I’d like to share with you some things we have planned for the future.
I’ve written in the past about how we like to have regular but small trips to keep us fresh.
In 2020 we plan to travel around country Victoria for 2 weeks with a little camper trailer.
Then we are looking to build up towards a 3 month trip around coastal Australia in 2021.
Emelina will be 6yo. Kyneton will be 3yo and Baby #3 will be 1yo.
Perfect timing!
2017 – Emelina and Nana at Big 4 Coburg
Then in 2022 we want to spend 6 months travelling around Australia.
Eventually we plan to travel around Australia for 1 whole year! This will be when the kids are still in primary school and want to hang around Mum and Dad.
There’ll be a time where they’ll prefer to hang out with their friends rather then their family on school holidays.
So we would like to book them in before they’re too cool 😉
Here are some of the places I’d like to see around our beautiful country:
The Murray River
The NSW Central Coast from Merrimbula to Byron Bay
The Red Centre – Uluru/Alice Springs
Sunshine Coast
Far North Queensland
Coastal Western Australia
Plus many many more!
A benefit of being a Big 4 member is that there are plenty of places around Australia where we can dock our camper trailer in a cheaper site with shower and cooking amenities available.
Bbq at the Big 4 caravan park
Looking forward to documenting the trips ahead and here are some families that I’m following:
He’s been gone for 5 days already and it’s been difficult without his help 🙁
Being 3 months pregnant and having 2 little kids to manage has been challenging but I’m really fortunate because I have supportive family to help me through.
I’ve been home alone to run the house and if you’ve followed my story, my husband Leki is responsible for our morning routine in our little house.
I am understanding how hard it can be for women who are home alone with their kids while their husbands are Fly In Fly Out (FIFO) or in a professional trade where they are away for long periods of time.
I remember when I was a child my Dad who’s a plumber sometimes was away for a week because the job needed them far away for a short time.
As a kid I missed my Dad but I never thought about how much my Mum had to work to keep the family afloat.
I’m at the other end with my husband away and I’m wondering what my kids are feeling with Dad being away, not cooking breakfast, not being there to be the playful Dad, not being there to help with the wind down routine at the end of our day.
Its a big change for my little guys 🙁
This is a short post appreciating what our husbands do for us and acknowledging Mums who regularly drive their household while their husbands are away.
I can’t wait for Leki to come back because I miss him but also because I appreciate the work we do together in raising our children together.
I thought I’d follow up from my last blog post and give you a monthly update on how I’m travelling with my 3rd pregnancy.
I’m currently due to have baby #3 on 24 Sept 2019 and am currently 3 months along with my pregnancy.
Here are my main topics I’d like to talk about throughout my pregnancy:
Pain
Energy
Self care
1. Pain
In the first 3 months I can proudly say that this has been the smoothest pregnancy so far.
Smooth in the sense that I’ve had very little morning sickness, had a great appetite for food and not in much pain.
The first trimester has scored an A 🙂
3 months pregnant with baby #3
On reflection I would say that I’ve been in the best shape physically and mentally in leading up to this pregnancy.
I am in the best shape weight wise.
I am in the best mood and consciousness mentally.
The choices I’ve made food wise has been the best leading up to this pregnancy.
Leki bought and read a book from one of his mentors – Dave Asprey – called “The Better Baby Book“. It’s the lessons in this book that we’ve followed in leading up to this most recent pregnancy. Highly recommend!
2. Energy
In my last blog post I wrote about how I’m preserving and recharging my batteries by napping daily with my kids.
It’s usually a 30-60 min nap at 3pm with my kids.
Aside from that I have been pretty good at eating well.
I have been eating quite a lot of take away food probably 3-4 times per week compared to pre-pregnancy which was once a week.
The problem is that I don’t enjoy the food being cooked at home.
It’s great nutritious food but I just don’t like the smell and taste of it 🙁
Here’s my typical meals I’m eating which can alternate:
Breakfast:
Low carb Toast + avocado, tomato and cheese
Porridge, banana and raw honey
Egg + baby spinach, asparagus, avocado and butter
Smoothie = cacao powder, chia seeds, flax seeds, banana, MCT oil, almonds and coconut water
We are expecting another addition to the family due to arrive in Sept 2019 🙂
This is a special blessing because I wrote about trying to have kids and having to educate ourselves on how best to fall pregnant.
We fell pregnant on our 2nd month of trying! We’re so happy 🙂
Btw, revisit our announcement of baby #2 – our son Kyneton – HERE.
Our family of 4 turns to 5 and we are so happy!
Now it’s still early days as we completed the 12 week ultrasound earlier this month.
I’m fortunate to have my caseload nurse from my last pregnancy – Allie – manage me again! YAY!
Right now I’m feeling pretty happy and healthy.
I’ve had a little bit of morning sickness but I have been very hungry and craving meaty meals.
I also prefer to have other people cook for me or eat out.
I love visiting my parents and having my Mum cook and look after me. It’s such a great feeling being able to be pampered even if it’s just a nice home cooked meal and a nice foot and stomach massage from my Mum.
Whatever Leki cooks at home I don’t want to eat 🙁 Poor Leki.
Getting the new team member in September!
I’ve recently brought my pregnancy clothes back from storage and it’s a nice feeling to be comfortable with my fitted dresses and clothes.
My plan is to provide you with a monthly update on how my 3rd pregnancy is going.
Plus, with my last two pregnancies I documented my efforts to lose weight.
In the future I will share with you my efforts to lose the baby weight but this time I’ll have more experience and focus more on staying happy and optimistic.
This is an update from an earlier posts about this very topic – read about my last update Aug 2018 and my original post Mar 2018.
So a quick summary our son Ky was in the bassinet as a 2mo infant and Eme was continuing strongly in her own bed in her own room with some night scares here and there.
By Aug 2018 our son Ky was in the crib in his own room and Eme was happy in her own room with our ‘wind down’ routine in full swing!
Ky’s 1st Swimming Lesson!
What are the main changes?
Kyneton is in his big boy bed
Nap routine
Daily routine
1. Kyneton is in his Big Boy Bed
Our little guy has graduated from his crib to a low set baby bed.
I managed to source the new bed and mattress from an Op Shop (where my Mum works) and I got a great price 🙂
The challenge now is getting Ky to stay in bed when we begin the ‘wind down routine‘.
Once we get the kids fed and washed we get them into bed around 7pm.
It can take 30 mins to get Ky to sleep.
He often cries and gets himself down from the bed and wonders into our room upset.
I then hold his hand and show him back into his room and lay him down to bed and I say ‘goodnight Ky it’s time to sleep’.
He then cries for a little while and then again helps himself down before wondering back into our room.
I repeat the process of returning him back to his room until he finally gives up which can take 30 mins!
That was early March 2019 just 2 weeks ago.
Fast forward 2 weeks I’m now down to 15 minutes in getting him down into his own bed.
The struggle continues 😉
Happy camper!
2. Nap Routine
In the next section I’ll share with you what our week looks like.
The reason why I’ve revisited the nap routine is because the kids and I get so tired with how our day is running.
With Kyneton he gets up early around 5:30am-6am Leki looks after him.
By 10am he’s really irritable and needs a little 30 min nap.
If I’m lucky he’ll go down for 60 mins!
When he’s up again he’ll go strongly until 3pm where he needs another 30 min nap.
I used to keep Emelina up all day so that she can konk out at the end of the day and sleep all the way through.
We are blessed that Eme is a great sleeper and consistently sleeps 10-11 hours all the way through with minimal disruption.
She goes down around 7:30pm-8pm and wakes around 7am.
I know! We are really blessed with her 😉
But her current calendar has become very busy which means a couple of days per week she goes down for a nap with Ky and I at 3pm.
I would say Eme is napping at 3pm for 30-60 mins most weekdays.
Most days I nap with the kids at 3pm for 30-60 mins.
I get some rest and recharge plus I enjoy ‘nesting’ with my kids.
I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to enjoy them at this time of their lives so I’ll spend as much time having some down time with them 🙂
3. Daily Routine
This is an update from our last routine update which you can read – HERE.
4:30am-7am: My husband Leki is up and studying before Ky wakes at 6am and Eme is up at 7am.
7am-8am: Leki makes a hot breakfast for the family which is our daily family meal as he gets home late from work.
8am-9am: Leki leaves for work and I prepare the kids for the day.
9am-6pm: Emelina has Gymnastics on Monday mornings from 10:30am-11:30am and 4yo Montessori School Tues, Wed and Thurs 9am-12:30pm
She also has a weekly swimming class on Tues at 5:00pm.
Kyneton has a weekly swimming class on Thurs at 11:00am and has a weekly Montessori ‘Nido’ session on Wed at 9:45am.
We bulk cook food on the weekend and simply reheat on the weekday which saves me time and trouble while I’m chasing the kids.
So the daily napping routine allows the kids and I to continue to be happy and functional 😉
As I mentioned above – Ky naps at 10am which gives me a chance to do some cleaning or follow up on things and we have a family nap at 3pm!
There are some days that are friendlier then others.
For example I enjoy walking to the local park and allow the kids to play for a good hour which gives me some down time and get the kids in the sunshine.
Leki and I put a lot effort organising our time during the day and training the kids to respect the wind down routine.
This process ensures that the kids are asleep by 8pm-8:30pm every night.
So Leki and I can have couple time where we can choose how to spend it.
It might be movie time watching a popular series, or chill out in bed reading or being on our phones unwinding before talking and catching up 😉
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We then aim to unplug and place our phones on airplane mode at 9pm and aim to sleep at 9:30pm every night.
This enables us to be happy and healthy and we place a high importance on quality sleep.
Well that’s how the picture looks like in our little household.
I’ll update this in 6 months and give you an update on how we’re travelling as a little family!
Our little girl has just turned 4 years old and we celebrated it with a good old backyard party.
It was themed as the popular PJ Mask and my sisters pitched in and hired an entertainer to come dressed as Eme’s favourite cartoon character – Owlette!
You should have seen the wide smile and big eyes on her face as Owlette popped out from the corner.
I’ll never forget that for the rest of my life.
This made me think about the innocence of youth.
Our daughter Emelina is newly 4 years old and believes everything you tell her.
She believes in Santa, the tooth fairy, the Easter bunny and all the other make believe things we grew up adoring.
There will be a time when she realises how the world actually works.
She might be at school and one of her friends will tell her that Santa’s not real.
Or may be an older cousin will find out the truth and share the news with her.
Maybe she busts Mum and Dad slipping the presents under the Christmas tree not Santa and Rudolph.
Or Mum and Dad might accidentally slip that the tooth fairy is not real.
When that day comes I know that little spark in my little girl’s eyes will change… forever.
I guess that’s why I was so moved when she reacted the way she did when she saw the ‘real’ Owlette at her party.
She was absolutely convinced it was Owlette from TV and Emelina hardly let her out of her reach as the entertainer was playing games and organising the kids.
She did a great job and will look to have them host a Party again in the future!
So a little about the actual party….
We had a backdrop which I built and it took me an hour and a bit to piece together with a balloon garland 🙂
I ordered the backdrop off UBACKDROP which arrived within 1 week from when the order was made.
Thanks Vikki they look awesome!
Having a large family we had plenty of hands on deck to help with preparing the food and drinks.
Special shout out to my Mum for all her hard work and great help (couldn’t do it without you!), my Aunty for always supplying seafood and her special Island drink Otai, my sisters Kathy and Taina for their help and Vikki for putting the cake and cupcakes together within hours 😉
These events do not go to plan unless I have my supporters to assist. THANK YOU!
Believe it or not I have already thought about Eme’s 5th and 6th birthday party themes.
I guess I have more fun then her planning her birthdays then she does actually celebrating it 🙂
Emelina please enjoy your childhood before the you join the rest of us in the real world!
In the real world where you can be disappointed.
In the real world the curiosity and wonder diminishes with each day 🙁
Stay where you are where there is magic and wonder my beautiful little girl.
It’s now Autumn and the closet clean out has commenced!
Funny how all the old items lying around becomes such a struggle to giveaway/throw away when you’re faced with actually throwing it away.
When we relocated from Kyneton to Gisborne last year I wrote about how the KonMari Method helped me with decluttering.
Here is a short overview of what Marie Kondo is about:
I have packed most of my Summer clothes away and pulled out my winter clothes from the shed.
I’ve also been dealing with the kids toys because there is so much of it and so little time that they’re actually being used.
We send out kids to our local Montessori school and we have a dedicated simple space for the kids to play.
We are transferring their lessons and environment from School and mirroring those lesson at home.
We are now actively asking friends and family not to buy toys for birthdays and celebrations because it will just to a waster of money. I’m not wanting to sound ungrateful but being honest helps everyone 🙂
It’s a state of mind – and a way of life – that encourages cherishing the things that spark joy in one’s life. Belongings are acknowledged for their service – and thanked before being let go, should they no longer spark joy.
In my last post about this topic in June 2018 Leki and I gave away a lot of things that no longer sparked joy.
Leki struggled but parted ways with over 80% of his Rugby gear he had been collecting over the years. He donated the items to Tonga and forgot all about it.
Then, he saw photos on Facebook with young people in Tonga wearing his Rugby gear when I returned for my Grandma Taina’s funeral in Sept 2018.
It genuinely made him joyful!
Lastly, I have become more conscious with my shopping habits.
I seem to question any purchase for the home. Will I use and will it be worthwhile or will it just be parked in the closet ready to be KonMari’d 😉 down the tracked.
So as the mission of Marie Kondo suggests it is a ‘state of mind and a way of life…’
So I have been preparing for the cold Winter that’s due to arrive in the Macedon Ranges and I’ve written before how it can be 5 degrees cooler here then Melbourne.
There’s also another reason that I’ve dug out my stored clothes but more on that later 😉
How have you applied the KonMari Method in your life?
I got a notification off my Facebook feed that this time last year my Grandma Taina visited us in Australia from Tonga.
Around this time of year (every year) from March to May Grandma Taina would stay with us in Melbourne with her 3 month ‘visitors visa’ and enjoy her time with extended family.
She would be with my Mum for most of her stay at her home in the north of Melbourne.
My older sister would often take her to bingo with other ladies to try her luck 🙂
My other sisters would drop in with their kids (Grandma Taina’s great-grandchildren) and spend time with her.
China Bar celebrating my Dad’s 60th in 2015
Grandma Taina would then visit her sister who lives in Melbourne, nieces, nephews and extended relatives.
Then… I would host her with my little family and she would stay with us for a week.
I really cherished that time together because we spoke in a language that only love knows.
You see, I wrote this blog post LAST YEAR about wishing I could communicate with my Grandma because I can’t speak my native language well at all.
And now Grandma Taina is resting in Tonga after passing away in Sept 2018 🙁
At Kyneton’s Baptism in May 2018
Oh how I wish I had more time with her!
I wish I could just talk with her one more time.
Have her sing to me or playfully tease her great-grandchildren or see her grin when she’s watching the kids play in front of her.
I miss her so much 🙁
Leki and I talked about this and we realised that there’s two sides to everything after he saw this awesome video from Ryan Daniel Moran.
With baby Eme in Mar 2015
There are problems we feel in the moment and there are positives that we think about in the rear view mirror.
We feel the problems and we long for the positives.
We rarely pause to appreciate the positives while we’re still in them and instead we just experience them later.
And we get this experience of the times that “used to be”.
Now we both have siblings and we don’t spend 24 hours a day thinking about how much I love and appreciate them.
But… if anything ever happened to any of them all I would ever want is to have my sibling back.
So we saw that there are things in our lives that we can sometimes overlook that if there were taken away from me it would be the thing I longed for the most.
NYE in Footscray 2015
Like the time when my 1yo son is screaming at night in bed.
If anything ever happened to him, all I would ever want would be to comfort a screaming baby.
Or the time when I was 19yo and thinking that I was overweight and unhappy.
But now I wish I had that 19yo body because pushing out my kids has given me a waistline that I’m always working on 🙂
If Leki and I have an argument about something and we don’t talk for a little while to let things simmer down is another example.
But, if anything ever happened to him all I’d want to do is have the chance to just talk to him again.
We rarely, if ever, pause to appreciate the things that are already in our lives that we could be grateful for until it’s too late.
But, you get to control whether you consciously appreciate the things in your life or focus on problems until much later when you have this sense of longing for ‘how things used to be’.
Right now I’m focused trying to be happy and reducing my stress.
Sometimes I’m in the happy place but other times I’m in the tough place and I quickly forget all the things I should be grateful for.
After Church in Kyneton with baby Ky 🙂
I know someone may be looking at my life and wishing they could have just a little slice of all the things I take for granted.
Just like when I look at someone else’s life and think how I wish those things for my life.
No matter who you are, or what you have or don’t have I can promise you there is someone else looking at your life longing to be in your situation.
Even to be in the situation right now that you see as a problem!
No matter who you are or where you are you have some much to be thankful for and appreciate.
THESE ARE THE GOOD OLD DAYS!
I miss you so much Grandma Taina and I appreciate all the time we spent together.
Even though it’s only been 6 months that you’ve gone to rest I think of you everyday and celebrate your life with our Family.
We celebrated my husband’s birthday recently which also happen to land on Valentine’s Day 🙂
Over a month earlier we had organised a night away from the kids.
This was a mini holiday where we left our 3yo and 1yo with my parents for the night and they played with Aunty, Uncle and their cousins.
So what did hubby and I do?
We went to see the soulful songstress Lauryn Hill featuring hiphop artist Nas.
Wandered around the city and Crown.
Shopped at DFO South Wharf.
Shopped again at Highpoint.
It took us back to our teenage/high school years.
Out late on a school night (Wed night) and no responsibilities (for a short while).
We felt like teenagers again 😉
It was our first time to Sidney Myer Music Bowl and it was a great venue!
Outdoor, grassy hill and seated area closer to the action.
Not used to being out late we actually left early from the concert at 10:30pm because we both were getting tired.
Then on Valentine’s Day we found a spot in the City Laneways that serves Bulletproof coffee and keto friendly food.
Had breakfast there with Leki’s Mum.
I then had the chance to check in with the kids and see how they were holding up at Nana and Poppy’s house.
I was happy to hear that they were behaving and having a great time. They didn’t even miss Mama and Daddy 🙂
After breakfast we made our way to DFO South Wharf for a bit of shopping then on dropped into Highpoint Shopping Centre.
Date night was a success and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves but it’s funny when you’re looking forward to have a break from the kids and then you end up talking about them!
Strange isn’t it…
Looking forward to the next date night.
We a little something planned in May which we’ll talk about later 😉
THANK YOU to my parents, my sisters and nieces and nephews who looked after my 2 little munchkins while I was out reliving my youth!
I hope you have nice date nights to recharge the batteries and to keep the flame burning bright.
Only a couple of steps confidently although he does wobble around a little bit 🙂
We celebrated his birthday at Geelong and soon after his party he started taking some steps the next few days and weeks after!
We’re so happy!
Ky was not a crawler and only started at around 9-10 months although we had him on plenty of tummy time (he was NOT a fan!) and sometimes in the baby walker for short periods of time.
Now that’s he’s up and running… we’ll have to keep an even closer eye on the little man 😉
Spatial Awareness
Ky is very adventurous and is not afraid to crawl around the house and down the long hallways independently.
If the rest of the family are in the lounge room watching TV it’s not uncommon that Ky would disappear into the kitchen or other parts of the house for a little while before resurfacing with a cheeky grin on his face 🙂
If he’s gone for longer then 5 minutes or he’s been ultra quiet then either Leki or I go and investigate what he’s up to.
He’s very interested in tissue paper and toilet paper at the moment and if w’re not careful I’ve seen my lipstick, toothbrushes and toys down the toilet. (So now all toilet bowl seats are closed LOL).
Unfortunately Ky has had a few falls and knocks as he wondering around on his feet.
He has a few bumps on his head and his worst fall was off the arm rest of the couch. Luckily he landed on a soft toy which cushioned his landing but he got a big fright and burst into tears.
We’ve since observed that he’s very careful being off the ground like if he’s on the couch, on a bed or being sat on a bench. We think we has a better understanding of depth now and has learnt that a fall from a height is painful 😉
Food
This boy can eat anything.
We have him on formula when he wakes up and when he’s due to go to sleep at the end of the day.
Other then that he has main meals with us and eats was we eat.
The only thing is that I tend to ‘Mama’ his food. That is, I chew his food and mash it up and then I feed it to Ky. Kinda like a seagull 😉
He eats our pre-prepped meal plans, enjoys the sweet treats, drinks water like a champion, enjoys some take away with us and is very fond of ice cream 🙂
The only thing he doesn’t like?
Eggs.
That sucks because that’s our go to breakfast.
So what does he have? Sometimes, 1 x Weetbix or some porridge with chia seeds, milk and banana.
Discipline
Ky is a boy’s boy.
He crashes into things and likes to hear the boom bash of things making loud noises.
We are very patient with his curiosity and the only time we’ll intervene is if he’s going to break something or if it’s dangerous!
We also believe in discipline.
Firm discipline.
If little Ky doesn’t understand by the tone of our voice that he’s in trouble and needs to listen then he gets a little flick on the back of his hand.
What sort of flick?
Imagine you’re play marbles and you flick your thumb to launch the marble forward.
Same thing only with the middle finger.
It can be quite forceful and painful but Ky gets the message 😉
Ky is very good with picking up the tone in our voices now so he very well knows when he’s in trouble!
Emelina is 4yo (almost)!
Sleep
I’ve started added a nap into Emelina’s routine.
When Ky goes down around 3pm I take Eme down too and we have a nap to recharge the batteries.
This is helpful as we are heading towards 3 x half days for her Montessori School.
By the end of the year we hope to increase her to 4 x half days.
The daily nap helps her and ME recover adequately to see out the day with good energy 🙂
Overnight Eme is our dream child.
She may have a few little things that causes her to be scared to begin with but then we encourage her to be a big girl and after her nightly prayers she closes her eyes and falls asleep around 7:30PM most nights.
She’s such a blessing!
Spatial Awareness/Gymnastics
Eme has graduated to the next class of her gymnastics school!
There are some older kids in her class and although it’s early in the year it’s good to see her training with them.
Just like her Montessori School there is an age range of 4-6yo in her gym class.
There are some kids in her class who are so athletic already! Their little bodies are so flexible, strong and fluid that it’s amazing to see the potential of what Emelina could develop into if she is consistent.
So proud of her effort so far I hope she continues to enjoy it!
Discipline
Eme is talking back to me. Not so much Leki but she’s definitely testing the boundaries.
At school and at gymnastics she struggles to take turns and always wants to be first!
As we understand it can be completely normal and developmental issue.
It’s interesting for us as parents because we choose NOT to intervene when Emelina is being pushy.
Why?
Emelina needs to learn from her peers that it’s not appreciated.
There will be an older child who will just tell her it’s not on.
Or Eme will see that she’s made another child upset make her want to change her behaviour.
It’s really hard for me to stand by and watch her cause a disturbance but I believe it will help her own development.
It’s even harder when other Mums or parents are looking at me disapprovingly BUT I am not a helicopter parent.
I don’t mind if my kids fall over and get hurt.
I don’t worry if there’s a chance that my child will get fingers caught in the drawer.
I like watching Eme climb ladders and play in the local playground without having her need me to help her.
I am trying to teach her to be resilient and self sufficient.
In the real world we feel pain, we get disappointed and come second or last.
What matters is how you bounce back and learn from those failures.
I love my kids but I’m not always going to be there to cushion their fall.
So looking ahead for the next 12 months I would like to tell you of our intentions.
School and Gymnastics for all our children will be mandatory.
Then every 6 months we will look to introduce new things for the kids to try.
It may be an learning instrument, scouts, nippers, sport or drama. Whatever may take their fancy but we are not looking at letting them be lazy on school holidays. Especially in the final years of primary school leading into high school!
From Term 1-2 we are looking to put our kids into local swimming classes.
Then from Term 3-4 we are looking at entering Eme into my friend’s Hawaiian dance group – Nuholani.
More news to come as I look to keep you updated on how the kids are going every 6 months or so.
This is helpful because it reminds me how quickly they grow and what little time I have with them before they’re too cool for Mum and Dad 😉
