christmas is over

I am really glad that Christmas is over.

We had a great day and it all really went well but I felt very stressed particularly that morning and there was so much work involved in getting things ready.

Cleaning the house and yard, getting chairs and couches cleaned, purchasing supplies and preparing food.

On Christmas night I had such a horrible headache I could not sleep and only had broken sleep for the whole night.

The next day I was a complete mess and a zombie but luckily after a better night's sleep I was back to being human again.

The day after that I went home to visit my family and have a small Christmas celebration there too.

When I went to bed that night nursing a headache once more I thought I was going to be in for another bad night ... but luckily I fell asleep after about an hour of pain.

I have tried to barely touch salt or sugar since in case these have been the trigger.

So far it seems to have been working.

Now that Christmas is out of the way we are powering ahead with baby preparations ... the office needs to be cleared of non baby stuff and repainted.

Once it has been repainted we can start cleaning and filling it with baby stuff again.

Our new wardrobe is due to arrive in early January so our room will need to be rearranged and all our clothes repackaged and re shelved.

Our old furniture will go downstairs to store all our assorted odds and ends that are currently in danger from B and her teeth.

The computer room downstairs will need to be painted and filled with office equipment.

Progress is slowly being made and the bits of the house that I have rearranged and really thought about what I am doing with them, are looking much much better.

Kt's desk has now been assembled too!

I have been enjoying all my Christmas presents.

Last night I washed and dried my hair with my lovely new and very quick hairdryer.

I cleaned my teeth very effectively with my electric toothbrush which I LOVE!!!

I am reading through my Twilight books from uni, watching one episode of the long way round DVD each night ... and getting ready to try out my new maternity wear.

Not to mention sleeping peacefully on my maternity pillow and successfully carting my shopping around the markets in my trolley!

I am filling my new filing cabinet.

And once I have cleared myself a good working space am looking forward to trying out my laptop!

countdown until Christmas

Well a lot has been done.

Yesterday we got the couch and armchairs cleaned.

I vacuumed the floor in the lounge room and exposed more floor than ever before.

We are keeping it clear and tidy until Christmas and anything that doesn't need to be there has been secreted into other parts of the house.

Today I cleaned and emptied out the upstairs fridge and restocked it with food from aldi and the markets.

The downstairs fridge is full of Christmas food.

Uni has got the pantry downstairs assembled and we are well on the way to filling that up too.

One shelf so far is devoted to Xmas stuff and after Christmas it will hold a stockpile of food so I don't have to go shopping as much.

There are fish in our pond outside, although it is leaking a bit. Uni will try to patch it up over the next few days.

Our menu is sorted, our guests have been asked to bring various things to help with the smooth running of the day.... and I have a to do list with a rough idea of what needs to be done and when.

This morning it poured with rain while I was at the markets. Something I have never experienced before because if it rains on a Sunday I sleep in and don't worry about the markets.

This time though was the last market day before Xmas and would have been to expensive to stock up on everything we needed at the supermarket.

Especially as we have vegetarians amongst us!

There was no rain when I arrived of course and it started to pour when I had my first trolley load of goods.

Everyone huddled under market sellers tents waiting for the rain to stop or ease ... but not me ... I had things to do and food to buy so I just got in amongst the elements.

I love my trolley! It was packed to the brim, but did not hesitate through mud, dirt, puddle, stream (ok just kidding about the last one).

On Friday we even took it down to the beach. It stood beautifully in the sand and was easy to wheel around.

I washed the wheels and frame well to get rid of the sand ... but need not have worried ... as today's downpour would have taken care of that for me anyway!

I found everything on my hefty shopping list, in some cases having to go into stalls I was unfamiliar with. It was a good excuse to look around and seek shelter at the same time ...

Came home soaked to the skin, so I unloaded the shopping and jumped into a hot shower and washed my hair.

Then I tackled putting things away and realized I should also clean the fridge out while I was there.

I am unlikely to give it this much attention for a while again so having so many guests over who may be likely to use the fridge was a good incentive.

go slow

The slow time has begun.

I had forgotten how frustrating it is for me.

Holiday time means that for every activity I need to get done in a day, there are at least two things I need to set up and pack away for Kt before I can start.

Often I will get something set up for her only to have her play with it for 5 minutes and then get bored.

Meanwhile the job that is supposed to be being done is delayed.

And I still need to pack away the activity (eg if it is painting outside) so that the pup will not run off with something and chew it to peices.

Kt is in school withdrawal mode ... waiting for me to tell her what activity to do.

I am getting better at thinking of suggestions, but am missing the quiet time that comes with school.

The quicker I adjust to this slower pace of getting things done the better because it will only continue next year as my belly gets bigger and then once the baby is born, there will be no time for anything but feeding the baby and catching up on sleep.

last day of prep

Today was the last day of school.

Only a few prep kids turned up and both prep a and b joined together along with a few grade 1's and 2's.

I wasn't sure how Kt would handle it, but she is a big confident kid these days and she took it all in her stride.

I found out which one her teacher will be next year ... I have seen her before and have thought that she seems to be pretty good.

I also went upstairs to check out the new classroom. There was mayhem and madness going on in there, boxes everywhere and lots of stuff to sort out.

It will look a lot different by the start of next year!

Since today is the last day I had available for lone Christmas shopping I went straight from school to the shops, shopped all day and picked Kt up on my way home from the shops in the afternoon.

I got plenty of stuff for her and a few bits and pieces for everyone else. I really only need to get a couple of things now and all my Xmas shopping will be done.

The service on the mower and whippersnipper cost $270 so I am not happy about that ... and I have a very small amount available on my credit card, but I think we have managed well this year.

Still 2 weeks to go so I suppose I better not get too cocky.

When I brought kt home from school she mentioned there was a lot of blood in her mouth from her tooth and within a few minutes of walking in the front door her tooth was out.


So that is the second baby tooth gone. Her first adult tooth is almost at full size now, and her second adult tooth is visible and must have been seriously pushing on the other one.

Its a little bit back in the gum (behind where the old tooth was) but now that it has more room it will hopefully be able to move forward to its proper spot!
That reminds me that I have to make sure the tooth fairy can get in tonight!

i can officially no longer bend forward

My belly is so big and hard that I can no longer bend forward and down.

Now I need to squat down if I want to reach the floor.

Today was a bit of a funny day. It was party day at school today.

It started with the prep - year 3 platinum parade where kids who had been good all year and got gold on every behaviour cycle were selected to receive a platinum award, a badge and a certificate.

Uni and I proudly sat in the audience and took photos of our platinum kid.

Then I returned home for 45 minutes and headed back to school for the "party" at her school where each parent brings a plate and is invited to enjoy the party food.

Have never seen so much sugar and sweet stuff in all my life!!!

I thought I would go home after the party and do some shopping and collect Kt in the afternoon, but the cheeky teachers were encouraging the kids to go home at LUNCH time with their parents.

Kt got a bit emotional and didn't want to stay and so I said she could come with me but I had some shopping that had to be done on the way home.

This is how I managed to get my very wonderful maternity pillow from Kmart. This is fantastic as I need it immediately and wish I had had one for my earlier pregnancy too.

I was planning to buy it from the maternity superstore in brendale (they have them for $40) but was going to wait until after the madness of Christmas. This way I got one at a better price, close to home and I have it available for use straight away.

Thanks to some good catalogue observation and a very good mum, who bought it for me!