Summary Sunday on a Monday (again)!

Ok, so my excuse this week is that all of a sudden I have work coming out the wazoo! I'm busily trying to knock over all the pre-paid work from an Australian client, when out of the blue someone contacts me to run some language classes for them! All well and good (and very exciting), but I now have to put together a 10 week language course and workbook for the classes which start next week!!!

All the while we have been fighting third world telecommunications problems here in the past week (where else in the world can a single air conditioner take down an entire telecommunications system?!), so the ups and downs of the internet have not assisted with getting my work done!

Also over the weekend I have been distracted by the greatness of my pickles, after I cracked open this jar of them and got stuck in... DELICIOUS!!!!

Yum yum yum!!!

Anywho... I hope my excuses are acceptable to the general public! And with that out of the way we can now get on with this week's (last week's?) summary...

1. How far along?: 21 weeks 2 days.
2. How big is bub?: According to What To Expect and Pregnancy Lite, bubs weighs in at about 400 grams and is about the size of a spaghetti squash, measuring in at about 20.3 cms.
3. Weight gain?: The weight it slowly coming on but I think most of it is baby and baby related paraphernalia as I'm only about 1 kilo over my pre-pregnancy weight.
4. Stretch marks?: No new ones! I've started slathering on the body butter after showers in the morning though!
5. Maternity clothes?: I've given in! I bought a couple of pairs of maternity yoga pant things and a couple of Bonds maternity singlets when we were in Melbourne last weekend and have taken to shirking my underwire bras in favour of my super comfortable (but very cleavage revealing) singlets! I'm getting incredibly lazy with my clothes! I've always been big on comfort but this is taking it to another level!
6. Sleep?: Still up and down. Some nights are better than others. I keep waking with pins and needles in my arms!
7. Best moment last week?: Feeling Our Monster's kicks getting stronger... Daddy gets to feel them more and more frequently now!
8. Food cravings?: No food cravings, in fact I'm struggling food apathy again and I'm finding it awfully hard to find things that whet my appetite!
9. Symptoms?: Reflux. :o( And MASSIVE boobs! The man looked like all his Christmases had come at once when the lady at the bra shop in Australia said "Hold on a minute and I'll get you the G cup to try on"!
10. Exercise?: Still doing my yoga twice a week... but I'm toying with the idea of going an extra day or two per week.
11. Gender?: A very wise mummy friend of mine said over the weekend, "If the gender was supposed to be the most important bit then babies wouldn't come out head first". Not a bad theory I reckon!
12. Movement?: Every week it gets more and more although I still think we get more movement in cooler temperatures.
13. Belly button?: Working its way to the surface...
14. What I miss?: Thanks to She, I went on the hunt and found me some pasturised Fetta at the local supermarket, so I'm not missing that any more, but I still miss margaritas and, strangely, cigarettes!
15. Labour signs?: Nope.
16. What I'm looking forward to: Getting some of this work out of the way so I can relax a bit more again!

The bump is looking rather cute rocking out in my maternity pants and singlet!

Photographic Phriday

It's that time again...
Photographic Phriday!!!
Everyone's favourite day, when I share my favourite photo of the week that I have taken on my iPhone using the Instagram App! You can follow me on Instagram by searching for missyaeli!

Harry cat was being a poser this week, but can't help shooting us evil, insolent looks when we try to take photos...

Evil eyes
- Amaro filter

He also decided one afternoon to climb on top of me and check on his baby...

That's my baby
- x-pro II filter

Funny grumpy cat!

Thankful Thursday

I NEED Thankful Thursday today. After teetering on the edge of tantrum territory since 4am, today is one of those days when a time out to look for the good stuff is a necessity!

Thankful Thursday aims to remind myself, and others, that although shit happens, there are still good things in life, even if they're just little things, that we can't forget to focus on.

My three things to be thankful for on this Thankful Thursday are:

1. New work opportunities - Through my yoga class I have reconnected with a lady in town who runs an education centre. She is interested in offering Bislama language classes (the national language of Vanuatu) and has asked me to run them. Only an hour or two a week, but it'll keep me out of trouble (and the extra cash won't hurt either)!

2. My gardener - Who, with minimal fuss and instruction, has our garden looking better than it has for years! At nearly half an acre, and in tropical climes, looking after the garden is no mean feat. The previous gardener only ever did the bear minimum (if that), so it's nice to have someone with initiative and pride in their work doing the job!

3. Metamucil - For helping to relieve me from the agony of pregnancy related bloat and "discomfort". Seriously, it's the shizzle!

What are you thankful for?

Food apathy :o(

Just when I thought my biggest problem would be controlling how much I'm eating, my nasty food apathy has snuck back and again I find myself struggling to think of anything I want to eat despite my ravenous hunger.

An attempt to feed my belly with toast and tomato tuna was foiled when my desire for it disappeared as soon as I served it onto my plate! After forcing down a few bites, I fed it to the dog.

Note to self: Trying to force in something your brain has decided against will only end in tears, although the dogs are extremely grateful!

Pickle Goddess

Some people have claimed recently that i'm nesting, but truth be told I've always gone through fits of homeliness and creativity.

Last week I decided to make pickled cucumbers. Back in September I made pickled cucumbers and chokos (or chayote), and they were delicious. The Man's boss loved them. So knowing that he was coming this week to visit, I decided to make some more pickles and do a bit of a suck up job!
Truth be told, I hoped that by sweetening the deal with pickles, I would miraculously reduce the amount of whinging that goes on when he comes to visit!

So last Monday evening I went to the markets in town and bought some delicious, organically grown cucumbers (the chokos are now out of season), and then I set about working along my pickle production line.

The production line

When I made my last batch of pickles back in September I followed this recipe and I found it very straight forward and easy. The pickles were delicious and they kept for ages in the fridge... In fact I still have a jar from the September batch sitting in the fridge now!

This time, I had trouble finding the recipe that I'd used again (stupid pregnant brain) so I just worked off the top of my head and, surprisingly, came closer to the original recipe than I gave myself credit for at the time!

Last time I used pickling spice from the supermarket, mustard seed, dill, and garlic. This time I used mustard seed, dill, garlic, and onion in varying combinations. I don't like spicy food, but in two of the six jars I also added a chilli from my garden, as I know the boss likes them spicy.

After about an hour of hard labour, cutting, heating and packing, I was left with six glorious jars of pickles (and a fair bit of washing up)!

Yum yum x 6!

For the jars I just used old pasta sauce jars that I had been keeping for just this occasion. I put them through a wash cycle in the dishwasher and filled and sealed them while they were still hot from the washing. Between the lids and the tops of the jar I put two squares of wax paper before tightening the lid, to help give a good seal.

I find that these pickles are delicious on their own, as part of an antipasto platter, on a sandwich, or in a salad (especially in potato salad, where they add a bit of crunch and texture)!

After a week of sitting in the fridge, Mr BossMan cracked open a jar yesterday, and promptly declared them to be "not pickled enough" so they have been left to cure for another while.

I might give them another few days and then crack open a jar myself!

Summary Sunday (on a Monday)!

A bit of a delay to Summary Sunday thanks to our trip to Melbourne for our 20 week scan!
I have a complete human being, of undetermined gender, gestating away inside me! Thanks to our fabulous scan, no one will ever be able to call our sweet child spineless, brainless, or heartless!

We also had a great weekend catching up with The Man's family, including his beautiful, chubby little niece!

Anywho... On to this weeks summary!

1. How far along?: 20 weeks 2 days
2. How big is bub?: As of our scan on Friday, bub was weighing in at 339g. And according to my Pregnancy Lite App, bub is about 25cms long.
3. Weight gain?: It has started... I got on the scales today to find that I've gained nearly 2.5 kgs in the last fortnight. That seems like too much too fast to me, but hopefully it's mostly baby aand baby stuff.
4. Stretch marks?: I've been using nut body butter for the past few weeks and I haven't noticed any new ones yet!
5. Maternity clothes?: Given that the bump has popped, I have succumbed! I bought a couple of maternity singlets and bras yesterday, along with some maternity yoga pant things that were on sale. They are super comfortable! And The Man looked delighted when he heard the magic words "G Cup" in the bra shop!
6. Sleep?: I wish I'd had more over the weekend. I took to having a nap in the car when we were driving which has left me with an awfully sore neck.
7. Best moment last week?: I was going to save it for Photographic Phriday, but this hard won photo sums up my best moment of the week!! How wonderful it was to see Our Monster, hear the heart beat (for the first time), and find out that everything is where it should be! We're still not very cooperative when it comes to scans and photos, so that makes this photo even more special!



Our Monster, showing a strong resemblance to Daddy.

8. Food cravings?: I was desperate for a kebab when we got off the plane on Thursday! Not really any other cravings as such, and I still have incidents of food apathy. But my appetite is back along with my sweet tooth.
9. Symptoms?: Belly ache as everything stretches. And the belly has popped!
10. Exercise?: Back to yoga again tomorrow after only getting to one class last week!
11. Gender?: Still no idea, but as the scan ws being done I did have the thought that it would be a girl.
12. Movement?: We're starting to move and shake on a daily basis now! But The Man isn't feeling it as much as he'd like!
13. Belly button?: So shallow!!! I think we're only a few weeks off the snooze button popping out!
14. What I miss?: Still missing margaritas... But also missing fetta and goats cheese... Fetta, watermelon and mint salad... MMMMMM....
15. Labour signs?: Nope
16. What I'm looking forward to: This week I'm looking forward to getting back to yoga, and I'm hoping that Our Monster will start to kick a bit more for Daddy!

You may remember that last week, the bump looked like this...

This week, we've gone wild and exploded outward!

When I compare the photos I can see where the 2 kilos came from!

Photographic Phriday

Photographic Phriday = that awesome day when I share my favourite photo of the week that I have taken on my iPhone using the Instagram App! You can follow me on Instagram by searching for missyaeli!

This week my photos have taken on a rather botanical lean, and I couldn't decide which one out of these 2 were my favourite...
Which one is yours?

Chillies galore!
- I can't remember what filter I used!

Blossom
- Amaro filter

Scan scanny scan scan

It's 7:15am and I am awake and SO excited for my scan at 11!
We're finally going to get a proper look at this rugrat!!

Thankful Thursday 3

Thankful Thursday aims to remind myself, and others, that although shit happens, there are still good things in life, even if they're just little things, that we can't forget to focus on.

My three things to be thankful for this Thursday are:

1. Friends - Especially those people who come out of the woodwork, unasked, with help, support, and friendship, in times of need. These people are angels!
2. Dickheads - They remind me of who I don't want to become!
3. Planes - I'm thankful that today I get to get on a big plane that will fly me away from this silly little town for a few days in the big city, so I can get scans of my baby, and shop, and enjoy just not being here!

TAG! You're it!

She over at Those Darn Eckersons tagged me to take part in this game of blog TAG!

First Things First, The Rules:

1. You must post the rules.
2. Post eleven fun facts about yourself on the blog post.
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create eleven new questions to ask the people you've tagged.
4. Tag eleven people and link them on your post
5. Let them know you've tagged them!

Eleven Fun Facts About Me:

1. I live amongst the coconuts in tropical Vanuatu, a place best known for being the location of seasons of both American and Australian Survivor.
2. I'm a closet Gleek.
3. I'm married... just not to The Man! Nearly two years ago The Man and I left our respective spouses and got together, but because of the Divorce Laws in Vanuatu, I have to be separated from my ex for two years before I can file for divorce!
4. I used to sing in a band! And gosh it was fun! Performing has always been in my blood, ever since I sang Santa Claus is Coming to Town to the Rabbi at preschool!
5. I always forget to take nail poilish off and have been known to leave it on for weeks and weeks, so I don't wear it very often.
6. I adore daggy 80's / early 90's movies! Dirty Dancing, Top Gun, Ferris Bullers Day Off, Thelma and Louise, and Footloose hold a special place in my heart!
7. I used to hate cats until my two little orphans chose me... Now I can't imagine life without them!



The Orphans at about 6 weeks!

8. I fractured 3 vertebrae in a horse riding accident 8 years ago and was lucky not to end up in a wheelchair! I haven't been horseriding since, even though I love horses.
9. I don't drive. In fact I don't even have a drivers licence, and I never have!
10. I am fascinated by shows like Sister Wives, although I can't quite work out why some religions and cultures advocate having multiple wives, but none seem to advocate multiple husbands!
11. I love, love, love, love, LOVE Yum Cha and dumplings. There is nothing better than tasty handmade dumplings. Every time I go back to where I used to live in Sydney, I always go to this little, out of the way dumpling place that makes the best dumplings in the whole wide world!!

 

She's Questions For me:

1. What's your favorite color? Scarlet and Lapis Blue (Ultramarine I think it's really called).
2. What's your favorite thing about your husband / significant other? I have to choose one favourite thing??!! :o( There is SO, SO, SO much I love about The Man! But if I had to choose one, absolute favourite thing, I think it would be his hugs! No one gives hugs like my Man!! They are the most amazing hugs in the whole wide world!!
3. Do you have / want children? How many? Clearly, from this blog, we have our first child together on the way. The Man has four kids from his previous marriage, and I'm sure will put a cap on us having any more than two. That said, I just want to get through having this one first. I'm not sure yet that I want two!
4. What would you choose as your last meal? DUMPLINGS!!!!
5. What's your favorite bible verse, if you read the bible? As a Jew, the New Testament ain't my bag. And as a non-practicing Jew, the Old Testament doesn't get much of a run in my house either. But as a child I always loved Bible stories, and I really want to get a book of nice Bible stories for my baby.
6. Where is one place you'd like to visit before you die? Easter Island. Who wouldn't want to go visit these guys??



Moai on Easter Island -
http://www.bugbog.com/gallery/chile_pictures/easter_island_pictures_2.html

7. Which room of your house is your favorite and why? My bedroom, because it has my bed in it and I can sleep all day!!!
8. What's your favorite day of the week and why? I love the weekends because I get The Man all to myself!
9. Which store can you never go in without buying something? The supermarket.
10. What is your favorite physical quality about yourself? Emotional quality? My favourite physical quality is my feet. My favourite emotional quality is my passion.
11. If you could be any animal, what would you choose? I'd be a dog... or a sloth... or a chimpanzee... Too many to choose!

I am tagging (only eight because I haven't anymore friends):

1. Chris from My Project 52
2. The Hunts from Love is all we need
3. Tabitha from Nothing better to do than be a mommy of two
4. Natalie from In The Night Sky
5. Bek from Not Going Gently
6. Christie from Ie love
7. Dennelle from I guess this means we're pregnant, AND
8. SarahAnnah88 from The Adams Family

My questions for those I have tagged:

1. Cat person or dog person?
2. Who is your hero, and why?
3. What is the weirdest thing you've ever eaten?
4. What's your favourite book?
5. If you could have 6 people, living or dead, over for a dinner party at your place, who would you invite?
6. What is your favourite song?
7. What language/s do you speak?
8. What is the number one thing on your "bucket list"?
9. How do you like your coffee?
10. Who would play you in a biopic of your life?
11. Which animal would you steal from the zoo, and how would you get it out of there?

And here's the kicker...

The Man and I just felt Our Monster kick!
Not just on the inside, but with hands on my bump!!
SWEET!!!!!
So awesome!!!

Summary Sunday

After my freak out last week and subsequent somewhat hormone induced breakdown worrying over how much this whole child bearing exercise was going to cost us, the heavens opened and this weekend good things have come our way!

One dear friend of mine called on Thursday to say that she had unearthed her sons cot from 20 odd years ago, and offered it to us! And another friend called me yesterday to offer some toys, a super schmick pram, a "possum pack", and a toddler car seat, all for a bargain basement price as she has decided to return to Australia and doesn't want to carry too much stuff back with her! AND The Man's mother called to say that she and her husband would be away around the time of the birth for a month nd they have offered us his house to stay in while they're away, effectively reducing our accomodation bill in Melbourne by half!!

Suddenly I feel like the universe hasn't got it in for me afterall, and I have been reduced to tears by people's kindness and generosity!

On a Summary Sunday note:

1. How far along?: 19 weeks 1 day
2. How big is bub?: According to What to Expect and my Pregnancy Lite app, Our Monster is about the size of a mango or large orange, and weighs between 230 and 240 grams.
3. Weight gain?: Still nada... still loitering around the same mark. I thought I'd put on about half a kilo, but a few days later it was gone... seems to be more bloat and poos than anything! I've had a few people this week who didn't know I was pregnant tell me how much weight I've lost! And another few people have said that I don't look pregnant. It seems that to some people I look pregnant, to others I'm just looking pudgy!
4. Stretch marks?: Still no change, but I am excited at the prospect of having my stretchmark collection added to by someone other than Mr McDonalds!
5. Maternity clothes?: Not yet, but I do need to buy some new swimmers! And maybe some maternity bras... underwire is uncomfortable in the evenings.
6. Sleep?: Early to bed and very early to rise.
7. Best moment last week?: Feeling proper "kicks" rather than just vague "somersaulting".
8. Food cravings?: I've had a couple of moments this week when i've just had to have Vegemite, and I've been eating a fruit salad everyday.
9. Symptoms?: Fatigue, hyperactive sense of smell, headaches, and a few moments of tearfulness.
10. Exercise?: I've swapped over to yoga classes as my stretch class has been cancelled, and they've been great. Only went twice last week, but I'm considering going in an extra day or two if I can fit it in. I keep wondering how I'll go when I reach massive fatty boombah state though! I'm also trying to do a few laps each day when I get in the pool, rather than just beaching myself on the steps!
11. Gender?: It can only be one of two things!
12. Movement?: We're stepping up on the movement front. Things are starting to feel a bit more purposeful!
13. Belly button?: Getting shallower by the week... The Man thinks it's hilarious!
14. What I miss?: Coffee.
15. Labour signs?: None.
16. What I'm looking forward to: Our 20 week scan (at 19 weeks and 6 days) on Friday!! Hope we can get some cool piccies to show off!!

The bump really hasn't changed over the past few weeks. I feel huge, yet people say I don't look any different! You be the judge!

Photographic Phriday

Once again it's Photographic Phriday, that awesome day when I share my favourite photo of the week that I have taken on my iPhone using the Instagram App.

My pregnant brain forgot to note down what filter I used on this photo. I think my sweet Tillycat looks rather Hepburn-esque in this photo.

Tillycat

Thankful Thursday 2

I once heard a story...
One evening, a Cherokee elder told his grandson about the battle that goes on inside people's heads. He said, "My son, the battle is between the two 'wolves' that live inside us all. One is Unhappiness. It is fear, worry, anger, jealousy, sorrow, self pity, resentment and inferiority. The other is Happiness. It is joy, love, hope, serenity, kindness, generosity, truth and compassion." The grandson thought about it for a minute nd then asked, "Which wolf wins?" The old Cherokee simply replied "The one you feed."

Last Thankful Thursday, Christie from over at Ie Love, commented on my post and said "the link between gratitude and well being is something that I find really interesting".

When I wrote the post, in my mind, I didn't make the connection between gratitude and well being. I was too focussed on trying absolutely anything to try and change my perspective on the world and make myself feel a bit better. But Christie's comment got me thinking...

Then, on Monday I stumbled across an except in a magazine at my local cafe that really tied what I was trying to do with Christie's comment about the connection between gratitude and well being!

Let it be said that my local cafe has magazines older than most doctor's waiting rooms! And the excerpt that I found was in an issue of the Australian Women's Weekly from September 2008 (hence I've not been able to locate a copy of the article in online archives), but it still gave me food for thought!

The excerpt came from a book called Happy For No Reason by a lady named Marci Shimoff, and it was based around the theory that each of us has a "happiness set point", or a fixed point of happiness, that is formed both by genetics and by learning, but which we can influence and raise through a series of steps outlined in the book. In simpler terms the premise was that we can think of happiness as a skill and train our minds to be happy, by changing the way we behave and think. Like by noticing the happy things in our  lives, by tending to our relationships, and by finding passion and purpose.

All of this sounded very similar to something I wrote about here not long after I started this blog in December.

Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is based on identifying and changing relationships to modes of mind that characterise and contribute to mood disorders, such as depression and unhappiness, through a combination of cognitive therapy, meditative techniques, and the cultivation of mindfulness.

Mindfulness has become a "hot topic" in modern psychology since the 1970's. The term "mindfulness" is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as: "The state or quality of being mindful; attention; regard".
In the context of Buddhism, mindfulness relates to having constant presence of mind and focus in each activity performed.

Very simply put, both this book and MBCT assert that a greater level of happiness can be attained by paying closer attention to what is happening in our lives, and in ourselves in response to things happening in our lives. By having the presence of mind to identify negtive thoughts occuring, or identify things that may trigger negative thoughts, we are then giving ourselves the ability to choose to try to change our responses or thoughts, thereby retraining ourselves to override negative bias and starve our negativity by choosing to feed our positivity instead (to come back to the wolf story).

I suppose, in light of all this, my Thankful Thursdays are less about showing my gratitude (not that I'm not grateful for having good things in my life), and more about starving my negativity, feeding my positivity, and retraining myself to have more positive inclinations.

I don't expect to become a saint and for my Happiness wolf to kill off my Unhappiness wolf, never to be seen again. But I do want to try damn hard to give my Happiness wolf a bloody good head start on things, for the sake of myself, my relationship, and my baby.

Thankful Thursday aims to remind myself, and others, that although shit happens, there are still good things in life, even if they're just little things, that we can't forget to focus on.

So, without further ado, my three things to be thankful for this Thursday are:

1. My pool - I am thankful for my pool for giving me some relief from the dreafully opressive heat and humidity.
2. My pets - I am thankful for my cats and dogs for loving me unconditionally, and for the entertaining and calming influence they have on me.
3. My house - I am thankful to have a roof over my head and somewhere for my child to call home. I may complain about it's history and a lack of furniture, but it is a lot more than many people have and I am a lucky human being to have it provided for me!

What are you thankful for this week?

Oh My Freaking God!!!

Ok, I'm totally freaking after spending last night and this morning looking at baby stuff online...
EVERYTHING IS SO EXPENSIVE!!!

Cots, prams, car seats, change tables, sterilisers, bassinettes, high chairs, bottles, breast pumps, baby capsules... I can't take it!!! Where the heck are we going to find the money for all of this??

Cue hyperventillation...

Gross out...

I had one of the most disgusting experiences of my life yesterday.

A few weeks ago I noticed my roll on deodorant was getting low, so while I was at the supermarket I picked up another one and put it on the bathroom vanity for when the first ran out.

Yesterday morning I had a shower, got out, dried myself off, admired my growing belly, brushed my teeth, and then I went to put on my deodorant. Finally my roll on had run out, so I grabbed the new one off the vanity, whipped the lid off and rolled the deodorant under my arms like it was going out of fashion.

Only then did it hit me. A waft of industrial strength BO came from under my right arm... and from under my left arm... and from the ball of the roll on deodorant!!!! I'm not talking "I've just been to the gym" BO, I'm talking serious "I've been sitting in my own festering sweat for a week" BO!

I couldn't take it. I didn't know whether to cry or throw up!

With tears in my eyes I threw myself back into the shower and desperately scrubbed at my poor skin to get this other persons stench off me, all while The Man stood there listening to me cry and curse and swear, trying to suppress his giggles and amusement at the situation.

What we think happened is that weeks ago before I bought the roll on, some disgusting human being at the supermarket decided to roll the deodorant over their stinky, sweaty underarms and kindly put it back on the shelf for someone to buy. And I was the fool that ended up with it!

Took the shine right off my Sunday that did!

I have resolved never to buy roll on again. I don't care about CFC's and aerosols ruining the environment, as of yesterday I'm not buying anything else!!!

Summary Sunday

1. How far along?: 18 Weeks 1 day
2. How big is bub?: At our scan last Tuesday, Our Monster was found to be meeting all the 17 week targets and was estimated to weigh 209 grams! According to What to Expect and Pregnancy Lite, this week bub should be about the size of a mango or pear... although I would've thought that would be two entirely different sizes!
3. Weight gain?: Still shifting up and down within a margin of about 1 kilo over the week. So not really sure if I'm gaining, but not losing either. People who don't know I'm preggo keep saying I've lost weight, and I think my face is a bit thinner, so maybe baby weight gain and my weight loss are equalising each other... Not that I'm trying to lose weight, I'm just trying to gain it slowly if I must!
4. Stretch marks?: Not that I've noticed, although my boobs get really itchy, and they say that can be a sign of the skin stretching.
5. Maternity clothes?: Not yet, but I'm starting to favour certain clothes in my wardrobe.
6. Sleep?: Still crashing early. Some nights I sleep right through, other nights it's pretty disturbed sleep and I wake at 4 or 5 am.
7. Best moment last week?: My scan on Tuesday!
8. Food cravings?: Not so much cravings, but still hard to get excited about most food. Once it starts sliding down my gullet however, that's another story!
9. Symptoms?: I'm peeing like a racehorse! Breathlessness. Not handling the heat!!!
10. Exercise?: I'm swapping stretch and pilates for yoga this week as the class times have changed at my gym. I'm quite liking the gentle strengthening exercise and it makes me feel better in myself if I'm having a crap week.
11. Gender?: Dunno...
12. Movement?: Squiggling and somersaults.
13. Belly button?: Still there, but The Man stuck his finger in it this morning and reckons it's getting shallower.
14. What I miss?: Coffee... and I would've killed someone for a margharita or a bloody mary this week!
15. Labour signs?: None yet!
16. What I'm looking forward to: Picking out more music for my "Morning Music" sessions, when I sit the iPad or iPhone on my tum for bout half an hour before getting up in the morning and play music for our monster. Everything from Lenny Kravitz to U2. Enya to Madonna. Blink 182 to Sinatra. This baby is going to be rocking!

The bump...

Photographic Phriday

Every Friday I've decided to post my favourite pic of the week as taken on my iPhone using Instagram!

Today's first Photographic Phriday pic was taken on New Years Eve with the Instagram "Kelvin" effect when one of the neighbours decided it would be a bright idea to light a hand held boat flare with his family to celebrate the new year... Hence the caption for the photo.

Dickhead with a flare

Thankful Thursday

I had a whole post prepared for today about how sick I was of some people in my life, and how I was preparing to start culling "negative" people from mine and my baby's life.
All in all, it in itself was a very "not happy Jan" post, and quite clearly reflected the crap week I've been having, and the fact that "the black dog" has started following me around again in the couple of days.

As a result I've decided that I need to change my behaviour and take some time out each day to reflect, and make up a list of things I am thankful for, rather than wallowing in the crap that can so quickly feast on your soul.

So, every Thursday I am going to post three things from my weekly list to share with you and remind me, and hopefully others, that while shit may still happen, there are still good things in the world!

Here are my three things for this Thankful Thursday (Please take a moment to appreciate the alliteration! LOL!):

1. I am thankful for my twice weekly stretch class to help me feel fitter and more centred.
2. I am thankful for music. Sometimes a carefully selected piece of music can be just as helpful as a therapy session!
3. I am thankful for The Man, who is my rock, my sounding board, and my best friend. He helps me keep all the pieces together.

What are you thankful for this Thursday?

A gut full of baby...

So we had a scan yesterday, which proves I have a gut full of baby.

We're meeting all our 17 week markers which is great! And the estimated foetal weight is 209 grams! (Please don't be a biggun!)

Unfortunately, we couldn't get a photo. It looks like we're dealing with a reluctant little star here, as this is the second scan that we've had trouble getting a pic.

Looks like we'll just have to wait until our big scan in Australia on the 20th, when we should be able to get colour pictures AND a DVD made!

I still haven't heard the heartbeat yet either, although we could see it pumping away on the scan when we got the right position for a split second.

I'm thinking about maybe getting a foetal heart monitor, or doppler, while I'm in Oz to listen to the heartbeat at home.

Can anyone recommend where to get one, or any brands that they have had sucess with?

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to one and all!

Hope you all had a fabulous start to 2012!

I've decided to start 2012 by stealing a pregnancy update summary thingo from She over at Those Darn Eckersons, and trying to work out how to get the photos off my iPhone so that I can post a pic of my bump that's developing.

The stealing part I'm all good with, but this whole photo's off the iPhone caper is a bit much for my small-step-above-luddite way of thinking!!

After trying to work out this whole iPhoto thing to get my Windows laptop to co-operate with my Apple phone, I finally resorted to plugging the phone into the laptop and using the camera wizard to pull the photos off. Why does technology have to be so complicated?!

Anywho, I have decided to try to fill out the pregnancy summary thingo every week or two until this sprog drops, so that I can chronicle the growth of my bump (and my boobs) for posterity!
I'm going to aim to put it up on Sunday's for what I will now call, Summary Sunday!

1. How far along?: 17 weeks 3 days
2. How big is bub?: According to What to Expect and my Pregnancy Lite iPad app, my baby should be about 14cm long. But this afternoon I'm having a scan so we'll find out if we're on target or not!
3. Weight gain?: Not really. Lost about 2.5kgs in the first 14 weeks and have sat around about the same weight since then... I'm starting to look thinner in the face and fatter in the gut!
4. Stretch marks?: No more than usual! LOL!
5. Maternity clothes?: Not yet, but I'm being a bit more selective about what's comfortable.
6. Sleep?: Most nights I'm crashed out on the couch by 8:30. But this last week I've had a couple of nights where I've had difficulties getting to sleep again when I wke up in the middle of the night.
7. Best moment last week?: Feeling an increasing amount of squiggling in my gut.
8. Food cravings?: Ice blocks and pasta sauce. The acidity of the tomatoes does it for me! Still got the food apathy, but once I get eating it can be hard to get me to stop.
9. Symptoms?: Food apathy, massive(er) boobs, fatigue, breathlessness.
10. Exercise?: I've gotten back to my twice weekly pilates / stretch class at the gym, but that's about the extent of it. I just don't have the drive to get on the treadmill. And I've been swimming gently in the pool!
11. Gender?: We're not going to find out, if we can avoid it. We'd like this one to be a surprise!
12. Movement?: Some squiggling and wiggling in my tummy, and sometimes if I put my hand in the right spot at the right time I can feel it.
13. Belly button?: Still there.
14. What I miss?: Sashimi... Why do I have to live where there's always fresh tuna????
15. Labour signs?: None yet please!
16. What I'm looking forward to: My check up scan this afternoon and my 20 week scan in a couple of weeks in Australia! They're gonna make a DVD!!!

And after all that, here's a photo of my budding gut (beneath my massive boobs)!