A Christmas post and a half

I've decided that I quite fancy doing a bit of a Christmas wrap up. I know it's nearly February, but I also know how much I enjoy looking back on the memories.

So. Christmas!

This year was the first year that I had a beach Christmas. We spent a couple of weeks at the beach and to be honest, the whole Christmas holiday was a bit... interesting. Some of it was great, and other parts, not so much. I think Shane and I both came away deciding we will never try to have our 'holidays' over Christmas again. It's just so busy! We went to Noosa, which is probably one of the busiest beach destinations for Christmas in Queensland. But aside from that, it's also hard to lose so many of your precious holiday days with all the assorted Christmas hoopla. We are not really crazy shopping, busy-doing holiday people. Our idea of a nice holiday is a chance to properly unwind, and we didn't really get that. But, oh well, you live and you learn!

In saying that, some of the good times of the holiday were pretty great. Christmas day was spent with some of Shane's extended family. And Shane and I did manage to sneak away for a lovely Christmas Eve service at Hillsong Noosa. Very very, not what we are used to, but good all the same. Christmas day was spent opening so many presents (So early! Our kids were up at 4:30 am!).

So many presents!

Look at that tired face!

After the madness that was present opening, we all headed up to Shane's Aunty's house in the Noosa hinterland. Her house was all kinds of amazing, and one of the nicest parts of the day was the fact that the kids spent hours in the pool. It was a really fun time, especially because so many of the adults got in the water with the kids, and that always makes things so much more fun doesn't it? I remember how much I used to love it when my parents and Aunties and Uncles would swim with us when I was a kid, and I want to make sure I have fun with my kids. I think we did this Christmas, anyway!

 

 

All tuckered out

A few days after Christmas we headed inland to my sister's house to have our Christmas with my side of the family. That was a good day. I really like my family. 

It's a bit funny. The dynamics in my family have really changed a lot recently. I am one of four girls, and I just love it. It's so nice, but I've realized it's only as nice as you make it. For a while in our adult lives, we all lived in the same town. Which was so great, and made family relationships so easy. But sometimes it made them too easy, if that makes sense? It enabled us to be lazy with our relationships and take them for granted, because it was so simple and easy to see one another all the time. A couple of years ago, my sister Jenny moved away with her family, and now my sister Cathy has moved away too. And unless the effort is put into sustaining those relationships and making them a priority... we simply won't be as close as we once were. I don't want that to happen, so it's something I'm going to try to be mindful of in the future.

Our trip to see my family was a bit of comedy of errors. On the way inland it was pouring down rain, and while Shane was driving we lost a windscreen wiper. We ended up stopping at the next little town, and thanks to the magic of Google, managed to find a replacement wiper without too much hassle. Then, after we left my sister's house in the afternoon, we got a call from and realised we'd left Shane's laptop and my kindle at her house. But it ended up being a really good thing,  we turned back to pick them up. and met everyone at a lovely park, and had so much fun on a giant flying fox there.

 

We took the kids to Underwater world with Shane's parents, and cousin Cassi, and the kids really enjoyed that.

There was also one morning when Shane and I took the kids for a bushwalk up to a lookout, which was pretty amazing. The walk was only a kilometre, but it was uphill all the way, and was plenty long enough for little legs!

It really made me look forward to doing that kind of thing when the kids are older though. So beautiful!

Probably one of my favourite days, was the day we spent with my sister Cathy, and my nieces Isabel and Rachel. We took Charlie on a go kart ride for his Birthday, and then we went to an amusement park.  The kids had an absolute ball on all the rides. It was a really good day.

We celebrated Charlie's birthday with a cake that Charlie loved. It was only a Woolworth's cake that I repurposed to turn into an accident site. But he was really taken with it. 

My baby is three!!

I think doing the birthday cake thing has to be one of those real defining parenting moments. It is good. 

Goodness this has been a doozy of a post! Well done you if you made it to the bottom!

It was a very busy holiday. But I think we made a few really good memories.

29 and 11

I realised the other day that I haven't written too much lately about the kids. Which is a shame, because they are pretty great. So I thought I'd do an update on where my two cheeky monkey's are at lately.

Georgie. Where do I start? She is almost 2 and a half. She is bright and clever and independent. She is always a couple of steps ahead of me, and I swear some days I can just see the wheels turning in her little head. She is such a little mama. She 'mothers' poor Charlie to death at times, but she is also so incredibly helpful, and such a little mimic, and is terribly funny!

 

 She is on her way to being toilet trained, and wears undies almost all of the time now, and is only still in nappies when she sleeps. And oh, how she loves to swim! Every time we step foot in a pool I get comments about how good at swimming she is, how much she loves it, or how enthusiastic she is. I swear she is part dolphin. We have just started swimming lessons this term and she loves it! She is one of the very youngest in her class, but she holds her own with the bigger kids. She is getting very capable in the water now, and my only trouble is making sure she is not too capable. She does have a tendency to just jump in, whether someone is ready to help her or not! But she is a good little swimmer.

 

 She loves routine. She loves to dance, and is turning into a little chatterbox. She is also turning into a real little girl, loves to dress in 'pretty dresses' and is getting so beautiful. She is my girl, and she is lovely.

And Charlie. How I adore my boy! He is the most awesome little baby boy in the world!

He is so sweet, and cuddly. But he can also be a little ball of mischief as well. He is 11 months old now, (almost 1!) outgrowing a lot of his soft baby chubbiness and he is starting to get a lot more muscular. He is standing up on everything and his favourite thing to do is push around kitchen chairs, walking behind them and making a tremendous noise. He will be walking soon. He also LOVES  food with a passion, especially big people food!

 He is a practically perfect baby and has been sleeping the night through since he was about 6 months old. He has basically ruined me for another baby, should we ever have one. He tends to be quite cheerful most of the time, and rarely gets grumpy. Mind you, when he is grumpy he will sometimes hit and pull hair and lash out a little. His philosophy seems to be "If I'm unhappy, I'm going to tell the whole world about it and make them unhappy too!" It will be interesting to see if he sticks with that one as he gets older! It's definitely a good thing he is rarely cranky! Before I had him I wasn't too sure about being a mummy of boys, but he has made me so incredibly grateful to God for a son. Because I love this kid to bits.

We have been jogging along steadily. We are hanging out for holidays, and a break. This last week has seen a bit more limping (it's been a rough week). But for the most part, we are doing okay. I am doing much better, and my bad days are not so bad. And, though we have our struggles and our difficulties, life with these guys is pretty good.

Solo parenting is kicking my butt

I love my little girl, but to describe her as a handful is an understatement.... she's more like an armful! Maybe two arms full, even. I know that everyone says it about their toddlers. But she is seriously one of the busiest little people ever! I have been comparing her to my friends kids, and other kids I have cared for, (and not to be all poor-me) but she really is full-on! She's not bad, but she's just so incredibly busy.

Our house is as toddler proof as possible. But there is only so much you can do. This morning alone, while we had breakfast, did a quick tidy, showered, dressed and left the house, she managed to cause all kinds of trouble. She dumped the bin over and put the rubbish all over the kitchen floor and I'm hoping to God that she didn't eat anything in it, she put her towel in the (full) bath, along with her shoes, because I forgot to drain it. And she managed to pull out all of the nappy wipes. Not to mention all the other assorted mischief.

I've always been a fan of free-range parenting, but with Georgie it's a little bit like an extreme sport. I love her so very much, but at the same time, what I wouldn't give for a pause button!! She really is the most adorable little monkey, and I loves her to bits, but my goodness, that girl!

Night time is really hard, because she's gotten into the habit of wanting lots of cuddles before bed. Which is understandable, she needs some one-on-one time, but it's so hard to give it to her when I have a screaming baby as well. I always seem to be rushing around like a madwoman between crying children at night and some nights it's all just too much.

Fortunately Charlie is such a good natured little guy. He is really one of the happiest babies. He can be jumped on and attacked by his sister and he hardly even bats an eyelid! He does have his unhappy times at night when his reflux flares up, but even that's not too bad. Mylanta and cuddles fixes it pretty well. He is also a champion sleeper. He sleeps most nights from around ten or eleven pm until seven or eight in the morning, so I really can't complain! A good night's sleep makes a huge difference to how well I cope during the day.

I have also been exercising much more and that is helping. I try to walk with the kids every day. And some days I have been able to take a break while Mum looks after the kids and I get to go for a bike ride or a swim instead. I have managed to do some form of exercise every day that Shane's been away, and it's great! It's a habit I plan on continuing when he gets home too!

The hardest part is probably just the fact that we all miss Shane. Georgie is constantly saying 'Daddee Daddee?' and looks for him often. But it is not for long and she loves to see him on the computer through skype. And I really just miss my person, you know? I miss the person who I talk to about everything, and the person I snuggle up to at night. I miss my friend. But the people around me have been so wonderful. My family has been helping a lot, especially my Mum, plus I have some good friends. One of my friends in particular is so great. She has children who are almost the exact same age as my two, and so she 'gets' this completely. She has been so amazingly helpful, I have seen her often and she is constantly doing little things that help lift me up.

It is hard work, but we're coping. We're getting close to the halfway mark now. I really do take my hat off to the parents who do it alone all the time, it is so much hard work! I am tired, and busy, but still doing okay. My husband is coming home, soon. And if nothing else, this time has helped me appreciate him even more!

Adventures

So last week the kids and I went to Brisbane to spend a week there while Shane was working. The kids went on their first plane trip, and they were so good! They slept the entire time, with Georgie on my Dad's lap, and Charlie on mine. We flew down with my Dad, who was going down anyway to see a specialist, and then Shane drove down in the car and picked us up at the airport. And let me tell you, flying is fantastic! What took Shane 6 hours in the car only took us 50 minutes in the plane.

Also, last week we had out first 'proper' outing, as such, as a a family of four. It was pretty great. The kids and I took the ferry to Southbank, in Brisbane, (which turned out to be surprisingly easy- we took the ferry a lot) and then Shane met us there when he finished work.

It was a pretty great night. Georgie played madly on play equipment, and Charlie did lots of sleeping. We had dinner at a nice Greek restaurant, which honestly wasn't that wonderful (because, you know dining out with 2 children under 2 is never going to be super-romantic). But the food was good, and it was nice to have another pair of hands to help with the juggling act. Then we wandered along the riverbank, and took a ride on the big Ferris wheel. That was.... an experience. Charlie had a poopy nappy (a fact that I only discovered after we got on) and screamed the entire time, Georgie was a bit uncertain about the whole thing, and we couldn't turn our inside light off, so we didn't really get to see too much of the scenery. So really, we kind of payed $32 (!) for 12 minutes of craziness... but it was still okay.

After that we sat down on the lawn and changed nappies, saw a possum run by us, which was a little bit random, got ice cream and the walked slowly back to the ferry stop. It was a pretty successful outing, and ended up being a really great night.

I actually had a pretty good time in Brisbane. It was tough having Shane at work, but because I was alone with the kids by myself all day, and we were stuck in a two-bedroom apartment (which was all white!). So I had to make myself go out, but that was good. It was really nice of Shane's boss to offer to let us stay in his apartment on Kangaroo Point instead of having the little one's cramped in a motel room. It made life so much easier (and cheaper!).

We rode the ferry a lot, went for huge walks and played in lots of parks, swam in our pool a bit, and I drove all by myself in Brisbane, which was surprisingly okay, I only got lost once. I did a bit of shopping, but not too much, because Georgie could only stand shopping in small doses. But it was a good week. It was nice to push myself, and do things that I'd never done before, and that I didn't think I could. It was a memory-making week. It was a pretty great adventure.

I haz Rainbow Cake!!!

I am so grateful for my family, and my sisters. I was feeling a bit ho-hum about my birthday this year, and mentioned how I'd love a rainbow cake. And lo, and behold! At our church christmas party last night, what should appear?

Rainbow Cake!!!!

I have to admit, I didn't really want to have my birthday mentioned and have everyone sing happy birthday. I just didn't feel up to it. But when it actually happened, it was just really nice. My sister Jenny is a very clever lady, and spent two days creating this masterpiece. Isn't it awesome?

I'm really glad for my family... It was a good day.

Linking up with Maxabella for her Grateful Saturday's Linky.

Just a small town girl....

I live in a small country town in Queensland. It's not a teeny one-pub town. But it's not very big either. And I was born here. Sometimes it's great, and sometimes it's not, but at any rate here are a few bits and pieces about the 'small town' thing.



1. You will always see someone you know.

I can never go downtown in really crappy clothes. I mean, I look like a dag on many occasions. But it's never a good idea to go down to the shops in a shirt, pajama bottoms and ugg-boots.  If I make myself look nice, it won't matter. But if I haven't bothered looking in the mirror before I run down to the shops (and really should have!), I can pretty much guarantee that I'll run into a friend, or an old teacher, or (worst of all, and always on a day when I look particularly grotty) an old classmate who I really didn't like.


2. Everyone always knows your business (sometimes better than you do yourself!)

This one is particularly bad for me. Because not only do I have three sisters nearby, I also live in the same town as my Mum, her three brothers, and their wives. My sister Jenny said that as a teenager, when she'd done something stupid, she always came straight home to Mum and told her all about it, because she'd always find out anyway.

It also has it's good points though. When I'm in trouble, like I've locked myself out of my car for instance, I know of like 15 people I could ask for help, if I needed to.


3. There is no such thing as anonymity.

"That's such-and-such's youngest daughter, she's married to the boy so-and-so, you know him and her's son? They've had a baby now, a little girl and I heard there's another one on the way."

I have actually overheard this conversation before.


4. The fact that you still live in your hometown.

I hate, hate, hate, that pitying look and tone of voice you get from an old school friend who has come to town to visit their parents. "You're still living here?" Or "Oh I'm only here for the weekend, that's all I can stand." You feel like screaming, 'Come on! I'm not a freaking leper! And look! We have ATM's, and coffee, and even electricity- it's not like I'm stuck in 1852!"


5. The shopping (or lack thereof)

Now it's not really that bad I know. We do have a Target, and a Rockmans, and far, far too many boutique-style ladies clothing stores that are horridly overpriced and stocked primarily with clothes for people of the stick-figure variety.

So yeah, I mostly have Target. Target Country.

Plus, the nearest city is four hours away, so Georgie and I are so exclusively clothed in Target, we could practically be models for them.


But really it's not that bad. Some days I long to be somewhere else. I long to not live in the street I grew up in (seriously what was I thinking when we bought this house?). I love the idea of exploring a little, seeing something I haven't seen before. Or going to a beautiful park. But this place holds some wonderful memories. I go for a walk and spot the place where Shane and I first kissed, or had our first date. And the people here are (most of the time) pretty great. It is really nice having my Mum and sisters so close. I've got some good friends. So in all honesty, the small town thing? It's okay.



Today I'm participating in Flog yo blog over at Glowless's place.

Little Women

Today after church, Mum and my sisters came over for coffee after church. Oh how I love my family! It is very nice being so close to them.

We were talking and I got lots of helpful advice on getting Georgie to sleep, because at the moment it's just not happening very well. She cries herself to sleep a lot, or else feeds herself to sleep... and I really don't like either of those options! When she cries she gets so angry! Georgie, I'm so sorry, but I think you have inherited your Mother's bad temper. You just get so angry at me whenever I put you in the cot! You don't like to miss anything. And I don't really like her feeding herself to sleep... it's not a great habit to get into!

Anyway, the other day I watched the movie Little Women. I quite like that movie, it's a childhood memory one. And my family reminds me so much of that family. I am the youngest of four girls, and to me, we have just always just fit those parts. (Even though, I know Lizzie- Beth dies! I don't mean that part!)


But anyway, I'll introduce you to us:


Jenny is Meg. She is my oldest sister and is ten years older than me. When she was a teenager she had a bit of trouble with her friends. Drinking champagne and dressing up to please her friends? So Jenny! Twisting her ankle in shoes that are too small? So Jenny! Having a meltdown when the dinner didn't work and crying "I'm going to Marmee's!"? So Jenny! She became a nurse, and then she settled down with her husband Ross (who is perfect for her... although maybe not so much like Mr Brooke) and was the first to have children. She lives about five houses down the road from us. Jenny is so wonderful. I think the Jenny-Meg character fits the most.


Cathy is a bit of a Jo. She is seven years older than me. Cathy is much more practical like Jo, although I don't think she's quite as dramatic as Jo. Cathy was also very much a tomboy when she was younger, and is the one most likely to go off by herself. She is a teacher and taught out west before coming home. Cathy also traveled to England for a year. Although there is no Teddy in Cathy's story......... I can't really picture Cathy and Shane ever having a romantic interest! But we are still waiting for Cathy's Fredrick! I really hope and pray he comes soon, because Cathy is going to be a fantastic mother- she would love to have a houseful of boys like Jo!

Lizzie (ElizaBETH) is the next sister. She is five years older than me. Lizzie probably fits the least. She does play piano, and was probably the quietest of us all growing up. She was also sick a lot when she was little, and was very much Mummy's girl. But that's where the similarities end. Lizzie has much more personality than Beth! And (Thank Goodness!) she did not die! Lizzie works at a legal firm, and is married to Nathaniel, and just recently bought Grandma's house so is now living next door to us!


And lastly, me. I wouldn't really say I am much of an Amy now.... but I definitely was an Amy when I was younger. I'm sure I would have put a peg on my nose if I had hated it! And burning Cathy's books is something I totally would have done! I was very much the horrible youngest child! I was a terribly silly drama queen (still am a bit). But I don't think I grew up to be quite so sophisticated as Amy. I am also not artistic at all! Plus, while Shane can be a bit of a drama queen like Laurie was- I don't think Shane is really too much of a Laurie. (I never really liked Laurie that much- Fredrick was much better!)


Mum is a bit of a Marmee (I always hated that name- Marmee!) we love her so much. But I think Mum is better than Marmee. She was also probably not so calm and serene as Marmee- but much more fun! Mum lost her temper with me many times and I forget how many wooden spoons she broke over bottoms.... but she was the best mother.


I am so grateful for my family! Sometimes it was painful having so may sisters, being the youngest meant I had three extra mothers. But I wouldn't trade my childhood or my family for any others. We were (and still are) so awesome.