Time flies when you're....

WORKING!

Correct... I got a job... hence, no blogging from me of late. I'll get to that though, I thought I'd pick up from where I left off just before Christmas...

Christmas Eve eve we went to the Carols by Candlelight down at Kings Beach, very nice and very festive, then the following day, Christmas Eve we just took it very easy, it was our third wedding anniversary, Erin did a few jumps, can't remember what else. My sister and her boyf were driving up from Bris after their lunch with Joorj's Mum. Mum and Dad were also coming around and we had a great barbie dinner. Our neighbours a few doors up always host everyone in the street for drinks on Christmas Eve so we wandered up there while Dad slept on the couch minding Hayden. We came home and put together a few of Hayden's presents and called the USA before climbing the stairs close to - or perhaps just past - midnight.

Christmas Morning - at last! I think I was the most excited out of everyone!

We didn't want Hayden coming out of his room and seeing his presents before we got down there so we got up early and shut his door, when he woke I went into him and talked about Santa visiting - he was excited and ready to go



Then we took him out to the living room where his 'Santa' presents were:





He was allowed to play with those, his kitchen and his tool bench and the things in his stocking until Cec and Joorj got up and then Mum and Dad arrived, ready to 'do' the presents.

There were so many...



and after a while Hayden was completely overwhelmed by them all. He was very content with his trains and his Lightening McQueen and Maiter cars from 'Cars' which were the biggest hits of the day.



He did take a moment out though when he opened his present from B'pa which was two cricket bat and ball sets, one plastic one for now and then a wooden 'proper' bat and some stumps for him to grow into. He picked up his bat - first time mind you - and then stood like this:



Methinks we might have a natural in the making.

After presents were done we had breakfast, the traditional pancakes for Cec and I and the traditional oysters for those so inclined. With Champers of course. We all then jumped in the pool and tested out the new pool toys before Cec and Joorj headed off and Mum and Dad went home to prepare for the Christmas Dinner. Hayden went to bed and I cooked/iced gingerbread to go with desert. Erin and I also started packing up the car for camping and getting the house cleaned up so we could leave it in 'inspection' condition whilst away.

We went to Mum and Dad's around 4pm for Chrissy dinner, the table looked wonderful and the turkey smelled fantastic. Hayden tucked into some food and then had a great cuddle with Mima and then my Grandfather, Papa.







It was a much quieter Christmas than I'm used to, but relaxing and lovely just the same. The turkey gravy was again, scrumptious!!

Boxing Day... Camping!!!

We spent a great four days up at Noosa North Shore, it rained for most of the time but not downpours and there were clear times so Hayden could still get out and play with all the other camp-ground kids. I haven't optimised any pix of the trip yet, I will and add them in an edit, check back!

So... we returned on the Friday, 2 days before New Years. Erin worked Sat/Sun and then Sunday night we went over to some friends for a New Years party. Good night, good fun, Happy 2007!

Tuesday 2nd Jan - I had a client meeting booked to sort out some brochures, whilst I was there, to cut a long story short - I was offered a job, part time or whatever hours I could to help them out, the phones were rining non-stop and they really needed more help. I started the next day and did Wed, Thur Fri 8am - 5pm then Mon, Tue Wed the following week, same hours, then again last week. I'll say there doing that for a few more weeks until Uni starts when I'll be teaching as well as doing my honours which I recieved official acceptance into the program on Friday.

After my client meeting on Tues 2nd Jan I was on a mission to get Hayden's new bed, we kept putting it off until we moved but hey - that may be years away at this rate so we put some Christmas money towards it and Mum and I went out to pick one that afternoon. I'd narrowed it down but saw another one I liked and it turned out to be cheaper and available the next day, Hayden was so excited to be in it...



I didn't have time thought to go out and get him a new doona cover until last Friday, I couldn't find what I have in my head, so some more searching is required but here is what I bought in the interim...



He's so happy in it, and it looks great in his room. Such a big boy now. He's almost out of Nappies all together, he's moved into the next room at Kindy, soon he'll be learning how to drive - OMG - where did my baby go??????!!!!!!!

Anyway - this is a MAMMOTH blog, but all good things must come to an end :-) We've had a great day today, we did a bbq brekky at the park with some friends and then E went to jump for work, Hayden slept early so was up when E got home and we went down to Kings beach for swims, the Ocean was amazingly warm, I took Hayden out to the first line of breakers and we rode the waves, he liked that for a while, then we went into the new oceanside pool which was fabulous, then he had an icecream and after that washed it off in the fountains, again, he had a great time. So he's had a huge day, we've had a big day and the working week starts all over again tomorrow... phew!!

Amazing photos

Wow - we just recieved back the proof of Hayden's kindy photos - this is a huge brag - but seeing as it's my blog, I think it's okay - but OMG, he looks amazing!!!

Due to copyright I'm not going to post them on here, but here is a link to the shots - it's worth checking them out!!

Christmas shopping all done, except for groceries and stuff to take camping.

Can't wait to go camping, to get away for a few days, will be fab.

Jumping

Okay - we'll see if this works - last time I tried to put a youtube file in here, the formating went haywire...



Ohhh... yay - I fixed it.... view away!

Gingerbread Man!!!

Yesterday we made another batch of Gingerbread - Hayden loves to help cut out the shapes, he gets covered in flour, most of the house does too, but it's all fun and in the end we get yummy gingerbread shapes to eat!!

Parties, parties, parties

Well it is the silly season after all!! We had two parties on Saturday. The first one was Gabriella's first birthday party. There were farm animals there and Hayden had a great time feeding the goats and sheep, and brushing them, and playing with the chickens.








Then it was off to Brisbane after his sleep for a housewarming party for some friends Craig and Simone who finally moved into their completed home just over a month ago. There were lots of other kids for Hayden to play with, he found a police car and then Craig gave him an old police cap to wear (Craig is in the force). Hayden thought he was the ant's pants!!





The cap was deemed 'too big' tho and ditched. Then the real fun began in the pool. The rain had stopped and the kids decided it was pool time. The Dad's obliged the littlies and they had a blast in the pool - I'm so proud of Hayden and how far he's come with his confidence in the water - perhaps a little too confident for his abilities at the moment - note the large boulder he's jumping off!! I have this on vid and will attempt to link my youtube posting with this....









What a great party and a huge day!!

Couple of Chrissy Photos

A wonderful package arrived from the USA on Thursday - wow! Inside was a great child's size santa hat, Hayden loves it!! He modelled with it on...



Then on Friday afternoon Mum and Dad came over, Dad wanted to have a swim with Hayden and then take a family photo of the three of us for his Christmas letter. Here is the result



We haven't had a family shot taken in ages, I like how this one has turned out.

A Wiggly Day

Tuesday 12th December was the Wiggles concert - long anticipated by us Mum's! Hayden seemed excited to be going on an adventure to Brisbane to see the Wiggles, although he kept going to the TV to put a DVD on to see them all morning when we mentioned it. The concept of 'live' hasn't really sunk in yet!

We drove down with Finn and Janelle and met Kate with Zoe and Isabella there as well as Sophie with Emily and Gabriella and Sophie's MIL Marlene. We found our seats, they were great, 6th row from the stage starting right at the aisle. The kids were all a bit in awe of their surroundings and then when the wiggly men came out on stage and the music started there were smiles all round.



Hayden took off down the front with a lot of other kids who were dancing down there, he tried to get on stage a couple of times, security were onto him!! Then suddenly he wanted to go home... ??? I think he was a bit overwhelmed. He sat on my lap for a while and then Jeff came out to collect some roses, he walked right next to us and Hayden shook his hand.



It all became a bit much for him though and just about half way through I had a sleeping bundle in my lap... awwwww....

Dad's Birthday

Last Sunday was Dad's Birthday and we had a BBQ breakfast down at one of the local parks. It was a beautiful morning, we took Hayden's bike down and he had a blast zooming up and down the path. He took great delight in 'helping' B'Pa blow out his candle - and then of course enjoyed eating the cake too.



We stayed down there for ages after everyone else left, Hayden was playing on the rocks and watching the fishermen and women, splashing about in the water and in general having a great time. A lovely way to spend a morning.

Mother's group in the Park

Well this was a week and a bit ago - but the pix are so cute I had to share.



Hayden contemplating what to play with next...

We had Mother's group in a park that we've been to a few times in the past few weeks, it's a great park and there is never anyone else there. The kids had a blast playing around the tree and pretending to 'fix' the bridge.



A fun morning out!

Christmas is coming

Ho Ho Ho!

Hayden has been right into Christmas this week with 2 visits to Santa and tree decorating and the Christmas boat parade... the festive season is amongst us.

We took him to sit on Santa's knee at our local shopping centre on Monday afternoon, he wasn't afraid of Santa at all, walked right up to him and sat on his knee, the only trouble then was trying to make him smile - he was being so serious. We had to settle for this hint of an upturned corner of the mouth.



The rest of the week has been pretty 'normal' as far as that goes in our lives. I've been getting right into the gym, going 5 days a week to various classes and doing my training program - I'm loving it. Hayden comes with me on Tuesdays and Saturdays and he goes to the creche, he has a great time there while I'm sweating it out.

We've been having a lot of early mornings with him though - he's often up before 5am, by about 1pm I'm exhausted. He's definately getting block-out blinds in the new house and for God's sake Peter Beattie - bring on daylight savings!!!!!!!!!

I guess officially I should make mention of the fact that I'm no longer pregnant - unfortunately the baby had an extra set of chromosomes and was never going to survive, it's now been almost a month since I had a D&C.

The Christmas boat parade was on Saturday night - we have some friends that live on Harbour Parade opposite the river so we had prime viewing position. It was a great night, the kids all had a blast too and Hayden was in his element with Emily - middle child of the house, they are in day-care together and adore each other.



We started putting up the Christmas tree on Saturday - resigned now to the fact that we won't be selling the house and settling before then - Erin has also put up a few lights outside. Hayden and Erin finished decorating the tree yesterday morning while I had a rare lie-in.



We're going to attempt some gingerbread baking this week - I have grand ambitions of making a gingerbread house - stay tuned!

The house... we changed the wording of the ad this week and we had seven groups through - our biggest numbers in one day yet. Of those, two groups are apparently keen, so we'll just have to wait (that damn word again!) and see what happens.

This week is shaping up to be busy - final semester results are posted online tomorrow morning - I pretty much know what I'm heading for but am waiting for official confirmation. On Thursday I'm down to Brisbane with a girlfriend to see Varekai, the latest Cirque de Soleil show to tour here. Then it's Dad's birthday on the weekend and also another friend's birthday so it's bound to be a busy one.

Must fly - Hayden is asking for his weetbix and I have to go to the gym for my boxing class!

The Saga....

... continues.

Well it was a long week as well last week, we didn't find out about the Americans on Monday, or Tuesday, or Wednesday, in fact, there was no definitive comment either way from them and come Saturday I assumed they'd be flying home. I was down at the beach late Saturday afternoon and ran into another real estate agent friend and he told me that the same couple bought a house from them the night before, for WAY more than we were asking here (like $200,000 more.....) - go figure.

Our offer was accepted on the house we want, but we're subject to sale here, only 23 days left to get an offer here before that runs out.

We had another open here on Saturday, one couple may be promising - I'll believe it when I see a contract.

This real estate bizzo makes you jaded.....

Anyway, apart from that, the week has been okay. Hayden and I have been out and about, we had a fantastic improptu get together with a bunch of friends at the park last Sunday night, then on Friday night we had a great BBQ with some other friends and their kids, on Saturday Santa arrived at the local shopping centre so I took Hayden to witness that spectacle, we didn't try the sitting on knee thing yet tho, but he's so into Christmas and Santa this year I think he'll warm to it quickly. We've been doing more swimming too, down at the rivermouth at LaBalsa Park yesterday just on high tide Hayden was splashing around, it was fantastic, then he did some amazing swimming with Erin in the pool yesterday afternoon (on my you tube for those registered) considering he wouldn't swim with either of us in the pool until last week, yesterday's efforts were amazing.

Well, I'd best be off, have to get to the gym, 5.45am boxing class - bring it on!!!

A Week in Real Estate

is... as they say... a very long time!

Last Wednesday (hmmm, that should be Wednesday week ago - 8th Nov), we finally recieved an offer and a contract on our house - we were very excited. I immediately went into 'buyer' mode and hunted for what would be our next home. We knew what areas we wanted, I'd also been watching the market and we had a couple of homes in mind. I went through about fifteen of them in two days and narrowed it down to two. On the Friday (Nov 10) Erin came through both of the homes and we decided on one in Kawana Forest, we made an offer that night over our Indian take away!

Last Monday (Nov 13) my agent called to tell me that our sale contract had been withdrawn :-( The buyers were suffering from buyers remorse - they used the building inspection clause to get out of the deal and walked away. GRRRRR. That meant the domino effect happened with our purchase contract also falling over given that it was conditional upon the contract on our house going unconditional. The house was due to go to auction though on Saturday (Nov 18) so we still had a chance to put another contract on.

Tuesday (14th) and Wednesday (15th) we had more groups come through our house, the group on Wednesday looked promising, an Australian wife and an American husband (hmmm... sound familiar?!!!), the husband hadn't flown in yet, they were back to buy a house to move into, the husband was flying in on Friday, they wanted to wait over the weekend and then see it again (possibly) next week.

Mean while, we were working out our strategy to get the other house back. The best option for us would be for it to be passed in at auction and then we could put a conditional contract on it afterwards. Risky, but our only chance.

On Friday morning (17th) my agent called and advised me that the American couple wanted to come through again that afternoon - bearing in mind the husband only landed on Friday morning from the USA - I was very excited, they were obvioulsy keen. After the inspection my agent told me that she was basically sold on it but he, understandably, needed to see more options. They were going to check out some other houses on Saturday.

Saturday - Nov 18th. Auction day. The auction was at 2pm, Erin had jumps prior so I went down to it with Mum and Dad, and Hayden of course. There were quite a few people there, a few that looked interested but we learnt that there were no registered bidders at the auction, it progressed with only an opening bid by the auctioneer and then a vendors bid, also by the auctioneer. It was passed in and we then signed a contract with a 'subject to sale' condition. Yay.

Then... we found out that another family who were on holidays (in Thailand...!) also wanted to put a contract on the house. They wouldn't have any conditions and therefore would be more attractive to the seller. We spoke to our agent about the level of interest from the American couple but he hadn't spoken to them so he didn't know if they were ready to commit, we couldn't go unconditional so we thought we'd just wait and see how it played out, the holidaying couple didn't have anything down on paper yet.

Then... yesterday, Sunday we had another call from our agent asking if the American couple could come through for a THIRD look that afternoon! Yay! We naturally obliged. After the inspection my agent again said that the wife is sold, they were going to confer over night and let us know tomorrow morning (which is now today... timelines are so confusing when written retrospectively!). So we were still in with a shot - if we got a contract then we could go unconditional based on ours going unconditional which is much more solid than just based upon sale.

Then... not even an hour later, the agent we were buying from called and said the offer was in from the other couple and the vendor was asking for them to be faxed to him. Ours wasn't going to get a look in unless we either substantially raised our offer price or removed our conditions, neither of which we were prepared to do.

A bind.

So... last night we called the agent of the house that was #2 on the list - a very close #2 mind you, it was in our first choice estate and had a seperate room for an office, and didn't need any immediate work like the fencing we would have done at the other one. The agent said he'd come over, we explained our situation (both houses are listed with the same agency, just with different agents) and then withdrew our offer on house #1.

Then we made an offer on house #2!

Photos can be found at this link, which were taken in pretty bad weather so are a bit dark, but you'll get the idea.

So now the wait is still on. We'll find out today whether a) the Americans are going to make us an offer and b) if our offer price on the above house is accepted or if we are going to get into price negotiations... we'll see.

So for now, that's what I'm devoting my time to. House selling and buying and then I hope, a removal.

Stay tuned!

I'VE FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay - so I'm a little excited - but it's been such a long time coming - I've finished my University degree!!!!!! Yesterday I handed in my final papers for all my subjects, my 'Novel Ideas' creative writing final submission was due yesterday, handed it in. My manuscript for my Production Workshop wasn't due until today (Friday) but I finished editing it on Wed night and handed it in yesterday too which meant that subject was done and then I only had my 1200 word Communication essay to finish (oh - and start!). I spent from 10am - 6pm at Uni yesterday, I had a 1hr final lecture in the middle and had a bit of a chat to a few people but most of that time was writing my essay which I started, finished and handed in - it wasn't due until next Friday (November 3rd) but I really wanted to get it all done yesterday and I did - whooohoooo!!

Sending that final paper down the submission box was a big moment for me - for many reasons. Firstly I'd finally achieved what I set out to do 14 years ago (1992) when I enrolled in my first degree. Admittedly my major has morphed a lot since then, and being an 18yo straight out of boarding school wasn't very condusive to personal academic application! Then I enrolled in 1994, part time as I was working full time - I did 2 semesters but the focus wasn't really there so... adios amigos.

Then, after returning to Australia from the USA in 2002 I decided it was time to give it all another go. I enrolled and started first semester 2003 in the Bachelor of Computer Based Art & Design, at the end of '03 I fell preg with Hayden and then took semester 1 2004 off to 'be' preg. He was born in May '04 and I returned to semester 2 '04 when he was 7 weeks old. From then on I have completed every semester, and even doing one summer semester. My major changed a few times, but I settled on a major in communication with a minor in International Relations & Politics. I have taken a full time course load the whole way though - managing mostly 3 subjects per semester but in sem. 1 this year I took 4 subjects, that was a struggle!

So now it's done - I've come out with an average GPA of just over 6 - the highest possible score is a 7 and that would mean perfect 'high disctinctions' for the whole degree - so, I'm pretty proud of myself. In the time that I've been completing this I've also been running my own business in Graphic Design, I've raised an infant to a toddler to a 2.5yo and I've project managed a major home renovation. Yep - it's been a tough slog but I GOT THERE!!!!!

So - now what????? I'm going to go back and do honours next year (I think I've already mentioned that in a previous post) and will also be teaching subjects in media.

Anyway - that's my little self-indulgent 'look at me' post - our graduation ceremony isn't until APRIL - which is highly ridiculous so there won't be any pix of me in my academic regalia until then!

We'll all sleep well tonight!

Wow - what a weekend - and it isn't even over yet.

Yesterday we had another open house, no buyers through though :-(

After Hayden's sleep we went up to the Buddina School 'Big Day Out' which was basically their school fete/fair. The first thing Hayden did was have his face painted...


(do you see a trend emerging?!!)

Then it was time for some rides, we did the giant slide - 4 times (with Daddy of course)



And also the UFO ride (twice)



he also rode on a truck that was painted up like a fire engine, had a great play in the ball pit and patted the animals in Old McDonald's Farm (although had to overcome being bitten by a chicken when he stuck his hand thru the fence into it's mouth!!) We also saw lots of little friend there, both his 'Emily' friends, who he had a wonderful time running races with and then falling on the ground in fits of laughter - only to have either Emily fall down with him and giggle too, such the comedian!

We left the fair a bit after 6pm just as a thunder storm was rolling in. We had dinner at Mum and Dad's and Hayden had special chicken drumsticks, mmmmm.

Then onto today - the weather was cloudy and windy so Erin wasn't going to be jumping, we decided to go out for breakfast to Chancellors Tavern, it has a great play area for kids and Hayden can wander around and not get into any (ahem - much) harm, he's mezmerised by the big 'claw' toys where you have to manouver the claw to grab a toy or some chocolate bars etc, another family was playing and won some chocolate and Hayden did the quick grab and run and made off with a handful of chocolates - OMG!!! We made him give them back and the family let him keep a freddo frog... choccie thief!! Anyway, had a great breakfast and then went down to the HMAS Brisbane Memorial as Erin hadn't seen it, then we decided to hit the home show, one of my clients had a stall there so we checked it out and looked around, we ended up being there for over 2 hrs as Hayden fell asleep in the pram so we killed some time and watched the motorbike display. When he woke up he was hungry but all he wanted was an...



Ice Cream.... yum!!

Now I'm exhausted!! It was really nice to hang out as a family over the weekend though, something we don't get to do very often. I sure will sleep well tonight!

Oh Dear... Unexplained Absence!

Gazillions of apologies - time just gets away sometimes. You EB girls will know most of the *gory details* of why I haven't had the time to update, for the rest of the world (does anyone else even know this is here?? LOL) you'll just have to be satisfied with 'Sorry'.

Ok - well one excuse is good news - On 4th June 2007 we're expecting our 2nd child - yay! So I'm currently almost 8 weeks (Monday is my 'click-over' day) and feeling fine. Tired but fine. In terms of nausea, I only get it very occasionally and generally when I first wake up, which these days is around 4am, which in itself is getting a little old but that's a whloe other winge! The diet has gone out the window so the 10kg I just lost (22lbs for you guys over the pond) will just come right back on no doubt. Although, my new gym opens on Monday and I have an assessment on Tuesday arv with a trainer to see what I can do and what my exercise program should be while pg. My biggest symptom of pg is hunger, and the sweet tooth is back - although perhaps not as much as last time (YET!!).

Right - so what else... work has been stupidly busy, I've billed more in the last 10 days than I did practically all of last year... phew... money comes in very handy right now though.

House still not sold but only week 2 this weekend with the new agents, something will happen. We've found a new house so we just have to be patient and wait till we get a serious offer so that we can then buy. The one we're looking at buying is here I didn't realise there were so many photos on that listing - heaps! Anyway - I'll keep you all posted on any developments.

Umm... oh, we got a new car. We've bought a 4yo Nissan Pathfinder from Mum and Dad - it's like brand new as Dad's taken immaculate care of it. They upgraded to the latest model so we swooped in and grabbed a bargin. Now we'll sell Erin's old POC!

I'm struggling to think of any new photos to add, just to keep this a bit more interesting... let me go have a look-see and see if I come up with anything... Oh, here is a cute one of Emily and Hayden playing at Emily's place a couple of weeks (2 weeks) ago. I had to take some shots for a brochure for a client and then was just messing around, they were laughing at Sophie playing peek-a-boo behind me - too cute.


Uni - that's the other thing going on right now - I did a speech last week which went exceptionally well (those of you who know me probably won't be surprised :-)) and all I have left to complete is 1200 words of my major manuscript and a 1200 word essay - then I'm DONE - my whole degree - YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm still going back next year though and starting honours and I'm also going to be teaching classes. I'm going to be taking (teaching) about 4 classes of one subject in Australian Media Industries - I did the subject a couple of years ago and loved it, it will be a great one to teach.

Right - so that's pretty much it - you're all up-to-date!

I'll be back in here soon - promise!!