Gareth's 30th Page

Hi Y'all,
2 posts today? WOW! Yes, you should feel spoilt!
My cousin Gareth turned 30 on December 26th (Happy Birthday Gaz!) and it has become tradition in our family for all the cousins to get together and make a scrapbooking page about the birthday girl/boy which are all compiled and put in an album for their birthday! It is such a special thing to do and everyone loves to receive the album and see how much they mean to all the others in the family! Unfortunately, not everyone is so quick at doing their page! I mean, super amazing awesome Scrapbooker Yvette had her page for Gareth done way back in August, you can see it here. I only managed to get mine done in the week leading up to our extended family Christmas party (where the album was given to him) and I posted it off to Aunty Julie to compile before the party. Better late than never! I thought mine would be the last one but it wasn't so I was off the hook! I'm sure Gareth will enjoy receiving all the other pages soon {the sound of a whip cracking on family members!} Gareth is the cousin that matches up to me (Mum has a twin sister who also has 4 children, one that matches up to each one of us 4 girls) so there was no shortage of pics of him and I together. We are so lucky to be close to our cousins (even if not geographically), especially because there are 3 boys which are like the brothers I never had. Life was certainly an adventure whenever we visited! So Happy Birthday Gareth, I hope you liked your album!
:) C

19 Weeks!

Whoa, slow down time! Peabody was 19 weeks on Monday, that means in only a couple of days time we will be almost half way! WOW! This week's pic is taken in front of Mum and Dad's Christmas tree, isn't it pretty?! All this week I have been getting more and more pokes and prods from inside, I can even feel it when I'm at work now- not just when I am sitting quietly on the lounge watching Martha Stewart! On Monday night I even had 3 prods in a row- like Peabody was practicing running on the spot! Last night when I hopped into bed I had my hand on my tummy and I could feel Peabody poking on the outside as well as the inside! I excitedly called Will over and put his hand on the spot, but Peabody got all shy and wouldn't poke anymore (cheeky little thing!) It makes me so excited to think that soon Will will be able to feel what I can feel, and be able to connect to Peabody a bit better! It must be hard for the guys- just to see our tummy's grow but not be able to understand what it feels like just yet. Maybe it doesn't feel real to them until they can feel the poking and prodding for themselves! I know Will is excited to feel it soon. Every night he says Goodnight to my tummy {hearts rising into the air from tummy}, it's so sweet!
Hope you're having a good between-Christmas-and-New-Years Week! It was painfully quiet at work last night. So much so that you realise how good it is to be busy cos the time goes faster! At least when it's quiet I get the chance to clean my desk, and it's sooooo nice to not be run off our feet for once. I'll enjoy it cos I know it wont last!
:) C

Our Christmas 2010

Hi y'all!
We hope you had a fun, fantastic, frolicking, family and friend-filled Christmas! Will and I enjoyed our 3 days of relaxing at Mum and Dad's, I was stuffed every day from the endless cups of tea and cakes (mini Christmas Puddings, shortbread biscuits, rocky road etc). On Christmas Day Alicia, David and Xander came down to Wollongong for Christmas lunch and present opening. They didn't arrive until about 11:00am so we had to hold off opening presents until then (so hard! Obviously I am still a child at heart {wink}). Once they arrived though, we had a frenzy of present opening! There is always so much excitement, paper all over the loungeroom floor and ooohing and ahhing! (See Will posing under Mum's amazing Christmas bauble chandelier? LOL) After all the present opening it was on to our traditional Christmas lunch! Dad cooked the Christmas roasts in the BBQ outside (which means the house doesn't get stinking hot and we relax inside with the A/C on! And every time you open the back door you get the delicious wafting smell of baking Pork and Chicken! YUM! {licking lips}. Mum set a beautiful Christmas table in a red and white theme (Marie would have been so proud Mum!) and we even had red star-shaped coasters with each of our pictures on it (maybe in case we had to much Christmas champagne and forgot what we looked like {giggles}). And Mum made her yummy Cauliflour in cheese sauce and traditional steamed Christmas Pudding. So good!! In the afternoon we layed out on the smooth mown park-like lawn under the shade reading magazines and having a snooze! It was soooooo lovely!
Did you see the pic at the top of Xander opening our Christmas present? He was so taken by the ribbon, it was so cute! Then later on as he lounged in his pram he was enthralled by what was inside his gift- Fisher Price spinning balls- where the inside patterned piece spins inside a clear acrylic ball. He stared hard at that spinning bit! And Will tried to get Xander to crack his Christmas Bon Bon with him! It's funny to think next year OUR baby will be almost as big as Xander at Christmas! Sounds so weird!
Well, I hope you had as fun a Christmas as we did, thanks Mum and Dad for having us and letting us relax, sleep, and beat you at Carcasson!! We're off on a coupon date tonight to Mexican and then to the movies, double YAY!
:) C

Merry Christmas to You!!

Merry Christmas from Charlotte, Will and Peabody!We wish everyone a very Happy and Safe Christmas and have fun celebrating with Family and Friends!

This is Will and my first ever Christmas photo together, I wanted to get one with Peabody in it too and asked for a full length one but the photographer said the detail isn't very good if she goes futher back. (I think she really meant that you'd be able to see the shop fronts behind Santa's head so it wouldn't look any good!) I told her I wanted to get my pregnant belly in it and she was sooo excited and said she'd take it down to our knees then. Well it's not full length but I guess it's good enough if it shows Peabody :) Santa asked when the baby is due and when I told him May he said "Oh, May 11th?" cos apparently that is Santa's birthday (or this one at least). If anyone asks you when Santa's birthday is, you can tell them May 11th! I said it was the 23rd and he said that is his Mum's birthday (I imagine he means the original Mrs Claus). {wink!} I hope Peabody doesn't come out as a jolly fat man with a beard, but a little bit of Christmas spirit wouldn't go astray!
We are heading down to Wollongong after work tonight (yes, if you ever have your blood collected on Christmas or NY Eve, remember there are people who have to stay back at the lab to test your sample!) and as I'm the boss I have to stay til all the work is done {sigh} but at least Will is there with me and will help me (such a good boy!) Then we go straight down to Wollongong when we're done. At least there wont be much traffic at 1am!
So a big Merry Christmas to you and I hope Santa finds you!!
:) C

Christmas Card 2010

Well I had grand plans for making a whole swathe of Christmas Cards this year as I have in previous years, but with the move and still being totally disorganised with boxes everywhere after 3 weeks, I only got to finally sit at my desk on Wednesday and begin! I didn't even have a design in mind, I just printed a pic of Will and I from our extended family Christmas on the weekend, then I grabbed all the bits and pieces I had collected with Christmas cards in mind, then I threw them all together in about an hour! Success! Well, I did only make 8 cards, sorry to those of you who didn't receive one... but I only had time to make and write on 8!
I wanted to take a pic of Will and I with Peabody showing but there was never anyone at home when we were (except A Poor- Will's Grandma- and at 83 she's not going to be the best picture taker. I don't know if she's ever taken a photo in her life!) Luckily Dad snapped this pic of us last weekend and, though I'm not in Christmas colours as I had hoped, it did ok for the card :) The BG card is Stampin Up's Wild Wasabi green. I found the mini clear transparency sheets with red foil printing at Spotlight and I loved the felt reindeers I got at Spotlight too. The matching ribbon is from a crap shop at Rhodes and tied it all together nicely! Not my most ingenious or well planned Christmas card, but good enough for me and I hope my family like them too!
:) C

18 Weeks!

Here I am at 18 weeks :) How time is flying by now! I can hardly manage a post in between my tummy posts cos time is going by so quick. Can you believe it is only 3 sleeps til Christmas? My Christmas countdown calendar fell by the wayside way back at 6th December, so time really has crept up on me. Luckily I've finished all my Christmas shopping. It's our department Christmas dinner tonight which should be fun, and I've made Spinach and Bacon cobb loaf. I have to modify the method a bit cos there is no oven to cook it in at work so I made the filling at home and prepare the cobb (scoop out the soft bread inside to make it a bread bowl) then when I get to work I microwave the filling and pour it into the soft bread bowl. YUM {licking lips}. I may have had to taste test it for my lunch today {wink!} I always buy an extra 1/2 french stick to use for dipping/scooping so we don't run out. Will and I had bread bowl soup at Disney's California Adventure Park on our Honeymoon and it was SO delish! Hmmmm {memories!} This is the 4th year in a row I've made the Cobb loaf, but my friends ask for it every year so I guess they make it easy for me!
Hope your Christmas countdown is more organised than mine!
:) C

Oh Christmas Tree!

Aunty Julie- this post is for you cos you requested pictures of our Christmas trees and my email isn't working. So here it is! In all of it's unglamorous self! Especially compared to Yvette's beautiful Red and White tree complete with red and white wrapped Christmas presents, and Alicia's Ariabian Nights Purple and Silver marvel with purple organza base and matching presents. Our tree peeks out from the other side of the flat screen TV on the TV Unit in our bedroom, surrounded by as yet unpacked bags and boxes of personal items which have no home. It's a humble life for the tree, but I make sure I turn on the lights every time we're in the room! It creates some beautiful mood lighting! It's the same small tree that moved from Brodie St with me 6 years ago when my sisters got married and we all moved away from living with each other. I'm not sure how many years it had been going before that. So I think it's been quite worth the, like $30 it cost! LOL! The decorations on the tree mostly mean something special to me. They were given to me by family, or I bought them when I was somewhere special, or for some special purpose. It's a tiny tree but I love it! See, size doesn't really matter!
Maybe once Peabody is big enough to put some decorations on the tree we might splash out and buy a bigger one :) But then we've gotta find somewhere to keep it when it's not Chrismas, and those boxes are pretty big!
:) C

Happy Birthday Willy!

Happy Birthday to my darling Husband! Nothing like a late birthday post, seeing as his birthday was on Tuesday! We started out his birthday week going to I'm Angus Steakhouse at Cockle Bay in the city for dinner on Monday night (you might remember we went last year too!). It was delicious! Especially for a pregnant woman who was looking forward to the biggest chunk of beef, and a newly 28 year old guy who likes nothing better than a big juicy steak! I had Beef Ribs- look how fat and juicy they were! And Will had a Rump Steak and helped me out with some of my ribs too (there are only so many extra ribs you can fit in your tummy when there is a small person in there too!- Something springs to mind here... "I want my baby-back, baby-back, baby-back ribs!" LOL! Austen Powers. Back to the story....) If you ever go to I'm Angus you totally, really truly, have to have their onion rings. THey are battered in the lightest, most delicate deep fried batter, but they are heaven. YUM! We also had a wander around Cockle Bay and ended up having a Chocolate milkshake at the Lindt cafe (my choice, not so much Willy's! But I'm pregnant so he succumbed. LOL!)
Then the next night at work, which was his actual birthday, we had the Coconut Cake which I made him. It was delicious too! So moist and heavy, just so so good! Will isn't a massive chocolate fan so I have a little bit of fun trying out different flavoured birthday cakes for him. This one even had icing with blue sugar that was supposed to exemplify water (cos of his love of fishing {smile}). Not sure it worked that great but it was fun to use the blue sugar. LOL! See Will blowing out the imaginary candles? I never remember candles. And none of our friends smoke either so we'd never have a light for them! Imaginary ones are much easier {wink!}.
Here is the card I made him :) Isn't that monster just so cute! I bought the Make a Monster set from SU by my order hadn't arrived yet, so I had to use this one, which I think is from Daisy Bucket? I'm still sorting out my Scrappin Space in the garage, so I feel it's a small miracle that I can find any of my supplies in order to make a card to begin with! Let alone one that actually comes together the way it was in my head! Anyway. I like the card and so did Willy! Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes and presents he had a fabulous birthday!
:) C

17 Weeks!

Oops, still behind in posting! Here I am at 17 weeks pregnant :) Starting to blow out a bit now! Will took me maternity clothes shopping last Sunday which I was uber happy about cos now I have pants that actually fit comfortably when I sit down! I do see a distinct lack of Maternity shops around {frowny} even in Multicultural Town, which is PACKED with pregnant women! I guess you don't need the latest fashion in maternity sun dresses if you're going to cover it with a hijab. Good news too... we managed to book in to a hospital to have Peabody after all the rigmarole and hoo-ha!! HOORAY {popping party poppers all over the room}! We actually had to front up to the hospital and demand to be taken, in the nicest possible way of course {wink}. We will end up going to Auburn hospital as since they did their reno's and built the new hospital last year, they have now got a High Risk Antenatal scheme which I am booked in to {cheering and clapping from the crowd}. They did try to scare me (which may have worked) by telling me Peabody will go straight to the Special Care Nursery after I give birth (HA! That's the first time I've written that statement, it sounds so funny!) and will stay there for minimum 24hrs. And as they are a super busy hospital and only have 12 maternity beds, the stay for Mums is max 48hrs so I may have to leave Peabody there if he/she needs more care {double frowny}. But that's a long way down the track so we'll see how we go! And luckily the hospital is only 5 mins from home, I mean I can actually see it from Will's bedroom window, so it's not toooooo bad if we have to leave Peabody. It's really becoming quite real now!
:) C

Hotel d'Lam goes Griswald

Hi Y'all!
Well tonight was fun! While my Coconut birthday cake for Will baked in the oven I helped Will and his 2 sisters put more Christmas lights on Hotel d'Lam and now it officially looks like a Griswald house! YAY! {happy dancing!} I have been a little disappointed by the lack of lights around this year, has the global financial crisis hit the Christmas light scene? There are even 2 houses covered in lights and assorted blow up personas and additional Christmas crap that you can see during the day, which I pass on my way home from work and I have yet to see them actually turn the lights on! With all that effort I'd like to see some results! Oh, but there is a house around the corner from Hotel d'Lam that is almost more covered than ours! It's pretty cool. I hope we get lots of slow drivers down the street having a look. Will and I already did a little tour of the neighbourhood tonight {wink!}
The lack of other houses with lights has made me even more determined to make sure the lights stay on long at night at Hotel d'Lam! (Hopefully it wont permanently blow the power board in Lil's room, though it has already gone off twice!) The girls did most of the work with Will just helping out with the loopy lights. Isn't it so pretty! If you know what the house looks like in the day time it looks a little more impressive. But you get the idea. Have you put the lights up at your house yet? Come on Christmas grinches! Get in the spirit!
:) C

16 Weeks!

Last monday marked the 16 week point for Peabody! YAY! It should have been the week I booked in to Auburn hospital (yes, they told me to wait until 16 weeks) but I called 3 times and left 3 messages last week but didn't hear back. Then my Endocrinologist told me they wouldn't be able to handle me and my diabetes at Auburn so he gave me a letter to fax to Westmead (who I had called at 9wks and they told me I was out of the area). I called Westmead, told them about my diabetes and faxed the Endo's letter. They called me back to say I was out of the area! (Not this again!!) I explained about my diabetes and the nurse was going to call Auburn and get back to me. Obviously it's hard for everyone to get through to Auburn cos that was Friday and I didn't hear back and tomorrow I will be 17 weeks and am slightly freaking out that Peabody will have to be delivered by our friend Alex who is an ambulance officer and has offered his services! NOOOOO {freak out!} Can someone please just take me and my baby so I know we've got somewhere to give birth?!! I feel I need some kind of antenatal care, seeing as I've moved away from my GP too, so I'm just floating around in the atmosphere not really knowing what's going on!! Ok, this is the pain of being a public patient, I think!
Any hints?
:) C

Xander's Christening

Hi Y'all!
Well, I've been a little slack on the posting again, so here is a catch up for you!
Last Sunday was Xander's Christening. Oh he is just the sweetest, cutest little golden child (everyone tells me babies aren't usually as happy, well behaved, easy to feed and a good sleeper as Xander is! But I'm not believing them, cos I'd like one just like him!) He was so well behaved during the Christening service, he didn't cry when he got doused, but then he loves his swimming lessons so water is nothing new for him!
Alicia has decorated his nursery in Black and White and so what better cake to have than a black and white iced red-velvet cake. Oh it was SO GOOD! Really moist and heavy inside with the delicious chocolatey taste. Co-incidently the cake maker was Xander's midwife, and also the same lady who made Will and my wedding cake! Nothing like keeping it in the family :) Isn't it a cool cake! The big X on the top is a silver decor letter he has in his bedroom (not edible! {giggles}) cos Alicia didn't want sugared booties or a baby on top! She's such a modern gal {wink!} I didn't get to try the cake on the day cos I had filled up on some delicious Italian treats David bought, like Chocolate Canoli and Lemon tarts! Oh they were sooooo good. And David had made his famous Lamb cutlets (with their secret marinade) which were delish. (Wow, lots of food talk, maybe it's time for a snack here at home!)
Isn't Xander so cute in his "little man" button-up shirt! He has grown so much in the month since we've been back from Hawaii too, his legs seemed to have doubled in length! And he looks so much like David, except for his blue eyes which he got from Mummy! His hair is getting so long that it doesn't sit in his cupie curl so much anymore :( He's growing so fast! But he's such a good little guy. Congratulations Alicia and David and Happy Christening Xander!
:) C

15 Weeks!

Ha, USB located! YAY!!
Here is Peabody at the beginning of Week 15. Remember I take my pics on a Monday and I reckon my tummy has gotten bigger since then, so next week I'm hoping you'll see a difference! Mental note: do hair for next picture and try to not be in "around the house" clothes. I remember Oprah said you shouldn't have "house clothes" cos then you get complacent and you go out in them (as I said I did when I went to Bunnings!) But they are just soooo comfy. And I'm beginning to run out of comfy pants!
I'm off to the Ballet at the Opera House tonight with Mum, Dad and Felicity. We're seeing The Nutcracker! YAY! On Yvette's advice I Wikipedia'd it so I'd know what was going on (fantastic suggestion too Yvette!) so I'm all set. Mum and Dad got 4 free tickets off friends of theirs and I'm so happy Felicity and I can share it with them! (Nice friends!) What do you wear to the Ballet? Anyone know? I've gotta go try on some outfits now I think... hopefully I've got something nice that isn't tight in all the wrong places at the moment!
:) C

We've Moved!

Hi Y'all...
Yes, we are still here. All 3 of us, Will is working (as usual and yes, it is 2am Saturday morning), I'm at home and Peabody is starting to push his/her way out to meet you all! Yep, this week I can feel my tummy is much bigger and harder. Even more so than when I took the pic on Monday (if I could find my USB I'd upload it and show you!) So if you're seeing me on Sunday tell me if you think I look bigger!
Well, our move went well. Despite feeling like it went forever because I spent 2 weeks packing beforehand, then we moved on the weekend with lots of help from family & friends {hugs} and now Will and I have the mammoth job of unpacking 87 boxes and bags. Yep, 87, I counted. Whoa {slapping face on table} this is gonna take a while! Especially because we pretty much have to fit it all in our bedroom, the garage or one pantry in the laundry {double sigh}. I'm sure we'll get there and thankfully Will's family has been uber patient with all our boxes and bags being everywhere at the moment. Luckily Will's Mum has a Museum Room (a room which no-one goes in where the furniture is still covered in plastic) in which we can store our boxes.
So let me tell you a little about where we have moved to. It is no-where near this:and it would be much more glamorous were it nearer this:
but it's not. It's closer to this:
and this:
I guess that makes it super convenient for the Easter Show! Score {high fiving}! Pity I wont be able to go on any of the rides this year.
Yes, remember I said we were moving to Multicultural Town? Well, I made my mark this week by going shopping in a pair of trackies because I have realised they are perfectly acceptable shopping attire. Don't worry, it was only to Bunnings.
One thing I am super excited about is that this is opening in Multicultural Town next year:
I'm pretty sure Will's Mum is going to go nuts there. She already buys everything she can in bulk (exemplified by the fact there are 48 eggs in the fridge. I counted.), this is going to be like heaven for her! I'm totally interested in seeing what they have too. And it will be only 10 mins away. YAY! {blowing on paper hooter}.
Well, it's late so nigh night and hope you have a good weekend. Once I find my USB I'll upload you some pics of Peabody!
:) C