Heart of Queensland Cookies & Baked Relief

Aren't these cookies cute? I think so! The really cool thing is they are doing much more then providing eye candy to you and me. They are just a tiny but gorgeous item that are being baked by some amazing Australians right now in a very unique way. These cute little cookies have been named 'Heart of Queensland' cookies and were baked by @roulla to do some fundraising for the flood relief.

With the overwhelming size of the floods you might feel like you can't help the flood victims but you can! Can you bake a cake, cook a sausage or make a sandwich? and heck if you can't do that then maybe you can help out with delivery? 

Well if you are in the Brisbane area you could be helping out in a pretty simple way that ends up being a very important. A very very COOL group of people are feeding those cleaning up, be they owners of the houses and or businesses that were effected, tradies, council workers or volunteers who showed up in their thousands to help the city of Brisbane and Ipswich get back on its feet.
Until a few days ago Digella (Danielle) had a cute little blog,  I stumbled across just a few days ago on one of my recent blog outings (read here gets lost in blog land often and can't find her way out!)  Now she has a website called Baked Relief and  and there is loads of details on where you can drop food of to so please go and check it out.

They have had such a wonderful response they were  trending in the top 5 tweets in Australia, their blog had 8,000 hits in a week and the new website http://www.bakedrelief.org/  had 2,237 hits on the first day! HOW AWESOME IS THAT (sorry for shouting but that just makes me excited!)

You can find them on Twitter via @BakedRelief, @digellabakes and @melkettle or you can look up #bakedrelief where up to the second details are posted.

For those of us who are too far away or unable to bake and or deliver you can donate some much needed funds to help make an extra meal. You can find all details on the Baked Relief website.

Please share this post with EVERYONE! xx

Sing with me "We're all in this together" & How you can help Queensland

Ben Lee said it best when he sang "We're all in this together"
I love this song and I think everyone should stop and listen to the words. I first heard this song when I was pregnant with Airlie Fae and she arrived almost 13weeks premmie. I seen Ben Lee in concert with Missy Higgins when I was pregnant with Airlie. The song spoke to me so much I then I used it for her 1st Birthday when I put it against pictures of her 1st Birthday which showed her 1st 12months.
It is a really powerful song. Have a listen below.

I want to make a video of pictures captured over the past month so please if you have any photos to share let me know as I think this makes a wonderful backing to the awesome way Aussie's are working together at the moment.  I already have a few pictures but with the length of the song I need more.



here are a few quotes I read today and wanted to share.

I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do. ~Edward Everett Hale I read this via Julia's page who is the owner of http://www.rudyandthedodo.com.au/  one of the brains behind Handmade Kids & Rudy & The Dodo Flood Appeal

Another I read today was "NEVER BET AGAINST AN AUSSIE WHEN HIS BACK IS AGAINST THE WALL" - John Bertram I read this via another facebook friends page and just had to share.


Where to Shop Online?

Donate Quality Goods - http://www.givit.org.au/  quality goods or items you can donate them through  a not-for-profit organisation that provides charities with access to donated goods.

Hand Made Kids & Rudy & Dodo Flood Appeal - Purchase lovely products with $ donated http://www.facebook.com/notes.php?id=133748920021668&notes_tab=app_2347471856#!/HMKRudydodofloodappeal
Jazzy Kidz Auction - Purchase products online and all $ is donated to the flood appeal  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=24311&id=136664826395309

Wholesale Baby Auction - Quality Products for sale with all $ being donated to the flood appeal - www.facebook.com/wholesalebaby

QLD Flood Appeal Auction - more quality products for sale -  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=47547&id=120316691353802&ref=mf


Drop Off Points

Details for people on the Central Coast of NSW - drop off points to donate to QLDers - http://www.star1045.com.au/article.aspx?id=106621  



EVENTS

COLD ROCK Coffs Harbour - Come into the Cold Rock Coffs harbour store to buy your ticket for unlimited rides at the jetty carnival this Tuesday (The 18th), They are $30 with all proceeds going to the qld flood relief. Itll be a fun night for a good cause :)


Toowoomba Area   http://www.facebook.com/pages/Missing-personsanimals-QLD-Floods/101387229936718?v=wall#!/event.php?eid=122162031186115


Other ways to help

Stuck on you facebook fan page - become a fan and they will donate $1 for each person who becomes a fan. How easy is that! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stuck-On-You-Official-Page/483444925318?v=app_4949752878#!/pages/Stuck-On-You-Official-Page/483444925318?v=wall



Donate online at QLD Premier's Flood Relief

• bake some yummy treats for the volunteers See http://www.digella.blogspot.com/
• donate essentials like food, nappies, wipes,mozzie guard and toiletries -  check with charities as to what they need.
• Put your gumboots and gloves on and head out to the volunteer centres set up around Brisbane. Don't forget to bring a shovel or broom along with some water for yourself too.
• Donate some gumboots and gloves
• Donate slabs of water..I'm sure they would LOVE a beer but not sure if we should promote that?LOL
• non perishable food
• personal hygiene products
• baby products
• children’s toys
• blankets
• cleaning products
• tools

www.familycapers.com.au are donating 10% of  product reviews and advertorial till the end of January 2011

Donations can be made at in person at:

• Woolworths who are matching dollar for dollar

•Commonwealth Bank
•NAB
•Westpac
•ANZ
•Bank Of Queensland
•Suncorp
•St.George Bank
•Bank SA (Bank of South Australia)
•Australian Central Credit Union
•Savings & Loans Credit Union
•Bank West
•Australia Post
•Coles supermarkets.


If you have other details of fundraisers, events or drop off points please leave me a comment below so we can get as much goodwill and love up the Queensland xxxx

An Aussie Custom at its Best!

Today is no ordinary Saturday it has now become known as Salvation Saturday. This is because most of Queensland Australia is in recovery mode from horrible floods and it is rumoured at one stage that 20 000  people had shown up to help clean up! They arrived decked out in boots and brought along shovels or brooms and helped complete strangers. Today I am truly proud to be an Australian! The Australian Spirit is alive and well! I have sometimes wondered what Australia's custom's or traditions are? Now I know that one of our customs is getting out and giving our countrymen and women a hand up when they need it. We are the best people in the world. and I know we live in a WONDERFUL country.

here is a link to a new story reporting on the clean up in Brisbane today.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/latest/a/-/latest/8655111/brisbane-working-bee-hits-streets/1/date/asc/782762/#thread

Over the past month Queensland has been in flood but the last week has been horrible with at last count 16 people confirmed dead, many still missing and thousands  who  have lost everything. I don't know how many times I have felt sad and cried in the last week? Footage has been so raw and personal that you can't help but be devastated for them. I was really worried about my brother and his girlfriend as they live in Ipswich and own a house there. My brother was interstate when this happened and wasn't able to get home but my gorgeous sister in law and the house were there and I was so scared for them. I am happy to report that yesterday morning she was able to return to the house to find that it has escaped flooding by a mere 200meters!  If the house would have gone under we wouldn't have cared but if something had happened to them it would be horrible.

I hope that the whole of Qeensland knows that the whole country is by their side while they go through this and we hope it is  help in some small way.  You can't turn on a TV and not see an update about this at the moment and the past week has almost been night and day coverage. The Internet is also filled with photos, stories and video that allow you to see first hand what this has been like for those in QLD. I think Anna Bligh and her whole team have done an amazing job and I hope she is okay after this whole event too. She was always so strong and I wondered how she kept it together for so long? News footage at one of her 2hrly updates to the press had her buckle and we all felt for her.



In total 86 communities/ towns have been affected....  and Australia is in shock.

There are many ways you can help and I will be blogging about that next.

Here are some more details on stories here http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/floods/8197266/flood-hit-residents-return-home-to-rooftop-cow

If you can help in some way please do. Also if you know of any ways to help please post them as comments here or on any other blog posts about the floods here please.

Sharing the Blog Love xx

Hiya!  Thanks for stopping by my blog. I really appreciate you guys coming and leaving your comments so please keep it up. I just wanted to invite you to leave a comment below telling me about your blog please with a link. I love to find new blogs and today I found a link that maybe you would like to check out Facebook to help you grow your blog further. It prompted me to write this post so you could leave me a comment and we could share the blog love too. Please follow my blog <----- you will find the follow button on the left hand side of my blog here. I will work my way through your list of blogs and follow your blogs too.

If any of you are interested in promoting your products via my blog please check out the Advertising page above. I would love to hear from you and would be most excited to help you grow your business via my blog, twitter and facebook friends. 

Thanks for stopping by and welcome to Oh Gorgeous Baby xx

Back To School Supplies from Kmart

I can't believe that in just a few weeks my little butterfly princess is going to big school. Its hard to believe that I will have my own little preppie and also a big boy in year 5! (when did that happen and does that now mean I am old?....please say NO!) 
So now it is time to get all of the school items ready and I am on a mission as my oldest is going on holidays to his Grandpa's house and the two little ones and I will be off to Sydney for a few days for Airlie's last appointment with the hospital where she was born premature.  
So with all this organising to do I thought it was super when I received a package from Kmart (see pic below) the kids were very excited and so was I! Airlie said is that for me? You see she just celebrated her birthday so she thinks everything that comes in the mail is for her now! With family and friends spread far and wide across Australia alot of her gifts came by mail this year. I think the thing she was most excited about was that it had glue! I swear that girl and glue are a nightmare. She loves craft and I love that she is artistic but our biggest problem is she always 'forgets' to put the lid on it. We are forever buying it! and let me tell you this can turn into a bit of a costly exercise replacing it all the time. Okay and to be truthful I got excited to because I seen they had 2pk of glue for only $2...do you know how happy that made me? I think I need to fill up my stash box (that the kids don't know about) I think I will grab a few other things like character  exercise books for 50c and 18pk Faber-Castell connector pens for $4.

Anyway the package that I received was filled with loads of goodies for us to use and I was surprised to see that it cost only $25 for the whole thing! It included everything you can see in the pic below and I think that is pretty good value. With 2 kids at school this year I am always looking for ways to stretch the budget but still have good products so I was happy to see this had a mixture of products for such a competitive price.

Now I have to pay for their uniforms..."ouch" yes that is my hip pocket hurting or rather thinking about the whole world of hurt its about to feel over the next few weeks.  We have already ordered the uniforms but they weren't being delivered to the school till end of January 2011. We also have to get school shoes I think I might to and check these school shoes out at Kmart for $8 and grab a couple of pairs and  see if i can find the 3 pack of schol polo tops in their school colours as they are only $6!
Now it is so close I just keep thinking "oh my gosh my baby is going to big school but I  must pull it together not cry yet".

I can't wait to see Airlie all dressed up in her little uniform or should I say big uniform...she looks so tiny in it.

It is also a big year for Mason who graduated in the middle years. He was presented with a tie last year to commemorate this so he is excited to be one of the 'big kids' I can't wait to see him all dressed up looking so handsome.

Do you have kids starting prep or Kinder (1st year of school in all states except VIC and QLD i think)
How are you feeling about it?

The Butterfly Princess turns 5!

I can't quite believe that my baby girl has turned 5!? I know everyone says this and feels like this when their kids grow up but I really am just in shock as Airlie Fae had every chance of never being here in the first place. You see at 27weeks gestation I suffered from Pre Eclampsia and HELLP Syndrome and had to deliver her by c-section as my life and hers was in danger. It all happened very quickly and to be honest I had no real idea what we were gonig to be in store for but we just had no choice.
Airlie was born at 9:09am January 6 2006 weighing  1lb 14ozs and I say that my life was changed from that day on. I spent 2 days myself in ICU as my blood pressure continued to rise and I came close to having a stroke. I also came close to having a blood transfusion and did have to have a main line put into my chest which was really scary. After many ups and downs Airlie came home when I should have been 35weeks gestation. She was 8weeks old and left hospital and weighing only 3lb 8ozs! 

Looking back now I can't quite believe all of that happened and that we got through it. Mason was 5 at the time and starting school so it was already going to be a big year and then his sister came along almost 13weeks early. In these sorts of events you have no choice but to learn to live with it and think about it later...which I became pretty good at. I think I was a realist and wanted to know everything that I could learn while she was in there as I wanted to help her as much as possible.  Many times I was asked if I was a nurse or in some kind of health care because of my attention to the situation and the jargon I had begun to speak. I wasn't, but I have since started the path to becoming a nurse and who knows maybe a NICU nurse one day?? I'm not sure if it will happen but all I can do is try I suppose.

Anyway I just wanted to mark the occasion with a post because it is very special to me. I didn't meet my daughter till she was already 2 days old as I was too sick to leave the ICU so her Daddy went between the two of us.  During the time around her birthday and actually months after it I sit and remember little things that happened and milestones we overcame just to see her see her 1st Birthday.

I am extremely proud of my baby girl and I know she will do amazing things in her life as she has already shown us how strong she is.
Love you baby girl xx

Airlie Fae at a special Birthday activity she and I attended. Stay tuned for more details!!

I will be doing a couple of blog posts on her birthday party and other activities we did to mark the occasion over the next few days too. I want to say thank you to everyone who has been there for my family and I during the time of Airlie's premature birth and for the following years too. To all my facebook and forum friends and family thanks for all your comments and well wishes for Airlie and myself I do appreciate you all. xx

Blog Housekeeping

I'm not sure about you but I always like a change so I thought I would jazz up my blog a little bit. What do you think? Please leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts.
I like it! But am always interested to hear others thoughts because it is you guys who read it.
Thanks for stopping by and hopefully 2011 will see me blogging a bit more and reading more of your blogs too.

The calm after the OPRAH storm

So if you hadn't heard OPRAH yet was in Australia recently and a few people were beside themselves! There were ladies going crazy screaming and crying on the street as she drove past and thousands entered to win tickets to attend her show (yes I was one of those who entered). Well I was unlucky and didn't win a ticket but Congrats to those who did win, I really hope you enjoyed seeing the Talk Show Queen herself.
The whole event of OPRAH and her American guests visiting Australia go some mixed reviews by both the media and everyday Aussies. Some were excited to have her here while others weren't so pleased. I think alot just got sick of hearing about every move she made. I know alot of people were annoyed that the NSW government or should I say tax payers were rumoured to be paying for alot of her trip. Hopefully that pays off in the end because anything OPRAH usually puts her name along side seems to do well.

I know of a few Australian girls who did quite well out of her trip as they will have their designs or stores featured on the show when it airs sometime in January 2011.  The gorgeous Sarah from Style Me Gorgeous and Sharnel from Sharnel Dollar Designs both did some styling for a baby shower hosted at Bebe in Melbourne while OPRAH was here. Just knowing these girls will be featured  on her show is a big bonus and I hope it brings loads of interest their way.  Best of Luck with all those orders coming your way girls!
I hope that the whole of Australia gets loads of interest after the show airs cause lets face it we have a pretty fantastic country and the whole world really should get a little taste of Aussie life because its the best place in the world!

Were you lucky enough to go see the show or see OPRAH herself while in Australia?

Oh and I wonder how Hugh Jackman's eye is?