So Fresh

$90 later and the carpet is smelling all nice and fresh again. The lounge looks as good as new. Phew!

Trevor had told me that whilst he had cleaned the carpet and lounge he thought he could see it staining and not to mention the lingering smell. For crying out loud, we've only been in the house a matter of weeks. We couldn't possibly stain the carpet that soon. So, with mum's insistence I got some carpet cleaners to duck around and quickly clean the carpet and lounge.

I'm so glad I did. Although it was $90 I wish I didn't have to spend...it was money well spent.

Byron looked so miserable tonight. There have been no more vomits *gasp* but he just looked very unwell.

On a side note...lets just say, there are lots of towels scattered all over his bedroom floor. I can't afford another $90 call out fee any time soon!

In closing, I get to spend the day home with my babies tomorrow...both of them. Lily will stay home - I couldn't be bothered dropping her at kindy and besides, she can keep Byron company.

Geepers...is that the time already?! I guess I better get to bed. God knows what tomorrow will hold.

Could this week start any worse?!

...Byron just threw up in the media room. All over the brand new carpet and the brand new lounge. You think he could have picked an area with tiles - like 80% of our house! Trevor just kindly rang me at work to tell me I OWE him big time!

I owe him nothing...he's the dad and it's his job too. Besides, I don't do vomit. Thinking I might camp out at my office tonight.

Sigh...I want this week over with NOW!

Sleep my child...

Arghh…I felt like I had a newborn last night, although come to think of it, my newborns weren’t anywhere as bad as lily was last night. The little Miss cried full on from 10.00pm to midnight and then on and off and on and off until 3.00am. By midnight I’d had enough and summonsed Trevor to take over. I had to go to work and there was no way I could function properly on a few hours sleep, which as it stands was a correct assumption – I’m buggered!

Trevor had gone to bed at around 10.00pm which is so not like him, especially when he doesn't have to work the next day – he starts a new job on Tuesday. Woohooo!!! He’ll be around in the morning. He’ll be working normal hours and no more Saturdays!!!

Anyway, I digress. Lily hardly ever wakes up in the night. Both my children are great sleepers and for the most part have always been. As newborns, they ‘slept through’ from 8 and 12 weeks and from then we haven’t looked back. The down side to having good sleeping children is that when they’re unwell, having a bad night or just being silly, we’re so unaccustomed to the ‘broken’ sleep ourselves, that come the next morning, it’s like we are badly hung-over, despondent and completely shattered. That’s how I feel today! Lucky Trevor, who has the day off today, gets to have a nice sleep. Sigh. I’m trying to stay upright at my desk, let alone stay focused.

I’m not quite sure what was going on with Lily last night. She woke up initially and when I went in to her she keep saying, “see Byron, see Byron”. Needless to say at 10.00pm, Byron was sleeping soundly and there was no way I was taking her up on such an offer. That was until, after half an hour of straight crying she woke up Byron. Thinking it might help, I took her in to say goodnight once again, and for a cuddle. It obviously didn’t do the trick. What ever was wrong with the child, she wasn’t sleeping. Trevor ended up sleeping on her floor, patting her head, giving her some warm milk - I had done the panadol trick earlier - but none of it worked with any success. It's seems the poor child eventually wore herself out, sleeping from 3.00am to 6.30am.

I hope she puts her sleeping hat on tonight because there is no way I’ll be able to back up tomorrow otherwise!

Karaoke fun!

I went out on the town last night. No really I did. I hit the city pubs like I was 18. Ok so not really, it was just dinner and karaoke but it was in a city pub; I did drink and I did get home late…1:00am, which is way late for me.

I work in the city so generally I hate to socialise in there too. I would rather stay in the suburbs myself. Give me a BBQ at someone’s house or a few drinks at the local pub. The thought of hitting the town these days just makes me cringe.

I look back on my hay days and wonder how the hell I did it. I simply can’t imagine going out two to three days straight, drinking a lot and staying out to all hours. I don’t have the stamina for that anymore. Plus, I’m too sensible. I worry way to much when I’m out and see ‘younger’ people behaving dangerously. I hate fights, and big groups of young people just scare me. I think it’s the mother in me. When you're younger and free you don’t tend to worry about that stuff.

Leaving my anxieties aside I had a really great night last night. We were celebrating the 30th of another friend – there will be quite a few of those this year. My besty organised it. Ordinarily I’m not a huge fan of karaoke although on my trip to Melbourne last year I kind of fell in love with Singstar for the PS2. There is nothing like a bit of vocal dancing when your home ALONE! Obviously, karaoke at home is far different to that in public especially when one is totally tone deaf and incapble of staying in tune. However, my besty assured me it would be the best night and it was. It was so much fun...I'll definitely do it again but only after a bottle and half of wine.

Speaking of my besty, the thought arose, that I don’t mention her much in here. I don’t know why that’s the case. When you think about it, it really does reflect poorly on me as a best friend, that I don’t acknowledge as much as I should, the great things she does for me. She truly has a heart of gold - one of a kind.

I feel terrible that I didn’t mention she came over on the day I moved in, my 30th birthday, with a bottle of wine and some chips, just to keep me company. We chatted late into the night and it was a lovely end to what could otherwise be classified as a not so fun day. She does that kind of stuff often. She has thrown me surprise parties, baby showers, a hen’s night and the list goes on. She’s given speeches at all my important events, including my recent 30th. It wouldn’t be a party if she didn’t give a speech. I love that quality about her.

Anyway, I guess I digressed somewhat from my initial post. I guess I wanted her to know that she truly is a special friend…one in a million…my best friend. Love ya Tash!

I want one...

I can't believe how gushy I got today going to see a friend of mines new little bub. A gorgeous little poppet she is. So cute and tiny. She has the softest, smoothest skin. Sigh. I could have cuddled her all night long. A little girl named Tayla. I couldn't be happier for my friend. Tayla is a long awaited first born.

I have the pleasure of taking her newborn photos on the weekend. In the meantime these few will have to do. Collectively....sigh




Man I want one. I want to have another now. The feeling of 'need' is back again. It's the same feeling I had when Byron was around Lily's age. The difference this time is that I can't go back for number three right now. I just can't. I'm so annoyed that I can't go back. God knows when I'll be able to. I worry the time will never be right again; that we simply will never be able to afford number three and that scares me a lot.

For now, and to avoid, my longing for number three, I'm just trying to focus on my kids, my photography and all the little babies popping up around me! Hopefully, come this time next year there won't be any further need to surpress my desire...I'll already be pregnant!

Magical Fun

We went to yet another birthday party today – just a party for one of Byron’s future wives. Apparently all the girls want to marry him or at least that’s what they tell their mums. I wonder if his popularity with the ‘ladies’ will teeter out over time or if he’ll always be somewhat of a ladies man.

What can I say…he’s rather handsome…takes after his mother!

Speaking of Byron, I can’t believe how much he has changed of late. There are far less tantrums which, it goes without saying makes me a happy little camper. I can’t really explain it. He just seems mellower. Maybe the move and more space have helped him out some or maybe he’s just growing older. What ever it is, I hope it continues.

I can’t believe he only has 6 months of kindy remaining before he trots off to ‘big school’. I know in my heart of hearts that that time will fly by; that he will really be a different kid come February 2009. By different I mean more grown up. I know it, but I just try not to think about it. I just try to stay in the now and enjoy my little preschooler!

It’s been a while since I mentioned a Byronism so here’s a little one for the blog. According to Byron, Queensland won the “state of oranges”. That’s it. That’s all I have! I’ll try and be more conscious of his silly phrases and sentences.

Oh my, I digress…back to the party.

So, I also took Lily along to the party today. Byron was off with his friends but Lily of course required constant supervision which interfered into my social ‘mother’ time. Oh well. I snapped a few shots of her in the playground which made up for it.

There wasn’t a lot of your typical party food at this party. Just some chips and that was it. No lollies. Lily was rather disappointed seeing as the first thing she mentioned when I said we were going to a party was “lollies”. She just wanted those lollies and nothing else was good enough, except for the chocolate cake which she keep asking to have at least 2 hours before we sung happy birthday. Sigh. She’s certainly my little miss piggy!

There was a magician at the party which all the kids loved. All the kids related, even Lily. I thought she would be too young but she showed interest every now and then. Byron thought it was the coolest thing. I loved his facial expressions and excitement in his voice when he was relaying to Trevor how the magician turned the sponge rabbit into a real one. Shucks, even I was surprised but how good the magician was.

It was a lovely afternoon.

It was all a bit too much for Lily. She started to get very tired and thought Byron's lap would be a nice spot to lay her head for a minutes rest.

Isn't she a cutie patootie!?

Dress Sense

If only I could have Lily’s carefree sense of style.

Perhaps then, I could venture out in my PJs, socks and thongs!

Little Miss Independent

Lily is becoming so independent…a real little miss. She’s talking at a rate of knots as equally as she’s developing her own little personality. She loves to do things herself. It’s “Lily do it” this and “Lily do it” that. And, If she can’t do it on her own she isn’t afraid to ask for (or should I say, demand) some help along the way in her endeavours to get something done… "mummy do it” or “mummy help”.

The baby that was Lily is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. Whilst I still see the glimpses of infancy that once were, they are now fewer and further between. Sigh. I’m happy she’s growing into a little independent miss but at the same time I’m sad to see her leave the baby stage behind. In a matter of weeks, Lily will be two. My little baby will be two. I look at Byron, my big baby who’s nearly 5, and can’t at all imagine Lily will one day, in a blink of an eye, be that age. The reality hasn’t quite set in yet.

I can tell she’s growing up by the mere fact she’s communicating on a ‘kid’ level a lot of the time now. If she wants something these days she just out and out asks for it. The days of deciphering baby language are a thing of the past. There isn’t much she can’t say or doesn’t know.

The new thing Byron is finding of interest is to tell Lily to do things. He tells her to get things for him and he tells her to say things; things that are not always, well, nice. The other day, she ran out to me and said “poo poo head” with this massive big grin on her face. She was so proud. She tells Trevor that he’s a “silly daddy”. Needless to say, we are trying to pull Byron and his persuasive ways into line before he has Lily doing a whole lot more then calling us ‘poo poo heads’.

In line with my new project – to capture the little bit of ordinary in each day – I snapped a few pics of Lily in the bath…washing her own hair and insisting that she wash herself too… “Lily do it!”

Just the Ordinary...

It's dinner time and Byron has just learned how to use his knife and fork properly. I taught him where to put his fingers. He was proud. I was proud.


Lily and utensils. I don't think so. Well ok...that's a lie. She uses her spoon and fork but of late, has elected to use her fingers a little more.

Karen, this one's for you (Size 1)...

It's been a while...

Gosh. It feels like ages since I picked up my camera with the intent of doing a mini shoot. I hardly picked up my camera whilst I was on leave.

I consciously thought that this weekend I 'should' pick it up and take some shots. The two birthday parties we had to attend were the perfect opportunity. The first one, on Saturday, did result in me taking the camera but not in me actually taking any shots. Durr. On Sunday Lily went to a little party in the park. I thought it was the best opportunity to get her all dressed up and take some snaps.

I didn't really get any of Byron whilst at the park so I thought I would take him outside and get some whilst Lily was sleeping. We ended up exploring the houses being built around us (he he he I love being a sticky beak). I tell you...some people just have no taste in electrical fitting. Blur!!!

Anyway, I only got a couple of Byron but I was pretty happy with them none the less. Speaking of happy, Byron has a little electric car that he's had since he was about two. Mum got it for him for Christmas (when he was way too young to use it). The thing is he has never used it. We didn't have the space at home to park the car so it was put into storage. Since we've moved the car has come out and can I just say...it is a huge hit! He loves it. Lily loves it. He takes her for rides. It's so cute!

The car is the coolest...It even has a real radio that tunes into 'normal' stations. He was listening to the 'football' the other day whilst driving along. The things kids have today.




And some of the car...

Good Fun!

Just me and thirty odd of my closest friends and family.

A fair amount of alcohol (a touch too much).

One very late night.

One bad hang over the next day (I’m getting too old for it all).

But gee…It was so bloody worth it! I had the best time.

PS. Thanks Jo (my sister in law) for taking all my birthday snaps.

(my brother who flew up from Sydney for the night...just for me! He he he...somehow I think he had a 'rocky' plane ride home the next morning!)

(Us kids with Mum)

(Pretty much the only shot of Trevor from the night. Can you believe we didn't get one happy snap together?!)

(My sister and brother)

(My brother - gee he's fairing well in the happy snap department...wonder why? - and my sister in law)

(My good ol' besty!)

(My sis and soon to be brother in law)

One more thing...

Happy Birthday Dad!!!

So I’m 30…

I still can’t believe that I’m no longer in my twenties. It’s really surreal.

I find myself stopping mid thought (with something else) when the sudden realisation I’m thirty hits. It’s rather odd. I feel like my twenties just slipped away. My next ‘big’ birthday is forty. What the? How can I be heading to forty? What happened to twenty?

Ok. Ok. So it’s another ten years until I’m forty – Byron will be 15 then – but as if, when I was twenty, I would have thought that thirty was just around the corner and here I am…thirty!

My twenties literally flew by. Graduation from law school, admission as a lawyer, buying a place, getting married, building a place and having two kids along the way sure did take its toll on my twenties. I’m not sure my thirties will be so hectic. Aside from one more child, there is nothing else on the radar, compared to my twenties. If truth be told, that’s a good thing. My twenties were a blur, no doubt on account of its busy schedule. I’m hoping my thirties are a more laid back, carefree era in my life.

From those in the know (i.e. those in their thirties) I’ve heard life’s great. It’s a good time. I hope their right. I’m looking forward to the good life.

Let the journey begin.

The journey began on an interesting note. On the day of my birthday we moved house. There was no nice dinner or lunch. No pampering. It was all hard work and no play. I suppose I can’t complain. Moving into a nice new home on your birthday is what most dream of, even if it is 80% owned by the bank.

I’ve mentioned my mum before. She’s so sweet; the sweetest mum in the world. She always tries her very hardest to make my birthday so special. This year was no different. After having a big fight with Trevor in the morning over him not having replaced his licence (after his wallet got stolen last Christmas) and hence therefore not being able to hire the truck (which I could not drive) I returned home in tears to be greeted by my mum. She had come around to deliver me some birthday cheer with presents included. Trevor was carrying on like a right idiot because, after six months, and under duress, he had to head off to get his licence replaced, something he didn’t think he needed to do (I could write a whole blog on his behaviour that day but I won’t waste the space or my precious time). After he was gone and to cheer me up mum gave me a present, which, cheered me up no end but didn’t dry the tears.

It was a little box, the present. I suspected jewellery, given the size of the box but I had no idea what it could be. When I opened the box I was speechless. When I studied the gift, I cried more tears – happy tears – for mum had given me the most wonderful gift I had ever received. It was a solid gold bangle with 8 diamonds measuring a total of .8ct. The most wonderful part of the gift wasn’t the vast amount of gold or the diamonds but the inscription it held. It read…

“Forever my daughter, now my friend.”

Even as I type this it makes me emotional. I’m thankful everyday to have the mother I do. She truly is my special friend.

A little more about the bangle…Dad had given mum a bangle many moons ago (they haven’t been married for over 15 years) which had 15 diamonds in it. Mum had put 8 of those diamonds in my bangle and kept the other 7 diamonds for my sister (he he he I’m older so I got one more). She had the gold melted from the bangle and other pieces of her jewellery and had it custom made; custom made just for me.

Sigh. I’m so lucky.

Trevor and the kids gave me a half day at a spa. Four hours of treatment including massages, manicures and all those fun things. I’ve decided to use it come September/October when spring is in the air.

My sister gave me the most gorgeous diamond ‘N’ pendant. She knew that I’ve always wanted one and well, she got me one. It's perfect.

Sigh. I’m so lucky.



I had a party one week later. I’ll report on that tomorrow, photos and all. I’m tired now. Off to bed I think. I'm having way to many late nights at the moment.

Lost Mojo

I seem to have lost my blog mojo. What’s with that?

My ‘need to blog’ entries tally is mounting and I can’t seem to get motivated to get them done. I think not having the internet for ‘so’ long has restored my interest in television.

I’m so mad!

Lets see…there’s the 30th birthday and the party. There are those damn mice I mentioned (we’ve caught 5 so far…eeeekkkk…can you believe it? My brand new house and a little mice family think it’s theirs and move in…I showed them!). There’s Lily’s first pig tail (miss pebbles), her funny face (freakin hilarious) and her never ending vocabulary (no joke, she rivals Bryon). Byron’s just planted his first ever plant – a tomato plant – which requires consideration. Sigh. He’s such a big boy now. What else? My detox diet (I'm currently on day 3), my sister's wedding any my gorgeous attendants and, well, just stuff.

What’s worse is that I feel like I’ve lost my photo mojo too and that my friend, requires a special entry all to its self.

So there you have it. Funny huh?! I could have written at least one of my ‘need to blog’ entries instead of spinny the aforementioned crap. Oh well, I’ll have to try tomorrow.

Tomorrow it is. 30th birthday here we come.

Hand Over and the Move

22 May 2008 and beyond.

Finally, the day we had dreamed of for the past 16 months had arrived. We had hoped and wished that it would have happened sooner – that handover would have been some time in March or April but alas that wasn’t to have occurred. It took every single day of the 6 months allotted in the contract for us to receive the house.

Boy, did it d-r-a-g.

So the day came. I’m not sure what I envisaged for it really. I guess it might be different for others because we had had access to the house whenever we wanted. Plus, even on the day of handover, which took place late in the afternoon; we were allowed to move our stuff in. Heck, we could have moved our stuff in a few days before and I don’t think the builder would have cared at all. So there was no excited rush to run through the house because we had done that so often - we were all ready there and moving in when the builder arrived that afternoon.

Basically, in terms of handover, the builder just came around gave us the paper work, I signed a few things, he changed the locks, handed us the keys and that was it.

The day before my 30th birthday marks the day we received our brand new house. It wasn’t the day we slept in our house, that day was reserved from my birthday (mainly because we couldn’t move it all in). Speaking of moving, it has taken a while to move in – actually, we are still moving stuff from the other house (which is yet to sell but that’s another story!). We attended a lovely wedding the weekend of the 24th and 25th which meant no moving when we otherwise would have.

Slowly, over the last few weeks we have made the place our home. I went back to the ‘other’ house yesterday and it just felt weird. I had wondered what it would be like to leave the place Trevor and I had lived in for pretty much our whole relationship together; the house we lived our initial married life in; the place that both our children came home from the hospital to; our first home. I thought I would miss it but I don’t.

Byron and Lily have come out of their shell in this new place. Lily especially. She’s a whole new kid. There is space for them to run and scream and play. I love watching them follow each other around. I love that they have space to do kid things. I love that Byron uses the hallway or big stretch from the front door to the laundry as his ‘freeway’. I love that Lily runs, literally, all over the place. I love that they have a space just for them.

Best of all….I love that we have our space; everyone has a space that is theirs which is perfect.

Anyway, without further ado, here are some photos of our house…

The house (or at least the front of it)...

The kitchen and family rooms...

We opted for a black, red, white and silver splash back. We were bold and brave. We couldn't be happier with our courageous efforts.

Our bedroom and bathroom:

Our big king sized bed arrived on 22 May 2008. We couldn't be happier. It's so nice and cozy. The lovely linen was courtesy of my mother - a house warming gift. Trevor and I don't know ourselves in such a big bed as we had only had a double before this. It's so strange to roll over and not touch...or in my case roll over, feel the cold patch and roll right back to my warm patch. Sigh. It's so lovely!

I don't think I've introduced my carpet before. It's a chocolate brown, taupey colour - I can't quite recall actually. It's nice and soft which is all that matters. There is so much room to play in our bedroom. Today, we played horsey with kids. Lily kept wanting to ride 'horsey'. Aside from the meida room, and the other bedrooms, there isn't alot of softness around the place which is why we love our bedroom so much!

Lily's bedroom:

Her bedroom is as sweet as she is. It has the same decor as her old room (with no frieze). She will move into a little toddler bed soon but I thought for now, with the recent move, the safe haven of her cot would be best.

Byron's bedroom:

Sigh. I love his room. It's perfectly suited to Byron, green wall and all!

The playroom:

YES they have a lot of toys.

YES it's nice and colourful.

YES they play in there.

YES it gets very messy.

Our mailbox:

We installed it today.

Now it feels like home.

So there you have it...a snippet of our new home. I walk around each night wondering if it's really ours. I know it's ours....by golly I've worked so hard for it...it's just that, we have waited so long for it that it's hard to believe it's real. You know? I guess it is. I gotta go back to work tomorrow to pay for it. Sigh. I wish I could stay on holidays forever!