Category: Hubs

Happy Birthday Hubs

/ Renae / Leave a comment

On Hubs’ birthday last year, we found ourselves at a cocktail party, drinking far too much and finding out our friend Sonia had decided to apply to go to Mount Isa in 2014, mainly because of all the extra financial incentives. Hubs and I told her she was crazy and that was that. Or so I thought. We then started joking about how funny it would be if we considered Mount Isa. Then we looked into it. Then Hubs applied. And the rest, as they say, was a disaster… ha ha. I mean history… We still joke about that night with Sonia and now that we have made it halfway through, we are feeling like we have achieved something that we found quite challenging at the beginning.

So what does this all have to do with Hubs’ birthday? Well, since his birthday falls in the middle of the year, and since we move every year, we have usually established some new friends who make up the guests at Hubs’ birthday gathering. And as I looked around at the 10 adults and 5 kids that made up our little group, I couldn’t help but feel very blessed that even though we haven’t had the best of years, we have still managed to befriend some wonderful people who were excited to be a part of the celebrations.
Although Hubs had to work the night shift that night, he still had a lovely time and I know he appreciated our new friends making the effort on a Monday night. Chanbe had already told me that we had to make a green dinosaur cake for Dadda, so I had to oblige. Certainly not one of my most skillful efforts, but with Chanbe decorating with the smarties, it turned out pretty cute. And it was this recipe which is my current chocolate cake go-to. So delicious!
Just happy.

Happy birthday Hubs. It’s been an interesting year, that’s for sure. I love how you still say and do things that surprise me and keep me guessing. You are such a good egg and I love that so many people get to find that out for themselves. You show them the real you and that’s who they get to know and love, just as I have and continue to do. 

The Lego

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We are a Lego family. Hubs grew up loving Lego, and that love has never wavered. His Mum tells me about the hours and hours he would spend on the Lego mat, surrounded by the stuff, building all manner of things. When we had Chanbe, people would always ask what they could buy for him for Christmas and birthdays, and although in the beginning I would ask Hubs for gift ideas, I soon realised that this was a pointless exercise as his response was always the same.

“Lego.”

Funnily enough, it was always the same when I asked for gift ideas for him too… and Quinndy…

Thankfully up until now, for Chanbe and Quinndy at least, it has all been about the duplo. Duplo I can see before I stand on; Duplo doesn’t get sucked up the vacuum cleaner; Duplo can’t be swallowed by a 1-year-old baby sister (though she will try!); Duplo is simple and easy – even I can make a plane out of Duplo. But Lego is another story all together. I wasn’t ready for Lego, but Hubs was, so it has been introduced into the family home.

And once we arrived at Hubs’ sister’s house, the childhood collection didn’t take long to re-surface. The problem is, it’s been years since anyone has really played with the family Lego, and all sorts of bits and pieces have been thrown in with it.

Enter Hubs; Lego organiser extraordinaire:

You can’t actually tell by the look on his face, but he’s having a great time here, sifting and sorting through decades of collected Lego. The stuff on the left of the photo (on the coffee table) is the broken bits and fake Lego that are to be repurposed/discarded. The stuff in the box is yet to be rifled through, and the big pile in front of him is what he’s been swishing around for the last 2 hours, ever since the kids went to bed. I think the sound of Lego being “sorted” may do my head in if he keeps it up all week!

One thing he has found somewhat concerning, is all the bits and pieces of Lego people, and the severe shortage of hands. He is afraid something like this may have taken place over the years:

Anyway, he’s having a lovely time playing “big boy Lego” as it is currently called in our house, with Chanbe, and looks forward to even more Lego building with Quinndy once she’s old enough. In the mean time, I’m happy to stick with the Duplo.

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!

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…

/ Renae / 4 Comments

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.

Better lazy than never?

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Hey y’all. I haven’t forgotten!! I know I told you in this post that I would reveal what I bought for Hubs for his birthday this year, and I really and truly have been meaning to get around to taking photos of the gifts to show you, but it just hasn’t happened. And our camera lens just broke. Yay. Not sure what that means for holiday snaps, but we’ll figure something out.

So, here’s the not-so-great reveal! Did you guess any of them correctly!?

  • The Doctor is in: stethoscope cufflinks (I almost typed handcuffs instead of cufflinks! Oh dear…)
  • A long cuddle: a body-length pillow. He was using 5 pillows at one stage. This is a time and space-saver 🙂
  • Pot of gold: I bought Hubs his very own Potjie Pot! (pronounced “poykee”)
  • A collection starter: his first big box of adult Lego (as opposed to Duplo)
  • Just in case: I sewed a pillow case for his body pillow, using the logos and pictures from old t-shirts that he no longer wears but didn’t want to part with.
  • Instructions: a recipe book for Potjie (from his Mum!)
  • A puzzling link: rubix cube cufflinks
  • Go go gadget: Working USB cufflinks – so nerdy and cool!
  • Rusky business: some rusks that I ordered when I bought the potjie pot. 

So yes, Hubs was very much spoilt this birthday. Seeing as how he didn’t really get anything last year, it was fun to splurge a bit. That just means that Fathers Day might be a bit light on this year… 🙂

Happy Birthday Hubs!

/ Renae / Leave a comment

Yesterday was a big day around here, with Hubs turning 22! Well, that’s what he’d like everyone to believe anyway. At least we know he’ll always be young at heart!

It was a bit of a present frenzy, as I went a little crazy with lots of ideas over the last few months, and they kind of accumulated a bit!

I will do a photo run-down of the presents in the next few days, but in the meantime, here is the “menu” I gave Hubs in the morning, with clues to what his presents were. Like I said, there were a few!

  • The Doctor is in
  • A long cuddle
  • Pot of gold
  • A collection starter
  • Just in case
  • Instructions
  • A puzzling link
  • Go go Gadget _______
  • Rusky business

And there were a couple more “bonus” things that didn’t make the list. I think next year he’ll just be getting a card! Hee hee. (Just kidding Hubs!)

Come fly with me

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There is so much I want to tell you about Chanbe’s “big boy bed”, but first of all, let me show you:

Oooooooh yeeeaaaahhhhhhh. When Hubs and Uncle Ben told me they wanted to make Chanbe a “big boy bed” 3 days after we arrived in Towsnville, I was skeptically supportive, wondering when it might be finished, and how much of a “big boy” he would be once he actually got in to it. Well, I was proven wonderfully wrong. Just over a week ago, the bed was flown in from the work area, and it has been an absolute hit. Chanbe has slept in it almost every night and day, with a few exceptions, but we are very proud of this milestone.

There are dozens of “in progress” photos that I hope to one day share with you, or better yet, let Hubs (finally) do a guest post about!!

And hopefully we’ll have some baby news for you soon. I’m officially 40 weeks now (well, depending on who you ask) so, literally, any day now!

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 🙂