Happiness is…..

Sitting at the computer, dunking home-made crunchy oatmeal cookies (with chocolate chips and craisins) into my cup of tea, catching up on my google reader and watching my 4 month old try and crawl while waiting for Hubs to get home after his night away.

Mmmmm…. crunchy cookies….

Home sweet home (finally!!!)

It has been one crazy week. We left Brizzie on Monday morning (it seems like weeks ago, not days!) and flew back to Melbourne on route to Wang. About half an hour before we were due to land, the Captain made an announcement that due to changing winds in Melbourne, we may have to redirect to Sydney or Canberra. Hubs and I started talking about what we would do if that happened, but decided to just wait and see, and thankfully, we were able to land safely. We picked up the kombi and headed straight to Nathan and Cal’s place – our home for the following 2 nights. Poor Chance didn’t know what was going on – the number of different places this kid has slept, I tell you what. But as usual he adapted wonderfully.

We had made plans to have dinner with Hubs’ aunt and uncle and cousins on the Tuesday night so we headed over early to do some shopping beforehand. Unfortunately on the way there, we ran into some car trouble. Long story short, we had to leave it at the mechanic overnight, so Hubs and I decided to get serious about buying a car – something we had been talking about for months. We jumped on line and lo and behold, found a car that ticked all the boxes. We took it for a test drive and committed to buying it there and then on Wednesday.

It’s a burgundy Ford Falcon (yes, we’re in the country now) Futura LPG station wagon. This is the first car that Hubs and I have actually chosen and bought, both separately or together. All of our other cars have been bought from (or given to us by) family or friends so it is a really exciting thing!! Another long story short, we were supposed to receive the bank cheque we ordered (only drawback of being with ING – no bank) on the Thursday and leave that afternoon, but it didn’t arrive til Friday morning so we didn’t get home til yesterday at 2pm. I got to drive “Sherry” home and what a ride! It certainly has some power behind it!

So we walked in the door, emptied the car of all our stuff and proceeded to do absolutely nothing about it. We were then invited to our friend’s place for lunch today so we only just got around to starting to unpack an hour or so ago, hence my presence in blog world! Hee hee! Chance is being an absolute dream, just chilling on the floor and being mesmerised by the mobile hanging over him, so we are actually getting a lot done. Blogging was a big priority for me! I’ve really missed it! I was worried after my hiatus that I wouldn’t really get back into it, and am so glad I’m a keen bean.

I have lots of half-thought-of posts in my head, including the one I plan to write on Monday/Tuesday, entitled something along the lines of “Day 1 of just me and the kid” or something perhaps a bit more eloquent.

Aaaaaaah it’s good to be home.

Wedding number 3

On Sunday the 19th December, I had the privilege of officiating the wedding of 2 new friends of ours. You may remember this wedding – well, the wedding last Sunday involved Nathan’s brother Pete, and it was a truly wonderful occasion. The wedding was held at Emily’s (the bride) aunt and uncle’s old B&B come holiday home in Trentham, Victoria. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t too crash hot – freezing cold and rainy – but that didn’t dampen the mood in any way. We had a wet weather plan, but ended up being able to have the ceremony outside in the courtyard and it went splendidly, despite being only about 12 degrees!!

Hubs took care of Chance during the ceremony, and it was lovely to see their faces amongst the crowd, even if it was only from time to time! It really was a lovely ceremony, and Pete & Em decided to self-cater which gave the day a lovely family feel. Oh, and the desserts were awesome! (And look at the scenery behind the house!)

We all had a great day and spent the night before and after at this gorgeous holiday home in Blackwood – we could have happily stayed there another week, just enjoying the surrounds, watching DVDs and enjoying good company. And thank goodness for the fireplace! I believe it got down to 6 degrees overnight. I don’t think Mother Nature got the memo that IT’S DECEMBER!!!!!!

Congrats Pete & Em!! And here’s a lovely little family pic from the day (and yes, our son is going cross-eyed. Focusing is hard at this age!!)

A wife of my own

Mum and Dad have been here for a week now and it’s so lovely having them around. We’ve been hanging out at their place in the evenings which means I can just relax and not be looking around thinking “I really should be doing insert jobs here.” I really do liken it to having a wifey of my very own! Mum and Dad have been cooking for us each night and topping up my juice and mineral water and making sure I’m comfy.  

“Would you like to have a nap?”
“Are you hungry? 
“Can I get you anything?”

Aaaaaaah bliss! It’s nice to be spoilt like this I must say. And I’m taking everyone’s advice about getting plenty of sleep and rest while I can. Mum and I have been hanging out at our place during the day, getting things ready and just pottering around. Poor Hubs has to go to work every day while we stay at home, baking and resting. Though, he does benefit from the baking, so it’s not all bad for him! Last week we made a yummy orange and polenta cake – there will be an encore this week – and today we’re making a pudding for dessert tonight, and I’ve just made a batch of home-made Kahlua. I do like this whole “lady of leisure” thing!

Thank you to everyone who has been sending emails and texts wishing us luck for the birth – you’re all very kind and it’s lovely to have all this support. And of course, everyone will be informed when the big day arrives!

Here comes the bride

This is a very late post about a beautiful wedding that I was lucky enough to officiate way back in April. It was my first wedding and I couldn’t have been happier that I was performing the ceremony for our 2 friends, Nathan and Cal. I have to admit that I was pretty nervous leading up to the day, and the night before I had not one but two nightmares that I couldn’t get to the ceremony!

We arrived at the venue over an hour before the start time, just so that I felt nice and organised. When I started to get ridiculously nervous, I reminded myself that it wasn’t about me. That the day was all about Nathan and Cal, and that I was just there as a helper. This made me relax a whole lot and I really started enjoying myself – getting things ready, and chatting to other friends who were there.

I love weddings. I know I have mentioned this before, but I really do. They are one of the happiest occasions in a couple’s life and I always feel so priveleged when I am a part of someone’s special day as a guest. But to be a Celebrant at a wedding is a whole new honour. Nathan and Cal wrote their own vows which were just beautiful, and I really felt blessed to be a part of it all.

Getting everything in order before the big arrival

With the lovely couple
(I don’t know who was more nervous – them or me!!)
Wifey shmoozing with guests after the ceremony
Nathan and Cal rocking out on the dance floor
When we first started planning the wedding I said something along the lines of “this will be my first wedding – I’ve never done this before” (which they already knew) to which they replied “well we’ve never done this before either so we’re in the same boat.” I’m so glad my first wedding was for a couple I knew well – it certainly helped with the nerves! Thanks Nathan and Cal!

I have done one other wedding since then that I’ll blog about separately, and I have one booked in for the 19th of December as well. Littlefoot will be very little indeed at that one, but I’m sure everything will come together nicely. I’m really looking forward to building up my business in the next few years!

Our mammoth weekend – day 6

I’ve decided to include Tuesday in our weekend as it was a public holiday for the Melbourne Cup. After dragging ourselves out of bed around 10am, I whipped up a batch of double choc-chip cupcakes. We had arranged to meet our friends Maddie, Jade and their son Rupert for a bbq lunch down at Merriwa Park. It was quite a nice sunny day but ended up being a bit chilly when we got there. We had a lovely time playing with Rupert and talking about baby stuff and labour and all things along those lines. It was such a great end to an amazing few days!

The next day I had an antenatal check-up and my doctor took one look at me and told me I looked exhausted. And I really really was. I got home around 11am and crashed til after 2.

It was totally worth it though.

Our mammoth long weekend – days 4 & 5

At 8am the alarm sounded and up we got. Well, up I got. Hubs had a little extra sleep while I showered and started getting ready. We had my Dad’s famous scrambled eggs with the works (speck, mushrooms, parsley, cheese, onion… anything else, Dad???) and some lovely strong coffee to start our day. We then packed madly (as is always the way!) and headed over to Hubs’ Mum’s place to say goodbye. Our flight left on time (10:50am) and arrived in Avalon just after 2pm Melbourne time (daylight savings is a bitch coming home!) As we were making our descent into Avalon, the pilot informed us that it was cloudy and 15 degrees. Wha?…. We just spent 3 days in 25 degree sunshine! Don’t do this to us!!

As we stepped off the plane, we knew we were home. It was cold and windy and gross 🙂 We jumped in the kombi and began the hour-long journey back in to town. I knew my cousin was down in Melbourne for the races, so I thought I’d see if she was free for a coffee, and luckily for us she was. We met her in town and had some great quality time with her which was just such a bonus.

We were talking about arranging to go out to dinner with some other friends, but when I rang our friends who we were staying with (same people as Thursday night) and they mentioned they were cooking a lamb roast, our minds were made up. But we still hadn’t hit the wall! We had a lovely evening with them and slept very well that night.

We didn’t set the alarm for the next morning but the trams woke us up at a very respectable 9am. We had a lovely breakfast with Liza and the boys and plotted our journey for the day – we’ve been looking for centre seats for the kombi for a few months now and Hubs had phoned a couple of wreckers on the (deep) south side of town so we left around 10:45am to go and check them out and hope for the best! It took AGES – we arrived after midday! I think we only went about 35km but that takes a long time in Melbourne traffic. As we drove into the wreckers, another gentleman pulled up and he got chatting to Hubs. He asked what we were looking for, for the kombi and when Hubs said centre seats, he said that we probably wouldn’t find any at the wreckers as he is there every week and hadn’t seen any. BUT he had some at his place which was just around the corner. He gave us his address and we parted ways.

I thought it was a bit weird but Hubs wasn’t the least bit suspicious. Of course we didn’t find any in the wrecking yard (didn’t even find any kombis, even though we were told there were 1 or 2 in the yard!!). We thought, since we had come all this way, we would take a gamble and check out this guy’s offer. And sure enough, he had exactly what we were looking for, in the right condition at the right price.

What are the odds of this chance meeting? Seriously! 5 minutes either way and this wouldn’t have happened. This was definitely a God moment. We then popped in to say hi to Hubs’ aunt and cousin on our way home and were back on the Hume highway around 4:30pm. On our way home we arranged for some friends who were up in Wang from Melbourne for the races the next day, to come on over around 8pm for dessert. We just couldn’t help ourselves!! We arrived home and Hubs went to pick them up as I made some delish blueberry pancakes and we had a lovely evening with them.

And if you think that was the end of our mammoth weekend, you’re wrong. We still had 1 more day to go…

Our mammoth long weekend – day 3

Saturday morning my body clock woke me up at 6:30am (7:30am Victoria time) and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t fall asleep again. So at 7:30am I decided to stop trying and got up and leisurely got ready for my 9am doctor’s appointment. Being almost 37 weeks pregnant at the time, I had to get a letter from a doctor 24 hours before my flight, saying I was fit to fly. I decided to get there a bit early (8:35am) in the hope that I could get in a bit earlier, but didn’t end up going in til 9:05!! Oh well You win some you lose some. After stopping at the shops I headed home and woke Hubs up (lucky bugger) and had some yummy leftovers for brekky. We then started welcoming friends and family whom Mum and I had invited over for the morning. It turned out to be only about a dozen people who arrived and left at all different times so it was really nice to catch up with them.

During all of this, my gorgeous cousins agreed to do my hair for me for the wedding:
And, well, I don’t mean to brag, but as usual I think Hubs and I scrub up okay 🙂

The wedding was absolutely wonderful, and, as I suspected, I needed the waterproof mascara and extra tissues. The service was very traditional and similar to ours, so it was lovely to re-live the vows Hubs and I exchanged in the same place a few years ago. Jess, the bride, looked absolutely stunning, and Matt, the groom, was wearing the biggest, widest grin you could imagine. It was a very personal service that really suited them both and I’m so glad Hubs and I could be there to share it with them.

After the ceremony, we had over 3 hours to kill so we decided on the spur of the moment to head out to our friend’s place in Zilmere (about half an hour north of the CBD), as he was having his 30th birthday party. We turned up as a surprise and it was really nice catching up with them. The party hadn’t officially started so we had them mostly to ourselves for a little while.

We then headed back in to town for the reception and were delighted at the table we had been seated at – we met some lovely new people and shared good conversation accompanied by good food and (just a little) good wine. Matt & Jess had hired the same DJ that we had at our wedding, (from our recommendation) so we said hi to him and he remembered us which was really nice. They even played our wedding song during dinner (more tears) which was lovely.

Then it was time for us to hit the dance floor, and, as I already mentioned, we hit it HARD! Hubs was in fine form, pulling out The Robot and a good AC/DC head-bang. I couldn’t pull out my usual moves with my extra cargo, but still had my moments! Alas, all good weddings must come to an end, so at 11:45pm the bride and groom bid us adieu and we headed to the car. As we took off, Hubs looked at me, and I looked at him and we knew what each other was thinking. (Don’t be rude.) Our friends were having a Halloween Party out at Arana Hills (about 15 min from CBD) that night, so we gave them a call to see if they were still kicking on. And sure enough, they were!! So we headed out there and caught up with 4 really good friends of ours (including 2 of Hubs’ groomsmen!)

I truly don’t know where all the energy was coming from but it just didn’t stop! At 2am though, it was time to head home and I was pretty happy to crash into bed at 2:30. A full 20 hours of being awake, and one of the best/most fun/memorable days EVER! I begrudgingly set the alarm for 8am the “next morning” and drifted off into a deeeeeep sleeeeeeep…

Our mammoth long weekend – days 1 & 2

Well it’s a good thing I have all this energy at the moment, as the 6-day-weekend we just had was not for the faint-hearted! It began on Thursday when we drove the kombi from Wang to Melbourne just after lunch, arriving around afternoon tea time to catch up with the staff at Newman College. It was really nice to see everyone and catch up on all their news, and to share my growing bump with them.

We then headed over to our friend’s place where Hubs and our friends headed out to a photography exhibition while I looked after their 2 & 4 year old sons and their neighbour’s 3 year old daughter. We had a great time in the bath (clearly that was the kids, not me) and had some dinner and then had lots of stories. I had them all in bed by 8pm and was commended for my “baby whispering”! I guess I just wore them all out with all those exciting stories!

We were up at 6am Friday for our 9am flight from Avalon. We drove the kombi to the airport hassle-free and the plane left basically on time. We arrived in Brizzie just after 10am (thanks to daylight savings) and headed over to Nanny and Grandpa’s for a spot of lunch. It was lovely to see them as usual and so good to have yummy Nanny food again! And she was very happy to see us, though she couldn’t help herself and told me I shouldn’t be flying now that I am a “big lady”. 🙂

A snap from lunch:

We then headed to St Andrew’s Uniting Church in town, the location of a very memorable day in December almost 3 years ago, for the wedding rehearsal for “Brisbane’s Wedding of the Year”. Hubs rehearsed walking the lovely bride down the aisle,

and it was a pretty typical wedding rehearsal, other than the pregnant lady sitting in the 3rd row having a little cry. Yes. At the rehearsal. You got something to say about that? I knew that the following day I would have to a) wear water-proof mascara and b) take extra tissues.

We had kept the evening plan-free just in case of a pre-wedding dinner, so when the bride and groom decided to just have a quiet night in, we arranged for Hubs’ Mum, sister and kids to come on over for dinner at my parent’s place. In the mean time, we hung around town for a bit and grabbed a coffee and just chilled out together. It was really lovely being back in our old stomping ground and enjoying the lovely warm weather. We were talking about who we might run in to, as is inevitable whilst in Brisbane. And sure enough, on our way to the rendezvous point to meet my Mum for our lift home, we ran into very good friends of mine and their 6 month old daughter whom I hadn’t met yet!

She. Was. Divine. And her dear parents were very lucky that I’m about to pop out one of our own, or I may have run off with their little cherub. I actually had tears of joy and awe at this gorgeous little girl (seeing a hormonal pattern here people??) I simply had to get some shots with her.

The lovely Henna and the gorgeous little baby Iida

It was SO nice to see our friends and have a little catch up! We headed back to Mum and Dad’s for a feast of seafood marinara and carbonara pasta and Nanny’s apple pie for dessert. And of course, we had to play with the lego as well.

Lego time!
And we had to take some fun photos! Mine’s the biggest!!

And our friend Ian popped over around dessert time as well, so that was another bonus! So that was the first 2 days of our awesome weekend – and they were the most restful days! So much more to come…