Let's Catch Up

Okay, okay, I know it has been a while since we've done a post here, so here is the catch up on the last...let's see...1,2,3,4 months...
Our little (that ought to read BIG) bundle of joy (that ought to read MUSCLE) was born on August 22nd, 2011. The poor little guy was stubborn until the very end and only an induction could force him out, and even then he took his sweet time. He's still quite a stubborn boy, as we all knew he would be, but he is a super easy baby, very "chill", relaxed, hardly makes a fuss. Hmm, I think I've just jinxed my afternoon, as whenever I boast about him like that he throws a tantrum. Here's the stats:
Blog Nickname: Master R
Length: 52cm (same as Miss A at birth)
Head Circ.: 35.4 (same as Miss A at birth)
Weight:8lb15.5oz (just shy of 9lb)
He was 6kg by his 6 week appointment, and he's just had his 4 month appointment, weighing in at 8kg, that's quite big, if that seems a little abstract to you.
He was practically born smiling and cooing and holding his head up, so he is our little muscle-man.
In other news, Miss A is reading quite well (for a 5 year old), and is gaining confidence everyday. Master B is learning to recognise letters and numbers nicely, and enjoys sitting down for his "schoolwork" when Miss A does hers.
We have begun landscaping our front yard, with the the help of my dad and step-mum, and can't wait to see what it will look like when it is complete (although it might take a while, work is intermittent and dependent on weather).
We have a rooster an two hens, that keep us in good supply of eggs (help! we have too many!), and ensure we don't sleep in.
Well, I think that will do for now. Wishing all a Merry Christmas and a Happy new year!
Oh, and while we're all pigging out on the goodies that inevitably accompany this time of the year let's remember the reason for the season:

41 weeks...and counting...

Well, I never in my life thought that my third baby would take this long to be born, he is now 9 days past his due date. It's not like we haven't tried to evict him, either - we've been eating spicy food, taking long, brisk walks, tried acupressure points, among other "old wives tales". I have now come to the conclusion that these are all myths, and babies take no notice of these things, unless they are ready. However, he is being born this week, whether he likes it or not, although I'm not really looking forward to how big he is going to be :( after so many extra days of "baking". At least in a few days time I'll finally have a baby to put into the empty pram, bassinet and baby swing that have been standing around the house collecting dust for several weeks now. Stay tuned for baby photos and a blog update, hopefully before the end of this week!

Rumble in the Jungle (well...bush...)

So, I am writing this in the calm after the storm that has just passed through here. And when I say storm, that's a bit of an understatement, really. What started out as a few raindrops progressed slowly into small hail (5c piece sized). None of this was really anything to blink at, except when the winds suddenly blew such a gale that our trampoline, normally in the backyard, was blown over, then clear over the fence, around to the front yard, and now sits in the bush out the front of our house. It's a little bit bent up. It was also hard to calm down the distraught 5 year old girl who plays on it everyday. however, after my promises of a new trampoline, L came home from work, thinking about covering up the car to protect it from the ever-increasing hail, and has decided the trampoline can be fixed. We'll see. Even more suddenly than it started, the storm ceased, leaving our front yard somewhat soggy (excellent gumboot weather for the kids), and our backyard in a thorough mess. A couple of stray chairs here and there, the lack of a trampoline (obviously), a sandpit that has turned into a lake, and the roof of the chicken coop was blown clean off. The noise from the thunder and the flashes of lightning were incredible (we looked up weatherzone's radar, it passed directly over us), hence the post title (just in case you didn't get it). Our chicken is oblivious to the fact her home was almost destroyed and she will have to face a soggy bed tonight.

The good thing to come of it, I suppose, was a double rainbow after it was all over, and the gorgeous little finches that are using our front yard as a giant bird bath.

Pictures to be uploaded later...

Post Script:- we were told today that it was in fact a mini-tornado that went through, which explains the freakish winds.

An Update...Finally

Well, yes, it has been a while since we have updated the blog, life gets busy, doesn't it? Let's see, for those who aren't yet aware, the new little addition to our family is (supposed to be) a boy (in a few days we'll see, but the ultrasound tech was quite sure). Choosing a name for the little monkey has been quite the task, though, although the middle name has always been certain. I have been having awesome fun shopping on e-bay finding little things that we need, since many of the things we bought when Miss A was born were already second hand, and are not suitable to hand down to another baby (my most proud purchase so far is the new pram :D it's awesome). As usual, I have bought my big bucket of sweetworld lollipops, the most delicious lollipops in the world. They are not lasting as well as I'd hoped, thanks to the help of two little children (I usually buy them towards the end of pregnancy, as a reward, sort of ;) ). OK, enough baby news, it will have a post of it's own in a few days anyway.

In May, my accident-prone husband (although he resents and refuses to use that terminology) once again had a trip to hospital (and a few days staying there) after cutting his arm with a knife, being in somewhat of an awkward position whilst trying to cut a pipe inside a roof space at the shop. He severed 3 tendons. His arm has been healing well, and has been discharged from the fracture clinic and now is just attending occupational therapy. The doctors say tendon strength is completely back, and it's now just a matter of working on flexibility and building up general strength. His arm was in various casts for 6-8 weeks. It seems to be something new each week with that boy, this week's drama was him attempting "death by itchy-grub". It didn't work.

Miss A is doing well in her schooling, and I will update the home-school blog shortly (if I remember, pregnancy brain has hit me hard this time :D), and is gaining confidence in being able to read. L is encouraging her in a new hobby - photography, and she has taken to it quite well, some of the below pictures are her handiwork, she will be the "official photographer" of the new bub.

Master B is also coming out of his shell a lot more, he even announces his name when asked to at Sabbath School, which I was starting to doubt would ever happen. He has never been as withdrawn as Miss A, though.

We've had all the birthdays in our household for the year, apart from the obvious one that will occur in the not too distant future, I am now ten times as old as my son, and six times as old as my daughter, and beginning a new decade. Hmm.

As I'm sure you are getting tired of reading, here are some recent pictures:

Pictures Miss A has taken:

Ankle

Master B, and Miss A's toy ladybird

Our little chicken coop

lavender from our front yard

L's birthday

li'l ponies

Some other photos, but not taken by Miss A:

trying to fill Daddy's big boots

helping out at Daddy's shop

A very big fish for a little boy

L couldn't resist taking a photo of his stitches, this was after his surgery and two weeks of being in a plaster cast

And finally, pics from Agrotrend 2011:

It was awfully tempting to buy one of these this year :D

Miss A on the steps of a rather massive tractor, we all felt quite dwarfed by it, actually

Master B, wishing he were bigger

Fully Sick

Well, it sure has been somewhat of a nightmarish week in our home. The week before last, the kids caught a cold/cough, which is not really eventful, they haven't had one in a long time. Thankfully, and rather miraculously, I didn't get it, although L did. I think God knew I wouldn't have been able to handle coming down with a cold while getting over the "morning" sickness. Last week the kids caught a stomach bug and were up for two non-consecutive nights vomiting. They were nice enough to share that bug with me, though. L didn't get that bug, which is probably just as well, since he was suffering quite badly with a lingering cough that was causing him chest and back pain. While the kids got over it fairly quickly, I have been affected by the nasty illness since Wednesday, and only today (Monday) am I feeling almost back to my old self again, although the house is back to being an unlivable mess, again.

Okay, enough about being sick... in more delightful news, I am 15.5 weeks along now, and fairly certain I felt some kicks yesterday, which is pretty awesome. I have a Dr appointment tomorrow and will (hopefully) finally hear that little heartbeat. So far the gold ring and strand of hair test indicates "boy", whilst the heart rate theory suggests "girl". All going well, we'll find out towards the end of March for sure (depending upon a cooperative baby at the ultrasound). To be honest, either would be lovely and I have no particular preference, except that bub is healthy, but I want to prepare clothes, etc. for either girl or boy, rather than stay gender neutral.

This week has had some hot afternoons, and today was the hottest, I am sure looking forward to the thunderstorm tonight to cool things down a bit.

Have a great week ;)

Watch This Space...

That's right, for those who don't already know our happy news, we are expecting another wee bairn later this year. Both L and I are thrilled, and very excited to welcome the new little one into the world, even though it is still a long way off. We have just begun the second trimester, which is a huge relief for me, after a couple of months of nausea, serious vomiting and, well, just sheer exhaustion (baby growing is awfully hard work!). But now that all that is 99.9% gone and I am getting bursts of energy, the house this week has been slowly getting back into a livable condition. In fact, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday last week were my busiest house-cleaning days in a long while. Usually Thursday is my house-cleaning day, leaving Friday for cooking and winding down for the Sabbath, but my 3 very full-on days last week included vacuuming, sweeping, dusting, sweeping spiders and spiderwebs from the cornices, wiping skirting boards, cleaning the computer desk, thoroughly cleaning the kitchen a number of times, cleaning windows, two ante-natal appointments at the hospital and grocery shopping (for the first time since mid-December... L has kindly been going in evenings and buying the essentials). Our home is now back to the organised and clean condition that I have always tried to keep it in, and for the first time since being sick we actually got to have our traditional Friday night candle-lit tea, which was lovely.

Until after the first trimester, we usually keep our secret as a "need to know" kind of thing, so aside from some visitors that found out in early December, 2 or 3 essential people at church, and L and I and the kids, nobody else had been clued in until Friday, when my parents received a package in the mail announcing the news. As soon as L knew that they had both gotten the news, he was bursting to tell everyone and sent out mass text messages immediately.

And so, there you have it, if you're wondering why I've been quiet lately, that's the reason, but now that I'm eating (fairly) normally again, and am able to maintain the house reasonably well, things have improved out of sight.

Miss A will be receiving her first distance education curriculum order this week, which is a learning to read course. It is actually grade one curriculum, because she is too advanced for the prep curriculum, which is where her chronological age is at. If you're interested in seeing what's going on with her schooling, I have started up a separate blog for that, you can get to it by clicking on the link "view my complete profile" and then clicking on our homeschooling blog, or you can copy and paste this address: http://lbjosefski-homeschool.blogspot.com/ into your browser bar.

Okay, well, now that all of that news is said, it's time to go and relax from all of this house-cleaning ;) have a good week, everyone.

Wow, sorry about how long this post is :)

Bundaberg Flood, Christams - New Year 2010

Here are some photos of the recent floods that we had here in Bundaberg just after Christmas........

Just another boat in trouble. There is talk that there was about $10 million worth of damage to boats alone.

Not sure, but I think that this is the top of a trawler.

The Kolan River

Kennedy Bridge

Where Mt Perry Road becomes Queen St next to Federation park North Bundaberg

Approx the same place as the last photo one day later

Looking up Targo St towards the main street

Hanbury Street

Looking down from Kennedy Bridge over Kendalls Flats

Wider view from Kennedy Bridge

Home Hardware on Targo St (and it still got deeper than that too)

Corner of Targo and Woondooma St