Story Time!

Here are Abigail's current favourite books. We are big fans of Dr Seuss in our house!

The Bears Holiday is a tale about Baby Bear learning all the important things about going on a holiday to the beach. Papa Bear teaches Baby Bear some safety rules on and off the land. Abi's favourite part is when they go underwater to explore and encounter a grumpy whale.

This is a fantastic book to read. The illustrations are fantastic and the story has a great blend of rhythm and repetition. The story is quite wacky but Abi seems to love it even more with every read. Highly recommend this book.

We have been reading this book for a few months now. Only recently has Abigail really understood that there is a real baby in my belly. She knows this story word for word. Her favourite part is when they talk to the baby through the imaginary "tummy telephone". Abi has now insisted we do this with my belly and we often talk to the baby throughout the day, telling him all about life outside the womb. My favourite part is when the little boy in the story is impatient and wants to meet his little brother but the Daddy insists that "the door is closed rather tight". Haha, what a way to put it, Mummy's cervix is CLOSED!

Wanted: Be@rbricks

I have quite a few Be@rbrick figurines and would love to add these cool guys to my collection. Abi would love them just as much as me, I'm sure.

Flashback Friday.

Fleetwood Mac - Landslide


I was fortunate enough to see Fleetwood Mac live in Sydney in 2009. Stevie Nicks is a living legend. She is amazingly talented. I cried when they sang this song, one of my favourite FM songs, Landslide.


Happy Friday everyone,


xxx

Song of the day

My favourite song from a great Australia film, Somersault.


Im lucky enough to have seen Decoder Ring play live a few times and they are spectacular.


I love the town of Jindabyne. I have visited this town every year for nearly my whole life. It's the last town before some of the biggest skifields of NSW. The film was confronting and intense. The soundtrack was brilliant, every song had its place in the movie.

Valentine's Day Gifts

humongous plush heart

lil' smoochers cinnamon candy

pasta boobs

measure your love cups

heartbeater whisk



Flashback Friday.

Girlfriend - Girl's Life


Today's flashback is quite tragic I admit. But I was SUCH a fan of Girlfriend. Every girl my age was. This clip is just such a time warp. The lyrics are terrible. The outfits inexcusable. Dancing with a bunch of flowers? Hysterical.


Happy Friday everyone,


xx

Mon-Thurs

This week so far:

Monday:

Standard day. Didn't feel inspired for dinner, so as James walked in the door from work I asked if we could go to Pancakes on the Rocks for dinner. Off we went. Abi loved her Clown Face pancake with ice cream for dinner. I got the Bananarama dish which includes 3 pancakes with toppings and couldn't even finish half of the serve. The place was packed at 7pm! Who knew pancakes and ribs were so popular!

Tuesday:

Had a real crapper of a day. Drove out to the new house and dropped James off so he could do the current inspections and discuss progress. Abi and I headed to our soon-to-be local Woolworths to pick up 'a few things'. A few things turned into a full trolley load. Me, struggling to get around the aisle corners and yet still filling up with more things. My nesting instinct took over as I realised I needed maternity pads, lux flakes, and other things for the arrival of new baby. I struggled at the checkout, and even more so in the car park as I loaded up the car.

Went to my Mum's house which is a 2 minute drive from the new house and Abi played with Mum as I vented all my worries and concerns. Mum is the best, and just listened and gave advice. Abi was flustered and upset when we left her house. Picked up James from the new house and realised I forgot to buy pizza bases for dinner so back to Woolies we went.

After getting home and preparing dinner, I had a huge meltdown about everything. The house, the baby, feeling unprepared and unorganised, the apartment being so messy and cluttered, the renovations costing more than we could have imagined, I let it all out. It felt good to cry like a baby.


Wednesday:

Slept well after my big cry. But still felt anxious and stressed. Spoke to Mum again and vented some more. Had a quiet day at home and managed a 3 hour nap in the afternoon which was bliss. Abi slept for 4 hours, gosh I hope she still sleeps like this in a few weeks once the baby comes. Baby was SUPER active all day, kicking and rolling around all day.

My father-in-law who works right next door to our apartment block came up after work to discuss some things with James. I was preparing to make our dinner, home made pizzas, and boom, the braxton hicks contractions began. Nothing too serious to begin with, but then I realised they were coming every 5 minutes, and were quite painful. I didn't say anything to James for about an hour, then I told him and he got excited and curious. The BH contractions stopped after 90 minutes or so and I relaxed on the couch for the rest of the night. I am excited at the idea of going into natural labour soon but I want to make sure baby isn't breech or transverse. He feels transverse still, I can feel his head and it's right on my side, not down low. I hope he is trying to move head down. Only a few weeks to go before he runs out of room!

Thursday:

Slept in till 9am. Had my usual weetbix and milk. We let Abigail choose her own outfit today and she decided to she wanted to wear her Croc Snow Boots, because it looked cold outside. James was reluctant to let her wear them but I thought, let her be. She was definately channelling some Pamela Anderson with the denim and ugg boots. Went to the Good Guys in Willoughby to pick our kitchen appliances and a dishwasher. $4800 later. Good lord.

Went to Trend Windows and chose glass/window combinations. The sales guy was so morbid and depressing, someone who really hated their job. Came home and ate leftover pizza for lunch. Find the turkish loaf I bought 2 DAYS AGO is already mouldy and I can't use tonight to make home-made Sammy Burgers. Gutted. Then remember that I have a loaf in the freezer, HUZZAH! James went to get a haircut and Abi refused to sleep this afternoon. I've been on the IKEA website for so long that I'm going cross-eyed. In search of a grey fabric sofa from anywhere, so if you have any suggestions, please send them my way.


So that has been my week. Stressful with tears. Contractions. Having fun with Abigail. Pancakes and pizza. Woolworths and worrying. Knowing I still need to buy feeding bras, set up the bassinet, wash baby clothes, pack hospital bag, book haircut and colour before the birth, and waxing too. Ahhhhhh

Weekend Recap

Late Thursday night, my husband sugested we should head to the beach house on the Central Coast.  Friday morning, he had an early conference call with his boss in the States while I packed 2 overnight bags and off we went.


After a quick drive up the F3, we stopped in at Bateau Bay Woolworths and did some grocery shopping. Once we arrived at the beach house, into our cossies we were and headed to the pool. Abi is going through a phase of only liking the "baby pool" which is about 50cm deep and has a fountain in it. James and I sat in the big pool while she ran around cooling off. We finally coaxed her into the big pool but she held onto me for dear life.


The whole weekend was disgustingly hot but relaxing. We spent most of Saturday in the lagoon pool which has a beach-like entrance which Abi loves. We had cold showers. Applies lots of moisturiser and sunscreen and zinc.

Abi pondering

Abi giving me the 'stink eye'

Yesterday morning we all slept in till 10am, bliss. Then James and Abi headed to the beach and I relaxed on the sofa. Then I headed to the spa in the resort for an eyebrow wax and 90 minute pedicure. My feet are soft and my nails are bright orange! I loved sitting in the treatment room with my therapist talking about babies and beaches and girly things.  Most of the therapists know me at the spa because I'm such a frequent visitor. James and Abi met me at the spa lobby with an umbrella which was sweet because just as we walked out, a huge storm hit and I would have been drenched walking to the beach house. Abi ran home in the rain and loved every minute of it.

My bump + orange nails

Taken from our balcony. Just as the storm hit!

After my treatment, we drove home via the suburbs of Sydney to my parents house to say hello. We then all headed to the new house to see the weekly progress. New walls are being built, the butler's pantry frame is up and the plumbing is being attended to. We have an inspection tomorrow and I will get new photos then.


I'm 35 weeks pregnant today. I can't believe it. Sleeping is becoming difficult, my insomnia has ramped up a notch. So has my anxiety. But I know in a matter of weeks, my baby, my son, will be here. I can't believe it.

Photos taken on my iphone, so excuse the crappy quality.

Flashback Friday.

Shakespeare's Sister - Stay


This is probably my favourite song of 1992. The filmclip is abstract and bizarre. The song is the perfect love ballad though. Enjoy.


xxx

Boys Nursery - Bedding

Now that I have revealed the sex of our bub, I can post lots of BLUE things.

We loved the Dwell Studio cot sets when we shopped around to dress Abigail's cot. The designs were gorgeous and looked so lovely.

I've been looking at boys cot sets and am struggling to settle on just one design, I love them all. James likes the Transport or Owl set. I like the Skyline or Owl set. What do you think? Our cot is white with dark brown sides.

Skyline set

Owl Set

Transport Set

Transverse Baby

Here is my bubs. I can announce that we are having a BOY and we are all over the moon. Look at his little face! He looks just like Abigail did in the womb. I have heaps of 4D photos of her too. The cord is right near his face too, the detail is amazing, isn't it!

I had my 34+ week appointment this morning with my Ob/Gyn and again, everything looks fantastic. Baby is growing well, strong heartbeat and rolling around in my belly. But peanut has moved, from frank breech position to transverse. I felt alot of activity and kicks last Saturday and my belly changed shape. I'm convinced that is when he moved from breech to transverse.

So the diagnosis is the same. We are hoping baby turns in the next 2-3 weeks. After that, we aren't sure if baby will have the room to turn. I've been doing some stretches on all fours, and pelvic stretches too. My back and hips are loosening up alot. My hips are not aligned and my left side is KILLING me most of the time when I sleep or sit down with my feet up.

I had another blood test to check my iron levels and my anti-D levels too for my blood type. Hopefully no antibodies are present and my iron levels have increased.

Less than 6 weeks till my baby is here. I can't believe it. It's getting CLOSE!

Photos taken this morning on the balcony. The sun is out, and despite the heat, I'm really enjoying the last few weeks of summer.

Currently - The January '11 Edition

Current Book (s): Home Renovation magazines. Kitchen appliance brochures - who knew choosing an oven and range hood could be so hard?


Current Playlist: Albums that are on high rotation for me the last few weeks are:

• Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros - From Below
• Cut Copy - Zonoscope
• Adele - 21
• Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part Two (Return Of The Ankh)
• Beach House - Teen Dream
• Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
• Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Current Shame - Inducing Guilty Pleasure: Watching the tennis. Lusting after Roger Federer. Disliking his wife Mirka. Jealous.

Current Colour: White for the house. Grey - on the hunt for a charcoal fabric sofa. Yellow and red for the beach.


Current Drink: Water. Deep Spring flavoured mineral water. Does drinking Gaviscon count? I drink that EVERY day now. Having a breech baby this pregnancy has made my heartburn MUCH worse.

Current Food: Mexican food. Yoghurt and muesli. Paddlepops. Fish. Caprese salads. Pasta.


Current Favourite Show: Big Love Season 5 just started. About to start Boardwalk Empire too.

Current Wishlist: Tradies at the new house to work extra quickly. Kitchen designer to build kitchen perfectly and quickly. Also, for mother nature to give Australia a break with the extreme weather. Flooding, cyclones, heat waves... Enough is enough. I'm so thankful there are no serious bush fires this season. One of my biggest fears is fire.


Current Needs: Falling asleep quicker. The baby insomnia has kicked in, taking me over an hour to fall asleep most nights. Also, be gone; back ache, leg cramps, heart burn and boob sweat.


Current Triumphs: We finalised our kitchen design, new lights and fans througout the house, negotiated halving the cost of a new fence at the back of the house with our neighbours, have picked new internal doors and a new entrance door, all taps/toilets/fixtures have been ordered. The renovation is in FULL swing now.


Current Bane(s) of my Existence: Sore hips when I wake up in the morning, struggling to get in/out of my 4WD.


Current Celebrity Crush: Bear Grylls. A Scout, Explorer, Adventurer, Motivational Speaker, Father, just a really awesome guy.

Current Indulgence: Maltesers. Paddlepops.


Current #1 Blessing: Having my Mum and sisters help me out while I near the end of my 3rd trimester. Only 6 weeks to go. Here's what baby probably looks like. Except mine is BREECH!

Current Slang or Saying: Does singing the Wiggles or Justine Clark count? Good lord, someone erase the lyrics from my memory!!!


Current Outfit: Birkenstock thongs, Haviana thongs, Croc ballet shoes, black jersey maxi dress, GAP singlets and anything with ELASTIC!


Current Excitement: Stating the obvious here. 34 weeks pregnant now. Almost on the home stretch. Baby kicking away and reminding me that we will be a family of 4 very soon. My sister has organised a baby shower for me in a few weeks. I didn't have one for Abigail because I lived in Singapore and didn't have a big circle of friends before she was born. I'm looking forward to a lovely afternoon surrounded by female friends and family.


Current Mood: Tired but excited about the baby. Anxious but relieved about the house.


Current Link:

• Stories like this
• Laughing over and over at this clip
• Amazed how far we have come. Before the internet was big.
• Singing during labour. I cried like a baby watching this.

Flashback Friday.

Beastie Boys - Body Movin'


Top song from a seriously cool bunch of guys. I'm lucky enough to have seen the Beastie Boys once and they were fantastic. James and I heard a BB song on the radio yesterday and remembered how awesome they are.


Happy Friday afternoon.


xx

New Years Getaway Pt II

More photos from our NY getaway.

Abi playing in the sand at North Avoca Beach.

Lunch at Wamberal SLSC.

Lunch at Avoca Beach. Not very sunny but VERY humid.

Another day spent at Avoca Beach. The rockpool is great for kids. A few places to eat right on the beach and lots of parking. A real winner for families.

New Years Getaway

A month has passed since we headed up to the beach house for NYE. We stayed for 6 nights which flew past so quickly.

Last summer we spent 3 weeks at the beach house, but this year James had to fly to Singapore for business and we had make do with a short getaway.

I was too busy relaxing to take my camera everywhere with me, but I did manage to take a few photos. Here are some highlights.

This is where we spent NYE morning. North Entrance Beach.

A very quiet NYE indeed. Not a soul in sight. It was a nice way to end the year.

Abi and James making sand castles. Abi sitting on her new beach chair.

Abi enjoying some icecream on NYE.

Norah Head Lighthouse. Beautiful spot.

My love and me.

The lighthouse + sun glare. Gorgeous.

Seriously pretty place. Perfect weather helped too.

Locals only spot near Norah Head.

Triple J Hottest 100 2010

I like listening to Triple J. Commercial radio can be SO repetitive and boring. I have to watch what I'm listening to with Abi in the car though, as Triple J isn't censored and the occasional swear word does pop up from time to time.


Every Australia Day, Triple J count down the hottest 100 tracks of the previous year and tally the results for the top song. I listened to some of the broadcast yesterday but missed hearing the top 10. I was pretty shocked to hear the results. Some were predictable, others a real surprise.


Here are the top 10 songs of 2010, according to Triple J listeners. Have a look see and you be the judge.


Number 10

Somebody To Love Me {Ft. Boy George & Andrew Wyatt} - Mark Ronson & The Business Intl.

My review: I actually like this song. Great collaboration with Boy George and Andrew Wyatt of Miike Snow.




Number 9

Art vs Science - Magic Fountain

My review: I'm not a fan of Art vs Science at all. It's just noise to me. I can appreciate dance and electronica music, but this is just blerg.




Number 8

The Wombats - Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves)

My review: The Wombats are cute but don't blow me away. This song had alot of commercial success too so its presence in the top 10 didn't surprise me.




Number 7

Cee Lo Green - F*ck You

My review: I love this song. It's very commercial now and was featured on Glee which made it even more successful. You might recognise Cee Lo Green as the lead singer of duo band Gnarls Barkley.




Number 6

Adrian Lux - Teenage Crime

My review: This was a real surprise to see in the top 10. Swedish born Adrian Lux has a hit on his hands here, with the help of Axwell (DJ, remixer, record producer and record label owner, also from Sweden)




Number 5

Boy and Bear - Fall At Your Feet (cover)

My review: Yes, this song is amazing. But it's not theirs! I don't think cover songs should make the top 10, in my opinion. Yes, this cover is ok but it's nothing amazing. James Blunt's cover is much better.




Number 4

Birds Of Tokyo - Plans

My review: Huge commercial success. Played at the Aria Awards ceremony in 2010. No surprise this was in the top 10. I heard the band talking on Triple J today and they were also surprised that the song was THAT popular with Triple J listeners. Great song though.




Number 3

Ou Est Le Swimming Pool - Dance The Way I Feel

My review: I absolutely love this song and the band. A trio to begin with, 2010 was a bittersweet year for them. Just as they started to become successful, lead singer Charles Haddon committed suicide by jumping from a telecommunications at Pukkelpop Festival in Belgium. The whole album is fantastic, I highly recommend it.




Number 2

Rock It - Little Red

My review: A great song from a great band. From all of the top 10 songs, this song should have been Number 1 in my opinion. Yes, it's commercial and pop, but still super cute. Abi loves dancing to it, so it must be a real winner.




Number 1

Angus and Julia Stone - Big Jet Plane

My review: I'm in two minds about this song winning the top spot. I used to be a huge fan of the Stone siblings, but I've gone off them lately. Hugely popular and commercial now, this song was a massive hit in 2010. I was shocked this was the TOP song, with so many other contenders not even in the top 20. I think I underestimated how popular the Stone siblings really are.

Sunday 230111

We collectively slept in till 9:45am which my husband needed desperately after all the late nights he has had lately. He has been on the go since he arrived home from Singapore last Wednesday and has been out every night with colleagues from the USA.

 

Spent 2 hours perusing the papers while Abi kept herself amused in her room. Finally at midday we decided that it was too hot and nice a day to stay indoors so we headed to the northern beaches for some relief.

 

We had lunch at a busy beachside cafe and then headed down to the rockpools of Freshwater Beach. Abi was a little timid at first, but loved that she could run into the water and it was very shallow.

I sat on a rock and watched my loves frolick in the shallow water. My cossie is a little too tight around my belly at the moment so I didn't go in the water. Major regrets too, because the water was a balmy 24'c and looked so inviting. I saw many other expecting mothers all cooling off in the surf, I was very jealous! Still, my view wasn't too bad.  I stared at this for about 45 minutes.

The breeze picked up and the clouds rolled in, so James went to get the car as we had parked on the other side of the beach. What a gem of a husband, I didn't have to trek all the way back through the hot, soft sand.

 

Bumper to bumper traffic all the way back to the city, as many beach-goers left at the same time we did. We decided to shower and head out for dinner, since we both weren't in the mood for cooking.

Our bathroom floor was covered in sand after undressing Abi and we all enjoyed a cool shower before changing and heading out to our favourite local cafe, Cafe Sopra at Fratelli Fresh in Walsh Bay. Abi behaved like an angel and we enjoyed stuffed zucchini flowers, breadsticks, ragu bolognaise and spaghetti and meatballs.

Despite being full as bulls, I was craving something sweet for dessert and we drove from Walsh Bay to Glebe and shared some hot churros with chocolate dipping sauce. I was so full, I could have rolled home.

All in all, a perfect family Sunday.