Beyond the Edge of Adventure

I have been so busy lately! I am definitely enjoying the busyness before my traditional rest period before a baby arrives. I just love being busy in general! Last Wednesday I did grocery shopping, visited Ben at work for lunch, went home, unpacked it all with help from my little J-man, while the children had a rest, I had my lunch during which I received the most fantastic phone call which is another blog post all together! Then we did school runs - but I got to go into the city for a meeting (woo!)while Ben took the children home for rush hour and then I had dinner with a friend before going to a try-it-before-you-buy-it food party at another friend's home. Awesome day! The sad thing about being busy is that my body struggles to keep up. After my amazing day on Wednesday, I had a crazy day Thursday which I wasn't expecting. Then came Friday, which I had been looking forward to for ages! My MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) friends and I went down to Brisbane F...

Most things in life are cyclical. Life itself is cyclical. I'm finding that I'm used to the cycle now of having a baby. Ha! At the moment, I'm on the easiest and my most favourite part of the cycle. The sleep-ins, the cutest fifteen-month-old bubba crawling around, no breastfeeding (not that I don't like it, just that it's hard for me to establish and it's another 'thing' I have to do in the day), a tidy but maybe not especially clean house, time to potter about doing odd jobs, the ability to get away for a little break overnight, a fair amount of free time during my day, no pregnancy nausea and no big belly leading the way for me wherever I go (and leaving dropped jaws and raised eyebrows in its wake!). I feel like I've got it all together......almost. However......soon, I'm going to head into the 'hard work' stage. The sleeplessness, the painful breastfeeding, the continual juggling act, from dawn 'til dusk with the odd juggli...

I met my obstetrician today. I don't usually like meeting obstetricians. To me, they are scary because they have lots of letters after their names which means that they know a heck of a lot more about the medical process my body goes through during the labour process than I do. They represent hospital rules like, "We'll book you in for an induction when you're ten days overdue." or "You're best to stay in hospital for another night.". They're often impersonal and have very few social skills (like introducing themselves when you meet them for an appointment or eye contact when you ask a question). I know they're just people, but I've had some less-than-pleasant experiences with them as well as admittedly, some pretty good ones. So, the word I have from the midwives at TBH is that now that this is my fifth pregnancy, I am considered 'high risk'. This is because of an increased risk of post-partum haemorrage (PPH). So that means ...

OK. First: a warning. This is a rant. I'm sorry. I can't help it - I really need to blog this out! So if you aren't interested in hearing about how women AREN'T as liberated as we all like to think we are, then go to another blog or get on ebay or something. Sit this one out. OK? Alright. So last night, we watched Star Wars Episode II. It's a pretty average movie and it was hard to miss the bad cliches. And by far and away, the most annoying and infuriating cliche was the half-undressed commando girl running around fighting along beside men who are fully clothed. Seriously. As she heads off to rescue Obi Wan Kenobi from the bad people's planet, admittedly in a skin-tight white outfit BUT fully covering her from neck down except for her hands, Padme (Natalie Portman) falls into the hands of the bad people alongside her 'we mustn't get together because we can't, but we will anyway' boyfriend, ultimate big bad guy Anakin Skywalker, aka Dar...

I would say that I've been a fairly submissive wife now for a good couple of years. 'Submissive wife', no doubt, conjures up images in your mind of a big overpowering husband who rules with an iron fist over his passive, small and timid wife. But I ask you: Am I small? Am I timid? Am I passive? Nope. Not a jot. So, I wanted to bust a few myths about what submission is and what it looks like. Firstly, let me say that there are some brilliant resources on the Above Rubies (aboverubies.org) website, but I want to share more about the practical things that a submissive wife does for her husband. OK, so what does a submissive wife look like? I think it all comes down to respect for her man. 'Submission' is defined as ' to give over or yield to the power or authority of another'. We all know Ephesians 5:22-24: ' Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the hea...

I've been really trying hard lately to lower our grocery and household bills - thanks to a swift kick of inspiration from my MOPS group a month or two ago. Having a diet that requires special needs makes it a bit hard, but not impossible. I was stoked and just a bit smug the other day when I made up this recipe based on an old favourite my mum used to make. It's got the combined warm, comforting texture of a rice pudding, but also a tropical, summery taste with the pineapple and coconut. Furthermore, I can eat it even with my dairy/gluten intolerance! But best of all, it's SO quick and easy to make! Perfect for a busy mumma........ So I'm happy to share it with you, a fellow busy mumma. I hope you enjoy it! Pineapple Rice Pudding Ingredients (all approximate!): 4-5 cups cooked rice 400mL tin coconut milk or cream 3 heaped tbsp brown sugar Large tin of pineapple pieces or to taste Vanilla Marshmallows (optional) Method: Simmer vanilla, coconut milk/cre...

I’ve always had two metaphors for parenting that I keep in mind when I’m balancing my special blend of discipline, encouragement, teaching and shouting. Being a former educator, I’ve seen many different styles of parenting – most that made me shudder, to be quite honest. I’ve taught in child care centres, pre-schools (pre-prep for Queenslanders), primary schools and high schools in both the public and private sector. I’ve seen awesome stuff and pretty ordinary stuff in all of those sectors. I went to public primary schools and high schools, so this is not me banging on about the public system, by the way. Public school teachers are AWESOME and have to work hard in so many areas just to complete their most basic function: teach. So! My two metaphors (or images) that I keep in mind when I’m about to come in heavy with my children on a particular behaviour or issue or when I’m about to let them go and allow them to just ‘be children’ are as follows: Firstly, I’ve always imagined that y...