Goodnight my sweet little Grace

My little 4 y/o is tucked up in bed, no doubt dreaming about all the fun things we have planned tomorrow. 

First there will be the full dress rehearsal for their concert and then the big party in the afternoon with all her favourite people. 

Of course the absolute highlight of the day will be my baby girl turning the big 5!  An amazing age, with many new things to happen in her 5th year.  I say it every year, but where does the time go? 

Sweet dreams beautiful Grace xx

A long time between posts

It's been a long time since I've had the time or energy to sit down and write a post. 

The last month has been consumed by study, revision, more study and minor freak outs!  It's the pointy end of the University year, and although I don't normally stress about exams/assessments, these ones I felt a little more pressure.  I need to do well in these last 2 courses, otherwise my chances of getting into Midwifery next year can be pretty much kissed goodbye.  Also, I have no real back-up plan for if I don't get in.  I know that I can keep going with nursing, but all my study friends (in nursing) will be going onto other subjects and I'd hate to be stuck doing the ones I missed this year, whilst they are all off doing others.  If it happens like that though, I'll suck it up and take it as one big message that that is the path I am destined to take.  Of course, that will be after the worlds biggest tanty and lots of tears.  I know I've done my absolute best, so I don't think there is anything else that I could have done to make my chances better.  So, now just the LONG wait till January.

The last few weeks, although busy, have been a lot of fun.  A few weeks ago I got to visit the Anatomy lab at the hospital.  I wasn't sure how I'd go with it, but figured the people, (cadavars) who we would be examining, really wanted to be there.  The visit was for anyone that wanted to revise anatomy before the big exam, and only about 50 of the possible 200 students actually turned up.  We had full access to 2 wet bodies and a complete room of embalmed specimens and bodies.  I'll admit the unveiling of the first wet body was a bit daunting, but after a while it's very clinical and my science brain (cause apparently I have one!!) turned on and I was more fascinated than anything.  I even gloved up and explored everything.  It's so amazing seeing how everything connects and tracking arteries/veins around the whole body.  We got to see cancer in different organs, a heart after an attack and a knee after it was replaced.  All very interesting and definitely helped pull all the last years study together.  My study buddies and I spent the next 2 hours investigating and exploring the human body and being blown away by how amazing it really is.  Seeing the fat scattered throughout also has re-inspired my healthy eating plan.

Even though I've neglected my family for the last few weeks, I've had a great time hanging out with our study group.  It's a wonderful mix of women, and we all help and motivate each other.  For the last 2 Thursday's, we have done yoga here which is just the most beautiful location - although a bit of a trek to get to.  It was a perfect start to our long, sometimes intense study days - a beautiful balance.  If I am fortunate enough to get into Midwifery, I'm really going to miss this group.  I know I'm also going to really miss going to lectures and tutorials, in comparison to Midwifery which is mainly going to be external.  It'll be easier for flexibility but much harder to learn online and from a text book.

Duane has been fantastic during all this.  Completely picking up my slack and trying to make things as easy as he can for me.  There is a little gap in his "clean" and my "clean", but I've just had to suck it up and ignore the dust bunnies flying around the floor.  Cleaning has actually been one thing I've been looking forward to.  I've decided to go through 1 room at a time and give it a complete spring clean and de-clutter.  I'm sick of all the stuff that we manage to accumulate.  The kids and I did the toy room yesterday which was probably a bad move.  My kids are bigger hoarders than me, and trying to make them part with anything was painful - even baby toys.  I managed to smuggle a few things away, but nearly everything was met with "But that's my favourite broken toy, ripped book, old drawing etc"  So I might have to leave the ditching days for when they aren't here!

My lovely Mother in law, Wendy, has really been awesome this last year.  She's spent so much time with the kids and had a fantastic time doing it.  They have had so many adventures together and spent lots of time crafting, cooking and playing.  The kids do have Grandma wrapped around their fingers though, requesting all sorts of things that they know wouldn't fly with Mum or Dad.  I'm just so grateful that I have such a wonderful and willing Mother in law who has helped us all out so much.

Anyway, so now is the long wait to results and offers.  I'm hoping that all my hard work and a pinch of luck will be enough to get me over the line and into Midwifery!

Grandma saves the day!

I've got exams in about 3 weeks, so my levels of procrastination are once again reaching an all time high.  I've spent the last week paper shuffling, photocopying, stapling and sorting - not studying.  I figured I'd cram the weeks worth of study into yesterday when I'd just have Xav and then today when both kids are at pre-school.

There were a few things I didn't factor into my schedule though - mainly everyone getting sick and a husband that was working from 5am-6pm both days.  Wonderful.

Duane had man-flu all last week, which means he runs to any tablet he can find to get the quick fix.  Problem was, that mixing his drugs left him in all over hives and on a course of steroids.  I did try to negotiate the steroids from him, but he wasn't sharing and wanted them all to himself.  I did find him scoffing them down and then launching into a million sit-ups - not really sure what he was trying to achieve there. 

Grace was next to succumb to the cold, and in true Gracie style through in a few vomits for good measure.  That girl can not get a whiff of any sickness without resorting to spewing.  It was just a damn cold, and yet she spent the night complaining of a sore throat and heaving into a bucket.  I got it next, however being the one with the highest tested pain threshold, it didn't bother me too much.  Xav, obviously with his mothers hardiness, also caught the cold but took it in his stride and didn't let it stop him at all.  He did end up with a lovely dose of conjunctivitis in both eyes, which have cleared up now.  I was contemplating asking Trude for some breast milk, but went to the Dr instead and got some drops.

So yesterday was spent amusing small children.  They are so good at playing by them self, but it's the constant interruptions for food etc that mess with my study flow.  They spent most of the day making a mess things.  I gave them the huge plastic tub of craft things and they let loose creating lots of interesting pieces of art.  They did spend a few hours in the afternoon watching a Dvd, but that allowed me to get a bit of school stuff done in peace, so I was happy.

Today lovely Grandma came up for the morning to keep them entertained and out of my hair.  They did all sorts of wonderful crafts; making a spider and some roll people.  I locked myself in the study and immersed myself in the world of nephrons, recessive genes and reproduction.

 

Thank goodness for Grandma!

Trip to the dentist.

I've been meaning for a while to book the kids in for a  dental check.  Mainly to get them used to it, but also to double check that their teeth brushing vigilance was not all in vain. 

Getting an email from the Uni to say that children could book in for a free (love it!) check-up, scale and clean was enough motivation for me to sign them up!  Ah, the perks of being a poor uni student.





Grace was quite excited about going and even decided herself that she'd go first to show Xav how much fun it was.  Xav was quite adamant that he wasn't going to the dentist, and he was in no way going to open his mouth.  I was banking on him watching Grace have "so much fun" and not being able to contain himself from jumping into the chair himself.  I was also hoping that the lure of the mechanical chair would make the visit all the more appealing.

Grace was still excited, well until we walked into the room and then she went to tears.  She starting screaming and crying, saying she didn't want to have a turn and that she wanted Xavier to go first.  Xavier, meanwhile was huddled up to me whispering in my ear that he was not going first, and didn't even want a turn at all.  Crap.  My free dental visit was going to be wasted!

After some coaxing and calming, Grace agreed to laying on the chair with Duane.  It took another 5 minutes of the very patient dentist mucking around with a stuffed crocodile before she calmed down and agreed to open her mouth.  Once she was over the initial drama, it all went perfectly.  The dentist said that her teeth are beautifully spaced, which is a good sign for when her adult teeth come through and also congratulated her on her great brushing abilities - her pearly whites are in perfect condition!  He was actually quite surprised that she brushed and flossed all by herself, and told her to keep doing whatever she is doing as her teeth are wonderful.

Xav was next, and he was not a problem at all.  He played there with his mouth open wide whilst the dentist poked and prodded around, after a bit the dentist said he just wanted to double check something.  He called over the supervisor who had a look in, then laughed.  Seems what the first dentist had thought was a potential cavity, was in actual fact a piece black food.  Xav's teeth were also given the tick of perfection, and both kids were sent on their way with a new toothbrush and toothpaste each.

It's starting to look like the kids have got their fathers beautiful, strong teeth and not my dodgy ones - which I am over the moon about!

There are some things best left to the experts....

And it seems waxing is one of them.

Yes, I had an incident last weekend that will hopefully squash all future intentions of messing with stuff I have no idea about.

I had just got out of the shower and was doing my usual 10 second morning routine - moisturiser, deodorant and brush hair.  Just as I was putting the brush away I noticed a strip of wax shoved up the back of the cupboard.  Now, I can't ever remember buying this, so I'm guessing it come free somehow - maybe stuck in a magazine.  Right about now I should have realised that I was way out of my depth even contemplating using this, but my cockiness just shrugged - "Pfft, can't be that hard"

I had a quick rub between my eyebrows and felt fluff, so figured I may as well get rid of it with my new found beauty product.  There were no instructions, but I figured you put it on and rip it off - simple. 

I roughly cut out a shape that I guessed would fit between my eyebrows, peeled it apart and whacked it on.  After rubbing it a bit, to make sure it stuck, I then pulled the skin taut and ripped.  By now, I figured I must be amazing at this beauty business as it hadn't hurt at all.  BUT then I realised that all the green, gooey wax was still in a mound between my eyebrows.  I rubbed it a bit, but that just managed to smear it further over my face.

A quick rack through my brain as I tried to remember if wax comes off with hot or cold?  I justified hot as that would melt it, so I grabbed a face washer, heated it up and scrubbed.  It stayed there, except now it was smudged further and all over my fingers.  Right so hot didn't work, must be cold that you use.

I ran out to the kitchen and grabbed some ice, thinking for sure that would harden it up and it would fall off.  Meanwhile the kids are asking what's happening and Xav wanting to know why my face was covered in green bits.  I kept the ice on for a few minutes and then tried again to peel it off.  No luck.

So I then resorted to good 'ol Google.  BUT I had to type with my left little finger as that was the only one not covered in sticky, green wax.  After finally typing in "Removing wax strips"  I came across the wonderful advice to remove it with sesame oil.  I didn't have any of that, but figured olive oil would do the job just as well.

About now, the damn toxic wax had been right in the middle of my face for 15 minutes, so I was half expecting chunks of skin to come off as well.   A tissue soaked in olive oil did the job, and apart from some redness and the original eyebrow hair, all was good underneath.  Thank goodness for Google.

The bonus was, later in the afternoon, the eyebrow hair started falling out.  So I think maybe I'm a genius, I've created a pain-free way to wax!

But if I ever again have to urge to tidy up my eyebrows (and I probably won't, considering it's only the 2nd time ever I've bothered) I'll be paying for it.

They want a pony.

I was driving the 2 little darlings up to school this morning, when Grace spotted some new horses in one of the paddocks.

Grace:  "Look Mum, those horses are so beauuutiful!  I love horses as they are so kind and lovely.  Everyone must love horses"

Xavier: "I like horses, but ponies are better.  I want a pony.  Can we have a pony Mum"

Me: "Ponies need lots of room Xav, and our yard wouldn't be big enough for them"

Xavier: "Well, why don't we just get a bigger house then?  One with lots of room and THEN we can have a pony.  Muuuuummmmmm......CAN we have a pony?  I really like ponies."

Grace: "Yeah, that's a good idea Xav, we'll just get a HHHUUUGGGEEEE house, with a big paddock and we can maybe have a pony AND a horse.  "

Me: "Well, it costs a lot more to have a bigger house and paddocks for horses.  Mummy would have to go back to work all the time, and Daddy would have to work longer hours.  Then the kids would have to be in childcare EVERY day - for a really long time. " 

Grace: "That's ok.  We'd have SO much fun every day if we were at childcare.  We could do so many things, AND have a horse."

Me: "Right.  So you'd prefer to NOT spend lots of time with Mummy and Daddy, just so you could have a pony/horse?  Imagine every day not seeing Mummy or Daddy from early in the morning until dinner time at night.  That's a really long time.  Plus, Mummy and Daddy would really miss seeing you both."

Xavier: "But I'd really love a pony.  I don't mind not seeing you or Daddy.  You could have fun at work all the time and me and Grace could be at school all day.  I really like ponies. I WANT A PONY!!!" 

So, it seems they don't really give 2 hoots about our efforts to have 1 parent with them most of the time. 

It's a shame I'm only finding out about this now, I could put Grace in full time childcare and started my degree 4 year and 10 months ago.....

Grace 4.10

She loves raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens.  She loves cradling, loving and caring for her dolls, followed by smashing up matchbox cars with her little brother. She adores being an older sister and plays the part perfectly. She is loving, gentle and fiercely protective of her younger brother. She looks up to her Daddy, wanting him when she is upset or sad, often barricading the door so he can't leave. She is funny and cheeky, with a wicked sense of humour.  She loves drawing and her most perfect day would be spent creating artwork out of crayons and crisp white paper.  She loves cardboard boxes and empty toilet rolls, turning them into masterpieces scattered around the house.  She can be timid and shy, but blooms like a beautiful flower once you get to know her.  Her greatest wish is to see a real fairy.  She believes in them.  She is stunningly beautiful from the inside out.  Her favourite colour is pink, followed closely by purple.  She loves stuffed toys and believes they come to life when she is asleep.  She is adamant trackpants are only to be worn at home, and is therefore often embarrassed by her mother.  Clothing is one of her greatest loves.  She is mesmerized by nature and has a beautiful way with animals.  She has a gentle heart and gives wonderful cuddles.  She's determined to do a perfect cartwheel.

She is practically perfect in every way.

I love you Grace xx