Love, bubs and life on our little farm

..our sixth wedding anniversary! Conviently on a Saturday and it just happens to be this weekend when my Mum is coming up to drop off her cat for us to mind.

So, instead of gifts (particularly since Jase decided to buy me an enormous gorgeous ring for my birthday and blow our budget!) we are simply asking Mum to mind the girls in the evening so that we can get spiffed up and go to a renowned Gold Coast restaurant that I have always wanted to try.

Am looking forward to a lovely glass of wine with my amazing husband (I am most amazed at how he just keeps making me fall more in love!) and some very non-childfriendly food. We are indulging and having the full three courses off one of their set menus - it sounds delicious!

Happy days. Six years on and life only gets better and better. And we can still laugh and chatter into the night, fight and forgive within a minute and think the same thing at the same time. I couldn't have dreamed it any better.


Sidenote - I don't quite get the clear plastic chairs that the restaurant has?? But anywho despite the chairs, I can't wait!

Bronte is eight months old and Elka is 2 and 3/4 yrs old. I didn't realise how strong their bond would be already. Bronte adores Elka, she beams at her and soaks up everything little thing that Elka does. In return Elka is fascinated with Bronte and loves that if she says "mum mum mum" she can set Bronte off chattering it. She also loves to give Bronte her bottle, wash her hair and make her giggle endlessly.

What I also wasn't expecting was that they would bicker so much already. They fight over toys, Bronte dobs on Elka by whinging and stomping her legs in frustration. They push each others hands away, I have seen Bronte go red in the face trying to lift Elka's hands off her seat. Bronte will grab fistfuls of Elka's long hair and pull it with all her might, screaming with delight at Elka's pain, if Elka's hair hangs through from the higher seat of the pram, Bronte will stretch her arms up desperate to reach it and pull it. Even tonight, Elka was annoying Bronte by leaning into her face, so Bronte pushed her away so hard Elka rolled off the pillow and hit her head hard on the tile floor, prompting screaming from the big one and laughter from the little one. Oh how these moments give me glimpses into the future! When bickering and dobbing will drive me round the twist!

But at the same time, nothing makes me feel more at peace and satisfied with life then hearing my girls giggles together in the back of the car and seeing this in the backseat.

So I always love a beauty bargain. I would love to hear of yours and I will share mine.

My biggest and best recommendation is Rosehip Oil as moustriser. I used to use it all the time when I was younger. I then forgot about it and have been wasting lots of money on expensive creams in the last few years. They feel nice but my skin wasn't feeling as good as it could. I had a skin assessment with a facial awhile ago and they used and recommended a lovely oil for hydrating my skin. All good and well until I saw the price of it. But it triggered my memory of the Rosehip oil, so I marched straight down to the health food store three shops down and grabbed this bottle of Trilogy RoseHip Oil for $15. And I have used it at night ever since. Well my skin feels wonderful again, my pores have minimised and my cheeks feel soft and smooth.

Honestly, try it. It is so cheap. And after a week of massaging it into your face at night (which is so soothing in itself), you will be raving about it too. Best $15 you will spend in the next few months, I can tell you.

And my other bargain for now. Designer Brands (DB) liquid eyeliner "Savvy by DB". I buy it from Priceline. Cheap as - I think about $5 and my last one has lasted about 6 months so far. Its vastly nicer than the expensive MAC liquid eyeliner I was using and I much prefer it to the Napoleon pot eyeliner that I was talked into by the salesgirl... Glides on, cleans up easily and stays ALL day. No smudges and the brush has lasted. What more can you ask for? And for a great price.

So there you go, for the princely price of $20 you could have new skin and pretty eyes ;)

Now your turn! Tell me what I should be buying!

I wake most days and feel happy. I look out the window at my little dream property and take that second to appreciate all that I have. And my birthday morning was no different. But despite feeling already so blessed, my gorgeous husband then went out of his way to make me feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

First of all, I* got to open a little jewellery box (*well Elka did more opening than me really!) and got this!

A ten caret aquamarine set in diamonds. Bling with a capital B. I just adore it!

Then because Jase had organised with my boss to have the day off for a "mystery day", we got the kids ready for daycare and packed everyone into the car with a bag of things that he told me to include - a bikini, a dressy outfit and some make-up. I was clueless! After dropping off the kids, he informed me that we were going to day spa for a couples package for the morning. So we enjoyed a quiet coffee in the gardens before having relaxation massages and then being ushered to our own private room and garden with outdoor spa and sauna, where we enjoyed champagne and chocolates. Bliss.


Feelingvery relaxed, I got frocked up in a new Peter Morrissey dress that I had just grabbed in a sale (great timing!) and we headed into the city.

It's my 30th tomorrow. I am fine with that. But I am a reminiscent person at the best of times so of course I am sitting here reflecting on my twenties.

Wow I don't think I will find a decade with quite so many big milestones in it again.

Age 20 - Partied myself into the ground all year but managed to still finish my Bachelor of Science.

Age 21 - Completed my Honours year with First Class Honours in Microbiology/Molecular Biology, had my first scientific paper published.

Age 22 - Started my PhD.

Age 23 - Got engaged, spent five weeks in Japan working in a laboratory, paid for completely by the Japanese government.

Age 24 - Got married, had the most beautiful honeymoon in Samoa.

Age 25 - Finished my PhD and farewelled 7.5 amazing years of university with great friends and lots of fun. Had my PhD thesis accepted with minimal changes. Backpacked around Japan and Europe with Jase. Presented my PhD research at an International Conference in England. Packed up and moved 1000kms interstate, got my first "real job" working in Infectious Disease Molecular Epidemiology for the government, loved it. Bought our first home - not only that but it was our dream acreage property. (HUGE year - such a memorable one for me)

Age 26 - Bought myself two new horses to complete my dream of returning to competition horseriding. Watched my horses become sick with Equine Influenza and learnt how it felt to live on a quarantined property. Fell pregnant with our first child. Awarded a promotion and permanancy in my job.

Age 27 - Elka was born, I experienced being a stay-at-home Mum and decided it wasn't for me. Returned to work part time - the perfect balance.

Age 28 - Had my dressage horse back in training to a level of winning ribbons in Open events and placing in Showjumping and completing Cross Country events. Fell pregnant with our second child. Succesfully completed two research grants as Chief Investigator.

Age 29 - Had a babymoon with Jase, leaving Elka with my parents for 5 days, whilst we celebrated our five year wedding anniversary. Bronte was born, I took 8 months maternity leave before returning to work part time. Returned to a promotion again - am now the head of the Molecular Epidemiology laboratory. Extended our home to double its size and built our dream entertainment deck. I had my 8th scientific paper published. Have my dressage horse back in competition and won a ribbon at our first event back.


It has been a wonderful, exciting and sometimes surprising ride. I have also evolved from a broke uni student to a family with a healthy disposable income. Needless to say, everything from cars to clothes has changed a lot in this time!

But most importantly I know that the 20 year old me would be very happy with where I am and what I have done. I am quite surprised to say that I have achieved all the goals I would dream about when I was spending endless hours in the lab slaving through my PhD. Which means that I get to dream up a whole new set for my thirties!

I feel so blessed in so many ways but most of all that I have my amazing husband by my side, my gorgeous girls in my arms and my beautiful parents and brother behind me the whole way.

Growing old is not a right, it is a privilege. And I feel so very privileged!

..about picking your own food out of your garden.



Though to be fair, those were picked out of the paddock where we have a thicket of tom thumb tomatoes growing. They have self sown thanks to the birds. It has also been great weather for our fruit trees, our lemon tree is amazing, our mulberry trees are flourishing, the herb garden is twice the height it was, I have chillis on my chilli bush and my passionfruit vine has tripled in length. I have also found a self sown pumpkin vine in one of my planter boxes which I am happily encouraging. I wish I could say the same for the native macadamia tree I have been growing from a seedling of my parents gorgeous old tree - Jase mowed over it the other day (sad face) but I am hoping it may reemerge!

The gorgeous Kate over at Mammamusing has done a similar post (great minds hey!) and she has posted the most devine recipe for a fresh pasta for the tomatoes. It is now on my meal list for next week, yum!

I have currently been tossing the baby tomatoes with salt, pepper and shredded basil from my herb garden and using as a side dish for meals - a little taste of summer right there. Bronte-baby likes them picked straight off the vine so she can bite into them, bursting warm seeds all over herself and me in the process. Elka doesn't like to eat them at all but she loves to pick them in her basket.

Its the little things in your day sometimes that bring the most pleasure and the biggest smile to your face.

So you most probably know that my littlest munchkin has been diagnosed with permanent hearing loss in both ears. It is at the mild level so she can hear, it is just not clear how much she hears of soft sounds in spoken words and also what she can distingush in a noisy background.

She wears hearing aids to help bring her hearing up to the normal level. But convincing a bub to wear hearing aids is not an easy thing - she pulls them out and drops them, she eats them, she isn't allowed to wear them in the car and she whinges about me putting them back in. So its a battle. She pulls off hats/headbands and anything else we can think of as a bit of a barrier. We have lost one in the paddock and took a long time to find it again. Most days I just concentrate on making sure she has them on for a period of time that I am sitting with her, talking, singing and playing with her. When she doesn;t have them on, I speak as clear as I can and make sure she gets eye contact and a lot of facial expression from me.

She sees her paeds, her Ear, Nose and Throat specialist, her audiologist and now her speech therapist regularly. Elka has learned to love doctors surgeries and eagerly anticipates playing with their toys. So far Elka has been good about not being the centre of attention but the day she got her own hearing tested (just to be sure) was pretty exciting for her I think! (we now have to play pretend hearing tests/doctors with her endlessly).

Bronte seems to be developing well. She is shy and tends to stare at people with her big owl like eyes for a long time before she will thaw and give a sweet smile, but no one is sure if that is to do with her hearing or if it is just her personality anyway. She can startle if you come up behind and she hasn't heard you, and sometimes she is hard to get to look over at you if you are far away and saying her name. But other than that she is no different to care for than Elka.

She had an assessment yesterday with her Speech Pathologist and came through with flying colours. She mimics sounds (particularly Elka's yells, they match pitch and tone of each other), she says Mum, Bub and Dad, she anticipates spinning if I count 1, 2, 3 spin! She loves noisy toys and bangs things to make noise, she giggles and reacts happily to Elka, Jase or I if we say or do things and in the last two days she has even started saying More when she is eating and wants more.

It is a relief that she is doing so well but it only quells the Mummy worry a little. Of course I worry over her development, how she will be with hearing aids in the future, how other kids will treat her (will Elka tease her, since siblings tend to pick on each others weaknesses at times?), how school will go, high school, what if she is sporty but the hearing aids are a disadvantage... and the other day I had a new realisation. I was in line behind a 20 yr old girl who had hearing aids like Bronte and it sunk in that Bronte will be wearing the aids forever. It is hard to get around that this is something that will likely never be "fixed", there are no antibiotics or operations for this. Not only that but the government subsidy for the cost of her hearing aids runs out when she turns 21, after that apparently they are hideously expensive to maintain yourself...

Most of all, I realise that its all for me to come to terms with. Because Bronte and Elka will grow up with this and have never known anything else. Whereas I come into this with preconceptions . In fact I was plunged into this from the smugness of a parent who had given birth to a healthy little baby (Elka) who passed every test with flying colours and hit milestones far earlier than expected etc.

And I had to realise something - that everyone's wish for a perfect "healthy" baby is not as crucial as we might think when we rub our tummy's and say it as though its that simple. "Oh I don't mind about sex/eye colour/hair/size, just as long as its healthy." Because getting a bub that isn't technically perfect and healthy doesn't stop your little one from being the most precious amazing thing that you will ever love and that you get the accompanying bonus of a whole heap of humbling life lessons.

So a pet hate of mine is when people see you post-pregnancy, look you up and down and exclaim "Aren't you lucky to have lost all the baby weight!"

Hmm no, it wasn't luck. Luck implies that I just ate what I wanted, rested when baby slept during the day and just generally veged around and the weight fell off on its own accord.

In fact it was damn hard work. Being careful in my pregnancy to not "eat whatever you like" as people encourage you to do. Post bub - watching my diet, working on the farm, on the floor in the evenings doing pilates to repair my abdominal seperation, not sleeping during the day, walking, exercise bike, only drinking water - no soft drinks for sugar/caffeine hits despite desperately needing it, forgoing offers of sleep-ins from Jase so I could go horseriding instead...

Funnily enough after being back at a size 8-10 by 6 months post the second baby, a lot of people stopped saying that it was "lucky". I think they realised that there was more effort than luck going on for it to happen twice.

And as a sidenote - both times when I have stopped breastfeeding, I have found I immediately drop a few kgs, like my body was holding on to that weight... anyone else found this?

Life is so mean sometimes. My parents drove all the way up to spend the weekend minding the girls so that we could make some leeway on staining the deck timbers and get further on the exterior painting. So of course it was boiling hot, I had a horse competition to distract me and both Jase and I copped some weird virus that left us fatigued and nauseous. Oh yeah fun times.

But that said, the horse comp went great, Spech and I did a pretty respectable test and even won a ribbon for it! And sick as we were, we pushed through and completely finished the deck staining, which we are so pleased with. Not only that but I managed to finish the first coat on all exterior parts of the house besides the downpipes and the underneath of the deck (my god our house is just so damn huge now and the wrap around verandahs just add so much more painting area - yeah I know, poor me, whinge over!).

So of course I have before and after pictures for you.

So the horse competition cycle has a regular pattern - besides actual shows, most clubs don't compete through the hot summer months. This is the time your horse gets to roll around and get scruffy in the paddock and you remember what it is like to have free time on the weekends..

But come February, sign up day is done, you have a fresh Event Calander in your hand and your head is full of plans for the upcoming year of competitions.

All good and well, except its still bloody hot.

So yeah a little mad but nontheless Spech has been clipped up, washed and started his training for the first (small) dressage event this coming weekend. I am not 100% sure we will make it there as his bad hoof is barely holding onto its shoe, so if he throws it we are out but hard to tell at this stage...

We are also stripping and oiling our huge timber deck this weekend so we will be crazy busy regardless...

But here's to a new year of horsing with no pregnancies to interrupt it!

Sometimes the clothes gods smile on you and you stumble across the most flattering item of clothing in a random store for a great price.

I have had this happen a few times - the cut, the fabric, the style is just all perfect for me and I wear it to death.

And it is rarely the expensive item that I have splurged on.

In fact my current randomly awesome item was a $15 white singlet top with a cross over lace neckline and straps. It just fits and falls and looks fresh and summery whilst looking elegant. Everytime I team it with an outfit, and it looks great with little flippy summer skirts and a leather belt, I shake my head in wonder. It must have just meant to have been as its from Big W and I don't think I have ever bought clothes from there before or gone actively shopping. It was just one of those fluke things. And they are my favourite happy occurrances in fashion and shopping.

Do you have a favourite item of clothing that you randomly stumbled across?

I am a bit of a contradiction - I love clothes and make-up and all things girly and pampery. But I am also a bit of an outside rough nut - I love farm work, I feel great working until I am sweaty and I happily muscle around half tonne horses. So often my weekends are a strange juxtaposition of hair straighteners, skirts and shovels and work boots.

This weekend was no different, one minute I was working so hard on dressage training with Spech that I could barely walk for 3 hours after getting off the horse, the next I was at a childs Birthday Party. Sunday morning had me walking the paddock with the kids and Jase spotting koalas and searching for a lost horse boot before spending the day at Palazzo Versace dolled up having High Tea.

And it was all great! I feel blessed that my life is so varied and full of everything that makes my heart sing.

And Miss Elka is very much the same - she is a rough little boofa who loves lizards and stomping through the paddock in her boots. But when she saw me dressed up and ready to leave for my girls day out, she raced off to my walk in robe and came back "just like Mum". Oh and she is a killer walker in heels too - she has been practicing since she was 12 months old.

Nothing makes you feel more bogan than a sick baby. A snotty nosed child on your hip makes it so hard to feel anything but. Especially because they are normally super clingy so you can't even brush your hair.

That was me yesterday. Poor Miss Bronte has a lovely runny nose and a chest infection. So she even sounds like a sick little munchkin coughing her lungs up. Of course she has been to the Dr, she is on medication and being cared for but it doesn't stop you looking as a parent-child combination a little sub-par!

So while Jase was getting his haircut yesterday at a pretty bogan-heavy shopping centre, I was desperately pushing the pram around nearby shops to try and keep Elka from launching herself out in boredom. Poor little Miss Bronte had devoured a biscuit and was snuffling away on my hip. I decided to look through the jewellery stores as my Mum wants me to pick out a watch for my 30th gift. After the second store, I realised I wasn;t being jumped on to be served as soon as I paused to look in a counter like usual. I then stopped and took a little mental look up and down at myself and decided if I worked on comission I probably wouldnt be rushing to serve me either!

I hadn't had time to change from the clothes I was wearing when I washed the horse float earlier that day, when Elka had "helped" me which had basically resulted in my front getting flicked with green mouldy soapy water. I hadn't brushed my hair since desperately pushing my head through some bushes to shoo the chickens out of hiding so they could be locked in their night shed. The facial I had the other day included a chemical peel that my face is still recovering from (think red and blotchy) Elka had pulled her shoes off and was trying to sit backwards in the pram that is stained from all the mud we have been negoiating in the last couple of flood-prone months and as the piece de resistance, Bronte had merged biscuit mush around her face with snot dripping from her nose into a brown/yellow paste over her face.

I am a determined shopper at the best of times, but I thought it best to lay low and went and stood meekly to the side of the hairdressers to wait for Jase.

I normally like to think as a Mum I have my shit together, but damn a sick baby can throw a spanner in the works!

I want a blazer for work.. I have a basic grey one, and a brown pinstripe one from a suit set and other than that I am normally huddled in knit cardigans as our air conditioning works overtime to keep the lab full of hideously expensive energy-draining machines cool. And my desk is right under the vents - brrrr! So a cute pretty blazer would be perfect.

There are so many lovely ones around but they don't tend to be less than $150-200 dollars. So I want it to be stylish but also pratical, but not practical in that boring way. So I am being picky and procrastinating a little too!

But Portmans have a few that I think are in the lead..

This one is cute


But this is the current favourite

Loving the nude colours that are in at the moment and the bow waist detail is very cute and quite flattering. Hmmm I really should get in and buy it, I waited too long on the cute work shoes I wanted and they are now sold out in my size :(

WHere else is good for blazers? I haven't been a fan of any of the Cue ones I have seen..