9th March 2007

Another wet and overcast day today!

Gracie hates being cooped up inside but the backyard is so wet and muddy at the moment! I bought her a play stove the other day with all the cute little utensils and play food! She absolutely loves it! This morning I played with her and we did “pretend cooking” and then pretended to eat it! I am not sure if she understands what I am doing but she always copies! She loves me playing with her and I really need to make more of an effort to do it!

She also loves dancing so today whenever we heard music I got her to dance with me! She is so cute when she does it! I adore her to bits! When Duane got home from work we went to Rosser park to feed the ducks! She loves watching the animals and does the cutest little quack noise! But I don’t think that she realizes that the real life ducks are ducks! I think that she thinks that ducks are bright yellow, just like her one in the bath!!

29 years + 1 day old

Well I am officially only 1 year from 30!!

It was my 29th B’day yesterday! I can’t believe that it was 2 years ago that we conceived Gracie!! In 1 way it feels like she has always been with us, but in others it seem like it was only yesterday!!

I had a lovely day. Duane & Gracie woke me up at 5.40am (soooo early) singing happy birthday! Then Gracie came into bed with me for her morning milk! The weather wasn’t that nice but we still ventured out and went to playgroup! Gracie had a ball running around everywhere…and trying to climb the stairs to the stage! She is so quick…I don’t know how I am going to cope with the 2!!

After playgroup we went to Pacific fair for lunch and a bit of a shop! Beck, Cooper, Leanne &Chelsea all joined us! I also have to mention that Gracie seems to have a little cold! Well nothing really that bad just a runny nose. I dropped into the chemist on the way to playgoup to get some demazin. Because the weather was horrible outside I left Gracie in the car and just ran in quickly. Well by the time I came back she was fast asleep! She looked so angelic, I felt so bad waking her up for playgroup! But she was happy enough!

Last night Duane & I went out for dinner with Murray & Trudy. We went to Anand Sagar (Indian) which was probably not the best for Duane considering her hasn’t been feeling that great! He only managed a bit of rice and naan bread! Mine was yummy though…fish and prawn curry! Yummo! Even though it did give me heartburn and bad breath!

The Dews gave me a lovely black skirt and top…perfect for my ever expanding waist! Grandma looked after Gracie and she didn’t hear from her all night! My little girl is such a sound sleeper! She went to bed last night at 6pm and I didn’t hear from her until 5am where I just popped a blanket on her and she slept for another hour! I am just so proud of the way she puts herself to sleep! She loves her bed and loves her dummies!

Anyway….HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

5th March 2007

I just love my little girl so much!

She really is such a sweet and gorgeous person! She is happy and easy going most of the time! She just loves following me around the house doing our jobs!

I really think that this age is the easiest so far! Yes we have tantrums but they are only short lived thus far! She mainly gets upset if I take her away from something that she is enjoying.
Mostly that is climbing in a totally dangerous place!

She just adores her Daddy and can’t get enough of him when he comes home from work. Sometime she just stands and the window waiting and yelling “Daaaaaaad” hoping that he will be home soon!

She very rarely says Mum, but she is getting quite a little collection of works happening. She can say Dad, Mum, bub, Daisy (very clearly) sometime Lily, Duck, quack. A few times she has said pretty and lately she has been trying to say shoes! There are lots of other words that she has for tings but I am yet to work out what they are for. She comprehends a lot though…way more than we give her credit for! She also copies everything that we do! Duane was playing with an empty coke bottle and hitting Lily on the head. After he put it down Grace picked it up and gave Lily a huge whack to the face,. Poor lily gave a half whimper/half bark…it must have really hurt her.

We went to the information session for Steiner playgroup this morning. I like their philosophies but I really don’t think that we will be able to afford private schooling for our kids! I am fine with that because we have Gilston Primary just around the corner which I think will be great! I might go to the Steiner playgroup…haven’t’ decided yet! After that we went to McDonalds so the kids could have a play in the playground! Gracie loved it and had so much fun going through the tunnels!

Duane and his Dad were busy yesterday laying the foundations for the concrete! We are getting our spa delivered in the next week and I can’t wait! It will be so nice to go out there after dinner and have a nice relaxing spa! Might even be able to have a nuddie dip!

2nd March 2007

Can you believe that it is already March 2007!!! I can’t believe that I will be 29 in a few days…and then it won’t be too long and I will be the big 30!! It’s also hard to comprehend that when I do turn 30 I will be a mother to a 2 y/o and also have a 8 mth old baby! I still can’t quite believe that I have bought another person into this world and am about to experience it all again! Amazing!!

Duane is starting to feel better! Turns out that it was a viral infection but because he couldn’t eat or drink anything it got quite bad. He is now trying to eat and drinking lots of gastrolyte!. Hopefully he will be better soon! I have an ulterior motive though!! I want the concrete finished so that we can get our spa delivered before we go to Tas! I can’t wait to be able to jump in and have a nice (cool) massage! I am sure that Gracie will enjoy it too!

Gracie is being very demanding to Duane as soon as he walks in the door from work. She stands at his feet and does a few little grunts and puts her hands up! She just wants him to hold her all the time! She rarely does this to me though! She just loves her Daddy so much! Even when she has been hurt she always wants him not me if he is here!

The funniest thing happened last night! I had just gone to bed and was reading. I always check on Gracie before I go to bed and open her door. After I had gotten into bed I hear a funny little noise. Then it started getting louder and louder! It was Gracie having the hugest laugh in her sleep! It was so loud that it woke Duane up and we both just listened to her! It was one of her full on belly laughs…so I guess she was having a funny dream!! So cute!

27th February 2007

Well Gracie has officially weaned herself off the night feed! She hasn’t had it for 4 nights now and doesn’t seem to miss it! She has a cup of milk before she goes to bed and her excitement about milk has passed over to that! She is still enjoying her morning slurp though! It’s so cute when she has finished she looks up at me with the cheekiest grin. I always ask her if it was yummy and she nods her head in agreement!! I wonder how long that feed will last now??? Also I wonder if I will be lopsided?? Ever since she cut down to only 2 feeds she has had lefty for breakfast and righty for tea! She is still only having lefty for breaky…but it all seems fine though!

Grace is really starting to gain her own independence now! We went to get the fruit and veg yesterday and she was very insistent about picking out EVERYTHING! I only got to hold the bag and scrutinize her choices from afar! She just loves helping with everything that we do! Sometimes it is a good help but most of the time it just means more work for me!!

I really don’t mind though…I love her exploring and working out things for herself! One form of her exploring that is becoming quite embarrassing is that with her mouth!! She loves the feel of all different things in her mouth…very unusual things!! For example we were at pathology today waiting for Duane to have his blood test. Gracie was touching a wall that was very textured…all bumpy! Now it would have been fine just feeling it with her hands but no she wanted to feel it with her tongue! She started licking the wall! Every time I pulled her away and tried to distract her she went straight back to it and started licking again! It must have looked strange to everyone lese waiting!!

Oh another thing she did this morning as we were waiting! I was standing up (everyone else seated) ready to pounce on Grace if she went somewhere she wasn’t allowed! I called out to her and she came running at me full pelt and grabbed my legs in a big hug! That would have been nice also but she then decided to pull down on my skirt…nearly revealing everything to the “audience”! Nothing was revealed…but I must remember to be aware for this next time I am in a skirt (all the time!!)

Now back to the mouth thing! I also caught her the other day lying on the floor trying to get the door stop in her mouth! She often goes up to the dog’s wide mouth trying to get them to lick the inside of her mouth, and then she laughs her head off!

The dreaded heartburn started with a vengeance yesterday! It’s still not too bad but it has made me remember how bad it can be! You feel the burning flame coming up your throat, sometime into your mouth and the worst is when acids come up all the way! Yuck! Off to the shops for quick-eze for me I think!

Baby has been kicking a lot more now. I am still mainly feeling them on the left side…I think I even felt a bit of rolling the other day! I can feel a little it at the front but it is a lot duller! I am feeling fine, more energy now. I can’t believe that I am just over half way now! I really want to enjoy this pregnancy…It could potentially be my last which is sad! Nicole is still having trouble with M/s…maybe she is having twins???

I taught myself to knit a few weeks ago! I really enjoy it and have knitted Grace 2 woolen soakers to wear over her nappies at night! They actually didn’t turn out too bad for a first attempt…and they work which is a bonus!

Duane is still not feeling well. He went back to the Dr yesterday and had blood tests done today! I hope that the can work out what is wrong with him because he has no energy and has already lost 8 kgs! I am thinking that he is just slower to get over the tummy bug…I hope that’s what it is anyway!

23rd February 2007

Well it has been weird weather here lately. It has rained everyday which is nice and refreshing but as the day progresses it gets muggy again! The backyard is so wet and sodden! All the weeds seem to be growing at such a fast rate…too fast for us to keep up!

Duane mowed the lawn yesterday…it was getting to be about a foot long! Gracie and I swept up the lawn clippings from the concrete. She had the little broom and I had the big one! She loves getting involved in what we are doing and trying to help. This morning I swept the front yard and she remembered and grabbed her broom and started picking the piles and trying to put them into the bin. It was so cute!

For the last few months Gracie has been an absolute angel going to bed. At about 8.30 in the morning I ask her if she is tired and wants to go to sleep and if she does she heads up to the bedroom and waits for me to put her in the cot. Gee it makes life easier! She also does this for her sleep at about 1.30pm! I usually peek in on her and she is just happily laying there playing with her dummies (she has about 6 in the cot with her!!) She very rarely wakes up crying…usually I don’t even hear her through he monitor! I just check on her from about 1 hour onwards!

For her nighttime routine she has a bath (if we are organized!!) then has a nuddy run out in the lounge! After we have a struggle getting her pj’s on (she loves being a nudie!!) she starts getting all excited because it is milk time! She looks for her pillow and then does this cute little half laugh half cry thing! She then runs up to me all excited! I feed her (in between her laughing at me and pulling on and off!) then Daddy takes her to bed after a kiss and cuddle! She goes into bed and we usually don’t hear a peep out of her for the next 11-12hrs! Absolute bliss! And now everything with Gracie sleep is perfect we are going to turn our world upside down again and start again with the new bub!

I always have a peek on her just before I go to bed…I love seeing what sort of position she has chosen to sleep in!

I am now about 21 weeks pregnant and starting to definitely feel preggars! My tummy is quite definite and I am starting to fell a lot more movement. By this time with Gracie I was feeling movement all the time but it seems that this time the placenta is at the front (anterior) and cushioning the babies kicks! I seem to be able to feel them from the side or faintly from the front. My back is also starting to hurt and every now and then I have trouble with my sciatica on the left side. Apart from all that I feel great…I have to keep up with Gracie!

I am still feeding Gracie! We had a lovely moment the other night when I was feeding her bubs was kicking! I don’t think that it would have been strong enough for Gracie is realize but it was nice for me!

Well it’s still the 23rd but later in the evening! Gracie had her usual bedtime routine however something different happened! She came up to get her milk had 1 suck and came off laughing! This happened quite a few times! I kept on offering it to her and she would take a sip and then come off and laugh at me! I know that there was milk because every time that she came off I was leaking. She started doing this last night so I guess that she is weaning of this night feed! I’ll see how she goes tomorrow night and keep you updated!

17th February 2007

Duane has been sick for the last week. Constant Diarrhea and dehydrated! That has made life interesting looking after him and Gracie!

Gracie is being incredibly cute at the moment. She is learning so many new and exciting things! She loves to copy and tries her hardest to do the same things as us!

She follows me out to the clothesline and hands me up the washing to hang out. Only problem is she must think that I am super fast because she hands them up to me at lightening speed! After all the clothes are up she hunts around for all the old broken pegs, insisting that they should be put into the washing basket! She collects as many as she can…sometimes a few rocks are thrown in as well!

She adores being outside. She loves going in and out of her cubby house…and gets super excited if any of the dogs pay her a visit! She giggles and squeals with delight…even if they are just checking out her home through the window.

She also has a sand pit but only likes to enjoy it from the outside. She hates putting her feet or god forbid sit in sand. She barely likes getting her hands in it! We mainly just build sandcastles for her to destroy with her shovel or spade! She takes great pleasure in bashing down our masterpieces! With all the fun and exciting things that she has to do outside her all time favourite is the dog water bowl! She loves nothing more than to conquer the barriers that we have erected to keep her away from it. First she goes around the sandpit cover, crawls under the chairs and over to the enticing water! She loves just playing in the water and splashing it about everywhere. Sometimes we are lucky and she forgets its there…but as soon as she hears one of the dogs taking a big sip…..her eye’s light up and she is on a mission to get to it!

Gracie also loves giving herself dizzy whizzes! She goes round and round holding her arms out like a plane. She keeps going until she is obviously struggling to stay upright then she usually veers off or falls over. However she still has some control when she falls over…usually she goes into a headstand…kinda like “dog-pose” in yoga! It’s actually been one of her favourite things to do for a while now. Sometime she gets into her pose and waves at you with both hands…balancing on her head! She loves being upside down! Crazy kid!!