Love, bubs and life on our little farm

Its been a nice quiet week - a lovely weekend hanging out with Jase, some shopping etc. We are having some issues with Elka not wanting to be held by anyone but me. This was most noticeable when I tried to leave her with Jase while I wwas out with the farrier. I could her screaming her head off and poor Jase had to bring her back to me as she had tears rolling down her face :( I expressed and Jase gave her a bottle which she wasn't hugely keen on but she did take it. I am hoping we can get her to improve as I have agreed to go on a work trip on the 1st of October. Poor mum will be looking after her!

In awesome work news - turns I am eligible for the extended maternity leave that was brouight in just after I started my leave. I am so happy as it means another 4 weeks of leave at half pay for me - yay! So I will be going back 2 days a week at the end of Feb rather than Jan now :)

Have been working on Spech a lot this week - he is looking beautiful. At least he will look nice even if he is being a turd in the arena ;) Otherwise we had a gorgeous dinner out with the two couples we made friends with from our antenatal class - it was great to have some "adult time". We all did a great job of ignoring the three crying babies - hehe talk about surround sound crying, so that we could eat a lovely dinner :)

Tonight we are heading to the lovely surf club at Currumbin for a farewell dinner for my Candadian family. The club is basically out in the ocean and looks back up the Gold coast so the lights of the skyscrapers are beautiful. Should be a nice impression for the visitors! Then a busy weekend, setting up for the dressage comp and riding in it on Sunday - yay!

Yep almost 4 weeks since I got back on the horse and what a difference it has made! I am talking about the horse more than me ;)

Well his changes are more obvious then mine anyway! I cant believe how in such a short amount of time Spech has gone from really hairy dull coat, fat grass belly and no muscle to a shiny coat that has that gleam (advantages of being a stay at home mum who can groom most days!) and he has the definite beginnings of his dressage muscles through his neck and back and the tummy has streamlined. I so wish I had done a "before" photo!

I am feeling fitter on the horse - can actually half halt now! It was pretty impossible when I first started and didnt have any core or thigh muscles! My arms are startign to show bicep tone too - hurrah! Now I just need the stomach to go flat again - the muscle definition is back but there is a definite sticking out bit :( I live in hope that it will go back to flat but who knows!

The dressage isn't too crash hot yet. Spech is still really stiff to the right - I am trying leg yielding, shoulder in's and tight circles to improve that... But hey bring on our first comp next week!

Elka continues to grow and change - she is sitting up by herself for a few seconds now! She is doing little pushy up movements in her tummy time now. We spent the day out shopping at Harbour Town with the family yesterday and she was brilliant - she stuck to her routine despite all the disruption :)

In big news - I will be leaving her for a full day trip to Canberra in September for work :( I am excited about the work trip - its fascinating stuff but gosh it will be from early early morning till late night that I will be away from Elka. Still it has to be done at some point! I swear I am probably the only mad person who does work trips whilst on maternity leave!

Elka's first trip to the beach and first hat!


Breastfeeding on the beach - soooo much baby stuff surrounding me!


A sunset walk


View from our main balcony


The resort, our apartments visible across the lagoon

Oh it was so nice to get away and relax on the Sunshine coast! The resort was so nice and I was blown away at just how gorgeous and deluxe the apartments were! We felt very spoilt. More importantly it was really special to spend the time with my family from Canada. It was so nice having Elka there - I am glad the timing was so good - I would have been sad for her to have missed out if they had come when I was pregnant instead.

We ate way too much, had a gorgeous dinner out, went for long walks, soaked up the sun, sailed and canoed, swum (too cold for me though! and lazed about reading magazines and watching the Olympics. Bliss!

Elka was fantastic - she just went with the flow and missed a lot of sleep during the day but slept when she got the chance. I was impressed that she managed to sleep in her pram through a very rowdy dinner at a noisy restaurant. We left her with my parents so that Jase and I could grab a relaxing drink together in the resorts lovely bar area but we got called back after 45 mins as she had woken from her nap and was inconsolable. Poor munchkin! We could hear her screaming long before we even got near the apartment complex! She instantly stopped crying in my arms - poor little thing! I didn't think they got so attached this early but clearly she has. Will have to work on that as I want her to be able to be babysat - let alone the childcare that she will need when I go back to work..

In great timing with my relaxing break, Elka at 8 weeks has also started "sleeping through the night". I am so proud of her :) Basically she goes down for sleep at 7pm and I feed her at 10.30pm whilst she is still asleep (dreamfeed) and then she was sleeping till 3.30am when she wanted another feed and then I woke her up at 7am. But now she is sleeping through to 6-6.30am - very exciting! I am hoping that she might move that forward to 7am which matches with her routine.. but either way I am a happy mum!

Elka is now 9 weeks and still shocking us with how much she is growing and changing. She is basically supporting her own head and her tummy time is amazing! She makes the funniest goo's and gaa's when she is raising her head and turning it around when she is on her belly! This morning she was sitting on my lap leaning back on me and she pulled herself forward and sat unsupported! I was very impressed! She has started interacting with her panda bear toy, reaching out and grabbing his flowers and pulling at his face etc. She is sucking her fists fiecely when she gets tired or hungry and has discovered that she can just suck her thumb rather than the whole hand. She has nearly grown out of her 000 suits :( Her SOS routine is still fantastic - her day sleeps are amazing - 2 long sleeps of 2 hours 15mins and a 1 hour nap - plenty of time for me to get things done!

My horseriding is going well. I am getting a surprising amount done - lots of rides and lunges and grooming sessions etc, mainly thanks to Elka's long day sleeps! Spech is looking like a different horse already. His coat is getting shiny from the grooming and extra rugs that I am using. He is starting to show some muscle through his neck and on his legs thanks to the dressage work. We still have a long way to go but I am really pleased! I am still not as fit as I would like to be and getting him collected and moving forward is hard to near impossible with my lacking core muscles! But slowly slowly I will get there.. Only 1.5 weeks to my first dressage comp - I am looking forward to it. I have no expectations but it will be nice to just blow the cobwebs away and to prove to myself that I can compete and have a baby at the same time...

Anyways.. enough raving! Am probably heading to Dreamworld tomorrow with the family - should be chaotic and fun!

Aww poor little bub got her 2 month vaccinations the other day - Jase held her and it was horrible seeing her little face when she got the two injections :( But a nice hug and breastfeed made her forget all about it!
She slept really well through the night but woke up with a fever. We sorted it out with some baby panadol and she slept it off. Poor little grizzle pants - one minute she was smiling and the next minute crying!
She has woken up today back to herself which is great.

Now.. to concentrate on packing for our beach holiday - yay! How can something as small as a baby need so much stuff!

Time is truly flying and I don't know where the days go! The last week has been busy and lovely - my family from Canada are over visiting and its been great spending time with them :) We are heading to the Sunshine Coast on Saturday and I am so looking forward to it - the resort looks beautiful!

I have been trying to get my "match fitness" back for the dressage - poor Spech and I are both unfit and flabby and dont have long to get a little more respectable! My legs and butt are killing me and we aren't even riding for long periods yet - although we are getting in rides or lunges most days which is great! have ridden the last 3 days out of 4 which is pretty good! Now just to learn the test...

Its getting cold here finally - we have had two mornings of frost - brr!

Elka is now 8 weeks and in a few days will have her 2 month "birthday" - she is going for her vaccinations today :( and I am already sooking about it! I think it will of course be harder on me than her! I just hope she doesn't have any bad reactions :( I am not sure if my scientific knowledge and PhD in vaccine technology makes it worse - I kinda think it does! Its a lot for a little body to go through :(

In Elka's update - she is just growing and growing! She is very aware and loves to chat to us. She is very slightly starting to grab at her toys which is cool! She seeks me out from further away and stares at me. She loves to be stared at and responds with big grins and silent giggles when she gets attention. She has learnt to blow raspberries which is cute! She has also started feeding much faster and stronger which means she is very good at filling herself up, not burping properly and then spitting up for the next hour! Needles to say bibs are pretty popular in this house now! she is going fantastically on her routine and sleeps and self settles very well. I know I am being demanding as she puts in two huge day sleeps but I would love her to drop her 3.30am feed as I am getting so tired now that I am back in training and being so active! But I really cant complain - I could actually take a day nap if I wanted to. I havent had a single nap during the day since I gave birth! There is just so much else to do!

Anyways thats my update :) and here of course are some pics!
Elka just chilling on her bouncer and looking around during tummy time - her neck is getting nice and strong!

I have just been crazy busy hence no posting! Elka and I have been out at something everyday since last Thursday and my diary is still full up until the weekend! I am hoping next week might be a bit quieter! Then the weekend after we go on our family holiday to the Sunshine coast - cant wait!

To add to the craziness, Elka has been having a growth spurt - she has been feeding nearly every 2 hours and grizzly and wanting to be held. Thankfully that seems to have passed and she is even more grown up - some 000 suits are gettin too short and she is starting to grab at toys and talk even more!

Just because I like to stress myself ;) I also sent in my entry form for my first "post-baby" dressage competition. I have managed to get a few rides in on Spech and he is doing really well so I thought may as well plunge in with a small comp and just one walk-trot test :) Plus I have been exercising Sam and it is nice to get back into educating him.. I managed to get a lunge in this morning with bub sleeping and me carrying the baby monitor - it worked well.

Elka and I visited Jase's work yesterday - he was a very proud dad! Even if she did loudly poo the whole time he was showing her off - hehehe timing!

She is so big now that I have had to remove her cocoon from the pram and she is just lying on the normal base. Sad but good as Elka seems to prefer it - it has a lovely soft lambswool insert similar to what she sleeps on in the cot so maybe that helps! So she has had a few sleeps in the pram in the last few days - a great sleep at Mothers group and lots of naps while we were in the city yesterday. Definitely makes me relax more about taking her out and about!

Tomorrow I am meeting my family from Canada that I havent seen since the wedding (3.5 years) and we are going to DFO - should be fun! Anyways best be off as I have to get ready for my antenatal mummies group meet up - always lovely to chat the afternoon away!