A Home to Call Our Own?

Bit of a Background Story

The husband and I have been looking to buy a place ever since we got back from holidays in September. We've found quite a few we liked and were so disappointed when we'd miss out by $2000, $4000 etc. Since we live in the ACT the housing market is EXTREMELY competitive and the fact that so many people are moving down here this month to start new jobs/go to university doesn't help our cause......

WELL............

We found a townhouse we love!!!! Its a two storey 3 bedroom townhouse with ensuite and little backyard, new paint and carpets, heating, overlooks a golf course, has a swimming pool, gym and tennis court in the complex, Is in a corner (so nice and private). It belongs to our current landlord and his wife and they said well it's yours for XX amount (which is well within our budget). YAY YAY YAY!! This place just feels like home. As soon as I walked in I could imagine us living there with our little bub. Chilling out in the backyard, drinking wine under the umbrella whilst Squirt rolls around on the grass.

Now just to pray that our finance comes through since DH just started a new job in December. We have preapproval with a bank already so just hoping they don't dig around too much. Im sure DH's work would give the bank a letter saying they're not going to fire him etc And he's earning more in the new job so hopefully that helps.

PS: I told Husband we certainly need the baby carrier so I feel like I'm not going to drop our newborn down the stairs in the townhouse :-) Good reason, right!?

The Weekend

Dear universe,
Why oh why do weekends go by so quickly? It's like one moment it's Friday afternoon and the next thing you know BAM it's Sunday afternoon and the husband is getting organised to go back to work.

We had a pretty lovely weekend. We went and saw Sherlock Holmes at the movies Friday evening. It was a good movie, with a few twists and turns that kept you guessing (and some eye candy to keep the ladies happy). Rachel McAdams was wonderful in it and they have left it open for a possible 2nd movie which the husband was happy about.

Saturday we got up relatively early and hit Target hoping to get some baby goods. Well the cruiser pram husband wanted to push around was sold out and they didn't have a store one to push. My guess is it's the universe trying to tell us it's a crappy pram and to get the new strider plus :-) Husband has a different interpretation but I like mine better. All we ended up getting from Target was 7 bibs. They sold out of the newborn sized huggies and all the clothes are sooooo gender specific that we'll have to wait until after our morphology scan to buy clothes.

We also headed to the baby shop and pushed a few prams around. LOVE THE NEW STRIDER!!! The girls at the shop said a new 3 wheeled strider is coming out in the next 6-8weeks so we'll wait until then and test drive that one. DH likes 3 wheel prams better so I might have more luck convincing him about the new strider if it has 3 wheels :-)

DH still doesn't see the point of the capsule that clips into the pram but the way I see it is if it clips into the pram then you don't wake bub's up going from car to pram (and maybe inside) and back again. BRILLIANT!! And we'll just sell it when we're done with it. Good idea if you ask me. Not so good if you ask DH. He just wants to hire one from some place for 6 months or so. I just don't see the point as you can't put the capsule into the pram, so you'll be waking the baby up to go from capsule to pram. There's no way I'd cart a capsule around the shops with me, they're quite heavy without a 3.5kg bub in it. He think it's cheaper just hiring one. Which is true, however if you sell the capsule I'm sure in the end the money thing will even out.

Sunday we had a lovely long sleep in followed by some yummy toasted hot cross buns and a nice day of pottering around the house doing not much. (Though does playing wii together count?)

Squirt turned 16 weeks yesterday! Crazy!! I can't believe the time is going so quickly, but slowly at the same time. I just can't wait to find out the sex in February. Lucky we've both agreed to find out the sex. I couldn't wait until the birth. I'm soo not a patient person.

What's Squirt up to this week: 16 weeks

* Squirt is now about the size of an avocado (11.6 centimetres long from crown to rump and weighing 100 grams).

* The circulatory system and urinary tract are in full working order, and she/he's inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid through his lungs.

* Bub's is having fun playing with the umbilical cord

Mumma to be this week

* Apparently my uterus has expanded so much that the ligaments in my abdomen are stretching to make room for it (Maybe that's the pains I've been getting on either side of my belly?)

* My skin is still bloody annoying. I was hoping I'd start to see that lovely 'pregnancy glow' soon.

* Still waiting for the so called '2nd trimester energy boost'. Would love this soon :-)

* I think I've started putting on weight. I sneakily weighed myself on some Kmart scales yesterday (so not sure how accurate they were) but it said I'd put on 2kgs.

Belly Pics

Housework

The lovely Amy's post got me thinking about housework and what I do and what darling husband does in terms of chore's around the house. We're generally pretty good, and get in and get the house cleaned up together (he even managed to keep the house nice and tidy when I was dying of morning sickness).

Well yesterday I had the nesting urge so I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned (and even managed to go through my wardrobe for clothes for Vinnies) but also realised there are things that I absolutely won't do.... NO WAY!! So here's my list:

* Touch or empty the rubbish
EWW gross no way siree. Darling husband does get a little cross sometimes as I'll just keep filling up the bin even when it's quite obvious it needs emptying. I'm a lady, I don't touch rubbish. If I'm in a particularly kind mood I'll just pull out another rubbish bag chuck it on the floor and start to fill that one up too.

*Tidy up his messy room
Firsts things first yes we do actually share a room together, the room is just quite small. Lucky for us we have a spare room (which get's used twice a year by the in laws) so this is where darling husband's chest of drawers lives. Now, you'd think his clothes live in that drawer. Yeah right, who am I kidding. Yesterday I folded all the clothes and even put away his undies and socks, but that was it. The rest of the clothes went on the spare bed for him to put away. But there were other clothes on his bed (and floor) in various states of use. Which makes it doubly hard to tell if they're clean, half clean, due to be washed etc. They eventually make there way to the washing basket after some nagging by me.

*Dust the house
I absolutely loathe dusting with a capital L. It's so so gross. It freaks me out. Do you know what dust is? Dead skin cells, dried feces and dessicated corpses of dust mites. HOW FREAKING DISGUSTING!!! No wonder I won't dust.

*Wash husband's frying pan covered in meaty scum that's been sitting on the stove for 3 days
No bloody way. All the meat fat has solidified so you have to put it in some hot soapy water to get the fat to melt again. EWW, I'm vegetarian and the thought of putting my hands in a sink full of meat scum fat repulses me to no end. Sorry hubby, that's one you'll have to deal with yourself.

But you know besides that, we're a pretty good team :-) Now that I'm pregnant we've kind of swapped roles. He used to dust and vaccum and I used to do the toilet and bathroom. Now, he's taken on the bathroom job (and actually cleans the shower very well) and I've decided to vaccum. He can keep the dsting though, I'd rather clean 100 toilets than get up close and personal with dust.

The Nurse Turns Patient

Yes, I know. I have been extremely slack in the blogging department. But I have good reasons, promise.

Last week I managed to nearly faint while at work. It was so strange. I woke up feeling fine. Ate more breakfast than I normally do. Listened to ward handover at 7am, but by 740am I was dizzy, the world was spinning, my head was pounding (You know that awful blood pounding in your head noise). Well everyone kept asking if I was fine. I couldn't hide it much longer. I told them I wasn't. The next thing you know I have someone organising a wheelchair for me (Pushed by a cute wardsman as well) and I was off to emergency.

They stuck a cannula in a tiny wee vein on my hand and proceeded to try and suck out vials and vials of blood from it. It was taking FOREVER, my hand was numb and tingling as the tourniquet was on for so long. So in the end they had to stab me twice and take blood from my lovely large juicy cubital fossa vein which is where I told them to take blood from in the first place.

There was a plus side though. The ED doctor did a beside the bed ultrasound so we got to see Squirt again. I'm always so nervous before a scan but it was reassuring to see Squirt's big head again (Let's hope the head doesn't get too big!! DH has a BIG head) and we also saw the heart beating away and the arms and legs moving about. The lovely doctor even printed us a little picture, our first ever baby pic :-)

Yesterday was our first wedding anniversary and we spent three days down at the NSW south coast. It was so lovely to get away and relax. I finished reading a book while I was there (The Other Boleyn Girl, super super read) and also got three quarters of the way through my new one (The Choice by Nicholas Sparks).

I got burnt to a crisp on my shoulders and neck as I thought if you sat under a big umbrella at the beach with sunnies and a hat you didn't need sunscreen. Well now I know better that's for sure. Sleeping at night is even more of an effort as everytime I move the sheets scarpe on my sensitive burnt shoulders.

Well I didn't do a blog update last week about Squirt at 14 weeks but I did manage to take some belly pics (including some from NYE). Squirt turned 15 weeks yesterday on our anniversary and I've been able to feel bub's moving around now for about a week and it's the most amazing lovely feeling in the world. I feel so blessed to be Squirt's mumma.

What's Squirt Up to This Week - Week 15

* Squirt now weighs in at around 70 grams.

* Bub's is 11 centimetres long, crown to rump.

* Bub's legs are growing longer than the arms now.

* Squirt's fingernails are fully formed and all the joints and limbs can move.

Belly Pics

NYE 09 (13 wks + 4 days)

14 Weeks

15 Weeks

I think Squirt is packing on the weight.... do you?

13 Weeks Pregnant

Happy Belated Christmas Wishes!
We had a really quiet Christmas day here. I was sick so I just layed on the lounge all day and watched DH play wii Mario Kart, which was so funny because he gets so animated when he's losing/if something is 'thrown' at him. I got tickets to see the Cricket in Sydney in February. West Indies Vs Australia in a day/nighter. CAN'T WAIT!! We managed to watch Miracle on 34th street on Christmas day. I know it's on nearly every year around Christmas but I never actually watched the movie. Well we did this year and I must say I quite enjoyed it, and even had a little cry in some parts.

Boxing Day was lovely. I had to work in the morning which was okay because I worked in the Xray department and it was so cruisy. I finished reading my book (Ps I love you) because we only had to do scans on 8 people in the whole 8 hours I was there. I was going to have a sneaky ultrasound done but chickened out at the last moment.

We went to a friend's house for boxing day dinner (they're pregnant too and around 3 weeks behind us). We haven't done the couples hang out for a while so it was lovely to see them again. They have a daughter who is 2 and a bit and she's delightful. It took her a while to warm up to me, but after that we were bestest friends. We hung out by the Christmas tree and read some books together. It was lovely seeing her play with DH as well. My friend's parents were down from Sydney so we saw them again which was nice. We even managed to play UNO and while I didn't win (darn it) it was all in all a lovely night.

Pregnancy wise nothing much is happening. The nausea is slowly fading (YAY) so I'm hoping my appetite and sense of taste returns soon. I've booked my 18 week midiwfe appointment and also my Morphology scan (11th February, can't wait).

I'm tossing up whether to make a trip home to Toowoomba in late February so that family/friends can see me pregnant (I'll be around 22ish weeks then) but I'm not sure whether it's worth it. We'll be up for a family thing in September (with a 2 month old EEK scary) so maybe that's enough for the year. I know our mum and dad's want to come down once Squirt is born in July so we'll see them then. Neither DH or I have a lot of annual leave up our sleeves to make too many trips in 2010.

What's Squirt Up to This Week - Week 13

Squirt is now 7 to 8 centimetres long from crown to rump and weighs 23 grams -- about half a banana. Its unique fingerprints are already in place. And when you poke your stomach gently and she feels it, your baby will start rooting -- that is, act as if she's searching for a nipple.

My Symptoms

* Insomnia - I just can't get comfortable no matter what position I try. Pillow between my legs, no pillow, sleep on right side, left side, curled in a ball.

* Extreme Tiredness - Probably due to the fact I can't get comfy in bed and I'm also battling a little head cold thingo as well

* Bad skin - still. I was told this will ease in the 2nd trimester so my fingers are crossed.

* The centre of my nipples are changing colour - it kind of looks white-ish? Odd indeed.

* Veins everywhere - You can see them on my boobs, stomach, legs, arms.

* Pregnancy Brain - I went to put my dirty plate in the cupboard and my peanut butter in the fridge

* Food Cravings - I am loving oranges. Can't get enough of them. I have one or two a day.

Belly Pictures

(and yes that's water you see dribbled down my shirt!! Haha)

Worry Wart?

Well I've just finished at the GP and he's given me Xmas day off. He wants me to have some bloods taken, just folate, iron and vitamin b12. I've also lost another 2 kgs. So 7kgs all up.

He also tried to listen to bub's heartbeat with a doppler and couldn't find it. He was scanning right near my pubic hair... I thought bub's at this stage (12 1/2weeks) would be up further? When I had my dating scan they scanned just below my belly button.

He said he's not concerned about not hearing the heartbeat as it's a bit hit and miss at this stage in terms of finding a heartbeat with a doppler. But he has me all worried now.

I'm still having pregnancy symptoms: sore veiny boobs, nausea, no bleeding, pregnancy pimples, a little bump. But now I'm worried and wish I had of told him not to scan with the doppler. I wish I could have a peek at bub's and make sure that they're okay. We don't have a scan now until the morphology scan which is just under 6 weeks away. I hope that time goes by quickly, but more than anything I hope Squirt was just being naughty and hiding from the doctor.

Hello 2nd Trimester

I can't believe we're in the 2nd trimester already. Or are we? One website says the 2nd trimester starts now, another says the 2nd trimester doesn't start until week 13 and a book I have says it doesn't start until week 14? Very odd indeed.

Time really has flown. I'm still having the occassional 'sick' day but no where near as frequently as in those first few weeks. I still haven't started to put on any of the 5kgs that I've lost, but I'm hoping that my appetite returns soon. DH is worried that I'm not putting on weight and asked whether we need another scan. I assured him that bub's is fine, it's my body that's being depleted of energy and nutrients :-)

So the name Squirt has stuck. DH was acually quite angry that someone told us about some sex connotation that can be associated with the word. We actually picked Squirt because it's that cute little turtles name in Nemo. Now he knows why you don't tell people some of the 'real' names you like, because they are bound to have an opinion or hate the name 'Bob' because 'there was a guy I went to school with who was called Bob and he was an X Y Z'. Honestly people, it's our child. We created bub's so it's our right to call him/her whatever we like. Whether it be a cute in utero name or a proper 'real life' name.

I can't believe it's nearly Christmas. I'm not at all excited about it this year. All our family are in QLD and I'm scheduled to work an evening shift on Christmas leaving darling husband twiddling his thumbs all evening. I've actually booked a doctors appoinment tomorrow to try and get a medical certificate for Christmas day off. I'm meant to be working on a ward that's quite physically heavy and I'm not willing to risk my health (or Squirt's) for the sake of a job. Plus I haven't been sleeping well lately. I'm constantly tired, so an extra day off won't hurt anyway. I think I may be getting another cold. My stupid nose is running like crazy and I'm sneezing a lot. I also feel I may have another UTI. GREAT!! More things to ask the GP about.

What's Squirt Up to This Week: Week 12

Squirt's face is beginning to look more human, even though she is only about 5.5cms long from her crown to her rump and weighs 14 grams. The eyes, which started out on the sides of the head, have moved closer together. The ears are almost in their normal position on the side of the head. The liver is making bile and the kidneys are secreting urine in the bladder.

My Symptoms:

* Extreme tiredness (I'm wondering if maybe I'm anaemic?)

* Awful skin (Thanks pregnancy hormones)

* My nipples are changing colour and looking pointy

* Food cravings. I'm currently craving sliced cheese. Can't get enough of it. Whether it's with rice crackers or by itself..... MMMM yumm!!! I've already gone through a 12pack. Must add that to tomorrow's shopping list.

Week 12 Belly Picture