Lead legs

Okay so today after my very vigorous work out on the eyetoy, my legs are killing me. I have muscles in my thighs I had forgotten about. And I have to work out again today. This is going to KILL me... Never mind.

Well Daz is outside, moggy proofing our cat run, it's cloudy and cold. I guess winter is comin. I hate winter. Wish it was summer all year round. All year I could go swimming at the beach, all year I can wear less clothing, all year I can just have a sheet on and be warm. I hate waking up with cold hands, cold feet and a numb nose. I hate getting out of bed in winter. I hate walking around bare feet in winter on our freezing tiles. I hate sitting on a cold toilet seat in winter. I just hate endless rain and drizzle and cold winds. I hate winter.

Elijah's growth spurt has ended and I am getting reasonable sleep once again. 1 feed overnight and that was it. I was very happy about that. He is now sleeping it off.... I guess he is growing. He is getting so big. I am getting clucky again... don't tell Daz.... I wouldn't mind even going under the knife just so I can have another cute baby. As you can see from the picture, he is a handsome little dude. Just like his Daddy...

Well I better stop hiding inside and go help Daz with the retaining wall.... it's just too cold out there. I would be much happier curling up under a doona and watching Dr Quinn (actually I lie... I watch Sully ;) ) or reading a book.

Okay going to procrastinate some more, since Elijah is due for a feed anymoment..

Let's get Physical, physical!

We have a new toy! It's sole purpose is to get this family fit and healthy and mainly for me to lose some baby lard.
We got a Playstation console. With a dancing game and Eyetoy Kinetic, which is a personal trainer. It may sound simple, but it is sooooo hard and VERY energetic!! They also have a section on meditation, but I didn't understand how to focus on every single one of my cells in my body. Cripes... so I moved on to yoga which was waaaay out of me league. I will have to try again later when I don't have so many fat rolls in the way of me trying to put my head on the ground while I am sitting cross legged. At the moment that is mission impossible!

My brother Steve was giving it a whirl, and I nearly peed my pants laughing! he is soooo hillarious when he does his work out. He gets right into it and puts as much energy and enthusiasm as he possibly can.

So tomorrow when Daz goes to his board meeting and before "How to lose a Guy in 10 Days" comes on, I will be dancing and hitting imaginary balls in the air that I can see on my TV all in the name of fitness and exercise.

My daughter has been the model child these last few days. Tantrums are becoming far and few between. She is using manners and is just a brilliantly behaved child. 6 days without an accident so far!! How proud I am of her!! I wish I could skip the crown from number 6 to number 30 so we can do this scrapbooking together. But I gotta restrain. Otherwise she might revert back to peeing all over the place.

Elijah is a boofer boy. He is getting so big. I am not surprised really. He eats HEAPS. He is looking more like a baby boy rather than a newborn monkey. He is really a gorgeous kid. Though I can't really tell who he looks like as yet. Caitlin is the spitting image of me, poor child... but Elijah is a little man of his own. We will see as time goes on.

Better go to bed, I am half dead....

The Great Escape

We have just had built the most lovely cat run. It is fully enclosed and it's just great!
However... my naughty youngest moggy has lead my much older cat astray and dug her way out. That's right folks, she dug a hole to get under the fence!!! I lined up some big retaining wall blocks along where she had dug to try and deter her. No can do! She just dug another hole.

I can hear that tune from the Great Escape in my head. "Do do, do doo do do do. Do do, do do do, do do dooo"

So what does that make me? A Nazi prison warden??

This weekend we will try and moggy proof it some more to keep them in their enclosure.

Having an okay week so far. Elijah is having ANOTHER growth spurt... well actually he did for the last 2 days, he seems to have slowed down a fair bit today. But man can that boy eat!!! He woke up three times in the night for a feed. Not that impressed really. He used to wake just the once then in the morning. Hopefully it all goes back to normal soon.

Caitlin has finally cottoned onto her Princess Craft chart. Every day she doesn't have an accident her crowns moves up a day. She has to have 30 days straight without an accident and then I will buy her Disney Princess Scrapbooking kit. Everytime we go past it, she looks at it. She is getting pretty excited. She is on day 4 without an accident! WOOHOO!!! And I am happy because that is less washing and less cleaning up! YAY!!

Awww, Caitlin just gave Elijah her Pink Teddy and he is happily sucking on it. YUCK....

Rest and relaxation - NOT!

This weekend we went to Robe for a getaway, and I swear I came home more exhausted than when I left! Caitlin was such a treasure... NOT. She was pasty and white and tired looking the morning we left. I took her into Target to get her a reward DVD before we left, and she asked me to carry her. That is a first! Usually she is bounding around and running off!!
She had been unwell a few days before. The poor blossom, I gave her food poisining. She had been off her feed for a few days, and was not that well. We should have just stayed home.
In the car she was whingy and dropping off.... untill she vomitted up her Apple and Blackcurrant juice all over the place. YUCK. So we had to pull over on the freeway and clean that up. Then I felt nauseas, from the smell of vomit! YUCKIES!!
After she spewed, color returned to her face slightly and she fell asleep for an hour which was good. Elijah travelled well... when I was in the back seat sitting next to him, so he could look at me! What a mummies boy! LOL
We got to Robe quite late - too late for Steve to go snorkelling, so we went swimming at the motel pool and that was really fun. I took Elijah for his first swim, and he loved it. And he slept well afterwards!
That night we went to a pub for dinner, then headed home. Caitlin wouldn't go to sleep at all. She was awake up to 10pm. Then I put her in the boot of the car (we have a wagon) as the naughty corner. Then I put her into her bed and told her if she didn't go to sleep IMMEDIATELY, she would spend the night in the car boot. That worked. She fell asleep!
We sat outside of the motel room, Steve working on his lappy on a uni assignment. Daz was playing with stuff and transfering them to our new mobile phones, and I was just playing with my phone. We must have looked like right nerds!
Since we were all sharing a room, Elijah waking for his night feeds woke Caitlin up. And she started playing, and wouldn't let up even after Elijah had finished and fell asleep! So I used that threat again. Dead to the world pretty soon afterwards!
Since Caitlin had such little sleep that night, she was a nightmare the next day. She cried, tantrumed, refused to nap, domiated the CD player (let me tell you that "I like to Sing" CD is VERY annoying hearing it 10 times in one weekend!!!) and was a general pain in the bum. But she hadn't been well so we tended to let her ratty behaviour slide.
When we got home, I gave her a very relaxing quiet bath by candlelight and popped her into bed. She slept well! She even slept through the thunder storm last night!

Today she has been positively angelic. Calm, quiet and playing nicely. She has been eating some today which is good. I wonder how much weight she has lost. She is looking a little thinner.

Okay so that was the kids. We went site seeing on Sunday around Robe and Kingston. We saw some great cliffs, and I took some good photos for my project that I am working on. (Which is an altered art work which I plan to do when we have been to the NT. I am going to do a series based on the poem 'I love a sunburnt country') But the funniest part of the whole weekend was going to see the Granites in Kingston. If you get the opportunity to go see some "unique rock formations", DON'T!!! It's a waste of time. All they look like are 4 big lumps of dog turd on the beach. WOOPIE CHOOK!!! Unique??? PFFFT!!!
It was a good laugh though.

The whole point of this weekend away was to get 600kms on the car we are leasing. And we did it. Mission accomplished.

Another tin

Look what I did!!!

This one is for Daz's Mum.

I am pretty proud of it.

ARRRGHHH!!! TODDLERS!!!

What the HECK is going through my daughter's mind? My once toilet trained girl is weeing on the floor on purpose. When she wants to get out of punishment, she wets on the floor. I think it's an attention seeking thing.

I am making her clean it up, and I am making her wash her pants out. She is enjoying cleaning her pants, but she hates cleaning the floor.
She put her leap pad in the puddle of wee this time. YUUUCK!! So now I have to clean that as well!!!

I am going to take a moment. Breathe...

NOW what do I do?
If I ignore it, that means I have to keep cleaning wee up.
If I put her in nappies, she will insist on being changed as soon as she has wet.
If I make her walk around with a wet bum, her eczma on her butt gets bad.
If I make her clean it up, it does jack squat.
I have made a big deal of her using the toilet. I have given her lots of praise and rewards.... I have tried to downplay accidents, and just get on with it. But COMMON!! We have been doing this for nearly a year!!! USE THE BLASTED TOILET GIRL!!!

My hands are tied. I just don't know what to do with her. She is driving me CRAZY!!

I have tried rewards, I have tried conjoling, telling her off, I have tried ignoring it, I have tried EVERYTHING!

I am sick of the extra washing. I have enough to do around here, I don't need 4 x or more washing.
I am sick of the smell of wee through my house.
I am sick of her smelling of wee. I can't shower her EVERY time she has an accident. I am tempted to send her outside to live. She can pee out there.... she can come back inside when she is ready to use the toilet. That way I don't smell her, and the great outdoors can absorb the smell of wee.
I am SICK TO DEATH OF EVERYTHING....

I am sooooo over this parenting gig. Whoever told me about all the fun times, the great family times, the wonderful experience parenthood really is... MISSED OUT SOME VITAL BITS!!!!

Like the torture of toilet training.
Like the attitude Miss 2 and a half gives out.
Like the tantrums of a very LOUD Miss-give-in-or-I-will-deafen-you.

I am going to go crawl into a hole and cry.

Rockin and Rollin and buildin

I have the most hillarious trio in my backyard, building our pergolas. The noise coming from them is just wonderful. They are chatting away, then you hear their laughter, then you hear a gun fire or 10 rounds.... of nails then back to chatting again.
The radio is blaring back there, and over and above whatever station they are listening to, when one of them hears a song they love, they belt out the tunes. Luckily they can sing in tune. But when all three of em like the song... well I got my own three little rockers back there singing their hearts out! And I quietly sing along as well, dancing with the mop (down the hall where no one can see me)
Oh they are listening to Triple M. No wonder it's all rock... Anyway...

The pergola where Pop's memorial Garden will go, is almost done. They have done a BRILLIANT job, and I think they are starting on the side, since it's in the shade. Smart idea. It's hot out there. I am bringing out bottles and jugs of cold water to keep the rockin trio hydrated.

Oh and the boss has the most DELICIOUS ute!! It's silver and even though it's a Holden it's just divine. I am sooo tempted to take it for a spin!! But I'll refrain and just admire it and pretend it's mine... just for the next 2 days. But if it was mine.... I wouldn't be sitting at home Blogging... I wouldn't be a Mummy anymore. I would be a carefree woman, driving all over with my hair free and my windows down and singing at the top of my lungs to my favourite songs... maybe that's why the boss man isn't afraid to belt out his favourite tunes!!
Can't put a baby seat or a booster seat in a ute... :(

Will take a picture of the pergola and memorial garden when it's done and show you - and I bet you will want to hire the rockin trio yourself when you see their snazzy pergola!!

Now better go and headbang some more in the bedroom....

Step forward Tin man!

Okay so it's not quite the Wizard of Oz tin, and I am no man... but I just made my very first Altered Tin, and I wanted to show the world (or the two people who actually read this blog - Hi hunny!)

Look at this!! I made it for my dear friend Catherine, who is at this moment in Indonesia and has given me 2 weeks grace to get a birthday present happening. I am glad she did because I finally got the gumption to try this out. And I am really proud of the results.
Catherine is young and funky so the stuck on dead fluro bird will suit her just fine. I also stuck around her tin things that she is starting with "C". By the way there is a C on the lid, but it isn't much more than that, so I won't bother showing you.

Elijah's Talking Mum!!

"Elijah's talking!" Caitlin exclaimed excitedly. So far he had cooed at me a few times yesterday and the day before, but this time he decided to have a chat to his big sister.
Caitlin was very excited that he was saying something other than WAAAAHH!!

This is where having a baby gets exciting. Watching them grow and exclaiming over every little development no matter how small.

I wish I could freeze this time in my life and have my beautiful kiddies like this forever (minus the temper tantrums from Miss C of course, and the evil nappies E somehow produces... man he stinks!)

Snip go the shears boys!

SNIP SNIP SNIP!!

This weekend, Caitlin threw one too many fits in the shower when I was trying to wash her hair. It was the fit that broke the camels back. She fights me when I brush it because of the knots. She fights me trying to wash it. She fights rinsing it. She screams the house down when shampoo gets anywhere near her eyes or ears. Eyes I understand, but the ears!??
We have tried EVERYTHING. We bought her a little cap that goes around the head to stop water going in her eyes and ears, but she just rips it off. We tried goggles, but she won't wear them in the shower, only around the house! We tried getting her to close her eyes, but she refuses. We tried a flannel, she wont hold it over her eyes. She's a pain in the bum when it comes to washing hair. So I had had enough. "You either let me wash your hair with minimal fuss, or I am cutting it all off." I threatened. She kept going.

So I cut it off. I thinned it out and layered it because it's just too thick and curly to handle. When she is older we can try having longer hair. She is just too young to have so much hair. Everyone was pretty upset that I chopped all her ringlets off. But they are not the ones to have to deal with the screaming banshee in the bathroom... that makes me go deaf for at least an hour afterwards!
This is a picture of the new and improved hair-style. It's easier to brush and easier to do in the morning. Considering I am not a hairdresser, I think I did a great job!!

Also since I started being a meanie and making her clean up her own wee mess.... little miss has decided that she IS toilet trained afterall. Not an accident since I wrote in my BLOG last. I am very happy about that.

Elijah's little eating fit he had paid off. The boofer gained 460grams last week! So I guess all that eating served a purpose. He started cooing at me this morning, having a chat about something or other, then he burst into tears, so I guess there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

I just called my sister in law to see how Emma (niece) is going, since she wasn't well yesterday. Turns out the poor little mite has German Measles. Her imunisations obviously didn't work, which is a bit of a worry!! Anyway Deb has another little baby as well, who hasn't been immunised as yet, as she is too young. So she will probably get it as well. Poor blossom!!

As I type, I am getting some wood delivered for our new pergolas. Can't wait to get them done and make that all pretty. One is a cat run for our poor cats. They are roamers and the neighbours don't like that. They especially don't like my cats habit of using their nice soft garden beds as their bathroom. So we have them in a large cage at the moment and have been waiting for the builders to build this run for us.

We got Elijah dedicated on Sunday. It was nice to share this special occasion with family and our church family. Elijah howled the whole time and Caitlin chucked a tanty. I bet God looked down, smiled and was glad that HE didn't have to deal with this sort of thing as a parent. He just palmed his boy off to poor Mary and Joseph. Wonder if Jesus ever chucked a tantrum?

Well untill next time.
MWAH!

Boofer and Piddle-Pot

This is the story of Boofer (aka Elijah) who ate and ate and ate every 2 hours, drinking 120mls of formula PLUS whatever breast milk he could scavange for 2 days. He leaked out of every nappy he wore, and today surprised his Mumma with a huge poo that ended up mostly out of his nappy. Up his back, down his legs. EWWW GROSS!! Then today I was surprised to see that he has graduated from newborn 0000's to a real baby sized 000's. My newborn is dissapearring on me.

This is the story of Piddle-Pot who WAS toilet trained. Then decided that she couldn't be bothered going to the toilet anymore, and she thought it better to just open her legs and let the wee gush wherever she was standing. I have had enough of cleaning it up, so I have become Ogre Mum... if she wees, she cleans it up. She doesn't like that much.. let's see how long that lasts.

This same Piddle-Pot decided to sneak into my room while I was feeding Boofer and helped herself to my make up. I now am one pot of body glitter short, because it had been spread throughout the bedroom and all in my make up drawer. I am also a lipstick short.. it has been smooshed. And I am half a tube of medicated cream short... it has been smooshed out too. GRRR!!
So to stop that happening again, we have installed door knob covers. They make it really hard to open the door! She wont get into my room again.. untill she has hands the size of the Hulks! Though it's also adult proof as well... I as usual waited till I was absolutely DYING to go to the loo, then tried to get into my ensuite ASAP.... in my frantic state, I couldn't open the blasted door!! I was FREAKING!! Luckily I made it.

Better go, Elijah is screaming the house down... he probably has dropped his dummy AGAIN but you know I breed drama queens... the world is coming to an end!

If I could talk to the animals... I would tell them to stop teasing the lions!

This is a picture of my two angels.

Today was a super fun day.
We took the kiddies to the zoo! Apparently I suggested going to the zoo in the middle of the night. I don't really remember suggesting it but it was a brilliant idea.
The queues outside the zoo was amazing!! If you know the Adelaide Zoo, there were 2 lines of people going all the way back to the bridge! We were in line for half an hour! Elijah decided that about 15 minutes in, he would start screaming for his lunch. Poor kid. He survived though.
We didn't get to see everything, but we did get to give our new digital camera a good work out.
Some highlights: Some stupid people were teasing the lionesses and they were roaring furiously, and one bashed at it's cage and scared the living crap out of the teasers. Stupid people. They need a cattle prod shoved into unmentionables and bzzzed!
Also we saw Tasmanian Devils having a "chat"... they are abusive wretches! They make TERRIBLE noise.
Meer cats are cute, Crocidiles are ugly and green tree frogs make me want to throw up. YUCK!

On saturday I spent the morning and half the afternoon in the hairdressers getting all my hair chopped off. It got to a point I just couldn't manage it inbetween dressing the kids and looking after them. Why is it I always get put on the back burner? I end up leaving the house looking terrible. So I now have a short and funky style with blonde streaks. I reckon I look good!

Sunday was a pretty lazy day. We got our digital camera, which works a million times better than our old one. When you take the picture, you don't have to wait for half an hour for it to actually take it. That comes in handy when you have a kid who looks at the camera for a few seconds then looks away just as the flash goes off.

Family update:
Daz is Daz. Nothing much to report. Except that I would die without him. He went to see Tripod with my brothers Sunday night, leaving me to cope with bedtime routine all by myself with two kids for the very first time. All I can say is....I suck. Elijah screamed for about an hour while I was trying to get Caitlin showered, pjama'd, and into bed. Then when it came time to bath Elijah it took twice as long and he didn't settle very easily. I was tense and uptight.... Crikey! I rely way too much on Daz. This experience has made me greatly appreciate all he does to help me and make my life so much easier.

Steve is Steve. Threatening to live with us till he is 40, then move to Mars or some space station. Great.
We think he might have slept walk last night. Last night Daz closed and bolted the sliding door as usual. I heard him do it and he remembers doing it. At 6am when Elijah woke for a feed, the door was still firmly shut. However at 7:30am it was open. I asked Steve about it, and he said he hadn't opened it. But he had a dream that he lost his ball over the fence and the sprinklers were on. It was raining outside this morning. So I reckon he went for a little wander. Scary. Hope he doesnt wander out the front and into the street. I don't even know if he wears clothes to bed.... he might scare our neighbours to death!!

Caitlin has been terrific today. She loved the zoo, and she has been perfectly behaved. You would never believe it, but today she picked up toys all by herself without me nagging her. I only had to ask her once and she did it! I was so surprised and shocked... she got three good girl stickers for that!! Hope her good behaviour continues. It's like my angelic girl has come back once again.
We went shopping for her winter wardrobe on Thursday night and my goodness we spent a fortune to make her look like a million bucks! Still have winter shoes to buy yet. It's funny, I have barely anything to wear, and she is the trendiest little girl I know. Will have to take pictures of her in her get up!

Elijah is just adorable. Smiles at me lots when I ask in a stupid voice "what you doin?" He is so cute. He smiles and goes cross eyed. Makes me laugh. He is sleeping and eating lots at the moment so I am guessing he is porking up. And guess what?? His thighs are getting fat!!!

Me, well same ol same ol. I didn't lose any weight this week but I lost some size which is nice. I lost 2 cms off my waist and 1 cm off my thighs. Will try to work out more this week, if I have the energy and time. Maybe I should get off my butt now and work out? Nah... I am gonna go hit the hay. Elijah will be waking me soon for a feed, and I will be awake for a few hours trying to feed then settle him. Boy that kid can make some noise in his sleep. Grunting and carrying on. Sounds more like an animal than a baby!

Adjustment - just a minor one.

Because (I wrote because three times, because the upper case B wasn't working... stoopid keyboard)

BECAUSE we have a new addition to the family, things have changed. It's a huge change in thinking for me. For example: a messy house means I have happy children. A spotless house means I made good on my threat and moved the family out to live in the backyard!
I can't believe how much time two kids take up. It takes us twice as long to get out of the house, it takes twice as long to do the morning routine. I have to sneak into the shower inbetween feeds, naps and ABC kids. Today I watched Elijah scream (he WAS asleep untill Caitlin jumped on him and proclaimed him to be awake!) while I washed my hair.

Anyway...

Family news:
Daz - is same ol same ol. And thank goodness for that. Too much change would make my brain flip out.

Caitlin - Is still a challenge. Hopefully a few days in day care will help with that. We have the "good girl caterpillar" as an incentive for good behaviour. So far it's working well, she just has her moments like everybody.
On sunday she blew the minds of everyone at our table at lunch at the Midway tavern. She was reading the menu to Beth (CAFS nurse) Her jaw dropped. 2 and a half and reading... that's my girl!! Soon she can read "Chicken Licken" to herself a million times a day instead of me doing it. I am a tad sick of "Chicken licken, goosey loosey, ducky lucky, drakey lakey, turkey lurkey" and the gang. I am actually excited when the Foxy Loxy eats them because it's finally the end of the story.

Elijah - is doing his thang. He poops, wees, drinks endlessly. He is a milk-a-holic. They should have support groups for these boys. If he isn't attatched to the boob, he is thinking about it, or trying to get attatched!! He is adorable though and when he looks up into my face and just stares, my heart melts. This boy loves his Mummy. He gets a bit aggro with Caitlin. She cuddles him a tad to tightly and puts her mop of hair in his face, wet or dry. But when her death grip is lighter and her hair is away from him, he stares at her and is mesmerised by his beautiful sister.

Steve started Uni again and always brings up interesting things to talk about at the dinner table. All I can bring up is babies and EB. The things he learns and things he is creating are fascinating.

And me? Well I am a little pre-occupied to have much of a life. I don't have much energy for much more other than my babies.
Happy news? I lost 2kgs this week! I want to lose 10 by may so I am well on my way!!
We might be going away this weekend for a bit of a getaway. Depends if it's going to be stinking hot. So far it's going to be stinking hot. It's a public holiday this Monday. Adelaide Cup. They moved it from May to probably avoid the wet wintery weather. Ironically it's going to rain Monday according to the BOM.

Sad news? I don't have any... so that is happy news!

Well I might zip off now and wait for this kid to wake up to relieve my milk filled boobs! HURRY UP!!!

The continuing story

Back again... only 3 weeks later!!

OKay so he was born.
And taken away the next minute.

We named him Elijah John. Elijah because Daz and I both liked the name. It's a powerful name, Elijah from the bible was a great man. Hopefully our Elijah is just as great and impacts lives and his world in a powerful way. John after my very dear grandfather, Pops. He passed away 3 and a bit years ago from asbestos related lung cancer. He was very special to me and I was very close to him.

After I got all cleaned up (or while it was happening) the very kind paediatrician came in to fill me in on what was happening with my boy. Turns out he was having problems, exactly the same as what Caitlin had. Born VERY flat, low agpars, they performed CPR while I was still in the bath wondering what on earth happened. He told me what they were up to etc.

Katie had to go home because she was so exhausted and she was very emotional about Elijah. She had done everything according to protocol and yet the poor blighter still didn't have the grand entry we had all imagined. Denise stayed with me and helped me into a wheel chair and wheeled me to SCU to see my boy. It was all de-ja-vu. I saw my son under that oxygen helmet thing, just like Caitlin. Drips and monitors covering him, just like Caitlin. And him crying... my heart almost broke. I was crying when the doctors were explaining things to us. The registrar on was really nice and gentle. Funny but all the nurses and doctors who looked after Caitlin remembered us from last time.

So for a few days Elijah was drugged to the eyeballs with something that made him so sleepy. He rarely opened his eyes. On the second day he was very aggitated from the drugs, but he calmed down when Daz and I held him. Nurses held his hand to keep him quiet overnight.

I wasn't able to feed him untill he was 4 days old. I pumped my breasts desperately trying to get a milk supply going. My milk was syringed into a tube that went into his nose and down his throat, when his kidneys started working again... yeah they packed up as well.

It's funny but it's all getting hazy. I remember having to go to the hospital every 4 hours to breast feed him when they finally allowed that. That was REALLY hard. Caitlin's behaviour went to pot. I have never seen her like it... she was almost demon possessed. Her routine was all out and she didn't cope well with that at all.

When Elijah was 1 week old, we were allowed to take him home FINALLY!!! Never heard such good news in all my life. I was tired from the worry, the going backwards and forwards and trying to deal with the devil incarnate as well. (Don't worry, she went back to being angelic when things settled down)

So fast forward to today. The drugs finally left his system and I now have a very alert hungry little man. He can't get enough milk from me, so I top him up with formula. He is alert when he is awake... but when he sleeps, a tornado whipping through wouldn't wake him. Daz is excellent at waking him up... probably because he has no problems annoying him and disturbing him. Why not? he disturbs me when I sleep... why not torture his boy as well?? LOL Just kidding, coz I know he is reading this!!

Last night Elijah went from waking once in the night for a feed.... to last night... sleeping through the night. I woke with leaking rocks on my chest. Owwww!! I got Daz to wake him up for me because I was dripping all over the place. YUCK!!

Caitlin is doing alot better. Once Daz went back to work, she settle right down. We have Mummy-Caitlin time for an hour or so in the morning and she seems to respond well to that time. Her scream-to-wake-the-dead tantrums have almost stopped completely, she is still arguing but not as much as she did a few weeks ago. (as we speak she is chucking a wobbly because she doesn't want to take a nap! Maybe I spoke too soon) Anyway she is alot more happy and more settled. She has attention seeking behaviour which I will have to nip in the bud. She kicked my Mum today because Mum wasn't giving her the attention she wanted. GRRR!!
That sort of thing is NOT on..

Daz and I are starting to plan our holiday to NT. I can't wait to go. We will have a caravan then and we can drag our little house with us and it's a familiar place for the kiddies. Steve (my brother) will be coming with us so he can check out all those great places as well. I think he wants to climb ayres Rocks. I won't... because I have two babies that I will have to leave behind, and apparently it's REALLY dangerous. And also it's a sacred site to the Aboriginal people. I don't want to disrespect them and their beliefs. Do unto others and all that....

Well that's all folks for now.

Behold a son is born, and he shall be called Elijah.... the Lord is my Shepherd.

Okay I better get this down before I start to forget. And mercifully I WILL forget this one day.

4am 9/2
I get up to go to do one of my usual trips to the toilet to wee. I feel an unusual sensation. Water was running down my legs. My first thought was I wet myself. But soon reason kicked in... I smelled the liquid. Sweet... not anything wee like about it.
"Hunny"
"What?" grunted my slumbering man.
"I think my waters have broken."
Then as if to proove a point, gushed some more and all over my bath mat. THEN contractions kicked in. Owww... I remembered this.
I called the midwife pronto since I was tested positive to Strep B, I needed to get to the hospital and get that drip into me, who knew how quick this labour would be over?

5am
I arrived at the hospital after a very interesting drive down.
First thing was I had to keep getting out of my seat belt and turn around onto all fours every time I had a contraction, which was every 3 minutes. Secondly we realised we forgot the baby's bag. Woops...

6am
I was pacing around the room, trying to walk out the contractions and wasn't successful. I flopped onto a beanbag and also had that drip in. Katie (midwife) popped it in while I was having a contraction, I barely noticed it.

9:30am
Contractions were progressively worse. I had tried heat backs and Daz tried pushing into my back (where most of the pain was) and it wasn't helping. I thought about getting in the shower... but I thought "this will be quick, so I should get into the bath to soften this perinium"

11am
Hubby was getting bored with me rolling about in the bath, trying to ease contractions. I was getting bored as well when I wasn't trying to ease the pain. So he went to the canteen and bought a crossword puzzle book. At least now when I was having a contraction I had something to think about.... the last clue.

12:30pm
Pain was getting progressively worse. My dialation was slow. I was about 5cm at this time. I was getting very annoyed by Katie wanting to listen to the baby's heartbeat every 15 minutes. She was sticking to protocol like a trooper, because of my birthing history.

2pm
I was dying. The pain was all in my back now and NOTHING was easing it. I had to get out of the bath to have an ultrasound because katie suspected the baby had done a flip. She couldn't find the heartbeat in the right spots. I was writhing about on the bed while they looked at what this kid was doing. He had done a flip. His spine was now smack bang against mine and that's why I was in so much pain in my back.

3pm
I was now officially over it. I was pushing my body against the back of the bath, trying to add some pressure to my back. I was yelling every contraction. And by the end of this hour I was sobbing. "God make it end, have mercy on me!" I was praying.

4pm
If there is hell on earth, I was there. Katie offered me gas. I said no because I didn't want to puke as well as cry! I was screaming during contractions now. I hope I didn't scare anyone in the hospital.... too bad now.
4:15pm "I NEED TO PUSH!!"
Katie rounded up another midwife because since I was having a water birth, it was protocol to have her there. She was my back up midwife from when I had Caitlin. Denise was her name.
So I squatted in the water and began to push. I could feel the head beginning to descend. I also felt my hemmaroids pop out... "Hmm you are gonna need some ice packs after this is all over." commented Katie. Thanks for that... :)
The pain was terrible. Lactic acid was burning in my legs from the contractions, I struggled to get into a position to deliver. My water had red mucous and poo floating about from my pushing... I was so embarressed that katie had to scoop out my poo! LOL
I pushed and pushed, screaming with my effort. Then I felt the head beginning to crown. I put my hand down there and felt the hair on it's head. I pushed some more- let me tell you I hate the phrase "PUSH!" I was friggin pushing!!! Then I had the most awful sensation. What I thought was the baby moving around in my birth canal was actually the baby's shoulders getting stuck and it slipped back up. If felt awful.
Pushing and pushing and pushing.... nothing was happening. So katie went down to the nether regions and began to manually "open" me up. In my words she was ripping me apart trying to free this kid's head. It was very very very painful. I was envisioning a heck of an embroidery task for whoever was going to stitch me up. Denise held my hand, brave woman because I bet I squished the crap out of it. She soothed me and put a cold flannel on my face. It was like having my Mum there.... she was just perfect. When Katie's attempt to help the baby out failed, Denise told me that I would have to stand to deliver. So I wouldn't be able to have a water birth.
I didn't care at that point. I just wanted the baby out. Things get a bit hazy around here. I remember putting my foot up on the side of the bath and I hung on and bore down, pushing with all my being. I pushed and pushed, screaming and screaming. I remember things getting busy, I could hear people behind me, I wasn't sure what was going on. Katie AND Denise were frantically trying to pull him out. What seemed like forever, I pushed the head out. There was some mention of the umbilical cord around his neck. Then I was told to push again for the body, his shoulders were stuck. The midwives played tug of war with my child. Yanking him and pulling him... till finally with a hot gush, he was out!!! Hot blood burned my legs and splattered to the bottom of the bath along with meconium. I burst into tears, thank God it was over. To my surprise the unbilical cord swung between my legs with scissors attatched to it. What the???
I tried to turn around to see my baby.... but it was gone. WHAT??? Denise was right beside me... "he just needs some help to get going. He is a bit flat." Little did i know that they were doing CPR on him at that very moment. I heard alot of talking and noise in the next room. I burst into tears for the millionth time that day. "I didn't even get to see what it is!!!"
I then think my body went into shock. I couldn't move from my current position. I was hanging onto the railing, my legs felt like lead jelly. I was shaking uncontrollably. Denise wrapped me in a warm blanket and helped me out of the bath.
"It's a BOY!" was Daz's jubilant proclomation, when he finally got to have a look at what sex the baby was! A BOY!!!
I tried to stand and watch while they worked on my boy, but it was all too much for me. I fell onto the bed and struggled to stay conscious. Denise helped me into bed and then said that we needed to deliver the placenta. She told me to push, but I shook my head. I couldn't even muster enough energy to move my hair out of me face.
I was given some drug into my IV line and a few minutes later a felt a hot mass be pulled from my body and more hot blood scolded my body.
They took my son away to the special care unit and I felt that horrible feeling returning... the one that I had managed to forget about when they took Caitlin to SCU. Fear, and heartache. I didn't even get to hold him... or touch him. 9 months of having him with me, then yanked out and taken away.... all that effort and I had nothing to show for it.
Denise checked me out to see what the damage was and how much stitching I would need. She came up with the most shocked expression on her face.... "I don't know how... but you don't need one stitch!"
I don't know HOW I got away with that!! I pushed out an 8lb 14.5oz baby with extremely rough handling and came away without a scratch.

I am going to have to continue this post another time. I need to get going.....

stay tuned.

Breakthrough!!

Caitlin pooped on the toilet..... not only that, she TOLD ME she wanted to poo on the toilet. I didn't catch her mid-poo, I didn't sit her there and tell her to do one, SHE TOLD ME SHE NEEDED TO!! This has been a long time coming and I see the end of the endless toilet training tunnel!!!

Since she was just after 2, we have been perservering and bribing and trying to get her to use the toilet. Lately she suddenly just "got it" and I am SOOOO greatful!! I want her out of nappies (daytime) by the time the baby arrived.....

I have no greater pleasure than hanging up tiny little knickers on the washing line. Time to chuck those trainers..

"By george! She's got it!"

Taking time to snooze in the sun.

Well these last few days have been .....
Excuse me while I go throw a certain beeping for no good reason smoke detector out onto the street.... :( I warned Daz, that if it annoyed me, it would die!!
POO!! It's the one on the roof making a racket!!

So where was I? Oh yeah, filling you in....
On Saturday it was the most humid day in a long time. I was dripping most of the time. The fam and i went to Elizabeth to pick up a pressie for Grannies 65th birthday, and while we were inside it rained a bit. We came out and it was STEAMIN!! Like someone had left the hot shower on with no exhaust and no windows open. I could barely breathe!
On Sunday we didn't do too much. I think we painted half the hall... we were supposed to finish it Sunday, but it never happened... ah well...
Sunday night I had a false labour. FOR 6 HOURS!! contractions at 2 minutes apart. They hurt, and I was waiting for intensity to pick up.. while my darling man slumbered peacefully next to me. They slowed down and then finally stopped at the end of that time, and I finally got some sleep... 2 whole hours. I was exhasuted monday!!
Monday afternoon I did a very unusual thing, I curled up with caitlin in my bed, and fell asleep...
Last night I didn't sleep again, basically because I couldn't get comfy. I should be half dead by tonight so I should be able to sleep... after some herbal sleeping pills and some serious spooning from Daz.

Went to see the midwife today. The baby's head is 2/5th engaged. She said that was a good sign. She poked and prodded and boy did that hurt. All that internal bruising!!
We discussed inducing me and what that would mean for me having a water birth. Apparently things HAVE changed since I gave birth to Caitlin. Turns out I can be induced AND have a water birth. YAY!! Midwife reckons I will not need inducing. I am pretty close to popping this kid out.

And I have changed my mind about the sex... I am having a strong feeling it will be another girl. But then my maternal instincts are pretty crappy so I guess we will see. Caitlin has been asking for a sister so I hope I can come through for her...

Been doing some more scrapbooking, since Daz took me to buy some more scrapping stuff. I am liking the results and am pretty happy with it all. I am trying to catch up on about 2 years worth of stuff...one of my NY resolutions is to catch up and stay up to date. So I am on my way!!

Well that's about all from me.
Till next time..
Cheerio, I'll be back soooon

27th January - the day after Aussie Day

Happy Australia Day - well... the day after it anyway.

Had a pretty good day yesterday. Apart from having a hideous nights sleep! We went to Robynne and Trevors for some lunch and some games. We played this game "Buzz?" on PS2. It was horrible, it was a music trvia game. Daz and I didn't know many answers. Lots of the music was before our time... we were the youngins of the pack afterall. It really wasn't that bad, it was kinda fun, but you gotta know music to get anywhere....
Then Daz and I dreamed some more and looked at caravans on the web and drooled and dreamed some more. We invited ourself round to my Nanna's for a swim after dinner and I really enjoyed using her pool to take the weight and strain off my back. Nanna took one look at my tummy and said "Oh dear oh dear!" I think she felt sorry for me. Nanna played with Caitlin in the pool and Caitlin just loved that! Caitlin loves going to Nanna's place. She even likes Ralph, and he is pretty sweet with her. Ralph is Nanna's husband. He isn't my grandfather though... my "Pops" died a few years back with asbestos related lung cancer. Ralph is nanna's second hubby. I actually kinda like him. For an 80+year old man, he is actually kinda cool. He has made a huge change in Nanna... she seems much more laid back and her sense of humor is blooming. Ralph has a wicked sense of humor... and he teases Nanna all the time... she takes it all in her stride though. I am impressed... she used to be defensive or gullible... now she teases right back.

I said goodbye to a dear friend tuesday - one of the most uncomplicated, low maintenence friends I have. My dear Kymbo.... flying off to be with the love of her life in Canada. It may as well be on another planet!! Anyway she is happy and this guy makes her happy, so that makes me happy. I met her in TAFE, 8 years ago exactly. 8 years is such a long time to be friends with someone... well for me anyway. Me who moved around constantly, losing friends all the time because it was just too hard to maintain. Kym is low maintenance. I can barely have anything to do with her for a year, but we pick up where we left off, no constant attention to our friendship required. I wish all friends could be like that. Luckily we can stay in contact via the net and when she comes back, hopefully it will be as groovy as it has ever been. I am sad that she is leaving the country. I will miss her.... and miss that cry of "HOLY SNAPPIN DUCK $%&*" and all the other Kym-sayings that make me laugh.

Pregnancy: Well lets just say I am super uncomfortable, and SUPER SICK OF IT ALL!!! Constant backache, constant lower tummy pain... the braxton Hicks contractions are getting closer and closer together. Yesterday they were happening 5 minutes apart. I am begging God to induce me... but I guess he has better things to do than listen to my whinging.... like feeding the starving, answering the prayers of the needy, the dying, the hurting...
Most of my friends and even Nanna are betting I won't go the full 40 weeks. Nanna reckons by the end of the month, Jo reckons by tuesday at the latest. I just want it out.
"It's time to go.... Pippin" GET OUT!!!!

Caitlin: Is happy as larry at the moment doing all 4 of her puzzles all at once... chatting away to herself.. and answering herself. LOL She is adorable!! Hope this next kid is as adorable as she is.... maybe a little less stubborn and strong willed? LOL.

I am still a bit nesty. This morning I went into battle against the mold. I am sick of being on all fours in the shower (so the hot water can ease my backache) and seeing mold growing. I only JUST cleaned it, I don't know HOW it grows back so fast. I guess it's all this heat and the water making it steamy which is probably perfect breeding grounds for the feral disgusting stuff.... So I scrubbed and scrubbed.... then went on all fours to inspect. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! No more mold... for today anyway! I hate mold...
Been rearranging and tidying and cleaning alot the last few days. Ahhh it keeps the mind off the elephant within.

Well I best be going, Caitlin wants me to play with her "babushka (?sp) doll"

It's HOT in the city... well was! 23/01

What a weekend!! It was STINKIN hot! It was mid 40's for the whole weekend. Apparently it was the worst heat wave to hit Adelaide in 60 odd years.
If we got brave and stepped outside, we would be hit with a blanket of hot air. It was terrible! And last night smoke from some bushfires blanketed the city so not only was it hot, we could smell burning. The smoke was thick and pretty nasty. Luckily the cool change came through and blew all the smoke away

Pete and Deb (Brother and Sister-in-law) stayed for the weekend because it was just too hot to sleep at their house. So this weekend was kinda out of the ordinary. Deb bought chocolate though, bless her, and invited us to swim at her Mum's place on one of those evil days. AND she cleaned my kitchen, so she is a very welcome houseguest!! We got to experience life with a little baby once again. Madeline drove home the fact that in less than 3 weeks, we will have a baby of our own that will cry every 4 hours for a feed, and need their butt changed and to coo and goo and gah. Madeline is a beautiful baby and she looks like a doll when she is still.
Caitlin loves Madeline and squatted by her little carrier and would touch her gently and say "hello madeline" and give her the dummy when she was crying. I felt utter relief. I wasn't sure how Caitlin would react to having a baby in the house for such a long time. She wasn't too impressed when we told her a baby was on the way when I was first pregnant, but now she can't wait. She is asking for a little sister, but I told her it might be a boy. I don't think she will mind either way. I think she wants a sister because Emma does. And also she is only just working out boys and girls and that they are different....

Emma (niece) kept Caitlin occupied for the whole weekend, and I was not asked to play with her that whole time. I got a nice break and Caitlin was run ragged every day! And at times was over-tired and over stimulated. Emma is toilet training at the moment as well, so the girls were watching each other wee and learning off each other. Though 5 minutes ago, Caitlin was "too busy" to go to the toilet and piddled all over her play mat. GRRRR....

2 weeks and 4 days untill this right now stretching, fidgeting baby is born. I ran into my midwife on Saturday and she said I would be delighted to learn..NOT... that I tested positive for Strep B. So basically this means that as soon as I suspect I am in labour, I need to high tail it to the hospital and get given antibiotics in the back of the hand. Oh just wonderful. Let me explain WHY this less than thrills me. My veins are the worst on the planet. They DO NOT cooperate and they shrink and hide when they see a needle coming. NO ONE... and I repeat NO ONE can get blood out of me. I end up black and blue after a blood test and they end up with a few mls of my blood. It's like trying to bleed a rock!!! So hopefully the veins won't mind having stuff pumped into them.

I am behaving a bit nesty today. Last night Darren and I got the nursery FINALLY sorted out and it's ready for the baby - whenever he or she is ready. Caitlin had a wonderful time "helping" prepare her old room for the new baby. She lay in the cot and watched the rabbit mobile going around and around. It was very cute. Then Darren and I sorted out our clothes and got rid of a stack of the stuff for charity. Since then this morning I have sorted through 2 more drawers, tidied and have a huge urge to clean and sort from one end of the house to the other. Might give into the urge... though I have no urges to iron just as yet. Big surprise there, since I detest ironing with all of my being!

Well untill next time - stay cool.

19th January 2006 - Fat and Feral Day

Today I heard about Blogs from my friend Jo - whom I torture on a daily basis by constantly yabbering to her on MSN while she should be making awesome creations with her diggi-scrapping.

So I decided I too would have a blog.

So here goes:
Today - well it was none descript. I am 9 months pregnant. 37 weeks to be exact. I am the size of a small country so you can imagine the activity I was up to! I played with puzzles on the floor with Mop aka Caitlin - my eldest baby. She is 2 and a half. I yabbered on the phone to my friend who was supposed to be coming over but has a tummy bug so she decided not to come after all.... very thoughtful of her.
I climbed into bed with Mop for a little while to read to her and to enjoy some quality time for a bit. Caitlin and I played a kissing game, instigated by her. She kissed me, so I kised her back, then she kissed me again and so on and so on. We were both giggling so hard, it's a wonder she settled down for a sleep!! I told her I loved her, and she said "I love you, LOTS" so I am having a good Mummy day.
Daz (my very sexy other half) organised a babysitter and is taking me out for a date tonight. So that's something to look forward to. I hope the cafe we go to has big fat rich cakes... or fruit salad. I am not fussed either way.

Pregnancy wise, I have been having Braxton Hicks contractions quite regularly. They are quite uncomfortable, especially when Pippin (the unborn kick boxing elephant within) struggles and squirms. He (term loosely used untill it's born and we know the sex of the baby) definately likes his own space and fights for it. I on the other hand have handed him his eviction notice. I want him out NOW!
I barely sleep, and I am constantly going to the toilet. I swear I should take up residency in there! Drag a matress in and the laptop and just live in there till I give birth. I am looking forward to meeting this little person.
My bet is that he/she will be born on the 13th Feb at 9lb 2oz.

House Renovation update: well we got one coat of paint on the hallway. We have half painted the living areas. We got a little side tracked. But we will continue painting probably on the weekend. I am eagerly awaiting for our builders to get back to us to build our extensions to the verandah and to the side of the house. I want those stinking piddling,pooping cats OUT of my laundry. I want to be able to put my clean and dirty clothes in there without the fear of them piddling all over them. I want it cat hair free.... they can live in giant cat run we are building for them.

Well I better close up for now. Don't want to overload you with dribble.