Terrible blogger

Well Im a terrible blogger, I have large gaps inbetween my blogs, and they are often boring and not too interesting.  But thats ok, because I blog for me, and not for anyone else.  Im not expecting a following so my slackness is ok!

I have had a busy few months, settling in to my new life in Ozzie.... Setting up a new home, making friends.

We have done incredible amounts of overseas travelling this year, and we still have one last trip to do on Thursday.  I cant wait to just be at home and have a normal routine again.  It will be so lovely

My brother gets married this weekend. I am so happy for him. I cant wait for the wedding, it is going to be heaps of fun.

Harry is now walking and running, he is saying lots of new words.... and if he cant say the word properly, he makes the sound... which is good enough for me. 

This is my last few months at home with him, as I am going off to uni next year, and he is going into childcare..... Not too sure how I will manage that, but I just wont have a choice.

Well there is oodles of housework calling,  and im still so jetlagged, I cant be bothered doing it.

Ciao

Sisters

This blog is for my favourite girl in the whole world. My beautiful sister Chloe.
She has also been commonly known as ... Chlo Schmo.. Chlo Bo.. Bo bo.. Arrabella, Collie and Spud.

She has eyelashes that any girl would kill for....

My sister is the strongest, most determined, "Go-getter" that I know.

Chloe lights up a room, gets along with everyone, is the life of a party.

Not much phases Chloe.... she is a caring, loving genuine person and is solid in character

She loves a good competition, but if she doesnt win, she is gracious

She has an enthusiasm for life like no other

Chloe always keeps a secret

 Chloe will always be the first one to see the bright side

She will make a fantastic Mum one day, as she is already the best Aunty in the world!

Chloe always wants the best for people.  There is not a malicious, nasty, gossiping bone in her body

My sister has the best laugh


If your having a down day, give Chloe a call, she has always got something funny to cheer you up

She admits her faults, but works hard on becoming better

She has beautiful olive skin that tans in the sun

She may or may not have sausage fingers ;)

If your hungry, and your with Chloe, always count on an amazing meal

There is never a dry mouth when your having a night out

She is blind as a bat... but dont worry- she got eye laser surgery!!!!!!

Chloe is actually "Adele" undercover.. Shhh dont let the secret out

Never afraid to get her tits out.....

Chloe loves Taylor Swift, as much as she does Death Metal?? 

I absolutely, positively, for ever and ever love my sister more than words could ever describe. She is my beautiful, sister and friend. I am so honoured to have her in my life


To my sister Chloe..... I LOVE YOU

Spring is here!!!

Today is the first day of spring!... Yahoo.  I loooove spring.
Its quite warm here already.  Yesterday I went for a walk, and got a little bit sunburnt... So there is definately no lack of sun already.

Looking foward to Sunday afternoon lunches outside, Saturday walks and plays on the beach....

Spring is definately my favourite season...

Whats your favourite season?

Only 1 day to go

Only 1 day to go until my beautiful little baby boy turns 1.
Time has just flown by, and I am really grateful to be able to have stayed at home every day for the last year with my little boy.  I have enjoyed every moment, and feel like I have embraced the moment, and not taken it for granted that I have this privildge.

Today I made a cake for our playgroup that we go to on a Thursday.  It was only a practice for the cake I would like to make for Saturday, which is when we are having a little party for him.
I wanted to practice, as I used fondant icing for the first time...

I think my cake turned out well!!...

XX

My beautiful boy!!

Playing on my new toys.....

Drinking his bottle while Mummy is baking.....

                                          Bathtime is my FAVOURITE!!! But my bath is so big it costs Mum and  Dad a fortune to fill it any deeper!!

                                         Standing up in the kitchen trying to get into the utensil drawers!

Wow Mum your camera is really interesting...


So this week is my last week with my baby before he turns 1.  I really cant believe that it has been a whole year since I gave birth...
 I am full of excitement for his 1st birthday party that we will be having on Saturday for him.  I am making him a train cake.. (well I am attempting one anyway!!)
We dont think we are going to go out and spend money on buying him a present.  He really has sooo many toys that friends have given us, and still has two black bags FULL of toys in the rumpus room downstairs... So I figure that we might just wrap one of those, and he can have fun tearing the paper off!!

I would love to get some family portraits done in the next few months so that might be our present to him!

With the mark of 1 year since having Harry comes up, I cant help but still have a horrible twist in my stomach when I think of my birth.... I think time is a healer, and I will feel ok about it one day, but for now, Im still really uneasy about the thought..... Thats ok though... there isnt any plans for no 2 in the next 3 years at least!!!

Its a Sunday afternoon, Elwic is sleeping, Harry is sleeping and the weather is beautiful. We have just been for a 2 hour walk to the beach and the park, and had sausage rolls for lunch, and now I am about ready to have a sleep myself....

XX

Settling in

Moving countries is harder than it looks...

Well I suppose it never looks easy, but it sounds pretty easy to talk about; but infact its pretty challenging at times.

I have really been lucky to fall into such a lovely group of friends, a great church and a great playgroup for Harry; but it still doesnt change the fact that I miss my old life.  My old friends. My old habits. My old routines. My old car. My old house............  My old everything.

I feel like I dont have any right to feel upset or miserable or homesick, as life here is really becoming everything that I could ever have dreamed it to be, but the reality is that it is hard..... and it is ok to have moments where I want to throw it all in and go home.....back to Karaka, where everything is green, and lush, and where there is roadkill and wild flowers on the verge. Where letterboxes get bashes off their purches if they are too flash....

Moan moan moan... Ok Im over it....

Had a fantastic day today, driving up to Ulladulla again with my friend and her 2 kids and Harry. This week I got in the pool, and swam with Harry. He is super excited when he gets in, that he splashes so hard and gets huge mouthfuls of water, and coughs and splutters.. and once he has got his breath back, he thinks he is hilarous, and tries to do it again!!...

I am having a night out with the girls tomorrow which I am really looking forward to.  Elwic is having Harrison, and I am just having a carefree night.... its been a long time coming!

Looking forward to letting my hair down and having a fun time!!!!

Flowers or chocolates?

Last week I was feeling really really homesick.... it was a rainy week, and I was trapped inside with Harry all day long, everyday and I felt homesick....

My lovely husband, sent me a beautiful bunch of flowers with the courier, and then only 2 days later I got sent another beautiful bunch of flowers from a new friend I have made.....

I feel really spoilt.....  But it got me thinking.... Would you prefer chocolate or flowers if you had the choice?

I know that I am definately a flowers girl... Esp if I am feeling down... they just seem to make me feel happy looking at them!....
Dont get me wrong.. I loooooove chocolate, but dont love the way I feel after I have eaten it!!

What would you prefer??

Thinking back

Im having a day of weakness, where I am longing to be back around the people I know and love, the place I know and love and my surroundings that I am familiar and comfortable with....
I know that many times in the past I have looked back at things and thought.... "I wish I had have done this, and wish I had have done that".... But I sit here and think about when we lived in New Zealand, and I can say that I truely enjoyed and appreciated most things that it has to offer and the people that I spent time with. 
I miss New Zealand....

I was born in Australia, so technically that makes me and Australian.... but my heart is for NZ.  I love the people, I love the culture.. I love how everything is so close, I love the coast lines, I love the nature.......I really love everything about it. 
Elwic and I went to the beach today for lunch, and sat on the grass and had a picnic.  As we were looking out he said.. "Babe, I dont think we will ever move away from here"... secretly my heart sunk.. Although I do love Batemans Bay and yes it really is beautiful, I was actually picturing that we were on Waiheke Island and that we were just going to get back on the Ferry and go home to our acreage in Karaka with big trees, flash houses and perfectly manicured gardens...... 
On the other hand, I love our life now.  I would not change it for a moment.  I am really enjoying where we live and the lifestyle that we have. The freedom to do what we like.  The amazing oportunities that we have, the beautiful house that we live in, and the bogan westies car we drive.lol
We have met some fantastic people who are so much fun to hang out with and have also found a great church family to be a part of.

Both sides of the ditch have so much to offer, they are both fantastic places.  I just had a homesick day today, but thats ok too.  Im allowed to have those moments.

x

A breath of fresh air!

Harry and I had a lovely morning today. We met my friend Karena, and her kids Meika and Ezekiel at the Eurobodalla botanical gardens, and went mini bush walking.... (as much as you can with a baby in a pram), and then had coffee at the coffee shop while the kids ate an iceblock.  It was really lovely.
This morning I was starting to feel sorry for myself that I have nothing to do here in Batemans Bay, but after a walk and a play and a breath of fresh air, I snapped out of my sulk and got some perspective. 
FIND something to do Amelia.   So thats exactly what I am going to do.  My first project is to buy an old, solid wood bookshelf for Harry's room, sand it down and get new handles and paint it.. ....
Im quite excited for my little challenge.  I have never done something like this before, and I figure if it turns out to be a mess I can always go and buy him a nice one, but I will at least try my hand at it first.

Elwic will be working 6 days a week, 10 hours a day for a month or two now, as he has a lot of work on, and some leave hours to catch up on, so I will be spending a considerable amount of time by myself, and I cant just stalk people on Facebook all day.....

I am still working really hard on getting Harry to self settle... Its proving to be harder than I thought, and those tears, and sobs tug my heart strings and I give in sometimes.... I know thats not constructive to what I am trying to acheive, but we as Mums dont always need to play the tough love card all the time right?......... sigh......
So I press on towards the goal, and hope that soon enough he will be back to his dream baby- sleeping self!

I think I need a gin..!!!

Getting back into routine

After our lovely South African holiday, I am desperately trying to get our lives back into routine.... 
Routine has become my comfort since moving to Australia.  With having no family, and still making friends, we cant reply on anyone else but ourselves.  If we want time out, we need to do it with or around Harrison sleep times.... so routine is important for me.

While we were on holiday, Harry slept in the room with us the whole time, and as he was sick and teething, this meant that when he cried (which was a lot) we were there to pick him up and comfort him, which was great at the time, but has led to a clingy, baby that will no longer self settle. 
So my goal for the next few weeks is to get him to fall asleep without being in our arms... It has proven to be a challenge, and so far he will fall asleep in his cot as long as I have one hand on him.  Its a start.
I hope to move to standing in the room, and then back to just putting him down and walking out. 
He slept a full night last night, and woke up at 4 am, and back down at 4.30 so there is definately improvement from waking every few hours and screaming.

I also need to get my exercise back into routine.  Its hard when its soooooo bitterly cold outside.. The heat pump and my fleecy blanket on the couch is just too tempting.  I went for a walk into town yesterday which was nice, and just ran a few errands.. so I will do that again today.

I have a friend Nic that is coming round for lunch today.... Im looking forward to the company!!!

Missing my S.A family now. 
A.

1, 2 miss a few

Woops... Well It has been months since my last post. A lot has happened here over the past 6 months... From now on I will try and regularly blog.
Here is a very brief rundown of what has been happening over the last 6 months
-Elwic got offered a fantastic job in Australia working for a steel drafting company with fantastic pay
- We moved from NZ to Australia, in April....
-Found a lovely house here and have settled in nicely
-Have started to make friends
-Mum and Chloe came to visit a month ago which was lovely
-Have been spending heaps of time with Nanny and Poppy
-Joined Weight Watchers, and lost 4.7kgs in 6 weeks..... (some of which I have put back on after our indulgent holiday.. )

And of course my favourite topic, my beautiful Harrison.....
He is growing in leaps and bounds.. He has such a hilarious personality.  He is constantly making Elwic and I laugh at his funny little antics.... He is a real charmer, and knows just how to get people "ohh'ing and Ahh'ing" over him.... He has started to flutter his eyes at people with affection.... its really the cutest thing you have ever seen!!

He was 11 months old yesterday.... Can you beleive that my baby is nearly 1?....... A year goes by sooo fast... a whole year, and now im staring down the barrel of 2?  It has been a fantastic year... a few minor challenges, but nothing worth noting..... He has bought us continual joy and laughter!!...

Will have to start thinking about a 1st birthday party..... (I feel very disorganised )..... I think it will be more of an occasion for us parents to have a party more than the children.

DH is fantastic as always... my sturdy rock.... We really enjoyed our holiday together, it was the first time since our honeymoon that we were able to really relax and enjoy ourselves....

Well it is nearly midnight, and I should head to bed....

ciao

My DH rave......

This blog is about my DH..

My man is amazing, we have been married 2.5 years, and I could not be married to a better man.  He is SO kind and SO SO patient... On days where I feel "off" or am just having a hard time, he is always there to scoop me up. 
He will assure me I need to rest and he will take everything on.  
He never gets annoyed when I cry, rather he takes me in and holds me and lets me know its ok.
He ALWAYS makes me laugh
He is gentle with me, and is considerate of how I feel
He provides for our family, and is always trying to find ways to better himself so we can have a better life
He never gets angry or yells, he will just talk things out with me
He is always the first person there to help someone else
He plays with my hair
He cooks!!!!!!!!
He cleans... (not without a huff ).... ill let that one go!!!!
He never speaks bad about other people, and pulls me up if I start to
He lets me be who I want to be, and doesnt try and change me
He is fantastic with kids, which makes me want to have a million with him.... (but thats not going to happen)
He is an office guy, but loves getting his hands dirty
He is passionate
He is open and honest about how he feels
He isnt afraid to cry infront of me
He wants to be the best Dad he can be

My DH is truely a gift from God.... I am the luckiest girl in the world!!


xxxxx

Its making my heart beat fast....

No its nothing dodgy... although Im sure DH wishes it was, BUT Im considering going back to work part time....eeek
I wasnt planning on it, and I dont really want to have to, but we need to go back to South Africa this year for Dh's sisters wedding, and there is no way we will be able to afford it for the 3 of us, with only one income....

So I have been organising a lady who we are friends with, and she is happy to look after him (which is great because I trust her)

I just feel so nervous, and unsure about leaving him. Even though this was my decision, and not DH's, I still feel sad, but know that it will only be 2 days a week that he wont be with me, and all the others I will.

Anyway, on a good note, DH has been asked for a 2nd interview with the company he applied for, so we are really hoping that he gets the job!! 

Well im off to bake... wish me luck !!

Looking back @ 2010!!

1. What did you do in 2010 that you'd never done before?:

Had a baby!!!

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?:

TBH I cant remember my NY resolutions..... Pointless in having any really.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Yes one friend had her baby in June. She is the cutest.

4. Did anyone close to you die?:

Nope, I have never had someone I know, or let alone close to me die.

5. What countries did you visit?:

None, but the year before I went to Canada, US, and Australia!

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?:

My own home, a breast reduction, and a lot less weight on my body!!! (oh and a cleaner house)

7. What date from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?: 

12th of August. This is the day I gave birth to my son.... the apple of my eye... My little monkey boy Harrison.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?:

Definately growing a baby until term, and then giving birth

9. What was your biggest failure?:

Saving the amount of money that I would have liked to...

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?:

No, none at all. I have not been sick or injured (even with a cold) for more than a year.

11. Where did most of your money go?:

Well rent... of course... but disposable income went to DH's visa requirements, medicals, police clearances..... etc.... its a money pit!!

12. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

The birth of my baby.. moving into our new house with a pool..... 1st Christmas with Harry, having a home with a bath in it... (bliss)
13. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or more sad?: Happier.... Im not pregnant and spewing my guts out.

ii. thinner or fatter?:  WAYYY fatter..... infact probably 15kgs fatter!!
iii. richer or poorer?: Probably the same. Much more in control of our finances now, which I suppose is a good thing.
14. What was your favourite TV programme?: The golden mile

15. What was the best book you read?:The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo.... highly reccomend!

16. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?:My birthday was last week, and I was 24. The first year I have felt like I am getting old... which Im not, but nevertheless, that feeling was there.

17. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?:Well if you consider maternity wear fashionable, then probably quite styley. :)

18. What kept you sane?:

My wonderful husband!!!

19. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010:

Do not try and work a full time admin job from home with a 2 week old baby!!!!

Two Eleven

Happy new year...... Yes slightly delayed but Ive been on holiday...
I have had such a nice time this summer with DH. He has had 3 weeks off and I think this is the longest we have had together since being married.  I am however, ready for him to go back to work and have my days back..... I am looking forward to missing him again in the afternoons and watching the clock until he gets home.

DH is busy looking for a new job, and went for an interview yesterday. He seems pretty confident that he will get it, so FX we will find out next week!!

On a not so great note, I went swimming when we were on holiday, and now I am covered head to toe in sea lice bites... which FYI are horrendously itchy, and dont go away the next day.... they stay for days and days and are as itchy as the day you got them.  Id highly reccomend you dont get any.....


This year is going to be a good year.  I dont have any huge resolutions, but I do have some goals (if thats what I can call them)

1. Get up early in the morning and be more productive with my day... (no sleeping in until 11 or whatever time I feel like crawling out of bed)

2. Loose weight....... The never ending battle....

3. Buy our own house...  yes this one is big, but that is the plan this year.

Id love to hear yours... and if they are good I might pinch them....

Ciao