1 more present down!

Several more to go... but im getting there - just popped up to Woolworths to buy a couple of bits to see us through till i do the big shop on Wednesday and ended up grabbing a shape sorter for Greta that i had been wanting to get her but was going to leave it till closer to christmas - although i know its only like 5.5 weeks away YIKES!  but im in blissfull denial haha!
Anyway they were down to the last one - its a great buy at $12 so decided to grab it in case they didn't get anymore stock before Christmas and i end up driving around all the Woolies in the area hunting one down and cursing myself that i didn't grab the last one in my local store when i saw it - so i grabbbed it.. just have to wrap it myself which i HATE doing - i pretty much either buy in gift shops that i know do gift wrapping like Myers or DJ's or i go to stores and see what i like then i go and buy the exact same item online and hit the 'wrap' button.. im lazy i know.. they also have the gold coin wrapping stalls in shopping malls but that dont do have those untill a week or 2 before Chirstmas and i really dont want to have to go there that close to Christmas. So just got to wrap it myself, but its just 1 pressie im sure i can cope!

So just a few little bits to get - doing a lot of the shopping online in the USA - much cheaper even with the postage on top. Ive also tolld my Mum in law what the kids would like but not sure if she will get around to buying them and i feel a bit bad about nagging her as that seems cheeky but i need to know if she is going to get them or not as i need to get them if she doesnt - ahh what a pest.

So i need to get this for Greta 9above)- and a few other little bits.. her big pressie will be a FP My first Dolls House :)

I've also had an idea for a couple of bits for Jonathan.. see i can find the things i want or not - he has mentioned a couple of things he'd like but me being me has totally forgotten!

Heading to the Movies to see the latest HP on thursday so in preperation i got myself the last 2 HP DV'D's so no doubt J will point blank refuse to watch them haha.. never mindhe can hang out in another room its not like we dont have plenty fo spare room in this house....!

x

Rain rain go away!

Well after a stinking hot week its piddled it down all day - which is kinda a relief after such a stinking hot week and weekend last week!

Of list of activities for this week:

monday - Music class
Tueaday - Free day (may meet up with Fre and the kids)
Wednesday - Swimming class and Playgroup - Author talk at the library - trying to find a babysitter but looks llike i have to take the kids with me - hope they are quiet as its adults only!
Thursday - free day (although we ususally go to the storey time at the library in the morning for Miles and baby bounce class in the afternoon for Greta) - Harry Potter at the Movies :) in Gold Class!
Friday - Miles'day care day and my cleaning day, just Greta and i home - Girls night out for me and a bunch of friends.. going for a Thai i think.. cannont WAIT!
Saturday - Taking Miles to the movies to see Dorothy Dinosaur and Santa.

Ok so thats whats on this week. Busy week again, but i like that.

SO went to Thomas the tank on Sunday - yesterday. Its such fun.  its $5 per ride per child so we bought a book of 4 rides and Miles and 2, Greta had 1 then they had 2 together.  It was SOOOOO hot but they had a ball.  We picked strawberries on the way up there and all 4 of us ate ahuge bag full on our drive there - its about an hour from our house..and its great fun.  Some of the drivers go slow but some go really fast around the track and through the tunnel  - which is great to cool us off on a hot day!

then home and we had a quick dip in the pool - Miles is getting so good.  He can easily swin the width of the pool, only problem is forgets to turn his head to breath so ends up having to hold his breath the whole way but swims to the wall at the other end of the pool and comes up with such  huge smile on his face, he just loves the water and swimming . We would be in our pool today if it weren't for the fact its raining buckets full today - the pool temp is 31 degrees though (its solar heated) but i dont fancy getting in there today with this rain.

So that was yesterday - came home and made a curry for dinner after our swim.


today

So far we have been to Miles' music class which he loves this week - i tell ya its mad, i can't tell if he is going to sit and stare at the floor and refuse to join in of if he is going to dance and sing and have a ball - well today was the latter, he danced adn jumped and even dressed up as a bee... i didnt even have to sit on the floor, i sat in a chair and he just went and joined in! SHOCK !!!! which is good as Greta is a like lightening she moves so fast and i have to keep going and bringing her back to where im sitting lol - bless her..  So i thought today that instead of miles suffering with his extreme seperation problems it was more that he wanted to join in for priase - whihc of course i lavished upon him.. every little dance or clap that he did he looked to me for priase and of course i said over and over how fantastic he was and he lapped it up - he does attention i admit that its just hisseperation issues that cause him troubles.. but not today - he had a ball! and perhaps learnt that he will get attention lavished upon him when he joins in and not so much when he sits in the corner and stares at the floor so hoping we are turning a corner but we will see on Wednesday when it comes to swim class time and i have to sit at the side of the pool rather than getting in with him - so frustrating as he can swim so well but just freezes in swim class because im not in the water with him and he cant handle the seperation.. so he misses out on having a proper swim class ashe gets so highly stressed and wont join in the class - but as ever im hopefull this week :) After such a fantastic music class today.

Greta was able to weight bare a little this morning, while i held her waist she pushed against my legs with hers., she can crawl and kneel but has 'looly legs' as the health nurse calls it and doesnt like to hold any weight on her legs - think she is just a bit lazy.. funny to think that Miles took his first steps at 13.5 months and started toddling around - and here is Greta 13.5 months tomorrow and can't even stand up or  cruise or hold any weight on her legs - oh well all kids are different i guess and its easier not having to run around after her anyway haha!

All for now.. best get the kids lunch.. although Gretais stll asleep from her mornign nap - was waiting till she woke up but Miles and i will have wasted away by that stage haha!

x

Perfect Saturday

Had such a lovely day today.  Got up and headed straight for the pool - ahhh heaven, for an English girl growing up in a freezing country having a pool is somethign we used to save up for once a year and head off to Greece/Spain/Italy/turky or some warmer European destination for a 2 weeks holiday, and spend all day hanging out by the pool before we went back to good ol' freezing cold England and began saving up again for our summer holiday 12 months later!  But here i am in sizzling Auatralia and have my very own pool in my very own backyard! So now the holiday i/my parents worked hard to affored every year as a kid and 20 something year old i can now indulge myself every single day!! AMAZING!
Espically as my kids get to grow up with a pool in their backyard - very different to how Jonathan and i grew up.. hope the 2 of them grow up to know how lucky they are and not take it all for granted - well if they do i'll have to take them over to where J and i came from in the deepest darkest depths of winter, then they will be gratefull haha!

So spent all day in the pool with the kids, only got out to put Greta down for her naps. She LOVES the water, really enjoys it and when she gets bored we popped her on the side and she had a crawl about.  Miles stayed in the whole time and is getting really good at swimming bless him.

Then after that we had a BBQ dinner cooked by jonathan :D and i had a potter around the garden, cutting a few flowers to put in vases inside and checking on my veggie patch - a picture of a few strawberries i grew:

Oh and i was having a conversatoin wiht jonathan about he state of the draws/cupboards in the house - oh and when i say state i really mean anal obsession! haha..J thinks im anal i just think im ordered - a piccie of the inside of one of my kitchen drawers  - they are all pretty much like this *blush*

Yes anal i know!

Well much the same plnned for tomorrow i suspect - although we had talked about taking the kids to the Thomas the Tank ride which is about an hours drive but i can't be bothered to do to much in this heat!  So see if we go or not..im happy to hang round the pool all weekend - and it'll be cheaper.

Oh and just bought a ticket to see Harry Potter new movie on Thursday, booked myself in for Gold Class and Jonathan is going to stay home with the kids - although of course they'll be in bed.

Oh and i also bout tickets for Miles and I to go to Dorothy the Dinosaur and Santa on Saturday next week - j will watch Greta.. he says he's wanting more Daddy and Daughter time she is a little Mummy obsessed (which i of course jsut love :) ) but i know she needs to spend time with Daddy too without me hogging my lil'princess all the time - Miles is a little Mummy obsessed at the moment to though so i have them both with me all the time, which is lovely :)

Ok all for now.

x

Really Really Really Love Sydney....

As the song goes!

Had a lovely day with the kids in Sydney today.  Mono-rail, park, picnin in Gloria Jeans! (i took them a packed lunch and bought myself a cuppa tea while the kids ate the sandwhiches id packed for them).  Running in the water fountians and a stoll along Darling Harbour - glorious!

Miles on the Mono-rail

Having a picnig in Gloria Jeans:

Darling Harbour:

Then we met jonathan for lunch and as suspected he went CRAZY about the cost of the dentist, i know he is stressed about money at the moment as we have just bought a new house then spent any exta $100k renovating on top of that and then i was made redundant while on maternity leave with Greta and have taken the past year off as i regreted going back to work after i had Miles so talked him into my taking a year off to be with the kids - which he thought was a great idea thankfully!  Then jonathan himself was made redundant! He found a new job thought at the same money but he used to get a $20k bonus every year and of course we relied on that and had fantastic holidays every year... well we have still been having fantastic holidays but of course we are $20k down  a year and didnt compensate ...so to sum up we have overspent big time and we are tight at the moment!
Anyway it was stupid of me to not manage the dentist costs better i know, i should have simply called the health insurance and find out how much credit we had left for dental and if they said we'd used it all up for this year i could have post-poned the last part or my root canal untill Jan - instead i get stuck with a $600 bill - YIKES!

Anyway we will sort it im sure.. just feeling a bit bad at the moment - and Jonathan is working late again.. no doubt trying to earn a bit extra money to pay my dental bills!

Dentist & Sydney

So i had my final part of my root canal today - major shock though as my health fund had paid most of it up to now but it has finally reached its limit which i didn't know so i got a huge $600 bill, i almost fell over!  Haven't told Jonathan yet, he is going to hit the roof - after buying a new house, me being made redundant from my job and doing more renovations than we planned on doing we are rather broke - big time!
Im putting off telling him as he is under lots of stress with work at the moment and trying to meet the bills each month - he is rather down in the dumps poor luv, so not looking forward to telling him.

On a brighter note i've promised the kids i will take them into Sydney today - we dropped Jonathan off at work last week one day and Miles just loved it, he was in awe of the big buildings and the mono-rail so i promised him id take him back this week - so heading there when Greta wakes up.

x

Vietnam

So i had my interview today - met the guy in my local Gloria Jeans, he lives in Glenhaven also so we said we'd meet up there.. so that went well, see if i get a 2nd interview to mee the managing director. 

Its to take over from a lady who has held the role for 30 yrs! She is due to retire in June next yr and they want a part timer to take over 3 days a week and another part timer to do the other 2 days a week. but the 3 day a weeker (me) would be the supervisor.  its procurement and accounts payable so pretty much exactly what i do so would be perfect and its Northshore so perfect location too.. so very excited about it but there are so many people looking for work at the moment its hard - see how we go.

Vietnam

So Jonathan got a call from an agent who is looking for someone to take on a role of Project Manager building a hotel on a small island in Vietnam - it was something we talked about doing a couple years ago before i had Greta and Miles was a baby still ... but the job offer at the time fell through, well now out of the blue he receives this call about another role to build another hotel - exciting! Plus i ADORE Vietnam - we were lucky enough to travel the world for a few months about 7 yrs ago now and spent some time there and i just fell in love with it.  So see where this leads us - most likely will fall through like the last one but its something id be very keen on as we wouldn't be able to do it when the kids start school in 2yrs time.....watch this space!

A few pictures of Jonathan and i on our travels:

1.Me on a houseboat in India
2. Jonathan in a tunnel dug by the Vietcong in Vietnam
3.Me in the UK somewhere!

x

Swimming was a HUGE success

So Miles has been going to swimming class since he was 3 months old, once a week.. he LOVES swimmng so much and is fantastic at it, he should have been born with fins i swear, he just loves loves loves water - a big reason we bought a house with a pool and already this year he has been in it a zillion times :)

Now the problem lies in the fact he has extreme seperation anxiety - or is super clingy, either way all was going great until it came time to move him up from Water babies class to Tadpoles - only difference being that Mummy no longer gets in the water but sits at the side - cue Miles's horrendous screaming "Mummy, Mummy, Muummmmmmmmmmmmy" for the ENTIRE 30 minute class! Oh my God its been a battle, we have been back into water babies for a few months after it just got too hard hearing the screaming and totally lost for an answer to help him adjust having me sitting at the side of the pool with my feet dangling in and holding his hand - although he usually stands there clinging onto my leg saying mummy Mummy over and over and over for 30 mintues solid -  anyway i couldnt stand it any longer and took him back into waterbabies where i get in the water with him.  Did that for another 3 months till he turned 3yrs old then tried him again in the Tadpoles, this time i made sure he had the instructor he had had all the time in Water babies, as he tends to cling to familar people and isnt good with strangers - well he is fine with strangers if mummy is there but not if mummy is sitting 10cms away or so.. yes that close bit still a million miles away to Miles!

Anyway he started back in Tadpoles in August when he turned 3 and 3 months, for the first time today he only screamed for the first 6 or 7 minutes of the class - oh i could have cried with joy! He had the biggest grin on his face and was loving it. Which is so frustrating as i know he loves to swim and loves all the songs and activities they do in the pool as well as the actual learing to swim its just because of his seperation issues.  So it was jsut pure joy to see him so happy and having fun.  I was at there with this stupid grin on my face for 3o minutes! but i was so pleased for him.

He joined in for most of the things but a few of the activities - it was only the 3 of them, Teacher, Miles and another little girl - they went to sing ring-a-rosies and he wouldnt join in so the teacher and little girl did it and Miles just stood to the side and watched  - which kills me as i can see on his face he is just dying to join in but its like something is stopping him, which is the same as me as i child i would be the one standing on the corner of a room looking at the groud while all the kids played and i longed to join in but just 'couldn't' I just feel so bad that i've passed that awful gene or whatever it is onto my poor baby.. id give anything to make him feel comfortable to join in.

Anyway, major success with swimming so thats fantastic.

Then we went to the Wiggles Playcentre with a neighbour and her little boy and another friend and her 2 little girls.  All the kids were playing in the paly area together and the mums were chatting over a coffee - something ive never been able to do as Miles wont go off and play by himself or with his friends so off i go into the play centre to stand there looking like a right prat with all these little kids running around playing and Miles playing too - he will happily play just as long as im only a short distance away .  Anyway one of the mums asked if she could hold Greta while i stood with Miles in the play area, as i was trying to juggle playing with miles and cary Greta as there was no where to put her down - but of course Greta very much like her big brother wont let anyone other than mummy and sometimes daddy hold her and went hysterical - shaking violently and screaming 'Mama, Mama" hmm this sounds all too familiar!
So im standing there in the paly area surounded by kids holding Greta!
But then to my utter shock, Miles followed one of his friends up to the top of a ladder and then of course realised that Mummy is down on the ground and not at the side of him so started screaming Mummy Mummy... oh great so i now had to climb up there to get him with Greta either in my arms or put her on the floor wehre she'd  scream and shake! ARGGHHHH .. well i managed to talk him back down the ladder so all good.

Then Dorothy the dinosaur came out and Miles threw himself at her and gave her the biggest cuddle it was so cute!

Picture below - Miles, Lauren & Caitlin

We will go back there again soon it was fantastic - i can't believe its only half an hour away and i havent been more.

So a pretty good day all in all. I have an interview for a job for a couple of hours - will no doubt be back to report on that.