Monthly Archives: July 2013

Loungeroom progress – 1 week

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Well, that moved along much more quickly than I expected.  We had a weekend with no real plans so my husband kept asking “what’s next” and as long as I kept coming up with things for him to do, he just kept doing them – he’s awesome like that!IMG_5345

It still looks a bit of a shambles, but we got SO much sorted out.  The bookcases are cleared of any books that will be going.  One of the tall bookcases has disappeared upstairs and the purple bookcase you can now see is in place.  It’s pretty empty so far, just a few old Enid Blyton books and some others from my childhood.  The remaining tall bookcase is practically empty – baby books are down the bottom and a few photos and ornaments up the top (plus a couple more bits and pieces that still need to disappear upstairs.  A bit more bookcase swapping went on and the books of ours that we are hanging on to are now either in a small bookcase behind the desk you can just see in the right corner of the photo or in a narrow bookcase now sitting in our upstairs hallway.

Still a bit to be done, but we can start to see a bit better how it will look when we get it all finished.  Now it just needs to me sort out a few boxes (hiding behind the recliner – shhh!) so we can move on to the next steps!

Brisbane

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So we decided that I needed to take myself on a little holiday before the next baby arrives.  It had to be a weekend only and nothing too far away – heading south was too cold, so I decided that Brisbane would be it!  I had a few mum friends up there that I only knew online so far and was looking forward to getting to meet at least some of them, as well a friend I had previously worked with that recently moved up there.  So it was always going to be a busy weekend.

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I managed to arrange a few shoots (most of which ended up re-scheduled due to crappy weather!), had cake with friends and also got out for a wander along Southbank.  These photos are all from my wandering at Saturday lunchtime, I had a delicious lunch at Popolo (brilliant recommendation from a friend, was absolutely delicious and they made me up a yummy fruit mocktail), while listening to live jazz being played down by the river and the rain held off until I made it back to the hotel – perfect!

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Sunday morning ended up being utterly hectic but fun.  Getting up early for breakfast and packing before heading up to Roma Street Parklands for some shoots.  These gardens are absolutely amazing and the amount of colour in them for the middle of winter was gorgeous.  Then it was rush back to the hotel for a late checkout and off to lunch with a friend before heading for the airport.  Phew!!  Exhausting, but the break was exactly what I needed and I was happy to get home and see my little family again that evening.

This little guy was just hanging out beside the path trying to take in what sun there was

This little guy was just hanging out beside the path trying to take in what little sun there was

Phase One – the lounge room

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One end of our lounge room is nice.  It is organised, simple and we use it all the time.  It has comfy lounges, a big coffee table, the tv and we can both happily use our laptops there.  It’s also where we usually eat dinner.

The other end of the lounge room has become a bit of a hodge podge and dumping ground.  There’s a treadmill that hasn’t been used since I got pregnant again (was brilliant and used all the time by me before that!), a sofa bed my mum sleeps on when she visits, bookcases, a large recliner covered in “stuff” and this is where we let Emily make most of her mess.

It finally got to me the other week and I decided something had to be done – and soon!  With another bub on the way and the current one being increasingly mobile, we needed a kid focussed space that they would be safe in.  So operation nesting / getting organised has begun!  (I have plans for other rooms and different parts of the garden, but one thing at a time…).

This is what we started with:

"The Mess"

“The Mess”

The plan will be to get rid of the treadmill (already done!), at some point the sofa bed will go too.  The bookcases will be reduced/moved to new locations and we will get rid of a whole lot of books as well.  There’s a coffee table down the end and it, as well as the things on it, need to go too.  We have a kid size table/chairs that can then go up against the window for them to use as they get older, an easy-clean play mat to cover the carpet and a barrier to put right across the whole area to create a safe “we know where they are” space for them to play so I can disappear for a minute or two and know they are safe and not getting into things they shouldn’t.

We should be able to make some quick progress on most parts of this, so hopefully each update will show a fair bit of improvement!

What do you think?  What else are “must haves” for a space like this?  I think the wall with the air conditioner on it might be screaming out for some photos to be printed and put up too.

After a bit of a break…

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Well, it’s certainly been a while since I last posted at the end of the 12wbt challenge.  I would definitely have to say it was a success too!  At the end of it all I was healthier, fitter and lighter.  My husband was also healthier, fitter and lighter!  In another challenge we had, his cholesterol had been a little high and his doctor wanted it under control – being on the 12wbt plan and sticking to the eating guidelines has managed to get his cholesterol into a much better place in only 3 months – that’s a definite win right there for us.

Waiting for bath time ~ Emily, 11 months

Waiting for bath time ~ Emily, 11 months

My final challenge/reward took place the first weekend of March.  We had signed up for an urban rogaine – basically orienteering around the suburbs finding waypoints.  It was all through the hills of Mosman, an area we know quite well, and we arrived on the day and plotted our course with alternatives depending on how I coped with it all.  I was more than a little disappointed in my performance, in the 3 hours I only managed to do 16km.  From the start I was puffing and struggling and my heart rate was fairly high for the effort I was putting in.  This was the first inkling I had that something more might be going on here!  It was still satisfying to have done this and get back within the three hour time limit, and I was definitely sore for a couple of days, but I had to wait a few more days to check out my hunch about what was going on.  Sure enough, by the end of the week the pregnancy test came back positive!  Amazing!  I truly believe that a huge part of this is due to my being healthier and fitter due to the 12wbt – there are a few things I had going against me, not least of which is my age at 39.

So where to from here?  I cut back on my exercise straight away as my body was obviously finding it a bit too much of a challenge to keep going with.  I increased how much I was eating, but still continued to slowly lose weight over the next couple of months.  Luckily now, at 5 months pregnant, I am back to what I was at the end of the 12wbt in February and have even started gaining a little more – my belly is certainly showing I am pregnant anyway!  Other than being more tired than normal, this pregnancy has been pretty much as straight forward an unproblematic as the last which has been wonderful.  Running around after an under one year old at the same time would have been a LOT harder if I had more to deal with on the health front as well!

I’ve continued walking most days and this has been a big help physically and mentally to get some “time out”.  We try and make it a bit of a family time and my husband joins me when he can and Emily gets pushed along in the pram.

Getting around ~ Emily, 9 months

Getting around ~ Emily, 9 months

So where does this blog go now?  I seem to be hitting a bit of a nesting / home improvement patch :)   So along with sharing my photos, I will be following my plans to “kid-friendly” our home, fix up the garden a bit and seeing what chaos having a second child can bring to our family!  I hope you join me for the adventure.