A blog entry

I just did a quick scan and realised that my last dinky-di blog entry was way back in MARCH! Everything since then has been about the new house. We have been fairly focused on that, but I will talk more about that later. First, I want to update you on the shortest people in the house.

Erin:
is still obsessed with finding a husband. She told me today that she is going to learn to cook lots and lots of food for her yummy husband - especially toast! Somewhere along the way she has absorbed the concept that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach LOL. I think she has overheard me telling the story of her cooking toast for her 'yummy husband' to a few people. It makes me remember to praise her to others and not be bashful about boasting! If she picks up on that one funny story, it is sure worthwhile to talk to others in her hearing about her obedience and give-it-a-go attitude. Yesterday she packed a box or two with her books from the bookshelf in her room all by herself. It needed only slight fine tuning when she'd finished and she was very proud of herself. She has been a great help with packing, even helping tape up boxes and write on the lid (well, holds the pen while I write on the lid). So many people underestimate two and a half year olds. She amazes me nearly every day. She has just finished putting the stickers in a sticker book that Nanny gave her and the time we spent together doing that provided wonderful 'down time' amongst the packing. The other day we just cuddled up on the couch and watched a Hairy McLairy DVD together while we ate a chocolate egg. Jon said he fully supports me taking time from packing to do this with Erin as the final pay off in her behavior is well worth it. She is a much happier child if she has had some time with Mummy.

Billy:
is his usual bright, happy, full tilt self. He has had no real fall out from his encounter with the ant (the one that bit him back when he tried to eat it!) and his current favourite "stare in the face of danger" activity is climbing and heights. This is made especially fun with the piles of boxes stacked randomly around the house. He can climb quite well and has an amazing amount of upper body strength for a little ten month old baby. He climbed up on the potty (it has a lid and doubles as a stool to stand up at the bathroom sink) and was looking in the sink when it slipped out from under him. He hung from the side of the sink using just his arms then lowered himself gently to the floor then sat down. I was a little gobsmacked! His table manners have improved somewhat. We noticed not long ago that when he is screaming for his meal (and I do mean SCREAMING) and we all stop to say grace, he falls silent until we say Amen then starts up again until the food reaches his mouth! Amazing how much he picks up on. He adores his big sister and the feeling seems to be mutual. They spend huge amounts of time cuddling and kissing and playing together (usually with ever increasing volume until Mummy has to get everyone to pipe down!!). Of course there are the usual accidental (and perhaps not-so-accidental) smacks over the head with random toys or theft of play things but they are learning slowly to play together well and I am daily glad that they have each other.

The Littlest Bubba:
should have a spot on here now I think! Now that he or she is obvious with a bump on my front and I have felt a definate "quickening" (and old fashoned word for those first, wonderful, movements). I spent some time on the phone with an old friend today who is carrying her first child, due almost the same time as me. It was wonderful talking about our experiences and remembering how it was to feel all these things for the first time. With the busy nature of our lives at the moment, I don't get the time that I had with Erin for luxurious daytime naps or simply laying on the couch talking to the baby and waiting for movement. Spending that time talking to someone who is seeing it all with new eyes has reminded me to take that time when I can - even if it is laying in bed awake for a minute or two talking to bubba while the house is still
after midnight. Of course there are other rewards. The wonder and delight on Erin's face as we talk about our new baby. The delicious anticipation of the rewards of labor without the fears of the 'unknown' that we all have the first time. Peaking at the baby clothes still packed away and remembering dressing Erin and Billy in them when they were so tiny. Anyway, I have an appointment with the Doctor next week to get a referral for our ultrasound which is exciting. It is hard to believe that we are that far along already! The doctor also has to let the hospital know I am pregnant so they can book me in (a just-in-case measure, this bubba will be born at the same birth centre Billy was). Apparently, me turning up at the hospital with a great big hulking baby inside me isn't hint enough to them that I am pregnant!

The house:
is all boxes at the moment. It is so exciting, the final count down. Of course the packing is not as advanced as I had hoped at this stage and I am DREADING the cleaning stage, but I thank God daily for our beautiful new home and every box I pack brings us closer!

The garden:
is in wind down too. Jon has dug over the vegie patch and we are in clean up mode. We dug up a few parsley plants and two chilli plants to take with us to the new place. As I work in this garden, my mind can't help but stray to the beautiful green house and the inviting garden beds of the new house.

I have plans of starting a special section in the Blog once we have moved and settled. This section will be along the lines of so many other Blogs that I have found helpful in running the home and caring for my little ones. It will be a section dedicated to discribing what works (and doesn't) with running my home and raising the little ones. You see, I get stopped in the street and asked "How do you manage?" with just Erin and Billy. The answer is "well, I just do! And most of the time I even manage to enjoy it!". Once upon a time a woman my age would have twice the number of children, washed all the families clothes by hand, tended a home that had no vacuum cleaner, no TV, no electricity or gas.....yet we seem to have lost those arts. I know I spent 4 years learning how to manage spending 8 hours, 5 days a week in a purpose built classroom with 30 of someone else's children. I had little to no training on how to manage my own home and my own children, and I have that job 24 hours a day 7 days a week! Other Blogs of other women have helped me enormously and I would like to pass some of that back. So it is something to look forward to anyway! COMING SOON :o)

Jess


PS. I was given a link to a website that sells t-shirts designed for parents of many and those who have them close together. I thought some of them were classic! Check it out, click here

The Great Husband Hunt

I wasn't going to Blog this week because things are a little insane with various office work for the business, organising stuff for the move and life generally all happening at once.

BUT

I had to share Erin's latest fancy. She is very excited about the baby in Mummy's Tummy and has on occasion proclaimed that there is a baby in HER tummy TOO. This is met with "No darling, you can have a baby in your tummy when you are a grown up lady with a husband to be your baby's Daddy" (traditional, yes - no apologies for that!! I am a big believer by kids being bought up by a Mum and a Dad who love each other).

The result of this has been The Great Husband Search. It started in the backyard with her running around yelling "I need to find a husband Mummy, where's my husband? I NEED a husband!!" and trying to marry the dog. This brought about the further clarification "God may give you a husband when you are a GROWN UP lady darling. There are lots of things you need to do and learn before you have a husband."

So as I am cooking toast for lunch and we are discussing the subject of things you need to learn before getting a husband, she pipes up with "I need to learn to make toast for my Yummy Husband!!" I nearly wet myself laughing. The Father of the Bride speech is writing itself already ROFL.

WE GOT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We get the keys Friday the 13th of April!! Big thankyou to all who prayed for us, it was all definitely God's doing. The only bittersweet part is saying goodbye to Paul and Katrina and the kids!

Some pics

I haven't got a 'big picture' view of the front of the house so you'll have to make do with this. There are more photos in the photo album. Not many of the inside as Katrina originally made up the disk to show the owner what they had done with the garden.

Another quick update on the house situation

There are several applications in on this place which are being processed, we should know by tomorrow at the latest. Our application for the new place is being processed. I have photos of the new place given to me by Katrina (the current Tenant) taken before they moved in and now so I will post them when I have a spare moment (ha!). It is a bit bittersweet actually because we dropped around to see the current tenants, just have a cuppa and a chat, at about 3pm Saturday and left at 10:30pm! We had such a lovely time, and I will be very sad to see them go. But I am looking forward to the blessing of that house, God willing!

Oh Yay!!

5 applications going in on this place tomorrow! Yes 5!!!!!!!!! So I think we will be moving to our dream home!!!!!!!!! Probably moving the Friday after Easter at this point, it is still a bit up in the air but we'll see. Thank-you for the prayers, God's hand has obviously been over this one!

Put your prayer hats on!

Yesterday we found the MOST beautiful house! It is an old farm house that has been fully restored and renovated with 2 wood heaters (1 in the kitchen in the most fabulous stone setting) and heating ducted to the rest of the house. 4 bedroom and a sunroom, a PANTRY!!, fenced yard for the dog. It has tank water, but with a bore that is pumped directly into the tank. The current tenants have 6 kids and they all shower one or more times a day plus normal laundry etc. and they have never had water issues. It is on almost 2 acres and comes with three hens and a rooster! It also has a green house and a double bay garage! So now we have to find new tenants for this place asap. We are putting an add in the paper tomorrow. We also have to work out the funds needed for the move (bond to be paid, removalists for the large stuff etc.) It is currently lived in by a Christian family who have done an amazing amount of work on the place but need to lease-break to go back to Queensland (long, complex story). I know they would love us to have it because we'd love it as much as they do! I told them that August would be the earliest we could move unless we get tenants for this place, but we will start looking NOW!. So please, add this to your prayer list!

***********************UPDATE*************************

There have been two responses to the add in the paper as of 9:15am today. Two people coming out this afternoon to check the place out!!

I am updating a fair bit this week!

But I was excited and couldn't wait to share LOL. The nesting is back with a vengeance! My Beloved is at TassieNats (big car/drag racing thing) and I usually use that time to do things that I can't do or find difficult when the kids are out of bed and don't do when he's home because I like to spend that time with him. Tonight it was cleaning the oven (how exciting! :P ) but this extended on to cleaning the kitchen for an hour then going around and DECLUTTERING!

I was reading one of the homemaking blogs I keep track of (large family logistics, the link is at the left hand side of the page) and she mentioned that every 'baby year' (she has 9 so there have been a few baby years!) she goes around and collects all the knick knacks and other non-functional things and either puts them away or gives them away. I had a few knick knacks around the house that I have kept and moved from house to house over the years mostly because the people who have given them to me, mean a lot to me. I have come to the conclusion that I better honor these people by using the time I would use cleaning and caring for these knick knacks (or feeling guilty about NOT cleaning and caring for these knick knacks) to call them or write them a note to tell them how much they mean to me! To tell the truth, I get a little depressed sometimes at the mis-matched nature of our decor. It is inevitable at our stage of life when we live in a rental and much of our furniture is op-shop, gifts or the cheapest available to do the job. But the mis-matched knick knacks, few of which were to our personal tastes at this stage in our lives (the musical carousel horse I loved at age 11 doesn't do as much for me now!) only added to the disjointed, cluttered feel of our home. So they are now sitting in a bag waiting for a trip to the charity bin so they can bless a different home that has time to care for them properly. The only knick knacks I have kept are the ones that my Beloved is attached to (he gets very sentimental over some things, he is much more romantic than me!), our photo frames (I have my eye on a set at Target that all match though!) and a small crystal squirrel that my grandfather bought for me in Switzerland nearly 20 years ago. I am hoping that nobody will be upset that I have passed on gifts that they gave me, but many of the items I have put away were given to me by people who can't come and visit because of the distance and their health.

If my energy had not given out I would probably be still cleaning away merrily, but bed calls. I just wanted to share as letting go of this clutter is a big thing for me! :)

Ode to the Challenge of Church

I am the blessed mother

Of two aged under three

My beauties and my heartbeats

The very best of me

My days are filled with finger paints,

sloppy kisses, sticky hugs

With tantrums, pouting, storm clouds

‘Time outs’ and surly shrugs

I embrace the work I have

of shaping little people

But Lord knows I need that Sabbath rest

And the building with the steeple!

So off to Sabbath school we go

Dressed in our Sabbath best

For a weekly dose of the fellowship

And a little Sabbath rest

Church time comes and I scan the pews

I pick so carefully

For seats that are most suitable

For my two aged under three

The singing starts, my two do well

They sing along with glee

They don’t quite know all the words

But that doesn’t bother me

They put their offering in the bag

And settle for the speaker

But this, my gentle reader,

Is where the story’s somewhat bleaker!

My toddler starts to wriggle,

He’s about to sprint the mile!

For a kind church member

Is waving down the aisle!

Firmly planted on my lap

He quiets for a bit

Then starts to chortle and to wriggle

This child just will not sit!

I look around and find out how

My babe’s attention has been captured

Someone’s playing peek-a-boo

And young Billy’s quite enraptured!

I smile (somewhat thinly)

and turn my boy around,

Direct my attention to the speaker

And seek the message to be found

The calm is short lived at best

Madame two begins to giggle

The peek-a-boo culprit moved on

And is causing her jiggle

A stern word from Dad turns her back

To her colouring book for now

But not before someone else

Throws us a nasty scowl

I sigh and read the Bible

over my Beloved’s shoulder

Is it my imagination

Or am I feeling somewhat older?

Someone leans over the back of the pew

And hands my son some paper

Gleefully he rips it up!

He thinks it’s quite a caper!

The noise cuts right through the prayer time

And, feeling less than happy,

I take him to the cry room

To remove the paper and change a nappy

I listen hard to hear the word

As I complete his ablation

But someone else tries to engage me

In a conversation!

Politely I extract myself

and mutter up a prayer

I gird my loins and ready my heart

And head back into ‘there’

As I head in I see my Love

March Madame two right out

I hear the smack which is followed by

A Madame two sized shout

I suspect the peek-a-boo Culprit

incited riot and flack

Poor Madame two gets the consequence

Peek-a-boo should have got that smack

We settle as a family,

to hear the speaker speak

Madame two is happy

And Mr Toddler starts to sleep!

Just in time for benediction

And the final hymn

Oh well, I s’pose the Lord knows

We came to visit with Him!

So, dear reader, if this tale

Is to subtle and restrained,

I will make it clearer to you,

Put it in words quite plain!

Please don’t play with my children

When the Word is being read!

As a Child of God I need His Word

I need my daily Bread.

And I want to teach them to respect

The worship needs of others

To sit and be obedient

Especially to their mother!

Please lead by your example

And direct your attention on high.

There will be plenty of time for peek-a-boo

When we meet Jesus in the sky!

Our First Hospital visit!

Well, after over two and a half years of parenting, we have finally made our first rush to the hospital. On Monday I was hanging out and bringing in some washing while Billy crawled around under the clothes line and engaging in one of his favourite activities - eating dirt. When I got him inside and started running his bath I noticed that his upper lip was swollen all across the left side and was swelling before my eyes (already twice its normal size). Our best guess is a sugar ant bite to the inside of his lip, he probably bit the ant first! So we threw the kids in the car and headed in to the hospital - where I waited for 3 and a half hours then went home without seeing a doctor! By that time the swelling had gone down, his tongue and throat (which were my main concerns) showed no sign of swelling and it was WAY past bed time for both kids. NEXT time we will call the GP after hours number and have it dealt with locally. I'd rather sit for ages with a healthy baby in the waiting room than have shock or breathing difficulties at home though! The kids were both fantastic and Erin thought it was great to have a trip to Maccas with Daddy!

Erin:
is now fully recovered after being slightly devastated after Nana Julie went home (she visited for four days last week). She loved having Mum here and thrived on the extra attention. She is now counting the sleeps until we go to see Nanny and Poppy. This morning I put her in the bath and she said to me "I would like some privacy please Mummy!" which made me laugh. It made me laugh even more when she kept calling out "come and see me having some privacy Mummy!".

Billy:
has fully recovered from the ant bite and seems to be working on yet ANOTHER tooth! He is into everything at the moment and his favourite trick to practise is baby chin ups. He grabs the edge of something (portacot, chair etc.) with both hands and pulls himself up so his feet are off the floor then puts his feet on whatever he is climbing and pushes himself up further. He refused to sleep in his pram yesterday while we were out so was completely distraught by the time we got home. His sleeping has been off all day today because of it. Just the times more than anything because he slept in this morning.

The house:
has slipped a little, the burst of energy has subsided but I am about to get another one. I can tell because the kitchen is clean! I need to put away the bottles of plums and find a spot in the freezer for some stewed plums and mop the floor, but other than that it's clean! The freezer is starting to get very, very full and there are no bowls of tomatoes left on the bench waiting for attention. I have bought a smoothie maker which is getting a work out at the moment. Banana and peach is my favourite, although the banana and pineapple I had this morning was quite nice too.

The garden:
is slowing down now we're into Autumn. We need to mulch the garden beds and get some lawn maintainance done, but other than that things are very quiet at the moment.

Craft:
Erin's jacket and only that still I'm afraid. If I ever say again "hey, I'll knit a jacket in 4 ply!" shoot me!

Jess