Good Bye 2009

This year has been a great one for the Big Man and I. I think it is one of those years that I will look back on and smile about in the years and decades to come.

Of course it hasn't been all smooth sailing, but the good this year has by far out weighed the bad.

2009 Highlights (in chronological order):

• Adopting Ollie, our laid back, cruisey Cat
• Finding a great job that I really enjoy and having the added bonus of working with a fantastic group of people
• Finding out that I was pregnant
• Telling the Big Man that were going to have a baby
• Telling our families and friends about the baby
• Seeing Max for the first time at our 10 week scan
• All of the pregnancy milestones, first kick, first kick that the Big Man felt, seeing Max move inside my belly, first hiccups, etc
• Not getting fired from that job when I needed a lot of time off through out my pregnancy
• Celebrating my first wedding anniversary
• Seeing Beyonce in concert
• Cooper turning two and finally turning into a sane dog rather than a uber-excited puppy
• My Baby Shower
• Giving birth
• Sharing Max with all of our Families
• Having my Family visit for Christmas
• Celebrating the New Year with thew Big Man's Family

It was such a good year that I have probably missed a million things!

I hope you all have a wonderful 2010!

T xx

Not Yet Sinking

I've been holding together really well since Max was born. I've had a few moments where I've shut myself in my room and cried, but I'm sure every new Mum has times like those.

It was easier to keep it together while I had my Mum and Sister staying with me. Last night it all fell apart though. I think it was four weeks worth of pretending that I feel great (and sometimes I do), that lead to my monumental breakdown last night.

It's not that I'm not happy, I'm incredibly happy. It's not that I don't love being a Mum, I think it's the greatest thing in the entire world. It's not that I don't have any support, I have an amazing Husband, endless support from my family and the Big Man's and beautiful friends. It's the fear that's getting to me. I don't worry constantly, but when I do it get's out of control really quickly.

Yesterday we were supposed to drive up to Hervey Bay. We packed our bags, loaded up the car and strapped Max into his seat. I was about to get in the car myself when I realised that if we got into an accident and rolled the car, that any object loose in the car could hit Max in the head and hurt him. This lead to a stand-off between the Big Man, it started out with me wanting him to repack the car and ended up (over an hour later) with me curled up around Max in the bedroom refusing to let the Big Man come anywhere near him.

The rational part of me kept thinking 'this is stupid, just get in the car', but I couldn't get past the fact that if we drove anywhere Max could get hurt. I was hysterical, ridiculously irrational and it took hours for the Big Man to calm me down enough so that we could have a conversation.

I feel better today, but I'm still a little bit teary and keep crying for no reason.

I guess I just need to work out if is my anxiety coming back and making me feel like this or if all Mums feel like this and it's competely normal...

T xx

Christmas Wrap-Up

This year in the lead-up to Christmas we weren't sure when I would be having Max and how I would be feeling afterward, so we planned to have Christmas at our house for the first time. We invited both of our families, mine decided to come, but the Big Man's already had plans that involved Grandparent's, Aunts etc so they stayed in Hervey Bay.

Everyone told me that I was crazy for planning to host Christmas so soon after having a baby, so when my Sister Jen volunteered to do all of the organising and cooking for Christmas Day I took her up on the offer.

A couple of days before Christmas my Mum, my Sister's fiance (Jen had already been here for a week helping me out with Max) and my niece arrived. Having my Niece Ava here really made it start to feel more like Christmas. In between last minute Christmas shopping we did all sorts of Christmasy things like decorating cookies for Santa and making Christmas cards.


Two days before Christmas my Mum and Sister did a big Christmas grocery shop and they then spent the next two days getting everything ready for Christmas lunch. The menu that Jen put together was absolutely gorgeous and seeing as pictures speak louder than words, here it is (picture inspired by Bush Babe's photo of her Christmas lunch).


Missing from the picture are the prawns (strategically placed far away from the rest of the food so as not to freak out Jen!), the loads of delicious sweets that Mum made and the Christmas pudding. Jen and Mum also cooked up a storm at breakfast time, we had scrambled eggs, bacon, English muffins, tortillas, hollandaise sauce, croissants, loads of summer fruit and more... Yum!


In between breakfast and lunch we opened up all of the presents (my favourite part of the day!) we all got very spoilt, especially Max and Ava.


By four o'clock we were all completely exhausted and I think we were all in bed by about nine.


I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas too and I look forward to hearing about your day as well.

T xx

Christmas Cards 2009

All my Christmas cards have been posted out so I thought I would share this year's designs.

I was 37 weeks pregnant whilst making them and only used card stock, scraps, ribbons and supplies that I already had at home, so I am really happy with how they turned out. My ability to take good photos on the other hand is very, very average. Sorry about the quality...





Merry Christmas All!

T xx

Great Grandparents

I mentioned yesterday that we met the Big Man's Grandparent's at the airport, but what I forgot to write about was how amazing it was to introduce them to Max. They weren't expecting the Big Man, Max and I to be there when they landed, so when they saw us standing there holding Max there were tears all around (not so many from the Big Man, but I made up for that!).

The Big Man's Mum, Dad and Aunty were also with us at the airport and between the three ladies Max was held and hugged almost as much as he was in the first couple of days after he was born!

What really moved me though was when I was watching the Big Man's Meme (Grandmother) holding Max and I realised that 50 odd years ago she was holding the Big Man's Mum, 28 years ago she was holding the Big Man and now she was holding Max - her second Great Grandchild. Beautiful!

The Big Man's Pepe (Granddad) got in on the action too and after we had collected the luggage he pushed Max in his pram out to where we had parked the cars. It was so sweet to see them instantly fall in love with Max :)

They stayed and had lunch with us and we took plenty of photos. Then they headed up to Hervey Bay with the Big Man's parents. We'll be heading up there ourselves after Christmas so that Max can get to know his Great Grandparents a bit better.

T xx

Happy, but Sore and Tired

I'm still loving being Max's Mum and he's still a great little baby....

But because I've been feeling so good, I think I might have started to overdo it a bit. The last three days have been really busy. On Wednesday the Big Man and I took Max to my work to meet everyone and then spent a couple of hours getting photos printed and doing some shopping. The next day we did a few hours of Christmas shopping with my Sister and the Big Man's parents. And yesterday we sent out to the airport to pick up the Big Man's Grandparent's. Unlucky for me, they came into one of the further-est gates and we had to do a load of walking.

All completely worthwhile trips and I enjoyed all of it, but during the night I woke up really sore. It's not just along my scar that is hurting, my tummy muscles and back are really achy too. It's not too bad, nothing like the first couple of days that we were home from the hospital. Just enough discomfort to remind me that it has only been two and a bit weeks since I had the Caesar and that I should still be taking it easy.

The Big Man's Parent's, Grandparent's and Aunty have left again now and I have a few days before my Brother-in-Law, Niece and Mum arrive for the holidays. So I think I will spend the next couple of days hanging out on the couch and taking afternoon naps.

Hopefully I will be back to feeling great in just a couple of days.

T xx

2 Weeks Old Today

Dear Max,

Today you are two weeks old and it is hard for me to believe that I have known you for such a short time. Already you are so much a part of my life that I can't imagine a world without you.


You are a beautiful and content baby. Not much seems to bother you and you have only had two or three really good cries. Most of the time you tend to just squeak and cry for a couple of seconds before settling down again. Even in the mornings when you wake up, you just lie in your bassinet making cute noises, waiting for Daddy or I to come and pick you up.


We don't do much together yet besides me feeding you, Daddy and I bathing you, holding you and watching you sleep. Although when you are awake and you stare into our eyes it melts both of our hearts.


Daddy and I are very much looking forward to getting to know you better as you grow. But please try not to grow to quickly, I am enjoying having you as my tiny little baby boy.

Lots of Love,

Mummy