Harveys At Home

Today...

While we have been offline, moved states and houses etc etc etc, I haven’t kept up my usual #3 updates on the blog.  Actually, looking back, I haven’t posted at all since my very last obstetrician appointment in Sydney!  I can’t say a lot has happened since then, unless you count turning into a ginormous blob and becoming more impatient with every day that passes!

Since we knew that we were coming back to Brisbane, and would be living close enough to have this baby at the Royal Brisbane Women’s Hospital, I could not see the point in finding a new private obstetrician, when the care is fantastic at the RW, and familiar since that is where Owen was born and I had the first few months of Reuben’s pregnancy in their care as well.

Apart from the horrendous waiting times (some days it’s been more than 2.5 hours), going to the RW and seeing a specialist and then one of the doctors there has been as good as going to the private OB that I was seeing in Sydney.  I guess this is because I never seem to have any questions or problems/concerns and I know how this process works, it has been easy to slot back in to the public system.  And even though you may not see the same person two weeks in a row, everyone I have seen in these last few weeks has been great.  My patient file is kept up to date, very detailed and easily accessible for all who require it.

So would I probably ever go down the private patient path again?  Probably not.  It’s expensive, even if you have private health insurance and for me, the level of care has been very similar.  Now, BRING ON THIS BABY!!!

Two metres Reuben walked all on his own today.
TWO WHOLE METRES!!!!
This is monumental for us (well, mainly Reuben, I guess!) considering we have, at 14 months of age, put walking into that “too hard/can’t be bothered” box.
We were thinking that shoes were never going to be needed for this kid.
That his poor knees were always going to be callused from crawling on all hard and rough surfaces with no regard for his raw, skinned knees.
And walking into his first day at school? Naaaa. Why walk when you can just crawl everywhere???!!!
But he is as stubborn as he is cute, and will do things in his own time, on his own terms. Seems to be that now is a great time to start walking!
The timing is almost perfect, just before #3 is about to arrive… A little more practice time would have been useful, but we will take what we can get!!!
Luckily, Reuben has an extremely patient Big Brother who is willing to hold his hand and walk slowly with him before he decides to run :)

These are our Two Little Old Men…

Masters Harvey and Craven.

More commonly referred to as, REUBEN!!!!!  and COOPER!!!!!

They are both always very, very busy don’t you know, getting into anything and everything they can get their little hands on!  Just check out the colour of their feet.  Been busy, you see.  That, together with the expressions on these two little faces, sums them up almost perfectly :)

Nana decided to mow the side patch of grass with the push mower this afternoon, and of course, Owen had to get in on the action as well… First practicing with his play mower, getting the technique right, and then having a go at the real thing!

For Christmas, Mia and Pa bought the boys a swing set.  The Ostenfeld’s bought Reuben his very own swing for little people, and these two boys have swung for miles and miles since Christmas :)

Owen has got the hang of pushing himself, thankfully, so someone just needs to be Chief Reuben Pusher to keep them both laughing all afternoon (that is, every available afternoon that we release them into the outside world that is our back yard) whilst flying through the air.

Marc just laughed at me on Christmas Eve eve, as I was wrapping the last of the presents for the boys.  I completely and totally failed this Christmas.  I got sucked in to the Westfield hype, and out the window went my not-so-New-Year’s-Resolution to keep presents to a minimum.  Four each, to be exact.  Plus Santa’s gift…. That so did not happen!

My biggest problem here?

I love love love Christmas.  All that Christmas entails, but since this is a post about gifts, I’ll focus on that specific part of the season.  I love selecting, buying (then showing Marc so he’s not entirely clueless as to what we are giving the kids), wrapping, and seeing the tree balanced out with all the pretty things under it’s branches.  The only bad bit is the crowds at the shops.  But it is kind of part and parcel for the time of year and almost a given if you are going to attempt shopping at a Westfield shopping centre.

Anyway, my point?  Just what the title of this post states – I failed.  I could not help myself!  On a positive note, I did show some self restraint and didn’t buy every single thing that I wanted to for the kids, but I still did not stay within the gift boundaries I had set for myself.

I’ll try again in 2010…  You never know, I might be a little more successful.  This may be a process of scaling back over a few Christmas’.

You just can’t rush some things ;-)

Hooray!!!!

Having no internet access at home AND no car has made this last week a very loooong week in my books :)

Speaking of books, I have managed to start and finish one this week.  Something I have not done in a long, long time.

Maybe no internet, or limited access isn’t such a terrible thing?

Oh, who am I kidding?!  I NEED the ‘net on!!!!  lol

Updates/photos/etc to come…  :)

So.

In case you have no idea what we have been doing or why we have seemingly disappeared off the face on the Internet world, we have been making some rather large changes. 

• We have moved states recently. Very recently in fact. Like last week.  Last week was a long week…!
• We have moved into our new house. An email with contact details is coming. I promise.
• Christmas is just around the corner and we have been preparing for the Silly Season, mainly by catching up with friends and family.
• Unpacking.  Lots and lots of unpacking.
• Christmas shopping.
• Organising to get the whole right side of the Suzi repaired. Call it a parting gift from Sydney…   Luckily no one was hurt and the car is still drivable… And that it wasn’t our fault!
• AND Marc started his new job with sanofi aventis, doing handover in Sydney for two weeks and now starting in Brisbane this week.

We don’t seem to do these sorts of things by half…!!!

Me:  peeling a banana

Owen:  Why has tha banana got a sore on it? 

Me:  It’s just a bruise, Owen.  The banana got bumped by something.  Not a sore. 

Owen:  Can you still eat it? 

Me:  Yes, Owen…

Owen:  Well, that’s OK then.

A little while ago, I told you all about what we are planning for Christmas for the boys, gift-wise this year.

Well.  As a pre-Christmas update, I need to tell you all that I have lost track of what presents I have and haven’t bought…  I know.  Shocking, isn’t it?!  Especially considering I only need to remember eight things…  Eight.  Yep, not many.  And not hard, I know.  Normally!

Maybe my brain is just a little preoccupied with a baby to meet soon and a move back to the sunshine state???  Probably.  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it for now  :-)

I can hear you all thinking to yourselves, but didn’t you have a list?!  You always have a list!  Didn’t you write down what you’ve bought and what you still need to purchase???  And the answer is yes.   And I haven’t even packed The List – yet!

BUT.

Here comes my excuse…!

Since we are packing up a whole household and relocating all before Christmas, I hastily wrapped and bundled what presents I had already bought so that Marc’s parents could take them home with them when they stopped in for a visit a just over a week ago.  I did this mainly so as the presents would definitely be in Brisbane for Christmas day.  Also because knowing our luck, they would be all packed in the one box that happened to go astray, or be put on the wrong load if our stuff has to be split into two loads (which is a possibility, but no big deal for most of our things).  So, in my haste to get them all wrapped, tagged and on the move, I forgot to double check The List while I wrapped.  And while I can remember most things, I can’t remember all of them…  So I have a useless List to go by!

Christmas is going to be full of surprises this year.  Even for me!  ;-)