Cuddles with Rahni

I don't think I mentioned on my blog, but on Dec 15th 2010 I became an Aunty again to little Rahni Mae. She is Russ' first 'blood' niece so he was pretty excited :)

Yesterday she and her mum came for a visit and we got some cuddles :) She is very adorable! Russ was holding her and quick as a flash Ava flew over to him to show Rahni just who her Dadda is...she never goes to Russ for cuddles of her own free will, but if her Dadda holds someone else, she gets very jealous!!

Blossi in pink - Rahni in blue

"What's going on over here? He's my dadda!"

Quite a nice photo of them both!

New Course

While I have put my nursing studies on hold I have begun another degree! Crazy...why yes indeed I am!

I was meant to continue my nursing studies at the start of this year, however I didn't feel I would be able to get it done with 2 very young girlies at home. So I decided to put it off another semester...which is due to start in another month or so! However, I have put them on hold again. I decided that it is not really possible to get to labs and pracs when I don't feel right having my daughters babysat or in day care. That's my responsibility! I made the choice to have children, and sacrifices need to be made. I am in no way saying that mums shouldn't work or study, and should dedicate their entire lives to their kids, but for me, this is my choice...and I currently choose to invest in them.

However, I did feel the need to occupy my mind with something a bit more than the lyrics to Wiggles songs. So, I am currently studying externally through Griffith University - a Writing Degree. I am majoring in both Creative Professional Writing and also Journalism. I enjoy writing (hence the existence of this blog) and it is one of the things that I feel I am (somewhat) talented in.

I have enjoyed my units so far and am getting some positive feedback. For my creative writing unit we have, for example, 7 writing tasks to complete every 3 weeks. We are given different topics and are then required to post them onto a forum where other students in the course can comment - it's kind of like a blog! We also have 3 major creative writing pieces we need to submit. In my other unit we need to read 5 well-known pieces of literature and have 3 major assignments and final exam on the books we've read. I am currently reading, Antony & Cleopatra by Shakespeare, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Unknown, Medea by Euripides, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte and Anna Karenina by Tolstoy.....BIG I know! And as you can probably guess, the theme for the study period is Love and Marriage!

I am really enjoying it, and I am also enjoying getting feedback on people who are reading some of my written assignments. I'll attach a piece I wrote on the 12th of June - the topic was a 'Sensory Experience - a Day out with Friends'

"The sun streaming through the canopy of trees above, sting my eyes. The soft and slightly damp grass beneath, with toes wriggling between the long strands. The weight of her body upon my chest, I can feel her body rising and falling with each breath. I can hear her sucking her fingers and humming a little tune she has made up on the spot. We can smell meat and onions cooking on the barbie which only causes our stomachs to rumble even more. My daughter wrapped up in my arms, enjoying the warmth we give each other on a cool winter afternoon. The sounds of friends talking away and kids playing on the nearby play set. I tune them all out just to listen to my daughters breathing, and continue to feel the rising and falling. In. Out. In. Out."

I'm not really into writing descriptively, and I found myself feeling a bit try hardish with using descriptive words...but there ya go! It's good to go out of your comfort zone sometimes. To learn new things and develop current talents!

Procrastination Key

Ugh...I'm using my blog as a tool for procrastination. I have a sink of dishes that are calling my name and some assignments I need to get a start on, BUT I've decided I need to put up another post ;)

On the menu for tonights dinner is Sticky Chinese Pork. I can't remember how I stumbled upon this recipe, but I've been wanting to try it out for awhile. Something about the word 'sticky' just grabs me! I'll post up whether it was worth the effort or not!

We have small group this wednesday night also and we are going to be starting our look at Rob Bell's new book 'Love Wins'. If you've been out of it for awhile - there has been a lot of controversy over this book. Hopefully it will generate some healthy discussion and we can all still be friends afterwards hehehe.

On a side note about our group, we got out of our comfort zones yesterday and helped out at a semi-local church! They were in need of some help with their music area, and we pratically contain an entire music team within our group, so we volunteered our time and 'talents'. We were hoping to be a blessing to the church, but I think we may have been the ones who were blessed! Russ and I got such a buzz from it that we couldn't stop talking about it for hours after! It's nice to finally do something for the benefit of someone else. Hopefully we all felt the same and will be up for it in another month...maybe...guys??

Anyway...I think I've procrastinated enough...I better head to those dishes :(

Mothers Day 2011

This year I got to spend mother's day with 2 beautiful daughters! Oh, and I also got to see my mum, granny and sisters :)

In the morning Russ brought me a cuppa tea and some porridge - Eme decided she wanted to join in so brought in her glass of milk :)

My first Mothers Day with Blossi Chops

With my two cherries before bedtime

From left: Kate - mum to Kajah. Mum - mum to Me Robbo Kate and Dru.

Yours truly - mum to Emery and Ava

Granny/Gg - mum to Stephen Karen and Greg

Kaylee - mum to Landon and Evelyn (and one on the way!!)

It was a lovely day and I was so blessed to be able to spend it with all my family and in particular with my 2 cherries xxx

A Time to Heal

So, I've taken a temporary hiatus from facebook. I lead a full and happy life and at the moment facebook makes parts of my life miserable.
I am a happy mum to two wonderful daughters (I love that word!), I have a beautiful loving husband who doesn't just tell me things to fluff my ego but who loves me enough to be honest with me and help me to become a better person. I have a loving family. I've started a Uni Degree which I am loving - like I said...a full life.
I'm just finding that when on facebook, you have so many contacts/"friends" and it is so easy to interact with each other. It's good because you can communicate with a mass amount of people which you could never do in your every normal day...you just couldn't possibly interact with that many people in a day! So, you interact with people more than normal, and in my mind, I guess I get too familiar with people and they may not necessarily feel the same way back...if that makes sense?
Anyway...I'm not the type of person who would try to tear shreds off people, and I don't like being made to feel otherwise. I'm not a malicious person...but facebook has made me feel otherwise.
I love the ease of communicating with my beautiful small group, I love seeing what family over east are up to, and I love getting to see friends photos of their lives.
I just need a break from it all. I have too many other important things in my life which need my attention. I have two daughters who deserve my invested time in them as little people plus I have my blog, which allows me to write what I want...cos it's mine. I often wake at 2am with words that come to me in my dreams, and I love to write so I will pick my blog up where I left off and endeavour to keep it a bit more maintained :)

My "creation" admiring Creation

I love watching Eme admire God's creation.
She always points out the moon when she sees it, and gets very upset if she can't see it because of cloud cover!
I'm loving and enjoying her starting to talk more. The other day I was clipping her into her car seat and she 'sniffed' me and said "smells good mumma!" and continued sniffing me! Love it.
And I love her!

Letter

Dearest body,

I know you've had to undergo some drastic changes recently, but honestly you've got to pull yourself together!

For example, the boobs...if they get any bigger they will explode by the time any milk comes in! It'll be like the baby gets knocked out by a safety bag everytime they go in for a feed!

The muscles...they can't stretch any further. You may continue trying, but they just can't do it! It's almost as though they are being pulled off my backbone...and it's getting a little sore.

Belly...well...where to start. I can no longer put on my socks, pants, or undies without aid from a third party. And we both know that I can't go out in public with just a top on if I just dress myself. People may ask questions. I can't cook on the hotplates without cinging you and I can't reach that mars bar that fell under the couch.

Oh, and the belly button has asked me to pass on, that it too, can not go out any further. Its reached its limit. Actually it reached its limit about 6mths ago, and it's not going to be pretty if things continue.

Brain, you served me well with exams, but the everyday stuff, you are falling short! Only shaving one underarm or leg then forgetting the other...not on. Dropping hubby off at incorrect work place...not on. Forgetting child when visiting someone...not on.

Body, you have served me well these last 26 years. All I ask is that in this last month, maybe you could give me a break. I know it's all 'worth it in the end' but at the moment....the end seems too far away, so if you could just pull yourself together this last month that would be great.

Yours sincerley, bek

The Extent of Eme's Vocabulary

more? (sounds like a question when she says it) = obviously, she...wants...more
sweestree? (again, sounds like a question) = Sesame Street (and I want to watch it!)
sues? = shoes
sues? = socks
sues? = feet
ooey = woolly (her blanket she carries EVERYWHERE. the one I made!)
da = thankyou/ta (though it is a rareity)
baby = baby dolls
teddy = teddies :)
ETdee = Jet (our dog) / Jetboy
noooo = no
dontee = don't touch!
argh = argh (she copies me growling at Jet)
kai = kajah (her cousin)
illy = landon (her cousin)
dada = anyone and everyone
mumumumumumumu = I want something mum

I'm sure there are others, and at the moment the list is expanding everyday! I just want to keep a record of her words at 18.5mths along :)

Well....oh my....it has been a long time. And I am quickly losing interest in starting every post with that!

I always think that I can do it all. Mother, Student, Wife, plus all the other things I like to fit in between. Like knitting home made items and cooking up a storm, and the occassional thought of overseas mission trips and of starting up charities!

I'm only just starting to realise that I CAN'T do it all. But I very rarely will ever admit that. Not until I'm curled up in a foetus position crying for a day. Even then, I get up the next day just as determined to do it all.

I've really enjoyed being at Uni so far this year, but I've had to make my sacrifices. I either sacrifice time spent with Emery and Russell, or I sacrifice study time. Plus I feel like I've sacrificed the time normally spent bonding with the baby I'm carrying. I have no real connection to this baby yet and I'm concerned that this could lead to Post-natal depression later down the track.

My last exam for Uni will be on the 16th of June, so I'm just counting down the days till then. Then I feel like I'll be able to get back on top of everything. Back to being a real mother and wife. Then I get selfish though and wish I wasn't having this baby so that I could return to my studies next semester. That's when the thoughts of "I can do it!" come in and I start to toy with the idea of having this baby in amongst my studies in the second semester. But I also don't like admiting or thinking these things just in case God decides to take this baby from me! Argh!

2 weeks ago Russell's Pop passed away on a Saturday morning. He was like a real Pop to me. He and Nan were the only one's to really accept me into the family and make me feel at home. To have pure acceptance with no strings attached...it's very rare to find that. But he and Nan have passed away this year and it feels as though the Ingram side of the family are a little lost without them. We had Pop's funeral on the following Thurs. morning. At which, I received a phone call from my dad saying that my Pop had passed away that morning. So then, Sunday night I flew over to Sydney to join the Furlong family and to say goodbye to my Pop.

That was the most interesting, emotional, and stressful week I have ever had. All beginning with the flight over. It was a red-eye flight and I was flying with my sister and her daughter, no husbands. Eme was sick with a chest infection and didn't sleep most of the flight, and just as we started the descent into Sydney she vomitted everywhere. It wasn't just a little spew, I'm talking 5/6 big chucks. I had to strip her down (the poor passenger next to me was an angel and helped me incredibly) and she entered Sydney airport with just her socks on and bathrobe...hair full of vomit, walking around like one of those crazy women you see in the city sometimes (this IS Eme I'm talking about too!). I had only slept 1hr in the last 30+ hrs and burst into tears when my Dad and Uncle picked us up. I couldn't sleep during the day as I had gone past the point of sleeping and we all literally crashed into bed that night.

It was a long 4 days and I was starting to wonder whether I had made the right decision in going over, but once I got to the funeral, and the day was (mostly) about Pop I was thankful to have gone over. I loved my Pop. He was always fun and he was the only person who could get away with calling me 'Becky'. Which he did my ENTIRE life.

I missed Russell more than I ever have - I left him at the airport crying because I was going to miss him - and he picked me up crying because I had missed him so much! (Friggin' hormones)

It's amazing how much someone can squeeze their way into your life, to the point where you are feeling like something is missing when they are not around. We will celebrate 5yrs of marriage this June and it has gone so fast - but has been the best ride, thus far!

We are also in the middle of finding a new church. Seems we go on this journey every 2yrs or so, so in order to ensure that this DOESN'T become a 2yrly event, we are catching up with our old Bull Creek pastor & his wife to discuss church, spiritual and life issues. This has been really beneficial (after only one meeting anyway!) and it has been a real blessing to set aside time to discuss and pray intentionally about something so important.

We are alternating between going to Mosaic and Thornlie at the moment - but there are a few spanners that are being thrown into the works that are starting to make things difficult...again.

There wasn't really much point to this post...I guess I just felt the need to write this morning. Plus I'm procrastinating getting into some study. Who needs to know the ins and outs of cells anyway!

Sibi Update

Yesterday we got to go have an ultrasound to see everything was going well with Sibi.

They say that it is used to check for downs syndrome, but all I want to see is a heart beating.

Bub looks good and very different to Eme!! Heartbeat was 20bpm then Eme (Russell thinks this is because it is a boy) and was barely moving around. Was quite happy to just lay there crossing its legs and floating around! Eme at her 12wk ultrasound was bouncing all over the place!

Hopefully this means this bub will be a little more low-key than Eme...but I don't mind having two psycho's on my hands!

Hullo Everybody!!!

Resting hand over head

Newest Edition to the Family!

I am an Auntie for the 3rd time over this week!

My brother and sister in law welcomed the arrival of their daughter, Evelyn Rochelle on the 13th.
Weighing a healthy 8lb9oz and 50cm long.

I unfortunately dont have any photos of her yet, because I left in such a rush to go meet her I forgot my camera :(

Congrats Robbo and Kayls! We are so happy for you and so thankful to God for the newest beautiful niece!

xoxoxoxo

A cleaner 2010

For Christmas, Russell got me the present I have been dreaming about for a couple of years.

A worm farm!!!!

I was SO excited! We FINALLY got to set it up yesterday and we've already dropped some of the waste that normally goes into our bin.

PLUS, we finally filled our veggie boxes with soil and we will get to use all the worm juice on our fruit and veggies. They love it :)

I'm so excited! I'm loving it! Things are starting to come together in our backyard finally. And we are LOVING spending time as a family in the backyard.

Life Observations #7

35. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

36. I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my itunes.

37. Why is a school zone 40kph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles...

38. As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.

39. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

Life Observations #6

30. There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

31. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

32. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever. (or in my case...who gives a rats tutu...I'll wash it however I want!!)

33. I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't watching this.It's only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'

34. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Dammit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

Life Observations #5

21. I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.

22. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

23. Bad decisions make good stories.

24. Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem....

25. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day.

Life Observations #3

11. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying to finish a text

12. Lol has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say"

13. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

14. Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".

15. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?

Life Observations #2

6. There is a great need for a sarcasm font.

7. Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what was going on when I first saw it.

8. I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really, really gets it.

9. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

10. I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

Life Observations

I received an email recently with over 40 life observations. I'll slowly post them, maybe only 5 at a time.

1. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

2. Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. The letters T and G are very close to each other on a keyboard This recently became all too apparent to me and consequently I will never be ending a work email with the phrase "Regards" again.

5. Do you remember when you were a kid; playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in the world did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or faq's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.

Name Calling

I (we) have a few names we call Emery.

Eme

Eme-joy

Eme-joy joy joy

Ssspecious girl

Sweet Cheeks

Bubba

Bub-o-luv

(this one is from her Grammy) Myjy (pronouned midgy)

Ssspecious girl came from me one night. I was trying to tell her she was special to me and a precious girl and I accidentally said ssspecious. It's stuck ever since!

And myjy is my mums name for her. It stands for My Joy

I don't know if I ever went through the names we gave to Eme.

Emery was a suggestion from Russell. It was the name of one of our bands we enjoyed and we thought it quite a pretty name for a girl.

Joy is my middle name and I wanted to pass it onto Eme as it holds quite a bit of meaning in our family. My mum had 3 miscarriages before she had me, and when I was born I was such a 'joy' to her and dad. After I had my miscarriage I decided that if we ever had a girl, her middle name would be Joy also. Considering my mum thought she would never have children, let alone grandchildren...I thought it would be a nice reminder of God's grace and faithfulness.

Kade (her 2nd middle name) is a combination of my mum & mum-in-laws names. KAren & DEnise. I thought I had invented a name, then found out it's actually a real name (for boys)

So, there you have it. What's behind a name...

Who has an interesting story about their name or their children's names?

I just can't help myself!

Holding onto daddy's finger

Her tiny feet in my palm

Do we look alike?

Overloaded with toys

3 mths old with 'The teddy'

Super cool hoodie chick

Oh! And I got a new tattoo!!

Can anyone guess what the numbers mean?