My Best Friend

Ok this may sound a bit naff and 'look how adorable my child is', but this is my diary so I don't care. I just want to remember these moments in years to come.

The other night putting Oskar to bed, I was getting frustrated and desperately trying to get him to lay down and go to sleep and stop telling me which cars were his favourite from the 'Cars' movie. He then stopped and said "Mum...you're beautiful ..You're my best friend" and gave me a hug and kiss. He then followed with ..."and daddy and Asha...they're my best friend too"

It's moments like these that makes anything I was frustrated about become completely inconsequential and turns a bad day into the very best .

Weekend Mixed Bag

We have had a great weekend full of activity and beautiful weather! Here are a few highlights!

We started with Soccer on Saturday Morning. The kids have moved up a level, but we sent most of the classs chasing Oskar and Asha around....they have gone from being the eldest in the class to the youngest and were the worst behaved.  I had to send Oskar to time out twice! oh dear. I hope he improves next week.

Some chill out time was needed for us mums after that. so we took Asha and Oskar down to Burleigh for a scoot and play on the playground while we sat and had a relaxing coffee and catch up.

The kids are getting better and better on their scooters. 

 Then we had some fun in the garden and on the trampoline! I think a tomato salad is on the menu!

  

Sunday morning started at 4am ..for Cam definitely not for me. At 9.30am (a much more respectable time) Oskar and I went to the beach to pick him up after his100km bike ride and we stopped for a play in the park!      

          

Mum and Ladybug watching Oskar play.....completely natural and not posing for the camera at all!!! Well hey,  I wanted at least one photo of me pregnant where I wasn't posing in front of my bedroom wall!

....then went for boat ride with Captain Oskar at the helm!

We made some cookies!

...and ate some cookies!

Then made a native bouquet from our garden.......

......Which we took to Baby Sienna and her parents. Sienna is such a cutie and Mum is doing oh so well and looks amazing! It's a huge adjustment which no one or nothing can prepare you for.

Oskar was not on his best behaviour, and it made us think about how hard it is going to be juggling the needs of a newborn and a hyper 3 year old. Oh my.

I don't think having one baby can prepare you enough for the next one. There will certainly be a  huge adjustment for us coming very soon.

I Can No longer See My Toes!

We will reach the 25 week mark this Saturday and Ladybug is growing nicely...from what I can tell. There has been plenty of kicking lately, pleasantly reminding me that she is in there somersaulting away enjoying the ride.

I have put on 6kgs now, mostly due to an over indulgence of chocolate and baked goods I think, and generally am feeling pretty good.

As expected, there have been a few irrational emotional days here and there, but I knew that was coming and Cam really tries his best to cheer me up when I start to feel down or go a bit loopy.  It still amazes me how your hormones can affect you so much. I'm an emotional person at the best of times, so I just feel for poor Cam come the 3rd trimester.... This part is easy!

Oskar is enjoying talking about his little sister I think and I try and talk about it everyday with him. Two of our friends have just had little girls, and Oskar says to me that I am going to have a baby like them. "It's not ready to come out yet!" he tells me....and when she does he apparently wants her to sleep in his bed.

This is how big she is now. I officially can no longer see my toes.I know they're down there somewhere!

Dinner Time!

I don't know if it's my poor cooking skills or the fact that is is just hard to keep a 3 year old sitting at a table for dinner, but all we know is that dinner time is a struggle to get Oskar to stay seated and eating all his dinner. If anyone has any tips, please let me know. 

I have found lately though, that the more involved I get him in the cooking of the meal ...the more interested he is in eating it! So, I put him to work again and he helped make crunchy 'Panko' crumbed garlic prawns and Snappper. Yummo! 

How long before I could get him on dinner duties full time I wonder....would age 5 be unrealistic?!

City Sights

Living in Mudgeeraba...or even the Gold Coat for the last 4.5 years has made me appreciate the city scape of Sydney even more when I get to go back there. On my last visit I felt like a tourist again, whipping out my camera to capture the view.....and instead of staying on the Northern Beaches as I usually do, I stayed in North Sydney.......something I have not one in a long long time. So it had been a while since I have had the chance to take in this spectacular view.

.............................Or take a cheesy self portrait in front of a land mark like any true tourist must do!!!!!

 This was the view from my room.................if I left my door ajar and looked out the corridor window!!! ha!
Oh well..it was straight to bed for me anyway...no time to gaze out the window anyway when you've been up since 4am and pregnant dying to hit the hay!

Although I do enjoy getting back to Sydney town, I must say it is very nice to get home to my tranquil bush surroundings and a warm crackling fire.

It's a bit like when we went to Brisbane this past weekend while Oskar stayed at Asha's house. (Thanks Hoogervorst's!) It was great to see some great interior design, and be a part of the excitement of a more cosmopolitan environment, and we were even sitting there at lunch saying wouldn't it be nice to have a city apartment to be able to enjoy this more often........but then we paid too much for parking, and got stuck in their traffic and thought, you know what...visiting every now and then is just fine with us.

I think my needs have changed as I have gotten older and had Oskar. I do still love visiting cities though, to explore the great design and shops on offer.....and of course the great food., and we know we want to do it more often than we do....... But there is lots of stuff we wish we could do more of however, at the moment with little Oskar and Ladybug on the way (yes C...'ladybug' has stuck!) I think we need to just be happy with what we have,  and if that means infrequent lunches out in the city and strolling through the shops...then that's OK with me. There will be plenty of time for that later.

Lunch at 'Ole' ......For those on the Coast...gotta try it. AMAZING Spanish Tapas at Southbank...which left us excited to try and make everything we just ate so we could taste it again as soon as humanly possible.

Ceiling feature at Ole.

Some inspiration for a feature wall at the HIA Home Renovation Show.

And a stupid car!

Water Hog Movie?

Whenever Oskar wants to watch something these days, he just tries to tell me as much as he can about the show until I understand what he is talking about.

He always gets so excited about telling me about a story, he gets his whole body into it and yells it to me. Sometimes I pretend I don't know what show he is talking about just so I can watch his enthusiasm.

I still have no idea what movie he is talking about here though..................

Soccer Hooligans!

Oskar and Asha have recently joined a 'Little Kickers' soccer club which we now go to every Sunday morning at the respectable time of 10am. Still enough time still for a cuppa in bed before starting the day....which is important on a Sunday!

The kids love it.  They don't actually play soccer, but the coaches teach the kids to listen to direction, take turns and develop balls skills & coordination. It is so good for them in many ways. By the end of the 45 minute session the kids have pretty much run out of patience, but we are so impressed at how the coaches keep their attention for so long.

Check out their Soccer Kit! It is pretty cute. 

These will be the last photos of them at Soccer, as the 'Child Protection Laws' actually prevent us from using cameras at such sporting events.....which we were promptly reminded of when we started taking photos on the first day. Really?! I also heard that kid's sporting games these days are not scored, so the kids don't know who won or lost......Seriously!? I am sure they know...and if not I will tell them. Winning and losing is a part of life kids should get used to and understand from the start.....in my opinion. 

21 Weeks and Kicking!

So we have reached the half way mark and I was beginning to wonder when I was going to start feeling a kick or 2. Well this week we did a lot actually..............practicing gymnastics perhaps?

I am certainly feeling a lot more pregnant now with a heavy belly and have put on 3kgs. I am noticing a lot more change in my body as she grows bigger every week and my back is already start to to ache ...but that could have just been me overdoing it in the garden. 

I think Oskar understands what is going on more than I had anticipated, and likes to place his head on my belly and listen and feel for any movement.

                                                                21 week Bubbabump.

Best Friends at the Show!

This post is a bit late.....however, a few weekends ago we took Oskar to the show and met up with his BFF and gorgeous parents. The kids  had a ball and it was fun to watch their excitement!

As always, just like doing anything with hyper toddlers, it was exhausting........ chasing them around and trying getting them to do as you asked...... "and please don't eat that food that's on the ground!!!!"....but the smiles as they went on the rides made up for it all.

I really love the small town country feel of the Mudgeeraba Show and the fact that Cam participated in a Dunny Race...yes a Dunny Race and  Hay Bail stacking competition to boot!!!, made it seem even more special. The boys surprised the country folk and won the hay stacking comp, but sadly came a close second in the Dunny Race. Great effort boys!

The afternoon went a little like this!

There is a Cow in the Laundry!

You'd think that after 3 years of being surrounded by toys, I wouldn't be surprised by finding this as I pulled back the quilt to get into bed....

                                              "Cam!! there is a monkey in our bed!"

...or this as I emptied the laundry hamper!

.....but both times they made me jump and gasp when I thought it was a rodent, but then smile as I realised as a parent you just have to get used to surprises and things ending up in strange places.

Monkey and a Scooter!

Since the winter weather has been just stunning lately we spent the weekend outdoors. We started with a trip to Currumbin Markets on Saturday morning, where we also ran into Kelly Slater at the bakery stall!  I wont go on and on and on about how fit he looked!

We thought we should walk off the delicious croissants we ate there by a walk along the beach and so Monkey Face could also practise his moves on his new birthday scooter!

It went a little like this.

                                         
 Then he dropped his scooter to climb a tree!

Then we did it all again on Monday before Stroller Group to practise some more with his best mate Asha!....and he had improved already....perhaps in an attempt to keep up with zoom zoomy Asha! I am amazed still at how fast kids learn new things!

....and then they climbed a tree again!

Room Envy

During my lunch beak today I caught up on some blogs I like to read and I am loving 'The Rookies Nest'  One  post of hers that I just keep going back to, is of this room. I just love the light in it, the finishes and everything in it.

                                                 
                                                              Can I live here please?!

Oh yeah, by the way...... we're Pregnant!

So a friend reminded me the other day that I haven't actually publicly announced our pregnancy yet but have had enough time to talk about laying turf! You know who you are! So it made me think actually...why haven't I? 

I don't exactly know, but I do know it certainly is a different experience the second time around and I do need to make more of an effort to note those differences, otherwise I will no doubt forget about them in years to come.
                                   
We are now 17.5 weeks along and to be honest I haven't even looked at my 'What to Expect when Expecting' book once yet! This time last pregnancy I was checking in every week seeing how much the baby had grown and what developments and changes had taken place. It certainly is not due to me not caring as much about this little bubba growing inside me as much as Oskar, but I just think it is due to the fact that I know what is happening now and know what to expect when expecting. 

I did go see the movie the other week...does that count?

To be honest I dont actually feel pregnant at the moment now that the nausea and tiredness has passed. What I do notice is that I can't comfortably sit down in my skinny jeans with the top button done up and my boobs hurt when I run!...oh yeah and I have a dangerously sweet tooth,  when I used to be all about the savoury!

                                {14 weeks}

I am also certainly far more relaxed this time around knowing what is to come and how my body is changing and I think that is contributing to my.... 'oh yeah, by the way... we are pregnant' attitude. 

I am actually more excited about the prospect of Oskar getting a little brother or sister and how will react and adapt to the change. He tells me every night when I read to him .."Mummy you have a baby in your tummy....and will get bigger and bigger and bigger and then it come out!!" He also says he has a sister in his tummy. I think he will be a gentle and caring brother from what I have seen with his interaction with other babies. How long that will last though.....well, we will see. 

Another nice difference will be to share this experience of raising a baby with nearby friends, as I must say,  it was hard with no friends with babies last time. Em was my saviour last time and I cant stress enough how important it is to have friends to support you and understand what you are going through. To listen to what they did, how they coped, get advice or just have a shoulder to cry on who understands. Thanks Em. 

Mothers group was also so very helpful and I recommend it to all new mums,  but it was hard to be as open with them at the start. It certainly reassures you that you are not alone adjusting to motherhood and really helped me through the hard times and very simply got me out of the house...which was sometimes hard to motivate myself to do! I also met some gorgeous people and babies and both Oskar and I have developed a really nice friendship out of it. 

                         

So I will try to keep a journal on this pregnancy as my attitude and feelings may very well change, and it may be very boring for all you readers out there,  so feel free just to look at the pictures.  

Now I'm off to eat a doughnut....because sometimes you should just give in to temptation and feel good about it!

Sea of Green!

Over the last week or so, we have been busy bees at home working to redesign our messy,  muddy back yard which was becoming a bit of an eye-saw really and an unusable space....into a lush grassed area for parking, play and something nicer to look at...Our new 'infinity lawn'

So we began by getting a very helpful contractor in to help reclaim some of our sloping land back by building a retaining wall. Seriously, if anyone on the Gold Coast wants any work done in landscaping, excavations or walls....John is your man. He went over and above and even came back on a public holiday to do some extra work for us for free and was the cheapest by far and oh so helpful with loads of advice.

Mum and Dad were also a big help during the process and were out there digging, levelling and carting soil and rocks in the cold. Thank you to you both for your help.

Cam worked like a trojan shovelling tons of stones and dirt, and I did what a Project Manager does best and made lots of phone calls, coordinated with contractors, crunched quotes and oversaw the project, helping out with what I could....given my condition.....oh yes, that's right we're pregnant! but that's a whole other Blog post to come!

                                                                The Transformation.

                                                                             Before

   

                            

The boys hard at work

Oskar moving some earth!

                                            Dad with his 'McGyver' style creation leveling the soil.

                         

                                                ................................After

                        Quickly trimming some edges in my lunch break so it felt like I was helping!!

  Laying the turf!

From this.........

                             
                                                                           ...  to this!!!!

                                                                 

                                                               From this eeeuuuurrrgghhhhh!!!!.........

                                                           ...... To this!!! Ahhhhhhh!

                                                                 Our new Infinity Lawn!