a Beer, a Whine and The Spirit

"Mama go for run"

The first time Chanbe said that made my heart burst with pride and excitement.

"Yes!" I replied. "Mama is going for a run!"

I never really thought I'd ever say that, but here I am. After a bit of a false start to the couch 2 5k, with both my knee and foot hurting too much to continue, I decided to ease off a bit on the "running" and keep up with the walking. So I walked 5-6 days a week for 4 or 5 weeks, and restarted with week 1, last week. And I'm already feeling better. I have a running ap for my phone that tells me when to start running, when to stop, the distance I cover in each interval, and the pace I am setting. I'm really feeling the benefits of the walking I did before I restarted; I feel stronger, fitter, and more confident that at the end of the 9 (or 10) weeks, I'll be able to run 5km.

That's so exciting for me. And one of the best parts of my morning routine, is coming home to Chanbe yelling "Mama's home!!" Then we do some stretches together and he makes the cutest grunting noises (that I must make, as he copies everything I do these days!!).

It feels better this time. I'm more physically and mentally ready for the challenge.

Posted by Renae at 1:12 PM Comments

Posted by Renae at 8:16 PM Comments

After Quinn was born, I went through a pretty rough patch, trying to settle in to my new life. We had just moved, Hubs had just started full time work, Chanbe was taking some time adjusting, and I had some initial problems with breastfeeding. Life was just hard and I often felt waves of utter sadness and hopelessness. I was a little worried about post natal depression, so I just made sure I got help when I needed it.

Things got better after a few weeks, but every time I feed Quinn, the sadness comes back. Just under the surface; almost unnoticeable, but there. I never really thought much of it as it would pass almost as quickly as it came on.

So I did what any person in this day and age would do. I googled it. And it turns out I am experiencing Dysphoric Milk Ejection Reflex or D-MER. As the website states,

"D-MER has been linked to an inappropriate drop in dopamine that occurs whenever milk is released. In a mother with D-MER at the time of letdown dopamine falls inappropriately, causing negative feelings."

I've read quite a bit about it and it's very interesting, and nice to know that there is a reason for my fleeting sadness during feeds. It's not really something I feel the need to have treated, but it sure is nice to have an answer!

Look at this face. You can understand why I was so confused that feeding my little girl makes me feel sad!!??

 

Posted by Renae at 1:35 PM Comments

And another? (He had conjunctivitis at the time of filming, hence the bung eye :-( )


Bob the Builder, Yes can fix it! (And repeat)

Posted by Renae at 10:45 AM Comments

Yesterday was Mothers Day here in Australia. Hubs had to work so I have booked in my sleep in and breakfast for his next day off which is this Thursday. Our friends are up visiting so we had a day of touristy stuff planned. Chanbe must have known it was a special day, as he slept in til 7am! Woo! He came into our bed for cuddles and gave me my presents and lovely card. I was given a pamper voucher for 5 visits which I'm very excited about, and a bike!! Well, a picture of a bike. Hubs bought me a fully restored Moulton commuter bike off ebay and I can't wait to see it! It still has to make its way to us, so I will get another surprise soon!

Myself, the kids and our friends and their 16 month old little girl took off around 9am to see Castle Hill (we drove up), and the Strand. It was an absolutely beautiful day!

Us at the top of Castle Hill:

We had a walk around and took in the gorgeous views, and then headed down to the Strand for a walk and fish and chips for lunch. I then took the kids home for a sleep that never happened, and then we all headed to Riverway for a swim in the afternoon. It was Quinn's first swim!


We came home and fed the kids, then I cooked up some parmas for us all. After dinner, I was getting some food ready for our trip to Magnetic Island today, when we heard Chanbe crying. Hubs went in to settle in, and then I heard Chanbe calling me so I went in as well. There was spew all over his bed :-( Hubs took him in the shower while I cleaned things up, and for the next 4 hours, he spewed every half hour or so. The poor little guy. We were up a few more times during the night, and he has been unwell today so we decided not to go out.

I was so worried my friend's little girl would be sick as well, and she was fine up until they started driving to the ferry. She has only been sick once, so I'm hoping that will be it for her, and that none of us (especially Quinn) get it.

So that was my mothers day. And I wouldn't change it for anything :-)

Posted by Renae at 11:37 AM Comments

As I previously mentioned, I have committed myself to do the Townville fun run in August, and began the Couch 2 5k program a few weeks ago. The first week went really well, and I was feeling good and confident and had more energy. On the Tuesday of the second week, I was jogging along and my foot started to hurt. And suddenly, the words from the orthopaedic surgeon I saw after I broke my foot last year, came back to me. "You'll probably never be able to run after an injury like this." At the time I thought to myself, "well, I've never really run before, so it's no great loss!"

I think, because I was compensating for my sore foot for the next few days, my knee started to hurt. A lot. So the last 3 weeks, I have just been walking a 2.5km route 5-6 times a week, and things are feeling better. I'm going to give the running another go, starting next week, and hope that I've built up enough muscles in my feet/legs to support the injury a bit better.

I knew it wasn't going to be easy! It will make the success even more sweet though!

Posted by Renae at 12:14 PM Comments

The kids and I went on a road trip, just the 3 of us, up to Cairns a couple of weekends ago. Hubs had to work, and it was my friend's son's 3rd birthday, so I thought "why not!??" Chanbe is good in the car and Quinn is happy and content, well, all the time, so it wasn't that daunting for me. We packed up and hit the road around lunch time on Friday. It's about 340km to Cairns, which should take around 4 hours with a stop. The problem is, there are many stops. There's so much roadworks going on between Townsville and Cardwell because of cyclone Yasi last year, that it adds a good hour to the trip.

I kind of knew this going in, and the kids were really amazing. Chanbe slept for about half an hour, but then we had to stop for the roadworks and he woke up, and that was it. We had lots of fun spotting all the diggers and trucks and dozers and tracktors etc etc. They kept him amused the whole trip! We stopped in Cardwell for a break and for me to feed Quinn, and the babysitter was there for Chanbe:

The digger was moving these huge rocks and it really was a site to see! And hear!! I had to convince Chanbe that we would see more diggers if he got back in the car, and boy did we ever! The second half of the trip was as great as the first, and after a never-ending stretch of traffic lights, we arrived at the White House. The boys had a play and went to bed with only minor objections, and Kate and I got to work on the cake. It turned out pretty well we think!


So, yeah, it's supposed to be a mushroom house, but you get the idea! It was lots of fun! The kids had a great time and a great deal of sugar and thankfully had a rest/sleep in the afternoon before we headed out to Yorkie's Knob. And no, I did not make that name up :-) That night the kids went to sleep quickly again, and Kate and I had some much-needed girly time with a  chic-flick.

On Sunday we headed out to Muddies which is a strip of playgrounds and water play areas along the Cairns Esplanade. Chanbe had a GREAT time playing in the water.


After that we headed to my rellies' place for lunch and got on the road to head home around 2:30pm. Chanbe slept for about an hour, and woke up in Cardwell where I was going to stop, but decided to push through to Ingham. He was happy to chat away and point out all the diggers and big trucks again, and after a brief stop/play/feed in Ingham around 6pm, we got back on the road. The last hour wasn't much fun, being dark, rainy and with lots of roadworks, but it was okay.

Then 10 minutes from home, Chanbe had had enough. He started crying and getting frustrated, so I started singing "Baa baa black sheep" to which he responded through tears "no no no baa baa black sheeeeeeeeep". I thought to myself "you know what? You have been amazing this whole trip, and you have every right to have had enough." I was honestly so proud of him and so pleased he had enjoyed the car trip for so long, and it was only that last 10 minutes in 10 hours that he was unhappy.

All in all, it was a fantastic trip and we will definitely be doing it again sometime soon!

Posted by Renae at 2:37 PM Comments

Here is Chanbe getting his groove on to Sadie the Cleaning Lady, just after we moved in to our house up here, hence the mess. (He was "helping Mama unpack" at the time!)

And here's little Quinn, getting super excited about taking the Pressure Down. One of my all time favourites! (You can hear Chanbe and I playing Duplo as I record this!)

Posted by Renae at 12:31 PM Comments

We have lived in many towns and cities over the last few years and the internet service/connection/speed has varied dramatically in each place. The funny thing is, it seems the smaller the town, the better the internet. In Melbourne, we lived in Parkville, which is a stones throw from the CBD, yet we were in a black spot. We had patchy mobile coverage and terrible internet. When we moved to Wang, we couldn't believe how much better it was! And then we moved to Mount Beauty, where the communications tower was quite literally in our backyard. That internet was ridiculously awesome. I always had a dozen tabs open at any one time and it could keep up with my multitasking like you wouldn't believe.

And now we're in Townsville. And all I can do is sigh. *sigh* I have been trying to write about our trip to Cairns last weekend, for the last 4 days, and include photos, and it just keeps freezing up on me. Even if it's the only tab/window open, it just can't handle it.

And the worst thing is, the only suburb in Townsville (so far) with the national broadband network, is just across the river. So close, yet so far. And so damn slow...

Posted by Renae at 2:31 PM Comments