Happy 4th Birthday Chanbe

November 30, 2014 / Renae / Leave a comment

4 years (and 3 days) ago, Chanbe came into our lives and changed our world. There have been sleepless nights; tears of joy and triumph, as well as frustration; many a milestone; countless kisses and cuddles; and everything else in between you can possibly imagine.

We had a little BBQ dinner for our big 4 year old on his actual birthday (Thursday) and were so pleased that everyone we invited was able to come. Quite impressive for a Thursday afternoon/evening party. He and his little friends ran amok while us adults chatted and drank and ate around them. As happened last year, a thunderstorm rolled in and the 10 minute downpour cooled things off for the evening which was delightful. Hubs cooked delicious lamb to have of souvas, and as per Chanbe’s request, I made a train cake.

My biggest goal for the day was not to give birth, so after achieving that, I felt like it had been an absolute success! I was on my feet all day, so I crashed a bit on Friday and have been pretty exhausted since, but it was such a wonderful afternoon that it was totally worth it.

Well my not-so-little guy, you continue to delight and entertain us with your smile, cheekiness, and energy. You are inquisitive and ask very interesting questions – you get that from your Dadda – and that will take you far in life. Although a bit overly enthusiastic at times, you are fiercely protective of your little sister, and you can’t wait to be a big brother again soon.

We love you and can’t wait to see what you come up with next.

A decision has been made

November 18, 2014 / Renae / Leave a comment

We are heading back to Mount Isa this Saturday. And now that the decision has been made, and the flights booked, I have something to focus on and work towards. There is a lot to do, but we are just going to do a bit each day and know that things will happen as they should. Mum is flying up with us as well, so that will certainly make the flight easier, as well as once we arrive back.

I’ll have been here for 6 weeks by the time we leave. Certainly a much longer stay that I initially planned, and the time has really sped by, but it has been absolutely amazing, and I have had such a great break and relaxing time. I feel energised for the hectic months to come, and am already getting somewhat prepared, contacting real estate agents in Rockhampton, so we can find somewhere asap in the new year.

But there’s heaps happening before then, so just one day at a time thanks!

I’m ready

November 17, 2014 / Renae / Leave a comment

Feel free to take a guess as to which one I’ll be needing! I have a feeling it’s going to be a girl, and a few other punters share that thought, but feel free to put your own 2 cents in!

I’m due in 2 weeks. Yes. That’s right. Not that that actually means anything – only 5% of babies are born on their due date. But I’m ready, in more ways than 1.

Except I hope the baby doesn’t come early. Let me explain.

The kids and I are in Brisbane. Hubs hopped on a plane to Canberra yesterday for a locum position starting tonight and finishing next Monday morning. Mount Isa is currently experiencing temps of 30 (min) to 40 (max) and I’m sure you can understand how much that excites me, and how much that makes me want to rush back up north. The baby is head down, but not engaged, and is quite happy to play bongos with my organs/pelvis/ribs/bladder.

So as much as I want an outside baby, what I really want is to be “home” (Mount Isa) with Hubs, instead of trying to decide when to fly back, having to consider all sorts of things.

I’m not particularly stressed about it, I just wish there was a way to know for certain what the best date to fly back would be. At this stage, my 3 “options” are this coming Satruday, next Monday afternoon, or the following Thursday which is Chanbe’s birthday. I have a doctors appointment on Wednesday, so I’m hoping to make my decision after that!

My unremarkable pregnancy

November 11, 2014 / Renae / Leave a comment

Unremarkable is not exactly a favourable word, but when it comes to pregnancy, there’s nothing I like to hear more. I haven’t had any major complications with any of my pregnancies which I feel very fortunate and thankful about. Apart from carrying a bit of extra weight leading up to the last 2 pregnancies which I feel has caused a bit more discomfort than my pregnancy with Chanbe, some itchiness caused by who-knows-what in my arms, and my sexy husky voice, pregnancy and I get along quite nicely.

Here’s a couple of belly shots that I took about 6 weeks ago

I absolutely LOVE this dress and have had a number of compliments when I wear it. I bought it at one of the op shops in Mount Isa for $6. Unfortunately, as it’s not actually a maternity dress, I’ve grown out of it since then 🙁

And here’s a couple of shots I just took today, with my new “do” and another op shop find, this time in Melbourne when I was down with Hubs last week! This dress was $4 🙂

Unfortunately there are no nice “selfie” mirrors in the house at Woody Point, so you’ll just have to use your own filter.

I must admit that with my new short hair and my hot red dress, I’m feeling pretty foxy at the moment! Like I said, pregnancy agrees with me! And I gotta say, if unremarkable pregnancies result in kids like this…

I find that pretty remarkable 🙂

I love Melbourne

November 1, 2014 / Renae / Leave a comment

Number one on my “to do” list should be “enable ability to blog from my mobile”. There have been numerous occasions in the last fortnight that I’ve wanted to share, but just haven’t been near a computer, and to be honest, I haven’t even tried to blog from my phone with the new format.

I’m writing this particular post from the very comfy couch at my brother and his partner’s house in Melbourne. Aaaaah Melbourne. How I have missed thee. K & K have recently moved down and in to their new house and we were lucky enough to be their first guests. The place is huge and amazing, and I can’t tell you how lovely it is to be back in Melbs. And as much as we love our kids (love love love!) it is really nice to just be here with Hubs. He is here for PAX Aus and in between playing video games and attending panel discussions on various topics, we have been wandering through the city, eating at our old favourite places and drinking delicious coffee. We’ve even run into a few students from Newman who remember us which is quite lovely.

Yesterday was a balmy 30 degrees, and today got up to only 16. And it felt like about 10 with the windchill. I even had to buy myself a beanie!! I came completely unprepared. We are catching up with a bunch of med friends tomorrow which I’m really looking forward to, and then the countdown back to reality (well, mostly) will be on. May I share with you what the next month or 2 looks like for us?

On Monday we fly back to Brisbane
We spend the week in and around Brizzy, having more catch ups
Hubs flies back down to Melbourne next weekend for a one week placement at the Alfred Hospital down here
Hubs flies back the following weekend
We pack up in the next day or 2 and head north to Rocky to check out the town and some living possibilities
We somehow make our way back to Mount Isa with me crossing my legs, trying not to give birth! (I think I’ll be around the 38.5 week mark by this stage!)
Celebrate Chanbe’s 4th birthday on the 27th November
The baby is due on the 1st of December so… yeah… who knows what will be happening around that time

And then of course the fun really begins! Hubs has a week of paternity leave some time in early December, and he is working over Christmas/New Year. And then, you know, we move to Rocky sometime in mid January. Happy Birthday to me!

But for the next 48 hours, I will continue to love and live Melbourne. I’m so exhausted from all of the walking, and my feet are screaming at me, but I can say 100% that it’s worth a little discomfort. This is the most relaxed I’ve seen Hubs all year, and it’s nice to be surrounded by a bit of culture and people just doing their own thing. Oh, and I won’t even complain about the weather.

Freestyler

October 23, 2014 / Renae / 1 Comment

On Tuesday night, I met up with my dear friend at Freestyle. It’s a bit of a tradition with us – whenever I’m in town, we try and catch up for dessert, and since Freestyle is kind of in the middle of us both, we often end up there. We tried out a couple of other places this year, but decided on the old favourite this time around. The last time we went, which was a little while ago, I was a little disappointed in my order. There was nothing that really jumped out at me, and when I did order, I wasn’t that excited.

I had decided even before I left home, that the “old favourite” chocolate brownie was the way to go. Don’t try anything weird or fancy if I just want a good dessert. When I arrived though, I got excited as they had a specials menu, and there were 3 things on it that got my motor running. Plus, there was a note to say they had reduced the serving sizes (and prices) to make them more suitable for 1 person. This is actually quite sensible, because most times I end up leaving feeling full and slightly uncomfortable!

Anyway, this post wasn’t supposed to be about my dessert addiction. I arrived about 15 minutes early, and instead of getting my phone out, I decided just to sit and watch and listen. The place was quite full inside, and I had a seat right on the edge, so I could see pretty much everyone in the place.

The couple to my left seemed to be in their early to mid 30s, and were perhaps on a first date. The information they were exchanging lead me to believe that. I overheard that the man was born and raised in Wangaratta, and it took all of my willpower not to interrupt and say how much I love Wang and how much I’d love to live there again one day. Their meals came out, and I noticed the woman had ordered the burger. Rookie mistake, I thought. But when some of the filling dropped onto her shirt, he offered her his napkin and they had a laugh. It was quite sweet.

The couple at the table in front of me were in their (very) early 20s and also seemed as though they were in the early days of dating, The conversation didn’t flow as well, and the topics they were discussing were a little bit odd (e.g. the war in Iraq??). He also checked his phone under the table intermittently, and she looked slightly bored.

The family to my right were German. The mother and father were both very attractive and probably in their early 40s, with the 2 handsome boys probably around 14 and 12. They spoke in both German and perfect English to each other, and as I found out later, were there to celebrate the younger son’s birthday. Their manners were lovely and the family obviously enjoyed each other’s company. Watching them, I started forming another blog post in my head, but I’ll save that for another day.

Just behind the 30-somethings on their first date, there was another family of 4, this time with 2 girls that I guessed were maybe 12 and 9. The eldest girl and the father sat next to each other, and were engaged in friendly banter, with tickling and trying to tap each other on the head without the other realising. It was incredibly sweet to watch. They were also there celebrating the youngest child’s birthday.

Throughout this whole time of people-watching, I must have made eye contact with the waitress half a dozen times. It was slightly awkward towards the end, but I didn’t avoid her. I guess I was just trying to be present. There were other people that I noticed in this time as well, and I appreciated that fact that I got to be a part of their evening in a private kind of way.

My friend arrived and not long after, we ordered. I asked for the first thing on the menu which I couldn’t go past – layered chocolate and mint mousse covered in ganache and served with vanilla bean ice cream. Even the small portion was too much and I left a bit on the plate, but it was absolutely divine. Very rich but also light, and devilishly decadent. I refrained from taking a photo, because everyone does that, and you know how I don’t like to be the same as everyone else.

After almost 2 hours of catching up, I left feeling very content and knowing that I was part of something bigger; I wasn’t just wrapped up in my own little world of 2 kids, pregnancy pains and a big few weeks to come with diminished energy levels. I had experienced an insight into other people’s worlds, and it was nice. I need to remember to put my phone down more often.

A Rocky Road

October 19, 2014 / Renae / 1 Comment

Gosh, where do I begin with this one? It started about 2 months ago, a couple of days after I returned from my last trip to Brisbane. Our friend in Mount Isa who works with Hubs, emailed through a position in Rockhampton, beginning 4 or so weeks later. It’s a job in Orthopeadics. which is where Hubs thinks he wants to specialise, so I said GO FOR IT! I was pretty excited by the idea or leaving Mount Isa early, and getting set up in a new house, in a new place before the baby was due.

Of course, it had its down sides too, in that we would have to pay back some of the “benefits” we had received, with Hubs ending his contract in Isa early, but we decided it was worth it for the right job.

Let me just say here, that if you had told me a few years ago that I’d be excited about moving to Rocky, I would have told you you were crazy. But, things change, and for the right opportunity at the right time, I was keen as mustard.

Hubs applied for the job which was to start “ASAP” and a week later, was told his interview was in a week’s time. Not exactly “ASAP” kind of action in our opinion, but we were excited. The interview was on a Thursday, it went well, and he was offered the position the following day, to commence 4 weeks later. To say we were excited is a complete understatement, and being the person I am, I told everyone. Texts were sent and phone calls were made. I even lined up a removalist. It was happening. The only thing I didn’t do was announce it on the blog. I knew that the contract had to be signed before I did that.

Unfortunately, the following Tuesday, things changed. The hospital informed us that, for various reasons, the contract was to begin on the 2nd of February next year, instead of ASAP. I was absolutely devastated. I had built my hopes up so much on an early departure, and then it all changed. Tears were shed and frustrations vented, but at the end of the day, it was still a great job that Hubs was excited about, and he accepted, with the revised commencement date. It took me a few days to get over the disappointment, and Hubs and I thought of some positives about staying; more time with good friends we had met; having the baby in Mount Isa, close to those friends; and a bit more time to plan the move.

So yes, it was certainly an emotional week or two around that time, but we are looking forward to the move and hoping that everything works out so that we can stay for 2-3 years. Oh, and I just found out that someone else I know is moving there next year as well, so there’s another positive!

In other news, I have just over 6 weeks to go until I’m due. It’s certainly nice to be in a cooler city for the time being!

I do love a good surprise!

October 14, 2014 / Renae / 2 Comments

So we’re in Brisbane. Now. Not exactly what we had planned, but that’s life for us most of the time. That’s one of the best things about being married to Hubs. He not only “allows” me to do crazy things, he actively encourages it. He’s the best. I woke up on Sunday morning, Mum’s birthday, and rang her for the usual cute singing kids and best wishes. After I hung up, I sighed. It was going to be another hot day with not much to do. Hubs was starting work at 1pm, and by 8am I already had the air con on.

As a bit of a joke, and just for fun, I looked up flights to Brisbane for that day, thinking “wouldn’t it be fun to just turn up and surprise Mum for her birthday!?” but not actually believing it was possible. I found 2 flights, and was surprised by the prices. They were pricey, but not obscene, and certainly not out of reach. I gently mentioned it to Hubs (who was having a sleep in) and then came back downstairs, thinking “it’s so crazy, it won’t happen.” When he got out of bed I told him he had to talk me out of it, otherwise I was going to seriously consider it.

Instead, he said “You might as well go.”

Whhhhaaaaaaaaat????? He was serious. Like I said, Best. Hubs. Ever. He justified it by saying what I was spending on airfares, we’d probably save on me not using the air conditioning every day for 2 weeks. Probably not quite true, but he did have a point. Plus, he’s probably a bit sick of me complaining about the heat…

I was immediately excited and jumped online to book.

It was 10:30am by that stage, and the flight I had decided on left at 2:30pm. There was so much to do! But thanks to my packing spreadsheet, it was no trouble at all in the end. We caught a cab and got to the airport at 1:40pm. I had arranged for my good friend to borrow a couple of car seats and pick us up from the airport at the other end, so I was all set. I sat down at the airport, and the enormousness of what I had just done, and what I was about to do, hit me.

Guys, I was ridiculously delirious with excitement, I actually felt a little ill! I couldn’t wait to surprise Mum! We boarded the flight before anyone else, and got settled in. The kids were, as usual, absolutely amazing for the whole flight, and for the first time ever, the time went really fast. Before I knew it, we were descending.

Now, you know how you build something up in your head and sometimes your expectations aren’t met? This was not the case for the surprise. We arrived at Mum and Dad’s place at Kelvin Grove, where I knew Mum was having a little get together. I had no idea who would still be there (it was 5:30pm by then) as I rang the doorbell. Apparently Mum thought, and said to her guests “who the heck could that be on a Sunday afternoon? Probably some religious people going door to door!”

She looked outside via the window next to the door, and that’s when the screaming started 🙂 Bingo. I don’t think anyone could understand her at first, as she was trying to unlock the door to let us in, squealing the whole time. Quindy went straight to her for “duddles” and Chanbe started looking for Grumpy. Oh, and the Lego. There were still about 8 people left, so it was lovely to share the surprise with them all.

And as an extra added bonus, My brother and his partner have stayed here as well, as they are about to move to Melbourne – they leave early tomorrow morning – so apart from Hubs, Mum and Dad have had their whole family under one roof. It’s been such a lovely, fun, time, and I’m just so happy to be down here; out of the heat, and out of our tiny townhouse; in a city where there is never any shortage of things to do.

Hubs will drive down next Wednesday and arrive late Thursday, and then we head out to Dalby on Friday for my cousin’s wedding. We were all going to drive down together then, but this way I get an extra bonus 12 days down here.

Happy Birthday Mum! Thanks for giving me an excuse to come down! As if I needed it…

A night in

October 11, 2014 / Renae / Leave a comment

Back in the day, a Saturday night in on my own was pretty rare. I don’t mean to brag, but back in my single days in Brisbane, I was quite sought after on the weekend (ha ha) so when a free Friday or Saturday night appeared on my calendar, I actually really savoured it. I remember one night in particular, when I was living with friends in a gorgeous renovated Queenslander in Nundah. I knew a couple of days in advance that I had no plans for that Saturday night, so I sussed the other 2 out and found out they were both going to be out! Bliss!

I popped down to the local fishmonger on Saturday morning and picked up their fresh marinara mix to make seafood pasta for dinner. I also put a bottle of Seaview Brut in the fridge from a case that I had been keeping for about a year. This stuff is cheap as chips ($5 a bottle at the time) and my Dad gave me the great tip of leaving it for at least 6 months before drinking it, and it became more like a $30 bottle. The trick is to actually leave it for that long!

I looked up the TV guide and found that I’d hit the jackpot. Titanic was going to be on that night. Honestly, remembering this night still excites me! I made my yummy pasta while drinking my yummy bubbles and sat down for a night of being entertained by Leo and Kate. It was serious “me” time and I still, to this day, remember the complete feeling of relaxation at the time.

Fast forward almost 10 years to tonight. A Saturday night with Hubs at work, leaving me alone with my thoughts. So what did I do? Well, it has been slightly different so far. Firstly, no booze. Secondly, no fresh seafood. Thirdly, no TV. Which is a good thing, because these days I can’t stand watching a movie with ads! And finally, add in a couple of kids, a messy kitchen, and exhaustion from a 33 week pregnancy.

I made the kids and I spag bol and had promised Chanbe that we could “watch a movie on the wall”, ie, the projector. We decided on Toy Story 3 and sat down just after 6:30pm. The kids loved it and it was nice just to sit with them in the air con and oooh and aaaaah along with them. I put them to bed around 8:15, hoping they would just crash, and being very thankful that that’s what happened! Then I had to tackle the kitchen which took a solid half hour. After which I poured myself a glass of milk and grabbed a cookie before sitting down here.

And now I’m at a crossroads. It’s getting close to 9:30, which is a reasonable time to head to bed for a bit of a read and an early night. But then again, The West Wing is calling me. I only have just over a season to go, and every episode gets me that little bit closer! A night to myself is pretty rare these days, and even though I know the sensible thing would be to go to bed, I might just watch one episode. In bed. How’s that for a compromise?

Sharing’s caring

October 9, 2014 / Renae / Leave a comment

Or can be more easily defined as “being a parent.”

Thinking about having offspring? You’d better be good at sharing. Everything. Your glass of water; your sneakie cookie; your sandwich; your bed; your lap; your phone; your clothes; pretty much every meal and snack and drink (aside from coffee and wine) you make for yourself, for the next 2 decades.

It’s not that I mind sharing. I’m pretty good at it. But sometimes I just want to say NO! Chanbe and Quindy are very much at the “learning to share” phase, and it’s a bit hard, when trying to teach them to share with each other and other kids, to not set the example. We do, however, believe in the idea that you don’t always have to share. It’s a choice, and you are allowed to say no, as long as you realise that the other person has the same option when you’re the one doing the asking.

So today, I said “no” to sharing my cookie. I wanted to dip that whole sucker into my hot cup of coffee and not have to go halves with any little people, especially since they had just had their own. This is sometimes met with tantrums, but it’s a guilt-free no on my behalf.

This was just a little “share” from me while I drink my 1/4 glass of rose while the kids are having screen time and I prepare mentally and physically for the “dinner, bath, bedtime” that I’ll be doing pretty much solo for the next 12 days. Hubs is working non-stop until we go on our little holiday, so I need the mental prep time around 5pm each day to tackle the next 2 hours.

Coming up on the blog:

The next step in my quest for making the perfect macarons
Our holiday plans
My unremarkable pregnancy (and why that is a good thing)
We love going on bumpy drives

… and more! Stay tuned…