Beyond the Edge of Adventure

I am at home. Waiting for Ben to finish work. It struck me today how much my life has changed since he joined the QAS exactly 6 years ago. It's been really, really hard work to adjust to his job - probably more for me than him (having a young family hasn't helped!). It got me thinking about what I wish I'd known back then what I know now. So here are my tips for wives who have shift working husbands and young families! 1) The first thing my man said about his job was "There are no guarantees". When he said that, I felt like weeping - I'm an organised person and a creature of habit. This meant that he could be home at 5:30pm, 8pm or midnight any day of the week. It's true - so never, ever expect him to be home on time. Sometimes he will be home on time and on those days you get a nice surprise! But on the days he is late, you won't be disappointed because you're not expecting him on time. 2) Carry on with what the family's doing and incl...

......today was an AWESOME! That's what I love about God! We have always found that when you're having a rough time, God sends a few easy or pretty wonderful days in the mix to give you a  bit of a boost. We found it all last year through our move from Roma to Oakey with a sleepless baby and three young children! Today we were together as a family all day......that's always a great start to a fantastic day. We watched our children and their friends run in the athletics carnival, then went shopping for camping gear and other bits and pieces. Got home exhausted, but managed a nice dinner and dessert. Got an appointment tomorrow to get my diet stuff sorted! Full belly, full heart, heavy eyes. Life is good (or at least looking better than it did this time last night!).

Well, I think I can officially call today a challenging day. My dietary issues have been playing up big time. One of my favourite hobbies -eating- has been pretty much destroyed by my body having a reaction to most things I eat. I can't figure out what's wrong and it's SO frustrating! Today I ate allergy-free museli with rice milk, a banana, rice with (good) leg ham, cooked mushrooms and leftover roast beef with veggies. No gluten. No dairy. No sugar. No nuts. No preservatives (or very, very little). And I still spent most of the day feeling bloated, slightly nauseated, refluxy, tired and blowing my nose. Yick........so I am booking an appointment with both a GP and a dietitian this week! I met with my midwife today and the baby is well - hooray! My iron levels are not OK, sadly. This is the first time EVER in five pregnancies that I've had low iron. So excuse me if I'm shocked for a bit because I'm NOT supermumma! My blood pressure was low...ish. My fundal he...

So, a week ago on Sunday evening, having packed my husband off for his second night shift in a row and while the children were finishing dessert and cleaning their teeth, I got a rather scary phone call. It was from Ben, who, in short, said he'd been in a car accident. After feeling my stomach sink like a cold rock had been dropped into it and my heart pouding in my ears, I managed to ask where he was, which was only 500m from our home. I hung up straight away and herded all the bewildered children into the car, ignoring their insistent questions, which started with, "Where are we going?", "Why do I need shoes on?", "Where is Daddy?", "Is Daddy OK?" and finally, "Dad's been in a car accident, hasn't he?". How did they know ? Ben was and still is OK. He's bumped, bruised and very shaken, but OK. The other driver received a slightly bumped nose and his car a wrecked tyre, a slightly smashed in front right panel and b...

I often feel like giving up. I feel like I'm getting nowhere and that my children are more interested in wearing me out than listening to my training and guidance. I often struggle with discouragement over an idea that I've had that hasn't worked. Some days, I wonder why I even open my mouth to remind them to put things away, clean their teeth, not speak to me that way or to be nice to their siblings. But then I think about giving up. Just letting them do what they want, as long as they're not killing each other. And do you know what gets me? Not the fact that if I withdraw my efforts in training and guiding my children they will turn into selfish, spoilt people who end up isolated by society (although I don't particularly like that scenario). It's more what they will think and feel when they realise that I just don't care any more. That their own mother, the one who brought them into the world and loved them before they were even concieved has decided ...

Lately, my youngest daughter, Neve, has gone through a bit of a change. She looks a bit different and she's doing more toddler-ish things like trying to dress herself, brush her own hair and of course, toddle! She was always a beautiful baby, but I must say I am enjoying this transformation -as I have with all of my children- from a sweet baby bundle to a real little person with a budding personality. One of the sweetest bits of this transformation that our children have gone through is their bonding with their father, my awesome husband! Ben is the best Dad I have ever seen - honest. No bias! He loves our children before they are even out of me - I know this from the way he puts his head on my tummy and speaks to our unborn child. I know it from the way he holds them, talks to them and laughs with them (and sometimes at them) when they're newborn. I know it from the way he manages to play with all our children simultaneously no matter what their age. I know that he loves the...

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...