Mummy's poor little lamb

I hate seeing Liam sick.  I just hate it.  You never want your child to be sick but it comes with the territory. 

After a full week in his own bed, I am now getting used to a little person appearing next to me in the middle of the night.  The first time it happened I felt someone stroke my hair and I thought we had a burglar in the house and completely freaked out.  Now I just see a little shadow and a voice saying 'mummy'.  At 1am this morning I thought I smelt something odd and when Liam got into bed with me he was soaking.  Soaking in vomit it seemed. 

Up the three of us got.  Changing clothes, running baths, putting bedsheets into the washing machine.

At 6.30am I was catching vomit in my hands and then again at 7.30am.  I said to Liam 'you poor little lamb' and he kept saying back to me 'mummy's poor little lamb' and 'sorry for the naughty hiccups mummy'.  A couple of hours later, he is fine again.  He ate some toast, had a drink of water and is at the park with his dad while I clean the house and get ready for work.

Stay well Liam, mummy loves you lots.

x

4 years ago today I married my best friend.

Four years ago today I married my best friend.  It was also my 32nd birthday.  Today I turned 36 and time has passed by so fast.  Where did those four years go?

I only have to look at our collection of old photos to see how much of an adventure it has been.

Yesterday it was Australia Day and since it was a public holiday, we had a beautiful family day to celebrate our anniversary, a day early!  We checked into the Hyatt in the city, had a swim in the hotel pool, lunch and drinks with good friends and then made our way down to the river to watch the fireworks before curling up into bed together.  It was amazing to share such a milestone with Liam. 

I love my little family so much.  Being married is amazing, being a mother is amazing and life couldn't get better right now.  I count my blessings every day that we are happy, healthy and have each other.

As for turning 36?  Well, it was bound to happen eventually :)

It takes a village to raise a child...

This African proverb 'It takes a village to raise a child', is so true. 

When I moved to London in 2002 and fell in love with a beautiful man, I don't think either of us knew how hard it would be when we had our own family.  Richard will never stop coming from London and I will never stop coming from Perth.  In the seven years we have been together there have been a fair amount of comprimises. 

It doesn't get much harder when your husband has to farewell his parents after a two month visit.  My inlaws saw plenty of milestones during their time in Perth - Liam's 3rd Xmas and 2nd birthday party.  I can see the love and joy in their eyes when they spend time with Liam and the bond they share with him is a beautiful thing to watch.

I really feel for my husband today because it is so very hard to say goodbye to your parents, holding your baby and waving them off at the airport with tears in your eyes.  They have been wonderful to Liam and their help in the last two months has been really appreciated.

So, thankyou Joe and Mary.  I hope you have a safe trip home and remember Liam always says goodnight to your picture.

xxx

Why I think Ikea is responsible for most arguments between married couples..

Friday night drinks is not something I normally do these days now that I am a mother, but last night was the exception because I have my inlaws here and there is something quite nice about having in house babysitters, so the husband and I participated in many drinks last night at The Lucky Shag.  That is a bar, in case you are wondering.

Anyway, awaking this morning with a toddler squished between us and a slightly thumping head, I remembered today was also the day I had quite a few things to do, and going to Ikea to get Liam's new bed was also on my list.

So, with inlaws and child in tow, and the husband at home on the couch feeling sorry for himself, I raced around the city like a cat on heat.  Morning tea with my auntie, coffee pit stop by the beach, dropping mother in law off at the hairdressers and then racing madly to Ikea.  My father in law and I got what we needed, bed, mattress, duvet, duvet cover, sheets, everything to make my little prince's haven a big boy room.

After ramming everything into the car and getting home, I had to run off to collect my mother in law at the hairdressers.  Imagine my utter dismay when I got home to be told I got the wrong colour bed, the wrong size sheet, the wrong size duvet and.....oh by the way, does anyone know where the slats for the bed are?  Its 4.15pm on a Saturday afternoon.  So, back in the car the husband and I go to race back to Ikea to find missing slats.  We get there, arguing frequently in the car over who's fault it was that we don't have slats and incorrect bedding.  My head is STILL thumping and I really just want a coke with ice and my bed and a cool fan.  We get to Ikea, find Rack 4, Section 25 and there are no slats.  Que very camp and helpful Ikea assistant who informs me that, yes, he has slats.  But they are in Rack 10, Section 40 and we need to pay an extra $30 for them to fit the bed.  At this point, I think my husband is going to have a stroke and off we go again, me defending my corner that no one told us that slats are extra, and how would I have known to find them in a warehouse the size of Africa?

I really do love Ikea, but geez, do they have to make it so hard?  Why does everyone have to walk in the same direction and why do I hear more couples arguing than normal?

Anyway, we got there in the end.  My little man is in the land of slumber.  My husband and I love each other again and really, watching Liam's face when we unveiled his new room was all worth it.

Lesson?  Don't go to Ikea with a hangover.

3 boys and a little lady

Isn't it funny how life works out?  I am the eldest of four.  The only girl with three brothers.  I remember pleading with my mum when I was 8.  'Mum, please can this baby be a girl?'.  I remember being in class when the school secretary came in and told me in front of the class I had a new baby brother.  I knew that was pretty much it, there was going to be no sister as this was mum's last child. 

Now, my two younger brothers and I are parents and we have created four grandchildren for my parents.  One girl and three boys.  Charlie is the eldest.  And what a little lady she is.  Beautiful, kind, funny and the perfect little mother.  Taking care of her cousins and making sure everyone is ok. 

Tonight I took Liam to my mum's after work to visit his cousins Jack and Harry who were up from Dunsborough.  I love watching the three of them together.  Liam is six months younger than Harry and Harry was still calling him Baby Liam and kissing him.  They run around the garden making so much noise.  Boys love to kick footies, defy death on their scooters and ram trucks into each other.  It reminds me of when I was younger and I'd watch my brothers play.

Its like life has come full circle again.  I love those 3 boys and the little lady. xxxx

Maybe baby

'Just the one little boy you have?' says the lady to me in the checkout at my local supermarket.  'Yes'.  I smile.  'Planning anymore soon?  You don't want too much of an age gap', she comments.  'Maybe', I smile.

This is a question I get asked a lot.  Random strangers will ask me, or people I know.  Liam is two now, so I guess people are curious.  After finding out today that Nicole Kidman had her second child via surrogate, it got me thinking about the possibility of having a second child.

Liam took 13 months to conceive.  I became obsessed with taking temperatures, doing the 'do' at the right time and absolutely anything it would take to get pregnant.  I remember many times crying on the toilet after each failed pregnancy test and praying hard that one day it would happen for us.  And one day, without my noticing it, it just did.  I remember going for a walk that night with my husband and staring up at the stars with tears in my eyes, thanking god for our blessing.

Because to be able to fall pregnant and carry that child and then give birth to a healthy child is the ultimate blessing.  Dealing with infertility and coming to the realisation that you may never be able to have a child would be the hardest thing one would have to go through, and with that comes an aching grief. 

So, I understand why Nicole would want to extend her family, if she was not able to do so herself.  Families come in all shapes and sizes and no one will know why Nicole has had to use a surrogate.  But I wish her and Keith all the best.

As for my little family?  I feel there is a second child for us in the future.  I'm not quite sure when it will happen though.  I'd like to think it'll be before I turn 40.  I'm aware there are risks associated with being an older mother.  For some reason I'm not that crazy baby lady I remember four years ago, just after we got married.  What will be will be because I'm very happy with the beautiful blessing that is my amazing son Liam.

Tori Spelling, could you please decorate my house?

Tori is my latest girl crush right now.  I loved her as Donna Martin in 90210 and now I love her even more in her new reality show that I have on series link on Foxtel.  Friday night, get out of my way.  It's me and Tori all the way baby.

You see, Tori and me have a lot in common.  We have husband's from different countries, her husband  is from Canada, and my husband Richard is from the UK.  We both have a son called Liam.  We kinda rock the same hair, but I haven't got mine quite Tori-esque yet.  She juggles a career, marriage and family.  I'm sure if Tori and I met up for a drink, we'd be BFF.  Well, at least I hope so.

Googling some of the rooms she has done in her home in LA, Tori also has amazing taste. 

And a colour that I would never thought to put together but now love, is the yellow, white and charcoals she used for her latest vow renewal with her husband. 

Any chance of Tori dropping by the northern suburbs of Perth? 

The day I gave birth to guilt.

The day I gave birth to Liam, I gave birth to guilt.  Fact.

When I think about it, its hereditary.  My mum suffers from it, and when I look back at the Irish blood that runs through my mum's side of the family, its probably so ingrained into our lives we don't know what to do with it.

On Friday I was trawling the newsagents in my lunch hour to look for a magazine to read and I came across Red, my favourite UK magazine.  I thought it was only $9.95 but when I put my $20 note out and only got 5c change and gasped in horror, I realised that the shop assistant had moved onto another customer.

Maybe the universe was trying to tell me something because in the magazine was was an article called 'Give yourself a guilt-tox'.  Since I got my promotion at work before Xmas I have had a lot more work piled on my plate and what with trying to do the best I can and show my employers I am capable of this new opportunity, my other life, a mum and wife...well, its there......guilt.  I hate it and it lives rent free in my head.

'What is the point of feeling guilty? It doesn't make me a better person, just a fretful, unhappy one.'

The purpose of guilt is so we fix things, that's a 'healthy guilt'.  But guilt is pointless when there's nothing that can be fixed by it. 

'Conscience' driven guilt, can be used to alert us to the fact that we have done something wrong, and then 'pressure' driven guilt, when are trying to live up to other people's standards.

The tricky part is figuring out which type of guilt you feel.

I could list a million things I feel guilty about at the moment, and since I became a mother, it's harder not to feel it.

After my playdate this afternoon with some other mothers, I think we were all of the opinion, that there is no easy answer.  But we talk about it, and that is healthy.  I think every mother has their own struggles and their quest to find balance whether they are a stay at home mother or working mother. 

So perhaps in this blog you'll read more about how I try desperately to get rid of this guilt and what I can do to ease it. 

Just remember, each day, you are just doing the best you can.

And, that is all that matters.

5 things I loved about today

1) Leaving flowers on a work colleagues desk as it was her last day and seeing her smile when she spotted them.  I am going to miss her. Good luck C.

2) Wearing my new red shoes to work today that I picked up in the Myer sales last night for under $15.  I love a good bargain.

3) Making an appointment next month to give blood.  When I was pregnant 3 years ago my midwife told me my blood type was quite rare and stocks where needed, so donate if I got the opportunity. Even though I hate needles, my blood might help someone else.

4) Picking up my engagement and wedding rings from the jewellers today.  I put them in before Xmas to get resized, plated and cleaned.  I missed them so much, it was like a limb was missing.  They are back where they belong.

5) And the best thing about today?  Hearing 'mummy' at 5.45am and going in to Liam's room to see him greet me with a beautiful smile.  I haven't stopped thinking about him all day.

Have a great weekend everyone x

How I try to get more time in my day...but don't always succeed

A lot of people ask me how I handle working full time with being a mum.  The honest answer is..I don't know.  I always say to my husband that I am surprised that the three of us make it out the door at 7am.  It's a mad rush.  Some days it all goes horribly wrong and I am doing my make up at the traffic lights while reading Liam The Ugly Duckling or Billy The Bulldozer.  There is a reason I have a strong coffee after I switch my computer on each morning.

This week has been one of those weeks.  Work is flat out and we have a lot going on at home as well.  I make a lot of lists on my computer and try and get as organised as possible the night before by following these little tips I picked up in a book I read last year as I was about to embark on full time paid employment after having 13 months maternity leave:

* I exfoliate and shave the night before so I only need a quick shower in the morning. 
* I make sure my bag is filled and ready so I am not hunting around around for my purse/phone/keys/diary at the last minute.
* I lay out Liam's clothes as soon as I get home from work and pack his bag as well for the following day.
* I always put my keys back in the same place, next to our kitchen phone.
* I charge my mobile overnight.
* I lay out my clothes the night before on a chair.  If I hate the outfit the following morning, tough luck.
* One day I will aspire to drinking hot water with lemon and prepare a thermos the night before, but coffee wakes me up and quite frankly, I need it.

If only I could find a few more hours in the day and everything would be perfect.

The essence of Australia

Whatever I wanted to post about this week seems silly and irrelevant compared to what is happening in Queensland, and indeed around Australia.  The devastation in Queensland, an amazing and beautiful state, the bushfires south of Perth, the flooding in Carnarvon and Cyclone Vince which may or may not cross the Pilbara in Western Australia.

Today at work I spoke to a person who was trying to get back to Ipswich.  My heart went out to him and I called him on the way home from work to see if he got to the hotel I booked for him near Brisbane airport.  Unfortunately he couldn't get to the hotel due to the road being cut off by water but he had run into an old friend at the airport and he kindly offered a bed for him.

At such an awful time, I am so proud that we are helping out where possible and showing our kind and generous spirit.  I have been in tears watching the news and have been thinking of everyone in Queensland constantly.

To my beautiful friends in Queensland: Gerry, Karita, Kayleigh, Bridget, Hamish, Mark, Tina, Martha, Dean and family...if there is anything we can do for you in Perth, you only have to call or text.  Thinking of you always and please keep safe.

x

Things you would never have dreamt of doing before you had children but which now seem as natural as breathing...

* Going to theme parks.
* Spending $20 ($20!) on a flashing Thomas the Tank Engine light stick.
* Sharing a toilet cubicle with one, sometimes even two, other people.
* Holding someone's willy for them when they go for a pee.
* Eating cold fish fingers.
* Pretending to be a horse.
* Going to the beach in the rain.  (It's raining.  You're on holiday.  What the hell are you supposed to do?).
* Reading the same book over and over again every single night of the week.
* Saying any or all of the following: 'Eat up, there are starving children in Africa'.  'Keep quiet in the back there please' and the final sign you are turning into your mother, 'If you don't stop doing that right now I'm telling your father'.
* Going to bed at 7.30pm.  Alone.
* Calling your partner 'Daddy'.  And I don't mean in the Daddy-o sense of the word.
* Being insanely elated when someone gives you a small piece of toilet roll with three stickers and a wonky texta drawing on it for your birthday.

One Summer

10 days off work can go by really quickly.

Tomorrow its back to real life.  We had a great break though.  Me, Rich, Liam and the inlaws piled into our cosy Ford Focus and did the four and a half hour trip down to Albany.  Let's just say we all got to know each other pretty well.  Long car trips are not a joy with a two year old.  You need to put in the preparation beforehand and I made sure I had it all sorted.  Snacks, drinks, books, magnetic scribbling board...you get the picture.  Cries of 'I want to get out mummy' and constant 'no's' tend to get tiresome very quickly.  And we weren't even out of Perth yet.

But we all got there in one piece.

The sad fact is that it really did take me and Rich a day to switch off from real life.  To not worry about the clock, the mobiles or toddler routines.  On arrival, we did a trip to the supermarket for dinner supplies and the obligatory trolley full of booze at Dan Murphy's (hmmm Smirnoff Vodka Cosmo mix).

I was in such a rush to have my first Cosmo that I accidentally smashed the whole lot on the kitchen floor.  Not a brilliant start.  Nor was the fun of trying to convince a two year old that he really needed to have a shower with dad and consequently screamed the entire holiday village down.  Cue flustered and tired parents. 

After dinner Rich and I took a walk and realised that we did have to switch off.  If we couldn't, there was something wrong.  I think the thing about two working parents is that normal every day life is run by the clock.  To get to the end of the year and realise that we didn't need to do anything by a certain timescale got some getting used to.  But, eventually we did.

I loved our break, and I loved Albany.  Such a cool little place. 

Goodbye baby, hello beautiful boy

The time has come for Liam to say goodbye to the cot and change table (and nappies hopefully!) and have a big boy bed.  Its exciting, yet sad, that this baby stage passed by so quickly.  A lot of people told me to enjoy the baby that Liam was, because it would fly by, and guess what?  They were so right.

Rich and I have done a lot of research and we have finally come up with some ideas on what we'd like to do for Liam's room.  We are really excited about creating a little haven for him and now that we are home owners and can paint walls, we are even more excited about looking at colour charts to get the base colour right.

We've picked out the black, wrought iron-style bed at Ikea and will start on this project when Richard's parents head back to the UK at the end of this month.

What I love about the pictures below is the photo wall.  I am definitely going to create a wall like this in Liam's new room.  Also the rug is perfect for Liam as he is obsessed with cars and can use it to run his cars over.  The decal on the wall looks like bubbles coming out of the lamp.  I am also going to get an artist friend to do some canvases for me to use for the photo wall.  We also really like the duck egg blue colour, so will use this to paint the wall.

I can't wait to start decorating!

My Bucket List for 2011

I've never been one for New Year's resolutions but I am one for making short and long term goals.  In 2011 there are a few things I want to try and do, and as the year goes on I think I will add to the list as well.  So, what better way to start 2011 and make a list of all the small and big things I'd like to achieve.  While I've been on holidays, I've had some time to think about what I'd like to see happen this year.

Here goes:

* I want to go swimming twice a week, preferably on a Monday and Tuesday night so its at the beginning of the week and out of the way.
* After my swim, I want to get on the treadmill and walk for half an hour.
* 5 days of the week, I will eat healthily.  On the weekends, I can relax a little.
* I want to take my family to Brisbane this year.
* I want the three of us to experience camping together.
* I'd like us to take at least 5 mini breaks or weekends away, within driving distance of Perth.
* I want to turn Liam's nursery into a toddler room, fit for the cute two year old he is.
* I'd like to spend more time with my mum and dad.
* I'd like to do a few hotel nights with my husband where we check in at 2pm and check out the next day at 10am.  We've done this twice since Liam was born and we feel like a new couple again afterwards. 
* More dinner parties at home.
* Do a time management/managing people course for work.
* I will find my greenthumb this year and have a luscious garden, complete with calming water feature.
* Volunteer in a soup kitchen.
* Do the Telethon phone room again this year and ask some friends to do it with me - it was so much fun.
* Take a day off work every two months and keep Liam at home so we can do whatever we like.
* Volunteer some of my time at Liam's childcare centre.
* Learn how to apply make up properly.
* Add to Liam's vegetable garden and get him to help me so he can see how veggies are grown and eat them.
* Do swimming lessons with Liam.
* Clean the house Friday nights so I can spend as much time as possible with Liam and Richard on the weekends.

That's a start I think!

2011 is going to be a great year, I can feel it.

Welcome to the family

There are three of us.  Numero Uno consists of the daddy himself, Richard.  He's my husband and best friend.  And my most favourite person in the world.  If anyone knows me better than myself, it would be him.  I've never been akin to likening my partner as my better half, but I guess in this case, he is.  Without Richard, I couldn't do half the things I needed to get done in a day, week, year, lifetime.

Below, is me and and him, celebrating our son's 2nd birthday.  I remember when all three of us blew out the candles, I had a flashback, like a movie reel of when Liam was first born.  Richard was next to me while I was on the operating table and we didn't know what sex our baby was.  I remember when the doctor pulled him from me and pronounced he was a boy, you wouldn't have found a happier man.  He was still grinning from ear to ear when he looked over him on the scales, checking all his vital bits and our boy did a massive wee all over him.  Such a proud moment! Anyway, that flashback bought tears to my eyes, because our son is 2...and don't we just know it.

In black and white glory is Liam and every day I gaze into those huge peepers and can't believe how lucky we got.  He's a fully charged energizer bunny (who wouldn't be after 12 hours sleep each night) who makes us laugh every day.  The vocab is coming on thick and fast and now we can have a proper conversation with him, we also have to keep in mind that our potty mouths need to be censored.  Such is life with a toddler.

Without these two men in my life, I really do think something would be missing.  They inspire me to be a better, nicer and healthier person.  I love them with all my heart and they keep pushing me along, even when I don't believe in myself.

Hi

2011.  New year and all, and I feel its time for me to write.  This isn't my first foray into blogging.  Somewhere between moving house, starting a new job, getting through the terrible two's and spending some rare time with my husband, my previous blog was sorely neglected.

This year, I need a focus and after careful thought 'Bringing Home The Bacon' is my new blog.

Its about me.  And my family.  And about how I handle the rigours of working full time and trying to keep all my balls juggling in the air.  About how I will try and find that balance in 2011 and still feel I am an ever present mother and wife.

I'm a mum, wife and employee and I try my hardest to give 110% to all.  Some days are a success and some days I wondered why I got out of bed in the first place.

Lovely to meet you and I hope you enjoy my posts.

x