I have briefly made mention of this little fact about me but for those who are new to my blog, here's the heads up - today I am 5 weeks off having baby number 3 - that's right, a mere 35 days till I put myself through the most excruciating pain you can ever imagine for the third time in my life. Am I crazy, you ask? Some would say maybe but when they place that gorgeous little screaming bundle of joy on your chest, the pain you have endured for the past little while all falls away...and I can't wait!
My hospital bag is 99% packed (note to self - waters, please do not break yet!) and I have the baby's room all set up. Because we chose not to find out the sex (as we had also opted not to do for both our first two children), all that's left is to send my mum on a shopping trip when the baby is born for a little outfit to wear home from hospital. It is our southern winter and it's been cold so something cute and snuggly.
My only anxiety is that my OBGYN is on leave in about 2 weeks time for 10 days and I am sure they will be the longest 10 days of my pregnancy as I stay home and cross my legs, praying and willing this baby to not make an early appearance. Fortunately it will be school holidays so I won't have to travel too far and it will be a time of lot's of movies (seriously, how many times, can one watch "Annie"?), games (SOOO over Memory, Guess Who? and My Little Pony Trouble!) and home crafts to keep my girls occupied.
I am also starting to watch closely as my two little girls play together - enjoying their little dynamic and wondering how they will be with a new baby thrown into the mix. Both are excited but it will be a big change for them and I am really mindful of making sure I spend quality one on one time with each of them. Gigi loves nothing more than hanging out with mummy, shopping and having a babychino or drawing pictures together. Lulu would rather we dance around the lounge room to Beyonce or play dress ups. It is exciting times in our household and I look forward to sharing my adventures with you in time to come : )
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
How to Floor a Man with your Pelvic Floor...
After a shocker of a day where my car decided to have a major meltdown - ironically, 2 months out of warranty, I have a funny story that put a smile on my face, if only for a minute or two.
Having only had a major service last week, I jumped in my car to pick up my little ones from school and as I turned the ignition, the "there's a door open somewhere" light kept beeping at me. I did a lap of the car, opening and closing (slamming) doors, TWICE, including the back door, and the stupid thing kept beeping. ALL THE WAY TO SCHOOL!
Anyway, I decided that since the mechanic was on the way between getting my 5 year old from big school and 3 year old from pre-school, I thought I would drop in and play the "dumb, pregnant, oblivious female" card and see if they could fix it. Being pregnant, and having side swiped a car already two weeks ago, coupled with the usual frustrating traffic around the school at that time of day, I did not want to be responsible for what I might do if I heard that bloody sound any longer! Added to the beep, because the car's brains thought there was a door open somewhere, I was unable to lock it up so add that to the stress factor - leaving my car with 2 car seats, 2 prams, a camera, numerous CD's and about 10 pairs of sunnies in the glove box was just not an option.
Anyway, I pull up at the service department and a young guy heads over. Gave him a brief rundown of the problem and he has a look at the dash for warning lights.
"Oh yeah, I remember your car," he said, "we were all wondering last week what that note meant?", he continued, pointing to a piece of paper attached with sticky tape to my dashboard, just above the speedo. It reads, simply : PELVIC FLOORS
Ah yes, it was SO not my day..
Brief backstory - and a biology lesson for those who are clueless as to what this means (my childless sister included!): put simply, your pelvic floor muscles are those which stretch to allow your new baby to pass through your vajayjay and though they take a battering during a normal delivery, by doing small, contracting exercises prior to childbirth, one can help strengthen these muscles, improve elasticity and prevent permanent damage, such as wetting your pants every time you watch "The Hangover" in the future.
Like most things during pregnancy, you forget to do these all important "exercises" but it has been suggested that you do them at times you are not really doing anything but sitting still eg at the traffic lights, standing in the checkout line or watching television, as a way to ensure you don't forget to do them. Hence my little reminder on the dashboard - originally meant for my eyes only. Note to self - should have removed the note PRIOR to putting car in for service to avoid now uncomfortable explanation that was to come.
So, how did I explain this to a man, you ask? I asked him if he had a partner who had kids, mumbled something about "little exercises that help your fanny get back to normal after childbirth" and turned a very deep shape of ruby red. He grinned and said his wife had Caesareans so never had that problem. When this day started I did not for one second think I would be discussing my nether regions with a complete (male) stranger!
Anyway, after assessing my car and determining it was a short circuit/central locking malfunction that should be covered by warranty (oh, that's right, I am about 60 days too late!), he booked me in for Thursday, I thanked him for his help, to which he replied "no, thank you, it has been very educational!". Nice! Done my good deed for the day!
As for my note on the dashboard - it will stay for the time being (not long to go now anyway!) - but has it been effective, you ask? Well, in the past month since the note has been there, I have done my little "exercises" maybe once or twice so the short answer is "not really". Having said that, when I posted my little experience on Facebook, one of my friends noted that it's funny how your car always seems to have a problem once the warranty runs out. Another very quick witted friend of mine responded to that with: "everything plays up just outside warranty, including pelvic floor muscles". Boom, tish, Trish!
Having only had a major service last week, I jumped in my car to pick up my little ones from school and as I turned the ignition, the "there's a door open somewhere" light kept beeping at me. I did a lap of the car, opening and closing (slamming) doors, TWICE, including the back door, and the stupid thing kept beeping. ALL THE WAY TO SCHOOL!
Anyway, I decided that since the mechanic was on the way between getting my 5 year old from big school and 3 year old from pre-school, I thought I would drop in and play the "dumb, pregnant, oblivious female" card and see if they could fix it. Being pregnant, and having side swiped a car already two weeks ago, coupled with the usual frustrating traffic around the school at that time of day, I did not want to be responsible for what I might do if I heard that bloody sound any longer! Added to the beep, because the car's brains thought there was a door open somewhere, I was unable to lock it up so add that to the stress factor - leaving my car with 2 car seats, 2 prams, a camera, numerous CD's and about 10 pairs of sunnies in the glove box was just not an option.
Anyway, I pull up at the service department and a young guy heads over. Gave him a brief rundown of the problem and he has a look at the dash for warning lights.
"Oh yeah, I remember your car," he said, "we were all wondering last week what that note meant?", he continued, pointing to a piece of paper attached with sticky tape to my dashboard, just above the speedo. It reads, simply : PELVIC FLOORS
Ah yes, it was SO not my day..
Brief backstory - and a biology lesson for those who are clueless as to what this means (my childless sister included!): put simply, your pelvic floor muscles are those which stretch to allow your new baby to pass through your vajayjay and though they take a battering during a normal delivery, by doing small, contracting exercises prior to childbirth, one can help strengthen these muscles, improve elasticity and prevent permanent damage, such as wetting your pants every time you watch "The Hangover" in the future.
Like most things during pregnancy, you forget to do these all important "exercises" but it has been suggested that you do them at times you are not really doing anything but sitting still eg at the traffic lights, standing in the checkout line or watching television, as a way to ensure you don't forget to do them. Hence my little reminder on the dashboard - originally meant for my eyes only. Note to self - should have removed the note PRIOR to putting car in for service to avoid now uncomfortable explanation that was to come.
So, how did I explain this to a man, you ask? I asked him if he had a partner who had kids, mumbled something about "little exercises that help your fanny get back to normal after childbirth" and turned a very deep shape of ruby red. He grinned and said his wife had Caesareans so never had that problem. When this day started I did not for one second think I would be discussing my nether regions with a complete (male) stranger!
Anyway, after assessing my car and determining it was a short circuit/central locking malfunction that should be covered by warranty (oh, that's right, I am about 60 days too late!), he booked me in for Thursday, I thanked him for his help, to which he replied "no, thank you, it has been very educational!". Nice! Done my good deed for the day!
As for my note on the dashboard - it will stay for the time being (not long to go now anyway!) - but has it been effective, you ask? Well, in the past month since the note has been there, I have done my little "exercises" maybe once or twice so the short answer is "not really". Having said that, when I posted my little experience on Facebook, one of my friends noted that it's funny how your car always seems to have a problem once the warranty runs out. Another very quick witted friend of mine responded to that with: "everything plays up just outside warranty, including pelvic floor muscles". Boom, tish, Trish!
Monday, May 24, 2010
What's in a Name?
I am almost 32 weeks pregnant and basically this bub could come anytime now. Am I organised? Hell, no! I have however started to accumulate the baby singlets and Bonds suits, wraps and baby towels, the bassinet is now assembled, as is all the other nursery furniture, yet my hospital bag is still to be packed.
This is bub number three, gender to be a surprise, and you would assume I would be a little more organised than this but one of our main dilemmas this time around is something a little more important - deciding on a name. After two little girls with beautifully exotic Italian first and middle names (my sister-in-law described them as sounding like glamorous Italian movie stars!), it is especially hard finding a new set of names should this baby be another girl. Our boys names have changed each time too - the original ones didn't sound as good when I did the playground test - you know, where you scream them out (after the girls names) as you pretend to be rounding them up at the playground.
What to do when we have exhausted our four favourite girls names? Someone suggested recycling the middle names ("no one ever uses them anyway") but I couldn't do that. We have found a couple of new names we had never considered before and think we may have found a winner. Adding to the pressure is that our little girls have cute nicknames - Gigi & Lulu - so we needed to find a name we could shorten suitably to two syllables to go with these two.
Our boys middle name is unchanged - named in honour of my husband's late father - so there is also the need to ensure the name we choose goes with this name as well. I would love to use my father's name but ironically, his name is very similar to my married surname so this would leave a little boy open to ridicule. Think John Johnson, or Tom Thompson, or Allen Allan (no offence if this is your name). My father does not mind that we won't be using his name - funnily enough, he has grown up with such a double name (I married a man with a surname not unlike my maiden name - are you lost yet?). Phew, this name business is hard work.
Just to give you a glimpse of how hard choosing names can be, hubby and I were discussing our names tonight - basically my job was to scour the baby name books and create a short list and then run them by him. Here is a sample of the conversation - and a perfect example of why I prefer to keep my baby names close to my chest until the little tacker arrives:
Me: "How about Mica?"
He: "That sounds like a car"
Me: "What about Milo?"
He: "That's sounds like a dog"
Me: "Levi?"
He: "Jeans"
Me: "Leonardo?"
He: "Di Capprio"
Me: "Paloma?"
He: "Sounds like a horse"
Me: "Adrianna?"
He: "Adrienne!" (think bad Sylvester Stallone accent in Rocky)
Me: "Emilio?"
He: "Emilio!" (think even worse Will Ferrell in Night at the Roxbury)
See what I have to deal with....any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
This is bub number three, gender to be a surprise, and you would assume I would be a little more organised than this but one of our main dilemmas this time around is something a little more important - deciding on a name. After two little girls with beautifully exotic Italian first and middle names (my sister-in-law described them as sounding like glamorous Italian movie stars!), it is especially hard finding a new set of names should this baby be another girl. Our boys names have changed each time too - the original ones didn't sound as good when I did the playground test - you know, where you scream them out (after the girls names) as you pretend to be rounding them up at the playground.
What to do when we have exhausted our four favourite girls names? Someone suggested recycling the middle names ("no one ever uses them anyway") but I couldn't do that. We have found a couple of new names we had never considered before and think we may have found a winner. Adding to the pressure is that our little girls have cute nicknames - Gigi & Lulu - so we needed to find a name we could shorten suitably to two syllables to go with these two.
Our boys middle name is unchanged - named in honour of my husband's late father - so there is also the need to ensure the name we choose goes with this name as well. I would love to use my father's name but ironically, his name is very similar to my married surname so this would leave a little boy open to ridicule. Think John Johnson, or Tom Thompson, or Allen Allan (no offence if this is your name). My father does not mind that we won't be using his name - funnily enough, he has grown up with such a double name (I married a man with a surname not unlike my maiden name - are you lost yet?). Phew, this name business is hard work.
Just to give you a glimpse of how hard choosing names can be, hubby and I were discussing our names tonight - basically my job was to scour the baby name books and create a short list and then run them by him. Here is a sample of the conversation - and a perfect example of why I prefer to keep my baby names close to my chest until the little tacker arrives:
Me: "How about Mica?"
He: "That sounds like a car"
Me: "What about Milo?"
He: "That's sounds like a dog"
Me: "Levi?"
He: "Jeans"
Me: "Leonardo?"
He: "Di Capprio"
Me: "Paloma?"
He: "Sounds like a horse"
Me: "Adrianna?"
He: "Adrienne!" (think bad Sylvester Stallone accent in Rocky)
Me: "Emilio?"
He: "Emilio!" (think even worse Will Ferrell in Night at the Roxbury)
See what I have to deal with....any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
The P-word and other related displays of anti social behaviour to our boys in blue
Last week we heard the story of an appearance by Justin Bieber being canned because police were concerned for the safety of the 5000 or so crowd of mostly unsupervised 13,14 & 15 year old girls. A vast majority of these girls had been dropped off by their parents in the early hours of the morning (ie just after midnight in alot of cases) and left to fend for themselves in the city as they awaited a glimpse of their idol. Girls who, when asked by police numerous times to stop pushing and surging forward to prevent injuries, basically ignored their requests and in many reported cases told the police where to shove it. Girls who, when the appearance was cancelled, went ballistic and blamed the police for being party poopers.
This week we hear the story of the magistrate who deemed the word "prick" to be inoffensive and a part of our modern day vocabulary and hence dismissed a claim against a young man who hurled this obscenity at a police officer who was simply doing his job.
Is it any wonder that the police don't sweat the small stuff, as one former top cop reported today, as why would they bother when they are dealing with both soft magistrates and belligerent youth. Whatever happened to respect? You may not like being pulled over for a breath test or being asked to move along in the interests of your and the people around you's safety but what kind of society are we becoming? I was brought up to respect the police and the job they do but I worry about the world we will be living in when my little girls are teenagers and the police are well and truly over it. We need to restore respect in our youth but I am not sure how we would go about that. I guess we need to start with the parents but if the majority of Justin Bieber fans' parents are anything to go by, what hope have we? Any thoughts?
This week we hear the story of the magistrate who deemed the word "prick" to be inoffensive and a part of our modern day vocabulary and hence dismissed a claim against a young man who hurled this obscenity at a police officer who was simply doing his job.
Is it any wonder that the police don't sweat the small stuff, as one former top cop reported today, as why would they bother when they are dealing with both soft magistrates and belligerent youth. Whatever happened to respect? You may not like being pulled over for a breath test or being asked to move along in the interests of your and the people around you's safety but what kind of society are we becoming? I was brought up to respect the police and the job they do but I worry about the world we will be living in when my little girls are teenagers and the police are well and truly over it. We need to restore respect in our youth but I am not sure how we would go about that. I guess we need to start with the parents but if the majority of Justin Bieber fans' parents are anything to go by, what hope have we? Any thoughts?
Six Months in a Leaky Boat - give Jessica Watson her record!
I will be the first to admit that when I first heard the story about this 16 year old girl who wanted to sail around the world solo in a little boat, with her parents blessing, I was horrified. As a mother, I couldn't believe that her parents would let her sail off into the sunset at such a young age. I was scared for her safety, thought her parents irresponsible and was also swaying towards the camp that thought it would all go pear shaped and that our taxes would end up footing the bill to rescue this spoilt child who just wanted to go on this big adventure, without really thinking about the consequences.
My opinion changed a couple of weeks ago when I read a double page spread about Jessica and her family in the Saturday Telegraph.
Though not the type of upbringing I had, Jessica had a very interesting childhood. Home schooled and encouraged to go for her goals, she decided from a young age that she would embark on this expedition. She was also mature enough to realise it wasn't a Huckleberry Finn trip up the Mississippi River either. She studied hard the skills she needed to skipper her own craft, she put in countless hours of work experience with highly trained sailors and she was more than ready and prepared when she left the safety of her parents - with their full support and blessing - in October 2009.
As Jessica is on the home stretch of her trip - just shy of her 17th birthday - the press is reporting that her trip may not in fact set the record she had hoped and that in effect her trip was in vain. I could only imagine this would be heartbreaking for both Jessica, her family & everyone who has supported and sponsored her on her journey. Whatever the outcome of this new information, one thing is for sure - this courageous young woman set herself a goal - albeit a dangerous and ambitious one - and more power to her for achieving what she has. I will be telling my girls all about Jessica when she comes home in the next week or so and as they get older, I hope I will be as encouraging and supportive of their goals as Jessica's parents have been with her. Setting of goals and achieving them is a big part of life and well done Jessica for doing just that - you go girl!
My opinion changed a couple of weeks ago when I read a double page spread about Jessica and her family in the Saturday Telegraph.
Though not the type of upbringing I had, Jessica had a very interesting childhood. Home schooled and encouraged to go for her goals, she decided from a young age that she would embark on this expedition. She was also mature enough to realise it wasn't a Huckleberry Finn trip up the Mississippi River either. She studied hard the skills she needed to skipper her own craft, she put in countless hours of work experience with highly trained sailors and she was more than ready and prepared when she left the safety of her parents - with their full support and blessing - in October 2009.
As Jessica is on the home stretch of her trip - just shy of her 17th birthday - the press is reporting that her trip may not in fact set the record she had hoped and that in effect her trip was in vain. I could only imagine this would be heartbreaking for both Jessica, her family & everyone who has supported and sponsored her on her journey. Whatever the outcome of this new information, one thing is for sure - this courageous young woman set herself a goal - albeit a dangerous and ambitious one - and more power to her for achieving what she has. I will be telling my girls all about Jessica when she comes home in the next week or so and as they get older, I hope I will be as encouraging and supportive of their goals as Jessica's parents have been with her. Setting of goals and achieving them is a big part of life and well done Jessica for doing just that - you go girl!
Friday, April 30, 2010
Call me crazy but...
You know you are old when you find out a friend from school has just become a grandfather.....
but ...
You know you are NUTS when you are pregnant yourself at the same age as ol' Gramps!
Welcome to my world...
but ...
You know you are NUTS when you are pregnant yourself at the same age as ol' Gramps!
Welcome to my world...
Monday, April 26, 2010
Lest we Forget...
My grandmother's brother died on the shores of Gallipoli after having his leg shot off - he was a young man, with his whole life ahead of him. When I hear these stories about these idiots who go around destroying war memorials it makes me sick. These gutless little turds don't know how lucky they are to be living in this great country and their lack of respect for the men and women who sacrificed their lives to allow them the freedom to roam around the streets is appalling.
I took my children, aged 3 & 5, to the local community Anzac Day service yesterday and they took a little bunch of flowers each from the garden to lay with the wreaths placed by the local council, RFS, local Girl Guides, community groups etc. Though they don't really understand now the significance of Anzac Day, I, for one will certainly ensure the Anzac tradition continues into their lives for generations to come and hope that the spirit of Anzac Day lives on forever.
Lest we Forget.
I took my children, aged 3 & 5, to the local community Anzac Day service yesterday and they took a little bunch of flowers each from the garden to lay with the wreaths placed by the local council, RFS, local Girl Guides, community groups etc. Though they don't really understand now the significance of Anzac Day, I, for one will certainly ensure the Anzac tradition continues into their lives for generations to come and hope that the spirit of Anzac Day lives on forever.
Lest we Forget.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Comments from the Super Coach...
Though I have been a Parramatta supporter all my life, I would say I only have a reasonable knowledge of NRL football, more specifically it's administration and behind the scenes goings ons. Personally, I am a Swans tragic but am a sports fan in general and enjoy watching a variety of sports. By no means am I an expert but I would like to make a few points relating to this Melbourne Storm scandal:
- This whole salary cap issue - yes, they breached it but is it really an absolute necessity for the game? It seems everyone is always whinging that they can't afford this player or they need to cut that player, or there is no room for new talent because they have maxed out their salary cap limits. Pardon the ignorance but if they treated the footy club like a business and had a solid sponsorship manager, would it not be possible to raise as much sponsorship money as possible to fund whomever they wanted to field the best team possible? Why do they need a cap? Couldn't each club be responsible for securing the talents of the best possible players for their own team and then if they fail to make the grade, it's their own fault in their recruitment process?
- Having said that, if a club recruits some mighty talented youngsters who end up becoming superstars as a result of their growth at that one particular club, why should that club have to let them go just because they can't go over a budget set by an outside body? I would be pretty angry if I had trained someone up to be the best player in the game and to then be forced to move them on to a lesser team after I had put in the hard yards getting them to that level. These elite players are worth the big numbers being thrown around and why shouldn't they be entitled to those payments when they won't be working until the usual retirement age and need to make as much as they can, while they can? Maybe then we wouldn't lose more players to other codes or to overseas clubs?
- The downside of course if we have unlimited salaries for the rising stars is that we may end up with a bigger bunch of overpaid cocky little buggers who would probably do alot more damage in their downtime with too much time on their hands and deeper pockets (a good club development team and alcohol education programmes could & should help balance this problem).
- Now before all you members of the smaller clubs start banging on about how unfair it is for smaller teams that can't raise as much money, or are not as advantaged as the bigger clubs, like any other successful business, I say suck it up and find a good sponsorship manager to do the bidding for you and you could begin to bring yourselves up to par with the bigger clubs. There are plenty of big businesses out there with money to spend so it is just a matter of hiring the right person to track them down
- Though a Parramatta fan and of the opinion that Parramatta was robbed in 2009 (biased, much?), I think it is a silly notion to simply hand over the trophy to Manly & Parramatta for the lost premierships - I doubt the players would feel satisfied with that either
- As for the harsh punishment, parts of the decision are fair with the exception of the decision to deem Melbourne ineligible to accrue further points for the 2010 season. Yes, they cheated up until this point however once the salary cap is sorted out, and they bring things back in line with the other clubs under the current salary cap arrangement, why can't they come back into the competition? Perhaps with a handicap, say the equivalent of the points they had already accrued but in negative? They will start out at a disadvantage anyway so it's less likely they make the finals but if they do, they have still made the changes and would be back on par. I do feel bad for the players who are left to play for a team that is effectively going nowhere. Why bother, you ask? It is also a shame for their fans who have paid alot of money in memberships and season tickets. Unless the whole team was in on the fraud, which I am wondering if this is a reasonable assumption, why should all the team be punished for the actions of a few?
- On that point, leaving the punishment as is, if the Storm go on to win every game between now and the finals, and the teams they played obviously get no points as well, given the Storm have been branded as cheats, wouldn't the other teams be dirty that they may have at least got 2 points for a bye or forfeit, rather than just a trouncing?
- I am big on conspiracy theories and having a background in accounting find it hard to believe that all players were oblivious to the deception - yes, they are footballers and though some have about the same IQ as my 3 year old, it would be naive to assume the alleged rort was unbeknownst to everyone. Having said that, it was either a very sophisticated scheme or a more Underbelly-esque paperbag-under-the-table operation. If it was option B, then we are dealing with some very stupid individuals for thinking that they would not get caught out one day.
I couldn't help but wonder....
Like Carrie Bradshaw, I have often found myself asking this question many times a day. Lot's of stuff spins me out - some in a wide eyed, toddler amazement kind of way, others in a "you cannot be SERIOUS!" kind of way. I have always had a low tolerance for stupid people and every single day I find myself telling anyone who will listen a story of something I have seen that is mind blowingly dumb. My husband shares this trait and will often ring me with stories about some of the crazy people he encounters daily. I am a news junkie and I absorb current affairs like a sponge and have withdrawals if I don't read the daily newspaper. I am also a big fan of pop culture, am a sucker for the odd reality TV show and love celebrity gossip - can't get enough of it! My head is full of silly pieces of trivia which I love to bring out at the strangest of times. In fact, dinner parties are a great stage for my mindless musings. Most people get annoyed by their kids asking Why? Why? Why? all the time but I love it when my three year old comes out with something cute like "Mummy, why do we have a nose?" or "Why does a car need wheels?". I usually have an opinion on anything and everything and instead of changing my Facebook status every time I feel the need to share, especially after sifting through all the annoying Farmville updates (really, bored much?), I decided to start this blog as a way to get stuff off my chest in more than a brief sentence and without needing to know such useless information like you found a stray pink polka dotted cow in my herb garden! I will try to be witty and hopefully throw in some humour along the way so please pop back from time to time and say hi!
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