goals....resolutions....hopeful outcomes...

oh i don't know what to call them.

anyway, things i want to achieve/do/have happen/whatever word you want to use in 2012...

* have this baby! the agent is really hoping it comes on his birthday i think. which is january 4, our due date. so it'd be pretty cool if it did come then, and shared it's birthday with it's daddy! and also it's cousin. january 5 and it'd share it's birthday with it's grandfather, the agent's dad.  just soon....i'm a bit over the pain it gives me when it sits in a certain way and is right on one of my nerves. it HURTS!!

* i want all of us to have breakfast together every morning of the week. dinner is not viable, as that time of the evening is best for the agent to be making calls and seeing clients. we've tried him coming home and then going back to work, but he still loses time at the office and as much as it was nice having him home for that short while, i think it upset bubble and bug when he left. so i'm voting we cut out the whole 'dinner as a family' thing the agent's mother seems to insist on us doing and we do 'breakfast as a family' instead!

* i want to remember people's birthdays and send them cards! as much as i agree with my mum - cards can be a complete waste at times - it is nice to receive them. i've bought myself a wall calendar, and have written family birthdays in it already. not everyone, just immediate family. the $2 shop has great cards for all occasions, and for less than $2!! bargain! will stock up on them next time i'm at the shop, so as i have the cards on hand and ready to post out!

* bubble and bug will be going to daycare 2 days per week, same as last year. i have decided i will relax about the state of the house on the days they are here. so long as it is liveable and safe, i am going to aim to enjoy them. if they make a mess, so what? the days they aren't here i'll clean like a demon. they both had so much fun being outside with my MIL, their new big bubble wands and a bucket of water. i want to do that. i feel as tho i don't 'play' with them enough. so in 2012, i'm going to make that change. i will play with them more. sure i will have to focus on lbm3 as well, but i'm not going to forget my girls and leave them to their own devices. i haven't been able to interact with them as much cos of this beach ball on my front, so i look forward to being in there, in the action with them again.

* i want the agent and i to have a date night, at least twice a month. more if possible. he wants the same thing too. i know cos he told me! as he said, we may not go out but we'll still spend time together, doing something without the kidlets. well, except for lbm3 for the first few months!

i think the rest of the things i hope to achieve i will break down in to separate posts....such as health and fitness, family, money, career (dare i dream?!)...

goodbye 2011......hello 2012!!!

today is the last day of 2011.

wow. can not believe a whole year has gone by.

feels like it went by pretty fast, and then this past week has sorta dragged....

maybe that's cos we're still waiting for lbm3 to make his/her grand entrance? maybe cos of all the christmas stuff which has happened? maybe cos bubble & bug are not here and it is so unusually quiet i seriously don't know what to do with myself?

i think it's a combo of all those things!!!

as always, there is talk about new year resolutions.

i don't think i've ever made a resolution, and stuck to it as much as i'd like!!

instead of 'resolutions' i'm making 'goals' for 2012. and this ties in with the 26 things i want to achieve before i turn 26. which is a post i haven't finished, cos i can't think of 26 things!!

so here's to 2012. i'm planning on it it being bigger and better than 2011. i mean, the arrival of a baby in the very near future? not much can top that!!!

hope you get more out of 2012 than you did 2011 - all positive of course!

taking back control

I ended up in crying on the agent last night when he got home.

I'm over his long hours, even tho I know exactly why he's doing the hours he's doing, 7 days a week - to buy us a house. I just get lonely and bored, especially of an evening.

As he pointed out, without wanting to create an argument, I need to view the glass as half full not half empty.

I am so blessed in so many other ways!! Focus on those, dammit!!

Easier said than done? Of course! Humans are naturally a negative bunch whether we like it or not.

However one way in which I do know how I can feel better is to get a bit of control back in my life.



So today in going to go to the gym. And once the girls and I get home I'm going to get to work ticking items off my to-do list I created a whole 5 minutes ago!!




I do not expect to get all of this list completed today. There are things which I haven't even put on it!

To get just several completed will help my state of mind no end. Waiting for this baby to come without being able to actually plan anything is not good for a control freak like myself!!

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november...

i didn't write a lot at all during november.

mum and dad were here a fair bit. mum's dad, my granddad, was unwell and going downhill. not at break-neck speed however not slowly either. which was a relief.

he died on november 16.

this is my granddad....

yes, my granddad looks like colonel sanders...

he played up to it too! he was a school teacher and students would call him the 'colonel' 

and he would wear black-rimmed glasses and a white dinner coat. he loved it!!

it was a relief really. we were praying he wouldn't suffer, and he didn't.

i really do not like the time in between a person dying and the funeral. time for the family involved stands still, yet life still goes on. it sucks.

so november wasn't too great.

the agent and i went to the awards night for the real estate company he works for.

us at dinner...

the agent won 'sales person of the year' which is based on how much commission the sales person makes per quarter.

he was the 'winner' out of all the sales people who work for the company!! that's my hubby!! he's been in the top 2% of century21 real estate agents. top 2% in the world that is. 

i'm just a wee bit proud of him!!!

we had a great night. mum and dad looked after bubble and bug for us. hoping next year they'll look after all 3 kidlets so that the agent and i can stay in the city and party on with everyone! this years awards was held at the hilton in the city, and everyone went down to the marble bar to keep on partying. it'd be nice to do that next year, as we are getting to know a lot of people from the other offices which is great!!

i'm now 35 weeks pregnant with lbm3. my pelvis is a lot better. physio is helping me. really hoping the pain goes away after i give birth like it did after my first 2 pregnancies. not long to go now! i've gained 8kgs. not sure whether to be happy about that or worried. books say by now i should have gained 10-15kg. i wasn't over weight before falling pregnant. 

my doctor sent us for an extra ultrasound a month ago. she measured my tummy and said "you're small. go have a scan and make sure baby is growing ok." 

so we did.....we were 32 weeks 5 days when we had the scan. baby was measuring 34 weeks. 

yikes!!!!

the ultrasound technician (who did all my scans with bubble and bug) said lbm3 will probably be about the same size as bug was at birth - 3.49kg and 51.5cm long. hope lbm3 doesn't get any bigger!!!!

so not long to go now. both bubble and bug were 11 days early based on the due date my obstetrician gave me. so anywhere from 3-5 weeks to go.

i've realised that as much as i love being pregnant, i am looking forward to starting to the next chapter. i know what happens next, and i'm sorta sick of waiting for it to happen! i'm not scared of labour or birth. i simply cannot wait to meet the little person!! and i think the agent and i have finally agreed on a full boys name! i still have 2 girl names i really like, just not sure how the agent feels about them....but we are hoping it's a boy. actually no. we're hoping it's a baby and that it's healthy and has all the right bits in the right places and all it's bits are working - eyes, ears, mouth, nose, fingers toes, lungs everything. i don't mind if it's a boy or a girl.

so long as it's not 'food' which is what bubble decided was in my tummy a few weeks ago. she looked at me and simply said 'mummy, i think it's food.' yeah no baby....mumma hasn't eaten that much!!!

christmas wish list

i love christmas!! not long to go now. hoping to put up the christmas decorations this weekend - all depends on the agent's work schedule!

here's my 'wish list' - some items i really hope are under the tree for me come christmas morning! others i'd love to see there, IF we had oodles of moolah....

michelle's new book. i have all her others, must add this to the collection!

iPad2 in white + smart cover in light blue

tiffany & co flower ring. i have drooled over this for a long time. love it!

tiffany & co 'return to tiffany' bracelet.

maternal america "tummy tuck nursing top" in navy. available from queenbee.com.au

boori "urbane bassinette" available from babykingdom.com.au

poor lbm3 has no where to sleep at the moment....! eek!

dashbaby clutch in black available from babykingdom.com.au

'a stylish way to carry your baby wipes'!!! ha! love it!

a lorna jane gift card to the amount of....however much someone thinks i'm worth!!!

i've bought a few items of lj clothes whilst being pregnant - they're my 'goal outfits'. x2 pants and x3 tops i will ONLY wear once i am back at my pre-baby weight.

david turpin & native union's pop! blue handset.

you plug it in to your iPhone and use it as a phone!! love it!! whole lot easier to jam between my ear and shoulder when i need 2 hands to do something!!

just a few things.....if only i was like scrooge mcduck, and could swim in my money....

stronger....

so on monday i decided that this would be my mantra for the week.

to me, it applies to all areas of life - the 'feeling better' part is, which is brought on by exercise.

lately i have not been feeling 'strong' at all.

my back has been causing me a LOT of pain. it takes me a lot to push thru the pain physically. however it takes me a whole lot more to push thru it mentally.

it has just been bringing me down. once the pain starts it takes a while for it to go, and nothing other than sitting down/laying down relieves it.

by monday lunch time i was in tears, and ended up in finding a physio. she is actually located opposite the agent's office too, which makes getting to her easy!!!

so off i waddle, literally waddle, to see the physio. she tells me that the muscles around my hips are weak. the right side of my pelvis has tilted forwards, which is 'normal' during pregnancy i think. however, my left side.......well it has dropped. dropped straight down. no bloody wonder i'm in pain all the bloody time.

so she worked with my for an hour, including lifting the left side of my pelvis up. she taped my lower back, and gave me exercises to do. i could almost walk properly! i felt almost human again!

by tuesday afternoon tho my back was sore, so i took it easy....again! had a check-up with my obstetrician on wednesday morning, and she thinks lbm3 is small, as i'm measuring small. i grew 1cm in 2 weeks, as opposed to 2cm in the fortnight previously. so we're booked in for an ultrasound on thursday. hoping it's the same as bubble, as this happened when i was pregnant with her.

took the tape off wednesday night and saw the physio on thursday afternoon. i can actually walk properly now!!!! she said my left side is good now, my right side still needs a bit of help. so have to do some strengthening exercises which is cool. i can move, roll over in bed, step sideways, MOVE without it hurting! yay!

so after an awesome step class this morning, i am back to feeling strong!

on top of the pain, this week has been tough.

granddad is not good at all. mum was here till yesterday helping nan look after him, even tho he's in hospital. mum said she'll be back down next week. he's in palliative care so it's not an exactly positive time.

the sale of my unit fell thru. so upset about that, as that would have helped us out extremely. especially as we're coming up to christmas and a new baby! ah well.....hopefully another fish will take a bite...

the bubble was heard using the 'f' word at daycare. not good. not nice. i know the agent and i are her examples. and yes, she's heard us say that word. we are not perfect parents. so it's not nice to be told that when i go to pick her up.

so hoping next week is a lot better for us. full of more positive news rather than negative.

and this will be next week's mantra....

image from here

dreams

The lovely Holly from Good Golly Miss Holly wrote a post yesterday about university, and how she is moving towards her dreams of being a nurse/midwife.

As a mum who is working part time and has 2 children, as well as all the other 'life' stuff to juggle, I have nothing but admiration for Holly. I do not know Holly at all. I've never met her. I only know what I've read about her on her blog. I find her to be absolute awesome - a few of her posts have really resonated with me. I enjoy her writing.

Ok enough of kissing Holly's cyberspace-butt....! Hehehehe!

Anyway.

I've been thinking of a dream I have a bit more than normal lately.

Part of me thinks I am crazy to even be thinking of it all right now, given I'll have a new baby soon.

But who doesn't love a challenge?!

My dream is to become a certified Les Mills group fitness instructor. I'd like to teach body pump, body step, body attack and body balance. And maybe RPM, but I've never been a bicycle lover!

My ultimate, big, huge, large and scary dream is to own a gym. The agent's cousin owns a franchise. The latest gym he opened up is in western australia. I use one if his gyms now and my dream is to keep the business in the family and eventually talk to him about opening a franchise. The suburb the agent and I have decided to eventually move to after the girls have started school does not have one of these gyms. I'm sure it has other gyms of course!

So, inspired by Holly, I'm going to look into how much the Les Mills courses cost. From memory I think the courses are run over a weekend!

I'm worried about remembering how to do the moves. I don't even remember the moves and I've done the classes thousands of times already! But as my mum said, I'd be taught how to break down the tracks, which would help me remember them!

I don't want to stop at gym class instructor tho. That's just the first step. I'd like to know more about nutrition. And maybe a massage course. The whole package!

And this ties in with my '26 by 26' post! Which I must actually finish! I'm having trouble thinking of 26 things!!

So, in relation to the above photo, my dreams must be big, cos the scare the crap outta me!



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what i'm loving on pinterest...

so i have a new addiction.


one that isn't costing me anything as yet. i guess you could say 'internet usage fees' but i pay for that already. sorry, correction. the agent pays for that!


it will only cost me money and not just time when i decide to 'get my craft on'.....

my addiction is 

here are some things i've 'pinned' on my virtual pin-boards lately....

this is a dior coat from 1955. have asked mum if she could make one for me similar to this....

he makes me smile every time i look at him! love poochy smiles!

hahahahahaha if only!!!

since reading this, i am remember it more. i'm finding i actually get up and do things instead of thinking 'oh i'll do it later' or 'the agent can do that'! 

only a few people will understand how powerful this is.

it's that simple really.

this looks waaaaay too cool! 

it amplifies the iPhones music up to 4 times, without using any energy. 

neville longbottom got H O T.

pinterest is proving useful for ideas of things to do to and put in our new home. 

such as artwork like this!

it's also given me ideas of things to do with the girls.

such as this: tape their name out on a canvas and then let them paint all over it.

once dry, remove the tape and voila!

off to get the paint and canvas ready for the girls now! this is actually exciting!!!

#iheartmybody

sara from Tis The Life posted this on her blog this morning.

i loved it! i'm all for women learning to love their body, and appreciate it for all it can do.

sara looks smokin' by the way - popped out the gorgeous worm 14 weeks ago. 14 weeks! wow! no way did i look like that after either bubble or bug were 14 weeks old! you go sara!

so here is my post.....taken with my iMac's photo booth, so excuse the crappy quality!

i'm 30 weeks pregnant with baby #3 (lbm3 as i like to call it) today. 10 weeks left.

i see myself side-on in some photos and think 'wow. i'm freakin' huge!!!' which i guess is to be expected at the pointy end of the pregnancy!

my boobs are big, and i'm well aware they're only going to get bigger. not really looking forward to that, nor am i all the excited about how they're gonna be once lbm3 finishes breast feeding. but we'll worry about that later.

my body is amazing. it grew 2 little people inside it, popped them out pretty much on it's own and then continued to nurture them for 8 months. (yes i only breastfed till the girls were 8 months old. i'd had enough by then!)

it is now growing a third little person.

it takes a beating from me, and has done over the course of my life....
2 broken arms. same arm. i was in yr 1 when i first broke it and yr 2 the second time. my left arm now sorta bends a bit further than my right, and i can't touch my left shoulder with my left hand properly.
broken finger. my ring finger. it's wonky.
numerous falls from horses, one fall resulting in above-mentioned broken arm and another fall, many years later resulting in concussion (and all the side-effects from that).
cuts, scratches, bruises. quite a few scars from those.
tried to slice my hand open with a saw in wood work in yr 9. didn't succeed. which is probably a good thing.

if the list above were called 'involuntary' beatings then there are the 'voluntary' beatings it's taken. such as ingesting a rather large amount of alcohol at an extraordinarily fast pace. and smoking cigarettes. and getting tattoos. that's about the extent of my 'wildness'....and i'm quite thankful it ended there!

with the pregnancies i have gotten stretch marks, horrible morning/evening sickness, wonderful aversions to foods, and this time around the most amazing spider/varicose veins up my legs. that i'm pretty bummed about, as i used to think i had amazing legs. now i don't want to show them off at all. :(

but still, my legs carry me and my tummy around all day. my legs allow me to do my gym classes, go on walks with my girls and ride our bikes as a family.

i am not as toned as i'd like to be, however i am honestly looking forward to learning how to juggle three children, a husband and life in general once baby comes. it's gonna be fun!

so at the moment, i honestly can say i truly-ruly heart my body. i need to reward it and appreciate it more by fuelling it with the correct foods, not chocolate.

compared to the teenager in high school, i am more comfortable with my body now than then. i am well aware of what it can do, what it has done, and what i will be pushing it to do in the future - both giving birth and then getting back in shape.

bubble + i

am i good enough?

the question each and every mother asks themselves at some stage.

and that's how i'm feeling right now.

the agent and i had a fight. in front of the girls. i'm upset cos even tho he was the instigator, when i walk way, the girls stay with him.

suppose being on the trampoline at the time was a bit more of an incentive to stay with daddy! i'm not looking for them to take sides - ever.

it just hurts.

it hurts that he is their preference.

it hurts that bubble told me this week that she wanted daddy to stay at home, and that i was the one she wanted to go out and earn the money.

it does not help my self esteem at all - my own self esteem or my parenting self esteem.

as it is i deal with the girls 6 days a week on my own. the agent leaves at 7:30-8am, and isn't home till long after the girls are in bed.

and that's cool. i'm used to it. yes it is getting a bit much for me given i'm 30 weeks pregnant. but hey, i'll put my girl panties on and deal with it.

i just hate that the person i love the most in this world can hurt me and make me so angry. the agent knows how to push my buttons and whether or not he does so intentionally i don't know.

i hate when we fight, and i'm left in a blubbering mess. we get along so well, and there is so so so much passion in our relationship. fortunately or unfortunately, it's passion at both ends of the scale!

ok rant over. not quite the post i had in mind for today, but ya get that.

feeling, well, weak

Weak. That's how I've been feeling lately. The pain in my back from this baby is really wreaking havoc with my mind, my emotions, everything!

I know that whilst pregnant women tend to become a little emotional. I'm well aware of that!

This is different tho. I remember these feelings after bug arrived. The ones who had a voice in my head telling me 'you can't do it...'.

That's how I've been feeling and thinking. That I simply can not do this. And it all happens at the end of the day. Right when I'm getting the girls ready for bed. The little voice gets louder, mainly cos a new thought has entered my mind recently: I'm sick of doing this on my own.

And I am. That much is true. I wish the agent worked better, more family-friendly hours. However his chosen profession states his best work hours are after hours.

Anyway.

Weak is how I've been feeling and I am so glad I re-read a saying not so long ago: you never regret doing a workout. The only workout you regret is the one you do NOT do.

That saying is what has made me go to the gym every day last week and every day so far this week. I've felt strong and in control after my workouts. and that's why I do them!!

So whilst the pain is really becoming unbearable, I am proving to myself that I am strong enough to tackle it head-on. And that was a problem I'd been having, that I couldn't block the pain from my mind. That was super frustrating.

But again, exercise pulled me thru. It might hurt a little while I do the workout but that pain is nothing compared to how disappointed I feel when I don't go to the gym.





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the 'lay-buy' system

so i just jumped out of the shower, and have a podcast from the 12wbt playing in iTunes.

the part it was up to was where mish was talking about the lay-buy system, saying no and empowering yourself. and this ties in to my '26 by 26' post of getting my eating under control...

as she said, there are people out there who believe they MUST have a chocolate every day. or a lolly. or a soft drink. or in my case, as red bull & chocolate.

for as long as i can remember, i have wanted to stop having red bull and chocolate. as mish says, saying no empowers you. you take back a bit of the control these items have over you. she talks about your will power muscle, and says that at the moment, it is probably as strong as an iceberg lettuce leaf that has been sitting in the bottom of the fridge for a few weeks.

yup. mine is that strong.

i used to be so good at eating the right things. sure, i'd say yes to chocolate. i love chocolate.

it's time i took back control.

it's time i said no more times than i say yes. not just no to red bull and chocolate. but to fronti, and lollies, and biscuits.

i know i can say no. i have said it plenty of times before!

i will use the lay-buy system. i find myself thinking about how lovely and cold the red bull feels as i swallow it....in the middle of my gym class for effs sake! i will push those thoughts from my mind. if i feel i need it, i will have some sparkling water instead, and tell myself if i still feel this way tomorrow, then i'll go buy them. chances are i won't tho, as i'll be feeling so good for saying no that i won't want to ruin it!

i will stay in control and be strong.

i will transform my will power muscles from an iceberg lettuce leaf to arnie's bicep.

i can do this. i must do this, as i am the only one who can do it for me.

and i will always remember.....

26 before 26

a lovely lady i follow on twitter posted this list on her blog....

sara posted '30 by 30' as she turned 29 a couple of weeks ago. it's her list of things she wants to accomplish/achieve by the time she is 30.

so here is my list....i'll be 26 on august 23 2012. and it's in no particular order. may have to come back to the list and add to it to be honest!

1. have this baby! yes alright i know that that's a given! but seriously, it's on my to-do list!! i've got 10 weeks and 2 days till my due date. hoping to make it to 2012, but baby may come early, as it's sisters did!

2. join the 12wbt and follow the program. i've seen the results other people have gotten. people who threw themselves in to the program whole-heartedly and trusted mish completely. the next round i do, i will be like that. the first round begins in february i think, so it could be perfect timing to help me lose the baby weight!

3. run a fun run! i don't know enough about running/running events to say how far and which event i'll do. i'd like to aim for a 5km fun run, and then work upwards from their. the agent used to do triathlons, and has said he'd love to do them again. i'm open to that! love swimming, enjoy running and the bike? well, i'll put up with it!

4. buy a house the agent has a found a house he loves, and now we just gotta buy it! it needs a bit of work, but that's cool. we'll get all renovations done before we move in! i figure we can live where we are until lbm3 is about 6 months old. maybe a bit longer. just have to see how we go. and hope the economy picks up a bit!

5. veggie garden! i'd love to grow our own vegetables. i'd get the girls involved, and it would certainly help out with the weekly expenses! not enough yard space where we are now, so this is something to hopefully do in the new house.


6. family holiday bubble has said she wants to visit disney land. i honestly don't think she has any idea what disney land is. i don't think she even knows were disney land is! she only knows it exists cos a girl in her room at daycare went there and has told her about it. however. i know what and where disney land is, and i wanna go there too! i also want to go to new york, and the smithsonian, and mt rushmore, and the grand canyon. so a huge family holiday to the states would be wonderful! however, given we want/need a house (see point 4) even just a family holiday to some warm, tropical place would be aweosme. like the sea temple resort in port douglas, which is where the agent and i stayed on our honeymoon. would love to go back there with kids, and maybe grandparents to help out too!

7. girls swimming the new house has a pool. yes it has a fence. however, as my father-in-law said "you treat the fence around a pool as tho it's NOT THERE." so true. the girls are doing swimming lessons now. and they love it. they love the water. so we MUST keep them in swimming lessons. forever and always as far as i'm concerned. if there's one sport i'd love for the girls to excel at, it would be swimming. no stress on the joints. it's a skill which can/could help them survive. and the body swimmer's end up in having? well, as far as i'm concerned, my girls are little cuties. and if swimming helps them stay that way, especially bug who refuses to eat fruit or vegetables, then that's an added bonus!

8. decide on baby #4 the agent and i have said since bug was born we'd like 4 children.however, given how sick this pregnancy has made me - from morning sickness of an evening, to the migraines lasting 2-3 days, to the sciatica nerve, to the lower back pain - i have already told the agent it is going to take a LOT of convincing to get me to go again. i'd love 4 children. that's what we said we wated. just have to see how we go once lbm3 arrives i guess. and then workout do we want a big gap between lbm3 and #4 or a smaller gap like there is between bubble and bug. decisions, decisions, decisions. i can't believe i'm 29 weeks pregnant with lbm3 and ALREADY contemplating #4! eeeeek!!!!

9. read more books i used to read books all the time. nowadays, i read magazines (women's health of course) or news articles on the net on my iPhone. or i watch TV. not good. i'd rather read, and let my imagination escape. i watched 'tomorrow when the war began' last night. i haven't read that book, or the sequels since high school! off to the library i will go today to find it and start reading that series again and we'll see if it's as good as i remember! i also have mao's last dancer to read (borrowed AGES ago from my grandmother) and the agent has one on nelson mandella i bought him for christmas one year i'd like to read. don't know enough about mr mandella, and i think i should. and to kill mocking bird. haven't read this since yr 10. must read it again! so the goal is to read 26 books. that's one per fortnight for the next year. will try to have them all read by my birthday tho!

10. perfect clean eating with the aid of 12wbt, it's forums and podcasts. i have all the tools, i'm jsut not picking them up and using them. i am nto accountable, and i let my inner teenager and labrador run riot. tightening their leashes now!

11. pinterest artwork i see a lot of fun, easy(ish?!) artworks on pinterest i'd love to try with the girls! my issue here is i get tense about it easily. i will over come this and we'll do them!

12. family photos i want to have some pregnancy photos taken, as well as more after lbm3 arrives. have talked to the agent about it, and he agrees. just need to find a photographer now!

13. hair cut! bite the bullet and DO IT! my hair, when straightened, comes down to the bottom of my shoulder blades. at the moment, it's a hair cut, not a style. sure, i may miss being able to scrunch it if i chop it all off. and if i go short, i'll have to maintain it and that could be hard. i at least need to go and talk to my hairdresser and get his thoughts on the who shebang.

14. shoes... buy myself a pair of christian louboutins. as a reward for something.....possibly for starting my bhag....

15. shoes again... buy myself a pair of manolo blahniks. just cos i can. just cos i want a pair!

16. tiffany & co there is a tiffany & co ring i LOVE. i would love to have it on my ring or middle finger on my right hand by my 26th birthday.  (no one ever said i had expensive taste, did they??!!)

17. wardrobe makeover i am wearing clothes i wore when i was in high school. nothing wrong with this i know. i just feel as tho i still dress in a way which is not quite appropriate for the age i now am. nor for the person i now am. no i am not wearing mid-driff tops! yuk! i pretty much live in my lorna jane workout gear. and i have a whole heap of that! i see pictures of cute outfits on pinterest, and i'd like to start dressing a bit more in the outfits i see. not necessarily with the heels tho....

all the other outfit pictures i've found are on my phone....dammit!! but that one gives you an idea of what i mean!

18. bhag bhag stands for 'big hairy audacious goal'. my bhag is to become a fitness instructor. actually that's my little bhag. the agent's cousin owns a series of gyms across sydney. the gym i go to is one of those gyms. my largely huge bhag is to open a gym, run it and teach classes in it. so i'm going to, for now, start small and work my way up. i want to become a les mills instructor - instructing pump, step, attack, combat, balance and anything else i can learn to instruct. i LOVE group fitness. and i figure if i love it so much, why not make a career out of it? i know the agent would love me to do something, and he's said he'd love for me to open  gym one day, as he knows health and fitness is my passion. just like real estate is his. (for the record....real estate is NOT my passion. and this frustrates the agent no end. more on that another time tho...) so i'm going to find a way to study and learn the classes and whatever else is involved in becoming a les mills instructor, around having 3 kids. eeeek!!!!!

something i read...

...on pinterest of course!


i had no idea where else to save it, so here seems like a good idea.


it's a great idea, and i'm going to be doing step one with bubble (and bug when she masters conversations in english and not just bugish) each night from now on. just hope my pregnancy amnesia doesn't get in the way!


"Bully-proofing your kids"


Starting when their son was 3, psychologist Tammy Hughes and her school psychologist husband started teaching him. At night, they'd say, "Tell me three good things that happened to you today." This helped him make the distinction between events and his feelings about them. 
Once he had that mastered, they added, "Tell me three good things that happened to someone else (lesson: the world includes me and other people, their feelings and actions)." 
Next they asked, "Tell me something you did that worked out well." and "Now, tell me something that someone else did that worked out well for someone else." 
These simple questions help children differentiate themselves and others, and (teach them) cause and effect. If you can connect these ideas and feelings, then it helps children to prepare to identify bullying -- negative versus positive behaviors -- and who did what to cause the outcome.

daycare picnic!

Bubble's room at daycare went on a little excursion today!

Parents were invited too, and the disappointment I felt after not attending the athletics carnival they went to a couple of weeks ago, I went along too!!

It was perfect timing for me - I was able to do pump this morning, and then get changed and head up to daycare.

The kids had to have a 'buddy', someone whose hand they held while walking to the park. Bubble of course held mine! I was given the option of taking bug too, but decided I just wanted it to be special time with my bubble. Plus bug is more inclined to run off than bubble!!

We walked over to the park and this involved going thru a tunnel which goes under the main road. A lot of the kids thought this was great - they got to yell really loudly and hear their voices echoing! Bubble didn't like it. Said it made her ears hurt which made sense to me!

Once at the park the kids all sat on a picnic blanket and listened for the birds. We heard a few and saw some, and also saw a kerosene budgie fly over.

Then it was time for lunch!!
















After lunch, it was time for some games - ring-a-ring-a-rosie and duck-duck-goose.







Bubble's turn to be 'goose'!






By then it was getting close to the kids' nap time, so back to daycare we went. There were some beautiful flowers about too...









Bug saw me when we got back to daycare. Poor darling, didn't want me to go!! Managed to get her to lie on her bed, and snuck out.

It was lovely to be able to spend a little bit of time with my eldest girl. I don't get many one-on-one moments with her. It was just lovely!!

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