Millar Madness

NEW STORE AND SALE!!

2012-01-05T16:35:00.002+11:00

If you not already 'liked' my page, click on the link in the side bar to become a fan of my MJM Creates store.

Then on the fan page there is a store button on the menu :) This is the new place that I will be selling all of my art from now on :)

AND to celebrate both the New Year and the New Store I am having a SALE.

So to get 12% off (geti it for 2012...lol) you need to enter the coupon code: Jan2012 at the Checkout.

HAPPY SHOPPING

PRE-CHRISTMAS SALE

2011-11-15T17:08:00.000+11:00

25% OFF STORE WIDE

CHECK OUT THE SALE AT www.madeit.com.au/MJMCreates

Fairies, Fairies, Fairies

2011-10-31T12:44:00.000+11:00

So I came up with a new design for the canvases I have been making and my dancing fairies canvases are selling very fast.

Here are some, if you like the look of them get in quick as they are going fast :)

They are available HERE

SOLD!!

These canvases are 10 x 10cm and $13 plus postage each

This one is 18 x 10cm and $18 plus postage

I have donated this to a Auction to raise money for Lifeline.

You can find out more on my FB Fan Page HERE

and some butterflies :)

SALE!!!

2011-10-17T12:55:00.000+11:00

So I have finally created a Facebook Fan Page for my canvases and to celebrate my MJM Creates page I am having 10% off my canvases in my store.

So check them out HERE

Happy Shopping :)

Been Creating

2011-09-22T14:04:00.000+10:00

So lately I have been making lots of canvases for presents for friends and families.

I was told that I should be selling them and as I love doing them so much I have recently got a storefront on Made It.

So please stop by and check it out, buy something or share with your friends :)

Click here to check out my store.

Here are some of the canvases I have in store...more to come :)

Photos by Dannii :)

2011-08-03T12:23:00.000+10:00

After a couple of false starts we finally got our photos taken by Dannii - we were booked in first when Kai ended up in Hospital.

Dannii was so patient and then the day arrived and of course the sky opened and to get more photos Dannii kindly gave us another shoot :)

Here are just a couple of my favourites, I could probably load them all...lol.

You can check Dannii out here

STUCK SKETCH

2011-05-14T13:40:00.002+10:00

Here is my version of the Stuck Sketch...i loved it as soon as I saw it and new it would be perfect for Josh's School Photos...still can't believe he is in year 9...before I know it he will be finished High School!!!

I also used one of the fabulous Lovely Lollipops that I bought from Charm at Charms Creations (again perfect colours and just right for the page) can't wait to use some of the others that I bought :)

No More Hospitals!!!

2011-04-23T10:53:00.000+10:00

OK so I have officially had enough of going to Hospitals!!!

I guess because I didn't update all of last year those that don't follow me on Facebook wouldn't know that we have had a few overnighters and trips to Emergency depts.

So it started in October last year...I was on the phone to my Mum and I hear a scream...Kai has slammed the front door and Lainey's thumb is there. The door managed to slice the top of her thumb and then she pulled her hand out and left the top part of her thumb on the door jam!!! So called an Ambulance and we were taken to Dandenong Hospital. We were admitted and they did microsurgery that night to re-attach the top of the thumb but we had no idea if it worked. So after staying the night we were sent home with Lainey in plaster up to her elbow for 10 days and then we got to see her thumb. To us it looked horrible but the Surgeons seemed hopeful. So that was the start of weekly visits to Dandenongs outpatient...fun...not!!! Sitting in a waiting room for on average 2 hours to see the Doc for 5 minutes to be told 'we will see what it looks like next week!' So finally in January they decided to do one more surgery and remove all the dead skin, we were over the moon with the result as were the Surgeons as she had thumb nail, one thing they thought she may have lost. So her thumb looks fantastic now, a little shorter than her other but without really looking you wouldn't notice.

So after that I had had enough of Hospital visits and thought it was all over and done with until 16th March. This time it was Kai's turn. He had not been feeling well for a couple of days and this day his temp went up to 41 degrees. I called Nurses on Call and they told me to go straight to the Emergency Dept...So after an X-ray, blood and urine test they came back with pneumonia! I must admit I was a little surprised as he didn't really have that much of a cough...just the fever and his body was like it was on fire. So we were admitted into Hospital and Kai was hooked up to a drip to have 4 hourly antibiotics...Mum was with me in Emergency and she said she would stay the night as I had to be home for Lainey in the morning.

He only had to stay the night and was discharged in the afternoon with oral antibiotics but they thought we had caught it early enough that we didn't need a follow up check up.

Well we ended up in Emergency again on Wednesday night, again Kai's body felt like it was on fire, 40 degree temp, took him to see a Doc and again told to go to Emergency. This time he wasn't as bad...when we got to Emergency his temp had dropped to 39.1 and then when we saw the Doc it was 38.7 but blood tests showed that he had an infection but they were not sure where. So he had some antibiotic jabbed in his leg and as he wasn't connected to a drip we were allowed home and had to come back the following morning. They still couldn't tell us exactly what the infection was and the only way to tell was to let him get sicker so instead they were covering their bases by giving him antibiotics that killed most infections. So another jab in the leg and more oral antibiotics and we were allowed to go home. I have to take him back to our Doc in a month for another blood test to make sure his blood cells are back to normal and hopefully this is the end of it and I won't have to take any more of my children to the Hospital again.

White with One

2011-04-18T16:23:00.000+10:00

Can you tell it has been a scrappy last couple of days???

OK so here is my page for White with 1

This month was

White
Olive Green
Twine

was actually surprised how much olive green things I had as it is not a colour I would normally go for.

Scrap That Baby

2011-04-18T16:13:00.000+10:00

This month (well the first challenge for the month) is messy, messy, messy.

I love this pic of Kai after eating his first chocolate biscuit :)

123 Challenge

2011-04-18T16:05:00.000+10:00

This month at 123 Challenge

COLOUR: LIME GREEN

WORD: REALLY

TECHNIQUE/PRODUCT: FABRIC

Don't really have a lot of lime green so just the paint.

Run for the Kids

2011-04-17T15:11:00.000+10:00

Run for the Kids was today and again my brother Ran for Rani.

He makes us so proud doing this huge run every year 14.6km and he really doesn't like running. He didn't think he would go to well today as he didn't train as hard this year but he still finished in around 1r 6 minutes - which I think is amazing - no way I could run that far that fast.

There were so many people running this year...a huge steady stream of people kept coming past us where we were sitting outside one of the Cafes at the Casino...thankfully we sit in the same place every year so Steven knew where to look...as you can see from the photos he had to dodge a lot of people just so we could cheer him on.

So I am sure a huge amount of money was raised for the Royal Children's Hospital :)

DT for Scrapbooking Haven

2011-04-10T23:03:00.000+10:00

I am a little behind...here are my LO's from my DT pack from Scrapbooking Haven for March.

Using papers from 3 Bugs in a Rug Tool Time Range.

That Time Again

2011-04-09T14:02:00.000+10:00

I can't believe how quickly this year is flying. How can it already be April...which brings Run 4 the Kids.

Again my brother is running for Rani...he makes us so proud doing this every year since her passing. Considering he hates running - but he runs nearly 15km for Rani because she was such a fighter.

So if you can donate anything to this cause it would be greatly appreciated. The Royal Childrens Hospital will forever hold a special place in our hearts - without everything they did for us I doubt we would have had Rani for the year that we did...the Nurses and Drs are just amazing.

So if you can donate please visit Run for the Kids

Thanks

Scrap That Baby

2011-03-30T16:55:00.002+11:00

Have I said how much I am loving Chat with Charm a forum full of blog challenges...It is great to have all the challenges in one spot and pick which one I would like to do.

So this is my take on the Scrap That Baby Challenge this month.
I'm lucky to be your mummy

Again bad pic...this was really hard to get a good pic of...it has an ink resist front...but I used a lot of different inks so that the pattern could be seen.

trying to show some of the ink resist front...it looks really good IRL...lol

Scrap the Girls

2011-03-30T16:44:00.001+11:00

here is my page for the Scrap the Girls Challenge this month.

Use ONE of the following SHE quotes by Kobi Yamada.

Just noticed the missing L - Lainey was admiring the picture of herself...I will have to search her clothes!

Long Time no Blog

2011-03-27T17:36:00.007+11:00

WOW I can't believe that it has been over a year since I last did a blog post...naughty naughty...I guess with facebook I feel like I would be doubling up, so I am not going to update just sharing some LO's that I have done lately.

I have got inspiration from Chat with Charm....you should check it out a forum with no store advertising just a huge list of all the different challenge blogs and details...so many different challenges...this month I picked 2 and am happy that I got them both done.

first Kraft It Up

use the quote "there is no greater gift than today"

and White with 1

create a LO using WHITE - BRIGHT PINK - ARTISAN SHAPES/ARTISAN PRODUCTS

I {heart} today

2010-02-06T22:22:00.006+11:00

my hubby Cuddles from Mummy that make everything better

Cuddles from my baby girl, just because she wants to. :)

and finally Bon's Scraps...without Bons and their girls I wouldn't be scrapping as often as I do and I love when I get to catch up with the Melbourne Girls and the laughs and support from the forum :) - loving Game On 2 - so many Challenges and making me scrap so many ways I would never think of...if you haven't joined check out Bon's.

9 things

2010-02-05T20:06:00.011+11:00

I know its a little late - but 9 of my favourite things from 2009.

OK so there is 2 for Lainey, had to get John in the pic as well....lol

A HUGE THANK YOU

2010-02-01T15:34:00.004+11:00

to everyone that has donated money to the Royal Children's Hospital Good Friday Appeal for my brother Steven running. It is truly appreciated and every cent that goes to the Hospital will hopefully prevent another family from going through what we did.

http://www.everydayhero.com.au/steven__percy

Thank you doesn't sound enough but this is such a special cause close to our hearts and I appreciate that 4 years later we still manage to raise money for the Hospital.

The run is not until March and this year we will be watching my brother again (last year we weren't able to make it) it amazes me the amount of people that run the 15.2km. Last year they had to cut it off at 10 000 people and that fills up very quickly so I make sure I book Steven in as soon as entries open.

So Thanks Again xx

While the Boss is away

2010-01-25T17:03:00.003+11:00

GET YOUR GAME ON

so while Boss Lady Bon is away in Perth why not join in with two weeks worth of fun and games and challenges...

there will be chances to gain points through numerous activities during the time bon is away....

* put up your post tally at the start of the comp - you will receive 5 points for every 100 posts you make

* every Bon's Challenge layout you create during Game On will receive 5 points

* you will receive 1 point for participation when joining games, challenges etc, winners will receive 5 points

we will be having scrap n chat nights, bingo, blog-hopping, photography & random challenges - all sorts!!! so make sure you REGISTER for it!!!

Its that time of the Year

2010-01-18T14:45:00.003+11:00

my brother is again Running for Rani in the 14.4km Run for the Kids RCH Run. We are very proud of him for doing this - he did his first one in 2007 and has been doing it every year since.

http://www.everydayhero.com.au/steven__percy

Check out the above link to sponsor him, we thank you in advance if you take the time to donate. This is a special cause that is close to our hearts and we hope that all the money raised will hopefully prevent another family going through what we did.

Thanks again

Scrapping

2010-01-14T17:15:00.015+11:00

It seems like ages ago that I shared some of my pages here...so overload coming up...lol

Can you believe my little boy is 13
Photos by Katie Toland

My little girl starts High School this year - they are growing up way to fast
Photos by Katie Toland

Photo by Katie Toland

Photo by Katie Toland

and a little proud of myslef..thanks to a Challenge at Bon's - I did it - I scrapped the first page ever since Rani's passing - it was very emotional but I am glad that I have taken that first step - it only took 3 years!!

There are more LO's but it is taking ages to upload the pics and sometimes there are no pics after waiting!!!

Will be back later for a post about our trip to QLD

Day at the Park...

2009-11-04T15:02:00.009+11:00

We have a huge park within a couple of minutes drive from us, but often forget about it when thinking of things to do over the weekend.

A couple of weekends ago I remembered and we headed down to let the kids run wild.

Everyone enjoyed it, including Lainey who couldn't get enough of the swing and got more and more excited the higher she was pushed.

here are some photos from the day.

Do you want to win....

2009-10-28T12:20:00.003+11:00

THIS.....

Check out the details HERE

there is LOADS of stuff here, valued at over $100-
pink paislee, october afternoon, crate paper, PRIMA, rouge de garance, my minds eye..

paper, DIECUT paper, cardstock, alphas, flowers, butterflies, gem brads, rhinestones, vinyl, felt, fabric, precission scissors and the latest scrapbooking creations.

mmm...chocolate

2009-10-21T18:19:00.002+11:00

Well a lot has happened since my last blog...but if you are friends with me on Facebook you would be kept up to date.....lol

Well little miss Lainey will be 8 months old on Friday and I must say that it is going way to quickly and she is growing up way to fast...she doesn't realise that she is meant to stay my baby forever.

So she is now crawling everywhere, she thought she would show off and in one day she decided that she would sit up by herself, but not happy with that a couple of hours later she decided that she would crawl as well, unlike my other Lainey skipped the comando crawling and went straight for it.

AS you can imagine is it mayhem at the house sometime with Kai going one way and Lainey going the other and of course both of them getting in to something they shouldn't be touching.

This is what I found the other day when I left Lainey to play in the family room and had given Kai a choc chip cookie...well he thought he would share!Do you think you think she enjoyed it....lol

Whoopps forgot my password...BUT

2009-10-20T16:30:00.002+11:00

Want to win a 3 month kit subscription from Bons Scraps???

REGISTER HEREthe comp start TODAY.
you will need to be or become an active member of the forum.
it will run for 4 weeks, one task per week.
the comp will be judged by "doing" not "best"
there will be no eliminations.

TONIGHT is also cybercrop night so make sure you pop in and why not BRING A FRIEND

also

it's sale time!!!!!!

monday the 19th - friday the 23rd of october.

bon's scraps will be offering 20% off everything

with the exception of- kit and kit subscriptions, retreat payments and crop days.

NO VOUCHERS WILL BE ACCEPTED DURING THIS SALE.

A Little Trip

2009-09-04T08:15:00.004+10:00

A couple of weeks ago we all flew up to Sydney for a weekend. I know that we didn't catch up with family or friends as we decided to make it just family time...I know you all understand. We decided just to get away for a couple of days to relax before the stress of last week.

We had a lovely time, Sydney put on fantastic weather for us...28 degrees most days. I was a bit concerned about flying with the little ones but they both fell asleep pretty much the whole flight.

So we did Paddy's Market, Opera House, Toronga Zoo, a ferry trip around the Harbour - I must admit I was pretty impressed with myself...lol..I get sea sick on big boats! and I went on the ferry4 times and as some people know I have a huge fear of heights and I even managed to go in the cable car to get to the Zoo...big steps for me.

The only downer to the trip was we all got gastro...on our last day we had planned to go to the Aquarium, the night before Kai had gotten sick, in the morning I felt like rubbish so we changed our flights to an earlier one, before we got on the plane Josh was sick and then by the time we got home John and Teagan were sick...so we had 24 hours of hell but thankfully it was a quick bout except for poor Kai :(

But all in all it was a lovely trip and nice to get away and spend some time all together as a family.

Anyway here are some pics

Silly Things...

2009-08-31T23:33:00.002+10:00

I have found that I have handled this week a lot better than I thought, perhaps it was because John was away for the last 5 days, so I had to be both Mum and Dad to the kiddies which kept me busy. Plus scrapping inspiration hit, which was also a great excuse to stay up to the wee hours of the morning and literally fall into bed with no dreams, thoughts flooding my brain.

Of course I can't turn off everything, there are down times but it has been great to chat to friends throughout the week - usually I turn into a hermit crab and nobody hears from me or sees me.

One of the silly things that keeps playing over and over is that last week in ICU - I remember and feeling guilty firstly because we got excited that Rani would finally be Cat1 for a liver (so basically next in line) the catch being she was to sick to get a liver - but don't get me started on the stupid rules and stipulations of getting an organ. I still get upset that people got calls at home to get a liver - we saw 4 transplants while we waited and one of them was a boys second!!! admittedly his wasn't compatible...but still we waited and waited but this level wasn't high enough or that blood reading wasn't the right amount and she stayed a Cat2, waiting for only a liver that was available in Victoria! I believe that if you are to sick to go home and your levels are rising on a daily basis you should get an organ from all of Australia instead of someone less needy that just happens to be in the right state. I also wonder how many people with self inflicted alcohol ruined livers got one over Rani and whether they continued to drink even after being given a second chance. I am sorry if that offends but it is my opinion and if you had to listen to the ridiculous rules you would probably feel the same.

Anyway as I said the guilt...I guess I got started...lol...I really thought it was just another trip to ICU - we had done it 3 or 4 times by this stage - had a big scare and in a couple of days she was back up at 5W. AS she was in ICU you are only allowed 2 people in at a time, so I let other family members spend more time with her...one thing I regret to this day. We should have had warning bells ringing in our ears those first couple of days as they allowed us to have 5-6 people in the room...but still living in hope that she would pull through and I guess the conflicting stuff we were being told...one Doc would be doom and gloom and the next would be more optimistic.

I remember the worst day was the Monday when all the Specialist had a meeting to see whether it was worthwhile fighting for Rani - worst day of our lives and of course the meeting wasn't until 6pm. But we were given more false hope - the transplant surgeon stated that is she came off certain drugs she could get a liver...I really don't think she was ever going to get a liver.

You know there are days that I think maybe, just maybe I could handle it better if she passed while getting a liver, or from complications because at least she got there...I feel robbed, not only from having Rani taken from us, but the fact that we never got the chance to see what the life saving liver could do for our little girl.

The thing that haunts me the most is that phone call almost 3 years to the day now - it was John telling me, my mum, dad and brother to get in to the Hospital as Rani was fading fast. I thought there was no way that my little girl would die without her Mummy saying good-bye so I wasn't going. I honestly don't remember a lot of that afternoon. It is in bits...I remember the phone call, then Dad doing up my seat belt, Mum helping me down the Hospital Halls to ICU and kissing my baby goodbye.

That is when my world collapsed...I had to get out of the Hospital the wall were caving in on me...I remember sending a SMS to friends and then we were in the bottle shop - drowning our sorrows.

This has made me a different person (nobody would be the same) and I have lost lots of friendships after this. People that I thought were good friends that just dissappeared. I understood that people didn't know what to say, so I gave them time but hey it happens and I realised that life is to short to be worrying about it. I know that the friends that have stuck by us are our true friends and we love them all and thank you for your support for the last 4 years...and of course our families...I know without my family and all the support, time in the Hospital, looking after Josh and Teagan and just generally being there and listening and I guess being able to talk it through with people that lived it has helped keep me sane...thank you just doesn't seem enough xxx

3 years ago

2009-08-26T16:48:00.002+10:00

3 years ago today our worst nightmare started.

Well the poor roller coaster of a life that Rani was leading for the year was hell on all of us, I am absolutely positive it was complete hell for our beautiful baby girl. I am still amazed that we still got smiles out of her everyday no matter how much pain she was in. She was such a fighter.

So yesterday 3 years ago we were excited to be celebrating Rani's 1st birthday - I still have such fond memories of the party we had in her Hospital room, the effort some of the night nurses went into decorating her room, the fact that some of the nurses came in on their day off - it was such a beutiful day - but we knew she was getting worse - she spiked many temps, was miserable and didn't want to make eye contact. We were told she needed a liver really soon but I don't even think her Specialist saw coming what happened the following day.

Her birthday was a Friday and Saturday was the begining of our nightmare. We have come to realise that Saturday was the day her body gave up, when I saw her stop breathing she had given up the fight. My little fighter could not fight anymore. We had one more week with our beautiful angel while machines fought to keep her alive, but sadly even they couldn't keep her going and Friday 1st September 2006 we had to say goodbye.

Now everyday I think of my beautiful buddha baby, all I have to do is look over to the unit opposite the lounge and see her smiling face...but this week is the most difficult time of the year.

Yesterday our little girl turned 4 - what I would have given to be making cup cakes for her birthday - like I did for her 1st birthday - instead of putting flower at her plaque - what I would give to have her here with us now.

We still have a million what if questions and even knowing that they can never be answered still doesn't stop your mind going over everything over and over again, wondering what we could have done differently to get that precious liver that we so desperately needed.

The nightmares start at this time of the year also - I close my eyes and that last week replays over and over in my head...seeing my baby so miserable, bleeding and then stop breathing is something that is going to haunt me for the rest of my life. It is one of the reason why I couldn't be in the room when we made the heart breaking decision to turn the machines off. I had seen my baby die once and I couldn't do it again. She was obviously ready to go as the machines were turned off after I said my good byes and left and within seconds she was gone.

The pain I felt that day is the same today almost 3 years later - a never ending pain that I will carry until one day I meet her again.

Photos by Katie

2009-07-09T00:29:00.013+10:00

A couple of weeks ago we had the pleasure of having Katie Toland come to our house and do some photos. I must say it was so much more relaxed in the house - no rush with a certain times in the studio and when we didn't need the other kiddies and John they were able to go and do their own things - amazingly even with Katie there Kai had an afternoon nap.

I just love the photos that she took and there are even more. It is going to be hard to pick our favourites. Thanks Katie for coming out.

So here are some of the shots, our sneak peaks. :)

Love my cheeky girls big smile :)

I think one of my favourite shots of Lainey

and this one...love it :)

Look at my big boy - so handsome - but growing up way to fast

my beautiful girl - so photogenic - but also growing up way to quickly

love the cheeky look on Kai's face - so him - I am amazed Katie managed to get any decent shots of him - as per usual he didn't want to stand still

A Little Photo Shoot

2009-05-20T16:09:00.007+10:00

Well a couple of weeks ago I bought myself a new lense for my camera and while Lainey was in a happy mood I did a little photo shoot.

I am pleased with some of the photos :)

Just photos

2009-05-17T22:31:00.007+10:00

mainly pics of Lainey for my sister in London as requested :)

Life got away from me again...lol

2009-05-13T10:05:00.008+10:00

OK I will try and keep this updated from now on...for all those people that have told me off here is an update for you.

Well little Miss Lainey is now 11 weeks old - it has gone so quickly. She has just moved into Kai's room into her own cot, she looks so tiny in it. She was sleeping all night in our room, we are having a little bit of problems getting her to bed at night in the cot, but I am sure we will be back to all night again soon - I hope so as I need my sleep...lol

Kai is 13 months now and just a joy of a kid. He is so happy all the time (except when his teeth are hurting him :( ) but he is so in love with Lainey it is great, constantly giving her big sloppy kisses and cuddles.

Josh finally got to go on his camp a couple of weeks ago. His camp was in Healesville but got cancelled because of the fires...so he is happy now that he has been and he had a ball and came home with practically no voice!

Teagan is doing well also. She recently had her belated 11th party at the local skate rink. She also turned 11 since my last post...I can't believe my babies are growing up so fast :(

We also had Johns parents down for a visit to meet Lainey for the first time. We took them to the Zoo and everyone had a ball. I think Kai was still a little young to really understand it all, but if the animals were moving he was fascinated with them.

OK so I have done some scrapping...

This one was the monthly sketch at Bon's last month

This was using the boys kit from Bons last month

and this was using the girls kit from Bon's last moth.OK I will do a photo post later, I am off for lunch and then out for dinner ( a late Mothers Dinner with my family)

Bye, thanks for stopping by and please say Hello :)

Run for the Kids

2009-03-24T14:48:00.002+11:00

Yes, it has come around again...Run for the Kids 2009 to raise money for The Royal Childrens Hospital Good Friday Appeal.

As you know the RCH holds a special place in our hearts and we are forever thankfully to the staff at RCH for looking after Rani.

For the 3rd year my brother Steven is running the 14.1km in honour of Rani.

If you would like to sponser him follow this link - Hero's Page

Thank you to those that have already sponsored him :)

My Baby Boy is 1

2009-03-22T14:52:00.005+11:00

On Saturday Kai turned 1...I still can't beleive that he is a year old it has flown so quickly.

We had a little party for him as John was away - so just my family and friends...

Kai really didn't understand what was going on. I think Josh and Teagan were more excited, Teagan even woke me at 8 to tell me Kai wanted to open his presents...lol He opened one and then got bored with it all and walked off.

He was well and truly spoilt and my lounge room ended up looking like a toy shop - now to find space for these new toys...I think I really need to do my trip to Ikea and get some more furniture :)

I scrapped!!!

2009-03-15T22:28:00.006+11:00

It has been a while - the lat thing I did was a 6 x 12 album for Kai before I had Lainey...i really should scan it one day.

So while it rained this weekend I took advantage of some home time and scrapped.

Almost there....

2009-03-07T21:47:00.005+11:00

Well our little man has decided that he has had enough of walking using the furniture or holding our hands and decided to take his first steps alone. It started with one or two and now it is around 10 steps, it is so exciting to see...so we are positive that he will be walking by the time he is one - which really isn't that far off :(

So here is our excited man walking.

and a family photo of the kiddies

Introducing....

2009-02-27T18:32:00.006+11:00

Lainey Grace Joi...

We headed into the Hospital at 6.30am to prepare for the C-section and at 8am were ready to go. This C-section was definately different to Kai's...everything side effect that they said could happen I had. My chest was heavy and my nose blocked making it difficult to breathe, I felt sick the whole operations, but everything disappeared when we saw our little girl..and she is little - well to us - the smallest of all 5 of our kiddies.

Recovery was pretty quick and the nice thing was that they bought Lainey to me in recovery this time...with Kai I didn't see him for nearly an hour.

Back to the room and the side effects hit again, throwing up, itchy skin from the morphine (I actually needed drugs to stop the itching) back thankfully after 12 hours or so most of the effects had worn off and I could enjoy some one on one time with my little lady.

I am home now and in a lot more pain than I was last time, hoping all this will disappear soon, but all worth it to have a beautiful healthy little princess.

Here are some piccies...

First cuddle

Kai with his little sister - he looks so big now - he is not really interested in his sister at all!!

Josh - the proud big brother

Teagan wrapped to have another girl in the house...lol

and the little princess

Its a GIRL

2009-02-23T21:19:00.002+11:00

Introducing Lainey Grace Joi Millar born 23rd February 2009 at 8.15am weighing 3.32 KGs and 48 cm long.

Mum and bub are healthy and happy.

Mel will post lots of photos when she gets home this weekend :)

Its Nearly Over!!!

2009-02-10T13:23:00.003+11:00

the dramas with our builder (not the pregnancy - well I guess that is nearly over as well...lol)

As most of you know we have had ongoing dramas with our builders since we moved in back in May last year. We had one last thing that needed fixing and that was our timber floors between the kitchen and meals area as they were buckling.

Of course the builders said it wasn't their fault, the installers said it wasn't their fault...it went back and forth (this started in October) and then the Company that installed the floors got bought out, so someone else had to come out, then of course no one works over Christmas...blah, blah, blah...meanwhile our floors are getting worse.

Well on the Australia Day long weekend I woke to find puddles on the floor. I thought the kiddies had spilt a drink but when I went to wipe it up more water came out of the joins of the floor. What we suspected all along - we had a leak somewhere under the floor boards. We checked under the sink but there was no water coming out or on the shelves.

Well of course being a long weekend we had to wait until Tuesday to get in contact with the builders - Wednesday they were out. In the meantime we had finally found the leak...there was a to big hole cut in the bottom shelf of the cupboard under the sink for the dishwasher connection...well the dripping pipe was dripping directly into this hole onto the floor and of course wrecking my kitchen cabinets as well.

I put a container underneath and it worked out to a litre an hour that was dripping the day the Plumber came to fix it.

So if the builders had pulled their fingers out months ago they would have had a small amount to fix....now they have to replace most of my kitchen and the whole house worth of timber flooring as it is pretty much all wrecked now.

Really an inconvience I don't need when I am 8 month pregnant, so thankfully we have worked it out for the removalist, flooring guys, cleaners, plasters, painters etc all to come in the week that I am in Hospital having bub (the joys of having a date for the C-section) and only John will have to deal with it as the kiddies will stay with Mum and Dad.

So my kitchen is being replaced on Thursday and then fingers crossed when I come home from the Hospital I will have a perfect house and never have to deal with the builders again!.

Belly Shot

2009-02-06T13:03:00.002+11:00

Back to School

2009-02-05T12:40:00.004+11:00

Well we are pretty much back into School routine again.

Josh and Teagan both started school on the same day. But as Josh was starting High School and Teagan in her final year of Primary School it was kind of impossible to be in 2 places at once as Josh starts 10 minutes before Teagan. Thankfully John was home and able to drop Josh off at School before heading to the Airport and I took Teagan.

Josh had a great first day at High School and I think he has realised that we weren't joking about the big difference between Primary School and High School, but he is loving being at his new school. I still can't believe that my little man is in High School...where did the time go. He is still so little, as you can see Teagan is taller than him...he is one of the shortest in Year 7, which upsets him a little...I'm sure he will do a big growth spurt soon!!!

Teagan is wrapped to be the head of the school and loves her teacher and is just wrapped to be seeing all her friends again.

Well me - I am 36 weeks pregnant and over the whole thing...lol...I think the heat is making it really hard. I went and saw the Ob last week and was telling him about the pains in my scar, so I was sent off to the City for a Specialist U/S...of course it had to be the day it was 45 degrees in the shade...lol... well my scar doesn't seem to be holding up as well as would be liked, so my C-section date has been moved forward, so we get to meet this bub sooner. The hard part is I have been told to rest up and not lift to much...tell that to a 10 month old that is in to everything and loves Mummy cuddles...and of course I love my baby boy cuddles to...so I am trying to rest up, make sure I have everything ready for this bub and excitedly await the arrival of our final addition to our family.

WHOOPS!!!

2009-01-05T14:06:00.003+11:00

Didn't realise my last post was back in November...lol

So now that it is 2009 I will try and update more often...or when I get those pesky emails from people wanting an update...lol

So lets back track...what has happened.

Well Josh graduated Grade 6 and heads off for High School this year...I still can't beleive that my little man will be in High School. He is very excited about starting High School actually counting down the days until he starts!!

Teagan will be the head of the Primary School a big Grade 6er and next year she will also be heading off to High School - they have to stop growing up so fast.

We went out and had a lovely kid free weekend for Mum's 60th Birthday in the City. All of my family stayed in the City and one of my closest friends stayed at our house and looked after the kiddies. We headed into the City early and hit the Casino - went back to the Hotel and got ready for the dinner with Mum's family and friends at the Langham and then for something different we went back to the Casino again. My sister and I left Mum, Dad and our Aunt and Uncle at the Casino at 2am...we can't keep up with the oldies....lol

Then of course Christmas Eve my little man turned 12 and this year we headed out for lunch with my family to Coach and Horses instead of our usual trek to McDonalds because Josh thought he was to old to be having a Macca's dinner for his birthday.

Then the next day Christmas - the kiddies we good - as I am an evil Mum and told them they had to sleep in until 8am before opening their Santa sacks (mainly because we had a big day ahead) well 8.01 they were in bedroom...so presents from Santa, presents under the tree and then we headed to my sisters to meet the rest of my family and even more presents and then to my Aunts for the full roast lunch and by the time we got home we were all exhausted.

Well Kai is now 9 months old and a ball of energy but such a good little man. He is pulling himself up on everything...he loves to walk all around our lounge starting on one of the couches, scooting along to the next and then on the entertainment unit...

He is also fascinated by my belly, contantly pulling my shirt up to see my ever expanding belly...but doesn't do it to anyone else - make you wonder if he knows whats in there. Speaking of in my belly - on;y about 8 weeks to go and we get to meet our final addition to our family.

and finally Frank - our little puppy is still not walking, but everyday he seems to make a little more progress and moves his legs a little more so fingers crossed that he will be walking again.

Been Scrapping!!!

2008-11-16T17:36:00.009+11:00

Firstly for those who have asked an update on Frank.

We took him to the Vet on Saturday for a check up and to get the staples out of his back and he has got some sensation in his back legs, he is still not using them, but a good sign that he has feeling...so fingers crossed he will walk again. He is staying at our Vet for the week as I am finding it hard to look after him, the kiddies and keep a healthy dog active and not jump all our her brother when he comes out the back. So the Vet can do the physio take him outside etc better than I can, so it will be good for him.

OK so I thought I would share some recent scrapping as it has been a while.

These are for Stuck?! sketches
This is using last months boy kit from Bons

This is using September Wicked Princess Kit

Our Poor Puppy!!!

2008-11-08T21:14:00.005+11:00

Well our little Frank is sick, sick, sick...much worse than we thought possible.

On Melbourne Cup Day he just wasn't himself, mopping about just sitting against the fence, even not taking the opportunity to come inside when offered. He was doing funny things with his mouth so we thought that perhaps he had a bone stuck in his throat, but on Johns inspection he couldn't see or feel anything. Well as the day went on he got more lethargic and not really moving so at about 7pm John decided to take him to the Animal Emergency Centre...he rang first to make an appointment but at that time of night it was worst served first and as we thought there was really nothing major wrong with him he was told he would probably have a 2 hour wait...so off Frank and John went - John taking a book to read...lol

Well when they got to the vet Frank was quite wobbly on his feet and he was rushed into Emergency - his temp was 40 degrees and he wasn't really using his back left leg at all. They thought it could be poison or a snake bite, but all these test came back negative....all John could do was leave him there the night while they did tests and they would call us in the morning.

Well at 2.45am ( I hate calls at that hour!!!) the Vet called to say that his temp had come down but he was paralysed in both back legs and if it was OK with us they wanted to send him over to the Surgery Dept for a surgery consult and MRI later in the morning.

Wednesday Frank had an MRI of his spine, some dye testing of the spinal cord and lots of other tests. The Surgeon said that there is a Spinal Disease that British Bulldogs can get where fluid compresses against the spinal cord and causes paralysis - but it usually occurs in older dogs he had never seen a case in a 7 month old puppy.

So Thursday night he had an operation to remove the excess fluid from his spine and Friday he stayed the night in the Hospital under observation.

Finally today we were able to pick our little puppy up - sadly he still has no use of his back legs and 'if' the operation has been a success (we only were given a 50/50 chance) it takes 4-6 weeks to see the results. So we are keeping our fingers and toes crossed.

So Georgie was over the moon to have her brother home but the poor thing doesn't understand why he is penned off inside and she is outside and not allowed to play with him. So we have to help him with everything but towel lifting his abdomen and allowing him to walk on his front legs for toilet time ect, give him massages of his back legs and keep him medicated...but he is home.

So here is our poor little Frank penned up in the rumpus room. With the staples in his back which we have to get removed next week.

The Unco-operative Bub!!!!

2008-10-30T14:32:00.004+11:00

So I went for my 20 week ultrasound a couple of weeks ago with John. We were both so excited to see the bub, we always get such a thrill seeing the bub kicking about in my belly, it makes it all so real.

Well this little one had plans of its own...it was lying right down the bottom of my pelvis on its belly and wasn't moving at all, no matter how much the lady pushed on my stomach to try and get it to co-operate. So not the clearest ultrasound that we have had...but after a trip to the toilet bub did move onto its back (briefly) and we were able to check the heart, see the gall bladder (silly things - but peace of mind for us as Rani didn't have one) so the liver looked ok and then bub moved back to the original position.

We were wrapped with the lady doing the ultrasound as she spent over an hour with us trying to get all the measurements and check everything, so we were very happy to leave knowing that we are having a healthy bub.

Before you ask...NO we didn't find out what it is - even if we wanted to I don't think this little one was going to give away his/her secret...lol...so you will just have to wait like the rest of us...lol

Here are the best of the ultrasound pics.

Not going to share the 4d shots as they are just plain scary....lol

Update Time!!!!

2008-09-30T11:37:00.004+10:00

Where has the time gone.... I can't believe tomorrow will be October, this year has disappeared so quickly, slow down!!!

* Fathers Day - John had a lovely Fathers Day and got spoilt, even with a lovely sleep in, well all of us had a sleep in...lol. Then we had Mum, Dad, my sister and her boyfriend and my brother over for a BBQ lunch, it was really a nice day.

* The following weekend we had Karen, Ellie and Maureen come and visit from QLD...it was great to catch up again as we hadn't seen them since last Christmas. Also Karen and I got to compare bellies as she is due just after me...lol

* Then it was John's Birthday a couple of days later, we just had a cake that night - as John and I were going out for a kiddie free weekend while the kiddies stayed at Mum and Dad's. We went into the City, did a bit of shopping at DFO and then went and had a beautiful dinner at the Casino.

* Then before you know it the kiddies are on School Holidays again...so we have had a pretty quiet time (they go back on Monday) but they have been to the Show, Mum took them to the Movies, had some friends over for a BBQ...we are all enjoying the sleep ins...even Kai who ususally gives us at minimum 12 hours - so he sleeps in until around 9.30-10am

* John also got a big suprise on Thursday, with a phone call from his best friend Dave (married to Karen who came down earlier..lol) well he drives a truck and was in Melbourne and came and stayed with us the night...lots of drinking and laughs that night, it was like they had seen each other just last week not months ago!

* and Congrats to John's sister who is also having a 'suprise' bub in April...lol

* and in between that I have done a little scrapping.

This one is for Stuck?!

and this one was just because...

I think that is everything...I will try to stay more up to date :P

Suprise!!!!!!!!

2008-09-03T12:41:00.003+10:00

Well what a roller coaster of emotions we have been on in the last couple of weeks...dealing with Rani's birthday and then Anniversary and filled with emotions of suprise, shock, guilt and finally delight.

What am I talking about you may well ask...

Well to your suprise and ours (believe me) let me introduce the latest addition to our family...lol

Yes this little unplanned suprise makes baby no. 5

After the initial shock John and I are now quite excited over this new and definately last addition to our family. I have had an overwhelming feeling of guilt since I found out I was pregnant. I guess finding out close to Rani's birthday and anniversary and then seeing her knowing again that I am pregnant for the second time in as many years makes me feel bad. Kai was certainly not bought into the world as a replacement for Rani and neither is this one, I just feel bad that she isn't here to enjoy our expanding family.

As some of you already know I have PCOS - which was discovered after it took 5 years to get Rani...so when we made the decision to go for baby no.4 I needed help, monitoring, months of disappointment of not being pregnant, etc.... so to fall in naturally and so quickly after Kai was certainly a suprise ...as my body is not meant to work...lol.

So this little one is due March 7...yes there will only be 11 months between Kai and this one - but there is 15 months between Josh and Teagan and I didn't find that hard so I am hoping this will be easy as well.

So I guess one advantage Kai will have a little playmate amd hopefully they will be as close as Josh and Teagan are.

2 Years

2008-09-01T08:05:00.002+10:00

Today it has been 2 years since we had to say good bye to our beautiful baby girl and 2 years of complete heart break...we miss Rani every day. Thank you my baby girl for holding on as long as you did and for being so strong and always so happy - you touched everyones lives that met or knew about you.

Today is another day that is sad but also with some happy memories - it is today that again we think about the nurses and staff that helped Rani and made our Hospital stay somewhat enjoyable for the 5+ months that Rani was at RCH...as I have said before they will always hold a special place in our hearts.

Thank you all the Nurses that looked after Rani, your care and love helped her fight as long as she did.

Happy Happy Birthday

2008-08-25T10:54:00.002+10:00

my beautiful Buddha Baby.

Today Rani turns 3 and I am full of emotions.

I have been out to see her this morning, so wishing instead I was seeing delight in her face as she opens her birthday presents.

I am so grateful that she held on for her first birthday but her birthday also brings tears. Remembering how miserable she was, so bloated and uncomfortable, spiking temps and just not enjoying the day and then of course the following day she was in ICU..... but also happy memories of all the nurses and staff and friends and family that came in to see her on her birthday...the signed frame that the Nurses gave Rani takes pride of place in my lounge with a picture of all of you on her special day - i still can't thank enough the Nurses on 5W for their support while Rani was in Hospital.

but it also means that in one week it will be her 2nd anniversary and that sucks!

So birthday kisses up to heaven my baby girl...mwah XXXX

Alright, alright an update...lol

2008-08-01T11:41:00.006+10:00

Well there is not really a lot to update.

I decided that I was spending way to much time on the computer so decided to step away. I haven't been on any forums, etc for months and have been enjoying my time catching up with friends and family and spending time with my growing way to fast little one Kai.

Can you believe that he is already 4 months old - it has just flown - way to quickly for my liking. So I had his 4 month check up a couple of weeks ago and he is a hefty 7.7kg - I love it when people tell me he is a big boy....it is such a complete contrast to Rani, she was only 5.5kg at 8 months old. So I am loving watching my healthy and happy boy and trying to enjoy every stage of his development as we missed so much with Rani being sick. He is a bit miserable at the moment as he is teething but doing what Josh did, the tooth pushes and pushes and gives him grief for a couple of days and then it goes back down again...but I think sometime soon it will push through so we are going through a lot of bonjella at the moment.

I have photos of him on my camera, but I am charging the battery so will upload later.

Josh and Teagan are also doing well, enjoying school..lol...we had 3 way conference this week for the parent teacher interviews, it was a bit different...basically the kiddies sat with their teacher and went through different work in their portfolios and had to tell me what they need to work on etc. and then they left and we got to talk one on one with the teacher. It was interesting and I guess it helped Josh and Teagan to see what they need work on. Both of them struggle in Maths - so we are looking at getting them a tutor to help with that - but we were pleased with their reports as they have both improved from last year. They have been doing lots of practising for the school production of High School Musical that is at the end of the month - it is mainly the Grade 6's - Josh is a bit disappointed that he didn't get a talking part but he will be on stage lots so we will be able to see him. As it is a Grade 6 production the other years just come on and do a song and leave so this year it will be great to see josh pretty much the whole time rather that for 5 minutes each.

What else...I got to catch up with my cousin and her little man - so cute and so little and light compared to my big boff...lol...although he was only 2 months old.

John went and got another tattoo...another one for Rani this time a portrait - I must admit that when he first got it done I didn't like it as I felt it didn't look like her - just little things were wrong - but as it has settled I am liking it more.

So I can't believe that it is August already - I really hate August now and September even more. How can it be in one month the 2 nd Anniversary of Rani's passing. Plus my little Angel will be turning 3 in August - how I wish she was here everyday. So I guess I will be quiet again. Whoever said 'the pain heals with time" is a liar - I feel the same pain I did 2 years ago and just hate the anniversary as it make you replay those last weeks - again asking those 'what if' questions that I have asked a million time and will never get an answer to.

Also sending the biggest hugs to Connie...

It's Finished (almost)

2008-06-29T16:29:00.016+10:00

Well yesterday was a huge day for our front and backyard (well the last week) but yesterday was the day we got plants...YAY!!!

The landscaping is almost done, there are a few little things that need to be done, but by the end of the week everything will be finished front and back yard.

So here is the front yard with plants. We are going to have seed in the front path area.

and the biggest change the backyard....the fences are finished, we have turf, garden beds, plants and our pergola...just have to paint the pergola and it is done.

and this is our water feature - a buddha for our little girl. :)

of course the puppies are loving having a big backyard to play in which isn't mud anymore.

just had to share...when I came in from taking the photos, Teagan had Kai and this is how I found him. He wouldn't even take his eyes of the computer screen to look at me...lol

The Boy! and some scrapping

2008-06-18T11:58:00.011+10:00

Well I am finding it hard to believe that Kai is already 12 weeks old, it has gone so fast and he is growing up way to quickly for my liking :(

My poor little man is teething and they are really giving him grief. He has never been a sickie kid, but he is throwing up lots of his milk and that to the drooling and I am having to change clothes often. He is not being to whingy about the teeth thankfully the bonjella seems to be giving him some relief and his dummy. He is still sleeping all night, just waking up for his dummy at about 5.30am and then going straight back to sleep.

So here are some piccies...

My cutie

a rare pic with me in it

laughing at the ceiling duct

with Grandad (on their recent visit)

with Grandma

also now that I have finally got my scrap room (almost) sorted I have been scrapping...YAY!!!

Here is a challenge for Scrapbook Dreamer - Manufacturer Challenge - everything on the page had to be by one manufacturer - I went Cosmo Cricket

A sketch challenge for The Scrapbook Establishment

and another sketch challenge for 123 Scrapbook

and finally just one for me

The Evolving Frontyard

2008-06-15T23:32:00.006+10:00

Well the front yard is coming along, slowly...of course as much as we need the rain I would like it to go away so our landscaper can finish our driveway and start on the backyard...lol...I would love to get grass out the back instead of mud, especially with 2 puppies!

But it is exciting seeing the front yard come together.

I think the last photos I shared we were ready for the concrete to be poured for the driveway

Well now the link block retaining wall has been finished and all the pavers are almost in - very hard to try and lay pavers on mortar when it is pouring rain and even more difficult to cut them in the rain...it is meant to be fine most of this week, so hopefully we will have a lot done this coming week.

So some pics!

The concrete laid for the driveway and retaining wall.

Kev the vandal...lol

The retaining wall and letterbox

The start of the pavers on the driveway

What else...

my little man is growing to fast for me, being my last bub I want him to stay a little bub forever...lol...he is already starting to teeth and he is only 12 weeks old (my earliest teether)...so that is making him miserable add to that his immunisation and he wasn't happy the last couple of day...I will do another post with pics of him.

The bigger kiddies, well they are off to camp tomorrow - a whole week away - so no school run again until I have to pick them up on Friday - it will be so peaceful and lonely here without them.

The puppies - well they are little mischief makers, but also so much fun, they are slowly learning the rules of the house and I will be happy when the backyard is finished and they can spend more time outside.

Well we have John's parents down this weekend - not the nicest weather to do anything but I think they are just enjoying spending time with the grankiddies.

House - well I think that everything that was faulty has almost been fixed, just some more touch up work to be done...although we are gathering another list for the 3 month inspection...lol...but now that things are getting done I am beginning to enjoy the house a bit more...and we have only a handful of boxes to unpack so the house is definately feeling more homie, well I have the best pressure to finish unpacking as I am having a Tupperware party next weekend and it is being held in the family room where all the boxes were so I needed to finish the boxes for the new couches to be delivered...so now I have an empty family room with new couches and no stress before the Tupperware Party...lol

i have finally found a desk for my scrapping room and have been filling all my shelves with my stuff...it has been like Christmas finding things that I forgot I had. Also the scrapping bug has finally hit (now that I have a place to scrap) and I will share my LO's in my next post.

My New Babies

2008-05-31T18:58:00.011+10:00

Look at how cute they are

My little boy Frank

and his sister our little girl Georgie

they are my beautiful British Bulldogs that I have always wanted.

For a little while John and I have been discussing getting a puppy when we move and have the fences up. John called around to a couple of breeders and we were told about one locally. We really wanted a boy - our "Frank" - he had a name before we even found him...lol

So last weekend we out to see the little boy and on the way there John told me that the breeder also had a little girl left. We had always planned on getting 2 puppies but we decided to get 2 males.

Well it was love at firt sight, the breeder got both the boy and girl out and we were sold...so we went for one dog and ended up with 2. They are so cute and so different to each other. When we first saw them they were 6 weeks old. Today we went back to give them a toy and have some cuddles and it is amazing how much they have grown in one week. They aren't allowed to come home with us until they are 8 weeks old, but next weekend we will have Frank and Georgie home with us.

So we have been making sure that the backyard is dog proof...buying food, bowls, beds, etc and can't wait for next weekend.

Here are some more pics of my cuties. :)

Frank is a cuddle monster and really laid back and mellow...but like his sister he loves to attack bottoms of pants and shoelaces!

Georgie I think we are going to have to watch a little more - she is a sneaky one, even sneaking up and charging to attack my shoes and taking the toy and hiding in the bushes...lol...

but I think they are great together and should *i hope* not get into to much mischief!

Kai Update

2008-05-28T22:46:00.007+10:00

OK, OK here is the long awaited Kai update I have been asked for from lots of people...lol

Well I can't believe that on Friday Kai will be 10 weeks old!

He is growing so fast and huge now...well not so huge he is still in OOO clothing - but is gaining weight so fast. Or maybe it is because I am not used to seeing a bub gain lots of weight...when I went for the Health Check Up a couple of weeks ago he weighed the same as what Rani did at 8 months, so i guess that is why he looks so huge to me...but he is happy and healthy and that is all I can ask for.

We are getting lots and lots of smiles and cooing...one of his favourite places to be is under his mobile on the floor, he will stare at the top toy for hours kicking his little legs, breathing so fast from excitement, laughing at the toy - it is so much fun to watch him so happy.

We have moved him to his cot and he is sleeping all night. We thought we had made the mistake of letting him sleep in our bed when we moved. It was a combination of me wanting a decent night sleep and I guess a little scared that something may happen to him in another room, so I felt safer knowing he was in my arms. We tried the first couple of nights to put him in his cot and he just screamed so gave in and let him into our bed. Then from pure exhaustion from unpacking I just continued to bring him to bed so I could sleep - as he would sleep all night in bed with me and wake up every couple of hours in the cot. Well eventually he became way to much of a bed hog...lol...I would try to move away from him and he would wriggle over until he was leaning on me again and I would be squashed between Kai and John in bed....so it was time for him to go to his own cot. I was ready for a night of getting up and down all night but I was determined he was going to learn to like his cot - I didn't have to worry he slept straight through until 5am...and now he sleeps until 7am which is perfect for getting him fed and all of us out the door for school.

Josh and Teagan are really enjoying this time as he is starting to interact with them more and they love it every time they get a smile. They are also a huge help with feeding...quite often one of them is feeding him in the morning while I get ready to take them to school and depending on whether Kai slept in, there is many times they are feeding him in the car on the way to school.

So here are some recent pics of the boy :)

Bathtime

All snuggly after his bath

My little teddy bear

looking cute in the outfit that Kirst sent him (Thanks Kirst)

Getting there!

2008-05-27T13:41:00.008+10:00

OK since my last post a lot has happened...We have had the big boss out to our house to show him all the mistakes in the house and get them fixed ASAP.

The one thing that I am happiest about is that we have normal hot water in the showers now!. It was a really stupid thing that wasn't done at hand over and took the Plumber under a minute to fix. When he tested the water before turning the knob (that was all that was needed - and that took almost 3 weeks) the water was 39 degrees...he fixed it to the 50 degrees it should have been and I had the best shower after they all left...lol

The poor plumber had to come back the next day and spend 4 hours here fixing up all the mistakes the original plumber had made.

So another week and I am stuck at home waiting for tradesmen to turn up...I am really sick of being house bound.

Although my new curtains went in today - so the house looks more homely, instead of the lovely sheets and doona covers we had on the windows.

Plus our fences are all up and the landscaping is on its way - of course now that the driveway has dried up enough for the bobcat to come back and finish cutting yesterday - of course today there is rain!

So here are some progress photos of the landscaping.

The start of the fences (and John's shed)

Fences finished

The start of the driveway

Ready to lay the concrete and then the pavers and build the retaining wall.

What a Joke!

2008-05-16T08:25:00.002+10:00

So we finally have the computers and internet up and running so I can chat again...lol

So lets go back!

The day of the big move arrives...Friday 2nd May and the day that the house is finally ours. John started his holidays the same day, so bright and early we head down to the house to meet with our Building Supervisor and do the final inspection to make sure the things that we had picked up a week before were fixed. Well our excitement quickly turned to disappointment when we walked into the house, there were tradesmen everywhere and nothing that was picked up the week before had been done.

We had no applicances in the kitchen, the sink in the kids bathroom and laundry wasn't connected, no water tank, no power for the ducted heating and air con, no gas meter and the list went on and on...Our Supervisor promised us that everything would be done by the end of the day so we went to the builders head office in good faith and paid the last of the money owing and got the keys to our house.

WELL...things just gotworse as the day went on. Now I could handle if the worst thing that happened that day was the really heavy hail storm that we got...but by the end of the day we still had no gas meter (so no hot water, gas etc) no water tank, no connections to the kids bathroom and laundry, an oven sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor because the cabinetery wasn't made correctly...basically a house that was not livable.

So our exciting day had turned to completely and utter disappointment and frustration...add to that as most of you know you can't get in contact with tradies after 3pm on a Friday afternoon we still had no answers as to why our house was not complete.

So the removalist came on Saturday and moved everything into our house...not that it felt like a house at all...we tried to unpack what we could but there were so many areas that needed fixing that it was impossible...and then had to go back and stay at Mum and Dad's house until Monday when they said everything was being finished.

Everyone that came through the house on the weekend (that were going to help unpack) were disgusted in the finish of the house - truly there were no excuses for alot of the stuff that just wasn't done and we shouldn't have been given a Certificate of Occupancy as the house was not livable.

Well thankfully by Monday afternoon we had a gas meter, a working bathroom and laundry, a water tank and a couple of other things fixed, but still had the oven on the floor...thankfully we were going out to dinner for Dad's birthday so I didn't even have to think about cooking.

So Tuesday even more tradesmen were in and out of the house, Wednesday the same, Thursday, Friday...blah, blah, blah. But it just seemed that every time we used something it didn't work properly...the sink in the laundry leaks, the faucet in the bath sprays everywhere, the grouting in the ensuite wasn't finished properly, the hot water pressure in the showers isn't set correctly so we don't even have to turn the cold water on and it takes forever to wash just shampoo out of your hair, don't get me started on Conditioner.

So today is 2 weeks since we moved in and we still have tradesmen in the house and most of the above still hasn't been fixed. So all I can say is that as much as we are trying to enjoy our new house we are not. I have been scared everytime I use something that I haven't used and rightly so. As so far everything has either leaked or not worked properly. We are so disappointed in the builders they really did a muck up on this house and this is the third house we have build and never had so many problems.

We just want everything fixed and finished, so i don't have to be home to meet with tradies that should have done their job correctly to start with...so I guess you can tell that we won't be recommending our builder to anyone EVER. I really want to enjoy this house but still two weeks on it doesn't feel like a home it still feels like a work site. The only tradies I want in the house are the ones I have asked.

So when everything IS finally finished I will take pictures of the house. We are getting the landscaping, driveway and fences done this week, so at least that is something exciting and a tradie we invited...lol

The kiddies are excited about being in the house, they all got new furniture for their rooms, a new lounge and coffee table for the rumpus so they feel very spoilt....lol

We did have a couple of muck ups with the furniture that we ordered...like the new couch for the lounge is to long...lol....but as it is a 3 seater and 2.5 seater and we needed a new lounge for the family room, we order another couch set and are going to put the two 3 seaters in the family room and the two 2.5 seaters in the lounge...problem solved...I hope...lol

Well I think I have whinged enough...and the guys are here to replace the glass int he front windows...I will be back later with an update and more pics of my growing little boy.

A Little Comparirson

2008-05-01T22:05:00.008+10:00

OK so as I have been packing up the house I have come across a whole heap of photos that i have printed and not got around to scrapping, mainly of Rani. I was amazed when looking at some of the photos you would swear that you were looking at Kai.....SO

This is the one and only comparrison between Rani and Kai as they are seperate kiddies and Kai is Kai and Rani is Rani...but I am still shocked and amazed at how similar they are.

I guess it stems from the fact that this is bub no.4 and not one of my kiddies have looked alike - Josh blonde with brown eyes, Teagan brown with blue eyes and Rani dark brown with brown eyes and then when we make the heart breaking decision to have baby number 4 after Rani I get another dark brown with dark eyes.

So these pictures were taken within the first 24 hours of having Rani and Kai and can you see why I see so much of Rani in Kai.

Rani

Kai

It really is sometimes a little difficult having them look so alike, although Kai has a different personality to Rani (already) and I see him for him, but every now and then I could swear I was looking at Rani and it brings a tear to my eye as I miss her everyday and yearn for her to be here. It is a shame that Kai will never get to meet his big sis and know just how special she truly was/is!

Slack Blogger

2008-04-30T22:16:00.003+10:00

OK so I haven't updated for a while but I have an excuse...lol

We are finally packing up and the house and getting ready to move.

Can you believe that Friday the house will be all ours and the big move happens on Saturday.

I can't believe that finally we will be living in our new house. I will miss living with Mum and Dad and I am sure that in a way they will miss us. Perhaps Mum won't miss cooking, cleaning, washing and ironing for us (well the kiddies) but I am sure she will miss spending time with her grandkiddies, especially her snuggle times with Kai.

In a way all the delays with the house have worked for us. It was much easier to come back here after having the C-section with Kai and just to know that if I needed anything Mum was more than willing to help me out. Also to know that if I needed to pop out quickly I had someone to watch Kai rather than getting him in and out of the car and with this cold weather we have been having it is way better for him to be inside with the ducted heating.

But we are very excited to be moving and a little sad to be leaving Mum and Dad's...but it will be great to have our own routine, the kiddies their own space and Mum and Dad to have their house back to them again...lol

We worked out the other day that we bought the land on March 1 2007, so over a year we have been waiting for this move. I will update with photos when we are in the house, as I have been a bad scrapper and forgot my camera everytime we have been out to the house.

So we are busily packing, buying all the things that are needed in a new house and just when I think I have got everything another 10 or so things go back on the list...lol...but I am sure there will be even more once we unpack.

So as people have been asking here are some more pics of Kai and when I got more organised I will post some more.

A bit of a photo shoot

2008-04-04T13:46:00.005+11:00

Funny now that we have a little baby in the house the other 2 kiddies don't mind having their photos taken, but before Kai was here it was a struggle to get a nice pic of them...lol

So here are some photos I took the other day.

The Run

2008-04-02T11:20:00.003+11:00

Bib	Event	Surname	First Name	Gender	Result
6729	14.14KM	Percy	Steven	M	01:06.14

Firstly a BIG THANK YOU to all the people that donated and sponsored Steven this year - we raised an amazing $1000.00.

Steven isn't overly happy with his time this year and hopes to better it next year, but he was a bit stressed before the race. There was a big muck up with phone companies changing times on mobiles for daylight saving when daylight savings hadn't finished here in Melbourne. Steven's phone was one of them and he had to do a mad dash to get to the race on time and didn't have time to prepare properly as he got there about 10 minutes late and just had to run.

Of course we all think that he did extremely well - I could never run 14km and certainly not in just over an hour!...so we are all very proud of him...add to that that he hurt his knee training a week before the race and still did the time he did personally I think that it is fantastic.

I will try later to get a photo off the RCH website and post it here.

Again THANK YOU everyone for your support.

More Photos

2008-03-30T17:32:00.010+11:00

of my boy...mainly for my sis in London and other family member that live interstate and overseas.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

2008-03-28T13:33:00.003+11:00

to my baby girl (for yesterday)

The big double digits - 10.

It was lovely having the all the kiddies home on school holidays for Teagan's birthday and for dinner (her choice) we all went up to Maccas.

I still can't beleive that my little girl is 10 years old - time is going way to fast.

Kai's Story

2008-03-22T19:13:00.002+11:00

OK so I have finally got some time by myself so I thought I would share Kai's story.

Wednesday 19th I went and saw my Ob and was told that the baby was engaged and that I could be induced on Good Friday. I wanted to be induced so bub didn't get to big!

Finally we had a date to meet our much awaited 4th child. So 7.30am John and I were at the Hospital. I was hooked up to machines and we just awaited the Ob...well he was late as he had a delivery and finally got to us at 10.30.

On external feeling of my tummy he didn't seem happy, after the internal he told me I wasn't getting induced today. Shocked I asked Why? Unusualy the bub had moved back up and was no longer engaged but I also wasn't allowed to go home. There were a lot of concerns my Ob also had..he didn't want my waters to break and not to be in the Hospital as he was concerned that the cord would come out first and sadly that does not have a good outcome for the bub. So C-section was also bought up as the safest option. After going through everything with Rani, the C-section was an easy decision to make, especially if it meant that our bub would have a safe arrival.

As we weren't a planned C-section we were scheduled in for around 3pm. I was so scared, I really didn't know what to expect...I couldn't even imagine the spinal block as I had never even had an epidural. The day dragged on and on and 3pm came and went, the Hospital was flat out. Finally at 5pm we were in the operating theatre.

All that fear...lol...the fear odf the unknown, being petrified of a needle in my back and the time had come...and it was nothing...lol...the sensation of the block was really wierd and I was amazed at how quickly it worked. My Ob came in and I really didn't think they had started, but what was only a minute or 2 he told John to grab the camera and get a shot of the bub as it was coming out of my tummy...I couldn't believe that our bub was already here, then I heard the best sound the cry...and then we got told we had a boy..our little Kai had arrived.

I couldn't see a thing and John had gone to be with Kai...it was a very strange feeling after having 3 natural births and bubs on me straight away I really wanted this bub with me. Eventually John came over and put Kai on my chest...instant love and amazement...another bub with dark hair, I couldn't get over how much he looked liked Rani.

It was over to soon, the Nurses came to take him to the Nursery to get weighed etc and John went with him. I was eventually taken to recovery, all the while hanging to see my boy again. Finally I was taken back to the room and able to cuddle my boy.

I found out all the details and was shocked to find that both Rani and Kai were the exact same weight at birth to the gram!

It was also really special to have Kai born on Good Friday, with the Good Friday Appeal on TV in the background, raising money for a Hospital that has such a special place in our hearts. i know that his big sister will watch out for him...it just would have been even more special if she was here to come to the Hospital with her brother and sister.

some more pics

2008-03-22T13:09:00.003+11:00

lots more to come when we get home in a few days

John

Its a BOY

2008-03-21T20:52:00.003+11:00

Kai Jon Millar was born today at 5.13pm via C Section. 7 pound 15 Ounces (3580 grams) 19 1/4 Inches (49 Centimetres) at Knox Private Hospital.

Kai and Mel are doing really well.

Heres a photo of our new boy (click to enlarge)

A Huge Thank You

2008-03-11T19:17:00.002+11:00

to everyone that has sponsered Steven for the RCH Run for the Kids...so far we are up to $545.00...Thank you.

It is not to late to sponsor him, as the run is not until 30th March...and every cent goes to the Royal Childrens Hospital and as you know it has a special place in our hearts and hopefully with the money raised another family won't have to go through what we have.

Steven is training hard...poor boys birthday is this Sunday but he is being good and sticking to his training as he really wants to better his time this year.

Run for Rani

If you are interested in sponsoring him again or for the first time please visit

Steven's Hero Page

This is the simpliest way to donate by clicking the Donate button.

For more information on last years run visit Run4Rani

Wedding, The House, Bub..well everything

2008-03-04T21:11:00.008+11:00

Well since my last post we have been very busy.

John has been away alot on business, so it has been me and the kiddies and well Mum and Dad...lol. Thankfully this month I have asked John not to travel as much (well at all) as well we were hoping that we would be moving around this time and with Bub due in 3 weeks I didn't want to risk him being over in Perth and not making it back...just in case.

So what else...Sally and Kevin got married on 23rd Feb...it turned out to be a beautiful day, as it had rained for a couple of days before. Sal looked absolutely stunning as did everyone. It was a bit sad as I was meant to be one of the bridesmaids, but pulled out when I found out I was pregnant and due a month after the wedding. Still I had a fantastic time, the Wedding and Reception was held at a beautiful place and the night we fun. Being the designated driver it was a fun drive home with varying degrees of drunks in the car...lol...John being the worst...lol

The Bride and Groom

Here is a pick of Sal and I.

The House...what can I say - I am so over it and the muck ups and delays. I really don't even like going out to see it at the moment, as nothing seems to be happening. We get told a time line and then someone doesn't turn up or finish what they are meant to and this puts everyone back. So we still have no set move in date. We were really hoping to be moved into beofore bub arrived, but it looks like I will be bringing it back here and moving sometime after that...grrr

BUB - well I have 3 weeks to go..I can't believe it, well less if I can help it...lol. I am having an Ultrasound tomorrow to check size, position etc, as I really don't want to have to go through a Teagan birth again and then next Wednesday I see my Ob and he decides if I can be induced a little early. I am very excited about meeting this little one, but also scared stiff. I know that the chances of what happened to Rani happening again are very slim, but I am still scared about everything else that can go wrong. I really hope that I don't become to over-protective with this one, that I am just able to enjoy having another little bub. I am sure once I see this baby I will just melt, but it is going to be very hard and very emotional not having Rani with us to enjoy her new little brother or sister.

Oh yeah!

I actually scrapped, I am in shock that it is the first pages that I have done all year...naughty, naughty.

I did 3 pages that were all for Bon's CC and then to my shock when I was on the forum today I saw that my LO 'Hanging Out' won for Fran's Sketch Challenge. What a thrill and boost to keep me scrapping.

Bon's Challenge

Fran's Challenge

Sheree's Challenge

The Zoo, School and a Hen's Weekend

2008-02-11T19:56:00.000+11:00

Well it has been a long time since posts....as some people have told me...lol

I want to say a huge Thank You to those people that have donated for the RCH Fun Run, it is truly appreciated...THANK YOU. If you are interested in donating, visit the post under this one. :)

OK where to catch up from.

On Australia Day, we decided to go to the Zoo for the kiddies last big activity before they went back to School...and it seemed so did lots of other families, there was a huge line up just to get into the Zoo. We had a fantastic day....saw all the animals, had lunch in the Restaurant and enjoyed seeing how much is has changed in the last almost 2 years since we had been.

Then on Wednesday it was the first day back to School. I think the kids were excited to see their friends, but also missing sleeping in...lol...I am still in shock that my little baby boy will be in High School next year, that this is his final year at his school. He was very excited to get his 2008 Year 6 Jacket with the name of all the kids in Grade 6 at his School.

Last weekend a group of girlfriends went away for Sally's Hen's Weekend.

I got picked up on Friday arvo and we headed down to Rye, to a house that had been rented for the weekend...the house was lovely. There were 9 of us staying at the house...I got one of the bottom bunks (close to the toilet...lol). Friday night we had a BBQ dinner and the others had some drinks...Saturday we went to the Portsea Hotel for lunch and ended up staying for about 6 hours...plenty of laughs, so funny presents and plenty of drinks (no Sal I won't put up the pics...lol), then we headed back to the House for more drinks (well everyone else) games, dancing and more laughs. Sunday morning we had bacon and eggs for breakfast, a quick clean up and then it was time to come home back to the kiddies. It was a fantastic weekend...so much fun, so thanks girls for a fun filled weekend.

Baby front, I will be 34 weeks tomorrow - so still 6 weeks to go, but I am feeling huge...when I tell people that I have 6 weeks to go they look shocked...lol...so maybe this little one will come early.

Here is a pic of Sal and I at the Portsea Hotel.

House front...well not a lot is happening...I took Mum and Dad out there today and no one was there...we do have walls up and fingers crossed by the end of the week we will have a kitchen and bathrooms, but at this rate I think the bub will be here before the house is finished. The Supervisor has said mid-March so I will wait and see, but personally I think it will be later. :(

Run for Rani

2008-01-27T21:52:00.000+11:00

Well it has come around again and once again my brother Steven has signed up for the Run for the Kids Royal Children's Hospital 14.14km Fun Run to raise money for the Hospital in honour of our beautiful angel Rani.

If you are interested in sponsoring him again or for the first time please visit

Steven's Hero Page

This is the simpliest way to donate by clicking the Donate button on the bottom right of the page.

We are hoping to reach similar amount to what we raised last year...so thanks in advance.

For more information on last years run visit Run4Rani

A Bit of Fun!!!

2008-01-22T15:32:00.000+11:00

Ok I will admit that I got this from Bon's Blog...lol

But it is a bit of fun.

Either click here

or on the side menu bar and
you can guess, what the bub will be, when it will be born and how much it will weigh.

So what are you waiting for, click away and see who is the closest....or if anyone is spot on...I will RAK the closest guess.

Looking More like a House

2008-01-17T19:45:00.001+11:00

Well work has started back on the house this week, after the Christmas break and there is lots going on.

The brickies are working at a great pace and they should be finished by the end of next week.

Inside the electrician has been in and wired for all the power points and lights. Also all the ducts have been put in for the heating/cooling and hopefully by the end of the month all the plasterboard will be up.

So here are some pics of the house with the bricks so far.

Needles, Needles, Needles

2008-01-16T21:40:00.000+11:00

This bub is certainly making sure that it is well and truly my last bub...lol

Last week I had an OB appointment and also my Glucose Test and my first physio appointment...the poor kiddies had to come with me, they were pretty good considering we were at the Ob's office for over 2 hours.

Thankfully Pathology and the Physio are all in the same building.

So I drank the horrible drink - the timer was set for an hour - saw my Ob...everything is fine with Bub...waited the rest of the time for my blood test (which I still have a huge bruise from) and then went to see the Physio for my unstable pelvis...got some exercises to do and she was ordering a brace for me.

Thinking all would be fine...same as the last 3 times I have done the test, I was suprised when my mobile rang the following night at 9pm to have my Ob on the other end telling me that my sugar had come back high and I needed to do the longer Gestational Diabetes test...Yay NOT!!!

So exactly a week since my last test I was back at the Ob's to see Pathology for the 2 hour test...thankfully this time the kiddies were going to the Movies with Mum. As I had to fast I was there at 8.45am...1st needle to see what my sugar levels are before the drink...then again drink the horrible drink and sit and wait for an hour...second needle after an hour, then back to the waiting room to sit for another hour and finally 2 hours after the drink my final needle for the day.

So all up 3 needles today, thnakfully I am not needles phobic...lol...so I have to see my GP as my Ob is away for the results and will find out on Monday - I am really hoping that it comes back fine and that I don't have GD.

At least while I was waiting the Physio got my brace delivered and I was able to get the fitted, so hopefully that will help with some of the pain.

Phantom of the Opera

2008-01-15T18:28:00.000+11:00

Finally on Sunday we all went and saw Phantom of the Opera.

Mum and Dad bought John a ticket for his birthday way back in September and we bought tickets for the kiddies and I.

Teagan was so excited, doing a countdown every morning for about a fortnight, even watching the DVD the day before we went.

Josh we were a bit unsure as to how he would go...but they both loved it and were fabulous the whole performance...this was the first time they had been to the theatre. Josh couldn't wait for it to start again after intermission. Although the seats really aren't made for kiddies, even with cushions the kids struggled to see over everyones head, even I did.

I personally thought the original one ( the one I saw over 10 years ago) was better, but still this was great. John and the kids thought it was brilliant and that was the most important thing, that they enjoyed it and we had a great day together.

It was a lovely family day out, finishing with us all going out to dinner.

The Trip, Josh's Birthday and Christmas

2008-01-11T13:54:00.000+11:00

OK to finally catch up...lol

So on Saturday 22nd December at 4am we started our trip to QLD...yes 4am, John likes leaving early....lol

It was raining in Melb but had cleared by the time we were out of the city. Most of us, except poor John had a sleep and we stopped at around 7am for some breakfast, toilet stop etc and headed on. Once we hit NSW it got dark and then the rain started, they had obviously had lots of rain as we were driving through lots of flooded sections on the road. About an hour before we hit Dubbo, where we were staying the night, the rain was coming down so hard you could hardly see the road. Dubbo was flooded and even when we got to our Hotel we had to run through about 15cm of flooded rain to get into our room. We arrived in Dubbo at around 2pm and John had a much needed sleep and we ordered pizza and were all zonked by 9pm...lol

Sunday another 4am start and all the floods had disappeared out of Dubbo over night...we still were going through different sections of the road that were flooded. Again we stopped for Macca's for breakfast at about 7am, and hit QLD before lunch. We were again about an hour from Springwood (where we were staying) and the skies opened up again...lol...the kiddies were a bit disappointed as we had promised them they could swim in the pool in Dubbo and couldn't and now with the rain it looked like they wouldn't be able to go for a swim in Springwood. We arrived in Springwood around 1pm and unpacked the car. Again John had a sleep and later in the afternoon the rain was just spitting so we let the kiddies go for a swim as the pool was just outside our back door of our room.

Later that night we suprised John's family by dropping in to say Hello, they thought we were coming over the following day.

Monday 24th December
My baby boys Birthday - I can't believe that my little boy is 11
Today we headed off to one of John's Aunt's houses for lunch and a swim. Thankfully there was no rain to be seen. Josh was in heaven and spent all day in the pool, the only time he was out was to have some lunch and wait the time until he could swim again and to have Happy Birthday sung to him...lol...Teagan loved swimming as well, but she also was having a ball playing with Cousins, some of whom she had met for the first time.

So here is Josh with the first of his birthday cakes for the day. Look at the amount of candles, it looks way more than 11...lol

Later that night we went to Macca's for dinner (it is a family tradition so we stuck to it in QLD)..didn't see much of the kiddies as they spent most of the time out on the playground. John's Mum made a cake for Joshua and again we sang Happy Birthday to him...then before you knew it everyone was heading home and his birthday was over for another year...and of course he had been spoilt yet again.

Tuesday 25th December
Christmas Day

We had to be up early (well early for us...lol) this morning. The kiddies were suprised to see that Santa had bought them a couple of little presents to QLD, as we told them that he would be leaving everything for them at home...then it was time to get ready and head to John's parents house as they have a pancake breakfast. I had never done this, as this was the first family Christmas we have spent with all of John's family. So there was heaps of pancakes, salad, muffins, bacon, eggs and we were all full just from breakfast. Then finally it was time to open the presents, the thing that all the kiddies were waiting for.

Grandad did the honours and handed the presents out from under the tree and again everyone was spoilt...lol

Then after all the presents had been unwrapped we did a quick clean up and it was time for family photos.

First one all the Millar kids with their partners and their kiddies. One of John's brothers was unable to make it for Christmas, as they live in Hawaii and his wife is due to have a bub in January, so they weren't allowed to fly over.

Then they did the family photos oldest to youngest.

So our family first.

OK so everyone had a photo with John's parents and Grandma...If you want copies email me...lol..way to many photos to put up.

Next is Brent and his family.

Then Karen and her kiddies

Then Paul and his family

Then Nichole and her family

and finally Grant all on his lonsome...lol

and one of John's Parents

Then closer to lunch time some more of John's relo's arrived. Some I knew and some I had never met before. It was great to see everyone again...the problem living all over the place and to meet nieces, nephews and even Husbands for the first time. The lovely thing was that even though the kiddies hadn't met some of the cousins before it was great that they instantly got along and played so well together.

So a couple more photos.
This one is John's cousin Al...you might remember the posts I did about him being on Australia's got talent.

and Johns Uncle Graham and Giselle

So we all had some lunch, then all sat back as the kids played and the adults caught up and before you knew it Christmas was over.

We managed to squeeze in a quick visit to John's best friends Dave and see his family and then it was time to drive back home again...so again another 4am start.

I was nice to be finally home...although we left in rain in QLD and came home to 33 degree heat in Melbourne and it hasn't really cooled down.

The kiddies were excited to see that Santa had remember them and left presents at home for them...and finally that was the end of Christmas for another year

I will admit that I struggled a bit on Christmas Day with all the little kiddies getting their presents, it was gut wrenching knowing that my baby girl should have been there enjoying the day as well and had a bit of a break down in the Hotel that night. I still feel so robbed and Rani should have been there enjoying Christmas with the rest of her family...I don't think this is a pain that any of us will get over.

Mum's Birthday / Early Christmas and Josh's Birthday

2008-01-08T21:09:00.000+11:00

OK still behind...lol

So on 19th December on Mum's Birthday (Happy Birthday Mum) we had a family Christmas / Birthday.

Mum set up the table with the Christmas decorations, had the full traditional Christmas lunch for dinner (minus the turkey) and opened our presents early.

As it was Mum's actual birthday she got her present first - all us kiddies got her a set of golf clubs and caddy.

Then it was finally Josh's turn to get his birthday presents from my family. Of course again he was spoilt. We also gave him his presents from us as they were to big to take to QLD and back. Just some of his presents

Then came the Christmas presents and again both the kiddies were spoilt, including some lovely clothes from my sister in London. We do a KK between the adults and I got a beautiful painting for the new house and John got the usual...lol...Rum and a book on Poker! Of course we also got spoilt from Mum and Dad - they bought us a new pot (which we asked for) then as suprise gifts I got a beautiful huge vase in Red and also the cutest set of 3 little wooden Chinese Dolls (all for the new house - so can't wait to move!)

Then came time for the shared birthday cake (my sister made it) and then Christmas was over...well the first Christmas...lol

Going Backwards

2008-01-02T23:28:00.000+11:00

OK I am so far behind in blogging that I am just going to do little bits...it has been so hot here in Melb, a complete change to the rain and storms on the way up to, in and home from QLD....lol

So this is one that John asked me to put on the blog ages ago...lol...can I blame it on babybrain!!!!

Photos of John after a hot lap with Mark Winterbottom at the V8 Supercars held recently at Phillip Island looking oh so shell shocked !!!!!

Next installement will be our early Christmas / Josh's Birthday / Mum's Birthday before we left for QLD....

Home, Home, Home

2007-12-28T16:42:00.000+11:00

Just a quick post to let you know that we are home from our whirlwind trip to QLD and absolutely exhausted...2 days of 10 hour drives take it out of you and my hips are feeling it today....lol

Funnily enough we come home to Melbourne and have beautiful sunny weather, but while in QLD it rained almost everyday.

We had a great time catching up with John's side of the family and after a day of sleep...lol (back in my own bed) I will update with piccies and all the fun.

Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas.

House Update

2007-12-16T16:54:00.000+11:00

I know I have been slack and I have been meaning to update house details for those who have asked.

I have been even slacker and forgetting to take my Camera when we go out to the block.

So here are some photos from this afternoon. Not the best photos but you can make out some of the house.
Unfortunately the brickies won't be starting until the new year...but at least we have a frame and roof tiles...

Back later with a proper update.

Busy, busy, busy

2007-12-10T10:56:00.000+11:00

I need more hours in the day...lol

I can't believe that in less than 2 weeks we will be in QLD...time is going way to fast and I still have a million things to get organised.

On Saturday my Cousin got married...it was a beautiful day, perfect weather, beautiful location...in Mt Eliza in a venue overlooking the beach...the ceremony was on the decking overlooking the water. My cousin looked absolutely stunning...it was a perfect day / night.

Then yesterday John took the kids up to Ocean Grove for the Adventure Race that some of his work mates were in...2 hours driving and it was raining up there...lol...so they only stayed about an hour and came home. :(

Next Saturday night we have Johns work Christmas Party, then as we will be in QLD for Christmas we are having an early Christmas with my family on the 19th - so have to have all pressies bought by then....lol

The house is moving along...and what a bad scrapper I am I keep forgetting to take my camera out when we visit the house. On the weekend we were up to frame stage and today the roof tilers are meant to be starting and Wednesday the brickies. So fingers crossed the house will be at lock up before the Christmas break. It is just so nice to see things happening and now I can't wait to finally be able to move in. Of course now everywhere I go I see things that I want to buy for the house, but I have been good and only bought one thing...well it is my Christmas present...but I can't wait.

Well I am sure there is a lot more that I was going to say...but with baby brain and frazzled Christmas brain I am not remembering a lot.

Well on the bub front I am 25 weeks (tomorrow) and doing fine...looking huge but still enjoying the pregnancy...except for the hot days, I don't like them.

I will share a pic of John and I at the wedding...I think I look enormous...lol

Birthday Weekend

2007-11-25T13:12:00.000+11:00

Well it was my birthday on Friday and I was a bit sad. As I walked upstairs to make the kiddies their lunch expecting to hear "Happy Birthday" instead they had both forgot. I guess my over emotional pregnant body got to me and it had me in tears - Mum came out and said "Happy Birthday" which stimulated the kiddies memory and I got big hugs and kisses.

Mum gave me some money and also a fantastic red sqaure plate and candles that will look stunning on our new dining table. When John came home he got the kids to give me an anklet that I had picked out. Also he had delivered 12 long stem roses (6 white and 6 red) as he got the earful for not reminding the kids....lol...then the biggest suprise, he handed me a ring box and he had sneakily got my engagement ring reset...as it was to thin and low against my wedding band and was bending...again I was in tears...lol

Then we went out to see the block as John hadn't seen it as he was away all week and had some KFC for dinner and cake with Mum and Dad.

It is so nice to finally have things happening on the land and by Wednesday we will have the slab and then the following Monday they are putting up the frame and if all goes to plan the house should be bricked up before they go on their Chrsitmas break. So if all this happens we should be in the house early March, giving me enough time to get settled before bub arrives.

Last night we had a kiddie free night and went and stayed at the Crowne Plaza. Walked around the city and popped into the Mind Body and Spirit Festival. Later we had a lovely dinner at the Casino and then an Ice Cream for dessert and looked around at the shops and the Christmas decorations in the Casino before heading back to the room.

Then this morning on the way home we stopped off at Ikea for me to drool over all the furniture I want for my scrapping room and the rest off the house before coming home to an empty house.

So although my birthday started off a little sad it ended great. :)

EXCITED!!!!

2007-11-19T10:10:00.000+11:00

Our house is finally being started today...WOOHOO!!!!

Here are some photos...mainly for John as he is away on business and missing it all :(

Got to love Melbourne weather...boiling the last 2 days and pouring rain all day today...lol

Busy, busy, busy

2007-11-12T10:51:00.000+11:00

Lets see I have done heaps since my last post...lol

I am trying to get everything organised for Christmas early, as I really am not looking forward to fighting with other shoppers with my belly...lol

So lets see,

we have booked our accomodation for QLD (just have to book accom for the way home)
I have bought all the Chrissy presents for my nieces and nephews
booked a night away for my birthday
bought my birthday present
put a pram on lay-by for bubba
almost got the kiddies organised for Christmas and birthday presents
and the list goes on...lol

Also it was great having the lovely long weekend for Cup Day, the kiddies had Monday off school, so it was a lovely relaxing time. It was also fantastic to catch up with my 2 best friends as well.

The kiddies had their twilight sports on Friday and the weather was beautiful for it. I will have to upload some photos later.

Oh yeah and somewhere inbetween all that John started another new job!

On the house front, hopefully it will start next week. On Wednesday the team for our house will be organising everything, so fingers crossed Monday they will start cutting the block. We just want it finished and to move...i really am not looking forward to moving while 8 months + pregnant, thankfully most of our stuff is still in boxes and stored away...but there is still the unpacking ....one day!

and inbetween that I have found some time to scrap
...here are some LO's that I did for Bons CC last week.

20 week Ultrasound

2007-11-02T16:58:00.000+11:00

I had my 20 week ultrasound today and am happy to report that everything is "normal". So happy doesn't even cover it...didn't get tired of hearing the word normal as the lady who was doing the ultrasound checked everything out.

I of course asked the strange question - can you see the gall bladder? and kind of explained why and she found it for us. One more little bit of relief for us, as one of the signs of BA is no gall bladder...so breathing a little easier now.

Well our little bub was certainly being a little wiggle worm and very unco-operative for the poor lady trying to check everything.

Once she had checked everything then she did some 3D pics. They are absolutely amazing. I have some of them at the end of the post. I had never seen them before - I am still amazed when I look at the pics.

And before you ask...NO we didn't find out what it is...as I said unco-operative and even if we wanted to he/she wasn't sharing...lol

OK first a pic of my belly at 19 weeks.

Now a profile of bub

My little thumb sucker

Playing peek - a - boo...lol

and a almost full body shot...

YA-bloody-HOO

2007-10-23T10:25:00.000+10:00

Finally....

We got an email yesterday from our builders and FINALLY our garden plans have been approved....Unfortunately where we are building they have strict garden plan rules and the plans have to be approved before a building permit will be issued. So we paid someone to do our plans...anyway 3 times they got knocked back - mostly for really petty things - BUT finally it has been rubber stamped.

So now we can finally start building...only 2 months later than we planned - I am just really hoping that the house will be finished before bub is here.

Back to School!!!!

2007-10-09T19:42:00.000+10:00

Well Josh and Teagan headed back to School on Monday, neither of them that excited. I think they liked the staying up late and sleeping in. Back to routine, early to bed and early to rise again.

Well what have we been up to.

Well on Saturday I went to Scrap 'n Chat, it was lovely to catch up with the girls from Bon's. I only did one page, to much talking...lol

Sunday we went for a walk around our Estate, looking at all the houses that are going up and hoping that at the end of the month ours will be starting. I also was grabbing a dose of Vitamin D, as my blood tests showed that I was low in both Vitamin D and Iron, so have been put back on Meds to bring these up. It has me a bit stressed out as I had the same problems while I was pregnant with Rani, and even though deep down I know that it is unlikely, I can't help thinking that it could happen again.

I have booked in for my 20 week scan in November, so looking forward to seeing bub again.

Well not a lot else has been happening, or that my baby brain can think of. I have finally joined Facebook after a number of invites. Still trying to work it out, but if you are on it say HI!

Happy Email :)

2007-10-02T19:45:00.000+10:00

Well today I had a happy email awaiting me when I got up.

I won the "that's My Man" comp at 123 Scrapbook....so money to spend...YAY!! - The LO is a couple of posts down.

Well I had a lovely quiet day today, Mum took the kiddies to the movies and I had 4 hours home by myself. I was going to go shopping, but instead had a nana nap and enjoyed the peace....lol

Tomorrow we are off to my Cousins for lunch and she has 2 littlies so the kiddies have someone to play with.

Well I will leave you with a LO that I did recently for Scrapbooking Top 50 Monthly Comp - It was hard, everythng had to be by the one manufacturer.

Thanks for popping by I really appreciate it and the people that leave comments, they make my day. :)

New Week, New Month

2007-10-01T09:37:00.000+10:00

It is the final week of the School Holidays here and finally the sun has come out, although we needed the rain.

Josh and Teagan have more on this week than they did the first week. Today Mum and Dad are taking them out, then tomorrow they are off to the movies and Wednesday we are going to lunch at my Cousins. So hopefully that ends the 'I'm bored, theres nothing to do' comments....lol

Well finally we had some movement on our block...so far it has been one muck up after another and our house keeps getting delayed....fingers crossed our garden plans will be approved by Council this week (they have been knocked back twice) as that is all we are waiting on for the builders to start...grrr. Yesterday we dragged the kids out to the display home so I could physically see walls etc, as I was having some concerns about furniture location...lol...it really did help and then we popped by the block to see what the other houses we up to. We were shocked to see that we have a tap all plumbed in at the front of the block. We can't wait to see everything else start.
I am sure from where ever you live you will here me cheering with joy when we get the phone call that everything is approved and building is starting....lol

Last Day

2007-09-28T22:24:00.000+10:00

of September and I am not sad to see this month end.

September used to be a happy month, Father's Day and John's birthday and now it is the worst month of the year.

Not just because we lost Rani in September but September 2005 was when our nightmare roller coaster started. It was the first time I ever heard the words 'Biliary Atresia' and believe me I wish I had never heard them. It was the begining of endless blood tests, poking, probing of our little tiny baby. It was when we were referred to RCH for 8 hours of testing on our now almost 1 month old baby. It was also the month that Biliary Atresia was confirmed and we were told about the biopsy, Kasai and one day down the track a liver transplant.

October isn't much better as that is when Rani first stayed in the Hospital first 10 Oct 2005 for 4 days for her Liver Biopsy then 18th October for 10 days for the Kasai.

But September is just horrible as it was the beginning and end of the nightmare that we lived for a year.

More Scrapping

2007-09-26T17:06:00.000+10:00

Well perhaps being pregnant has given me back the scrapping bug, but I have scrapped more in the last couple of days than for months.

Well we are halfway through the first week of the school holidays and the weather looks like it is turning...grrr...it has been dark and gloomy all day with little bits of rain on and off, makes it hard to send the kids out to play. So today we went for a drive to see what was happening in our estate and then to a couple of furniture stores to have a look for a new bedroom set for Josh and a lounge suite for the new lounge...the only way I can get Josh to look is by looking for him as well....lol

Well here are 2 Lo's that I have done.

This one is for a Challenge at Bon's - New Daddies
I searched and searched and finally found this photo of John and Josh a couple of hours after he was born - there were no digital cameras back then..lol...I can't believe that the photo is nearly 11 years old.

This one is for a Challenge at 123 Scrapbooks - That's My Man
A rare photo of John and I

Sharing

2007-09-24T20:29:00.000+10:00

Well it has been a while since I have shared some LO's...it feels like ages since I last scrapped, so here are a couple of LO's that I have done using some old packs I found and also my M I have altered only have the other 6 letters of my name to go....lol

TFL

Me and Teagan, self portrait, got to love the double chin action....lol

Teagan - she didn't want her photo taken, but it is one of my favourite shots of her

The first of many QLD LO's....they are actually upside in the photo, but Dreamworld printed it up the right way

and finally my letter M

A Lovely Night

2007-09-23T14:24:00.000+10:00

Firstly thank you for all the lovely comments and emails we have got about this pregnancy, they have all been lovely. Also thanks to Teagan's teacher and Miss K who bought me a beautiful bunch of flowers for Teagan to bring home from School on Friday when they found out I was pregnant...I was truly shocked and touched by your thought.

We decided not to tell the kids until I had had my 12 week scan, as we told them early with Rani and they couldn't keep their mouths shut....lol...it was very cute...I was sitting next to John and called the kids in and showed them the Ultrasound images and asked them what they thought it was. Both of them chimed "rani" as that was the last images they saw...I said 'no' and winked at Josh and saw that he had worked it out and he ran to John giving him a big hug with tears of joy strolling down his face, it took Teagan a little longer and then the penny dropped. With big eyes she looked and my tummy and said 'is that in you'. They were both so excited touching my belly, talking to my belly and the funny thing that after all the dramas we have been through with Rani I asked them both what they wanted and they said they didn't care as long as this one didn't have to go to the Hospital....

OK on to our night. Well as it was John's big 4-0 birthday last week I decided to splurge on his birthday present and booked us a night in the Crown Promenade last night - the plan was we could spend some time together, get some dinner and I would go to the room and sleep (10.30 is my bed time now...lol) and John could go to the Casino and play Poker, as he loves it.

So we checked into our room at about 2.30, went for a walk around the Casino and Southbank, window shopping and trying to find somewhere to have dinner. Came back to the room and decided to have dinner in the Hotels Restaurant - YUMMY!!! - then went back to the Casino and had a New Zealand Ice Cream for dessert - a yummy ice cream cone...I was full and tired, so John walked me back to the room, got his stuff ready for Poker and headed off.

I took some pics of our room and our view - although we were only on the 7th floor, wish we were higher, but my camera battery has gone flat so will add photos later.

View from the room....and our room

Josh and Teagan love it when we go away for the night, as Nana and Grandpa take them up to Maccas and they eat in and play on the equipment and of course Nana always has lollies....lol

What a Suprise!

2007-09-19T21:38:00.000+10:00

Let me give you the short story...

John and I made the hard decision to try for the 4th child I had discussed while Rani was in Hospital (when we thought it was a short stay and that she would be coming home soon!). As it took so long to fall in pregnant with Rani (5 years) we knew that I probably had a problem. I went back to my Gyno/Ob and told him that we wanted to try again and he thought I had PCO - which was confirmed via ultrasound.

I was to be monitored every month with a blood test to see if I ovulated...5 months - 5 fails (no ovulation = no chance to get pregnant) which was becoming very depressing...so IVF was mentioned as the best way for us to have another baby. Both John and I had decided that we weren't going to go down the IVF road, as we already have 2 beautiful children.

So after leaving my Gyno with the disappointing news of another fail I had told him that I was going to take the next month of monitoring etc as we were going to QLD and I wanted to enjoy myself and not stress about dates ect.

Well don't ask me why sucker for punishment or womans intuition I bought a pregnancy test while I was shopping at Coles. I left it until the afternoon and thought what the hell....I have done many of these and was used to seeing one line. So you can imagine my shock and disbelief when there was 2 lines staring back at me.... I was in shock, thought maybe I was making more out of it so took a pic on my mobile and SMS'ed it to John, he saw the 2 lines as well....lol

I rang my Gyno/Ob straight away (shaking the whole time)...the receptionist told me to go to my GP and get confirmation and a new referal...I was suprised when later that night my OB called me to say Congrats.

So there you go...we left for QLD the next day with a baby on board....lol

It has been a pretty uneventful pregnancy - no morning sickness..I'm really not feeling pregnant at all - which annoys my friends that are pregnant and suffering...lol

So I am 13 weeks pregnant and bub is due 25th March 2008....we are cautiously excited about this pregnancy and very scared at the same time with all the things that can go wrong...so we are just hoping for a happy and healthy baby in March. The only sad part is that I had to pull out of my Best Friends wedding as I will be eight months pregnant...but she was over the moon for us when we told her.

So here is a pic of our bub from our Ultrasound today

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

2007-09-16T10:20:00.000+10:00

to my Sweet Husband who turns 40 today.

Last night we went out to the Coach and Horse for dinner with about 40 friends, it was a lovely night, they have a huge play ground so no one saw the kids except for dinner and when it was time to go home. The night went way to fast and it was difficult to try and catch up with everyone as we were spread n 3 tables, but I hope everyone had a good night. I know that we did.

So today is a nice relaxing day, with a cake tonight.

Thank You

2007-09-05T16:31:00.000+10:00

for your lovely comments, emails, SMS's and pink candles that we saw on Blogs in memory of our little angel, it really is appreciated.

Well Saturday was quite a busy day, we wanted to keep a normal as possible routine for the kids - so the went to WuShoo - karate - in the morning, then we went out to see Rani and then they had a birthday party to go to.

On Saturday night my whole family all went to the Coach and Horse for dinner. It is great as we can sit and chat and there is a huge playground so the kids can play and not be bored. We had a few drinks for Rani and a lovely dinner and check out Josh and Teagan - they had free face painting in the playground.

Fathers Day was a pretty quiet day, kind of highlights that we don't have one of our children to give Daddy a kiss. Josh and Teagan came down and gave John their presents and then we went upstairs and gave Dad his present, went for a drive, did a bit of shopping and the day was over.

Tuesday was Mark's Funeral - John went by himself as it was late in the afternoon and I couldn't get back in time to get the kids. :(

Then that night everyone came to Mum and Dad's for a BBQ (kind of late Fathers Day) as some people had to work. Heaps of food we were so full, lots of laughs and just general chit chat.

Here is Dad with Josh and Teagan (can you tell that my dad hates having his photo taken...lol) cooking the BBQ with his BBQ apron that my brother got him for Fathers Day.

Today

2007-09-01T09:21:00.000+10:00

a year ago was the beginning of the worst day of our life...an end to the worst week of our lives.

I am still in shock that it has been a year since Rani passed away, it doesn't feel that long, maybe because today the pain feels the same as it did when she left us forever.

I still have so much anger over the whole situation and still believe that the system for liver donation (well organ donation) needs to be looked into...for the only time that Rani was able to get a liver nationwide was when she was in ICU and the catch to that situation she was way to sick to get one. In my opinion if you are too sick to go home (especially like Rani who spent 5 months in Hospital waiting for a liver) you should be nation wide. Perhaps then I would be typing something happy, like it has been a year since Rani got her new liver and is doing fantastic...how I wish.

Thank you everyone for your emails, SMS's, coments here and cards they truly are appreciated.

It is today (well most days) that we try and remember the good times that we had with Rani. We want to thank friends and family for their support through this all and also the staff at The Royal Childrens Hospital especially the Nurses on 5W who became like our family and will always have a special place in our hearts, as will Rani's dedicated team from the Gastro Dept.

Edited: Sadly our friend Mark lost his 13 month battle with cancer this morning. Our thoughts are with his family. He will be missed.

Happy

2007-08-25T09:24:00.000+10:00

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY

My Sweet Precious Angel Rani

Not a day goes by that we do not wish that you were home with us, or that you are not in our thoughts.

Miss You, Love You

My sister arrives

2007-08-23T13:17:00.000+10:00

TOMORROW

I am excited about seeing her again.

Also I am pleased that the wedding that she is coming for allows her to be her for Rani's Birthday and Anniversary as I am sure it will help her with a little more closure, as I know how helpless she felt being in London when Rani passed.

So bring on tomorrow night :)