Love, bubs and life on our little farm

Its been a bit of a tough time at work this week. Long story but I had to give some very bad news to a staff member and I was stressed about doing it and the actual going through with it was as upsetting as I imagined. Welcome to being a manager! I have to learn that when you have to lead, you can't always be everyone's friend.

Not only that but its one of those weeks where Jase is interstate for work. Juggling the girls alone with the farm animals to look after is hectic but strangely also lonely.

Oh and our dear blind pet duck has disappeared, presumed dead. The other duck is pining and looking so lost.

So I think maybe some retail therapy is in order.

First thing to buy is some new ducks to keep our duck company.. but secondly Witchery, one of my favorite stores has sent me a $50 voucher (providing I spend $100). How can I say no!

Hmm what to buy :) here are some of my picks for autumn (yes you can tell I love classic tailored cuts can't you!)

So today we took the girls to a lovely country town Swimming Baths for a swim. I love country towns - I grew up near one and I just love the peace of a Sunday afternoon with happy families enjoying shady green grass and sparkling water at the local pool.

We were helping the girls to splash around in the toddler pool. For some reason, it was full of sweet little girls who decided I was wonderful and that I needed to "watch them" and were desperate for me to play with them.

One little girl had such a sparkle in her eye and was doing a great job of swimming around with her head down in the water. I was showing Elka and pointing out how well the little girl was doing it. She was a very sweet little girl who chattered away to me and I had noticed her Mum when I arrived, watching her from the side with a proud smile on her face.

Her Mum had watched me take Bronte's special bonnet off and pull out her hearing aids whilst I got her ready to swim. I am used to people watching Bronte with a mix of curiosity and sympathy and a type of relief that it's not their child wearing hearing aids. And so I had an idle thought of "Oh she is probably thinking how glad she is that her girls are fine".....

An hour or so later, I was watching their group celebrate with a birthday cake and I realised that there was a wheelchair there. My mouth nearly dropped when I saw that lovely little girl from the pool be placed in the wheelchair by her Mum, and saw that her (what I am guessing it was) palsy was so bad, that her legs were useless and her arms were stiff and waving uncontrollably. But she still had that beautiful smile on her face.

I got a little teary realising what freedom the water gave her, so much freedom that I hadn't realised that she had any trouble moving around. Although in hindsight, I realise she had never stood up and her swimming had been a little unusual. And I realised that what I had thought her Mum was thinking about Bronte couldnt have been more wrong.

These little kids with their special challenges just continue to humble and teach me. And I was so glad that that little girl had the pool to give her freedom and the choice to move and float where she wanted.

Don't you just love it when the new season trends just match you perfectly!

Check out this overview of coming looks by Marie Claire - link. Every single thing they mention is in my walk in robe - they are my staple looks for autumn/winter. Perfect!

Hot on my list is still a blazer (yes yet to buy one!), possibly a little cropped military jacket (Target actually has some cute cheap rip offs) and some new cute full skirts that will suit opaque tights and knee high boots.

Oh and here is a lovely inspiration pic for Winter. Love love love Kate Middleton's style and this outfit is so elegant but fun at the same time. I am seriously considering a pair of these boots (even though I already have 8 pairs of knee high boots!)

..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?