooo" and "woof" when she feels like it! haha.

She understands in French where her ears are and i think she is pretty much understanding the mouth and tummy, again, in french.

She runs.
She dances.
She gives kisses.
She throws little wobblies.
She can be clingy.
She is mostly social.
She is adorable!!!!

We love her so so much!
Xx Jess

*nearly forgot to mention how much she loves 'The Wiggles'!!! Loves them!

Nappy Cake!

I've recently had my 2nd Nappy Cake order!! Wohoo! Business is booming!!!! HAHAHAHA!
I was asked to make a cake for a baby girl with minimal pink. I ended up using a yellow & grey theme with a splash of pink!
Im really happy with this cake! It my favourite one so far! I love the colours!
What do you think??

Before:

(minus the chocolate bar - I ate that! I tried putting it on the cake but it just didn't look right!)

The finished product:

Ingredients:

• 32 newborn nappies
• 1 (newborn size) Pumpkin Patch tshirt
• 1 (size 0-3 mth) Pumpkin Patch leggings
• a pair of socks
• nail clippers
• nail scissors
• 1 baby's bottle
• 1 glow in the dark 'happy baby' dummy
• 1 'bright stars' teething rattle.

"family day"

Every wednesday Matty takes the day off work (he works weekends) and we have a "family day" we even used to do this before Libby was born! I love being able to spend time as a family!! Some wednesdays we dont do much, just hang out all together and sometimes we do fun and exciting things! Living in Sydney means there is always somewhere beautiful to go to spend the day!

We drove to Manly and caught the ferry into the city! It was such a nice day and we all enjoyed the ferry trip....

When we got to the city we walked over to The Rocks and looked at a few shops and then Matt saw a little cafe where basically everything was gluten free or at least had a gluten free option. So I said we definately had to have lunch there!! We both had kebabs! Wow! I gluten free kebab! That was the first time i've had one of those and it was yummy!!!

We then walked back to Circular Quay and hung out there for a while before going to the Opera House and for a walk in the Botanical Gardens whilst Libby had a very short nap!

Then it was the afternoon and time to hop back on the Ferry and head home!
We had a wonderful day!
Xx Jess

what a toy!

When Libby was about 9 months old, I decided she needed a new bath toy. It was late, the shops were closed, so... I improvised! I got a plastic cup and pierced lots of holes on the bottom of it with the belt buckle holey thingy on my swiss army knife, I gave it to Libby and realised the water wasn't folwing out fast enough so I added holes all around the bottom edge of the cup. Voila! Done! A plastic shower cup!

She is now 14 months old and is still playing with this home made toy the most during bathtime!!! As you can see in the background... the expensive fisher price bath toys hardly even get used! Its all about the cup!!!

I wanted to share this with anyone reading who has little kids! Its a good fun bath toy! And no, she doesn't drink from the cup as the water flows out too fast! And she's usually too interested in watching it flow out or trying to catch the water with her free hand! Too cute!
Xx Jess

a 'taste' of summer..

Yesterday the mercury topped a nice 26°! Its still oficially winter here in Sydney! It was so nice! And today is a beautiful warm day again!!! How exciting! Im loving this weather! Its so nice to see Libby's skin too! Its been all rugged up since we got back from Hawaii! I think Libby is loving this warm weather too! Thanks to Matt and I giving her a yummy iceblock to eat and get all sticky with!

Here's to many more sunny, sticky and fun days ahead!!!
Xx Jess

big appetite!

Libby LOVES her food! She isn't fussy at all. She'll eat just about anything! We are very lucky to have such a good eater!! I'd have to say she is loving eating corn on the cob at the moment! I've been cooking up lots of it for her!

And every day she is getting better and better at using her fork! Still a way to go though!

Just thought i'd share!

Xx Jess

3 months to go...

....till OUR WEDDING!!!!

Oh wow!

Still so much to organise!!!

Im so nervous, excited, happy!!!
I cant wait!
Xx Jess

Wishlist Wednesday

1. A new mattress!!

Our mattress is GROSS! It stinks and its mouldy! I cant believe we both aren't sick all the time from it! Its all stained + we got it secon hand years ago! I've been nagging Matt to get a new one for ages. Mum has a bed she will give us (with an awesome mattress) when they sell their place, but that doesn't seem to be happening, so I think a new cheap mattress will do us good in the meantime!

2. My Hair to be automatically coloured...

without a tedious trip to the hairdressers! hahaha! Now this is a wish I know wont come true! haha! Its 3 months till our wedding so I really should get my hair done so that I can just have a little hair appointment closer to the big day. This is hard for me as I usually only go to the hairdresser once a year. Dentist or Hairdresser? Im not sure which is worse! lol

3. Summer!!

I'm over cold days and having to rug up! I cant wait to be able to dress Libby back into her gorgeous summer clothes and for Matt and I to take her to the beach every afternoon!!

What are your wishes for the week??
Xx Jess

this little piggy

Liberty is starting to get long hair! its only long at the back though, so its a bit of a mullet at the moment! I cant bring myself to cut it as I know it will grow nice and long soon! Today I put it into her first set of piggy tails!! How cute!!! She is growing so fast!!!!
Xx Jess