Taking the train to Tanty Town......

Ok so I have done this mother thing before so number 4 should be a walk in the park right???? Right????? Well you would think so wouldnt you, so why is this child sucking the absolute life out of me........My darling little blonde haired, blue eyed cherub with the face of an angel has gone to the dark side.  Laicee Lou with her gorgeous little "winkie" face has discovered the power of ....dum dum dummmmm......"The Tantrum".   Of course I am sure the other 3 had their time in the sun as far as the tantrum goes but I honestly cannot remember it being with such passion, such gusto, such determination.  Now I am wondering is it because she is the baby and is constantly being picked up and doted upon by all and sundry......probably but that doesnt help my cause now does it the damage is done.  She isnt silly though for all my complaining about how awful it is and boo hoo woe is me she cries and carries on morning noon and especially night, I take her to a family do all the aunties and my mum etc, I think ok now they will see, vindication will be mine......... the little traitor is a complete angel, happy, cute, engaging, smiling, sits on aunty's lap and falls quietly asleep with no fuss.   Where is the foaming at the mouth, where is the "crolling" or the "rofc" (Translation: crying and rolling or rolling on floor crying pffft teenagers abbreviate everything, I have one and a half teenagers too but that is a story for another day),  
where is the 3000 decibel scream, the Linda Blair thrashing and the grand finale.....the vomit.
Of course amongst the clucking of "oh my isnt she just the cutest little darling" and the "She is such a good baby" it may have been my eyes or the Browns Brothers that I had but I could of almost sworn she smirked at that point. So of course no one but those that have lived it believe me. 

My friend and I took the kids on a few outings in the last week of the holidays more I think for our own sanity then for their entertainment.  First outing was lunch at Maccas let the kids have a play, consume some grease everybody's happy.....this was the scene for the first public tanty.....it was an exceptionally hot day all the older kids were hyped up on the fact they were out of the house mix that with a shitload of sugar and preservatives and you have a pot full of popping popcorn.  Bub was happy to watch from the window to scream with delight when the others smushed their faces up against the glass to say hello to her, then she discovered there was a door to this magical land that she wanted to go through and of course it was deemed too dangerous for a 3ft little princess that has not long had her sea legs so access was denied.

Well I am sure Mc Donalds staff have seen all sorts of carrys on being a 24hr munchiehut 100m down the road from the local pub but the sight of this beautiful little girl with her ringlets and her bows, arching and scratching and trying to bite any exposed flesh on her mothers body was even for them a little traumatic (free counselling has been offered I believe).  Needless to say that playtime was over from that point and the disturbance was removed from the premises.

Day 2:  It was a magnificent day so my friend and I decide to take the kids to the new Broadwater Rock Pools (Awesome place by the way.......AWESOME) it was wonderful, we had lunch by the water the kids were all having an absolute ball, Laicee was getting amongst it with the best of them, lots of little ones splashing swimming just having a fantastic time.  I decided in my infinite wisdom that I should probably put some more sunscreen on bub being the responsible mother that I am, that all went well I had the easy to use roll on rubbed it on bubba held the sunscreen for me and ever so cutely said Ta every time I took it to put some more on.....it was a scene out of a Perfect Mothering Magazine......until I put the lid on the sunscreen then it turned into something out of a Steven King novel.  OMG I tried giving it back to her......Nope the switch had been flipped my friends it was "Game On"  she wouldnt let me hold her so I put her down in a spot she wasnt going to drown, she rolled, she screamed, she arched if I went near her it made her worse so I just sat down on the side and let it happen, now this is a new water pool area for children on the Gold Coast in the school holidays soooooooooo there were a few people there, I got the "Oh honey I know how you feel looks" from the other mothers of little people, I got the "She needs a good whack on the beeehind" from some of the old school Grandmas but my favourite look was from a young  Maori fellow big strapping lad playing with his niece and nephew,  it was a look of sheer horror, (I think the vasectomy was probably  booked that afternoon) luckily we had planned to leave soon anyway.

Day 3 My darling friend who by the way remains completely calm and supportive whilst all these very public tantys are going on truth be know she is probably just relieved it isnt one of her kids having a public meltdown, invites us to Lollipops playland (another awesome place) ok so she is a glutton for punishment I will play along, we had a ball, huge slides, jumping castles who wouldnt have fun, they had a special area for the little ones it was great.  There is a beautiful merry go round in the middle of the establishment that they put on once an hour or something anyway they ring the bell we all go over I hesitated putting Laicee in but Jemma insisted she would look after her so ok and OMG the cutest thing you have ever seen all the kids in the big pink dragon was waving away just gorgeous............the thing about these rides is they eventually stop........Bubba wanted to ride the big pink dragon for the rest of the day and she was not the least bit impressed when she had to get off and the gate was locked and the big pink dragon was no more.  Now the great thing about Lollipops is that everything is padded and I mean everything so I just put her in the littlies section and let her go for it and as she was safe I thought I would tape it with my phone for evidence the place wasnt very busy it was the end of the day but there was a father with his small son in there and he was totally doting on him obviously his first child I think you start to lose interest after that (oops did I say that out loud...jokes jokes dont call CPA on me) anyway I was oblivious to him and was taping my daughters latest performance, she had added a couple of foot stamps and floor punching moves into the mix which I was eager to capture, I look up and am met with a look of absolute disgust and OMG how can you be so cruel to your child.  He was met with a "Say something I dare you look" so he scooped up his precious cargo before he could be scarred by this goings on and stormed out.   Needless to say I did stop taping and attempted to calm her down whilst holding back the giggles hehehehehehe. Luckily it was closing time anyway.

I did get some good advice from a mum of 4 now grown boys that when she starts to tanty stand there and applaud her performance I am looking forward to trying that...Thanks Belinda.

I am not sure what has triggered this new found hobby of hers but I am just hanging on and waiting for the ride to stop......we are hurtling along to the terrible twos (8 months away mind you) at incredible speed I just hope this isnt just her warm up and the real performances are yet to come.  I am hoping I will get my happy little cherub back soon, I am thinking of investing in one of those velcro suits for her and a sticky wall so I can just put her there when she goes to Tanty Town and she can go nuts lol and maybe a furry wall for me mmmmmm.

I will get through this phase of number 4 just like I did for the other 3 even though my memories of them as babies is all sunshine and lollipops I think your subconscious does that to protect itself, I think it has to when you think about it otherwise there would be a lot of one child families out there..........I think I hear the train pulling into Tanty Town station as we speak........ wonder what it is now........Jemma looked at her, the drink bottle is empty, the bird flew away, someone wouldnt let her play with the steak knives again????   Sigh I think I can I think I can I think I can..................

OK so who smacked Mother Nature on the ass??????

Mother Nature is mighty pissed off this week she is flexing her muscles and showing us all just how small and insignificant we really are.  So many lives touched by devastation, everything they own floating off down the river, whats left rendered useless by a thick layer of toxic stinking mud.  And they are the lucky ones.....mothers have had their babies torn from their arms by the rush of water, families torn apart in an instant.  We are sooooo very fortunate and we not affected directly by the floods, if I didnt turn on my TV or my computer I honestly would not of known that it was even happening.  My suburb the sun is shining and life is normal.  15 mins down the road life will never be the same, it is amazing to me how that can be.  I had family members threatened by the rising waters and that was horrible, the not knowing if they were ok, the waiting for word that they were safe was almost unbearable.  Knowing that they were completely cut off and there was not a damn thing I could do about it was doing my head in.  Thankfully all my loved ones are safe, they are shaken but they are alive and they still have their homes.  For that I will be eternally grateful.

So any of my other mishaps this week and there are a few....of course.....just seem to pale in comparison to what else is happening out there and it is not just the floods, there have been a few losses this week in my other cyber communities which have rocked families to their core I truly feel for each and everyone who has had their world turned upside down I hope and pray that you can get some peace in your lives once again soon.

What is wonderful to see is people helping each other, hugging the person next to them total strangers,  the world was becoming so cold and hard, it was so dog eat dog, nobody cared about their neighbour it was every man for himself you were lucky to get a smile from a passerby but now people are travelling for miles to come and help people they dont even know,  the outpouring of love and support has been heartwarming to see.  So if anything good can come out of this tragedy it is that we have taken our heads out of our backsides and have seen what is really important in life......the people around us.

So the spider attack that got me and two of my girls and almost caused a 3 car pile up will have to wait.........

Be good to each other in the end thats all we got........love yous all xxx

Motherhood means........

Motherhood means....... you pee when you sneeze (apparently)......
Motherhood means......saggy boobs and stretch marks.

Motherhood means.......sleepless nights, 5 minute showers and cold dinners.
Motherhood means......food in your hair and snot on your clothes. 
Motherhood means......you can hang your boobs out in public...... for the purpose of feeding of course...but just be sure to pop them away again before you answer the door ooops made that couriers day...
Motherhood means........dirty nappies and vomit......soooooo much vomit.
Motherhood means........ALWAYS having to say your sorry.....

Sorry my kid threw up on your shoes.....Sorry my kid ran up your heels with the trolley......Sorry my kid peed on your dog and in your pool ......Sorry my kid drew on your walls.....Sorry my kid broke your window.....Sorry my kid painted your cat........Sorry my kid hit your kid (even though he deserved it)......Sorry my kid picked your prize winning roses for me for mothers day (they truly are beautiful by the way)........

Motherhood means......learning new skills, (some come with the job package).......super fast reflexes...you can catch a kid falling without spilling a drop of your cold coffee.  Cry distinction...you learn to distinguish between your kids cries and the kid down the street (probably the same kid that your kid just whacked), you know if its a feed me woman cry, I am bored, I am wet or the wow have I got something in my nappy for you cry......or the Iam just tired and need a mummy cuddle cry.  You develop radar ears for listening in on plans and schemes for the mass destruction of the house, themselves or the bank balance.  You can vaccuum the floor, cook dinner, put washing on all with a baby on your hip, you can do anything and everything with a baby on your hip
Motherhood means.......perfecting the art of compromise.

Motherhoods means......never having an empty laundry.
Motherhood means......always having something to do.....drive this one here, pick that one up from there.   Feed this one, bath that one, clean up after all of them.  De-lice that one, and that one and maybe even that one, comfort this one, scold that one...clean up after all of them...again.
Motherhood means.......never having time to yourself,  having to go to the toilet under the watchful eyes of a toddler........also note toilet door should be closed at all times or said toddler will play in, drink, and put all sorts of important things in there.

Motherhood means........you are the first thing your child ever sees when it opens its eyes on the day it is born.


Motherhood means......you are the most important person in someones life...for at least the first 15 or so years.


Motherhood means.......dribbly kisses, chubby little hands to hold, giggles and tickles and funny stories to be told
Motherhood means......macaroni necklaces painted with glitter, handprints in plaster made with love, painted pictures and drawings each one more precious than the last.  Milestones and memories forever to be yours.


Motherhood means.......school concerts...little eyes eagerly searching for you in the crowd, nervous little waves goodbye on the first day of school,  tears and fears that only you can ease.


Motherhood means......worrying about if they are happy or sad, do they have lots of friends, are they being good or bad.

Motherhood means.......Christmas is a time of wonder again.

Motherhood means.....easter bonnets and hot glue blisters,  birthday cakes and baking disasters.


Motherhood means.......always having someone to love who loves you back.

Motherhood means......having somewhere to live when you are old and grey and most  definately peeing your pants and probably not only when you sneeze.


Motherhood is the greatest job in the world.........................

What does Motherhood mean to you??????????

What a day.....

Had an amazing day today, Hubby and I took the two youngest girls down the coast .  We went fishing in the river and Jemma caught her first fish ever!!!!! A very exciting moment in a girls life, she also caught her first stick, her first rock and her first what looked suspiciously like an old nappy but she had an amzing time and she spent some quality one on one time with her daddy which is also very important in a girls life and I am so glad she has the dad she has, not all of us are that lucky.  I personally was on a rug in the shade with the rugrat fending off Green Ant attacks one of the not so little bastards bit me right between my toes, by golly they sting and it just keeps on giving for hours later too arrrrrg.  We had lunch by the water and then took off to see Grandma at the van at Fingal Beach.  Laicee had her first experience of the beach at Fingal as have all of my kids it is a tradition, she loved the sand not too sure on the water yet but she will get there.  Jemma was riding the waves on the boogie board another first she was always a bit too scared to but there was a little girl smaller than her doing it so I guess she didnt want to be showed up lol but she had an absolute blast.  We had such a good time since mum is vacating the van for a few days that we have decided to head back down tomorrow and stay for a few days, really sad that Tahli and Adam arent with us but there is plenty of summer left.  Grandma as always front and centre in the midst of the action wasnt going to be outdone by us and thought she too could walk up the little sanddune to the walkway hahahahaha she sort of got a momentum happening and it was all over  she overbalanced and went face first in the sand laughing so hard she thought she would cry or pee her pants or both, hubby tried hard to rescue the damsel in distress but it just was a big sandy mess, but soooooo funny a memory I will have forever thanks mum.....still makes me giggle.     So all in all a day of wonderful first experiences, looking forward to seeing what the next few days bring..........

Another one bites the dust.....

Well thats another year over, and what a year it has been.  We have been through a lot this year good and bad, 2010 saw too many hospitals for my liking but we have survived.  My father in law is in remission after a vicious battle with cancer, along with other loved ones that have come out on top of this evil disease......my hope and prayers are that it stays that way....be gone with you, you evil evil thing you cant have them!!!.  I saw my little girl in hospital for a week and it gave me a whole new respect and empathy for the parents of these really sick children, my heart truly goes out to them, I dont know how they do it.  We have loved ones still battling with health issues but we are beside them all the way and we will get through all of it....I am sure of it.   I personally have survived several attempts on my life by members of the insect world there was the mutant vampire snail that tried to ambush me on a cool summers evening tearing at my flesh, the suicide moth with wet balls that slammed into my face whilst I enjoyed my morning coffee, lets not forget the fly that left skid marks on my eyeball in the electronics store........I survived.  Just the other day I turned on the light in the early hours of the morning to have a huntsman spider as big as a lumberjacks hand...and that is BIG....run up my arm, he was laying in wait on the light switch, he ran up my arm poised to take a deadly strike, I bravely flicked him across the room and ran for the spray it took half a can of spray but I finally got him, little buggar just wouldnt give in.  But the important thing is....... I survived!!!!  I have reconnected with loved ones, family and friends through the magic of Facebook some I didnt realise just how much I missed until I talked to them again.  My baby boy finished primary school and starts high school life as he knows it is about to change, my girl is now a senior and has turned 15, my god where has the time gone.  I am so very proud of my children and the people that they are, they have such good hearts.  They still drive me crazy at times but life wouldnt be the same without them.  I have survived Laicees 1st year which has been tiring but so rewarding too she is such a light in so many of our lives and I wonder what we did before she came along, to watch her grow and explore the world around her is a source of constant amusement and wonder.  I have had to deal with so much bodily fluids this year that I seriously think that I am just immune to it all now,  vomit vomit and more vomit, I have had to take poo samples.....not something that I recommend after lunch....but I survived.  It is looking like Jemma will need her tonsils taken out in the new year but we will get through that too...... 

I joined a gym this year and I actually really love it, I am enjoying jogging for goodness sake I have never been fond of running unless it is of course you have a grasshopper hot on your trail or you have walked into a spider web but that is more of a dance than a run really.....the spider dance is a sight to be seen and I am sure you will see it in all the dance clubs before too long.  But my goal is to lose 20 kgs I have been living too much of the good life and it is starting to show, my jelly belly and thunder thighs have to go.  Plus I am in my 40's now so it is time to get it together and get healthy, if it kills me and it surely nearly will those Body Pump classes are a killer.

I am looking forward to a wonderful year I really do have a positive outlook, things are going to be on the up.  We are going to get lots of work, save some money, have a holiday, lose some weight, stay healthy, survive insect attacks, safety will be a high priority, I will be more diligent, might even buy one of those kennel runs and stick her in there or a padded room, can never go wrong with a padded room everyone needs one at some stage might even get a furry wall too for those extra crazy days.  I am going to be a better friend, a better wife, a better mother, a better person.  But most of all I am going to be happy......dont sweat the small stuff.

I wish you all a year full of health, wealth and happiness......love yas all