A Christmas wrap up

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

This is the kids decorating of the tree (note where the baubles stop due to height restrictions!)

This is my fixing up of the tree so the decorations where a bit better spaced!

I'm a bit late with getting this on the blog. But I want to get it on while it is still 2010, 'cause it sort of seems that when you post things about Chrissy AFTER the New Year has set in, that it all seems a bit out of whack.

I'll try not to inundate you with pics, but let's face it - the camera gets a severe bashing on the 25th December.

Firstly, just to remind you that Christmas Day is also Biddy's birthday, so whilst we are overwhelmed with what the fat man in the red suit has bought us all, we also have to make time to remember that Biddy joined us on this special day. And my, hasn't that 3 years just blown by? As usual, Mark and I gave her a small crystal trinket (a rocking horse!), and I also found a darling little bracelet in the jewelers which I knew she would love because she is right into bracelets and necklaces these days. Before ANY presents are opened, including Santa sacks - we all wish Princess Parrot a very happy birthday and have a bit of a singsong.

This year was the first time I have been woken by a child on Christmas morning. After getting to bed in the wee early hours, I awoken to the strains of "MUM....SANTA HAS BEEN!!!!!!!!!" from Tom. This was at 6.45am - FAR TOO EARLY for him to be awake. In fact, I have NEVER known him to be awake at that time....ever! He had been into the lounge room and spied the Santa sack. None of these toys were wrapped, so he could clearly see that there were some dinosaur books and Hot Wheels cars at the very least just tempting him! But he didn't pull them out and came down to me. I quickly popped him in bed with me and thankfully, he went back to sleep for another hour and a half (much more civilised!).

Unfortunately for the kids, Mark had to milk that morning, and didn't get back into the house until 8.30am. Such is the life of a dairy kid. No presents were to be opened until dad gets in. This did give me time to give them some breakfast and get them dressed so that they didn't appear in their PJs in every single photo I took!

With some superbly bad timing, Biddy became sick a couple of days before, and after a visit to the dr on Chrissy Eve, was placed on antis. However, they had not really kicked in by Christmas morning and she was a bit of a bag of misery for the first little bit, not even wanting to open her Santa sack. But after Tom got through his and we started on Bella's, she started to warm to the idea that she would also like some presents.

The big ticket items that Santa left this year were a bike for Tom and a scooter for Biddy. Bella was content with her rattles and teething rings!

But, the BIGGEST surprise was in store for the kids when we took them outside - both 'blindfolded' by pillowcases over their heads - and gave them our present. A cubby house!

The look on their faces is priceless!

As you can see...it is rather high!

Even Bella got into it!

This baby has been a project unto itself, I can tell you. We bought it from a place in Melbourne (CubbiesRUs) and went down to pick it up when we went to Melb to celebrate our wedding anniversary a couple of weeks ago. It has then been sitting over in the calf shed, and we had to keep remembering not to let either of the kids over there. As the cubby is an elevated model, we had to sink the posts into the ground and concrete them in a couple of days prior. As this was in full view of the kids in the backyard, they were going to see. So we told them that daddy was building me a fernery for Christmas. Tom worked his guts out all day, helping to dig the holes and mix concrete and hammer in nails. He was buggered that night! If only he knew. On Christmas Eve, I took the kids to church and then for a bit of a tour around town to see the Chrissy lights giving Mark about 2.5hrs to get the whole cubby up on the elevation kit. The kids were almost asleep when we got home at about 10.30pm and by that time, Mark has pretty much finished. And it is such a ripper. The kids (and no doubt their friends) will get years of use out of it.

The rest of the day was spent opening boxes, constructing toys, riding bikes and scooters, eating, drinking, watching new DVDs....the usual stuff!

All in all, we had a great day. We hope you and yours had a great day and best wishes for 2011.

I need one of these!

Today was the day of the annual Cockies Picnic in Colac. It is a Christmas celebration day for all farming families around the district. Years ago it was simply a piss up for the boys, but in the past 5 years or so, it has become more of a family event and now more people attend. That being said, numbers were down this year because today turned out to be a fine day and there were a lot of people cutting or baling hay - Mark included.

But I took the kids along and from the word go, they made a beeline for the merry-go-round swing thing and the jumping castle. I had two rules for the day; 1) don't hurt any other kids, and 2) do not go outside the gate. Other than that, they could run, scream, go crazy, not eat lunch, pee on the oval....I didn't care. But they were very good. In fact, except for lunch and a trip to see Santa, I don't think they hardly got off that merry-go-round thing. I have no idea how much it cost the committee to hire, but rest assured, it was the best money spent in my books. Kept the kids amused and out of my hair for 2.5hrs! I NEED one of these at home.

How much fun do they look like they are having?

Over the years, each of the kids have had their face painted like a cat at the Cockies Picnic. The thing with my kids is, they HATE having their faces painted. So up to 1yr of age is the ONLY time I can get it done. Hence it was Bella's turn this year.

Of course, all this fun does not come without it's costs, and I had some tired worn out kids to take home that couldn't do ANYTHING asked of them because they were "too tired".

'Cause it's Christmas-time.....

...and I am changing our blog background for a festive look! As usual.

December is a crazy month isn't it? Why is it, that everyone seems to think that if we don't all get together just before Christmas, then the whole world will grind to a halt? Why don't we make more of an effort to see each other, have BBQs, lunch, concerts, drinks, send letters, cards, photos, give gifts (for the hell of it) and just be generally NICE throughout the year? Why leave it all until Christmas? Especially in this over commercialised world we live in these days? Why, why WHY?

I dunno.....

That all being said, I LOVE the leadup to Christmas - and if the truth be known - all the frenetic activity that goes with it, along with the excesses. Mark, on the other hand, does not. He hates the shopping, the constant questioning of what he wants, the pressure to get things in order, and the whole rush of everything. Bah Humbug! This year, it may be due to the fact that we will be baling hay on Christmas Day if the weather pattern settles into something predictable. And he will have to milk as well. Plus, he has a super secret job to do in the days leading up to Christmas Day including a major job on Christmas Eve.

On other matters, today is our 9th wedding anniversary and we have just returned from a lovely night out in Melbourne at the Windsor. This is a tradition that we have done ever since our honeymoon, so this was out 10th visit! And as always, it was a real treat. Even if we did have to take Bella with us.

We have the annual Cockies Picnic tomorrow in town which the kids will love. We are holding our staff Chrissy bash this Friday night at the farm. Should be a good night. On Monday we are taking the kids to Geelong for photos with Santa and the last splash of shopping that is needed to be done. And hopefully a cruisy run to Christmas.

You Tube clip

Yeah!!!!

Ok, it's not our brand (although there is a Yeo just down the road from us - different country to the one in the clip though), but the sentiment is from all DAIRY FARMERS!

Check it out!!!

Update on last night

Mark and Tom got back home around 10.40pm and it turns out that he did have an asthma attack. Doctor was very pleased that we decided to bring him in as it could have gotten much worse very quickly.

He was dosed up on ventolin and prednisolone and sent home with a puffer and spacer thingy and a script for more pred-mix. He has had a couple of goes today on the puffer. It was evident how much he has been affected by it all when he was in swimming lesson today and couldn't hold his breath long enough to get down to the bottom of the deep end to get the brick - something that he does ok usually.

So for now it is just really a monitoring exercise and using medication when required.

Tomorrow we are holding Biddy's birthday party. For those that don't know, Bid is born on Christmas Day so we hold her birthday a month earlier. She really doesn't know any difference! She thinks she is 3yo tomorrow. LOL. I have just finished making up some little boxes for her party favours. They match the invites I made - horses of course! You can see the invites HERE.

Green for boys, pink for girls.

Lord...it's been a while

As the end of the year draws near, I seem to run out of time for everything! And that includes updating this blog. But much has happened over the past few weeks and a quick breeze through is:

• Biddy sporting a new pixie hair cut thanks to Tom trying his hand at hairdressing (grrrr)

Biddy's hair as it was before Tom got to it

Biddy's hair AFTER Tom got to it (Mullet style all the way!)

Biddy's hair after our friend Suz came and fixed it (bless you Suz!)

• Mark taking the fire truck to Biddy's daycare for the kids

Can't you just see that Mark was wishing that the pump was turned on!

• Hosting some Fonterra reps at home
• Bella being classified as 'failing to thrive' and having to have an ultrasound to rule out anything serious
• Missing out on the Colac and Noorat shows this year because I developed a calcified tendon in my shoulder and couldn't halter break the cows
• I attended the Stampin Up! regional conference in Melbourne and took Bella with me who was a very good baby that day!
• Running a stack of Christmas card classes for local ladies
• Tom getting his new uniform for St Mary's primary next year
• Having the heifers classified by Holstein Australia
• Bella started solids

Note the silver Tiffany's spoon that we gave Tom as a baby, but all kids have used for their very first feed!

• I spent a leisurely, childless couple of hours sailing the mouth of the Yarra to celebrate my friend Lou's 40th
• Mark taking Tom on his first excursion to Cobden miniature railway with Wydinia Kindergarten

And just today, we took Tom for his first orientation day at St Mary's (second one is in early December). A bit emotional for a few of us mums and we weren't even leaving them!! Yet. While I think it was hard on the mums that were sending their first-born to school, I did see a few more experienced mums welling up at various points of the discussion. I didn't feel so bad!

Just going back to the point about Bella and 'failing to thrive', we've been battling for a few months with her weight gain. She was doing normally and quite well up until 3 months old and then she simply just stopped gaining anything significant. We took her to Geelong Hospital for an ultrasound to see if she had pyloric stenosis (a thickening of the muscle at the bottom of the stomach that prevents the milk/food going through to the intestines) but the u/s showed all to be normal. She vomits A LOT although it doesn't appear to be reflux due to a range of indicators. So we kept a close eye on her, but a week ago she lost quite a lot of weight. On MCHN and drs recommendation, I started her on solids (farex) hoping that her weight would improve or at least steady. But a weigh today showed that she has lost even more weight. At 5.5months she now weighs the exact same as she did at just 4 months of age (just on 5kg), meaning she has only gained about 1.6kg since birth. Whilst she looks and acts healthy enough, there is not a lot to her. We have now been given a rush appointment to see the paediatrician next week to see what can be done. So more tears from me.

With Tom's new venture and Bella's poor outcome, I was a tad stressed and now have the makings of a migraine. Great! What a day.

And to just top everything off, Mark has had to take Tom to A&E tonight because we think he is having an asthma attack! Good Lord.....what is going on today? Tom suffers very badly with hayfever (as do I) and has spent this past week with a puffy face, itching eyes and throat and runny nose. Now I know it is silage season for us here and that is simply the WORST time of year for us hayfever sufferers, but we had a stack of rain last night and that calmed down the pollen. I am fine today, but over the course of the day, Tom had developed a persistent cough that is stopping him from talking, and immediately after his bath, he started wheezing and it became so bad that he was really struggling for breath. I just told Mark to take him into casualty. He has never had asthma before, so I didn't want to muck around as we have nothing here to give him. I am waiting for them to get home.......

I'll be damn glad when today is over. I need another headache tablet.

It had to happen some time

Many of you with kids have probably used one of those baby rockers at some stage in an effort to try and keep an infant happy and occupied whilst you are blaring around trying to get things done. We borrowed one when we had Tom, and mum bought us one when Biddy came along. Just prior to Bella, my SIL loaned us another type - a swingy type thing - that incidentally, we bought her when she had twins a few years back.

At some point, both Tom and Biddy fell out of the rockers. Once the babies find the ability to kick their legs, they seem to simply slide out of them (and yes, I know that there are straps to buckle them in...but you don't tend to use them when they are motionless...it is only AFTER they fall out you start using them!). The drop from the end of the rocker to the floor however is only 5 or so cm. Not so the swing, which Bella fell out of tonight. That is more like a drop of 30cm!

Having just got Biddy in the bath, I stuck Bella in the swing in front of the babysitter (aka tv) to go get pjs and milk ready. Tom was in the lounge with the baby and I told him to not touch the baby and to leave her alone as she was quiet and content. I go to the bathroom to get Biddy out and Tom appears in the door to get in. I chase Biddy down the hall to her room, only to hear screaming coming from the lounge where I find the baby flat on her back on the floor under the swing. For the life of me, I could not work out how she'd come adrift because this time I DID buckle her in.

Clue #1... the swing's speed was now at the fastest speed - I had it on the lowest speed.

Clue #2... guilty look on Tom's face when questioned about how the baby fell out of the swing.

Turns out, he dialed up the speed and then unbuckled her to play with her (why???) and then got distracted and left her to go to the bath. And then she fell out! Good Lord. How is he ever going to be ready for school next year? How is he not going to get distracted when it comes time to change buses?

I think we are in for some ride next year.......

Grampians camping

As mentioned in the previous post, we took off for a week in the Grampians straight after Bella's christening. We went with the Butlers (Bret, Bernie, Emma & Monnie) and mum came with us as well. It's been ages since I've been away camping with them all. Years ago, we used to go camping every second month. I'd like to get back into that.

Unfortunately, Bella was rather unsettled and cried a lot....A LOT. Sigh. I think I was more stressed than anyone though about her crying worrying others. But it was enjoyable and MArk and I are now starting serious discussions about where our next big trip (a la Darwin) will be. Maybe WA? Or maybe Flinders ranges? OR Tassie? Not too sure.

Anyway, here are some pics of the time away. It was very cold and as you will see, we were quite rugged up. On some days, I wasn't too sure I even had kids much less a baby due to all the swaddling around them all!!

Phew....wotta week!

So much has happened in the past 7 or 8 days, I hardly know where to start. But first, may I say.....

CARN' THE PIES!!!!!!!

Woooooohooooooo.

I could not believe it when the first granny was a draw. I mean come on! There have only been 3 drawn Grand Finals and Collingwood has been in 2 of them! At least, the end result was not anything like the '77 Grand Final against North Melbourne. Much to my relief and Mark's disgust. The kids are firm Magpie supporters now!!!

This time last week, we celebrated Isabella's christening. It was a great day and we were blessed to be surrounded by a number of family and friends. Mark and I chose Bernie as godmother and Chris as godfather (need a big burly bloke to look out for the girl when she reaches her teen years!!).

On the Monday, the Butlers, us and mum all headed to the Grampians for a few days camping. It was quite chilly to say the least, only really warming up the day we left (typical). It is due to this camping trip that I have not been online to post any pics of the christening.

But I have sorted through some and here they are! I created a collage of a number of them, but because it may be a bit difficult to see, I've posted a few of them singly.

For the first time in a loooooong time, I had to front up to the dairy to milk! Gasp, splutter, gulp! Yes, for the first time in about 3 years, I had to don the waterproofs, brave the cold and milk with Mark. I'm pleased to say that our marriage has survived intact. I also have to say that if any of our staff whinge about milking on the cups off side, I will make them come and look after my kids for a day! With the cup removers, backing chains laid on and no need to mix up chemicals, it is DEAD EASY around that side. The hardest thing is making sure you don't get shit on! It is a hell of a lot easier than when I milked with Mark every weekend and didn't have the cup removers. (Mark will remember back further when it was even more labour intensive in the walkthrough dairy....another story that one).

Anyway, I will edit the pics from the Grampians and be back to post them. But for now, have a squizz at my darling baby's big day.

the christening cake (which had a MAJOR overhaul)

this christening gown was Mark's (I think I have posted about this when Biddy was christened). All our kids have been christened in it and it is my wish that my kids continue the tradition with their own babies.

the water

Bernie Butler and Chris Foster (godparents)

Out of the mouths of babes

Kids say the funniest things.

The other day, Biddy was listening to me talking to mum about something or other and I must have got to an exciting part of the story when she clasps her hands to the sides of her face and exclaims "ohh my GORGEOUS" (obviously meaning "oh my goodness"!!)

We are gearing up for Bella's christening on the weekend and I have a couple of cake books out on the counter, deliberating over what one I will copy for the christening cake. Tom has taken quite a shine to them and has been pouring over them for part of the afternoon deciding which cake he will have for his 6th birthday. The fact that his birthday is 10 months away has alluded him.

But one of the books has an index which has a picture of each of the cakes. He proudly reads them all off to Mark tonight just before going to bed and it was extremely interesting to hear how a 5 year old's brain works as he named each cake. Where you and I would have just commented on the overall theme of the cake (ie. mouse, boat, tractor etc), he had a story attached to each one. But the funny thing was, he tacked on the word 'cake' to each one.

So for instance, the Noah's Ark cake, he told us it was "the animals marched by 2 by 2 hurrah, hurrah ...cake" and the haunted castle one was "the zombie cake with the ghosts coming out of the windows.....cake" and another was the "baby pram that is Isabella's party cake for Sunday...cake" LOL.

Yep...the funny things kids say.

Footy day

Today was the last day of kinder and daycare for the term (for my kids anyway) and as we head into the AFL finals, both kinder and daycare ran footy fever days, complete with lunch orders of pies, sausage rolls and snags. All kids got to dress up in their team colours.

In our household, I am staunch Collingwood and Mark is Geelong...so you can imagine what this weekend will be like for us (and I'm praying it is not a repeat of the 2007 finals).

Ahh.....brings joy to my heart. Collingwood from the cradle to the grave. Mark just doesn't get it. As long as I breathe, my kids will barrack for the Magpies.

GO PIES!

baby Bella

Just to get over a god awful day yesterday....thought I'd post a picture of little Bella. 13 weeks now - 3 months! Cripes but the time is flying! Thanks to all that sent words of comfort for our dreadful day yesterday. As I said, Tottie was an old dog and it wasn't totally unexpected, but we appreciate your thoughts!

A day of good and bad

What a day. As my title suggests, it has been a day of good and bad. Starting with bad....

BAD

Our dog Tottie had to be put down this morning. Granted, she was an old dog, but it is never an easy thing to do. She has been deteriorating over the past couple of years, but in the past 6 months or so, she has really gone downhill. On the weekend, she got caught up in one of the electric fences and had to go into the vet's to be sedated to get over it. This morning, it was likely that she took another stroke (she'd taken one a few months earlier) and she was just so disorientated and suffering. Mark's dad took her into the vet and Mark buried her in the backyard with the other dogs that have gone to the big dog kennel in the sky. The kids were matter a fact about it all...their farm kids. They know about life and death. Us adults were more distraught! RIP Tottie.

GOOD

We picked up our brand new car today. A Prado. After much deliberation and reading of car brochures and taking test drives, the GXL Prado won out. The reason of needing a new car was that we needed something to tow the caravan as Mark's Courier cannot fit 3 carseats in the back. and the Territory was not set up to tow. Plus it was time to change it over before it got too many kms on the clock. And also, we wanted something that would handle off road driving.

BAD

The Territory left us :( . I loved that car. I bought all my babies home from the hospital in that car. And after the morning that we'd had with the dog, leaving it at Toyota and driving away almost made me break into fresh tears. I felt like I was abandoning one of the family. I know that sounds stupid, but that's how I feel. I hope it goes to a good home with people that will love it like I do. Co-incidently, that photo of us in front of the car...it is the FIRST photo of all five of us together!! And the baby was 13 weeks on Monday!

BAD

I had to take Bella to the doctors today as she has been throwing up more than usual (she is a chucky little baby) and has been quite unsettled for the past couple of days and has more green phlegm than I think is good for a 13 week old. She just seems miserable and for the past month or so, is not really putting on a lot of weight.

GOOD

Doctor said that she may have a bit of reflux and that the opening out of her stomach maybe small and hence, the milk is able to sit there and then whoosh out when she is moved upright. Her temp was normal and he said her chest was clear. I have an appointment with our own doctor on Friday (bad shoulder....another story), and I have a health nurse visit on Thursday, so if she is still miserable and has not put on any/much weight, I will get him to check her out.

BAD

On arriving home from town, I discover a calf standing in the main yard. On the weekend, we lost a lot of trees due to gale force winds and some of them fell over electric fences. Turns out , the calves have worked out that the fences are not on and are pushing against them (doesn't take them long).

GOOD

The calf in back in the paddock and didn't get out onto the road.

So that's our day. Good and bad. I feel like I have not stopped today and now I have a headache. Quite frankly, the excitement of the new car hasn't overridden the loss of Tottie, so it hasn't been a great day. I'll be glad when it is over.