NYE 2007

Well it’s New Years Eve! And I am “partying” it up on the computer! The kids were all in bed by 6.30pm, Duane went off at 8pm and I am here by my lonesome! I actually don’t mind that I am not doing anything too exciting...its overrated!

We had a day today of just hanging out in our Pj’s and playing! The kids and I mucked around singing and carrying on! Grace can nearly sing all of “incy wincy” spider and “twinkle, twinkle” She is also really good at singing “ring a ring a rosie” Her versions area very funny though, especially Twinkle. It goes like this:

Twinkle, twinkle whittle star,
How I dummy what you are,
Up the dummy in the sky,
Twinkle, twinkle whittle star.

So yes she is still a little obsessed with talking about the dummy's! Also in her version of Incy Wincy, poor Incy gets washed out for the whole song!

Xavier also loves it when we sing, he giggles and watches our faces intently! When Xavier had his afternoon sleep I made paint for Grace. I just mixed up some cornflour, water and food dye! Worked out ok, but not too great! Grace and I had fun painting though! Once Daddy got home we all hopped on the bed for a play (I nodded off for a little bit!!) Xavier had a go in the jolly jumper, he loved it! I haven’t put him in it for ages, I will start again though! Grace & Duane had a bounce on the very wet trampoline! At about 5pm Grace, Xavier and I all had a lovely relaxing bath together! It was actually really nice. Xavier loves being in the water and splashing about. After Xavier and I got out, Duane hopped in with Grace! That was the highlight of my NYE...but I enjoyed every bit of it with my kids and hubby!

30th December 2007

We spent Boxing Day at Dreamworld. We were going to go to the water park but it has been too cold! I can’t believe that it is near the end of the year and we still haven’t had many hot days! We haven’t had the air con on yet. It has actually been raining for the last few days and also very windy.

Thursday night I went to the Truets for dinner. Mandy, Scott, Marcus, Deepak (his b/f) and Trudy were also there. It was great to catch up with everybody again!

We opened the time capsule that we put together on the NYE of 2000. It wasn’t that interesting but we had all written out where we wanted to be in 10 years time. I wanted to be a CEO if an airline and married to Duane with 2 Labradors (black & white) Well I got part of it....DO NOT want anything to do with airlines now though!! Duane wanted to have a water fronted house and be a golf pro. Oh well! Our house looks like it’s on water at the moment with all the rain...wonder if that counts!! He got his dream of being a golf pro....I guess he should have been specific for how long!!!

Grace has been so good lately! She hasn’t been pushing or hitting Xavier, which is a relief! She is going to bed fairly easy without her dummies. She does need one of us to sit with her for about 5 mins, but thats fine. She hardly has any tantrums anymore. I think that is mainly because she can talk so well and get her point across easily. He little sentences are so cute. She came up to me today and said “cute boys” Oops its started already! She has been learning for a while now who are boys and who are girls. She gets it right most of the time! She also is starting to understand big and little. When she is going to the toilet she tells me if its a big or little wee or poo! BTW she is fantastic with the toilet. She hasn’t had an accident for ages and always asks when she wants to go. I still put her on before we go anywhere and when we come home, and I also remind her when we are out.

Xavier is just gorgeous! He is such a happy little giggly baby! His only issue at the moment is the night waking. He is waking on average every 3 hours and wont go back to sleep unless he has a feed. He only has a quick feed and then back to sleep so I am not sure whether he is actually feeding or just needing the comfort to go back to sleep. I have tried just resettling him but it takes ages and rarely works. I am going to just go with it and keep feeding him. I am also going to think about introducing solids soon! I kinda feel weird about doing it though.....It’s like he wont need his mummy as much anymore!

He is all over the show with feeding. I am completely demand feeding him and don’t really have any idea when he feeds! I know that he rarely goes longer than 3 hours during the day. He has started biting me at the end of a feed if I am not paying attention. It hurts so much, like little razor blades! He is such a fiddler when he feeds. He pulls out the nipple and then pushes my boob back with his hands. He also slaps my boobs, I think to get a letdown quicker. Once he has settled in and getting it he relaxes back. He pats my chest which is so cute. He starts from the outside and with one big sweeping movement he pats across, in an arc! I love it because it means that he is having a decent feed and not fighting my boobs for more milk! He is still a really quick feeder, usually about 5 mins either side! I am actually amazed that he is getting anything, he is so quick! He is peeing fine though and otherwise seems fine so I am sure that he is! I’ll get him weighed on Thursday!

Christmas 2007

~Christmas 2007 morning~

We have had such a lovely Christmas day!

Xavier was up a fair bit last night, which made for a very tired Mummy! They both woke at about 5.30am, but Pop wasn’t coming until 7am, so we had to keep them in our bedroom! So we all hung out in the bedroom taking group photos! We had opened 1 present each the night before which was new Pj’s for everyone!

Pop turned up at 7am, then it was straight into the pressies! Both of the kidlets were very spoilt from Grandma and pop. Xavier got car case with cars, 3 x singlets & cutlery set. Grace got Hi-5 backpack, puzzle, musical instruments, rubber play mats & cutlery set.
From Nanny Xavier got a swim ring for the spa. Grace got a hi-5 dress and t-shirt & also tickets to the concert in January. Nanny will be up then so she is going to take her!

Xavier from Mummy & Daddy:
Car case, matchbox cars, “mmmm boobies & lock up your daughters” t-shirts, some bonds tops, singlet and board short!

Grace from mummy and Daddy:
Undies, Hi-5 socks, paintbrush and roller, 2 x felt boards & shorts.

The kids also bought a present to give to each other. Grace gave Xavier a soft tonka truck and he gave her a book “When I am feeling jealous”

After opening all the presents we read the letter that santa had left under the tree! It was thanking the kids for the water and apple and also to thank grace for the dummies. At the end it told them to go outside! So out we went and there was the “Bouncy” Grace was so excited!! Xavier was also (hahaha) so excited that he then had to go have a nap!!

Grace spent the rest of the morning playing on the trampoline! She absolutely loves it. We have put her slide in backwards so she can use the stairs to climb into it!

Whilst grace, pop and Daddy were outside playing I was inside getting ready from breakfast! Murray, Trudy & Marilyn were coming over! We had pancakes, home-made strawberry jam & fruit salad! It was a lovely Christmas breakfast! We gave the Dews their present, a hammock! I think that they will enjoy it! They gave Grace 2 books and a hi-5 DVD & Xavier a basketball bath toy and a cute collared all in one suit! They all left at about 10am then the kids were ready for a nap. Xavier went off fairly easily but grace took awhile. She is still struggling to get to sleep without her dummies.

They both woke at noon then we all got ready to head over to Nicole’s for lunch. We had a lovely lunch with turkey, ham and yummy roast vegies! After the lunch we opened pressies. Grace got shorts and singlet from the Truets, Monkey game from the Cahills, bucket & spade from the Ryans. Emily also gave her a special present of a book that she doesn’t use anymore, which I thought was very sweet! Xavier got a ABC book from the Truets, a toy phone from the Cahills & soft books from the Ryans.

After pressies were opened we had dessert...yummy trifle and pavlova! Xavier went and had a nap on the spare bed! Grace has lots of fun playing with Emily! All in all it was a lovely relaxing day! We left about 5pm!

Xavier went to bed at 6pm, Grace was still bouncing away! She went to bed at 7pm but didn’t get to sleep until about 50 mins later. I hope that it gets easier for her to go to sleep. She still asks for her dummies, but seems fine when we explain what happened to them. It’s like she finds it really hard to relax enough to go to sleep without them.

Spitting the Dummy!

I cant believe that it is 2 days until Christmas! I am mostly organised, well the kidlets have their pressies anyway! We have got a trampoline for them as their main present, Which Grace is so excited about!

We went to the Christmas carols at Coomera last Sunday night. The highlight for Grace was that she got her first pony ride! She was so excited and absolutely loved it! She held on by herself and wasn’t scared at all! We all enjoyed the carols, but by about 7pm the kids were ready for bed so we headed off!

~Grace's first pony ride~

They were both worn out from swimming early at Whitewater world! Grace has learnt to walk to the top of the waterslide by herself and put herself on. Duane catches her at the bottom...she loves it! Xavier and I mainly sit in the shallow water, he loves kicking around and splashing! We all have so much fun there...it will be a great place to cool off in summer!

We had mothers group on Wednesday. Grace was in full swing pushing Cooper and Malia about. She is fine when I am constantly reminding her to be gentle, but as soon as I stop watching her she starts again. I have been trying to tell her that they don’t like that, and they just want cuddles. She starts cuddling for a bit...but the pushing starts again too. I am just finding it so hard to keep near her all the time, especially if Xavier needs attention too. She has also been giving him lots of little “love taps!” I think that I will have to introduce time out.

So we went to Harvey Norman yesterday to have photos with Santa. Grace was a little scared but we managed to get a few good ones with all of us and also one with just Xavier and Grace. We have been talking to her about giving her dummies to Santa and he will bring her a “bouncy”. So we talked about it all day yesterday telling her that Santa needed the dummies to give to the sick babies. She seemed to understand that we were going to see santa to give him the dummies, and she would be getting a bouncy! So today we collected all the dummies then wrapped them up in a zip lock bag! We decorated them with lots of pretty ribbon! We all got ready and then went to visit Santa. I thought that it would be a good idea to go before her morning sleep, a bit of a trial run to see how tonight would go! So we headed off with Grace in her seat clutching her dummies. She kept on chatting about giving them to santa for the sick babies. She was happy and giggling, and I couldn’t help but feel like I was just about to break her heart. She absolutely adores her dummies and loves them to go to sleep. She has about 5 and usually has one in her mouth and the rest in her hands. She loves rubbing the rubber end into her eyes and all over her face as she is falling asleep! I felt bad for taking this little comfort from her, but I also think that it is the right thing as she is starting to get a little obsessed with them.

Once we got there she carried them in, whilst I went ahead and worded up santa! I gave him the “Glow Pooh bear” that he was to give Grace in exchange for the dummies. I also mentioned about the trampoline....He seemed a little worried and asked if we were definitely getting one for her!! Duane bought her up to Santa and at first she was a little hesitant. I think that was mainly because she was a little scared of him! They had a little chat then she handed them over and he handed her back her toy! She opened it up and seemed very excited about it! I was quietly confidant that she was going to be ok! But I guess the real test will be bed time!

~Giving dummy's to Santa~

She asked for them a few times in the car, but then she fell asleep on the way home! Duane put her into bed, she went off fine but then woke about 1 hour later. She woke up asking for her dummies, I reminded her of what happened. She started crying and getting a little upset. She went and layed on our bed with her glow baby and we had a little chat about it all. I showed her the photos on the camera of her handing the dummies to Santa. She has a few little cries but then seemed to be fine.

We went looking at Christmas lights tonight, but unfortunately we were too early and no lights were on! Xavier fell asleep in the car at about 5.30 and Grace went off at about 6.30pm. We put her into bed when we got home and haven’t’ heard from her since (its 9.30pm) Let’s hope that she has a good night! She asked a few times about them, but then she would say “Sick, babies, Santa, dummies!”

15th December 2007

I have been so slack with writing...so I will endeavour to catch up now and stay on top of it!

Ok Xavier is starting to sleep better of a night now. We had a couple of nights where he was waking every 2 hours. I think that this is a combination of a few things. He sleeps on his tummy now and has also started to get up onto his knees. NOOOOOOO I am not ready for my little baby to be moving already! But it seems that he is a determined little fellow and I wouldn’t be surprised if he is soon crawling! He is so strong and spends most of his awake time on the floor in his tummy. He loves reaching out for things and trys his hardest to get to it. He reaches and stretches and wriggles his way over to it! We are going to have to be super careful with things on the ground, especially grace’s stuff. Xavier has already poked himself on the face with a pencil and gagged on a piece of paper that he chewed up! He is such a happy little boy. He mainly spends his awake time playing on his tummy and watching Grace. He has been sleeping on his tummy and is now having longer naps during the day. A typical day for Xavier is wake at about 5.30am, bed 7.30am sleep until 9am, sleep at 10.30am and then wake at about 12 noon. He then has another sleep sometime in the afternoon. He goes to sleep really easily most of the time, sometimes just needs a little pat on the bum!
His teeth look so close to cutting! I wonder if he will be like his big sister and get them at 5 months! I guess we will find out next week!!

Grace is just growing and learning too quickly for me to keep up! Her language skills are just booming and she is confidently venturing into little sentences. It’s so cute having a conversation with her! She answers properly and her manners are just gorgeous! She say’s “No thank-you” and “Yes please”.

Better days

Well things are better!!
I just had a rough day last week. I think that is was a combination of Grace’s behaviour and Xavier only having cat naps all day! Grace has started pushing and hitting Xavier. It seems to happen if we stop paying attention to her. I am trying to praise her lots when she is being good (which is alot of the time) but then she will just go up to him and give him a whack! She looks at me when she does it. I have been putting her away from us and then paying lots of attention to Xavier. She usually whinges for a bit. I then tell her what she has done and that we don’t do that, and then she apologises! It’s very cute when she says “sorry Xavier”, but I have to refrain from laughing! She says it is such a sickly sweet sarcastic voice!!

I love my little boy so much! He is learning so many new things and seems to be growing up so fast! He is has been reaching out and grabbing things for a while now! I love it when he grabs my face with 2 hands....love it! He constantly plays on his tummy now. Once I put him on the ground he flips over to his tummy and stays there! He can move around on his belly, mainly going around in circles

I Quit!

I QUIT!!

I hereby tender my resignation as Mummy! I am sick of the crap associated with this job! The conditions are appalling and I am over it! The hours are too long and there seems to be no flexibility in reducing them. The position is tedious, mundane and sometimes stressful, however the wage is crapola!

I am supervisor to 2, and they need to be sacked ASAP!! They don’t listen to any instructions, they constantly need to be reminded of things and are hopeless at using their own initiative.

Everything has to be repeated 50 times and even then they don’t seem to comprehend. Unless of course it is something that they want and then it seems they understand completely! Selective hearing is not a strength that we as a company should allow.

They are constantly presenting themselves in an unprofessional manner, one even has been turning up nude....this is so against company policy! I can accept it in the office, but they are starting to also do this on “sales calls”.

I am sure that the companies insurance will not cover their antics either. Surely it’s not too hard to just sit there and do the job??? No they instead want to be on the desk, swinging on the chair or eating the pencils....all the time yelling out to me! Maybe they think that I approve of their behaviour?? Nope and this will be reflected on their performance appraisals, which will be out on the 25th December.

My “business partner” has become more like a silent partner over the last few days. He says that he is “networking”....on the golf course.

Ok...it seems I can't quit so back to "pushing Grace on the bloody swing"