Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Pictures...

...because I can't be bothered writing a post!


Chickens.


Baby goats.


34-week belly.


Painting with big sis.


Groovin'.


Sliding fun at McIntosh Island park.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Sunday drive


Today DH was in the mood to hang around at home, but I nagged him and reminded him how much happier we all are when we actually DO STUFF, so we decided to head to O'Reilly's.

Lunch packed, we headed off around 10:30. At about 11:45, DH noticed that we were driving on a bit of road we'd never seen before...he took a wrong turn. The turn we missed was 30 minutes back the way we'd come, so we decided to keep going and head for the Border Ranges National Park in northern NSW. T had a bit of a tantrum because she wanted to go to O'Reilly's and was being quite unreasonable about it but she soon got over it.

We arrived at the national park around 12:30 and stopped at the first lookout/rest stop we came across. It was really, really hot, but luckily it was not too bad at the picnic tables. We lunched and then headed onward.

It was a beautiful drive. It was so interesting to see the vegetation change and become more tropical as we entered the rainforest. The temperature difference in there was incredible- 23 degrees compared to 33 when we first entered the park!

We went for a short walk to a magnificent lookout (the one in the pictures). The lookout was amazing- it was built on a razor sharp ridge that jutted out of the range (the ridge was seriously only about 2 metres wide!).

It was a great drive and the kids had fun, even if we were in the car for 95% of the time. Jimmy is such a great little traveller. He had a couple of naps and spent the rest of the time playing with his sister and looking out the window.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Pregnancy update


I'm 32ish weeks now.

I really can't believe I have ONLY been pregnant for this long- it feels like an eternity! It's not that I haven't enjoyed being pregnant- far from it, actually. I'm feeling great physically. I've been getting up between 5:30 and 6:30 every morning, walking with Jimmy and the dog, then eating a very healthy breakfast of muesli with LSA, pepitas, sunflower seeds, homemade yoghurt and fresh fruit on top. Yummo! I don't get tired at all, in fact I have to force myself to go to bed at 10pm because I want to get a good night's sleep. My feet haven't been sore, I've had no heartburn, no crippling nighttime leg cramps, no nausea.

I have, however, been quite cranky and emotional. I am blaming it all on wanting to have a break from my stepdaughter. I don't know if that is actually the reason, or if my hormones are just messing with my brain. All I know is that I can't wait for school to start again.

McBean is moving heaps (as I type these words!) and seems to be lying in an oblique position. My doctor furrowed his brow when he confirmed this last week. He said something along the lines of "There's nothing to be concerned about just now- we'll keep an eye on it". I just shrugged my shoulders and said that there's plenty of time, and that Jimmy was exactly the same. I remember how worried I was last time that I would need a caesarean if Jimmy didn't turn...now, I couldn't care less. For me to consent to a caesarean, my life or that of my baby would have to be in grave danger. Sorry, but to me a breech birth is not something to worry about.

I've started washing all of the teeny tiny little nappies. I might make a few more if I have time after I've finished all the other projects on my to-do list. Tonight I cut out my pattern pieces for a nappy bag I'm going to make. I got the most gorgeous fabrics from Spotlight yesterday and I think it's going to look amazing.

I have an appointment at the hospital next Monday. I don't even know what it's for. I think I might be having a scan or something? Meh.

It kind of saddens me that this may well be my last pregnancy (unless we win Lotto and can afford to extend our house which, considering I've never played Lotto in my life, is about as likely to happen as the Pope converting to Judaism). I just love everything about pregnancy- the ripeness of my body, the kind smiles from strangers, being fussed over, the amazing feeling of the baby moving around inside me....ah, bliss.

I always wanted 3 children, but decided I only wanted 2 when I met DH. I think I would probably feel differently if T didn't live here. But who knows? I may change my mind. DH has mentioned a few times that he wants another one, which surprised me heaps!

Sunday, January 10, 2010

The beach

T's eldest brother took her fishing today and it was very hot so we decided to head down to the beach in the afternoon.

We took our new sun shelter and used it for the first time. It's awesome! It's so big and lovely to sit in. I relaxed in it for a couple of minutes while DH went for a swim and Jimmy played in the sand at the entrance to the shelter.
Whilst I was sitting there, I indulged in one of my favourite pastimes of people watching. There were so many beautiful, golden bodies lying in the sun. I thought back to 10 years ago when I desperately wanted to be one of those people, and would fry myself in the sun in a vain (double meaning there!) attempt to get a tan. It never worked- I have my Dad's pale skin. Now, I look at those people and feel sorry for them- that they put their own vanity before their good health. I don't really understand how people can roast themselves all day when we live in the skin cancer capital of the world. I made a comment to DH about how brown and glamourous everyone was, and how white and pasty I am, but that I'd rather be alive and unattractive than good looking and dead at 50. Of course, he told me that I'm beautiful anyway. :0)

Anyway, I took Jimmy down to the water but he was very scared of the waves, so we looked for rocks to put in his bucket. After DH came ashore, I went in the water and had a ball. I didn't want to go back in! The waves were a bit rough but I had fun diving beneath them.

After my swim, we all played in the sand for about half an hour. Jimmy had so much fun trashing everything that his dad painstakingly constructed. Then we both had another turn of going in the surf, which was really rough and quite unpleasant by this stage, so we didn't last very long. Then we packed up and headed home. Jimmy talked about it all the way home..."Beach. Water. Rocks. Santa (sand)." Another great afternoon at the beach.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Jimmy

Just thought I'd write down what Jimmy is up to at the moment, so I can look back and think "Those were the days!".

Sayings:

"Kiss!" This is proclaimed every time he slightly hurts any part of his body. He will either hold out the part that is in need of said kiss, or tell me ('noggin', 'foot', etc). It really is too cute for words.

"Go away". He knows he is not allowed to say this, and when he does, he gives me a sly sideways look. Sometimes he whispers it. Nearly every morning I hear him chanting "Go away, go away, go away" over and over in his bedroom where he thinks we can't hear him, while we listen in our room through the monitor and giggle.

"Flew away". This goes back about a month to when we spotted a dove's nest in our spiky plant outside the laundry with two eggs in it. We observed it closely for about a week, then noticed the mother hadn't been there for a while. So for the last 3 weeks, every time we go out the back door, he talks about it..."Happent?" (What happened); "Mummy. Baby. Eggs. Nets (nest)". "Flewway".

"Gone". He talks about everything interesting that we have seen and is now gone. "Bunny, gone. Box. Side." (Baby rabbit we found across the road which we put in a box- 2 months ago). "Balloon, gone. One, two." (Two hot air balloons we saw on our walk a month ago). The list goes on and on.

"Pinkonk. Macca. Daisy. Train. Bike. Piggle." Obviously he's a fan of In The Night Garden.


Favourite things to do


Walk around with his umbrella
Play rough-n-tumble with Daddy
Eat
Pull things out of drawers
Cuddle his Taggie and Roadkill Teddy
Go outside
Pick flowers
Play Duplo

Favourite foods

Anything, but mainly-
Fruit- mango, nectarine, orange, banana, pineapple, watermelon ('lemon'), apple
Lollies (dried fruit)
Mrs Flannery's Green Peaz
Cruskits
Peanut butter
Pasta, especially Spag Bol
Curry with pappadams ('pappuns')
Yoghurt
Milk
Vegemite
Baked beans
Tinned spaghetti ('betty')
Cheese







Monday, January 4, 2010

A great afternoon

Today was pretty miserable- overcast, dark and with the constant threat of rain. However, after lunch we decided to head down to the beach because T was desperate to try out her new boogie board.

We went to North Burleigh beach and it was very, very windy! Jimmy and I played in the sand whilst T and her dad tried to fly the kite. It took a while to get it up, but boy, once it was up it stayed up!

After about 20 minutes of kite-flying, we headed over to the flagged area so T could go boarding. Jimmy and I had a great time collecting small, dark stones in his bucket before he decided he wanted to go into the water. Swimming gear donned, he joined his dad and big sister and had an absolute ball, laughing hysterically the entire time until about 20 minutes later when he got knocked over by a wave, then dumped by another one before he had time to get up. He had a bit of a cry but some cuddles soon dried the tears.After about an hour on the beach, we decided to head off the sand and up to the park. The kids had a play with their dad whilst he berated a selfish smoker who was standing 2 meters from a bin but still felt the need to throw his stinky butt on the ground. Grrrr. Then T climbed a 'doodle tree' and Jimmy stared into the branches, absolutely enchanted (by his sister being in the tree, not the 'doodles' growing off it!).
We then drove down the road a piece to Burleigh town and all got icecream. I actually let Jimmy have his very own! He got a single scoop of mango sorbet in a cup and he loved it. After we finished our icecreams we walked across the road to the beach and looked at the scenery while T played on the playground, then headed home.

It was such a simple way to spend the afternoon, but so nice and so much fun. We tend to fall into the habit of staying home all the time- DH will either do his modelling, go on his computer or do stuff in the garage or in the yard, and Tiff and I will just faff around, so it was really good to do some 'family' stuff together. I told DH I really want us to make a conscientious effort to make every Sunday a family day (today isn't Sunday, but meh!). Otherwise, before we know it, all the kids will be grown up and we'll regret not taking time to live life.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Not much to report...

DH has his last day of holidays tomorrow, and it has rained pretty much every day of his holidays, so we didn't get to go to the beach once. Bummer.

On the upside, it's lovely to see everything looking verdant and full of life, as opposed to brown, cracked and dry as it has been for the longest time.

New Year's Eve was good fun- we were invited across the road to T's friend's house. Her parents are really cool and it was good to get to know them better. The kids all had a ball and T was very excited that she got to stay up until midnight. I managed to stay up despite being woken at 4:45 by a certain someone. Then that certain someone had a terrible sleep on NYE after we got home, waking 4 times between 12:30am and 3:30am. Sigh. Suffice it to say, I was very tired on New Year's Day!

T went to her mum's late on NYD and we didn't do too much on the weekend. Jimmy is feeling decidely under the weather with a sore throat and has been verrrrrry grumpy, so we've been trying to keep him entertained all weekend.

This afternoon I decided we should go for a 'rainy walk'- something I absolutely loved doing as a kid. So we donned our (fake) Crocs (not having any gumboots) and an umbrella each, and with T's raincoat over my arm 'just in case', we headed off down the path that runs next to the wetlands across the road.

On the way, Jimmy was content to hold my hand whilst holding his umbrella in the other hand, looking around at all the waterbirds. We went past our German neighbours' house and they were sitting out on their undercover area. Wolfgang leaned over the balcony and greeted us and said something about how far it was for Jimmy to walk. We turned back after about 10 minutes of very slow walking and I decided to put the raincoat on Jimmy so he could ditch the umbrella. Well, didn't he have a ball. He was running along the path as fast as he could, and then we got to a really deep puddle (about 10cm) which he delighted in running through- again, and again, and again. The last time he went a bit too fast and fell over-oops! A few tears and then I distracted him by challenging him to a running race.

I wish I'd taken my camera! DH took some pics of us in the backyard when we got back.