So we have been back from Malaysia for a total of 1 week. We were’nt really looking forward to that week because it was full of things – like Greek and sermons and dermatology appointments and Hebrew. Not a particularly relaxing week in which to acclimatise and recover (travelling with parents is somewhat exhausting – no matter how convenient the babysitting is).
And so in an apparent attempt to avoid that week, or perhaps to celebrate Australia Day.. and our homecoming, I broke my ankle on the stairs. Read the rest of this entry »
A mum asked me the other day whether I was recording Micah’s ‘milestones’. I said that I didn’t… but that I had a blog. The truth is that I don’t much like the little books you get given where you fill in the blanks… that doesn’t mean anything to me. But for Micah to grow up and read what I wrote about him, I think that’s pretty special.
Having said that.. now I don’t sit in front of my computer everyday, my natural instinct to blog is waning. So, while I procrastinate writing an assignment, I shall update.
Life has gotten that much more busy this semester. I’ve taken on a subject at SMBC which I’m really enjoying. I’m loving the feeling of being a student and using my brain. Especially now I’m not working. I’m also loving that I am taking time to do something by myself. That’s pretty significant since the majority of what I do is with either or both Micah and Haoran in tow. Maybe this will be my chance to conquer that panicky overwhelmed feeling I get when I do anything that will be marked.
I’m also busy getting to know other mums in the community, something I’ve been pretty keen on from the beginning. The advantage of being a mum is that when all else fails is you have at least one thing in common with other mums. There’s mum’s groups, and song and rhyme groups and play groups… so many opportunities to meet non-christians! The temptation is to fall in with the crowd and never talk about anything other than kids.. so that’s something I have to watch out for.
Church has been an absolute joy to be a part of. Being a small ‘planning group’ right now, we haven’t had to experience the stress that parents usually face when their kid screams down church. The launch is getting nearer… which is stressful but exciting. We’ve had our share of blockages… but perhaps that tells us that we’re doing something right?
It might seem particularly domesticated.. but I do love the amount of time that I spend at home. Housework is now part of my routine rather than something I avoid when I get home from work. I love baking and trying out new recipes. I love having the time to play with and sing to Micah and give him the time he needs.
Haoran being a student this year has really been a blessing. Our proximity to college plus his hours (as opposed to working hours) means that he is able to help me quite a bit with Micah. Plus we get to spend more time together and as a family. I think that’s been an important part of going from 2 to 3.
Micah will be 5 months next week. I attended a talk on ‘Introducing Solids’ yesterday that kind of freaked me out. Suddenly, now we’ve finally got the current routine downpat.. it’s another adventure into the unknown. I am looking forward to it a bit.. that I can help him explore another part of the world. It’s going to be fun!
There tis my life … and in true testament to my distraction from blogging.. it took a total of 3 days.. phew!
We’re back again from another trip away from home. These sorts of trips – especially trips back to my home town – remind me of a few things.
- Like that I really am a city girl now. I never EVER thought I would be. But just being away from Sydney now makes me homesick! I still panic at the thought of driving in the city.. and going to unfamiliar places. But I just love the convienence, the variety, the culture, the absolute cityness of Sydney. Small town stuff makes me feel claustrophobic. There’s always ‘talk’ about the latest disaster, death, divorce, terrible baby’s name. A walk down the street will mean bumping into 10 different people you know. Perhaps it’s because I’m wired in a way where I don’t enjoy visiting my past, rehashing old memories and events. I like where I am now. And where I might be in the future.
It kind of makes me wonder what the pull of a country town is. Perhaps I will understand when I’m older and slower. Perhaps I’ll never understand. Yet, people live that life and relish it. They love the familiarity, the closeness, the slow, easygoing, casual pace of almost everything. I know my Dad loves that sometimes he gets paid with a box of fruit, or a favour, or some antique wood out of an old house. My Mum loves the homeishness and being able to run her Bed and Breakfast with both lavishness and precision. My sisters are established with local groups of friends, and one is a passionate visionary, wanting to give the disoriented youth of the town a bit of direction.
We did discuss on the way home how varied Micah’s extended family experience are going to be. This was always going to be the case culturally (and hopefully he won’t have too many identity crises!) but also in the locations our families live. I really do hope that Micah will appreciate the joys of city life and everything we love about it, that he will enjoy the practically-beach-house that Haoran’s parents live in, but also get his hands dirty and discover the country existence and it’s quiet beauty.
- Like the fact that although I love my family and spending time with them.. that, you know… family is family. And you see your family in a totally different light to everyone else in the world. Once upon a time your Dad was the tallest guy in the world and your Grandad was the wittest person ever and your Mum made the awesomest baked dinner. Then as you grow up you realise that they are like everyone else. Not the the best, not the tallest.. but people.. human. My Mum still makes a mean baked dinner though.
It was also kind of interesting to talk with my newly married sister and her husband about family in relation to marriage. How the relationships change, how we pry those apron strings off and make new families for ourselves. It was good to forge that link of sameness, of solidarity.
Last week we set off on a big trip… Micah’s first trip to Parkes (of many) and a fairly significant trip for us. My little sister was getting married, and I was getting a new brother.
The trip there was uneventful. It took us 6 hours (as opposed to the normal 4 1/2) due to two stops for feeds and nappy changes. And Micah slept the whole way. We decided to leave 5 days before the wedding, to help out with the set up… and give Micah time to settle into a strange new environment.
My parents gave us the B&B to stay in, which was lovely. Plus it meant they could sleep through the nightime feeds. Micah refused to sleep in the porta-cot, and after the first night in our bed, he slept in his pram for the rest of the trip.
We used the first two days to settle in and get into the flow. Then on Wednesday things started happening. Mum and I spent most of the day at a beauty salon where we had manicures and pedicures and facials – my birthday present. The chick couldn’t believe I had never had these things professionally done before. The manicure was ok.. but pretty much what I could have done at home. The facial was absolute heaven- refreshing creams and scrubs and – best of all – hot towels. I am definately doing that again! The pedicure was cool too – my toes had never looked nicer. While I was being pampered Micah drank out of a bottle for the first time, milk I had expressed earlier. It was good to know he was happy to do this: a promise of nights out to come!
That night my aunt and cousins arrived and plans of marquee settings up were in motion.
The next two days were full on. My parents were hosting the wedding in their backyard (note they have 5 acres of backyard to play with!) and had pretty much organised the entire thing. Mum had a list of things for each day that week. There was a marquee and several gazebos to set up, chairs and tables to set out and dress, metres and metres of material to arrange, pot plants to move…. Mum and Dad were a blur and the rest of us just tried to be as helpful as we could. Micah lived in his sling and was incredibly good considering the flurry of activity around him.
The day came and I got spoilt again when Mum sent me to get my hair done. Getting your hair done is fun. Once you’ve got all your formals and wedding out of the way – there’s not many occasions where getting your hair done is appropriate. So it was way cool. I wandered in and out of the house where the bridal party were getting ready in various stages of readiness. But finally I was in my awesome new dress and watching my baby sister walk down the aisle.
I had trouble concentrating during the ceremony. Between trying not to poke H in the eye with my parasol (unsuccessfully!), making sure Micah was out of the sun, and making sure the bridal party were looked after… I hardly heard a word. I read a Bible passage and Haoran prayed, and suddenly the service was over and my sister was married.
Micah was incredibly good.. only getting vaguely whiney towards the end. We hadn’t had time to buy him a special outfit for the occasion (one we’d be happy with him spitting up on at least) so I dressed him in all white, and Mum made him a little black bow for a bow tie.
I guess this is what I can expect in life as a mum.. but I was distracted during the rest of the day too. I’m not sure I had any complete conversations until later when Micah had passed out. I had expressed feeds for that day so I didn’t have to get out of my dress.. so that made things a little easier. Although later on I had to give in or risk exploding.
The afternoon tea was lovely – gluten free cakes in the shade of the gazebo – with a gorgeous view of the sun setting. It was with that background that the bridal party returned from the photoshoot and entered another one with the family.
It was fun having all the family there. My immediate family are the only ones who made the move out to Parkes… so having the rest there was a bit of a novelty. Plus as we get older and are more involved in our own lives.. we don’t make a huge amount of time to get together anymore. So it was kind of cool to catch up and just see everyone together again.
Micah met alot of the family that week. His ‘Pop’ (my dad), three great grandparents, uncle and aunt cousins (what Micah will call my cousins) great aunts and uncles.. and even a great great uncle! It’s pretty amazing that Micah has 5 living great grandparents.
Being away with Micah wasn’t as intense as I thought it should be at some points… and was at others. For example, the trip on the way home took 8 hours. That’s right… twice as long as it should. All I can say is never underestimate the traffic coming down the mountains on a Sunday afternoon. You will end up in a traffic jam with a screaming baby in the back… having to turn off into a side street and change that same baby’s pooey nappy on your lap in the front seat because it’s raining outside (in case you’re wondering… extremely difficult). In the end, however, it gave H the opportunity to find some clever back streets and get us the heck out of there.
Apart from all that… all in all, a successful week. One sister married.. that was the plan.
Yes… it is now less than one week until my due date. Now I know why people go into hiding at this stage of pregnancy.
Yes I DO know there’s not long to go, there’s no need for reminders. My aching back reminds me… my weird half-out-half-in belly button reminds me…and those (getting stronger) kicks remind me.
I guess it makes me cranky because it’s not as if it’s something I can control, plan or schedule. It’ll happen when it happens. The ob tells me that the most likely time statistically is between now and a week after the due date. So I can expect up to another 2 weeks of this.
Believe me, no one wants it to be over more than me. I don’t want to overthink the labour process… it’s just unhelpful. Plus I want to meet this little gender-less, face-less person that I’ve been incubating since last June.
So for now… maybe I will go into hiding. I’ll relax and forget about the outside world, and enjoy the last few days of being pregnant. It has been a fun, weird and unique experience.
Since I’m not working, my days are hard to describe. I will usually have at least a few things on in a week and I’ll spend a few hours on housework etc. A good amount of time is also spent sleeping (making up for sleepless nights) and resting when I’m not feeling good.
Still.. I feel guilty when people ask me what I’ve been up to, or how I am spending my time. Like I should be super busy or something. Gah… I think way too much about what other people think.
This week we had dinner guests, a geek meeting and the Open House. I probably spent a little too much time worrying about how the house looked and furiously cleaning. I had a headache for the two days leading up to Saturday… Panadol made no difference, so I think it was anxiety. But by Friday night my goals were accomplished and I was happy to let people into our house… and my headache disappeared!
Saturday morning started a little too dramatically with me throwing up for the first time in ages. H was worried it might be hospital time.. But I was fine after some Vegemite toast. The day was fun and not too intense. People kind of all turned up at different times.. which was fine with us. It’s always fun seeing people from all different parts of your life in one room. I particularly had fun playing with friends babies (and watching H be at ease with them as well.. a good sign!) and just hanging out with people I don’t get to normally. I managed to not worry about food too much.. it was a bit disorganised, but I put that out of my mind.
A few people I was looking forward to catching up with didn’t make it due to various sicknesses (understandable) .. or very simply not turning up. I tried very hard not to get cranky about that. Perhaps Facebook denotes an RSVP unreliability? Or is it just Gen Y?
I was wasted last night.. and still didn’t sleep well. So after a 6am brekky… most of this morning has been catch up time. These sleep patterns weird me out.
So now.. I don’t know. I kind of felt like the baby might have been waiting until after Saturday to make an appearance… maybe. Perhaps I’m impatient, but I guess my biggest fear at the moment is go overdue and have to be induced. Induction does not sound fun at all. So hot curries here I come!!
My parents were visting this weekend. Parents are fun at the best of times… but even more so when they are about to become grandparents.
We had a list of home improvementy type things for my Dad to get stuck into. Stuff that H needed help with or just hadn’t got to yet. Dad gets a bit lost if he doesn’t have something to do. H is always amazed at how, when we visit Parkes, Dad is constantly in the shed or in the garden doing something.
So lots of things got done. Bunnings got several visits. The dodgy plumbing (due to years of no maintenance and corrosive water) was repaired. The lawn got mowed. The TV got mounted on the wall (momentous because my sewing desk is no longer being used as a TV cabinet and I can actually use it!). The screen on the screen doors (destroyed by the previous owners dog) got replaced. A shelf went up in the laundry…. and millions of other things were tweaked and drilled and fixed. Yay for Dads!
In the meantime, I took Mum baby shopping. I was saving up a few things that I needed to get so she could come along… seeing as this would be the only chance to do so. Have I mentioned how expensive baby stuff is? I was quite proud of myself when I managed to pick a generic product that literally saved me $300 and use a gift voucher to cover the full cost. We had fun trying to pick non gender-specific items and our buy of the day was brightly coloured cloth nappies!
The reminder of the weekend (for Mum and me at least) was spent setting up the nursery, washing numerous onesies and folding nappies. It was quite a strange feeling to see all those little clothes on the clothes horse and trying to imagine the little body that would fill them soon.
And last night, H completed the first coat of a feature wall in the nursery. Partly to serve to cover up the most marked wall in the house.. and partly for sleep-inducing ambience. If you can’t tell from the picture, the colour is plummy purple.
So yeah… stuff got done. More things than my poor brain can handle right now. But perhaps pictures are better than words?
So… this blog has been sadly bereft of pictures for a while. I haven’t really been that tempted to take shots of my belly since most pictures just make me look plump, and until now I mostly have to point out to people that I’m pregnant, otherwise they’re too embarrassed to say anything. Plus, people keep commenting on how small I am… hmm, makes you self-conscious.
But in celebration of random Fruit Shop Guy noticing the bump for what it was today… here it is… THE belly.
Yup… there it is.
So, any time now. That baby is welcome to come whenever it wants. I am assuming the kicking is alot less painful and uncomfortable when it’s happening outside of me! Plus… you know, I can’t wait to meet them .
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