Keeping Busy

Last week I made myself up a fortnightly schedule, as I continually find it hard to get my housework done along with the other daily duties of being a pregnant mummy! So it incorporates my fortnightly shopping, cleaning jobs, bible study, play group, etc. I'm part-way through the second week, and it seems to be working okay.

Today though, after a slow start, I seemed to have a burst of energy, and managed to dust and vacuum the house - all by myself, and all in one day, for the first time I think since Annie came along! Then I weeded the vegie garden too! What?!?!

We are thanking the Lord tonight, for what we had been told was going to be a $500 job on the car, turning out to be a different problem to what the auto-electrician thought... which he only charged us $50 for!!! That certainly put a smile on our faces!

I've started attending a play group which is run by our church, (by that I mean I've been once!) and I'm not sure what I think of it yet (by that I mean I didn't enjoy it). It's a bit hard... as I want to support the activities our church does, but I found it really draining last week. I think that was because it's an outreach/evangelism activity, so it's not just a group of church mums with their kids. I feel like I have to be on the ball a whole lot more, and some of the kids are quite naughty and can even be pretty mean to other kids but their mums don't seem to notice. Annie doesn't seem to notice either... yet, but it won't be long before she's at that age where she'll start copying everything. Oh and plus, Annie isn't really old enough for the activities (eg. sitting in a circle and listening to a story and answering questions about it), and they change the activity about every 5 minutes, so I felt like I was constantly packing up the toys, washing off the paint, or whatever, to go the next thing. It's on again tomorrow, so I'll see how it goes I suppose....

Lastly, I'm 21 weeks now - over halfway! :)

January 2013 In Hindsight

2013 does not seem to have got off to a brilliant start for me, as I've already had two trips to Casualty; thankfully for the second one I did not have to arrive by ambulance.

So this second trip was last Wednesday night. Wed arvo at 4.30pm I was putting Annie in the car when she suddenly saw a bird and flipped her arm around to point at it, but she stuck her finger in my eye. It hurt possibly more than anything I've ever felt; after I'd managed to get myself together I had to get up to the house and try to bathe my eye... but after 15 mins of that, it wasn't feeling any better, and I could hear Annie in the car crying. Thankfully Jim, (the guy whose granny flat we live in) was home, and I asked him to go and get Annie out of the car for me, and we somehow made it through until Alastair got home from work. But by 10pm I was writhing on the floor in agony and Alastair insisted (for the third time!) that we go up to casualty. A friend came and sat here in case Annie woke, and waited for Meaghan to arrive, who already knew about the injury and had offered to come down and stay over. After an agonising four-hour wait, I was finally seen by a Dr, who I'm pretty sure had very little idea what he was doing (and it REALLY HURT as he tried to grab my eyelashes with his rubber-gloved hand to flip my eye-lid over a cotton bud in order to see underneath it) and sent me home with antibiotic drops. That was at 3am.

Next morning it was still excruciatingly agonising pain, so I got Meaghan to take me up to a lovely optometrist I've been to before about something in my eye, and he saw me in between patients, gave me anaesthetic drops and two prescription drops and told me it should be a lot better in 24 hours. And he didn't charge me anything. He asked me if I needed a medical certificate for work, and I said I didn't think my 17-month-old daughter - who was the culprit - would accept it. :P The anaesthetic drops only numb the eye for about 20 mins at a time, and I was told to use them sparingly, but still, 20 mins of less pain was absolute heaven. However at 5am Friday morning I woke up feeling like someone was shredding my eye with a shard of glass. Mum came down to help with Annie while Alastair was at work, and mid-morning we went back to the optometrist, who said it was looking better than yesterday, but still looking horrendous, so he put a band-aid contact lens (!) on, which he said would slow down the healing a bit, but at least would get me out of probably 70% of the pain. He didn't charge me anything on Friday either, he's the loveliest man. I told him I loved him and I think that made his day. So tomorrow I have to go back to him and he'll take the lens off, and see how things are going. I can open my eye now, but the vision in that eye is still blurred, and it feels gritty. And it's still painful, but nothing like it was. I have honestly never felt anything like it - I managed childbirth with no pain relief and no tears, yet this was even worse. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy!

February has arrived though, and I'm hoping this month is going to be a little less traumatic than last.  :)

Anthea has finally started to walk so January wasn't a complete write-off. It's amazing how quickly they go from their first tottering steps to practically full-blown running. She's a lot happier now, and seems to enjoy her new-found freedom very much. I think a little too much at times.

The other cool thing that happened in January, which I nearly forgot to mention, was that in the last little while I've begun to feel our new baby's first movements! They're still in that "oooh, I think I just felt something" stage, not the grand internal-organ-shifting movements they turn into eventually. :)

We've had some lovely cool weather over the last few days - very welcome relief after the extremely hot weather last week and the week before. Problem was though, Annie had grown out of all the clothes she wore last winter without me realising. I guess that happens, I just hadn't thought we'd be needing size 2 wondersuits in February! I loooove babies in wondersuits though, they're just so cute and cuddly! And since she's been walking for such a short time, she doesn't remember wearing socks or anything slippery on her feet, so it's been fun to watch her puzzling over that, and she gets a very cute look of concentration on her face. She doesn't say much (only 'Mama', 'Dada' and 'woof') but I'm certain she understands everything. Am even toying with the idea of starting some basic toilet training with her in the next few weeks to see how we go, as most times I put her on the potty she does something... and I've been reading a few different peoples' ideas on toilet training.... still need to do a bit more thinking though.

That's all for now I think. I have my 19 week scan tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to that so I should head for bed in order to get enough sleep so that I can hold my 500ml of water without going crazy. :)

Sharing a link

I thought I'd share this post written to mothers. Maybe it's not for everyone. But in my just-post-morning-sickness-state, I found it an encouragement. :)

http://www.theblazingcenter.com/2012/10/dear-moms-jesus-wants-you-to-chill-out.html

Photos, as promised.

I have some lovely friends who are just brilliant photographers... I know mine aren't much chop, but at least they give you an idea of what's been happening and how Annie's growing. :)

Anthea LOVES water, anytime, anywhere.

Cute frilly swimmers that friends passed on.

The fruits of our labour - annual Gingerbread Day at Donna's.

Admiring the Christmas tree - from the other side of the playpen.

Aunty Meaghan has more energy than Mummy at the moment!

Cute baby doll from Aunty Meaghan for Christmas - she puts it on her shoulder and pats her back!

Hmm.... eating pringles at Grandpa's house, what a treat.

Cuddle for Daddy.

Quiet inside activity for a hot day.

Another inside activity on a hot day - as I said, she loves water.

"But I WANT to eat the crayons!"

Testing out the car-seats at the shop.

First time of piggy-tails - oh I almost died from the cuteness!

And this is my favourite photo ever - taken (and instagram-edited) by Aunty Meaghan - it just makes me smile so big cos she just looks so darn cute and grown up!

Good News

Just quickly popping in to say that everything went well at my check-up today - we still have a 15-week-old baby kicking around healthily, and I am very relieved. :)

2013, A New Year

2013 started with a bang for us, with the annual Glen Family get together on New Years Day. I love my extended family, they're such a great bunch of cool people! And it's so exciting to see all the little ones in the next generation toddling around together! Anthea got to have her first swim in a big pool (that's not a plastic clam shell on the lawn) and just loved it - then had the biggest afternoon sleep ever!

The night of the 2nd though, I had nearly 12 hours of vomiting and diarrhea before Alastair decided that enough was enough and called an ambulance. I was quite dehydrated, but after several hours in emergency, with several litres of IV fluids, I was beginning to feel better. Very thankful it happened while Alastair was still on holidays, though it meant that he didn't get much of a holiday! Meaghan came down to take Annie back to their house for Thursday and Thursday night (our first night away from her - I don't know if she even noticed!) to give me a chance to rest up a bit. Alastair hasn't been sick, but Annie had it Friday/Sat, though not too severely. Boy, you know you're alive when you're bathing a vomiting baby, changing sheets and cleaning carpet before you're better from your own dose of the bug. I'm feeling much better now, but it's taking a while to regain my energy.

While being seen to in hospital I kept asking if they could check that the baby was okay, but at the end when I didn't even realise that they were taking the canula out to send me home, they finally said they were too busy and I could talk to the Dr about it at my appointment on 9th (tomorrow). So I'm hoping everything is fine... it's a horrible waiting game though. Probably everything is fine, but it's just the not knowing. I have heard of women carrying a dead baby for several weeks before their body gets things sorted and starts the miscarriage process. We've been praying hard.

Alastair went back to work yesterday, so I had to buck up and do stuff. :) Meaghan came down and helped me to get the house cleaned up and back to normal after our rough week, and she helped me with a bit of shopping too... and she cooked our dinner and made a fruit salad before she left. What would I do without her? What would Annie do without her, more to the point - Aunty Meaghan is clearly her favourite, and she cries whenever she walks out of the room. :P

We've enjoyed spending time (when not sick!) with Lachlan who is back for two short weeks. He loves Anthea and it's been nice to see them getting along so well - she's taken to him, so he finds that pleasing. :) He is a very noisy person though. Goodness me he's noisy.

I can't think of anything else interesting, so I'll close here, and try to post some pictures tonight or tomorrow.

News

So at the beginning of my last post, I said that not a lot had been going on... which was only partially true.

It was true that at home here, not a lot has been going on that you can really SEE... but a lot has been going on that you can't see. Another new little person is being knit together in my womb! I'm 12 weeks pregnant now (heard its little heartbeat today!), and these last several weeks have been really hard work, just dragging myself through each day, not getting much done, and waiting for Alastair to get home from work. I feel like the morning sickness (which should really be called all-day sickness) is worse this time around, but it's probably just that I'm doing toddler stuff at the same time. Plus Annie has been teething, so my nights have been quite interrupted. However, now that we're at the end of the first trimester, things should start to look up - they did last time. So, Lord-willing, we will be welcoming our new baby in early/mid July next year. :)

In other news: finally, at nearly 16 months, Anthea is starting to experiment with taking her first steps. They are precious few and far between at the moment... I was hoping that she'd be walking by Christmas, because I've made her a little Christmas dress, and she would look so cute toddling around in it! She truly just gets cuter and cuter, her latest cuteness is when you say "smile", she crinkles up her eyes and nose and shows you all her teeth.

Christmas is coming soon! I love this time of the year, though this year has been a little harder, but that's okay, all for a good cause. :) The tree is up (with a playpen around it!) the Christmas cake and gingerbread are cooked and iced, the gifts are wrapped... it's all happening! We're staying with Mum and Dad Christmas Eve, then going to Alastair's family for lunch on Christmas Day. And Lachlan will be back on the 28th!

Recently

To be honest, not a great deal has been going on... at least, that sticks out in my memory. We've had the odd trip to Sydney, and visits to friends, but other than that we've just been following our fairly normal routine... doing the shopping... going to mother's group... that sort of thing. So here are a few photos since it's been a while since I've posted.

Enjoying Uncle Jim's playing

 Clowning around with Aunty Meaghan, and helping Grandpa to bring the washing in.

Baby Tania's first Sunday at church - she was born at 29 weeks!

 Fun in the pool - just loves the water!

Asleep on the potty!

Mid-September to Mid-October

I actually sat down to write this post about... ahem... an hour ago... but I got side-tracked on Pinterest. Man, that site is so cool, and has so many fantastic ideas and photos... but if I go there, it's never just a quick visit. I keep having to save amazing ideas for playroom/household organisation, gift ideas, home remedies, frugal recipes, home decor, sewing patterns, kids party ideas, art/craft, Christmas decorating.... you name it!

Anyhow, I haven't posted for a while, but we've just been doing life really. Anthea is 13.5 months, and has just this week started doing a wonky kind of crawl/drag thing - one foot, one knee. It looks really awkward, but she can move around a little more now. Her favourite thing to do is take her shoes and socks off. She also does this fake coughing thing, with her hand over her mouth, which is really cute. Except when it goes on and on when we're doing the groceries, and every person we pass in the trolley gets a demo...

We bought a little kids table and chairs set off eBay for our "lounge room", for when Annie starts needing to have somewhere to draw and colour in and stuff like that. Also, since we don't have room for a dining table (and so Alastair and I just sit on the couch), we can use it for meal times with kids, and still teach table manners and stuff - if we are on the couch, we can have one side of the table, and two chairs fit on the other side. It works in theory. :)

What else since my last post? We've been to two 30th birthday parties (one of which included a trip to Cooma to see dear friends we haven't seen for ages), I've been on two 12-hour shopping trips to Sydney (!) (just for fun, but Christmas shopping 98% done!) (one was a girls day out with Mum and Meaghan, and the other was a fundraiser that a friend's pre-school was doing), Annie's enjoyed seeing more of Aunty Meaghan in the school holidays, and I've done some organising and spring cleaning around the house here. Now photos:

Anthea's birthday morning, still sleepy.

Yum, cake time!

Just chillin' in the pram at the Spring Festival   * * *   Chatting with Grandpa

 All dressed up for Aunty Carly's circus-themed 30th birthday party!

Practicing with the elephant ears headband before the party

School holidays with Aunty Meaghan - Annie loves getting into bed and watching TV in the mornings

 Left: Our little potty-sitter, complete with upside-down dummy! 

Right: Watching Play-School whilst on the potty - good job it has back and arm rests!

Just a quick one

I just wanted to say thanks everyone for your loving concern, thoughts and prayers over the last little while. We're getting there... gradually my energy levels are increasing and I'm feeling more normal. Also on Friday we had good news after Alastair's dad's appointment with his specialist: he's been given the all-clear, the pathology results were fine! Apparently this specialist has never seen anything like what Peter had and said he's a very lucky man. It's clear that it was a load on Peter's shoulders, as he's much more chirpy now, which is good to see. :)

Alastair shared this article by Tim Challies with me earlier, and I thought it was really insightful. I look forward to the day when I can demonstrate what I consider to be "real" hospitality (the kind I would be able to show if I had my own house, with more than two rooms in it!)... but it's been a good thing to think about even in our granny flat situation. :)

http://www.challies.com/christian-living/inconvenienced-by-inconvenience?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

And lastly I just want to share a couple of Puritan prayers I came across the other day:

Unmask to me sin's deformity,
   that I may hate it, abhor it, flee from it...
Let me never forget that the heinousness of sin
   lies not so much in the nature of the sin committed, 
      as in the greatness of the person sinned against.

Grant me never to lose sight of
   the exceeding sinfulness of sin,
   the exceeding righteousness of salvation
   the exceeding glory of Christ,
   the exceeding beauty of holiness,
   the exceeding wonder of grace.