Category: Life as a Wife

Happy 6th Wedding Anniversary

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Hubs and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary in the first weekend of December, and we took full advantage of my parents being here, and went away for 2 nights. Well, sort of. I’m still feeding Quinn, so we needed to stay pretty close to home so Mum could bring the kids to us for the day on Saturday. But we had 2 nights away and that’s what counts!

We stayed at Hinchinbrook Marine Cove Resort at Lucinda which was rather nice. We had a great view which was my only request when booking the accommodation. Hubs ended up having to work late on the Friday night, so I went and checked us in around 5pm since the place was only 20 minutes away, and put the champagne sparkling white in the fridge to chill for our arrival. I’m glad I did, as we didn’t end up arriving until almost 10:30pm!

We had a nice evening and a pretty good night sleep (nothing is as good as your own bed though!! Shame ours is in storage…) and Mum brought the kids up on Saturday morning, arriving around 8:30am.

I’m not sure who missed who more!

This is what happens when you don’t own a TV… My poor, deprived children…

Dad had gone fishing for the day up at Cardwell. Poor Mum had a bit of a rough night with Quinn, but in a cute way. Quinn woke up around 3am and just wanted a chat. For almost 2 hours!! So we took Chance to the pool while Mum and Quinn had a little rest.

It was quite hot and the pool was SO lovely. The shade cover made it very easy for us to hand around for over 2 hours! We had an easy lunch, and then I don’t really know where the rest of the day went! We just hung out and watched the boats and lazed around. We said goodbye to Mum and the kids around 6pm and said helllloooooo to Moet:

Happy Anniversary Hubs. This year has been one of our hardest, but definitely our best, and I know things with you will just keep getting better and better. I love you!

And they said it couldn’t be done!

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And by “they” I mean the voices inside my head…
Before/during:

Oh man those photos make me cringe. Especially the shot of the kitchen. We were (I was) still pretty relaxed and confident at this stage. I’m not sure how, but it felt pretty damn good. 
And then…

I spent a solid 8 hours cleaning this house top to bottom, inside and out. I really hope the real estate agents are impressed, or at the very least, satisfied, because I was. Especially since I did it all with a very sore foot that turned out to be due to a stress fracture I sustained a month ago. I just didn’t get around to going to the doctor until it was all finished. In return for my hard work, I got to buy a new pair of (red) shoes! It was worth it.
Another empty house. Another move. Another change. Another adventure. 
Wanna come?

What’s going on?

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Even though we don’t leave Townsville (moving to Ingham for 10 weeks for Hubs’ last placement as an intern) til Friday the 8th of November, the removalists are coming on Monday to put everything into storage, and we are moving in with our friends Haz, Maz, Jaz and Az (Haz and Maz are good friends of ours – Maz and Hubs are interns together – and Jaz and Az are their boys who are the same age as Chanbe and Quindy.) Got it? Confused?? Yeah, me too 🙂

But we are getting there! And my stress levels are surprisingly low, hence me feeling like I can spare 10 minutes to write a blog post! There’s still a lot to do, but I’m 100% sure it can be done in time for the moving van to arrive Monday morning. And the great thing is, Mum is still around looking after the kids, and Hubs has had most of this week off. He also has 3 days off next week so we can get the house ready for new renters to (hopefully) move in asap.

Quindy has been somewhat out of sorts (probably teething…)
But she’s still been providing us with lots of smiles and chats.

My poor little Chanbe. We keep selling the furniture while he’s in bed or out with Gran. He woke up the other morning and said to Hubs 
“Ummm Dadda, where’s the couch?” 
But he really is such a trooper, and not to provide TMI but the toilet training is going SO WELL. Woo!!!
There’s also been a fair bit of this:

Granted, not the best timing, but Hubs and Haz have been doing some serious male bonding over the kombi. And it makes Hubs happy, so whatareyougonnado?
Don’t you just LOVE the matchy-matchy jumpsuit and kombi!!

Oh, and there was also this:

 We all came into contact with a caterpillar cocoon that was in our friend’s pram. It was pretty nasty!

The kids were a bit upset initially, but even though the rash hang around all week, it didn’t seem to bother them at all (as you can see)!
 I still have a slight rash (this was taken last Sunday, after the incident on Saturday night) and it gets itchy when I get sweaty, but it’s getting better. We had NO idea what it was to start with, but then we found the cocoon. We’ll be checking from now on I think!

So yes, as well as moving, there have been the usual amount of goings-on. But like I said, my stress levels are way down on this time last year! Hubs and I took full advantage of Mum being here and went out for a delicious Japanese dinner last night. Just our luck. We’re about to leave town when we find an awesome place to eat! Can’t believe we’re already packing this house up. Where did the year go?

Oh well. On to the next adventure!!

A picnic for 2

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A couple of months ago, Hubs and I were given a bottle of Moet Champagne, and have since been looking for/trying to make an opportunity to share it in celebration of Hubs finishing his PhD. The time came on Friday night when Hubs and set off for a picnic on the banks of the Ross River. Mum is staying with us at the moment, so we headed off around 5:30pm and wished Mum all the best.

We found a lovely clearing about 10-15min bike ride from our house and set ourselves up.

We got there just in time to watch the very pretty sunset.
And I made sure I had packed real glasses, because real Champagne needs real glasses.

The view of Annandale across the river, and Mt Stuart to the right.

Hubs’ answer to “give me something special!”

I was getting worried that we had gotten there too late and that we were about to run out of sunlight. I looked in the other direction to find a full moon!!! 
(A bit hard to see here if you don’t know where you’re looking but it’s there!)

We had such a lovely time chatting and eating yummy things. And the Moet? Little bubbles of absolute bliss.

That’s Doctor Hubs, PhD to you…

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I can’t believe I haven’t blogged about this yet. It’s one of those things that happened and it is so exciting that I just assume everyone has heard about it (even thought I don’t have facebook, twitter, instagram etc.)

Get on with it Wifey!!

Hubs’ PhD thesis has been accepted. So apart from printing and binding the final copy, it’s done. No corrections needed. I cannot tell you how excited I was for Hubs (and us!) when he told me. I was still in Brisbane and he was back in Townsville when he called with the news. It’s one of those moments that I desperately wanted (needed) to be with him so I could hug him and look him in the eye and tell him how proud I am of him. But alas, that had to wait.

We still haven’t properly celebrated, as he has been working long hours since I returned home, but there is a bottle of bubbly in the fridge earmarked for such an auspicious occasion, and I for one can’t wait to crack it.

As Hubs’ Mum pointed out to me, a PhD is an achievement in itself (she should know!) but the fact that he quite literally wrote the majority of his thesis whilst he was studying medicine, as well as getting married, moving twice, having a baby, moving 3 more times, having another baby, and starting his intern year, is simply outstanding and a credit to this man I am lucky enough to have by my side.

I don’t think it has sunk in as yet. Perhaps when he attends his graduation next year (I insisted) it might hit home. But more likely, when we go on holidays, or spend a day together as a family, he won’t be thinking “I really should be working on my PhD.” That’s when he will realise he is free to enjoy his down time wholeheartedly.

I love you, Hubs, and we are all so damn proud of you.

Is it too late?

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Is it too late for me to find my style? I used to have some sort of style, but have never been stylish, if that makes sense. I used to wear A-line skirts and fitted tops, to highlight my small (ish) waist, and match my jewellery to my outfit (one of the things Hubs first noticed about me!) but these days, I’ve taken to wearing the same thing day in, and day out, and either not wearing jewellery at all, or never changing it.

I have lots of lovely dresses that I’d love to wear but they either don’t fit, or are unsuitable for breastfeeding. Plus, I used to love wearing my hair out, either blow-dried or straightened, but it’s too hot to do that up here (yes! STILL!!) so it goes up in a pony tail each morning and doesn’t move til I go to bed at night.

I’ve never been particularly good at keeping up with what’s in, and what suits my figure, especially since having kids. And not having the money to hire someone to tell me what to wear, or purchase fancy new stuff, or the time to sift through op-shops and bargain racks, has left me in a bit of a jam.

But I’m determined, especially with the cool(er)(ish) weather just around the corner (please please please!!!!!!!!!!) If anyone has any tips on where to start, that would be super helpful!!

I may regret telling you this…

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I’m committing myself to run a 5km fun run in August. I’ve mentioned before that I’ve always wanted to do a 10km fun run, so this is a build up to doing that some time in the future. I was aiming for 10km straight up, but seeing as how I’ve never done much running, and my body is still “recovering” from my pregnancy with Quinn, I was advised that 5km would probably be a better start. And I concur.

So I’ve started walking with the kids in our new pram:

And am currently looking into a running program like Couch 2 5k or something similar. I’m a little nervous and somewhat intimidated by the task I have set myself, but I really need something to focus on at the moment; something just for me; and I feel like this ticks a number of boxes for me at the moment. I need to dedicate some time to myself to complete the 3 sessions a week needed to reach my goal. These programs state you can complete the program in 9 weeks, and I have 16 weeks til the fun run, so I’m feeling confident that it will happen.

The best part is, my good friend Bethie, who is a personal trainer and does lots of running and other exciting things, is flying up to do the run with me! So I will have a cheer squad on the road which will be very helpful. (Thanks Beth!!) And it will also mean that I have to do it, as Beth has already booked her flights! Eeeek!

So there you have it. Here I am being all accountable to you guys. I shall keep you posted on my progress!

Whatever doesn’t kill you…

/ Renae / 3 Comments
…gives you gastro?

When I last left you, we had conquered Sydney and were celebrating our victory in Gosford. We got an early start the next morning, hoping to clock up about 500km or so. We had a great run in the morning and decided to push through to our friends place in Kempsey. The cars were running beautifully and we were all in great spirits!

We bid our friends farewell around 3pm, and things went downhill from there. The falcon made it about 2km before it stopped. We tried again, but after the third time, and only a few km down the road, we reviewed our options and decided to ditch the falcon and trailer at our friends place and just keep on going. I jumped in the kombi with Hubs and Mum and Dad went ahead with Chanbe.

This man can drive a van.
2012-11-23 19.08.22
We met up for Maccas and fuel in Grafton at around 7pm, and decided to just push on to Brisbane. Mum and Dad took Chanbe ahead and we followed behind.

So we covered 800km in the first 2 and a half days, and then 900km on the last day. It was a long one, and we arrived home at midnight Queensland time (1am “our time”) about an hour after Mum and Dad. Chanbe was not ready to go to sleep after such an exciting day and it took another hour or so to settle him, so by 1am Queensland time, everyone was in bed, mostly asleep. Saturday was spent preparing for Chanbe’s birthday party on Sunday, while Hubs had some much needed man-time with his man-friends, and I headed out for a hens party which turned out to be just what I needed!

Chanbe’s birthday party was a great success and it was lovely to be surrounded by family again. Here’s the robot cake I whipped up for him: (actually, I bought a slab of cake and just cut it out and decorated it 🙂 )

2012-11-25 15.57.52

I haven’t downloaded any of my photos from my camera as yet, so you’ll have to make do with the phone photos for the time being. Monday was a lazy old day, and we caught up briefly with our nieces and nephew and Hubs’ sister. I came home feeling a little off colour, and within an hour, I had lost my lunch and was in bed. It came out of nowhere, but wasn’t going anywhere! After hourly “attacks” (for want of a better word), by midnight we thought it best I go to hospital, as I was a little worried about Baloo with me getting so dehydrated. So my mother in law took me to the local hospital and I was given some anti-nausea tablets and given 2L of fluid. They took some bloods and did a few other tests, but I was told it was “just” gastro and that I could go home at 4:30am.

So the good news is, we have family and friends around to help out in this tricky time, and hopefully this bad run is over. Hubs has gone down to Kempsey with his BFF today to pick up the car and trailer and I’m expecting him home in the next few hours. Chanbe is having a little grizzle to himself in bed, but will nod off soon, and I’m trying to decide what I actually want to eat, now that I’m feeling a bit better.

Yest it’s been a rough week, but whatever doesn’t kill you… well, you know the rest 🙂

TGIF

/ Renae / 2 Comments

This week has been a nightmare a shocker challenging on many levels.

Level 1 – Chanbe has been waking up at 5:30am. Shocker. Hubs and I are NOT morning people, and an early morning for us is 7am. 5:30? Not cool. I am hoping it’s just a phase, though, with daylight savings starting this weekend, and us going to Queensland for a week from next Friday, I feel there will be a few weeks of disrupted sleep. Oh, and the whole moving interstate thing in 6 weeks time – yeah, that’s going to be completely hassle-free!

Level 2 – Even though Chanbe is still 7 weeks away from his 2nd birthday, I feel he has already turned a corner into the “terrible twos”. I really hate that expression though, because you’re just really setting yourself for disaster. I prefer to use our friend’s expression, the “terrific twos”. I like the positivity that implies, and even though some days may be terrible, I like to think there is more terrific involved in this age group. Plus I think Chanbe is pretty darn terrific 🙂

Level 3 – Hormones hormones hormones. I have been super emotional and a bit of a mess for a few days now, and the tears have flowed on more than one occasion. Not only this, but with all the relaxin floating around my body, my muscles have been particularly achy lately, and I’ve had sciatica pain and pregnancy-related tennis elbow. Have you ever had tennis elbow? It is not a pleasant experience, especially when you can’t take anti-inflammatories for it.

So all in all, these things have made for a very cranky Wifey. Thankfully, I have a very awesome Hubsband who has been taking extra special care of me this week. I cannot tell you how much he has saved me these last few days, and it just makes me feel so grateful that I have found a partner who will always do whatever he can to make my life happier. And today, I am happier. Which is good, since I’ll be solo parenting again tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Adults only

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(I’ve been meaning to type this post for a couple of weeks!)

When Hubs was visiting us from Melbourne, we took the opportunity to go out to dinner. Just the 2 of us. Being around the Redcliffe area, we weren’t exactly spoiled for choice with places to dine on a Thursday night, so I jumped on to Google to see what I could see. Ahem. Not much. Then I mentioned the “R” word.

Ribs.

Hubs was suddenly a man possessed. It had to be ribs. And what restaurant was the most likely source of ribs? Hogs Breath Cafe. We weren’t overly enthused to be honest – it wasn’t really my idea of a romantic night out! But without any great alternatives, Hogs is had to be.

We arrived and were seated outside in a little, ah hell, let’s call it “romantic” corner, and a few minutes later our drinks order was taken. We weren’t ready to order yet so our waitress said she’d be back soon. Our drinks were brought out by a different waitress who promptly left us, so we just sat and drank and chatted for a while. After a little while, I said to Hubs “I think they’ve forgotten about us.”

This triggered a series of “events” that really showed me that a) I need to relax and not be so concerned about time and what “should” be happening, and b) how different Hubs and I are when it comes to time and what “should” be happening. Hubs just kept saying “what’s the rush? Do you have to be somewhere? Am I not interesting enough for you? They haven’t forgotten about us. They’ll be here.” to which I replied “I’m not in a rush, I’m just saying, they’ve forgotten about us!” This went on for a while, and I said to Hubs that all I wanted was acknowledgement that they’d forgotten about us, and I’d relax. We made a deal that if the next table, who had arrived after us, got their food, I got to wave down a different waitress (ours was nowhere to be seen!)

Sure enough, 40 minutes later, we had not ordered so I was allowed to flag someone down. Turns out they had forgotten about us, and because of that, we got dessert on the house! So even though I was right, Hubs was also right about me not needing to be in a hurry all the time, and sometimes things don’t go the way I plan, but they work out okay in the end – free profiteroles!

Oh, and the ribs were really disappointing!!