Thankful Thursday

What’s not to be thankful for when you're on holidays?

I’m thankful for a whole week of quality time to enjoy with my lovely family.

For the memories we are making, the places we are seeing, and the things we are doing.

For kids who travel long distances to well.

For the earnest look on Mayana’s face when she asked the tour guide at the underground sapphire mine if the dwarves used to work there.

That the tour guide didn’t laugh.

For a husband who is truly amazing when it comes to setting up comfortable and very civilised camp sites, and who has changed more than his fair share of dirty nappies while we’ve been away (thanks for letting me feel like I’m on holidays too babe!)

That we still have three whole days of this blissful, relaxing time to go!

excuse the backdated post! I wrote this on my phone while still away on holidays and instead of publishing it somehow saved as a draft…

Thankful Thursday

I’ve decided to take a leaf from my friend Naomi’s book and start a new segment here on my blog. Life can get so busy, and so heavy and sad sometimes, and it does us good to take a step back and see how good things really are. So here’s what I’m thankful for today.

* Today I got letter in the mail with a date for Reuben’s follow-up gastroenterologist appointment, where we can finally get the results of all the tests he’s been through, and hopefully get some answers to his digestive issues!

* In just over 24 hours my husband is on HOLIDAYS and we get to spend a whole week together, just the four of us, driving around the bush making memories.

* I have daughter with an incredible imagination and a wicked sense of humour who makes me smile every single day. My favourite quote from this week was when she came and stood in front of me and asked me to “undo her butt-crack”. Turned out she had a wedgie she needed help with, since her hands were full. I’m still chuckling over that one, and I hope it makes you smile too!

* For flutters and rolls down low in my stomach… a growing baby who is beginning to make its presence known!

* I have amazing friends and family, who take the time to be my friend. I hope they know how much that means.

* When we needed new tyres this week, it wasn’t a scary thing, and I wasn’t worried about where the money would come from for them. I’m so amazed by the way God provides for us.

And of course, this crazy pair. I can’t imagine life without them.

What are you thankful for, this week?

Hello second trimester!

13 weeks today, and happy to be in the second trimester. I’m looking forward to feeling the perks of the second trimester.

A couple of weeks old, but I haven’t been feeling very photogenic this week!

While I haven’t been throwing up, I have been feeling a lot more seedy this pregnancy than I have in my others. I thought the nausea was gone, but this last week or so it’s back with a vengeance. I’m hoping it’s just here for a last hurrah, not to be seen again for the next 6 months or so! My gag reflex is totally overactive, which makes things interesting when changing the 4 or 5 dirty nappies Reuben produces each day *blergh*! And it’s definitely been more exhausting.. hello 8pm bedtime!

Other than that though, things seem to be progressing well. It’s that weird time of a pregnancy where you’re starting feel pregnant but not quite at the same time. My tummy has popped right out, and I’m already having to wear a belly band if I want to not be wearing maternity pants! I just can’t wait to start feeling those little flutters.

It’s interesting going through another pregnancy with yet another doctor. All doctors seem to do their antenatal process differently, and my new doctor comes from interstate and I’ve noticed a few things new to me so far. I had a bazillion blood tests a couple of weeks ago, and everything was perfect except for my Vitamin D levels, so I’m on a supplement for that. I’m also taking calcium… I bought some literally the day I found out I was pregnant, because I have had such awful teeth problems with both pregnancies and I don’t want that to happen this time. My doctor says that he’s always agreed with the old adage ‘you lose a tooth per pregnancy’. I told him that for me it’s two teeth. So far *touch wood* the calcium is doing its thing and I have not had so much as a twinge, which is pretty good considering that by this point of my pregnancy with Mayana two of my teeth had literally dissolved and I’d had to have two root canals!

It’s been interesting adjusting to the idea of being pregnant. We are so excited, and very happy about our number three, but it seems so huge to be having another child and not have prepared my control-freak mind about it before the fact. More kids than parents… more kids than hands! I’ve been thinking about Reuben and how he’s too little to understand what any of this means, and how Mayana was old enough to know that a baby was coming and what that meant when he was born. I wonder what difference that will make for him.. if we’ll have the ‘jealousy issues’ that we never experienced before with Mayana. Mayana is so excited, talks to the baby all the time and tells everyone that we have five people in our family now. If you ask her whether she thinks it’s a boy or a girl, she’ll reply emphatically, “It’s a girl. God told me”. I however, have had two very vivid dreams of a baby boy so far, so I guess we’ll just see!

One of my dreams was about labour, and if the real thing is going to be like that dream I can’t wait! It was amazing, and has me longing for that moment when the baby finally leaves your body and its warm, slimy self is placed on your chest, and how amazing that tiny weight feels against your skin.. the way the first thing s/he hears is how much his/her Mama loves him/her. Both of my two have looked straight up at me with huge blue eyes as if to say, “I know you,” and it’s just the most euphoric moment I’ve ever experienced and I have tears running down my cheeks just remembering it. That moment… looking forward to that moment… makes everything so much more bearable. I honestly can’t wait. Boy or girl.

Reuben, while we were introducing ourselves.

13 weeks down, 27 to go – give or take – and I can’t wait to meet the newest member of our family!

A Surprise!

Surprised? So were we! We are ecstatic however, and cannot wait to welcome this latest member to our family.

I am heading towards the end of the first trimester, and my evening-sickness (it’s always been afternoons/evenings for me!) is beginning to ease. My anxiety over something being/going wrong (which I think every pregnant woman experiences to some degree, but is even more amplified when you have suffered a loss), is also beginning to ease after the delight of seeing our wiggling little being (who has been nicknamed ‘Tadpole’) last week in an ultrasound.

My apparently very pre-stretched body has decided to look pregnant already, and I am barely able to do up my jeans, despite the fact that I have lost a further 2 kilos since finding out I was pregnant (That’s over 10kg since quitting sugar now!!).

Mayana is over the moon (in case you can’t tell) and adamant that the baby is a girl. I told her that she said the same thing about Reuben and she replied that she is right this time… God told her. I suppose we’ll see in another 6 months or so! We are undecided on whether we will find out the gender of this baby… we are leaning towards keeping the surprise baby a surprise. Knowing us we’ll change our minds about 354 times before the time comes!

We are feeling very blessed, and excited that our little family is growing once again!

Wonderful Weekends {Part Two}

Again with the amazing weather! We decided to make the most of it and do some exploring.

Ever since we’ve moved here, we’ve heard of this place called ‘Utopia’. Young people like to visit it after church, and it’s apparently one of the nicest places in the area. So after nearly three years of living here, we decided it was about time we found it.

My two sisters and brother-in-law joined us for the adventure, and we set off. ‘Utopia’ is actually officially part of the Mount Walsh National Park, and it’s nickname comes from the road you travel down to find it. It’s about an hour’s drive from here, on nice, quiet country roads.

It was certainly worth the drive, and we had a fabulous day in the perfect weather.

Utopia is home to a number of rock-pools and small waterfalls (they may usually be bigger, I don’t know – we haven’t had a lot of rain lately!). It’s about a 1.5km bushwalk up to the rock. The walk is reasonably mild, though steep and rocky in some places. Mayana was was able to walk the majority of the track herself. At the end of the walk you are rewarded with this gorgeousness:

We chose a nice flat section of rock in the sun to have our picnic, then spent some time exploring around the area, and enjoying the beautiful surroundings.

The water was crystal clear, and when you looked into it you could see right to the bottom. It was quite freezing though, and my brother-in-law was the only one brave enough (and appropriately attired) to actually go for a swim. We are all looking forward to heading back when the weather warms up and having a dip!

There was one other group of young people up there, and they were giving us heart-palpitations with their crazy behaviour! Poor Alexie (nurse-in-training) was trying to work out how on earth we would be able to safely get them out of there if someone broke their neck!

Both the kids really loved it, though I was probably quite over-bearing of them. It made me nervous letting them walk around the rocks with such tall drops down into the water, and I wouldn’t let them within at least 5m of the edge! I reminded myself of my mother when we were stopped at the Great Australian Bight on our trek across the Nullarbor!

My brother-in-law carried Reuben in a baby carrier for both legs of the bushwalk, and he was so zonked on the way back that he fell asleep after about 200m of walking!

Mayana walked the whole way back by herself, and was pooped by the time we got back to the car!

We had such a lovely day, and definitely will be back to Utopia sooner rather than later! It’s made me want to do some more exploring and see what other hidden wonders we can find in little corner of the world!