I have finally had a chance to sit down and look through our photos from Christmas. This year we spent Christmas in Brisbane with Nana Sal and Grandy. We had a fantastic time, celebrating Christmas, birthdays and the new year, we visited theme parks, we relaxed, we shopped, we drank, ate and even fit in a little bit of excercise (just a little bit!). I have LOTS of photos to prepare to show you but for now, here are two of gorgeous ‘J’. These were taken in the middle of a run in the rain!
Before I start I want to share some images with you that I, unfortunately, did not have my camera on me to capture. They are still fresh in my mind and I never want to forget them. The first happened after my gorgeous girls had been in the bath, they were both in the nuddy and I had given them their tooth brushes to keep them entertained while I got myself organised. I wasn’t paying too much attention to what they were up to at first until I started to notice the giggles. I looked over and both of them were standing in front of the free standing mirror brushing their teeth and laughing at each other. It was one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen. Of course by the time the camera came out it was all over red rover.
The second occurred in the girls’ room. I had the lights off but the fairy lights on and they had each dragged in a pink, plastic chair from the toy room. The chairs were facing each other and they were sitting on them, in their jarmies, with a book each, reading quietly. I just stood and watched and soaked it all in (my cup runneth over). I love them so much.
I have just spent the last few weeks in the land of Photoshop with the beautiful Sheye Rosemeyer and Fran Mackenzie. In between I had a visit from my sister (aka Aunty Linds). I can’t describe how great it was to have her here and how much I wish we lived closer so she could see more of the girls. We had a brilliant time, it felt like we were on holidays! Lots of swimming in the pool, drinks and nibblies in the afternoon, yummy lunches and dinners and catching up on Guiliana and Bill (among other things) and a very special trip to see the Wiggles in concert. We also celebrated my birthday on the Sunday. I had a great day, breaky at the C-Bar in the morning and a ‘Girls Night In’ fundraiser in the afternoon. We raised a grand total of $441 which was fantastic! The only thing I really wanted for my birthday was Season 1 & 2 of Modern Family, I made sure Brad knew this. He didn’t disappoint! I opened it up in the morning and immediately started dreaming of having a relaxing day, lying on the couch, watching all of the episodes (it may never happen, but a girl can dream!). I got some lovely gifts throughout the day and lots of messages from friends and family. In the afternoon my sister-in-law arrived for the Girls Night In and handed me my copy of Modern Family that I had loaned to her a a few months ago and consequently completely wiped from my memory! Aaaagggghhhh… how could I forget that I already had it?!!! Needless to say, I haven’t mentioned it to Brad and am trusting that he won’t read this post 😉
The photos I am posting are a tiny portion of the visit. The first are from the pool and the second lot are from our relaxing lunch at the C-Bar….
Just a quick post tonight as it’s getting late. Snapped these the other day. Josie and Brad started off hosing the garden together and ended in lots of laughter and one soaked little kiddie. She had a ball and I’m sure the water provided some relief to this hot spring weather we are having at the moment (not looking forward to summer!)
I have been trying to get to the computer to do a new post for ages but it just hasn’t happened! We have been very busy lately changing the girls’ rooms around and culling lots of ‘junk’. We now have a toy room (which will remain there until we have another baby!). Josie has discovered the word ‘bloody’, her version is ‘buddy’. She may not be able to pronounce it properly but she sure know the context in which to use it. Some examples include such gems as, “Get me my buddy ice cream,” rub my buddy legs” and the latest from this morning, “Elsie hit her buddy head” (a story I will tell later in the post). Elsie’s talking is progressing as well, she attempted the word ‘keys’ today which totally blew me away. She says ‘ta’, ‘ma’, ‘dadad’, ‘wowo (water), ‘nana’ (banana) and ‘bye’ (this is my favourite as it is always accompanied by a wave and if I tell her I love her she blows me a kiss!). I feel like she should be saying more words because she talks A LOT but maybe she is and I just don’t understand her yet. She is unbelievably cute and has a funny walk and an even funnier run. The girls come in to our room most mornings, sometimes for cuddles, sometimes for tickles and giggles and sometimes to pull out all the contents of the bedside table drawers and make a big mess.
Not so impressed that mum has the camera out yet again.
Obviously warming up to the camera!
Doing her yoga stretches for the morning (I wish I was that flexible).
Bed head
She just can’t get enough of herself!
Now for the story on how Elsie bumped her ‘buddy’ head. We went to the doctors yesterday to get a booster immunisation for Josie. Before we left I explained what we were doing, that it would hurt, but that she had to be brave and after a little bit it wouldn’t hurt any more. I told her I would give her a treat and we would go and have a look in Spotlight to pick out something she could paint. I think she was pretty excited about the whole thing. She was full of confidence at the doctors. She was telling our lovely doctor all about our dog and answering all the doctors questions.
After the doctor took her temperature she took us through to the nurses room for the needle. Actually Josie led the way, like I said, she was full of confidence. In the nurses room she immediately asked where the jelly beans were as she had remembered them from last time. She was chatting away to the nurse, being very friendly and ridiculously cute. The nurse prepared the needle and brought it over while Josie was sitting on my lap. Josie pulled up her sleeve for the nurse and I reminded her it was going to hurt but she had to be brave.
As soon as the needle went in she started screaming and grabbed for her arm. Things changed a little then. She would no longer talk to, let alone look at, the nurse (or me for that matter). I gave her the Milkyway chocolate but she wouldn’t eat it (that NEVER happens). She seemed so put out that we would do such a thing to her. After a while she settled and we packed up and headed out the the waiting room.
On the way, not more than 2m from the nurses room the girls ran in to each other causing Elsie to trip, stumble and fall… right in to the corner of the wall. Aaaaggggghhhhhhh! I picked her up and straight away I could see a dark line and swelling on her forehead, right in the middle. There was only a little bit of blood but it just looked so awful. We were quickly ushered back in to the nurse who got us some ice and let me settle her. The lady from the front counter came up and said they could hear the bump from out the front. Elsie didn’t take long to settle so once again, we packed our bags and headed out. I needed to stop at the toilet before we left. While we were in there I noticed Josie had finally eaten the chocolate and it was all over her hands. I told told her she needed to wash them. She refused. She loves washing her hands so a was a little confused. I told her again and she still refused. I asked her why and all of a sudden her bottom lip dropped and began to quiver. She started to cry and said “I not very brave mummy, I not brave”. Of course that set me off (after everything we had just been through I really didn’t need her to melt my heart with that!). So, that is the story of how Elsie bumped her ‘buddy’ head. Spotlight was my saviour, we had a lovely time picking out two mugs to paint for daddy. Speaking of daddy, I think he can do next ‘needle duty’!
The girls and I had lunch down at The Strand the other day with some good friends of mine and their children. We sat near some rocks, close to a path down to the beach, next to a playground and not far from the kiosk, it was a very windy day. After playing at the playground for a while the kids moved down to the beach and of course, the waters edge. Miss M and Miss O were having a lovely time jumping the small waves that were coming in. Miss M was jumping particularly high in her brand new, worn for the first time, asics joggers. Needless to say, the shoes got drenched and were quickly removed. They resumed their fun in the shallows, joined now by my very own Miss J who LOVES the water. Those who know Miss J have probably guessed that this could only end in a stumble into the ocean and soaking clothes… and they would be correct! Being the fabulously organised mother that I am, I had a change of clothes for her… all sorted. UNTIL, I decided an ice cream was on the cards. We headed over to the kiosk and in all my wisdom I bought myself and Miss J each a chocolate ice cream in a cone. Being a windy day, the ice cream melted too quickly for Miss J to keep up. The chocolate went EVERYWHERE. My other little one, Miss E, didn’t want to miss out on the action and headed straight towards me as soon as she caught sight of the the ice cream. Not wanting to miss a photo opportunity, I gave up my cone (I hear you all gasp… yes, this is probably the one instance I would give up a chocolate ice cream) and snapped away. Why is it that when the girls are looking clean and in their best clothes, they won’t acknowledge the camera, yet when covered in chocolate, they can’t get enough of it?!! All I can say is, thank goodness for NapiSan…..
I don’t have any photos from the last week to post. Life has thrown my family a little curve ball and we are in the process of getting back on track. About 7 weeks ago, my husband and I signed a contract on our dream block of land… 1 acre down and beautiful Alligator Creek. A few hours after we signed the contract we found out we were pregnant! This was definitely not part of our grand plan. We want more children, we just wanted to wait a bit this time. We decided to pull out of our contract on the block as I wouldn’t be able to go back to work with a new bub. Shock turned to excitement and we started talking about names and new cars and all the things you need to think about with a third on the way. I had to keep reminding myself I was pregnant (the hunger and utter exhaustion obviously weren’t enough!). I pictured meeting our new little one for the first time and wondered what Miss ‘E’ would be like as a big sister! I had my first scan 2 weeks ago, I was really worried but couldn’t pinpoint why, I just had a nagging feeling that something wasn’t right. I went to the scan on my own, convincing myself that everything would be O.K. It didn’t take long for the sonographer to inform me that she couldn’t find anything. Gutted doesn’t begin to describe how I felt. There was nothing there, I was too upset to ask any questions, I just needed to talk to my husband.
After a second scan a week later, it was found that there was a tiny foetus measuring 6 weeks but no heartbeat. I was leaving for Brisbane the following day so had no option but to miscarry naturally.
I am now on the flip side of the miscarriage and feeling pretty worn out. It has not been a fun time but it has really enforced for me the importance of always looking at the positives and being thankful for what you have. Although I have looked at my girls every day since they were born and pinched myself at how lucky I am, I have held them just that little bit tighter these last few weeks. I am so blessed to have them and the friends and family who surround me. My heart goes out to all the other women who have been through a miscarriage, or worse (and there are much worse things than what I have gone through). I wanted to share some photos I took a few months ago, photos that make me smile….
I had a lovely afternoon with Miss E today. She kept herself busy playing with the dog, playing with her toys and talking, talking, talking! I don’t know how Miss J stayed asleep because it wasn’t just quiet chatter, it was full blown, I’m super excited because I sound like I am actually saying something that is in reality complete jibberish, top of my lungs talking. I love it, I could listen to it all day! In all her busyness, I was left in no doubt who upended the dog’s water bowl….
One costume change later and I found her very quietly playing amongst her toys. Don’t ask me how she got in there, but she found a spot just her size!
Next she moved on to her sister’s broken sunglasses. She gave me the smile of the century when I took this first one…
Then she started playing with the frames, I think they felt funny on her face (they certainly looked funny!)….
Then she pulled out this beauty, I couldn’t have asked for a better pose, definitely one for the 21st….
Thanks to my beautiful girl for always making me smile and being the amazing bub you are… love you so much!
Jean Penny 
