Down the Right of Way

A Miracle of the Modern World

2012-02-02T05:31:00.004+08:00

These photos are old- over a month old.... but I still think it's worth noting just how good it was and just how relieved we were on the 19th of December 2011- when our Air Conditioning went in. And in the last week where Perth has been basking in a 40deg + heat wave there have been many, many days where we have been very thankful for it.... over and over again!

♥

Tama 7 Months

2012-01-31T05:30:00.001+08:00

♥

And sleep.

2012-01-30T06:37:00.003+08:00

♥

365 Week 3

2012-01-30T05:31:00.001+08:00

♥

Simple Sunday

2012-01-29T06:15:00.001+08:00

By Rodrigo Jimineze Found here.

♥

Single Photo Saturday

2012-01-28T06:15:00.002+08:00

♥

Flora on Friday

2012-01-27T05:16:00.004+08:00

♥

Will: Month 49

2012-01-26T23:31:00.001+08:00

♥

We're still here!

2012-01-26T22:16:00.000+08:00

Just wanted to say... we're still alive.

Been hanging out with old friends and new.

Lots of partying and fun.

I have so many stories to tell you!

Life is full and amazing!

♥

Simple Sunday

2012-01-22T04:23:00.001+08:00

From JessicaBe on Etsy.

Hoping to have a good reason to reward myself with this soon... will be a lovely daily reminder to keep it simple.

♥

Single Photo Saturday

2012-01-21T06:15:00.002+08:00

♥

Flora on Friday

2012-01-20T05:59:00.003+08:00

♥

365's the last and the first...

2012-01-18T05:22:00.002+08:00

This years 365- has much simpler journalling with just some highlights- this streamlines the process for me and makes it a lot quicker. I have also set up my diary on our side board open with a pen so I can add notes as I walk by or have a moment- or on my way to bed.

♥

Oh for the love of cute...

2012-01-17T05:15:00.003+08:00

♥

Hello again.

2012-01-16T22:44:00.000+08:00

All the small people are in bed, finally.

Tama and I went for a walk this evening he was into it as it was just past dusk so all the street lights were on- but I had to cut it short because it was just a tad windy and cold-ish for a change and the wee dude was getting all blustered when we came back up the block that we started on. When we got home he was a little hyped but I got him settled eventually and now he's tucked up in his cot.

The cot is a recent addition to the bedroom- he was just tucked in with us but then he managed to wiggle his way past the amassed pillows one daytime sleep and hit the deck below... came in to find him gone from view, kicking up his heels by the window.... talk about feel like absolute crap after that one. We were very, very, very lucky he wasn't hurt at all, especially as our bed is a little higher than average. Thing is while he goes down alright in the evening he never does during the day- if I am lucky I'll get 5 minutes before he wakes! It's driving me nuts because he spends a lot of his awake time wanting to be held because he hasn't yet learned to sit up so there's only very small windows of time to get anything done. That said the advent of the new high chair and his absolute zest for eating is giving me a few more options- provided I have something set and ready to do in the main room when I give him his tucker- so I can watch him eating. But my goodness the child is so freaking cute and charming- he could charm the pants of the pope- which would be a bit creepy, but still no mean feat. He has the sweetest face and is possibly the most smiley baby we've had- he's positively dangerous!

What else.... we had a random week last week and lots of stars aligned. The high chair I never even bothered of dreaming of came up on Gumtree (a bit like trade me only local) and we got it for an (expensive) case of beer - but still a great price and it was just up in Lesmurdie. I went to Ikea and saw a cool dining table in their 'as is' section almost half price. Then the next day Les got to knock off early and went and checked it out and brought it home- it's fantastic, black and huge with the option to be huger- would be perfect for that massive family Christmas dinner- not that we have a massive family in Perth- or even the chairs to go with. And then when I was looking for a side table so we could get all the mess that amasses on the end of our bench off of it the one we liked but was not in our price range from Ikea also came up on Gumtree- in our price range- it is so super cool and I'm in love with it- photos later or I'll never finish this post. Finally I scored an A3+ printer which we had to go down to Fremantle to pick up and that meant we scored a nice few hours checking out Freo and having Fish and Chips at South Beach along with a play on the play ground and a paddle.

In general- it's school hols so the big kiddos are home. Kieran is keen in general to stay home- though he did go to Cottesloe Beach with a friend from school last week. But generally he prefers to have a wi-fi connection and spends a lots of time attached to his iPod 'talking' to friends. Or on the Wii or PS with the iPod within reach.

Merenia would love to be off at friends everyday and does spend a bit of time with the girls across the road but other than that we have yet to meet these friends nor know where they live so it isn't an option just to let her head off into the unknown. She spends her days drawing, reading, and on the computer emailing penpals and playing horse games. Plus she recently brought herself some DVD's including National Velvet to watch. She's really growing up- puberty has hit and I totally wasn't ready for it so I don't know how she could have been- but there's no choosing with this shit, so we have to go with it- but damn I wish she had an 'aunty' to help out both her and me.

Will decided he was happy to check out another Pre-school for the duration of the hols which is cool because he drives me crazy and he drives the big kids crazy too. It changes the whole culture of our house on the two days a week he is out. Things are calm and tidy and relaxed. The issue is his constant need for companionship and direction. He's ok if I set him up with a task like 'making' or constructions or if Merenia plays huts with him or Kieran goes on the Wii with him. But we all have only a certain amount of energy for all this stuff and some days I just run out of ideas. Plus I have to be super prepared because he's just totally all gung-ho and in there before I've even finished setting up- which also has the added complication of the fact he'll end up being done about 5 minutes after I've gotten out the last item for whatever he's doing and then I'll need to clean up and tidy up or we end up with dry pasta, glue and paint from here to eternity. And all this with 7kg of baby in one arm constantly trying to get what ever is in my other hand so he can eat it! So we love pre-school days- generally one is reserved for being at home and one is run errands day.

Les is still not doing what he really came here to do and it's driving him a little batty. Because he is servicing safety equipment he needs full CASA approval for his facility which he has been setting up since we arrived... when I say setting-up I mean not just the actual buying stuff and putting it in the right place but also writing procedure and safety manuals etc. And of course the actual application to CASA. On top of that Perth is HOT and it's not really much of an option to do outside stuff after about 9/10am and before 3/4pm so he's not getting much time to play golf or go flying especially as after a day with Will everyone is pretty exhausted. :) So it's not quite the life he imagined at this stage- but with some planning and time (bring on Autumn- do they have Autumn in Perth?) he'll get there.

Me, me me.... I am enjoying being in this space- as in the house, the city, and here at home with the kids even with the craziness. I treated myself to two online scrapbooking classes at Big Picture which are both all year long. It's been a challenge finding the time to do the actual crafting side of them but the thinking side has been cool. I'm doing 'One Little Word' with Ali Edwards- which is cool because last year my word(s) Better + habit totally got lost- it was a bit of a case of life is what happens while you are making other plans. This year I am very mindful of 'Simple' thanks in part to the class but also because I really put some thought into how I can keep the word to the forefront of my mind. I think the first half of the year will be a process of getting things in place so that we can have a simpler easier life moving forward. It's been interesting talking to the kids about what they really want. I've always thought we were a bit boring stay-at-homey but apparently they like that with the odd adventure thrown in here and there. They do want to do more stuff at home- family games nights and the like so the process of simplifying our lives will open up more space and time for that sort of thing.

The other course is Cathy Zielske's Move More Eat Well. I've already learnt some interesting stuff about the way my mind works so from that perspective it's going well. But my one thing to focus on for the month is moving and that hasn't panned out all that well, as yet. A combination of poor planning, impossible heat, a little bit of illness and crap excuses has meant I've only been out walking twice- but it's early days yet I will get there and slow and steady wins the race, right?

Scrapping time is severely limited with a six month old in the house and as that's the thing that helps me retain my sanity it's making me a little crazy I feel like I am constantly in catch up mode with my 365 so I never get to doing the fun stuff, coupled with the fact I have a Wedding album to do and 4 mini albums from the same event for friends in NZ which I haven't even started on I really need to find a way to kick some scrapbooking butt- other than staying awake till the sun starts coming in the front windows of the house around 4:30am. :-)

So I think that's us in a (rather large) nutshell for now. Enjoying life, appreciating what we have, and finding ways to make it even better. Sweet.

PS If you are on Pinterest you can look me up I succumbed to temptation, that place is one huge delicious time sink!

♥

Hello.

2012-01-16T09:33:00.000+08:00

I have a few minutes. Scratch that I had a few minutes... now I hear crying.

And now I'm typing one handed.

So. I thought I had a few minutes and was deciding what to do with it... there's a list. Then one of Carolanns envoys fluttered into my garden ( a monarch) and confirmed that I needed to catch up with everyone via the poor neglected blog.

Did you know if someone flings their little fat baby fingers at the key board this generally results in "page down" and "find toolbar"? Neither of these is conducive to easy blogging. In fact both render the already difficult one handed typing useless.

So I guess I'll catch up later. Suffice to say we're all good and enjoying life in WA.

Soon, Gypsy
♥

Simple Sunday

2012-01-15T05:44:00.002+08:00

From Etsy seller: Kasi Good

♥

Change: the very last installment

2012-01-14T05:24:00.002+08:00

Open day and open for business.

Flora on Friday

2012-01-13T05:56:00.002+08:00

♥

Change: the second last installment

2012-01-12T05:27:00.000+08:00

If you don't know what this is all about then have a look here and here. I wanted to write more but I don't have time and I really want to move into 2012 on the blog. But the underlying thing is- this is where people lived, it was their back yard, it was where they loved, laughed and grieved. It was where they raised their family. And now it's 4 lanes of asphalt.

I can't believe I never blogged....

2012-01-10T05:56:00.005+08:00

I'm just finishing sorting and 'processing' the photos from last year and come across a couple of things I never got to blogging from Pre-Perth times! Todays post is from the 'So cool I can't believe I didn't blog it' files- and tomorrow is the last post in a very long series.

During our last week in New Zealand while we were staying at the Welfare House I spent the best part of a day with my angel and saviour Carolann at Château Kemp making Gingerbread houses for the Baristas at Starbucks and the Kindy teachers among others. We used Not Martha's Template and The Martha's Recipe- which didn't really translate with New Zealand ingredients so we changed it for batch two. I think the houses ended up being a bit bigger than they were supposed to be- but it didn't matter because with Carolanns frickin' awesomeness with a piping bag they looked so freakin' cute it wouldn't have mattered how they looked or tasted.

They all got bagged up in cellophane, bedecked with Ribbon, name tags and poem and delivered to some of the worlds best people. Which is why I am now left wondering (6 months later) why the hell I didn't give one to Carolann! Duh!!

♥

Late Night Visitor

2012-01-09T06:12:00.001+08:00

There is a cat that sneaks into our yard at night I've seen it's foot prints in the sand up the side of the house and on rare occasions there is a little Magpie Lark that comes in search of a bite to eat. But other than that it was just insects till late last night around half ten I was watering the garden when I saw movement on the lawn. I thought it would be a cricket but not so....

Nice of him to stop and pose for a moment.

♥

Simple Sunday

2012-01-08T05:38:00.007+08:00

From Etsy seller: Aisling

♥

Single Photo Saturday

2012-01-07T18:15:00.000+08:00

Perth From The Lesmurdie Lookout.

♥

Flora on Friday

2012-01-06T05:56:00.002+08:00

♥

Unphotographed

2012-01-04T09:09:00.000+08:00

The photograph I didn't take today was of myself at 4:30am at the Lions Lookout up in Lesmurdie. I stood sandal glad feet rooted to the ground. As the wind bufffeted and blasted me from behind. Plastering my pretty green pyjama pants to my legs so that they were outlined in the dark morning, the excess fabric trying it's hardest to jump from the front of my body into the dark abyss in front. The drops of rain were forced through my t-shirt cooling my back in the early morning warmth that stays despite the wind in this Perth summer. I was unmoving though. Except my index finger poised and ready as I watched.

And these are the photos I did take....

Know anyone who collects clowns?

2012-01-04T05:53:00.001+08:00

My dad gave me these two when I was little- they now need a new home with some one who will love and appreciate them!

♥

Tama at six months.

2012-01-03T23:53:00.003+08:00

You know I've never written a full blog post about Tama like I did about Will when he was little: about bloody time I did right?

At the ripe old age of 6 months and 9 days...

Tama weighs... 7.18kg
Tama measures... 65.5cm

Tama can....

Roll pretty much where ever he wants
Smile
Laugh
Babble
Growl
Hold a toy
Pass an object from hand to hand
Put things in his mouth including food.
Support himself on his feet for a long time
Support his upper body on his arms
Crawl- Commando Style and he is starting to get up on all fours
Sleep through the noise of a hammer drill but not the crinkle of the mattress cover in his cot.

Tama understands and reacts to....

The song "Why does the baby cry?"
Peek-a, peek-a, peek-a BOO!' Pulls sheet off his face etc.
His own name.
Jet noises make him smile.
Row, row your boat.

Tama loves...

breastmilk
his mummy
his dad
his brother
his sister
his other brother (the smaller one)
music and dancing
being held and carried
being allowed to stand up supported
the wind catcher in the garden
Food!
Balloons
walking outside
watering the garden
wet cloths
being tickled, jiggled and turned upside down
watching out the window
watching cartoon shows briefly
sucking on peoples condensated drink bottles
baths and even more so showers
kicking his feet in the sink
watching himself in the mirror
having no pants on
pulling hair
balls, his buzzy bee, and the jack-in-the-box teddy.
Paper... envelopes are especially good
Grabbing things really fast.
sucking on stuff
when we put his toes in his mouth
Action songs like 'row, row your boat'
Giving gooby kisses.
Hanging out on Kieran's bed.
grabbing food and drinks anyone might have within range
playing on the bed. (Wrestling with dad).
moving on the bed (much easier than hard floor).
Sitting up in the super market trolley.
reading stories with Will and Dad- but he prefers to eat them.
flapping his arms and bouncing when he sits on our knee.

Tama tolerates.... (read: really kind of dislikes actually)

Driving in the car
Sleeping in his own bed- it's like hell for babies apparently.
Lying on the floor for very long
Sitting with anyone at the computer
Having to go where the big kids go
Supermarket shopping (any shopping really)
Cuddles
Sitting up in a washing basket with toys

Tama gets called (or has been called)...

Tama
Tama J
Tama the drama llama
T-Llama
Tama Pajama Llama
The Raby baby (he used to foam at the mouth)
TJ
T-bone
Baby-lu
Lulu
Hubba Bubba
'T'
Mum's Baby
Cutey Patootie

Tama has tried...

Breastmilk, water- sucked off cups and bottle- he can be quite ferocious when one is in his vicinity and fast too very fast
Roast Chicken , Beef, potatoes, kumara and pumpkin, schnitzel, steak, meat loaf, beans, snow peas, broccoli, corn, carrots, asparagus, red cabbage, capsicum, cucumber, mango, apple, peach, nectarine, melon, french toast, raisin toast, regular toast, Grissini. (Not bad for 9 days old)

Tama....

Still wakes 1 time most nights
Has 2-3 day time sleeps of 45-60 minutes in his cot if I am lucky or has 2x2hr sleeps in my arms.
Goes down for the night between 7:30pm or more like 9:30pm if he skipped sleeps and got over tired.
Wakes between 6:00 and 7:00am
Get's cranky if he's on the floor 'too long' (read a very short time).
Is starting to cry when mummy leaves the room.
Often goes to sleep in the front pack, but not the push chair.
Has a sleeping bald patch
Looks most handsome in white, green and muted purple.
Flails his hand around when he's sleepy.
Wriggles and kicks and spreads across the bed
Sleeps nights inbetween us
Looks super cute naked
Super super cute wet and naked post shower
Is starting to get chubby bits
Has a lovely shaped head
Has clammy stinky feet
Fell off our bed!
Knows to smile for the camera.

And most likely a bunch of other stuff that my 12am head doesn't recall

♥

Round-Up~ December 2011

2012-01-02T05:47:00.057+08:00

On our bookshelf this month....

Merenia is reading for the Premiers Reading Challenge of the holidays and the book "Girl's Stuff" by Caz Cooke.
I have been reading Baby Led Weaning, Creating Keepsakes and Better Homes and Gardens- I love their December and Christmas Issues.
Will has been into the Octonauts.
Kieran is doing Harry Potter, again.
Les has been reading the internet more than anything else.
Tama eats his books more than he reads them.

Loving on the box....

Survivor, Octonauts, Offspring, Spicks and Specks, Letters and Numbers, Dr Who, Kung Fu Hustle, and Tim Minchin Vs. The Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

For you...For me?

Will had his birthday and got a lot of cool stuff and cash (One of the advantages of living away from everyone!)We all got cool stuff from Les' trip to Aberdeen. We sent pressies home to Ehren, Vienna, and the Seelen-Smiths. And then there was Christmas the high lights of which were: G- Phone, Starbucks pressie! L- Model Aircraft, K- Wii Games, M- Almost completing her Schleich Horse collection, W- Play Kitchen and Blower, T- Dragon Puppet and Christmas Eve Dinner.

Germs and bugs and botherations....

Will, Tama and I all got a coldy flu-y thing. Whilst mine and Will's were horrible and crappy mine went away. Whereas Will's cough we think is actually Whooping Cough, and we think Merenia also has it too. Poor Will has ended up coughing so much some nights that he has thrown up. He is way past the contagious stage now so on the upside Tama has managed to avoid it, but on the downside we still probably have a few weeks more of coughing.

Today was good today was fun, tomorrow is another one...

Going to Adventure world for the Bristow Family Christmas Day Out.
Merenia had a class party.
Bristow Grown-up's Christmas Work 'do'.
Wattle Grove Presentation Evening.
Les and I went shopping with just the little boys- Will went to sleep in the car so we got Smoothies and ate them at Tomato Lake.
The day our Air con got installed.
Les finally getting home from Aberdeen was a good one, especially for a much relieved almost 4 year old.
His best day would have been his birthday though.
And his third best day this month was finishing up at his pre-school Smarties which he hated with a passion.
Christmas day was great.
Les and Kieran went to the driving range.
Les got out for a game of Golf (almost killed himself too)
Les and the kids enjoyed a day out at Pools, playground and Aviation Museum.

Yum, yum, yum....

Will requested Banana Cake for his birthday.
Our haul from the Kiwi shop especially Tuimato Sauce and some good kiwi lollies and drink.
Summer fruit.
Christmas Dinner.
And for Tama food full stop- Roast Chicken and Beef, Kumara, Nectarine, bread sticks, raisin toast, broccoli, schnitzel and anything else he can wrap his little fat hand around.

'It was on sale'....

We upgraded our Camera as an early Christmas Present to ourselves we now have a Canon 550D. I brought myself two 'Big Picture' Classes: One Little Word with Ali Edwards and Move More, Eat Less with Cathy Zielske.

Bugger!

Will's cough is about the only down side this month. Our lawn is looking a little brown but hopefully will green up once summer is done.

Hooray!

Will's new Pre-school is much better. My package from Starbucks was AWESOME. My word for 2012 coming to me without any effort on my part- Simple. Nice relaxed Christmas! No fillings for Kieran at the dentist and his partial denture which had chipped- fixed for free. And the dentist also got Will in the chair for free and he let her have a great look around- awesome! Air-con- thank freakin' goodness!

Etc...

Will and Les have been playing their own version of letters and numbers and Will called an awesome word for the combination of letters Les gave him on the etch-a-sketch: Hibernation! The funny thing was all but one of the letters were on the board.

You know who's good idea this was? Katie The Scrapbook Lady. Go check out her list of tasks to do at the end of each month as well.

♥

Simple Sunday

2012-01-01T10:32:00.001+08:00

That's my One Little Word to focus on for the year.

It will manifest itself in lots of places including this blog where I would like to continue posting each day but also make life simpler.

Simple Sunday is a weekly feature where I focus on my word for the year: Simple - by finding 'Simple' stuff to share in a simple way.

♥

Tama's First Day in the world and some

2011-12-30T05:35:00.029+08:00

Tama's arrival into the world was fraught and stressful and probably the hardest birth that we've had. That is saying something after the two days we laboured to get Kieran here and the three days it took to deliver Saskia knowing that she had already died.

It started a week before he arrived when I was having a few CTG's because we were concerned about possible decreased movement. In the end we decided to go for a scan which started a cascade of crap raining down on us which we are still dealing with now. The scan was to do a biophysical profile to make sure the wee babe was basically ok and healthy and to figure if the movement issues were a figment of my paranoia and all was a go for a normal birth after 2 previous Caesars.

Let me just say our Radiologist and his team (aka 'The Ladies') are amazing and we love them to bits... if Scott's middle name wasn't the name of a race horse we would have given it serious consideration as a name for the baby. And we are so lucky that they care for us extra especially well knowing our history and just generally knowing us. And that is why they swung into full alert mode when an anomaly was found in the baby's brain. I said to Scott- "you know I'm going to go home and Google this so you need to give me all the information I need to do so properly" and he did. Meanwhile his staff were getting a hold of our midwife to find out how she wanted to proceed. After the scan we were ushered into the 'bad news' room to await further instructions. The instructions were do not pass go, head immediately home, make arrangements and pack your bags. So we went and did our supermarket shopping- that's not to say we were being cavalier just that we knew nothing moves that fast in the medical world, that the cupboards were bare, and if need be we could abandon the shopping trolley.

We were of course right. Our midwife contacted Maternal Fetal Medicine at Auckland Hospital and they had no Dr's on that day they had scrambled to try and get us in but hadn't managed it so we could wait. There seemed to be some contradiction in their actions and so of course we spent the weekend believing that they had wanted to see us urgently and wondering what might happen because they didn't- it was possibly the worst two days ever.

We also spent it intimately involved with the internet. Ventriculomegarly- means that one or more brain ventricles are increased in size due to a build up of fluid. A measurement above 10mm and below 15mm is mild and anything above is severe. We were on the border line with both the lateral ventricles being 15mm and the third vent also mildly enlarged. When someone says there is a problem with your babys brain and words are bandied about like Hydrocephalus and Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum- you tend to freak out a little, and freak out we did. On Monday we got our appointment for the MFM for Wednesday!!! We totally didn't understand why on Friday everyone was in freak out mode but we weren't getting in till Wednesday- we were still in freak out mode.

Wednesday we went, they scanned again, and confirmed the original diagnosis and measurements. They talked us through a bunch of stuff and said that though it needed to go to the 'panel' they thought we would be fine to go into labour and deliver normally at our local hospital provided that happened before 41 weeks (I was almost 39 weeks).

So it was with much surprise that we went for a regular appointment with the OB at our regular clinic the very next day and she said we were scheduled for a C-section the very next morning. She showed us the letter that the panel had emailed through and they had found that due to the possible decrease in movement that I had noted and past obstetric history that an 'immediate' C-section was the best option. We also read in the letter that our baby was to be a boy ruining the much anticipated surprise that we had planned for the birth.

After some robust discussion we accepted that we didn't have a choice because essentially we knew that if we waited and something went wrong with our boy in that time we'd have one hell of a time forgiving ourselves. So we went home, sorted childcare (Thank-you Carolann, Kindy, and Gregg and Linda), packed and thought about names.

The next day dawned early for us and we departed for the hospital as the sun was rising. Got sorted and settled in to wait while some other ladies had their own emergency births.

We finally headed for theatre around 11. We had a nice enough surgeon, a cool Paed, some lovely midwives including our own and a fantastic theatre nurse who more than made up for the humour vacuum that was our anaesthetist. The plan was to pass the baby all sticky and bloody up to me as soon as he was born. Things never go to plan. 11:31 they yanked him out, handed him over to midwives and paed who wiped him down and checked him out.... there never was any intention to get him straight to me because the thing that was never said was that they had no idea if the Ventriculomegaly was isolated or if there might be other complications. As it was the baby was having issues with his breathing and temperature, unrelated to his brain, and so after an all too brief cuddle he and his very stressed Daddy were spirited away to the NICU.

While the theatre nurse wiped my tears and held my hand they sewed me up and moved me to recovery- the recovery nurse also had a fine English sense of humour- he needed it because the guy across the way kept trying to get out of bed to do a runner- not wise when you are up to your nose in anaesthetic. Eventually I could feel my feet again and move my legs and so they wheeled me around to the NICU.

And what confronted me was the 8lb 4oz and 50 cm of the cutest thing we'd recently created. The baby was doing well and after a short time I got to hold him at which point he started to drink like a little champ. He was relatively stable so they decided we could all go back to the regular ward together. Where Les finally got to have a cuddle.

And he got his first visitor- Raewyn is an old friend and she works at the Maternity Reception so she knew we'd been wheeled back from the NICU and was excited as to come meet the boy.

At 4:30 that afternoon I was out of bed and me and Mr no-name were wheeled around to Radiology where the idiot technician took pretty pictures of his head. Fortunately despite the whole morning of major surgery and stress I was onto it and got her to give me the measurements and details (including a cyst that hadn't been noted before). I say fortunately because over the weekend somebody equally stupid reviewed the scans and passed their opinion onto Tammy, our amazing hospital Paed. She came while I was off showering and told Les, who had the baby, that everything looked normal and all was good. At which point I re-entered the room, got the news and told her it bloody well wasn't and gave her the details that I had from the scan. At which point she genuinely asked what my medical training was. :-) And I told her I was simply an educated mother who knew how to advocate for her children. She apologised for the mistake and said she'd check it out. Which she did, came back with the actual results, and set in place all that we needed for our follow-up. And in the meantime I had a wee cry to my midwife that I had to work with idiots! :-)

By Monday we were done with the hospital, hearing checks were done and all clear from the paed to leave- we did and thank-goodness because the most acute mothers get the best midwives and the others get the painfully annoying bottom of the barrel ladies so we were well ready to get away.

By this point the little guy who'd gone by various monikers over the past 4 days, as we tried them for size and fit, was finally ready to be introduced to the world as Tama Felix Clark Stockley.

We had a follow up at the hospital when T was about six weeks which resulted in him going to Starship the very next day for surgery to repair an inguinal hernia. Possibly one of the most stressful days of my parenting life- not feeding your six week old for 10+ hours, handing him off to strangers, and knowing he's going under a General Anaesthetic are all enough on their own but when combined are heart rending, that said there are parents out there with truly sick babies and I appreciate that we are so lucky.

Waitakere Paediatrics recommended that Tama be followed up again at 3 months- but the Australian medical system is slow and unwieldy so it was closer to 5 before he was scanned and seen. His head is increasing at a rate greater than the rest of him and measures in the 97th centile now so they have put him on the waiting list for an MRI (which he has to have under a General) as a 'semi-urgent' case. That translates in the Australian system as May of next year- it's far from ideal as he will be almost a year old- I can't help thinking that had we still been in NZ it would already be done, but of course that can't be helped.

Ninety percent of babies born with ventriculomegaly go on to be diagnosed with what is called “Isolated Mild Ventriculomegaly” and most of them have no issues. Some of them have developmental issues with their learning and cognitive function. Ten percent of babies born with ventriculomegaly go on to have a more serious case and a wider range of issues. It's possible we won't know which of these Tama is until he is into his second her third year of formal learning- that's a lot of uncertainty and sometimes in weighs heavily on our minds.

But for the most part we just enjoy this incredibly sweet and adorable little being who blesses our lives everyday with the sweetest smiles and laughter. He's laying sleeping in my arms right now and every so often he cracks the cutest little smile- even in his sleep, especially in his sleep, he is a dream baby.

♥

365 Week 51

2011-12-30T02:10:00.001+08:00

♥

Will: Month 48 (aka 4)

2011-12-28T05:20:00.064+08:00

Will at four is the most amazing person.

We have created a monster in the best of ways. He is so smart and active and intelligent that if we are not on the ball it is constantly getting him and us into trouble! He needs almost constant stimulation and is always challenging us to find something new and interesting for him to do.

He doesn't suffer fools gladly and doesn't enjoy the 'kid talk' that some adults seem to think is appropriate which I think is part of the reason he's chewed through two pre-schools, spat one out and is working on doing the same for the second. I only hope that the Wattle Grove Kindy class can hold his attention and that his teachers give him the respect as the intelligent thinking individual that he deserve- or I'd say we'll all be in for some trouble. If we had the choice he'd be off to a Montessori school or something similar where children are truly respected as thinkers and workers. (This is where Hobsonville North Kindy absolutely shined).

He has the most eloquent turns of phrase at times and at others will quite happily throw out a giggly "Merenia you're stinky" or a cheeky "Kieran you aren't Ninja!". Sometimes I am just blown away by the things that he says and I am often left wondering where the words and sometimes the knowledge came from. The kid has a dictionary in his brain I'm sure of it.

This is why listening is key with our boy. And sometimes it's hard. Sometimes he struggles to get the words out literally stuttering and skipping. And sometimes he just struggles to put into words what he wants to say. Sometimes he repeats the same story to everyone in the room individually- even if the five of us are all sitting on the same two couches. And it doesn't matter if I am skipping on the spot in need of the loo or off to rescue Tama from some tricky situation- I have to stop and listen because Will doesn't stop until he is heard- it drives Les nuts when he is reading a story. But it's worth it because there are diamonds in the rough- amazing points where he captures the magic in our everyday lives and puts the ordinary into the most extraordinary words- Will appreciates life and living.

Will has a bucket list the length of a roll of loo paper- he wants to be an Arborist, a Helicopter pilot, he wants to drive an ambulance, be a kindy teacher, a builder, an RC pilot, a midwife, a gardener and so many more. Will is, to say the least, dissatisfied with limits and to put it in real terms absolutely against them- this makes him exhausting to parent. Toy tools aren't enough he wants the real thing, his chainsaw may not have been designed to really cut anything- but he'll darn well make it cut if it's the last thing he does. He is rough as guts- rip, chop and blast, clattering and banging around the world in the classic stereotype of the male child.

But he is also the most gentle soul, he is astute in his appraisals of people and situations- he is affectionate and empathetic. He tries so hard to convey and display his nurturing side although it's a constant battle with his wild spirit. His hugs are rough, and his kisses are hard- and whilst Les and I are the main recipients of this onslaught of love, he also manhandles his baby brother in a barrage of affection.

Watching Will and grow each day would be an honour and a pleasure if it wasn't so darn exhausting. His energy and the pace at which he moves make him a whirlwind of thoughts, ideas and activities that leave me battered and sometimes befuddled. But his delight at his own achievements and activities and also those of others is a huge reward- his confidence in himself and his absolute passion for everything is food for a parents soul.

One of my favourite ever conversations with Will happened late this year. The onslaught and turmoil of a new baby brother, moving house and moving country with all of the change and upheaval it ensued had calmed to a dull hum. We were at home having just visited the garden centre for plants, we had also brought a large Rainbow wind catcher. We brought it home, assembled it and put it out to stand up in the garden. Will delighted in it's swift movement and the bright colours and also in the moment of calm activity just me, him and Tama. He said:

"I Love It!

And I love you!

And I love Tama.

And I love me!

I love myself.

This is fun.

This was a great idea Mum!"

It was apparent that he wasn't just talking about the wind catcher he was talking about life itself, his life and the life we share. Who wouldn't want to be around someone like that each day- no matter how exhausting it may be.

♥

Christmas 2011 in Pictures

2011-12-27T05:02:00.000+08:00

From the stocking to the presents to breakfast and lunch and all the bits in between this was Christmas 2011.

365 Week 50

2011-12-26T05:13:00.001+08:00

♥

2011-12-25T00:05:00.000+08:00

365 Week 49

2011-12-24T05:21:00.004+08:00

♥

Peek-a-boo!

2011-12-24T00:32:00.000+08:00

♥

365 week 48- (Catching up again)

2011-12-23T22:24:00.000+08:00

♥

Cool Dude

2011-12-23T15:23:00.000+08:00

♥

Flora on Friday

2011-12-23T05:58:00.002+08:00

♥

Four out of Six ain't bad

2011-12-22T11:49:00.000+08:00

But it could have been five.... Merenia!!!

♥

My Word 2012

2011-12-22T10:22:00.000+08:00

I did have a word for the year this year but I never got around to blogging it- which is about the same for how I lived it too.... but I have valid reasons- hard to have habits when everything is changing! My new word is everything I need right now and every thing our family needs to I think....

Simple

♥

The last of the post-it's

2011-12-21T12:37:00.001+08:00

♥

Lucky Tama

2011-12-20T05:01:00.015+08:00

We are very lucky to have such great friends and family- here are some of the cool gifts Tama got when he was born. We are very grateful to the following people: Raewyn who got the above, Carolann for the scrapping goodness and Miss Wendy for the yummy bikkies (perfect for new mum energy) both delivered directly bedside (hence no photo), My parents, Nana, and grandma for the cash which will go into T's account (when we get around to that), the Carrington-Hogg family for the Giraffe, and The Casbolt-Brinkmans for the baby sized rugby ball and...

The Brinkmans

The Harrisons

The Dawsons

My lovely (Auckland) neighbour Sharon.

The Corsans

Rach and Freddy

The S&S section at Whenuapai.

Hopefully I didn't miss anyone!

♥

He's Four- more details coming soon-

2011-12-19T10:18:00.000+08:00

♥

My Happy Place

2011-12-18T05:31:00.010+08:00

I don't currently have a friends place (or a Starbucks) that I can take off to if I am over hanging out at home- (or over hanging out with the people at home). So I was glad to find this place which is calm and tranquil but also very interesting and just lovely for a little break. And the locals are very colourful.

♥

Watching

2011-12-17T05:31:00.006+08:00

One of T's favourite things to do is watch out the windows- the ones in our bedroom go down to the floor and he has a view through the plants to our road which has enough people and car action especially around 3pm to make it quite interesting. So we sit and he watches. And I watch him and he's absolutely gorgeous.

♥

Jealous, me?

2011-12-16T22:49:00.000+08:00

Hello??

Check out the background of the photos of the (beautiful) artwork in this post on the One Lucky Day Blog- how super seriously cool is that?

She has a collection of 'Gypsy' books!! And she makes cool art- totally beside the point though- Gypsy books!!!!!

Gypsy goes away to seriously consider if she wants to add to her life stash (and book stash) my own collection of Gypsy books.... hmmmmmm?

♥

The week where I fell off the face of the earth.

2011-12-16T22:02:00.000+08:00

It's not like me to just not blog- and for a whole week no less. But I did and there you have it. It's not been any more or less busy than usual. I have my husband back from the land of the bonnie wee scotts laddies. My children are home for the holidays, and my baby has slept well enough. My Christmas and birthday shopping is under control. I have a list and I've checked it more than twice. I've even checked things off of it! But it's just been a week where everything that's been brewing with the whole have a baby, move countries thing has totally and utterly caught up with me, Les and the big kids. That's not to say we are regretting the move or the baby, just that both have brought their challenges and for this week the complexity of issues we faced in NZ and new issues that come with change have all piled up on us like snow in a northern Christmas- gently and quietly, floating snowflake by snowflake. First it doesn't settle and then little by little it does just in little drifts in corners and crevices and it builds so slowly you don't see it until there is a mountain of snow and it seems all too hard to shovel a way through. But shovel we will and I'm sure we'll make it through. It's just overwhelming at the moment.

I read tonight of a Ali Edwards impending divorce, she wrote with such grace and asked knowing there would be a huge out pouring of comments from her adoring fans that their words be positive. I wrote...

What an incredible life you've had.
What an incredible life you have.
What an incredible life you'll have.
There is no doubt.

And it's true for us all. Sometimes it's incredibly hard- but it's still incredible.

♥

Flora on Friday

2011-12-16T05:53:00.003+08:00

♥

Flora on Friday

2011-12-09T05:53:00.001+08:00

♥

The Volcano Park

2011-12-08T05:25:00.007+08:00

Just before Les went to Aberdeen Will, Tama and I met up with him so we could go check out a butcher and then after went and ate our lunch in the 'Volcano Park' which is really close to Les' work. It is a pretty cool playground and has some amazing gardens around it as well. We call it the Volcano Park as it has a big Volcano in the middle that the kids can climb all over. The day we visited the mister machine was being serviced so no 'steam' coming from the Volcano- but most days it does.

♥

Teacher's Day and the Dept. of Ed.

2011-12-07T05:25:00.013+08:00

I am in two minds about this little thing above.

1. Woo hoo! Great teachers are valuable and important and amazing and don't get nearly enough thanks and appreciation.

2. Seriously? I know we haven't been tax payers in Australia for a while but if our education tax dollars are going on posting out a full colour card and the full colour A4 letter that came with it I'm not sure that's wise use of money which I'm sure schools could happily spend in other areas.

And it's not just this all the receipts for payments I make and a lot of notices (especially from the high school) are posted to me- I mean could they not just give them to the kids to bring home saving an envelope and a stamp. I know some kids aren't terribly responsible and some things might take a while to get into parents hands if they come via that route-but I don't think that bypassing them completely is going to help improve the situation at all. I get a lot of mail from the WA Dept. of Ed- and I think it's all just a big fat waste of money that could be better spent on kids and their education! And that's just the start of my issues with the department of Ed. Let's not get started on the fact that Merenia's school does not have a dedicated full time secretary- but a number of floaters the main one that I have encountered generally doesn't seem to have a clue what she's doing. I miss Mrs Crawford- grumpy though she may have been on occasion- she knew what she was doing and got stuff done.

♥

Moment

2011-12-05T10:38:00.000+08:00

It was the sound of the car that woke me. I rolled over and the bright red of the clock told me it was 1:50am almost simultaneously I heard the click of the hallway door and the soft padding of almost four year old feet on the wooden floor. He paused in the hallway murmuring with fright no doubt at the shadowy figure that was looming in the long opaque glass panels of the front door. He stood rooted to the spot. I delicately as possible leapt from the bed so as not to wake the baby and whispered into the night "It's alright buddy". Then the front door opened and the feeling of relief was as audible as his words; "Oh, yes". And at the moment all was right with the world because after three long, tiring, aching weeks, daddy was finally home.

Finally we are all three tucked into our respective beds, after welcome cuddles, cool drinks and murmured stories. The baby is having a drink of his own between us as we lay in the heat on the sheets. The padding came again and the door cricked open and the voice brightly chirped into the wee hours of the morning: "I am the champion of Tennis Dad!" Just one more story that needed to be told before morning. The tucking in is repeated and it's quiet again. Till morning.

♥

You're Silly Jimmy Giggle

2011-12-05T05:28:00.000+08:00

This is the collage Will and I worked on together to send into Giggle and Hoot- who are the kids TV channel hosts over here. Hoot is unsurprisingly an Owl- you can see his likeness in the picture above. You can also see a picture of the small potatoes under which Will has written his name- he writes from right to left- I hope that is not an indication of a problem!

♥

And the answer is....

2011-12-04T08:19:00.000+08:00

Paula got it they are extendable cup and pill boxes. So sweet, never seen anything like it!

Here's my other scores from the auction (the stuff that I kept).

This vase adds to my collection of ones the same shape.

Not sure if I'll keep these guys but they are in my stash for now... and if I don't find a use for them they'll move on.

♥

More from Les...

2011-12-03T05:27:00.002+08:00

Les is about to leave Aberdeen and do the big fly home- he arrives at 1am on Monday morning!!! So I figured it'd be a good idea to share the rest of his pictures. He spent his second weekend in Scotland in Edinburgh and managed to continue to taunt me!!

♥

Flora on Friday

2011-12-02T05:53:00.002+08:00

♥

For Les and Carolann....

2011-12-01T22:04:00.000+08:00

♥

Round-Up~ November 2011

2011-12-01T21:04:00.000+08:00

On our bookshelf this month....

Kieran: Harry Potter, again.
Merenia: Louise Rennison Books
Will: A series of books about Australian animals.
Tama: is into Maisy, he prefers to try and consume his books though.
Les: Some Op shop finds he got for the plane and The Slap which we recently watched on TV
Me: Lists- Christmas Lists, To do lists, Horse Lists, Wii Game lists etc etc etc

Loving on the box....

Merenia: Reality anything involving people or animals getting hurt: Paramedics, SPCA Rescue and so on and anything that involves the war.
Will: Ra Ra the Noisy Lion and Octonauts- EXPLORE, RESCUE, RETECT!!! (sic)
Kieran: Survivor, Spicks and Specs, Numbers and Letters.
Me: One Born Every Minute, Offspring, Survivor

For you...For me?

We sent stuff for Ehren in November. I have a stack of stuff for Miss Wendy and Vienna. Les has brought a stack of stuff in Aberdeen. I have done a bunch of scrapbooking shopping. And we got Pigs Ears for the dogs next door. We received an envelope of goodies from the Seelen-Smiths. And of course Kieran got a load of stuff for his birthday- including his now appendage an iPod.

Germs and bugs and botherations....

There was a bunch of colds with complimentary sore throats and I got a Cold sore while Les was away- which gives a good indication of how run down I am!

Today was good today was fun, tomorrow is another one...

Merenia sang in the Choir at the Seniors Fayre. Kieran enjoyed a school trip to Scitech. Tama and I enjoyed a One Act Play with Kieran in it at his school. Will and I took a few trips (adventures) around town including one that took us to the Beach House at Scarborough Beach- it is a big indoor playground like Chipmunks or Lollipops neither of which Will had ever been too- so good times inside on a day that was way too hot to be outside. Les went to Aberdeen, Loch Ness and Edinburgh.

Yum, yum, yum....

We tried Logan Fruit (so so). I made an Apricot Loaf from Healthy Food guide- YUM. Also good: Red Rock Beetroot Dip with Red Rock Crackers, McDonalds new Smoothies and fresh Mango. Not so yum- Tomato Sauce- we've tried 4 or so brands now and it's all vile if you are coming to Perth bring Watties and Tuimato, we'll pay you back.

'It was on sale'....

Holy Cow!! A whole heap of purchases this month Grey's Anatomy 6 & 7 on DVD. A Sassafras Big box, a super cool apple peeler, plants for the garden, some more stuff from Ikea, out door furniture and the icing on the cake a new Camera Eos 550D which I am waiting impatiently to arrive.

Bugger!

My Grandma is feeling really down and there's not much we can do about it. We offered to have her come live with us but she's not keen- she's basically on her own in Brisbane and it's not a good scene. The big kids were really really slack when Les was away it was very disappointing and gruelling. Will's Pre-school is a dud we have handed in notice early because he is really unhappy there. Our grass is dying!!

Hooray!

Merenia got a Merit Certificate at Assembly. All of Kieran's Exam results were above 80% and at least 2 in the 90's. He also got a High Distinction in his Australian Maths test which was done in NZ before we left. And we got a letter from one of his teachers telling us what a great student he is and what a fine example he sets. I finally did some scrapbooking. Got all the plants and seeds into the vege garden.

Etc...

Filling out Life Insurance forms sucked eggs! Merenia's school had it's official opening (the school was brand new on it's site this year). Our neighbour Nancy has been keeping an eye on us dropping by each weekend since Les has been away.

You know who's good idea this was? Katie The Scrapbook Lady. Go check out her list of tasks to do at the end of each month as well.

♥

Wish List

2011-12-01T09:22:00.000+08:00

I've been seriously lucky scrapbooking supply and treat wise lately so this is not on the cards for me but I'm putting it out there in case any one else is in a position to take up the opportunity: October Afternoon Santa Sack

♥

365 Week 47

2011-11-30T15:35:00.000+08:00

♥

Need a Clue?

2011-11-30T05:19:00.001+08:00

♥

Backyard Rugby

2011-11-29T05:11:00.018+08:00

The whole lack of Daylight savings thing in WA is a pain in the bum. You sort of feel like going out there and saying... "people!! It's GOOD. You're kids don't wake up at 5am and instead of it being dark at 7:30pm- you have another hour to go for a walk, do the garden, or whatever takes your fancy once your done with dinner and such."

For example- you would totally have heaps more opportunity to make your neighbours think that your kids were killing each other by ripping each others limb off as they squeal, scream and giggle their way through a game of backyard rugby.

And you could be entertained for hours by their crazyness!
P.S Don't ask me why Will is wearing long sleeves in the Perth Climate- the child is completely balmy! The other day he was wearing jeans and a jacket with a fur collar- It's 28 degrees inside son- seriously!
♥

Tama, Rolling

2011-11-28T05:11:00.011+08:00

It happened in the blink of an eye one second there was a squirmy baby wriggling around on the blanket. Next thing there was this little stuck thing looking like a fish out of water

And then he got his arm round the right way.

And was pretty impressed with himself!

And that was Monday the 17th of October just a week shy of 4 months... so proud!

♥

It's the Octo-baby

2011-11-27T21:42:00.001+08:00

Tama was wearing Wills Captain Barnacles Octonaut Hat....

He thought he was pretty funny....

Then he sneezed....

♥

Somethings to write home about....

2011-11-27T05:38:00.003+08:00

Some photos from Les in Aberdeen.....

Presents!! and taunting.......

At work some Bristow Helicopters.

Loch Ness

♥

What do ya reckon???

2011-11-26T22:19:00.000+08:00

Remember a while back and I said I was going to an auction. Well I managed to score the box of 'stuff' I was after some of it was crap and some cool. These were in there. Any guesses as to what they might be?

♥

If Wendy and Glenna opened a shop together.....

2011-11-26T21:25:00.000+08:00

♥

Tama 5 Months

2011-11-25T05:54:00.000+08:00

♥

The guy I've Been Sleeping with....

2011-11-24T06:05:00.001+08:00

On Tuesday I posted this to my face book status:

Don't tell my husband but since he's been away I've been sleeping with a younger guy. He kept me up till all hours last night and we just spent a lazy afternoon in bed together. He is super cute and charming and has a thing for my breasts. He made me laugh and I made him squeal with delight. Then we curled up in each others arms to sleep. Soon we're heading out to pick up a couple more guys, could make for an interesting evening.

Here's a picture of the guy....

I said he was cute right?
♥

Dads Love Their Babies

2011-11-23T05:59:00.003+08:00

In age order from oldest to youngest....

♥

365 Week 46

2011-11-22T06:23:00.002+08:00

The week as Tama would have seen it....

This week started with Dad and Will just disappearing, things were a lot quieter at home. Then they came back and Will was all loud again, apparently there were some dogs, and a playground or something, I don't know.

Sunday I kept Mum so busy all day that by the end of the day when she realised she hadn't taken any photos at all she just took some of us both together.

On Monday they put me in bed at the front of the house and then went out the back to plant corn, sweetpeas, sunflowers and some other such stuff. Little did they know I was just pretend sleeping so when I got bored I rolled over and got stuck. I called out and they didn't come, so I cried and cried and cried. And I made a big wet patch on the sheet and had the saddest face I could see mum looked totally terrible so once I calmed down I gave her lots of smiles so she'd feel better.

We went to pre-school with Will and stayed such a long time. I was already tired when we left home but apparently being the youngest you just have to put up with this stuff. I have no idea what that thing is Will has- but I do know we have one at home know and there is a lot more apple eating because of it.

Later that day I helped mum make Apricot loaf- she didn't intend for me to help- but instinctively I knew something good was going on- so when she put me in bed I just did my pretend sleeping until she was committed to finishing the baking and then put on my most sorrowful wail so of course she came right away.

This was Mum's novel idea. She put me in the basket, like common flippin' laundry so she could make dinner two handed. I acted vaguely amused briefly, for Mum's sake- she does try. Then made my real feelings known- one can only put up with not being held for so long you know.

Once again I got dragged along to someone else's, something else. Will had a transition to Kindy meeting at School- the kids went off to do fun stuff and Mum and I had to stay and listen to a bunch of stuff that had very little specifically to do with Will's Kindy next year. BOR-RING! (Even Mum agreed). I was so exhausted by the tedium I fell asleep in the push chair on the way home.

Thursday- Pre-school, again. The only upside to pre-school days is that I get Mum all to myself and she is a lot less flustered and cranky with out Will around (can't imagine why). Anyway while I was there I met an older women (1 month older) she reached across the play mat and held my hand. But she had spots and no hair so not really my type. (Mum is hoping that they weren't the start of Chicken Pox- there's also slap cheek and head lice at pre-school, the joys of childhood.)

I spent a little time looking at my favourite people, me and mum. Bliss.

Friday, oh my look at that dragged off to another family members thing.... Merenia got a certificate at assembly. Will ran wild. I went to sleep.

You know there's not nearly enough pictures of me in this post- what the heck is going on Mama?
♥

14 Weeks in 14 (or so)days: Week 45

2011-11-21T06:09:00.050+08:00

I'm sorry, but isn't it scary that it says week 45 up there? And the page for week 46 is coming tomorrow!! We are in the 47th week of the year right now!! Holy crap.

So here's the week that was.... it was a winner for some and not so much for others.

Les went flying, finally.

He said that he was "unsurprisingly flying like someone who hasn't flown in a long time".

He won.

Kieran played rugby with himself- so he won, and he lost.

Kieran got a new lamp from Ikea (where else) and did battle to get it assembled. The look on his face when he switched it on was priceless. Definitely a win.

I assembled a picture into it's frame and got a touch 'static-ed' in the process. I got it altogether in the end and it looks cool- so win.

Will joined Tama for a spot of one of his favourite past times "watch the plants move and look shocked when a vehicle goes by". If it was a competition Tama won, because he looked so much more shocked.

Terrible photo as we were driving- but this was a loss for Will and a win for us. Will stated that he couldn't go to that McDonalds as it was obviously only for 2 & 4 year olds. (We didn't tell him the sign simply meant that the store was open 24 hours).

We lost a lot of time sitting in traffic on the way to an appointment in Subiaco (that's 'Subi' if you're a local).

But the view of the Swan River was a win.

Cute boys in the bath- definite win.

Glider pilot humour- win.

This is the quadrangle at Kieran's school we were up there to see him and his class perform in a one act play. The play was a win, the howler monkey I shared my seat with- definite fail.... we went home early.

I must say though- Kieran uttered some words I never thought I'd hear:

"I wish I could to photography and DRAMA next year instead of computers"

Horse jumping on the back lawn?

Win!!

Living in the west at Sunset- major win.

Getting sconed by a toy you little big brother threw on your mat- epic fail (or epic quail as we sometimes say in our house- you know there's a story behind that).

14th birthdays (yes 14 frickin amazing) with iPod, iTunes vouchers, Roast Pork, and Cheese cake- 100 % win.

Mum putting your totally weird candle blowing face on the internet for all to see- epic fail. Sorry son.
♥

Will: Month 47

2011-11-20T06:37:00.003+08:00

♥

2011-11-19T08:43:00.000+08:00

I like this quote a lot because I think it's true- I'm not sure that I 100% followed it and the work of becoming 'someone' is so much harder when your life it intertwined with someone elses (or many someone elses). A striking example of this is the way I feel so different in the evenings when Les is away. Or when the kids are out at school and kindy and the baby is asleep. It's not better or worse- just different, just their presence in the house makes a big difference to how I am.

But I am happy and it doesn't come down to the people around me- if (god forbid) some terrible calamity struck them all down, after the storm of grief passed, and the clouds cleared. I'd be ok. I'd be happy again. I am happy now. Very.

Flora on Friday

2011-11-18T08:11:00.000+08:00

♥

Right Now

2011-11-17T09:53:00.001+08:00

Enjoying: Time alone in the evenings, even if I am too exhausted to take full advantage.

Thinking: About friends, the process of making new ones, taking care of the old ones via long distance relationships. What I need, what I want, what I don't want. How things start- how friendships have started in the past. What a friendship needs to sustain it- how much common ground? How many differences of opinion a friendship can handle.

Eating: Fruit Salad, yummy yummy!

Drinking: Lemonade

Wearing: Jeans, what else?

Listening to: Mozart, Bernard Fanning, Jack Johnson. And singing 'Close to You' by the Carpenters to Tama because he really likes it, and I really like him.

Wanting: More hours in the day.

Weather: Lovely

Thankful: For the amount of work the big kids are doing and how accepting they are of the responsibilities.

Feeling: Tired but happy. Fidgety but settled. Frustrated but grateful. Relaxed.

Wondering: What the best use of Tama's nap time will be. What Christmas Decorations Starbucks are selling this year, and if I can make an adequate Toffee Nut Frap with the Syrup Les is bringing me home from Aberdeen and the ingredients I have on hand. If it would be advisable to change Will's preschool and about 50 other unrelated things (seriously 50).

The House After...

2011-11-16T05:42:00.004+08:00

♥

14 Weeks in 14 (or so)days: Week 44

2011-11-15T06:09:00.027+08:00

Who knew there's a world of Swizzle Stick collectors out there?? I got these in the box I won at the auction unsurprisingly I wasn't all that keen to keep them but they seemed like something some one took the care to collect- a quick google found me a kindred Swizzle stick collecting spirit. So they are now on the way to Columbus, USA.

I love my little "Chubba Bubba"

I love the dexterity and co-ordination developing right before my very eyes.

I love this boy's sense of humour and silliness!

I love Green's Chocolate Mud cake- an old favourite from when we lived here before.

I love a good sized sink with a big clear bench beside it- perfect place for a quick bath.

I love this cheeky grin and how pleased with himself when he manages to stuff one or even better both hands in there!

I love how he thinks it's some sort of coup and a great joke to be wearing his dad's boots!

♥

Tama Month Four

2011-11-14T06:09:00.007+08:00

♥

14 Weeks in 14 (or so)days: Week43

2011-11-13T06:09:00.037+08:00

I think we've finally settled into some sort of routine now most things are getting finalised we still need to get an out door setting for the "Alfresco", but other than that most things are in place. It was great to have a short week for the CHOGM holiday- we skipped a BBQ with the Queen to do some paving, I'm sure she didn't miss us at all though. We're feeling a lot more relaxed and free from impositions...

Yay: Free pavers!

Free legs...

Free cuteness....

Almost free vegies....

Free excitement....

Free help.

More free help (thanks babe!)

Free bum!

Freedom of expression...

Free to grow....

Freedom to move

Free fun...

Bubbles going free...

Free of clothes....

More free fun...

Flying free...

More free expression...

Freedom from sand!

♥

Will: Month 46

2011-11-12T06:47:00.001+08:00

♥

14 Weeks in 14 (or so)days: Week 42

2011-11-11T06:26:00.022+08:00

I tell you it is so good to be getting through these and closer to the end! There was a while there where I gave serious consideration to just giving myself a break and skipping those weeks- but I am so glad I didn't having done this 365 project for almost 3 years now I can really look back and see how things have changed and also just how full and amazing our lives are- even when it seems like we are doing the same things day to day. Last week in the 365 journalling I forgot to mention that Tama found his hands and declared them good! And this week I should have said on the Monday that he made it all the way from his back to his front rolling over fully for the first time!

So this week I think life really started to get 'normal'.

And this is what normal looks like for us.....

♥

14 Weeks in 14 (or so)days: Week 41

2011-11-10T06:25:00.043+08:00

The second week of the school holidays.

Lots of odd jobs,

lots of chilling at home,

lots of nothing much,

and lots of 'some things fun'!

Like Mario Cart on the Wii.

RWC with Chips and Dip!

Playing Octonauts....

And making a 'Giggle Mobile'.

Showing off cute bums.

And admiring sweet faces.

Peeking.

Driving.

Displaying.

Sorting (memory boxes).

More Octonauts.

In costume- doesn't he look scarily grown-up??

Cheeking out the city from Lesmurdie.

Enjoying the 3 o'clock sprinkler after glow.

Tickling.

Posing. (His kindy uniform for next year- who knew you could have cute and puke all in one!).

More posing- he knows when the camera is upon him.

Bear Secondment. (Hmmmpph!)

♥

What Will said: 24/10/11

2011-11-09T21:54:00.000+08:00

"I Love It!

And I love you!

And I love Tama.

And I love me!

I love myself.

This is fun.

This was a great idea Mum!"

Initially I thought he was talking about the wind catcher that we had just brought assembled and put in the garden. But then I realised he meant that he loved that it was just the 3 of us, relaxed and hanging at home together.

Finally settled.

Me too, buddy I love it too and I love you and I love Tama too.

♥

14 Weeks in 14 (or so)days: Week 40

2011-11-09T06:25:00.026+08:00

Details as to what went on this week are kind of sketchy as well maybe it cause we were busy.....

landscaping....

Jumping, Catching,

Throwing.

And eventually Landing and Bouncing.

Appreciating.

Chatting.

Flying.

Cutting.

Eating.

Watching and learning.

Growing and Making.

Running and Chilling.

Stitching.

Getting reception.

Sleeping (through Hammer drills into masonary!!)

Computing. (Ahhhh internet finally).

Cooking.

Eating.

Watching.

That would be enough to make any one too tired to write stuff down.... especially me.

♥

Tama: Month Three

2011-11-08T06:39:00.002+08:00

♥