Summer Holidays

Rich and I purposefully don't take a lot of leave through the year.  We might have the odd day off here and there and relish those public holidays, but we save it all up and take a good amount of time off at Xmas.

A week before Xmas I feel like the both of us are going to keel over from stress as the last minute rush of work deadlines, Xmas shopping, Xmas parties and catching up with people threatens to overwhelm us.  This year was no different.  I had three work deadlines due on the same day and so many things to do.

Last Thursday it was my final day at work and Rich finished on the Friday.  The Friday was day of running around, getting organsied for Xmas and Liam started to get sick.  Manage best we could, I tried to find around my day of chores making sure he was ok.

We had a wonderful, relaxing Xmas with our family and on Xmas night I said to Richard that I was relieved it was all over.  It was a fantastic build up, but there is something nice about the food and presents being over and done with it and getting on with the job of plain, old chilling out.

The three of us have been doing that.  Going to bed late, waking late, eating, going to the beach first thing in the morning with bed hair and clean teeth and splashing away in the ocean.  Quality time all together which in the rush of life, we sometimes lack.  Its been beautiful and we have so many more days to look forward to before 2012 kicks in.

In amongst all this relaxing, a fourth little person is making its presence felt and my tummy is starting to somersault and kick all the time.  This time next year we will have a four year old and 8 month old, and life will be totally different again. 

I am so proud of my little family.  They mean the absolute world to me and without them, I'd be lost.  The last couple of weeks have shown me how lucky I am - beautiful husband, a healthy and adorable sun, a lovely home, good job and wonderful extended family and friends.

I'm really going to make the most of this time off and reflect on lots of things that life has taught me this year.

I hope you all had a wonderful Xmas and are looking forward to 2012.  I know I am!

x

Dear Liam

Dear Liam

Yesterday you turned 3 and I can't believe where that time went!

You are such a grown up little boy now and when I look back over the year, I shake my head in disbelief of all the milestones you have reached. You are talking so well and will strike up a conversation with anyone. You talk really well for a 3 year old and dad and I understand all your little words that you make up. 'Hammerdon' 'Mr Lin' and 'Plintoon' are some of your favourite little words.

This year you have mastered toilet training (finally!), drinking from a cup, turning on the dvd player to watch Toy Story over and over, running, jumping, bouncing, dancing, shouting and sleeping in your own big boy bed. You love your room, the garden, your red car, the broom, the letterbox and my mobile phone. In fact you know how to work that phone better than I do. You Tube anyone?

You have learnt so much at Tiny Beez which is your childcare provider and you love going. You sing all your songs you have learnt and are starting to remember the words to books we read you. Your favourite carer is Abbey and the bond you both share is beautiful.

Yesterday we had a big party for you and your dad and I were so proud of you. You were spoilt with love and attention and you deserve it so much.

Next year you will have a new baby brother or sister. You are so excited about having a playmate and I know we made the right decision to have another baby. You are very interested in the pregnancy and love to kiss my bump.

Liam, we love you so much and teach us many wonderful lessons every day. It’s a pleasure to your mum and dad and we count our blessings every day we have you in our lives. Life doesn't get any better really. We are very very lucky.

We love you so, so much…

Mum and Dad xxx

Baby names

I found a great website last week with baby names which breaks them down into categories.  So if you are after a 'vintage' or 'cool celeb' or 'royal theme boy/girl' name then you can search away.

We are not finding out the sex, like we did for Liam.  I always had a feeling I was having a boy and that was confirmed when the midwife who looked after me during the pregnancy was there for the c section.  'Oh my god Jo its a BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!'.  It was a beautiful moment, I'll never forget it.  We've debated quite a bit as to whether to find out the sex, but we keep coming back to the thrill of not knowing and having the surprise at the end.  What this little baby is meant to be, will be. 

I'll be honest, my heart says girl and I would be so so happy.  I think it comes from being the only girl of four and desperately wanting a sister.  But I do love being a mum to Liam, little boys are just gorgeous and I love the rough and tumble of  them.  I probably wouldn't know what to do with a girl at first!

With Liam, we decided it would be Liam for a boy or Lucy for a girl.  I still like Lucy, but there are some other names I absolutely love.  Liam wants Molly for a girl or Thomas for a boy.  Richard and I really have NOT HAD THE TIME to talk about it at all, so being that I am nearly halfway there, we might want to talk about it.

So here is my shortlist, am pretty sure my husband will vetoe pretty much all of them:

Girl
Sadie
Mabel
Lottie
Lola
Clara
Clancy
Polly
Patsy
Sophie
Florence
Martha
Harriet
Olive
Esther
Elsie

Boy
Finlay
Hugh
George
Ned
Owen
Quinn
Ronan
Rohan
Rory

I guess when I look back over my list they mostly have an English/Irish flavour.  I quite like classic names.

Oh decisions! 

Fairy Light Love

This morning I was talking to my boss about our mutual love of fairy lights.  Bunnings has them, as does Ikea and I just think they are gorgeous and really give your house that Christmas feeling when all your decorations are up.

I get so jealous of Nigella Lawson when I watch her shows, she always has fairy lights on in her house, draped through her bookshelves, kitchen and pantry!  Add to that her spotless kitchen, pastel coloured kitchen utensils and penchant for late suppers, I really want her life. 

I am googling as fast as I can to get fairy light inspiration in the lead up to Christmas.  Pity the power bill won't share my fairy light love.

Happy Monday x

Respect

A couple of Saturday's ago while Liam was having his mid afternoon snooze and Richard was doing the gardening, I took myself out to the local shopping centre to run a few errands.  I do this quite often, but its also a good opportunity to have some me time and indulge in some people watching.  My favourite thing :)

I was walking through Best and Less, when I heard the conversation. 

'Mum, when are we going home?' said the young girl, probably who I guessed was about 6 or so.

'Soon' said a tired and stressed mum.

'Can we please go home soon?  I want to go home' she said again.

'Oh jesus.  Seriously, stop being a dickhead, go on, move.  F*** me.' said the mum.

I turned around and looked at them.  The mum was a bit older than me, very well dressed and presented and her daughter looked so sad.  The woman caught my eye and shrugged her shoulders.

I shot her quite a dirty look.  Tell me, what did you achieve by speaking to your daugther like that? 

In another shop I saw an elderly lady with her daughter, who would have been my mum's age. 

'Mum, seriously, stop friggen dawdling.  You are being such a pain in the arse today' said the daughter.

Again, another crestfallen look from an elderly mum.

I got home and told Richard about my shopping trip.  It really angers me that people speak to their family members like this.  Where is the respect gone?  I understand I have only caught a snippet of conversation and there are probably one million and three things going on in their lives that I don't know about, but I would never speak to my mother, friend, child or husband like that.  Treat others the way you would like to be treated.

I took Liam through Ikea yesterday and as a near three year old, Liam will ask a million questions.  Sometimes its the same question, 50 times over.  But I try my very best to answer it.  I get a lot of funny looks from people with the conversations we have, but I have been stopped before by a random shopper to tell me my son is funny, or they have overheard our conversation and are impressed by how patient I am.  Some days I am not, but I try.

My point is?  Let's try to respect each other a bit more, for all our faults.  And take a deep breath when it all feels like its going to topple over.

x

Spring time...

We have been blessed with some beautiful weather in the last few days here in Perth.  Summer is on its way after a long, cold winter.  Winter must of been very cold as I know a lot of pregnant people due in March/April next year! 

Our garden is blooming, the grass is a luscious shade of green after being tended to by my patient husband and the sunsets from our house on the hill are breathtaking.  I've even had a few dips in the ocean!

It feels wonderful to be pregnant in spring, a new little life kicking away in my tummy (still can't feel it yet but the scans show a fiesty little babe) and a soon to be three year old in December reminding me that he needs a 'big party'!

x

Maternity clothes

Maternity Clothing Departments....words fail me.

Sorry, but I don't wear floral prints, empire waists, shirts that tie into a bow in the back, pastels, bedazzled goofy sayings across my chest (i.e. Rub My Belly for Good Luck), tents, tie-dye, head to toe corduroy, denim or velour.  I never wore them before so why would I wear them now?

I'm going to be very pregnant during a Perth summer, which is notoriously hot.  Think blowdryer on high blowing in your face every day.  I'm stuck quite frankly.  I am thinking maxi dresses, perhaps sarongs with a cool tank and funky accessories...??

I've had a look online, and found a few things here and there.  It seems that online is always cheaper and there is more of a range than what you get in Australia.

Triplets

My big news is that I am pregnant.  Not with triplets though, so don't freak out.

When we went for our first dating scan, the sonographer had to do an internal ultrasound to check I wasn't pregnant with twins.  I held my breath for a bit, but no, just the one.  Its been a bit of a joke in our family, twins run on Richard's side.

Today at work I was talking to a colleague of mine who has triplets.  We got talking about routines and all the other stuff you do when you are a parent of young children.  I was so amazed at the sheer amount of hard work he and his wife do as parents of triplets.  I just couldn't imagine having three at one time, I find it challenging being a mum of one and getting my head around having another in 6 months time. 

The universal theme that we agreed on is 'you just get on with it'.  And don't be afraid to ask for help. 

We are really excited about having another little one in our family.  Two is it for us, so I am really looking forward to completing out family unit and watching our two children grow up together.

I Don't Know How She Does It

I've just finished reading the book of the same title and really identified with it.  I certainly don't have the same income bracket or high pressure job as Kate Reddy, the main character in the book, but I did understand the frustrations of juggling work and family.
There are days where I feel I don't do my two jobs, motherhood and employee, properly.  Then some weeks it works seamlessly well.  I'm sure its a feeling shared by most working mums.  There was a sentence in the book that said women are now doing men's work, but are still expected to be the doting mother/wife/chief cook/bottle washer.  No wonder we are constantly knackered.

I couldn't imagine not working.  I enjoy the feeling of independence, providing financially for my family and the work that I do.  I also couldn't imagine not being a mother.  I love my son so much, but I couldn't do what I do without a very supportive husband.

Anyway, cannot wait for this movie to come out.  I've heard some bad reviews, but I'll make up my own mind.

Here is the trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bn_OrhwIidA

101 positive things to say to your kids

That's Incredible!  How Extraordinary!  Far Out! Outstanding Performance!  I can't get over it!  Great! Amazing Effort!  Unbelievable Work!  Wonderful!  Marvelous!  Phenomenal!  You've Got It!  Superb!  Cool!  Excellent!  You're Special!  Your work is out of sight!  Your projectis first rate!  You've outdone yourself!  Way To Go! Thumbs Up!  You're a good friend!  You came through! Terrific!  You tried hard! Your help counts!  You made it happen!  It coun't be better!  Fantastic work!  You're a real trooper!  Fabulous!  Bravo!  Exceptional!  You're Unique!  Awesome!  Breathtaking!  The time you put in really shows!  You're a great example for others!  Keep up the good work!  I knew you had it in you!  Dynamite!  Its everything I hoped for! You should be proud of yourself!  What an imagination!  You made the difference!  Well Done! 
You're Sensational!  Very Good!  A plus work!  Super Job!  Good for you!  Take a bow!  You figured it out!  Great answer!  You're doing a lot better! Thanks for being honest!  How artistic!  Hooray for you!  You're a Joy!  How thoughtful of you!  You're amazing! You're getting there!  What a great idea!  You deserve a hug!  Thanks for trying!  You've made great progress! You're getting better!  You're a big help!  You're neat! You've got what it takes!  You're #1!  You're a shining star!  You can be trusted!  Wow! Remarkable!  Beautiful!  I'm so proud of you!  Very impressive!  You're sharp!  You're a winner!  Hot Dog!   Spectacular word! You're so kind!  You've really grown up!  What a great listener!  Thanks for helping!  great Discovery!  You've earned my respect!  Thanks for caring!  You're A-Okay!  You're a great kid!  How original!  You're a champ!  You're a pleasure to know!  Very brave!  What a genius!  You're very talented!  You're the greatest!  You're very special!  You're super!  You on target!  I love you!

A special nook

I think its really important to have a space in your home that is just for you.  Our desk is mine.  Its where I work from home, blog, shop, Skype and chat with my friends.  I got sick of looking at the crappy state it was in and decided that I needed to go to Typo and pick up some of their cool items for our desk to look a little more tasteful.

Which part of your home is your special nook?

And breathe....

I will always need to live next to water.  Be it an ocean, stream, river or lake.  I am sure its the water bearer in me, the Aquarian. 

It was my dream to come back home after years of travel to buy a house next to the beach.  We are about a 5 minute drive from it and as soon as I turn out of our street I can see it, glistening away.

On Friday night we took Liam to a playground overlooking the beach and then decided on a whim to watch the sunset.

As I looked at my two special boys playing tag with the tide, I took a deep breath and exhaled very loudly.  I felt peace, I felt content and I felt so lucky we have this beautiful Indian Ocean in our backyard.

We are so lucky to live here in Perth.

I need to take more time to just breathe. 

Girlfriend therapy

 

I was reading an article today about Sarah Murdoch during my lunch break and how she juggles being an Executive Producer of a reality tv show, running her own production company and a mum to three small children. 

'The key to having a family and career? Goodbye social life!' she said.

I hear what Sarah is saying.  I used to have a buzzing social life.  Now?  Not so more.

Work takes up my week and after work its all about making dinner, baths, story time, dishes and packing bags for the following day.  Weekends are chores, gardening, house reno's and precious time with my boys.  Social life, or lack thereof, is way down my list of things to do.

But...what always makes me feel better, without a doubt, is seeing my girlfriends.  And one beautiful friend in paarticular, who I have known since I was 17.  On Sunday morning we had breakfast overlooking the Indian Ocean and even though it was wild outside, it felt so calming enjoying a leisurely breakfast.  Chat we did, we got everything off our chests and had a great natter.

I need to make more time for those special friends in my life and I am going to make the time.  I always come away feeling better about life, and feeling supremely lucky to have gorgeous girlfriends who just get it.

Thankyou for a lovely Sunday morning Jules :)

PS.  Pictures courtesy of the Naked Fig, Swanbourne.  Awesome brekkie!

Furniture Love

My mum needs to start her own business.  Since we have been in our house, she has helped us design and plant our front and back garden.  Yesterday she had a rare Saturday off from work so she showed me some hidden treasures in Perth for furniture and homewares.

I came back with a lighter purse yesterday afternoon, but I was so pleased with my haul.  She is a bargain hunter my Ma and has got me thinking about what else I can do in the house.

Our first stop was a Balinese Wholesaler in Girrawheen Shopping Centre.  These two bedside tables were exactly the same but with a price tag of $40 and $75 each.  Mum talked him down to $30 each!!



The bowl for our coffee table was another bargain for a tenner.

This gorgeous little toybox for Liam's toys in the living area was $20

Richard picked up this great mirror at Target, thank god he is going along with the 'white theme'

 

Another gem of a place we found yesterday in Joondalup is a place called Vast Furniture and Homewares.  The two ladies that own it are from Ireland and the UK and go over to Melbourne for furniture fairs every fortnight.  They have two containers worth of stuff coming in very soon.  I have my eye on this piece and they said if Liam comes along for a visit, they'll do me a good discount!

My sister in law's mum grabbed this suite a few weeks ago and I just love it!  Definitely something else for our back studio that we are converting into a theatre room/study/play area

Love this couch!

And I can see us gathering around an outdoor table like this for balmy summer nights

Must. Stop. Shopping!

Weekend Rituals

48 hours goes by quickly when you work fulltime.  I crave weekends.  It means precious time with my family and a chance to catch up on odd jobs around the house. 

It also means while Liam is napping in the afternoon, I get some very precious time to myself.  I don't have to think about work deadlines, fighting traffic or making it to childcare on time.  In those couple of hours I actually can be on my own.  Its just Jo.  I'm not thinking about being a wife, or mum or employee.  I go off in my own little world and daydream.  I have always done this and I hope it never stops.

Here is what I love about my weekend rituals:

Getting my nails shelac-ed.  Am obsessed and it means my nails last longer than 1 day. 



Spending time in the garden with Rich and Liam.  Getting hosed by Liam.  We all get dirty and have a hot shower at the end of the day.

Reading stories to Liam.  His current favourite is 'The Places You Will Go' by Dr Suess.  Such a great message for kids.  And for adults too.

Singing in the car.  Ministry of Sound have bought out the Classics from 1992 to 2008.  It brings back hazy, happy, tipsy memories.  I've had strange looks at the traffic lights.

Coffee.  How did I live without it.

I hope you had a lovely weekend.

x

Step back in time

I remember the first St Patricks Day I spent with my husband.  It was in London and after spending a few hours trying to get into the packed pubs in West London, we went to a place called The Botwell.  Rich went there as a young tacker with his parents.  I loved our visits there.  It was a club that had been around for a long time.  It had an Irish band playing and a real family atmosphere.  Kids everywhere, husbands and wives dancing cheek to cheek and cheap drinks.  We had an awesome night.

Last night we went to a place called the Kingsley Tavern to meet my younger brothers girlfriends family (get that?) and it was like being transported back to 2004.

Liam was fascinated by the music.  I took him to the dancefloor.  It was carnage quite frankly.  Prams everywhere, newborns sleeping (how I don't know) and Irish kids everywhere.  He loved it.  He stood mesmerised and then tried to copy the little girls who thought they were part of Riverdance. 

It made me think of all the stories my husband told me about being a young kid and sliding across the dancefloor and putting the knee out of his trousers.  The minute I thought of that, two young boys did exactly that. 

It was so nice to go to a place that had a really family feel to it and I felt even prouder that Liam has the irish in him.  He didn't want to leave that dance floor.

Chinese Laundry

My mum makes a mean fettucine.  I remember coming home from my brothers wedding in 2008 at 1am and peering into mum's fridge to see a bowl of it.  I grabbed some of it, heated it up and sat at the kitchen table to eat.  Odd really, considering I had eaten half my body weight at the reception, didn't want to drink that night and couldn't quite getting into the dancing.  So not me.  Little did I know I was pregnant. 

A year ago, the night before I was admitted to hospital to have an emergency gallbladder operation, I heated up another bowl of that fettucine.  I couldn't eat it and spent the night being sick.

This week I had another bowl of it, and spent most of early Friday morning and Friday being sick.  Goodbye fettucine.  My body just can't process you after having an organ taken out and I need to make sure I don't eat certain foods.  Such a shame, because I love my mum's fettucine.

As is always the case, once I started to get over it all, Liam got sick.  Last night in our home resembled a laundrette.  Sheets in the washing machine at 2am, swapping beds, broken sleep, baths to get temperatures down and everything else that parents do to make sure their kids get better. 

We went to the doctors early this morning and it seems most kids in Perth have the same thing too, judging by the salad bowl the toddler next to us was chucking up into.

Oh how times have changed.

I'm glad we are all starting to get better, because this mumma can't afford to be sick right now.  Lots of work to do and I am missing my old bright sparkly self.

Sunrise

Monday, you kicked my arse today.  Why couldn't you give me more hours in the day?  Why couldn't I have had more than 5 mins to wolf down a sandwich at lunchtime?  Why did you decide I had to do a two hour course this afternoon when I had tons of work to do? 

But thankyou for giving me a moment this morning.  Amongst the rushing out the door, arguing about keys with my husband, forgetting to put my wedding rings on and wrangling a brush through my son's hair...you showed me a beautiful start to a hectic day.

'Mummy.  Look at the colours'.

And there it was.  A stunning sunrise.  I kissed Liam's cold cheek and we marvelled at the sky. 

In the car I stared at the sunrise while my husband drove.  I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. 

'Mummy.  Its so pretty'.

Typo Love

I am so in love with this shop.  I seem to be in there every week buying something.  Yesterday I drilled the store manager and she actually showed me the 'retail calendar' of what is coming up until September.  I'm so excited.  Different themes and lots of canvases, letters and stationery to choose from.  Its actually a Cotton On store.  They seem to be diversifying quite a bit these days.  Here are a few of their latest items.  I bagged the Portobello Road sign yesterday.  I have been hunting for one of these for ages, so was very chuffed to bag it for $25.

Inspiration...

I love adding little touches to our home.  For so long we scrimped and saved for our deposit and now it feels nice to go and buy little things to make it look nice.  I am forever googling ideas or getting inspired my walking into shops, or remembering things on my travels.  So this week, I decided to splurge a little and get some things for our bedrooms to make it look a little nicer.

I really love the 'Calm down' pictures I have been seeing lately, so I got this really cool cushion from a new shop called Typo that does the most amazing stuff.  Then a new cream duvet from Adairs, brown and red cushion from Target, new sheets and an electric blanket.  I go to bed early now because our bed feels lush!

Tuesday was the perfect day to go to Ikea with Liam and my cousin.  Thanks to my cousin Sarai for the inspiration.  Our spare room looks really cute and I love the colours. 

Also from Typo I got three letters for $10 so I got this to put on our dresser:

Richard has been wonderful with the painting and our dining room is coming together with the new blinds and I got a new runner and basket from Target:

Our front room is coming together although I would love to remove our fireplace and put it somewhere else in the room.  I'm sure it will work itself out.