a Beer, a Whine and The Spirit

means different things to Hubs and I. For me, it means:

Taking the dishes from the coffee table to the kitchen
Making sure all the food has been put away
Going to have a shower
Brushing my teeth
Taking my seretide
Hear Chance wake up
Go and feed and re-settle Chance
Turn the lights off, lock the doors
Get into bed
Realise I've left my phone in the loungeroom
Go and get phone and then get back into bed

For Hubs, it means:

Walk into bedroom, take clothes off and get into bed

Boys are such simple creatures :-)

Posted by Renae at 3:21 PM Comments

I don't mind a spot of clothes shopping here and there, but since I had Chanbe, my body has changed somewhat and many of my old clothes didn't quite fit right. So I culled. Big time. I donated all the clothes that I hadn't worn since Chance was born, and many of the clothes I had been keeping "just in case my body morphs again and I fit into them some day." I figure, in 10 years time after we've had our 7th baby (ha ha ha ha ha) I won't be looking to fit into the clothes I had 10 years before. I'll want to buy new stuff. So I let them go.

Some of the items hadn't even been worn, as I had bought them years ago thinking "when I lose weight" blah blah blah. Well I did lose some weight a few years ago, but those things, mainly skirts, never suited my body type. So to Vinnies they went. In the last few weeks, I have been practically buying a new wardrobe. We had some money come in that we had been waiting for, and finally we could relax a bit with our super-strict budget, and splurge a little bit.

I still bought most of my stuff from KMart and Target, and as much as I love op-shopping, it was really lovely to buy some new stuff. I also bought some super-cute dresses on an online store (after trying stuff on at a shop to get my size) and I cannot wait for them to turn up! And it turns out that my complete body shape/type change has worked in my favour in many ways. First of all, I could never before fit into Target trousers, but the other day I bought 6 pairs of pants in the one go! 6!!! And I don't mind saying, they look pretty darn cute!

This is one of the first times in my life that I have bought a whole bunch of clothes that fit beautifully right now. Not clothes that I buy because they're on sale and they're 1 or 2 sizes too small for me and I stash them in my cupboard and they sit there taunting me, waiting for me to lose the weight I keep promising myself I'll lose. No. I'm buying for who I am right now, which means, also for the first time (maybe just in a long time) I'm accepting myself for who I am, and what I look like. Not just accepting, but loving. I tell you, as a girl who has struggled with body image for a looooonnnnng time, this is a damn nice place to be.

I can't wait to show you some of the outfits!

Posted by Renae at 3:17 PM Comments

...we will be spending a total of:

22 days in Wang
7 days at home
3 days at student accommodation
Frith will spend 3 days in Melbourne
and I'll spend the entire time thinking "we did not sign up for this!!!"

I'm trying to keep positive by thinking about all the good things about our situation, like the fact that I get to spend a lot of time with my Wang friends, and that I'll get to watch rubbish tv at our friend's house where we're staying, and that I've become really good at packing and unpacking (maybe not in a timely manner, but still.)

I have a to-do list as long as my arm at the moment, and I really need to get back to it. I don't know how much I'll be blogging in the weeks to come, but I'm feeling inspired again, so hopefully I'll get the opportunity to write a few posts that are kicking around in my head.

Back to the packing!

Posted by Renae at 3:05 PM Comments

I've not been overly inspired to blog lately, as I mentioned, but as I was walking with Chanbe in the pram the other day, I started thinking about all the wonderful things that are going on in my life. They are not overly newsworthy, but I am definitely really enjoying life. I then started thinking about Hubs and all the wonderful things he does for me and Chanbe, and started compiling a list in my head. It went something like this:

Dear Hubs,
these are just a few things that I love about you.

1. I love how you seem to have every type of lead and adapter for every type of gizmo and gadget thinkable. And if not, you can often make one out of something else you have.

2. I love how even though you don't like watching the footy, you have been tuning our media PC into the local tv channels so I can watch Friday Night Footy.

3. I love how you watch Friday Night Footy with me.

4. I love how, after I've gotten up to Chance for the third time in the night, when I come back to bed, you give me cuddles and tell me how I'm an amazing Mum and that Chanbe is really lucky to have me as his Mum.

5. I love how even though you have an interrupted night's sleep as well, you always give me sleep-ins on the weekends and sometimes during the week when you can.

6. I love how after you have given me a sleep-in, you often bring me breakfast in bed consisting of poached eggs and toast - more recently your home-made sourdough. And a cup of tea.

7. I love how you "made" me watch Firefly and didn't say "I told you so" when I thought it was one of the best tv shows ever made.

8. I love how even though you think I look pretty when I get all dressed up, you like me best in my jeans and a t-shirt.

9. I like how we don't have that much in common, so we can both experience new things, and I love that you challenge me to try new things.

10. I love that you don't take things at face value, and that you constantly ask "why"?

11. I love how you play with our son; how you love and adore him; how you play WWF wrestling with him and let him win.

12. I love how you take such good care of me in so many ways.

Posted by Renae at 10:30 AM Comments

I've been trying to get Chance to wave/clap/say hello whilst videoing him. It's much easier said than done!!

Posted by Renae at 10:00 AM Comments

I thought, once I was married, that I wouldn't have to wait for a guy to call me, after he had promised to do so. But I forgot that I still had to deal with real estate agents. Our washing machine stopped working 11 days ago, on a Friday night, and I reported it to the RE agent on the Monday morning. We went to Wang til Thursday night, and on Friday arvo, after picking Chanbe up from Childcare and having coffee with a friend, I popped in to the agent's office to ask how things were progressing.

"Oh hi Renae. Yeah, um, the guy who fixes washing machines is on holidays til the 20th of October."

"Riiiiiight. Is there anyone else who could fix it?"

"Yeeeeah, we're going to try someone over in Bright."

Wifey's thinking: Going to? You found out that this guy is on holidays 4 days ago and you haven't rung anyone else??? And now it's Friday afternoon. Yeah. Good luck. "Okay, well keep me posted!!!!"

I hadn't heard anything by yesterday arvo so I gave them another call at 9:05am today.

"Yeeeeah, we were following that up yesterday. I'll call you back in 10 or 15 minutes."

It's been 45 minutes. I have 4 loads of washing to do. Luckily a new friend of ours (a receptionist from the medical centre lives just around the corner and has very kindly offered her washing machine for use this morning (and any time) but that's not the point!!!

WHY WON'T HE CAAAALLLLLLL???????

Posted by Renae at 9:57 AM Comments

I know all kids go through the stage where they take things out of a box, one at a time, but it's different when it's your kid going through that particular stage. We are having SO much fun.

Posted by Renae at 9:23 AM Comments

Posted by Renae at 8:49 PM Comments

I haven't been around much lately, I know. I just haven't felt overly inspired to do much posting, even though I have half a dozen half-finished blog entries. I'm sure I'll get back into the swing of things soon. We've just been traveling back and forth to Wang more than expected, and we have things on for the next 6 weekends, as well as having to go back to Wang regularly for the next 5 weeks. I feel like my time is being spent either packing or unpacking!

On a good note, Hubs has been giving me LOTS of sleep-ins and even a few breakfasts in bed for absolutely no reason (other than my being awesome! :-)) Our (not-so) little Chanbe is going great, and just rolls with our crazy lifestyle. Sleeping is still an "issue" (hence all the sleep ins I'm getting) but we'll just keep plugging away.

I've spent this morning chatting on the phone and shopping on line for fun things, as well as giving our house a much-needed vacuum. I'm about to walk to childcare to pick Chance up and will hopefully meet Hubs for a coffee afterwards.

See? Really not much to blog about :-) But always some photos to share...

Posted by Renae at 11:52 AM Comments

We received an update from South Africa to say that Ouma Lies' operation went well. She will need another op in October, but it's all looking good for now.

Posted by Renae at 12:12 PM Comments

Hubs and I entered parenthood without much thought about how we were going to raise our kids. I mean, we had a few things sorted, but most of our parenting "style" has happened by "chance" :-) We never really intended to have our baby sleep in the same bed as us, but that has happened a lot (and has been lovely). We never really decided about keeping him in the same room with us, but that came about due to the size of our unit in Wang, and then we just got used to it so we continued with this in our new place.

I have loved this arrangement for so many reasons, but now we feel it's time that the little guy has his own room. So I have spent this morning clearing out the spare room to make way for Mr Independence. Well, I spent the first part of the morning sleeping, as Hubs took Chance to childcare for me, but since I got up (10:15am - BLISS!!!) that's what I've been doing. I really wanted to have it all set up for when Chance got home, but the cot won't fit through the bedroom door so I need to take it apart to move it.

We are hoping that this new arrangement will mean more sleep for us all. I'm a little nervous about it to be honest - I've been able to be so in tune with Chance's sleeping and waking - and I've resigned myself to a few rough nights to come during the adjustment stage (rougher than usual??) but I'm really hoping the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. I'm also prepared for the possibility that it won't make much of a difference at all, but I'm happy to give it a try.

Oh, and I can't WAIT to have our room back to ourselves!! I've really missed being able to read in bed and not have to worry about making noise and creeping around during the night.

So here goes nothing!

(Hopefully we'll be seeing more of this soon!) (This photo is quite old :-)

Posted by Renae at 9:16 PM Comments

Hubs' Ouma Lies, in South Africa, is having a heart valve replacement tomorrow. Hubs' Mum headed over yesterday to be with her, and we hope to hear some news about how everything is going soon. I've been thinking a lot about Ouma Lies the last few days, and really cherishing the memory of our time in South Africa, almost 2 years ago.

She is one of the most interesting people I've ever met and has had such an amazing life, full of so many stories and adventures. We are praying that there are still many more adventures to come.

Posted by Renae at 3:50 PM Comments

On our most recent trip to Brizzie, Hubs' sister Lsl's pool was empty, so Hubs decided it would make a tee-yodally awesome skateboard ramp! Woo!

Since that didn't work out so well for him, he thought he might try with the BMX.


As Hubs was poised, ready to rumble, I was pretty sure he was just posing for the camera, but the thing about Hubs is that, deep down, he's a boy. A boy who loves a bit of mischief, so it was still possible that he'd give it a go. But the shallow end of the pool wasn't a challenge enough for him. So he went to the deep end....

Posted by Renae at 3:39 PM Comments

Growing up, we were always surrounded by cousins. My brother's and my first cousins are all withing about 13 years of our age and many times through the year we would catch up with them. This still happens, although a little less often now that a few of us aren't in Brizzie anymore. I have such a special relationship with them, that it absolutely warms my heart to see Chance's cousins adoring him so much.

On our last few visits to Brisbane, Chance's cousin Josie was such a great help and was always ready to volunteer to look after Chance. She also became quite good at feeding him!

I'm really looking forward to seeing their relationship develop, as I'm sure they'll be great friends as they get older. And I'm also pretty sure Josie will be volunteering for babysitting duties in the not-so-distant future!

Posted by Renae at 9:31 AM Comments

I've been a bit absent from my online life this week, as we have been back in Wang for Hubs' studies. We had a great time catching up with friends and I had a great visit with my mothers group, and we got back to MB last night. I think the traveling is going to get a bit old (we need to go back to Wang next week from Tuesday night to Friday) but I really do enjoy catching up with my Wang buddies. The down side is, we're still not settled in our new home! We just haven't had the time to finish unpacking and shopping for furniture we need (bookshelves and set of drawers mainly) and then there's the desire to not buy more stuff, which leaves us in a state of almost but not quite moved in to our new place.

Plus, it's still ski season so I push Hubs out the door to go snowboarding as much as possible. (As if he protests...) He's up at Hotham today with a couple of friends.

It's only driving me a little crazy. For the most part it doesn't matter too much, but this place is not completely child-proofed which means most of my day is spent keeping a very close eye on the little guy. He's getting pretty quick now so I can't just leave him and put the washing on without my heart racing a million miles an hour, and hoping he doesn't find anything that he shouldn't. He's currently having a great time in the Jolly Jumper which gives me a few minutes to chill, but I can only leave him bouncing for so long.

On another note, we're very much looking forward to spoiling Hubs tomorrow on his first Fathers Day! I was going to clean and tidy the place while he was away today and make it all shmicko for him, but that's just not going to happen. I think I'll have a little play now with Chanbe instead :-)

Posted by Renae at 1:13 PM Comments