Good golly and gee willakers....

Dec 18th so my little computer calender tells me.....

My last post was on October 19th - time just goes. You could almost pinpoint that as the date when Jon began his new job at the Oriental Hotel....

Since then free time has been at a premium - and fun activities are listed according to time needed to do them - money - need and a can I-be-fu**ed-cos-Im-too-tired attitude.

I have had to begin a book - empty to start - and now filled with 'To Do' lists....
* some to do this week (grocery shopping - uuuggghhhh),
* some to do in the next 1-2 months ( like roll over super annuation - ugggggghhhhh!)
* some to do over the next millennium ( like cleaning -double triple and quadrupple uuugghhh)
and ohhh lookey I started another list....

This night shift biso has taken some getting used to. Single mum 5 nights a week - (and just plain lazy the other too - hee hee)

Anyway

life is good, we are good, jon is good, lucy is good, aimee is good and I am good.
So there thats it in a nutshell.

bye.

(till next year - heeheeee heehee haaaa hehee and a ho ho ho)

Ahhh - Some free time to blog....

No matter that it is 10.43pm!!!

Here are some pics from the holiday.....
The view from our bungalow - what a view to wake up to each morning....
This is our island resort - Erakor Resort, surrounded by Erakor Lagoon.
Michelle and Glenn at the beginning of their ceremony.

Well I'm way behind in the Adventures of the Hogan's - and so much happens in such a short time that it would really be too boring to list them all! We have also been extraordinarily busy - both working lots to make up for the time we were away.

So I think I will begin with the most exciting and then work my way down - who knows you may end up reading about my trip to the Gyno!!!
Hmmmmm.

The most obvious and most exciting thing that has happened round here is our little trip to the beautiful Vanuatu...... Sigh..... I can still picture it so clearly.... the warm soft breezes... the lush plants....the tropical cocktails!!!!
What a place - what a holiday.
We went over for Jon's sisters Wedding - to the lovely Glenn (our new brother-in-law), and spent 7 nights on a private island resort - Erakor.

It was a family holiday of giant proportions and the whole shebang went.... oh-but did I forget to mention that our two delightful little girls DID NOT go!!!! Whoooopeeeeee.
My mum (god bless her) had them for the week - took the week of work for it......

What we did: Sailing, Snorkeling, Kayaking, Swimming, Touring, Lazing, Reading, Touristing, Eating and Drinking. For a whole week. Yep I know. How good is that.

The water over there is stunning - still crystal clear @ 8-9 metres deep - and about 23deg. Just perfect.
I had not successfully snorkeled before and was a little apprehensive at first - but am now so glad that I gave it a go... having never seen coral and fish and starfish like that before - I must admit that I was in awe.

Michelle and Glenn's wedding day, was perfect. The ceremony was on the beach, they were bare foot and the waves gently crashing in the background was better than any wedding song I have heard.
After the family photo's, the wedding guests (all 16 of us), headed down for Canapes while they had photo's taken. And then it was onto the reception - a wonderful buffet dinner and some very moving speeches.... I had some tears I gotta admit.

We were all very sad to have to head home to Australia, and other parts of the world, only a couple of days after the wedding - as our time there had been so much fun.
It was also wonderful getting to know Glenn's family, and Glenn for that matter - as I had only met him twice in the 6 years they have been together.

Unfortunately time just slips by and we have now been home for 2 weeks, back to normal life-normal routine and work.

But things are about to change round here again as Jon has another new job....(Michelle if we haven't personally told you about this - we apologise...).
Jon is the new head chef at the newly renovated 'Oriental Hotel' on Magill Rd.
Very Exciting stuff! He starts in 2 weeks time, and he cant wait. I haven't been there yet - but lots of people who have say it is good.

My job is going well, and they have just employed another Pastry Chef. She used to work with us at Michele's Patisserie.... so it is like a reunion there. I am really loving it there - they are great to work for, and are happy for us to give lots of idea's and also implement them.
If you live in the Campbeltown area - watch the space - as this bakery is going places I reckon....

Lucy and Aimee are both happy and healthy.
Lucy is still my delightful (?) little 3 yr old...... not sure how great I feel bout being a mum some days - but other moments certainly make up for it all..... (???)
Aimee is crawling round all over the place, walking round furniture and getting way to confidant for a just 9 month old!

Gosh this sounds like a diary entry....

So that is our adventures for the last few weeks - as usual always busy and never bored.
Jon and I have sat down and had dinner together ONCE! in the last month-and that was last night!
Jon did 65 hours work the week we returned!!! Sucks.
But there you are - thats life huh....

Oh yeah, and onto the gyno..... she had these stirrups.........

4 sleeps to go....

Come fly with me, come fly - lets fly away!!!

Yep, we are finally off to Vanuatu very shortly. We have been planning this trip for almost 18+ months now... and I cant believe its actually here.

We land in Vanuatu at Midnight, and according to the weather forecast - will wake up to a glorious day of 27 deg, sunshine and low humidity!!!
While our friends back home will wake to....rain.... albeit much needed rain, but rain all the same. Sorry fella's - I would put you all in my suitcase and take you with me... but you know how tetchy the customs dudes are these days!!!

This is just a quicky as I still have so much to do - including Vanessa and Nathan's wedding cake - and only 3 shorts days to do it in!!!!
Heeeee heeee heee heee..........

Walking to the Bay...

yes thats right - Michelle (from my mums group) and I completed the 6km section of the City to Bay Fun Run - or walk in our case!

And boy were we thrilled, elated, excited & happy all at the same time!

We walked & talked all the way from Kurralta Park Shopping complex to the Bay.
It was a cool, windy morning but it didnt stop 23,120 other Adelaidians from getting out there & doing the same.

Michelle & I completed it in 58 mins - walking 1km every 9.66 minutes.Which i think is pretty good - I did it in 59 mins last year - so to me its a PB!!!

We had a delish lunch of chicken & salad courtesy of the Contours Gym team, froze our tits off in the wind & got caught in the rain while waiting for the bus & were drenched by the time we made it onto the full & steamy FREE bus back to Kurrulta....
All in all it was a great morning- one we will not forget in a hurry mind you! But is well worth the early start, the cost & the slightly sore muscles!!!
If anyone wants to give it a go with us next year Michelle & I will be walking & talking again!!!

Cant look - but cant tear my eyes away....

Yep am watching the proverbial train-wreck....

Bindi Irwin's special on her dad....

Silly thing is - I know how it ends....

But still I watch.


What makes it worse...

I'm completely choc full of those wonderful (?) girly hormones...

PMT levels are at an all time high...

I know i'm gonna cry...

And yet I continue to watch.


I'm also a mum...

Of two beautiful little girls...

And it would be just.....(words escape me...) to lose their dad - not only for their sake...

AND YET I continue to watch.



Hmmmm better get back to the show - would hate to miss the punch line....!

Time is want to do that - FLY....

It has occurred to me that I haven't put a picture up for some time of our two cute little girlie's so here is some for you.....

Oh yes and by the way - we have a dog now - she is the one in the 1st picture - no I didnt give birth to a rather ugly child!!!
Her name is Bella - and I will write more on her later.

Things are good at our end, life is pretty busy, fun, sad, happy, teary, tired and all the other things that go with parenting!
Little Aimee is now 7 months old and is bum shuffling across the floor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Aggghhhh! its way to early for me..... Lucy never moved till she was alot older - and I know I'm not ready for two movers....

Lucy is...well.... Lucy! she is still wearing all pink - but we have learnt now to just go with the flow and all are happy. When she wears all pink she gets dressed happily and runs off to play. Ahhh.

Jon has just quit his job..........! and now has 1.5 weeks to go till its all over. Thank goodness for that!
It will mean tho that his new job (when he eventually gets one!) will be back to normal hours - which will be tough to get used to - but there you go....

While surfing the net the other night - we have the stumble button- i came across this....

"The nice thing about internal piercings"

What the! Beg your pardon?.....

Gives a great mental image doesnt it?

I would give a link but Im not sure of it - but if you wanted to find out more it was under Body Modification.... I was using stumble - so please dont think I go looking for these sort of things!!!
I must say tho that it was interesting site...

Playschool is finished so i had better be off....

This time....

I saw this style of blog written some time ago - I loved it & swore that I would do one the same.... & seeing it is our 7th Wedding Anniversary today I thought it would be fitting to do it now.

So here goes - (although it may be best read from the bottom up..)

THIS TIME NOW I am a wife, a mother of a 3yr old & a six month old & a home buyer. I'm not making any cakes but I attend & work at weight watchers, go to 'Contours' gym, go to mums group dinners, mums group play dates, take my nan shopping & catch up with friends as often as I/we can. I am happy, healthy, busy, sometimes frazzled but mostly content.

THIS TIME LAST YEAR I was a mother of one & was newly pregnant with the next. We had been in this house one year, & I had a small but successful cake decorating business. I went to mums group, swimming lessons, kindergym, coffees in child friendly cafe's & lots of friends 30th birthdays.

THIS TIME THREE YEARS ago I was a first time mum of 7 weeks. I was having trouble breastfeeding, was going to bed at 6pm, I stayed in my pj's later then I ever had & I cried alot.
I was recently unemployed & we were living in a house that was only half renovated.
Don't get me wrong, I was learning to enjoy the time of being at home with a new baby & having Jon on holidays for 8 weeks so we could spend some time adjusting to being a "family" was fantastic.

THIS TIME FOUR YEARS ago I was desperate to fall pregnant...
I was working at a well known Patisserie, & then a home wares store & then a country clothing store. We were definite DINK's (double income no kids), we had a wonderful group of friends, played Aqua netball each week - followed by drinks at the pub, & were busy renovating a house that we hoped would become a fantastic investment for us.

THIS TIME FIVE YEARS ago we had finished our time in Rovers, & were on to bigger & better things....like not having ANY commitments on a Sunday evening. And we had begun on our journey to parenthood - too easy, we thought, we will be parents by this time next year.....

THIS TIME SEVEN YEARS ago we were at our Wedding Reception. Sigh. We were 24, in love, working two jobs each & living in a nice unit in Paradise (the suburb - although it was very nice!). Some weeks on we bought our first house & we were settling into a great new bunch of friends, drinking lots of wine, eating & having loads of fun in Rovers.

THIS TIME NINE YEARS ago we were in the heart of Australia, living in a tent in a caravan park. We both had great jobs, we swam in the pool everyday, drank at the pub every evening. I got my first tattoo & a new nose ring. (what funky, hip travellers we thought we were!). We had just gotten back from a job overseas & were newly engaged.

THIS TIME TEN YEARS ago we were newly qualified trades people. I was working for a bakery that sold lots of cakes with cheese in them, & Jon was at the Festival Centre.
We had hardly any money, two cars (??), lived in the dodgiest block of units in a great suburb just out of the city, & had joined a Rover crew (that turned out to be just as dodgy as the place we lived...).
This was obviously the year that we got lazy (two cars & living just out of the city...?) as we seemed to be a bit larger (& larger) in the photos taken at the time.....

THIS TIME THIRTEEN YEARS ago I had begun my apprenticeship, bought my first car & had hooked up with six months previously with one of the apprentice chefs called Jonathan. He had long red hair, was a skater, drank heaps of beer, went abseiling with his mates & was a mad keen Canoe Polo player. Somewhat opposite of me....
We both lived at home & each finally had a stable income. We ate out alot, went on a camping trips, long drives & spent plenty of time...er..um..getting to know...um..each other...cough....

THIS TIME FOURTEEN YEARS ago I was dating some pretty dodgy boys... (cant call them men at 17yrs old...). I was doing a tafe course,was a tiny size 6, worked part time in a bakery, where I was hit upon by a couple of the older (yucky) bakers, & was learning to drive in my dads Datsun 180B.
I was heavily involved with scouting, sailing, rowing, camping, comedy capers, my best friends, musicals & movies. How very thrilling.....
I was living at home, & even had to beg (for a full fortnight) my parents to let me fly to Port Lincoln for my boyfriend's (at the time) 18th birthday.

THIS TIME.... well I think I will save all the thrilling details of my very scouting, non drinking/non smoking parents, private school attending, upbringing for another time - don't you agree?

Putting my thoughts out there....

I have been meaning to write about this for some time, but these things stop me
1- lack of time
2- not really knowing how to put it down on 'paper'
3- do I want to & what will the repercussions be in the future
4- having friends read about this difficult thing in my life

But the one thing I do need is to get it out of my head & look at it maybe from a different perspective.... hmmm that sounds way to wanky for me....

Well now that I have everyone thoroughly confused & even maybe have slightly interested some people I can finally say what it is....TANTRUMS! Of the 3 year old kind.

Yes we live with them everyday - generally several times a day.
And I will be honest - it is doing my head in.
I am getting to the end of my patience with them & the do-er of them.

This daily dishing out of wails, tears, teeth clenching, hitting, kicking, yelling, screaming, banging on doors/walls & complete frustration (on both sides) must surely come to an end soon otherwise we will go insane.

These 'little' things may start over the most innocent of things like some minor daily decisions - What to eat for breakfast - Cherio's or Toast? Can someone else use the texta's to colour in? What drink cup/sipper bottle do you want to use today?

Or they can begin with the Tele not being turned on or onto the right channel... or the light not being on in the toilet.. or blowing her nose...or not letting her play with my make-up... or not letting her play 'wave the toilet roll brush round like your the fairy god-mother'... or not letting her cut dried fruit with a sharp knife... or unrolling so much toilet paper to use that it would sink the proverbial...or pulling her baby sisters head just that little bit too roughly...or not listening when we say stop.... or daddy stepping on those 'eggshells' just a little to heavily...

But the mother of all reasons as to why tantrums occur in our household on a thrice daily basis....Getting Dressed & it not being PINK enough.

Sounds silly I know - but the colour pink & the tone of the colour pink are HUGE issues to our 3 year old.
She just loves the colour - & will often be wearing pink.... knickers, socks, stockings, shoes, skirt, top, jumper, jacket, headband & clips - all in one day, one hour, one session.
Carrying pink blankey, pink drink bottle, pink bag & pink dressed dolly in the pink pram.
(and I think I have said the word too many times - its starting to sound weird!)

(And may I just point out too that this was really truly NOT my plan for my child to only deal in pink - this is just her putting her stamp on the world.)

I actually don't have any problems with any of the above mentioned reasons - I mean they are a part of my day to day life - saying no to this & that, stopping situations that could become dangerous & guiding her thru these tough years of learning.

But what I have a problem with is the continual Tantrums that result from my reactions of these very simple, every day things.

The tantrums are making everyday a sad/bad day at the moment - with not too much time left for fun. Because once we have gotten over 20 mins of yelling,wailing ....see above... it time to get in the car, or playschool has finished, or her lunch is stale/cold/soggy. Or so many other things.

This is what does my head in.... I have taken time out from working to stay at home to raise our small children in what we think (for us) the best way.... and I find my days to be continually shit upon by the Tantrums.
I have become a sad, frustrated, unloving, uncaring, angry, cross, at a loss and teary mother.
Really quite the opposite of what I wanted to achieve from my turn as a stay at home mum.

People have tried to council me with what to do -staying strong, -not giving in to her, -sticking to my plan of discipline, -listening to her needs, -smacking, -time out & taking away loved items.

And today we did - her all time favourite-nothing can replace-must go most places with her-especially to bed- hot pink 'Blankey' - WENT INTO THE BIN!
And she stood & wailed - "but I love him so much". .it broke my heart.
(i went to the gym & on returning home & kissing her goodnight I did notice that 'he' was once again in pride of place spread out on the bed....not sure who is playing who here...).

Now I think that I am a pretty good mum (doesn't everyone...!) & having watched many others how they conduct themselves in the public & private arena's - I know that I AM a fair, good disciplinary, good listener, a liker of time out & I very rarely smack mother.

But none of this seems to be working at the moment. She just keeps on going.... with the wailing & the crying. Until I get up & walk away - out the front door.
(not for ever...just a little while).
Now I know that while this is an effective way of gaining her attention ('don't leave me mummy...') I also know that it is not a good thing to do & in the long run will be quite ineffective.

So here I am.... admitting that I'm really unsure as to how to effectively parent in these situations... where to go to now (now that blankey is back in the house) & admitting that my love & affection for her is dropping rapidly with each day that contains these tantrums.

Maybe I am missing something that she is saying, maybe she is really unhappy at the moment, I'm not sure.... as there are lots of other things she is involved in but turns into a shy, hiding, silly little girl at the mention of attending them - Ballet, Kindergym, Swimming. Yeah sure she loves it when she is there - but getting her to get dressed to get there.....

I am really hoping that this stage of development is just that - a Stage.... ('they all go through it!'),
& that our happy, productive & fun daily life will return once more -
but you know as it is at the moment I just cant see that happening......

Latest member of the Humphries Clan

Introducing my gorgeous new niece Gracie Anne Curtis

Born on June 23rd 2.18am
Weight: 7lb 15oz - 3.6kg
Length: 50cm

And pretty cute too I might add.....

Check out my new do......

Not bad huh????

The spot on the side of my nose is not a pimple - its a nose ring....

Little sister.....& other things

This is a picture of my younger sister at 39 weeks pregnant.... and for those of you who know her - its amazing huh!?!
Who would of thought that little 'kayls' is gonna be a mummy! She is due in 10 days, and is having their little girl on Kangaroo Island - seeing they live there now.

My mum spent 5 days over the long weekend with her & Dustin & the bump. Kayla was getting restless, homesick and all the other things you get when you are that heavily prego - so mum thought it would be good to spend some quality time together.They had a great time catching up, having cooking lessons and generally taking it easy. We wont be seeing kayla & dustin until after '???' is born - and personally I cant wait till she comes.
This new addition will be the 7th grandchild (the 5th grand-daughter) for mum & dad, & make our family add up to the grand old sum of 17!!!!! Its a big table needed just for a regular evening get together.
People often wonder why my parents bought a bigger house - well now you know.
I reckon as well that the number could be nearer to 20 in the next few years.... (no not me - this shop is shut!!) but other siblings of mine have talked bout having more. Wow, our own cub pack....

Anyway onto the 'other things'....

This morning i found myself being discharged from Hospital. What! Why? you ask....

Well on Tuesday evening I went along to the gym (that I have just joined - our holiday in the tropical waters gets ever closer....) & on leaving I noticed that I had a headache. Unusual but....

Then on Wednesday, while again at the gym my headache started up soon after I began - even more unusual but I carried on.
20 mins into exercising my headache suddenly went into a full blown migraine that left me swaying unsteadily on my feet, nauseous & holding my head - while a particular vein running from the bottom of my skull, up behind my ear & into my temple began thumping in a rhythm that would have rivaled anything WOMAD could have dished up....

Boy oh Boy - does that scare the be-jesus out of you.
I had to call my parents to come & pick me up & then they looked after the kids while Jon took me to A&E.
7pm....There was a four hour wait, & I was given a triage rating of 4 - but upon checking, my blood pressure was high & I had no strength in my right side - so I was quickly put onto a bed & pushed up the list. They were worried that I had had a bleed in my brain... yikes.

After a CT scan, & a visit from a surgeon at 4am - who told me that I would be admitted, would be transported to RAH for an MRI, & surgery would be discussed following that - I was wheeled into a ward at 5.30am.... Yes that was a LONG night is A&E.
(Poor Jon spent the time on a plastic chair & both of us tried to keep away from the terrible blasts of cold air. Turns out I had been put in the infectious diseases room, that has a separate air con from rest of the hospital - fark it was cold.)

My ward had 5 other older woman in it, ranging from 55 to 87, & when I woke at 8am (by the breakfast trolley being wheeled in -rattle,chingching,rattle) I initially thought.... well you know... but it turns out they were all lovely oldies, friendly & up for some chatting.

So my headache had gone (thankfully) & I was feeling great by the time the docs rolled around on their morning rounds, I was quickly downgraded from having an MRI to just (?) having a Lumbar Puncture. And as the day wore on it was obvious to all that I was ok & not in any serious trouble. Was actually starting feel like a complete fool....
My Lumbar Puncture, which was at 6pm last night, was fun.... & as they had suspected was completely clear (both fluid & diagnosis!).
And I was free to leave - only after spending 4 hours lying on my back following the procedure, but as it was past 10pm at night they thought I would have a better nights rest in hosp & be able to leave in the morning - first thing.

And at 10.30 am this morning (funny my first thing in the morning is around 6.30) I was finally given the ok to leave.
Their final diagnosis - muscular skeletal strain. In other words - a migraine. yah. sigh.

I feel ok still, but just have a a bit of a back ache - which is understandable really.

Amazing just what can happen in the space of 36 hours!

The heir to my title turns the Big 3!

Yes, its true.... 3 years of my life!
Seems like only yesterday that I was worried over whether or not she was getting enough room with my ribs in the way....
And now she is my big girl. And isn't she gorgeous!!!!

Lucy had a lovely birthday - lots of fun, laughter, presents and of course tears.
Isn't every girl allowed to cry on their birthday?

We are now a household of 4 Barbie dolls..... doesnt seem that long ago that I was playing with them.

She just loves them, and of course the Barbie dress that Aimee kindly gave to her (she went to the shops with money and everything!!!).

The dress was and still is a big hit - today is day 3 of wearing it... it will have to come off soon for a wash!

Unfortunately it doesn't come with washing instructions - strange???
Perhaps the makers realise -and correctly- that the little girls (or to be PC-children) who get given the dress will NEVER take it off, so the need to wash it will never arise..... who knows?

Anyway, we are off to her pa pa's house tonight for a family BBQ (in this weather??) birthday dinner for her, and we have an afternoon tea on Sunday with my family for her birthday.
Whew. What a social life that girl has :)

She has been and will be thoroughly spoilt.....
And all I have to say about that is - why shouldn't she........

yah!

Am off to my scrapbooking camp tonight....
So very bloody exciting!!!!

Jon is staying home and looking after the girls all weekend - and he even has 4 stitches in his thumb......he is such a hero!

He sliced it yesterday at work peeling the skin of salami, and thought it might only need steri strips - but when it had been bleeding for almost 2 hours he thought maybe a doc's appointment would be wise.
Poor thing now has to do the dishes with rubber gloves on. Lovely pink ones they are too.

Well gotta keep moving - camp opens in 3 hours and 42 mins - and I have to finish packing......
Actually I have to still do - the dishes, sterilise bottles, clean the house, finish dinner, pick up lucy, feed aimee, hang the washing out and pack my clothes and scrapping gear.

A Womans work is never done!

Well a woman who is going off to camp for the weekend and leaving the kids with their daddy all weekend has too much guilt not to get all those things done.....

Don't they always say it - the way to ruin the 'Mood'....

Is to have children....

Sunday morning we are having a sleep-in after a 1.30am night.

Lucy comes in at 7am....
"Can you check my bottom, I've just done poo's".........................................................................................................

Sigh!

Guess what my mum did????

She threw my purse and sunglasses in the rubbish bin - about 2 minutes before the great big garbo truck came and picked up her bin and took the rubbish away!!!! With my personal things in it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh my Gawd......

Having re read that it sounds like she hates me and did it to be horrible, but she didn't - it was all a complete accident, a whoops, a monumental cock-up... thats all.

So now I need to begin again.

If you look at the positives I have now got a good reason to go out shopping and buy another cute purse. I have also had a clean out of all those pesky shop loyalty cards (of which about 3 were almost there to getting me "free" stuff) and I get to renew my licence photo, which the old one really wasnt very nice.

If you look at the negatives - well I will cry! so I will only think good things and all the shopping I will get to do! (not - as I have no bank cards...).

Oh Well.
Although another positive is that it is the third thing to go wrong with money with us in the last 3 weeks.... we should be off the list now.

just give me second while I claw my way back up to the keyboard...

Ahhhhhh.....

Well I'm back. After a short fall from the desk chair into/onto(???) the unknowns of my study/cake room floor - I have finally found my way back.

And how nice it is too - to be once again entertaining the public with the hilarious antics of my wonderful little family.

Well what really happened is that in the process of transferring my 'Blog' to the new and improved Google thingo I forgot the password, and the log in user name. Which I might add has gone from a name to an email address - what a way to confuse a gal.

Yes I will admit that I'm not too computer savvy, and I although I did try the many wonderful and varied ways to write my name, the kids names, the family name and all the different styles of email addresses we have had over the years - I just couldn't get it right. If one was the other wasn't.
So Very Frustrating.
My other rather large problem is that I have two little children. I need not say more but I will.
Time would seem to be plentiful when you don't work and stay home all day - but unfortunately it really isn't.... and I couldn't seem to find a spare hour to sit and nut out my email/password dilemma without one crying or the other coming in to say "What doing mummy?".

But enough whining.... on with the blogging.

Well much has happened in the 8 weeks or so since I fell off the chair (actually its a fit ball - how clever of me to time manage exercise and computerising).

Aimee is now 3 1/2 months old, is rolling onto her side, waving her hands madly round in the air and then staring at them for minutes while she tries to work out just what the hell they are, and is chatting loudly - Yes that's right - two no three big chatters in the family!!!!
She is a pretty cute thing, and is becoming a wonderful member of our family. She is a happy girl, doesn't cry alot and puts up with Lucy in her face all the time but will not sleep thru the night.
While this could be a bad thing, it is the only thing I can complain about so I consider myself very lucky. And besides I get to spend more quality time with her - that is if I could keep my eyes open...

Lucy is closing in on the BIG 3.... wow how time flies. (What a crappy cliche) It really it does.
I'm not quite sure just when in my young and carefree life that I became a mum with a three year old and a newborn.............. a mother of two. Ahhhhhhhggggghhhhh!

Anyway she is great fun to be around. She loves cutting and gluing bits of paper to bits of paper - much like her mum really;), and she now has a couple of imaginary friends.
I'm really not sure how these came about, or who taught her about them but they are part of our life!!!
One is 'Bobby', I think he comes from the story Jon's mum told her about what happened to a man they saw in a wheelchair. She told Lucy that he had been in a car accident, and when Lucy was telling Jon (the great pun man) he told her his name would be bob if he went swimming.

Another is 'Kelly' - she was imagined today - and I had to be careful when opening her bedroom door that 'Kelly' didn't get out.... also when I put Lucy to bed I had to 'yell' at 'Kelly' to get out of Lucy's bed.

See why I don't have time to look for my password - I spend my days babysitting imaginary friends.

Other fun things we have been up to:
*A wedding trip to Melbourne - with no kids. Yipyahooey. What a great weekend. Congrats to Mel and Matt too - thanks for a great day!
*Painted the front half of our house and our bedroom - the colour is great and I (we) love it no matter what other people may think.
*Made many beautiful wedding cakes
*Had a meat fest at Goucho's
*Been camping at Woodhouse for Easter
*Gone on the Dolphin River Cruise at Port Adelaide - only $3 and well worth the queue!
*Had my 31st Birthday
* and my sisters wedding.
So many more wonderful things - but I really do not want to ramble on my first entry back.... ha!

So there you go - for all the people asking just where have I been - now I'm back!
Stay tuned for more thrills people.....

She's here!

Yes Finally I have time to sit quietly and type up a blog about our newest arrival.... only 3 weeks after the fact! But there you are - thats life with a couple of kids.

Aimee Kate Hogan was born on January 11th 2007 - after a somewhat drawn out first stage of labor and an excedingly fast second stage of labor... that was to quick for pain relief...yeouch!

But thats all the details I'm willing to put up to the world - although if you do wish to know any more of the gory yet interesting details, come and have a chat.

I will put in though that she weighed 8pound 15ounces, or 4060gm!!!!
Which compared to my firstborn - she was 1/2 a kg heavier, that is why I say... yeouch!!

Another way of stating it... If I had a 4kg of watermelon I wanted to buy - @ $2.99 a kg - she would of been $12 worth of watermelon... thats a whole lot of watermelon
Or she was just under a 5kg bag of potato's.....

Anyway, life has settled into a routine already. With Aimee waking to feed at intervals of 3 hours, (the 3am one is a killer!) Aimee is bottle fed - so the greatness of this is that Jon can get up at 3am too and feed her. Yeehar. It is lovely to have 5-6 hours of unbroken sleep. What a man!

Lucy is coping. Just. I think she is harder than Aimee.

The temper tantrums have seriously increased, and so has getting out of bed at night.
C'mon we all remember getting out of bed to *get a drink *go to the toilet *get one last goodnight kiss *come and kiss the teddies *to tell anyone something or other.....
Its just that it wears you down at 9.30pm when you are just as tired.
And dont she know it.

The books all tell you to keep a deadpan face and tone of voice, tell them to go back to bed and walk out. But after the 25th time - its pretty hard not to make an idle threat - you know you wont stick too.
So we battle along. It is nice to know that we are not the only ones to go through it - there have been whole books devoted to the subject.

Its funny when you are not a parent and you watch others do their parenting thing and you say to yourself..." I will not do it that way... they are too tough on their kids".
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ahhhhhhhhhhhh hmmmmmn.
Yep I said it.
How wise I thought I was......

Anyway enough of that.

Jon has just painted our bedroom. Only 12 months after we bought the new curtain material. Tis not all his fault - I had a tough time choosing the paint colour, as it is pink. Not an easy task - cos you dont want it too fairy flossy - and you dont want it too dark so it seem the walls are closing in on you.
But it looks great. Not everyones taste I know - but hell I dont give a hoot.

The ensuite and walk in robe is next on the list - but in a lighter tone. And then the entrance way and lounge.
I cant wait.

Well I have to be heading off as I have a 3 hourly alarm clock sounding somewhere in the house... Will post some pics later.

Hear Ye - Hear Ye

Well January 10th 2007 is here and I'm officially 40 weeks pregnant.

I can say that I have never ever been this pregnant in my life before - and probably won't ever be again.
A sad thing really.

These last few weeks have been pretty busy (and very slow at the same time) for us.
We got home from a fantastic two and a bit weeks on Holidays at the beach - of which I meant to write about, but I'm not so sure that will ever happen now!!
And we have spent the time relaxing, visiting, sleeping in, changing the house around (of course..) and generally getting ready for our new little arrival.

But just to add to all the excitement my delightful, fully inherited, have had them since I was 19 yrs old, Varicose Veins have decided that they really liked all the aspirin that I have been taking since week 9 of this pregnancy, and they are seriously not happy with the fact that now it is week 38, the good stuff has been stopped and they have had to work on their own to keep the blood flowing smoothly up and down my legs. They obviously all got together one evening and decided to boycott and block up - giving me an excruciating leg cramp from thigh to heel for a day and very painful blockages in the surface veins.

Due to the great fear of DVT ( Deep Vein Thrombosis) now going about, I was immediately admitted to hospital, given painkillers for the cramps and an ultrasound on my legs to make certain no little renegade clot would act like a suicide bomber and make its way up to my heart or brain. Thus damaging me and the little 'lump' (often referred to as "Aggie") I'm carrying around.

Luckily all was ok down in the Deep Veins running below my knee - and I was discharged from Hospital later that day - with the advice to take some paracetemol for the pain - and to come in if the pain gets worse.

Which of course it did. And did I go back in - No. Why? Cos I'm a stubborn one.

I did go back in for my ante-natal clinic 5 days later, at 39 weeks, telling them the cramps and painful blockages had been round for the last 5 days now and my brain was getting very foggy with the pain.
The Doc ran her hand along the length of my calf to 'feel' the blockages and I was left clinging on to the ceiling with my finger nails due to the pain. I was admitted again.

This time they did something better about it and ordered me back onto Clexane, which is an anti-coagulant (I think) which helps to keep my blood from clotting too much (people please do not attempt to write a medical thesis on my notes! I bake cakes remember.....) -but is a bit stonger then the simple old asprin.
But of course I make this out to sound as if it all happened in the space of 2-3 hours... Ha ha how wrong you all are.
I had my clinic at 9am, was admitted at 12 noon and had the first injection at 5pm. Time moves slowly in hosp.

After sitting in an uncomfortable, crunchy sounding, sweat inducing plastic covered hospital bed for 29 hours - I asked to go home. Which they willingly let me - they were busy in the maternity ward.
( Seeing I had a double room and had to listen to a young girl in the early stages of labor from 6pm to 4.30am.....all that moaning and heavy breathing is enough to put you off going into labor yourself!)
But I had to take the Clexane home and inject myself daily. This was of no worry to me as I had to do the same with Lucy's pregnancy.
Funny though that all my 6 injection points are marked with a small red spot - the one the midwife did in hospital is marked with a large ,raised red spot large and an even larger blue and purple bruise!!!

That was last Thursday.... and today I have had anther ante-natal clinic -my 40 weeker. Which was just as uncomfortable.
They wanted me to see the veins specialist - and the ante-natal docs, but unfortunately each doc kept pushing my name to the back hoping that the other one would see to me first.........................................................................................................So they wouldn't have to make the final decision. Keeping me waiting for 2 HOURS.

Oh yes really comfortable when you are on hard plastic hospital waiting room chairs, have a large head sitting in your pelvis and it is 39 deg outside.

Eventually I was seen, after going up to the counter and asking just what was happening, and they had already decided (when they realised their mistake and the time that I had waited) that they will induce me. HOORAY!

So Yes, by the time that this is read by most people I will be yet again sitting in that uncomfortable, crunchy sounding, sweat inducing, plastic covered hospital bed - but this time I should have a little baby in my arms....or so pretty bloody close to it that Jon should be ordering the flowers and some beers.... Ha ha.

So Yeah. Not much else to say now really.

Except that in only 24 - 30 more hours I can take my really attractive, sexy, thick support stockings off for the last time.

And burn the bastards............................ HE HE he heeeee heee haaa haaaaa Haaaa Hoooooo hoooooo Ha ha ha!
(Very manic laughter from someone about to under go immense amount of pain!!!!!!)

See you on the other side people, a side where I can lay on my tummy, Do up my sneakers, wash my legs, and walk for more than 20 metres with out being in pain........

Yahoooooooo.

39+4

Thats how my pregnancy hand held record reads......

39 weeks and 4 days....

and I'm still waiting!

I have an appointment on Wed, which will make me 40 weeks on the dot, so we will see what they have to say then.

C'mon 'Aggie'.... you know you want to.... all it takes is a little push down.....