We had to get out of the house....

because 2 year old squealing and whinging sounds less offensive in the fresh air.

So we packed up our sausages and bread rolls, and headed for Lake Tinaroo. This is actually the dam that provides irrigation to most of our regional area. And it has been re-developed, so now has a very nice foreshore, complete with playground and barbeque areas.

The sounds of grumpy Miss 2 (who had refused to have her afternoon nap) were ALMOST swallowed up by those of native birds, gently splashing water and the birthday party going on at the bbq table next to ours!

Now if only we could stay in this pleasant place all night!

Well, maybe not. It got cool and windy. And there were ants.

Happy Anniversary, sweetheart

Happy Anniversary, Brad. Love you.

Even more after sleepless baby nights. xxx

Small Girl, Big Bike!

Another milestone reached in our little family. The first 'real' bicycle. Sweet Hubby and I discussed it - Naomi's birthday is nearly 5 months away, and we are planning to be away for Christmas. Her little plastic ride-on has been too small for her for a few months now. So we decided to get a new 'bike' now.

As the nearest toy store is in Cairns, over an hour's drive away, Hubby and Naomi took a trip together today, leaving Mamma and Ryan at home for a few hours. We talked about what kind to get - something that was very stable (preferably a tricycle), something with pedals that her feet can easily reach, and with pedals that are very smooth and easy to push down on. Maybe even one of those long handles, so I can push her on it while carrying Ryan.

Instead, she has a big bike, with training wheels that wobble along, pedals that her toes can barely stretch down to and that are very heavy to push along. And no handle. But it is pink, and has ribbon streamers. So Naomi loves it, and Daddy is very proud of himself for getting a bike that his little girl adores.

I very generously offered to go to the chiropractor and pick up a back brace, to help with the pain of all the hours spent bent over pushing the bike along.

Oh, and there is also no helmet. But I think that I will handle the expedition to get that. Who knows what Daddy and Naomi would come back with, if I let them loose on their own again!!

First day back....

was a real hum-dinger. Oh Boy. (No, I should say, "Oh Girl").

In just 8 days of his being on holidays with us, how on earth can I possibly have come to rely so heavily on Sweet Hubby entertaining Naomi, and playing with / carrying Ryan during the day?

I write this as peace has descended on our house. Finally. Ryan is asleep, Brad has taken Naomi for a looooooong drive (he left something in the office that he needs tonight). And I have just set a new world record for fastest time to devour a choc-mint Aero bar. Next is a glass of wine.

It can only be better tomorrow, right? And age 3 IS better than age 2, right??? PLEASE!!!!!

Little ones have big ears...

Never underestimate the size of those ears, or what their owners comprehend.

Sweet Hubby is diabetic (type 1 - the genetic kind). Every meal requires him to calculate the carbohydrate portions, and take insulin accordingly. Every dinner involves this conversation:

SH - "So what do you think the carbs are?".
Me - "Well, you have a cup of rice, which is 42 ... " etc.

Last night, Naomi announced to us that "The rice is the carbs, Mum".

And tonight: "How much carbs do you think, Mum?". (before anyone had mentioned it).

Sweet Hubby and I had totally different reactions. I was rather amazed at her understanding, and use of new words.

Sweet Hubby was troubled.

There is a 10% chance that either one, or both, of our children will be type 1 diabetic. He is horrified at the thought that he may have passed it on to them. It is such an all-encompassing condition that affects every single thing you do - exercise (reduce insulin), food (calculate carbs, increase insulin), travel and outings (always have juice & sugar with us), eating out (take blood test kit, select meal by what carbs are likely to be in it). etc etc. And never ever ever forget that it is life-threatening. I have had to make 2 separate emergency ambulance calls with Brad in a diabetic seizure in the bed beside me, in the 6 years that I have known him.

He is desperately hoping that neither of our children will ever have to deal with such a life.

Welcome Ryan William

Ryan William

Born - 3.10am, Monday, 23 March 2009

Weight - 8lb 10oz (3.920kgs)

Length - 50 cms

Much loved and cuddled by parents and big sister Naomi!

Happy Valentines Day

Thank you to my mum, who babysat Naomi for us to go out to dinner on Friday night. We had a lovely evening, and when I got into Brad's car, there on the seat were these beautiful flowers and a card.

I sometimes think that there is a Beatles song for every occasion.... All you need is love.

Perspective

No, I haven't dropped off the face of the planet (again)! But Christmas and New Year have been rather crazy, not least because Brad took these 2 weeks off, so we have had lots of family time and activities.

And I have been waiting for time to add perspective to a few things for me... I have found that most things seem a bit better, with time and perspective. We had a lovely Christmas morning, with 5 kids (Naomi and 4 of her cousins), dancing around the Christmas tree desperately waiting for their parents to have their tea and toast in hand, before gifts were distributed. I must congratulate them all on their restraint!

Naomi got into it all, helping Daddy to distribute the presents, and with regular cries of "Another one!" when she didn't have one to rip open herself at any particular time! She has loved the little kitchen set that Santa brought her - it has been great entertainment for her, and we have been offered "Dinner ready - bacon, sausages, egg" at all times of the day. My budding little chef!

Now that I am on a break from the Family Day Care I hope to have more time for blogging and crafting... particularly as darling Brad got me a brand new Janome sewing machine for Christmas!!! It is even quiet enough that I can sew while Naomi is asleep in the next room (the old Bernina that I had was such a clanker that it would often wake her up if I tried to sew during nap times).

I have been reading along my friends' blogs, and glad that you all had a great Christmas / New Year season. My New Year's resolution has to do with some personal peace and quiet, and having 30 minutes to myself occasionally. We shall see how I go with that!

Love is...

... your hubby getting up early in the morning to deliver your 2 plain crackers to the bedside of your sick little one, where you have been sleeping on the floor all night, knowing that you will be nauseous without them.

Last week Naomi had some sort of viral thing that seems to be going around. She was spiking temperatures of 39.7 deg C (sorry, my maths isn't up to converting to Fahrenheit!), the doctor found no cause of infection so sent us home to ride it out with Panadol and cool sponge baths. 5 days of medicine every 6 hours later the fever broke. Thank goodness its over with no lasting effects (other than that we are back to square 1 with her sleeping habits -- or lack thereof!)

I woke up one morning after tossing and turning on the floor beside Naomi to find 2 Sao biscuits on my pillow - I had forgotten to bring them with me (not anticipating being there ALL night), and Brad noticed when he snuck in first thing to see how we were doing. What a sweetie he is!

There were 2 pink lines...

on the test strip that I did over the weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had my contraception implant out on 2 May. And now we have conceived in the first full cycle after that!

By my calculation I am about 5 1/2 weeks pregnant. the women in my family have a history of awful morning sickness. With Naomi, mine started at about 8 weeks, and didn't stop until the day I had her. I am therefore enjoying this brief respite period where I still feel fine (although rather tired), and stocking up on ginger biscuits for the morning that I know will arrive when the reality check hits me like a ton of bricks.

Can I really be pregnant again? It just doesn't feel like it yet... but I am getting excited, nervous and all the other roller-coasters in between.

When did my perspective change??

We went on a family outing a few days ago - to the local pub bistro, ostensibly for dinner, but mostly to watch the Socceroos World Cup qualifier game (the Australian soccer team), which was only televised on pay TV (which I won't let Brad get, for fear of losing him altogether to the television!).

As we were sitting eating dinner, we realised we needed to get some cash out of the ATM, to buy a round of drinks (how did we become such a cash-less society??). This pub has a great family bistro eating area, and a separate public bar, for the serious workmen-type drinkers. And the teller machine is in the public bar area. So I say to Brad "You had better go to the teller and get some cash out, sweetie". To which he replied (in true 3-year old fashion) "Why me??".

All I could think of was "because you're the man". And yet, it seems like just the blink of an eye ago when I was working in the male-dominated, macho world of maritime shipping. I would not have batted an eyelid at drinking in a public bar, let alone just going into one to get some cash out. In fact, I would probably have been surreptitiously eyeing off some of the fine gluteous maximus muscles as I passed them by, and being just as loud as the next person!

So what has changed?? Why is it suddenly Brad's job to go into the rowdy part of the tavern, to get some cash, so that I can sit in the family bistro sipping my glass of riesling???

On a lighter note, here is a picture of the lovely torenias that I transplanted into a terracotta pot, on the weekend. I had them planted in a garden bed last year, and they came back up of their own accord. So they are now featuring on our back patio, making me look like an accomplished green-thumb (ha ha ha!).