The Dummy - Is it gone?

~~Last photo I have of Xav with his dummy~~

I think that my little boy has ditched the dummy. All by himself.

It's kinda come out of the blue, so I'm a little shocked and unsure whether it will last or not. My fingers are crossed that it is the end of sucking on latex for Xav, however I'm keeping a spare one hidden in my bedside table just in case he gets upset later tonight.

We spent the day at the mall, trying to find the perfect birthday present for Duane who turns the big 36 tomorrow. I'm hoping that the random phone catologues and constant talk of how his phone is breaking was obvious hit dropping, cause I've splurged and bought him a new one. Our local phone guy (friend of a friend!) even knew exactly the one he wanted when I went in, saying Duane was in the previuos week drooling over it. So I'm sure he'll be happy come present unwrapping time tomorrow.

So we spent the day wandering around. It was suppossed to be a quick trip (yeah right, we were there for 6 hours!!!) and we were plannng on being home by lunch time for the kids to rest, but time got the better of us and before I knew it it was 1pm and Xav was starting to fade. I fished around in my handbag and found a lonely dummy, he layed down in the pram and fell asleep. He only ever has his dummy for sleep time, but it is something that he is very attached to and always guarantees him going to sleep instantly.

Once he woke I took him to the toilet, where he accidentally dropped the dummy into the toilet. I got the gross job of fishing it out with giant wads of toilet paper, yuck! Xav wasn't upset, but he decided the best place for the germ covered thing was straight into the bin and promptly dumped it in there quite happily.

I explained to him that he wont have a dummy now, even at nighttime and he was fine with that.
Fast forward to bedtime tonight and he was still ok with being tucked up in bed with only his blankie and Iggle, not even asking for his num-num. I was so shocked, expecting tears and lots of protesting. Seems my little baby is growing up though, and no longer needs a piece of plastic to suck on as he goes off to sleep.

He slept all night, only waking once at 10pm for a quick drink of water. There were no tears, protests or demands for his dummy. I couldn't believe it, I was fully expecting a long night of comforting a small boy as he mourned for his beloved dummy.

So, after the easy night I was a bit unsure how the day sleep would go. He asked a few times for his dummy, but after talking about what had happened to it and how it was in the bin - he was fine. Once again, no tears as he headed off to sleep clutching his blankie. One funny thing now though, where he used to lay down quietly and drift off to sleep, he now sings VERY loudly as he winds down. I guess he can now, his mouth is no longer plugged up!

So far, it looks like this is going to be a dream run to ditching the dummy. I'm just a little unsure how easy he is going to sleep when he are out and about now? He is a great sleeper and has a wonderful ability to sleep wherever and whenever. He'll sleep in the corner on the floor, any ones bed, in the pram and even in the bottom of the trolley. As long as he has his dummy and blankie, he'll nod off anywhere. I'm certain part of the reason he does this as since about 12 months I've kept his dummy as just something special for when he goes to sleep, he's not been allowed to have it apart from then. I've done this for a few reasons. First one being my own silly reason of not liking to see toddlers wandering around with dummies in and not wanting that for my kids. Secondly, I'm aware of the speech and dental problems that can happen with prolonged and extended use of the dummy and didn't want to contribute to Xav's already noticeable lisp. I know that the dummy is a comfort thing too though, and I never want to deny my children comfort, I just would prefer to give hugs, kisses or blankie than plug them up. Of course, I had no qualms with plugging up a comfort sucking baby, dummies are a godsend for an unsettled bubs with a strong sucking reflex - plenty of times a dummy was used to pacify ! I just think that there are other more age appropriate ways of settling an upset toddler, but I guess I'm contradictory cause I didn't mind him having it at bedtime.........Anywho....

Blankie is no doubt going to take top position as most favourite item now, and I have no problem in Xav carting blankie wherever he wants and whenever he wants. Most of the time he is happy for blankie to stay on his bed and go in for a cuddle and regroup every now and then, but we have had the occasional day where blankie has joined us for a trip to a friends house or in the car!

I'm never going to make him get rid of blankie, my little boy cuddling and patting his blankie is one of the most endearing and sweet things about him. Of course if blankie survives into the teenage years, I might have to whisper into his ear that it's not appropriate to be taking it along on dates.........

I'm a lifer.....

Yay! I've finally gotten to my goal weight and maintained it for 6 weeks, so last night I received lifetime membership with WW!! The best part of that for me the scrooge, is actually that I don't have to pay anymore! Oh, and of course now I'm in a healthy weight range, feel better, can fit back into clothes etc - lots of bonus's!

Ok, so I haven't been that fantastic of actually staying at my goal weight, but WW are happy as long as you stay 2 kg either side of it and I'm just sneaking in by 1kg.

My WW goal weight is 66kg, and I'm exactly 67kg. I don't think that's too bad considering I've been very slack lately, especially around Christmas/New Year and camping. There have definitely been lots of splurges and times of just forgetting about points counting and gorging on my favourite foods. Lots of yummy dark chocolate, the BEST calamari and chips ever, a few sneaky squirts of ice-magic on the low fat ice-cream and plenty of celebratory cake. I do know that I am making better choices most of the time, so I'm fine with these minor indiscretions!

I'm happy where I am now though. I'm going to have a little break and just aim to maintain and then in a few weeks have another go at loosing a few more kgs. I'd love to say that I'll spend some time working on the muffin top I have perfected, but right now the motivation is not there. Hopefully It'll come soon....

Decisions, decisions....

I've calmed down a little bit after my big disappointment, I'm even starting to see some alternatives and positives coming out of the situation. Only if I imagine really, really hard though.

Except, when I sit and think about how much I want to get stuck straight into Midwifery subjects, following women through their pregnancy journey and watching slick little babies meeting their parents for the very first time. It's then that the eyes start leaking and I start getting upset about the path I have to take.

Anyway, I've decided to put Nursing at Griffith down as a preference for the second round. I'm not deleting Midwifery, just in case, but I'm accepting that studying nursing for the first year is my only realistic option. If I can complete the whole year and just pass, I'll get a rank of 93 which puts me in with a fighting chance of transferring over to Mid next year. Also I would get credit for 4 of the subjects, which would come straight off my Mid degree when I transferred.

Also, I'm not feeling too upset about actually having to finish the while nursing degree, if I don't get a transfer over to Mid. I'll just have to suck it up for 3 years (or could even be fast tracked to 2.5years) and I'd then go on to do a post grad in Midwifery. I'd then get paid for that last year as a student Midwife and at the end of it all I'd be a RN and RM, which would give me more money and more opportunities. See, not too bad at all. If you ignore the fact over those 3 years I could potenntially be wiping bottoms and feeding people, and they wont be newborns.....

Now I just have to wait and see if I get a place for nursing. The cut off for that is around 68, so I should get in unless all the places are already taken. I've had a chat to the uni, and they are confidant that I'll have no worries, but I'm not accepting that until I get a formal offer. I'm slightly kicking myself now that I didn't originally put nursing down as a option, as by the time I get my offer all the good timetables will be taken and I'll probably be stuck with all the scraps spread over 5 days. Either way it shouldn't be too bad. Nursing is a lot cruisier than Mid, so it'll allow me to ease into uni life with all the boring nursing subjects, before getting into the more interesting ones next year.

So now, I wait until the 4th Feb. Still praying that I get a very late offer for Midwifery, but grateful for a place in nursing.

And, for all my child bearing friends I just have 1 favour to ask. I'd like you to refrain from any baby-making relations until at least July. That'll give me enough time to start up as a student midwife and be able to palpate your bellies. Deal?

It sucks!

Well I was obsessively checking the Qtac website last night, after a tip off that the offers would be out early, finally there was something new to look at.

Unfortunately we can not offer you a position in your first preference.

My stomach dropped and I fought to hold back the tears. How did I not get in? I did think that if I did get in in would be only just, but I really thought that my score of 89 would be competitive enough. Apparently not.

Why? Why? Why?

A million things ran through my head as I tried to see the positive of not getting an offer. I can't. This is the course I want. Not nursing and Not midwifery in Brisbane. There is no positive spin I can put on not getting an offer.

I've been on the phone all day trying to work out my options. First up I called Qtac, and was advised that 90 and above got in. I MISSED OUT BY ONE DAMN POINT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then after talking to the person in charge of the degree I was informed that over 900 people had put it down in their preferences, that is just an unbelievable amount of people to be competing with. Also, because the course can be done mostly externally, there were so many rural and out of states applicants.

I'm stuck and have no idea what to do. I have a few options, but at the moment NONE of them sound even remotely close to what I want.

Firstly, I could change my preference to Midwifery at ACU Brisbane (you know, the one I rejected last year!) and at least then I'd be on the Midwifery journey and hopefully get awesome results and be able to transfer to Griffith next year. The cons of that are the expense of travelling, the time needed for travelling, maybe not getting into Griffith next year and being stuck doing my whole degree in Brisbane.

There is also the option of Southern Cross Uni at Tweed, they also do the Bach of Mid. It's not a fantastic course though, and it involves full time blocks of clinical which would be a nightmare trying to organise kids around. Its also a lot of at uni time, with not much flexibility for external study. Thing is, I'm not even sure I'd get in there now as even though I'm above the cut off, it all depends if there are any places left.

Second option is to change a preference to Griffith Nursing, and do really well and hopefully get an internal transfer into Midwifery next year. This option would be quite easy, in that yes I would be doing full-time uni but it would be close to home and not have all the follow through requirements that Mid has. Cons of this are that I DON'T WANT TO DO NURSING and what if I don't get a transfer and get stuck finishing a nursing degree that I am not motivated with?

Last option is to just not do anything again this year and apply for Griffith next year. I'm trying to work out from the selectors what I could do to improve my chances of next year. This is a bit of a gamble, as what if I don't get in again? If I was to do this I'd have to be 100% with one of the above options, but then I'd be kicking myself if I didn't get in and I could have at least started this year.

I really don't know what to do. I've spent the day going over and over everything, and calling ever contact I have at Griffith hoping for a sympathy place. I've got the person in charge of selection calling me back tomorrow with a yay or nay as to whether second round offers will be made. She didn't sound too hopeful today when I spoke to her that it would be happening, but maybe luck will fall on my side and someone will drop out and I'll get a place. Fat chance.

The nervous wait......

Tomorrow is the official day for the major round offer for Uni. I know last year the offers were released the night before at about 9.30pm, so I'm hoping that the same will happen this year and I will be put out of my misery. My stomach is a knot of nerves and I'm all jittery, just waiting for a computer to spit out the news.

I'm so damn nervous about the result, whichever way it goes. Either I get into my first preference of Bach of Midwifery at Griffith and I'm happy but scared about studying and working with 2 small kids, but knowing that in the long term it will work out perfectly. It'll be hard, but manageable.

On the other hand, I could miss out on a spot and be left wondering what the hell I do for the next year. I'm so ready to be starting something for ME, and although another year at home with the kids is not too bad an alternative, I just want to get stuck into something NOW.

If waiting for the e-mail to come through to say that offers have been made, then I'll no doubt be too anxious to even check Qtac. I know that although my ranking is quite high, it still might not be competitive enough. There are only 50 places being offered, and I've been told about 500 applicants. I also know that there is an allocation of places that have to go to mature age and an amount that have to go to school leavers. I'm just hoping that a lot of those applicants have other courses as their first preference and I scrap in. Only 1 place has been given out in the early round offer, and that applicant had the highest score possible, ter 99. So, it is very competitive but I don't mind taking spot number 50, JUST GIVE ME A DAMN SPOT!!!!

If I do get in, there is so much that I have to organise in the next 2 weeks. Needles to be jabbed, police checks to be done, blue cards to get and to do the CPR course. Thank goodness, my Mum is coming up tonight and will be able to help me out with the kids whilst I'm (hopefully) running around getting everything done.

So, by tomorrow morning I'll either be chucking the biggest adult tantrum around or whooping it up in Office works in a flurry of post-it notes and cool stationary.

But right now, I'm off to pick my Mum up from the airport. The kids are beside themself with excitement and I can't wait to spend the next 3 and a bit weeks with my Mum. Nothing quite like having your Mum around.

Wish me luck.......

PAD #10

PAD #10
Originally uploaded by kirstenpenney

Xav at 2.5 years, teeing off at one of Australia's finest Golf Courses.

We'd spent Sunday afternoon up at Duane's work. Duane normally takes them up every Sunday by himself, but I tagged along this time, in the hope of getting some photos.

The kids practised their putting on the green and smashing their drivers at the range. After driving around in a cart to look for some kangaroos and other animals, we headed into the clubhouse for babycinnos.

Xav is amazing with his golf, he makes it look to simple with his relaxed approach and ability to never miss. He plays with real clubs that Poppy has cut down for him, and even when his little arms are drooping from fatigue, he keeps on hitting away.

They have never actually played on the course, but today was a very special day. The both got to tee off on the first. Xav nailed his straight down the middle - a perfect shot! Grace was a little unlucky, and after 3 practise swings finally connected enough to dribble the ball forward, just.

I'm sure there will be plenty of wonderful weekends spent enjoying the beautiful surroundings of the Golf Course.

Pad #9

Pad #9
Originally uploaded by kirstenpenney

A lovely Saturday morning spent at the beach.

I HATE taking my camera to the beach, always nervous that sand or water will work its way in. I also find it really hard, because of the glare, to check photos and change settings at the beach. So I only took a few shots, and this would be my favourite.

Grace spent the whole time zooming around, Xav is a bit wary of the waves so he stays nice and close to daddy and the dogs just ran around excited! So this photo has all that!

The dogs were absolutely exhausted in the car ride home, so quiet that at one stage Daune pulled over so we could check they were still breathing. BC (before children) we used to take the dogs to the beach every week, but since having the kids they have only had a few visits. It's only in the last year that we have felt comfortable watching 2 kids and 2 dogs, so hopefully there will be more beach visits for everyone.

The beach trip was followed up with an ice-cream on the way home, a wash for the dogs and a big sleep together for the humans.

PAD #8

PAD #8
Originally uploaded by kirstenpenney

Ok, this is my very first attempt at a manual photo of a night with no flash.

Sounds easy right? It took me FOREVER to get the settings right, well as close to good as I could get. The iso has been bumped up as high as it could go (1600), which was needed to let enough light in, but gosh the grain and noise is terrible.

I do kinda like this pic, apart from all it's faults. I like how the sparkler is kinda in the shape of the southern cross.

Anyway, this is the best of a bad bunch.

It was Friday night and we decided to have a picnic out the front. The kids and I had spent the afternoon making chicken and prawn rice paper rolls, along with lots of little dipping sauces. The lawn was frehly mowed, and the weather was perfect for some outside dining. The kids set the the picnnic rug out, with stepping stones leading up to it. Grace dressed up for the event in one of her princess dresses and topped it off with sparkly halo.
I'd bought some sparklers, and figured they would be a good start to night photography. I was hoping to get some nice pics with both of the kids, but little Xav was petrified of them. No doubt a hangover from his feear of fireworks. Grace loved them though, totally mesmerised and as soon as one fizzled out she was begging for more.

To end the lovely night off, we decided to rent a dvd and have a movie night. I thought it was about time for Grace to be introduced to Snow White, so that is what we picked out. We made a big bed on the lounge room floor. Grace was a little scared in parts of the movie, she wasn't fond of the parts with the witch but enjoyed most of it.

Cars and gyms - both over rated.

Damn cars and their money guzzling ways. We knew the Tarago was going to cost us big $$ after the air-con blew up, we were quoted $1200 - Eeek!

Well, before we went ahead with what is essentially a "luxury", I wanted to double check that other major repairs were not about to rear their ugly heads. We put it in for a service, and at the end were given a list of things that would need doing soon due to wear and tear. All added up to $2600, including the air-con. SO right about now the $1200 that I was whinging about last week is starting to sound like a bargain.

Ok, it's virtually free money (after all we are new money now!) so we decided to go ahead and get everything fixed up. The car was booked in last week and so I drove it down and Duane followed with the kids in the Rav. Now, the Rav had been making a strange noise too recently. My denial side had talked myself into it being a leaf or something in one of the belts. On the car ride down to take the tarago however, the noise got louder and louder. Unable to ignore it any longer, I asked the mechanic to have a quick look under the bonnet and to hopefully find the suspect leaf. Well turns out it was the water pump grinding, so to save our self a massive explosion, the Rav was put in for pampering and the tarago was re-scheduled for the following day.

So in the last week we have spent $2200 on cars, and that is NOT including the air-con. Damn I hate spending money on cars, but as we don't live within walking distance of much and the public transport is sporadic, it's a necessary evil. Hopefully the air-con will get done this week, and then it will just be services that cost us for a while.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In light of my need to "tighten" the midsection, Trude and I went to the gym. It's probably not my smartest idea, but in our eagerness we decided to do a 1/2 hour ab buster class then follow it up with a Pilates class. Now, for someone that hasn't been to the gym in a long, long time - this was bound to be interesting.

The ab class sounded nice and relaxing. I was expecting lots of floor work, so didn't worry about wearing a sports bra.

It'll be all low impact right? WRONG. The guy taking it was a sadist, I'm sure of it. He was a big beefcake, who although by the end of the class everyone in the room was verging on having a coronary, he hadn't even broke a sweat. To start with he had us jumping up a down, where I immediately cringed, knowing that the girls where only on light support. Trude started laughing, realising what my problem was. I stuck it out though and spent the next half hour experiencing ridiculous torture. So on the verge of dying, we waited for the pilates class to begin.

This one wasn't too bad, quite easy actually. Well until the Ab parts started, then Trude and I were pathetic. Our poor stomach muscles had given up and would not work, so instead of slowly lowering our self to the ground, we thumped down. There was lots of stifled giggles from us and glares from the dedicated ones up the front. It was a laugh, but enjoyable.

I've decided abs are overrated, instead I might just invest in some good suck in undies.

Hello 2010

Gosh, I can't believe that another decade has just passed and we are into a brand spanking new one. Welcome 2010!

It certainly doesn't seem like 10 years ago that we were all welcoming in the new Millennium, unsure what the Y2K bug was going to bring. Remember when everyone was petrified that the bug would blow up all the computers and life as we knew it would be over? Well seems that the clocks could tick over, and have been for the last 10 years!

It's been a fantastic decade for me, definitely the best so far. It was all kicked off in 2000 with our wedding, and it's only gotten better from there. We bought our first house together in 2001, bought our second in 2002, bought a business, sold a business, had 2 beautiful babies, I've spent the last 4 years as a stay at home Mum, Duane completed an apprenticeship, we travelled overseas but best of all have had lots of enjoyable time together as a family of 4.

2010 is shaping up to be a fantastic year too. I find out on the 14th of this month if I am accepted into University to study Midwifery. It's no doubt going to be a tough year if I do, but it's all about the long term plan. I'm slightly in denial about how hard it actually will be though, both logistically and financially. We live on a very tight budget, so adding in extra interest rate rises for both houses, extra pre-school expenses for Grace and also when Xav starts in July, the costs of travelling to Uni and also the crazy expense of books etc - the $$ start to add up. I really don't know how it will work, but for some reason things do just work out. I know that's quite arrogant, but for some reason with us, money comes if it is needed. There have been many moments over the last 10 years that we have desperately needed money and it either comes in the form of extra Govt payments, some sort of back pay or a win. Hopefully our luck can stretch for a few more years, just until I get a job anyway! The other part that scares me is trying to juggle the demands of the course. It's not just uni time, there is also 2 shifts a week at the hospital to fit in and following the pregnancy, birth and postnatal care of 30 women over the 3 years. This means attending most of their antenatal appointments (so no doubt lots of hanging around in waiting rooms), trying to organise my family and also to be on call for births and then attending the women postnatally. Although this part of the course excites me the most, I know it's going to be hard to organise the kids for if I am called out over night. I'm just hoping and praying that it all falls into place.

I have a few things that I want to stick to this year. Firstly, If I do go to Uni, I want to try very hard to get the balance between study and family perfect. I'm willing to sacrifice some family time, but still want to spend as much time as I can with the kids and Duane. I want the time that I do spend with them to be quality time, and to work on being present in the moment. This is Grace's last year as a carefree child, before she embarks on her first year of formal education. I know this year she is going to bloom and I want to be around to enjoy it.

I want to work on my fitness. I'd love to get to the end of the year without my flabby stomach, so I'm going to try very hard to exercise every single day. Whether that be going for a walk, doing a fitness Dvd or just running around with the kids - I'll do it. Duane and I both need to be setting good examples for the kids and want them to be active. There will be lots of beach visits, trips to the park, bike riding, swimming and golf. Also lots of tickling, laughter and giggling.

I really want to improve my photography. I'm hoping to have a lesson with a photographer soon, so hopefully that will get me started. I'm slowly working my way through the camera manual, and learning lots, BUT I still feel like I really have no clue. I look back on photos I took last year, and I know that I am getting better - so hopefully this time next year I'll see big improvements.

I want to blog regularly. I love writing here, it clears my head and also leaves something for the kids to read when they are older. Before I started this blog, I had been writing in a word document and I'm hoping to transfer that all over to here and then eventually have it all printed into a book for each of the kids.

I want to take lots of little trips, whether they be day trips or camping ones. It so refreshing and exciting to get away from the normal everydayness of home, allowing time to just be together. Grace has asked to see the snow this year, so maybe a trip down that way might be in order.

So just a few things to kick-start 2010. I'm excited and nervous about what it will bring, but most of all I am just so thankful that we are beginning this new year and this new decade all healthy and happy.

PAD # 7

PAD # 7
Originally uploaded by kirstenpenney

STACKS ON DADDY!!!!!!!!

Duane and the kids were having their regular wrestle on the lounge room floor, and I just HAD to get a photo.

The photos all technically wrong. Duane's face is blown out, there is something strange on the left hand side floor that I couldn't crop out, Xav is mostly hidden and the photo looks a little "cramped" as my 50mm 1.8 doesn't give me much room. I took another one in colour, but I think I like this one in B&W best.

However, there are lots of things I love about this photo. I love Grace's eye contact to the camera and I love the crazy angle and I also love how true a moment it is. This is something that they do every day, and I'm sure that rough and tumble time is a highlight for both the kids and Daddy.

My beautiful husband. My beautiful daughter. My beautiful son.

How lucky am I.

PAD #6

PAD #6
Originally uploaded by kirstenpenney

One my bedside table is a pile of children's books.

I keep them there for impromptu reading and cuddles during the day, quiet stories before Xav has a nap but most importantly so that I can shove them at the kids when they decide that 5.30am is a brilliant time to be awake. I get to roll over and finish of my beauty sleep and the kids get to do something educational. Win-win hey?

Anyway, the other morning I was heading in for a shower, and was hoping that the kids hadn't either killed each other or broken the house by the time I came out. It's always a surprise what you will find after having 5 minutes of unsupervised time. Granted, they are getting better now and it seems the days of coming out to find stuff smeared everywhere may just be over. Thank goodness.

Instead, I am greeted by this sweet, sweet sight. MY babies curled up on the bed, reading a story together.

Now, this book is one that we have read over and over and over again, so although Grace can't read it, she knows it off by heart. It's out of the I'm feeling...... series, which are great for kids to understand their emotions. We have had a lot of angry moments, hence the reason Grace knows it word by word. It was used A LOT in her 3rd year.

So this is my pic for the day! Over and done with by 9am.

PAD #5

Today's photo is of my little girly-girl Grace painting her nails with the special polish Nanny sent her up for Christmas.

She loves, loves, loves having painted nails, and it's just one her many little traits that I'm sure she came hard-wired with at birth. I NEVER paint my nails, but she sees Trudy's and thinks they are just so awesome and she wants hers done too.

She asked me the other day if she could paint mine. I said I didn't really want to, and told her to go paint hers again! She looked at me like I was from another planet, sighed and said, "But Mum, you have to...It'll make you beautiful. Trudy does it and hers look beautiful" Sure enough, now I am the proud owner of pink toe-nails, that due to the shaky hand of the applicator, looks a little like blood dripping from my toes.

Of course Xavier doesn't get to miss out on the pampering, and he was lucky enough to have all his toes and fingers prettied up too. Daddy was not impressed. Until his darling little girl asked in her sweet girly voice if she could paint his too. She now has him and his shiny nails wrapped tightly around her manicured fingers!

~~Xav getting pampered~~

My beautiful little Grace is just a dream child at the moment (knocking frantically on nearest wood!) She is just being delightful, and we are lucky to have less than a handful of bad moments a week. I was telling her yesterday how lovely, kind, caring and sweet she is, then she said back to me, "I know, but I'm really shy at school. But not anymore, because Cassie is going to be in my class and I'm not going to cry and Cassie's not going to cry" Gorgeous little girl. I still can't believe that next year my first born baby will be trekking off to prep 5 days a week. This year is just going to go so quick, and before I know it I'll be dropping my baby off to school. I just know I'm going to be jealous that she will be spending so much time with her friends and teachers and I'll miss her desperately. She is so fun to hang out with, and I wont get to be with her every day. And that makes me sad..... :(

So that is just one of the reason why I put it to Duane the other day, that maybe we should think about me homeschooling the kids. His mumbled response sounded something like Blah, blah, blah, what about socialising, blah, blah. But little does he know it is something that I have looked into, and socialising a home schooled kid is relatively easy and probably the least of your worries. Anyway, it's just another of my back-up plans for if I don't get into Uni. Imagine being able to tailor your child education to fit them perfectly, whilst still allowing them to learn everything (and more!) that they would learn in a classroom. Think of all the opportunities you could introduce to your children, it would be an exhausting task but one that I am sure would pay off in the long run. Anyway, that's just my latest little research project

So back to my gorgeous daughter. I've mentioned it before, but Grace has an obsession with clothes and accessories. As soon as she wakes of a morning she wants to get dressed for the day, meanwhile Xav & I are happy to slob around in our Pj's unless clothing is required. She begs me from waking time, but I bribe her with eating her breakfast all up and then she can go pick her clothes out and get dressed.

The other morning, she was playing in her bedroom, then called me up. I went up and she had layed out on the bed her clothes for the day. She was umming and aahing about certain pieces, and was swapping them with others to get the perfect ensemble. She even had it layed out perfectly with undies, shoes and accessories in there right places. It's just another funny little habit that she definitely does not get from me. I whip out of the shower and grab the closest thing to wear that isn't dirty or smelly. I never, ever think in advance about what I'm going to wear.

~~All her clothes layed out~~

She also has a photographic memory when it comes to clothes. She can remember exactly who gave her what, even remembering what event she wore them too. I was cleaning out her wardrobe today, we were both sitting on her bed going through the clothes. As I folded each piece to put it back in, she recalled who gave each item to her. Some of these clothes she hasn't seen for ages, so I was quite amazed that she remembered. I pulled from the back of her cupboard a cute little hot pink top that she wore last year. She immediately said, "I wore that to Xav's birthday and I had it on with my jeans that Nanny gave me" I couldn't remember, so we went and had a look at the photos from his party, and sure enough there is Grace wearing the top and the jeans.

She loves picking out my clothes to wear. She gets quite upset on the days I just want to wear a comfy plain top and shorts, however she loves it when I wear a dress and shoes other than my thongs. She hyperventilates if I am going out at night and I wear heels AND make-up. Gosh, I can't even begin to imagine the line up that will be happening at the bathroom door once Grace hits the teenage years. She'll lock herself in our ONLY bathroom, preening herself, whilst we are all bathing in the laundry sink!!

All these little antics are rather amusing for her boringly dressed Mummy!

PAD # 4

Little Lachlan came over with his big sister Cass and his Mum yesterday, for a playdate.

I HAD to get a pic of him, with his stunning blue eyes and gorgeous copper hair - he sure is a cutie. He's not into modelling for me though, so I only had 2 shots to get it right. Lucky that this one was the first I snapped and the lighting worked out perfectly.

He is a very serious little boy, and absolutely will not smile unless HE wants to. I love this photo of him though, it shows his twinkling blue eyes and also his serious face.

Happy 18 months little Lachie!

PAD # 3

Is there anything sweeter than a sleeping child? Well, actually a sleeping baby is 100 times better, but that's cause you've just spent the previous hour getting them to nod off!

Sweet little Grace has pretty much given up on her day sleeps, but some days, she curls up onthe floor and has a nap. Today was one of those days.

I layed down beside her and just watched her as she silently slumbered. I love this photo as it captures many of my favourite parts of Grace. Her crooked little ear lobe, her plump lips, turned up button nose and her creamy complexion.

I also love how now, every morning, she tells me what she dreamt of the night before. It's a lovely start to our morning as she excitedly tells me that she dreamt of Nanny and what they did or she dreamt that Lucie started walking for the very first time. Her dreams are often of fairies and how they visit her and the garden, her little eyes light up as she recaps the nights happenings.

Sweet dreams little girl........

PAD #2

This is my photo for day 2. Isn't he just adorable?

We'd just had a lovely after dinner play out in the front yard. I'm on a mission to deplete my mid region of its softness, so I had layed out a mat and spent the first 15 mins crunching away. Then we all played some favourite games on the freshly mowed lawn. First up was Please Mr crocodile, can we cross the river, then What's the time Mr Wolf followed by Duck, Duck Goose.

This pic was taken after Xav picked me as the goose and I had to chase him, then we both collapsed on the ground in a giggling heap. I had to grab my camera, because he looked just so delicious. This little boy is very camera shy, so I am over the moon to get this shot.

See the little mark under his left eye? Poor little fella fell onto an upturned kids chair the other day and gave himself one hell of a black eye.

I adore little boys and I'm positively jealous of all those that have a little baby boy at the moment. Girls are gorgeous too, but from about 18 months they turn into complete Daddies girls.

Little boys like to make you think they don't need you, but its Mum that they come to when they are hurt or need comfort in the middle of the night.

I love my little boy.

PAD #1

I've decided to do the photo a day challenge with Flikr again this year. I had just gotten my camera this time last year, so was full of ambition and motivation - however that started to wane towards the end of the month and I think I missed the last few days.

Basically, you just take a photo everyday in January and upload it to flikr for comments/critic. I'm going to try very hard this year to get away from just normal pics of the kids, it's very hard though when they are so darn cute and Grace is always such a willing model. I'm also booking into a photography lesson here on the 13th January, so hopefully after that I'll be shooting like a pro. Or not.

Anyway, I'll give it a go and hopefully be able to keep up.

So this is some of the empties from our big NYE party at the Truets. Duane, the kids and I all stayed over, which was probably a good idea considering we didn't end up going to bed until after 2.30am. Poor Duane had to work at 4am, so only got 1 hour sleep. Lucky it was only for 4 hours, so he came back for breakfast, another sleep and then a swim in the pool.

It was a great night. Lots of yummy food (tomorrow, I promise I will start back on WW!), lots of yummy alcohol (first NY in 4 years that I could drink!) and lots of laughter. I tried really, really hard to get drunk, or even just a little buzzed, but after 4 of Loic's special white rum concoctions and 3 glasses of the above champagne - Nothing.

It was still a fantastic night, that ended at midnight with Astra, Loic, Duane and I jumping into the (freezing) pool and enjoying some tipsy talk, whilst being watched by the sober members of the party.