Update

Christopher is one, my yard is getting cleared up and I finally feel like we are making progress!

Erin:
conversed with Nanny on the phone tonight (she is in Queensland at the moment) This is a sample of the conversation regarding the gift Nanny left for Christopher's birthday.

Nanny: Did you hear the music that the toy Christopher got makes? It makes music when you push it along doesn't it.

Erin: Well, Mummy doesn't like the music, she finds it VERY IRRITATING so she taped the switch off. I like the music, but Mummy finds it irritating and it gives her a headache so she taped the switch off.

I keep reminding myself that teaching her honesty is a good thing!! She spent a few hours clearing wheelbarrow loads of grass clippings with her little wheelbarrow on Sunday, she is a very hard working girl!

Billy:
is enjoying the yard clean up. He and Erin are both fascinated by snails, slaters and worms. He trundles around with his little wagon clearing up grass clippings, chunks of broken concrete and bricks with me. He still has an edge of surliness but I think now I am feeling a little more on top of things this will change. His biggest need at the moment is Mummy to be on task in the parenting arena.

Christopher:
is one! I am not ready for this! He is also eating like nothing else I have ever seen, he's a machine. We seem to have gone back to sleeping through which makes me happy. Last night I left him to be put to bed by Mum and went down the road with Jon to have dinner just us. I must admit I was a little concerned about how he'd behave but apparently he was very good, as were the older two.

The new baby:
is kicking visibly now! I love watching those little bumps roll around. The belly is huge. People give me funny looks when I tell them I am not due until January and I jump in with the defense that I have very big babies! My sacroiliac joint is playing up a bit, but I have found keeping active helps and I have started sleeping with a pillow between my knees again. I realised that I am approaching third trimester the other day when I noticed myself making involuntary noises as I got up off the floor!

The home:
is clawing itself back to normal thanks to routines and (mostly) a visit from my Mum! When Mum is here she takes over the laundry which is an amazing help. She also takes the kids for walks etc. which gives me a chance to get in and complete tasks from start to finish. A luxury I rarely experience! She also just pitches in. She is a natural tidy person (I didn't get that gene unfortunately!) and when she gets into my kitchen or grabs a broom and sweeps etc. it is simply what she naturally does. Having her here and having Jon home more now that we have finally gotten rid of some other commitments has done wonders for my mental and emotional state so rather than FORCING myself to do every little thing, I actually FEEL like doing things now.

Exercise:
has been adjusted with the seasonal change and the availability of my gardening equipment. I now have an aim of 3 wheel barrow loads of garden stuff removed from the yard and a walk down to the post office and back at least four times a week. If the weather fails, I will use the exercise bike again but so far it has been holding. This regime, together with squatting a lot when I am working in the garden and cleaning has helped my back a lot. Sitting for any length of time or having a sedentary day really gets quite painful. This is Divine intervention I think as I really FEEL like sitting down and sleeping a lot or doing as much as possible from the comfort of my chair! But I know this isn't good for me and I really feel it after just an hour or two of sitting down.

The Garden:
looks amazingly different after a week or so of care. I have filled the trailer with the various bits of rubbish left around by the previous owner. I am now in the process of collecting the bits of broken concrete, rocks and bricks that are scattered around and piling them up for future use as clean fill, pizza oven building materials and garden bed features. Jon has also done a lot of mowing and whipper snipping and Mum and the kids have done a lot of raking. I can't wait until we get a few months of work done!

Jess