Ducky Duck Duck

Ahh - Yay we are in our new house.

It still looks like a bomb has hit it BUT the kitchen is unpacked and tidy and the washing machine is working and that is all I really care about for now.

Next on my hitlist is getting the study back in working order - however, I found out this morning that the internet provider we want to use could possibly take up to 5 weeks to do a new installation.

OMG - a possible 5 weeks without home internet access - what is an addict to do. LOL.

I am still in the process of figuring it all out.

Yesterday we found that we have a family of Ducks, including 5 newly hatched ducklings - they are so cute. The reason we found them is because they were initially on the roof of our neighbours shed - which adjoins our shed (flat roof). The mother literally pushed them off the edge (it is like a 2 mt drop) and then we thought - oh well they are doomed - and went out. But when we got home there they were in the easement park of our back yard. The mother was desperately trying to get them up to the next level of our yard (over a retaining wall) but they couldn't jump high enough. Eventually mark went and helped them get up - much to the Mother ducks displeasure. She then made herself and her babies at home in our pool for the rest of the afternoon.

When I left them to it last night - they were still by the pool - however I did see a cat lurking around the backyard last night and then this morning there was no sign of the mother or the babies. But no sign of any carnage either.

I really hope they made it - after all they had such a big day yesterday searching for water. It would have been sad if the cat ate them for dinner.

Thank fully - our cat hasn't arrived yet. So that might give them a chance to get themselves to a safer spot in the next week.

I am really glad that I am only working 3 days this week because the move has left me really tired.

Mark has put me on 'restful home duties' while I am at home -because he thinks I over did it on Saturday - but I find it hard not to do things when there is mess everywhere.

Soo Tired

I am very tired today. Not sleepy tired but definitely body exhausted tired.
I ended up going to wo walks yesterday because when Mark got home he wanted to walk the dog and I didn't want to stay home by myself so I went with him.
I guess that when your body is trying to support the functions of two humans that I should expect not to bounce right on back!
I also have DOMS in my upper legs from the step ups and squats - and while it is a nice feeling after such a long time - it is making me walk a bit funny LOL - someone at work said to me that it looked as though I was struggling with the extra belly and I said "no, no - it's just that my legs are a bit sore from yesterdays strength work" - I don't think that she believed me.

This weekend we are moving into the new house. I don't really think that there is all that much I am going to be able to do to help.
But there is some cleaning to be done at the new place and we need to decide where everything is going to go and all that.
Tonight we are going over there to make a list of all of the maintenace things that need doing. I feel that it is easier to see what needs doing when there is no furniture there.
Generally what we do is make a big list and then whenever Mark feels the need to do something - he picks something off the list based on how rich he is feeling that week.
Here are a few pics - now that we are home owners again.

Well....

this morning I was up with the birds because the beautiful early morning light comes streaming through our bedroom window. I lay there for about 20 minutes conscious of not waking Mark and then I thought - hey! Why don't I head out for a morning walk.

So I headed out for around 35 minutes - only problem is that I don't seem to be able to just walk when I am by myself - and I ended up jogging. It was comfortable and felt quite good. I just took it really easy and stopped to walk a couple of times to lower my heart rate a bit.

It was such a georgous morning here is Canberra today though - not too cold and there was a slight fog rising up off the lake.

So I remembered why my ipod was my friend again.

When I got back to the park that is right before our house, I stopped and did 3 x 15 step ups onto a park bench and 3 x 10 sets of squats. Boy - am I feeling it in my legs already. But it is a good feeling.

I have a theory that exercising in the morning makes you more efficient - especially if you are already slightly organised. I managed to go out for the walk, have a shower, iron my clothes, put make up on and have breakfast and still get out the door faster than I normally would when I don't go walking. Hmmn..... not sure how that works.

I think that I am going to keep my walking clothes and ipod out by the bed and handy - ready for those days when i am wide awake and there is nothing better to do.

That new song - Just Dance - by Lady gaga has a great beat for step ups and dips (lunges too I imagine!).

AND just because the majority of you who played my little guessing game were wrong - I will reaveal that we are having a BOY!

It is so nice to be able to say he rather than it! LOL

How much I have grown!

Here is the ultrasound from our 12 week scan:

And here is the 20 weeks scan!

WOW! Such a big difference in size! Pretty cute though!

So...... the majority of you think that we are having a girl....... I guess time will tell as this time tomorrow morning hopefully I will know.

It will be a little while yet though before I reveal to the blog world which it is because I want to wait and have a little bit of fun with my family and friends in Brisbane next week first though.

For the rest of the world if people want to have a guess I am cool with that but I am not going to offer the information up. I think it will be more fun to tell random strangers who feel the need to contemplate the sex of my child that we don't know what we are having and then when they try and guess I can chuckle silently to myself if they are wrong.

Of course there is every possiblility that we won't be able to find out tomorrow - it all depends on how the baby is lying and whether the sonographer can get everything in the right positioning.

This afternoon we are going to do the final inspection on our new house and then on Thursday afternoon we get the keys - yeah!

Mark has managed to book a truck for this weekend to - so hopefully we will be in there by some time next week.

Can you tell I am really looking forward to having my own space again... and my own kitchen and washing machine.. ahhh bliss.............

WooHoo

Well the scales made me ever so happy this morning when they told me that I had only gained 200g since last Tuesday.

I said to Mark - I didn't think I would ever be happy to see the scale weight going in the upwards direction - but hey - 200g is much better than 800g. I would be entirely happy to continue the 200g per week rise.

I didn't really stick to any enforced eating regimen last week either. Sure I toned it dow a little but not too much.

This week though I feel that I may not have any trouble toning it down because whenever I eat I am full within minutes. It seems as though the little one may be starting to encroach into my stomach space and there isn't as much room for food - well there is still as much room but if I use it all it gets pretty uncomfortable pretty fast.

So now - despite the fact that I only ate a 1/4 of my Lamb and potato curry for lunch and 1 small yoghurt pot, I am stuffed to the brim and feeling rather bleugh!

I had some yoghurt mixed in with fresh passionfruit and a banana for morning tea today and it was great. I will be repeating that one tomorrow for sure.

I just don't seem to be able to get enough fruit at the moment and am loving Mangos, Passionfruit, Strawberries, Frozen blueberries and Oranges. I think all of the different colours really make me feel alive.

Tomorrow I think I might have to have a really nice salad roll. Do I constantly think about food???? Hmmn... yes..yes I do. LOL.

This morning when I had my yoghurt I was thinking about a girl I used to work with who had the most awesome looking fruit salads every single day. She was really full of vitality and health. She inspired me to make a big fruit salad tonight so that is what I am going to do.

Happily Tired

It has been a massive weekend and I am tired but am feeling like it may actually be energising.

I'll Start at Sunday afternoon and work backwards.

This afternoon I went to a Body Shop at Home party at an extended family members house. It was good to be able to try a few body shop products properly and not be annoyed by sales assistants. The theme was a hands party so we all had a little hand treatment with the body shop products. it was quite nice.

I bought a fragrance from their new range - Aqua lily - it is nice and light and summery and I feel as though it will be a good everyday perfume for summer.

More exciting though - I booked in to have a party of my own as part of my baby shower in early December. I am having a spa indulgence party.

This morning we went to the annual Canberra flower show - Floriade. To be honest I wasn't all that impressed. The Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers is better in my opinion. Here is a pic I took of some flowers that were arranged to look like some piaon keys. The theme is Australian Films -so this one was meant to remresent the movie Shine - only problem is, they didn't have any viewing platforms high up to see the arrangements properly. So I'm not sure what the point of arranging them that way is!




There is also a gnome painting competition and I thought this one done up like Babe was quite good.





Last night we drow about half an hour north of Canberra to go to a friends 40th in Gundaroo This little guy was her birthday present - I thought he need a bow to brighten him up a bit. He is pretty cute!

Such a lovely quaint town, I would really like to go and have a look during the day. We started off at her house and then moved down to the local pub for a dinner. Biggest steaks I have ever seen - they literally took up half the plate. The pub was very lovely - all in all the town had a lovely atmosphere.


Yesterday was spent shopping and car washing. It feels so good to have a clean car again. There were storms here in Canberra last week and there must have been a dust storm at some stage because my car was filthy and covered in red dust.

Now I am tired but hopefully it means that I will get a good nights sleep tonight. I am really looking forward to the scan on Wednesday!

It has just taken me around 2 hours to do this post. uploading pics can take such a long time!

Drowning in work

It's amazing..... I haven't been this fullfilled by my professional work in SUCH a long time. I just didn't stop today, saw patients, dealt with an emergency patient from ICU and am feeling very challenged. It's a big change from what I was used to before.

I think that despite all of the things that are going on with the family etc, in the long run I think the move will be a good thing for me. But I really do miss my Brisbane friends and Brisbane in general.

I am not sure that having 12 months off work is the best thing for me to do next year but I gues that I don't really have a choice there. I might see how me and bubs are going after 6 months and then investigate the prospects of going back early. Although It makes sense to use up all of the paid leave that I am entitled to, and that is about 8 months worth. It would depend on Childcare as well. I am only going to go back to work 3 days per week when I do go back though.

So I had a relatively good day yesterday, ate all of my pre prepared food and felt really good until about 3pm when I started to get a bit foggy headed - it was definitely a case of my body reacting to not having as much sugar as it would usually get. I caved in and had a latte and a few arrowroot biscuits.

Today was a total write off. But it is all in the mind and I just need to find the right level of motivation. It's coming - I can feel it.

I feel great when I eat fresh, healthy things that aren'nt pre prepared and I know this. THe thing is - it is difficult for me to eat healthy food without being in a dieting mindset. I just have to remind myself that I do have enough "spare" calories to have a treat if I want it. But small treat NOT a Chocolate milkshake AND a caramel Scroll from the bakery. (that was today's breakfast)

But a freddo frog (one small freddo frog) at afternoon tea is not going to break the food budget by any means!

I did the maths via Calorie king on some of my past day's worth of food and compared it to my Basal Metabolic Rate for my current weight and activity level (Which I consider sedentary at the moment) and I am not surprised that I was putting on 800 g/week - the maths told me it all clear as day.

I can eat up to 1800 - 2000 cal per day and on that I should be able to maintain easily. If I get some decent walks in on the weekend that will give me even more freddo frog leeway.

Now all I have to do it get the self talk aspect right and get past the simple sugar slump of the first few days.

Pregnancy Weight Gain

Is getting me down majorly and I think that I really need to rein it in a little on the nutrition front. I have put on 9 kg in the 12 weeks since discovering I was pregnant(and yes - I know that some of that is baby related but really - it only weighs around 200g right now!) . This is a little more than the recommended weight gain - 5 of those kilos were in the frst 6 weeks. I think that was mainly due to needing to eat all the time just to stay feeling well and not like throwing up!

I have been feeling 100% now for about three weeks and I think I am still eating like a crazy person because I have gained around 800g per week in each of those 3 weeks.
The "recommended weight gain" is around 500g a fortnight - and I would be content with that - but at the rate I am going (if it keeps up like this) I will end up weighing in at 100kg by the time the baby is born and be a major candidate for gestational diabetes.

I think that I have lost all of my discipline and definitely got into a "oh well - now I can have 9 months off" attitude. I have had no discipline in food prep or fresh grocery purchases and at the moment I am only exercising on the weekends. I sleep in until 7 am (nearly) every day - just because I can. I think that I should be using that time to get up and go walking - at least a couple of days per week to try and slow this weight gain back to the healthier rate.

I'll continue this post later on because I need to think a little more....

So, now I have been to the shops and stocked up on all the things I need to start having a bit more discipline.

Back to planning each meal I think is a good start. At least then It is all there for me and I don't get to 7:30 in the morning (when I leave at 7:40) and find I don't know what I am going to eat each day.

So I have made some vegetable pasta with light evaporated milk, honey seeded mustard, asparagus, tomato, capsicum, peas and beans. That will see me through lunch for the next few days.

I have snacks planned as well.

Don't get me wrong I'm not going back to cutting calories drastically, i'm not trying to lose any of the weight - just maintain it where it is at right now for a few weeks at least. That way I should be close to back on track with the weigh gain at 500g/fortnight - because seriously I don't want to be giving birth to a 14 pound baby!

Crystal Clarity

I have been feeling incredibly mentally sharp today and I think that it definitely has something to do with having gone to the coast for the weekend.

I was struggling with motivation for uni things and feeling generally downflated and flat but the weekend away of doing nothing but relaxing seems to have worked a treat.

We have a fairly quiet week ahead of us this week which is OK because the coming week ahead is going to be huge. So many big things hapenning next week.

I am really looking forward to it!

What an awesome weekend.

Mark and I got away from it all and went to the coast this weekend and it was awesome! I didn't take this picture but it is a pic of the beach where our house is.
On saturday it was so warm and lovely, I just couldn't get enough of the beautiful sun. It was so nice to be able to wear a skirt and short sleeve top and expose skin that hasn't seen the sun in three months.
We walked on the beach, read books and chilled out. Had beautiful fresh seafood for dinner last night and an equally beautiful breakfast of pancakes with fresh strawberries this morning.
It was my goal this weekend to drink lots of water and eat lots of fruit - and I did both.
I had a Mango, 2 pear, a punnet of strawberries and mandarin as well as natural yoghurt with passionfruit.
Bring on Summer I say because between Summer and finally having our own house again I think that I am just going to be thriving!!

Now... does anyone one else think it is slightly unethical to have a spray tan when you are 20 weeks pregnant??????

I really want to get one for the wedding I am going to in brisbane but I am fighting my ethical side.

Spring is just teasing!

Today the weather man told us that it was going to be 21 degrees in Canberra - well it might be that somewhere in Canberra but not at the place the weather pixie gets measured at!



Despite today not being the day for the blog party just yet it is still lovely outside and I will probably go out and sit in the sun for lunch.

Only Just under two weeks until our house settlement date which I am really looking forward to AND ond three weeks until I get to go to Brisbane for a visit! Yay. If anyone is keen for a catch up while I am up there please let me know. At this stage Friday is fairly free but I have to go to a wedding and do family duties on the Saturday and Sunday.

I think that I am going to swelter because I have well and truly acclimatised down here. But I know that I *should* be able to wear skirts and t-shirts in Brisbane in october withour fear of freezing should I walk into a shadow.

Mark and I are heading dow the coast to Bateman's bay this weekend just to have some chill out time to ourselves for a couple of days. We have a family house down there and all we are planning on doing is going for walks and going fishing with hand reels. If I can find my camera battery charger tonight I will attempt to take some pics but at this stage it is missing which is a bit sad.

On September 24th we are going to find out if our baby is a boy or a girl - I think I might put a poll up in the side bar so people can have a guess. That might be a bit of fun!

16 week update

I have been a bot slack over the past few weeks and not taken any pics.
Pretty much because I didn't really feel as though there had been any real changes. But now - as you can see above - there most definitely is a defined bumb hapenning.
apart from that, the first week of Spring here in Canberra has been miserable and thus I declare that spring doesn't officially start until the temperature hits 20 degrees celcius. On that day I will have a blog party!

Now that it has been almost three months since arriving in Canberra, I am starting to feel a little more organised and settled. I think that sometime it is the things that make life comfortable - such as little rituals and habit that surround the place where you live are as difficult to leave behind as the house and suburb itself.

Not moving directly into our own house has made it a little more difficult I think because we have had to get used to working in with the rituals and habits of someone else as well.
One of the things I did regularly and was very dilligent with was fortnightly menu planning. I always knew exactly what there was in the house to cook a range of different meals at any given time. I had a habit of sitting down on a Sunday once a fortnight and writing out a "menu" for the fortnight so I knew exactly what i had and what I needed to get from the shops.

Since moving here it has been difficult to keep that up - firstly because of the kitchen sharing factor and secondly because I just didn't feel like cooking for such a long time. The other thing that was difficult was not knowing where the best place to go grocery shopping was - finding a good butcher and vege shop etc

So this week I have managed it and here is what is on my list:
Chicken and Vegetable Risotto
Spaghetti bolognaise
Quiche and vegetables
Lamb and spinach curry
Vegetable Ravioli
Bought meat pie and vegetables
Taco's

I know that the list is really only for one week. But I always make too much and have leftovers which I freeze. Then next week on a few nights we will pull out the leftovers and I will come up with a few more meals for next week as well.

It feels really good to be getting back towards being organised. The small amount of running I have been doing is making me happy. It feels good to be doing it purely for fitness and not for weight loss purposes.

I know that next year I will probably have to resume the weight loss journey for a little while - but I really do know what works for me now. I have good habits and strategies there and I know exactly what I need to do - when the time comes.

Nearly halfway through the week - tomorrow is Wednesday - then I have Thursday off work - yay!

Fantastic Monday

How rare - to have a title like that on a Monday - but I just had to post to say how amazing I am feeling today - Dare I say it - I think this might be what normal feels like. It is now after lunch and I still have energy, I don’t even feel like a little nap! It really is good to be able to appreciate what feeling good feels like! Now - If only I could feel good about eating salad and healthy things again - not that I haven’t been eating healthy things - I have been eating a lot of home cooked things actually.

Tonight I am contemplating making a Quiche - I have never made a quiche before so it should be interesting! I was also feeling good yesterday - so I thought that I would make the most of it and have a bit of a cooking session so that the freezer would be fully stocked for the nights when I might not be feeling fantastic.

I made a huge batch of slow cooked spaghetti bolognaise sauce, I also made a big batch of Red Lentil and Bacon soup - which may just be the tastiest soup I have made for a long time!! Here is my MishMash recipe:

Lentil and Bacon Soup

1 Tblsp Olive oil
2 Red Onions
1 Large teaspoon of minced ginger
2 carrots, Grated
1 Parsnip - chopped into cubes
2 stalks of Celery - chopped small
1 Lt of Vegetable stock
1 Cup of red lentils
200g Bacon, chopped into small pieces
Ground black pepper

Brown Onion in oil with ginger until golden and soft. Add grated carrot, Pepper, Stock and Lentils, turnip, celery and bacon pieces. Bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 - 1.5 hours, stirring occasionally. Once cooked, Let to cool for a little bit - then blend with a stick mixer until smooth. Enjoy!

I don’t actually have a good Stick mixer but I have been using Mark’s mum’s which is a bamix one. I know that Bamix are expensive - in fact I don’t even know if you can get them any more! But - a really good quality stick mixer with a food processing attactment is definitely on My list of must haves for once the Baby is ready for mushy solids. I can’t wait to be able to experiment with making my own baby food - so i will be adding that one to my list of things to buy for sure!

You Just wouldn't Know

that i ran a half marathon three months ago. I know I'm not fat but by golly does the tiny little munchkin make me feel that way. After my brilliant effort yesterday morning and feeling fabulous as a result for around 3 - 4 hours. I got very tired around lunch time yesterday. I had excellent intentions of repeating my efforts today - however - my body had other ideas. I have been quite uncomfortable all day today and I decided in the end that apart from the few errands I had to run - today would be better spent relaxing.

12 weeks and 5 days today - and after the shock of the cost involved - this week I got myself an obstitrician - Its a bit silly really because I tend to lean more towards the less medical model of thinking when it comes to these things. But wanting to have the baby in a private hospital means that in order to do that I am required to have an obstitrician.

Annoyingly expensive - let me tell you! I was forced to purchase some materinty clothes this week as my own clothes are just too tight now - and quite uncomfortable. Anyway - here are some comparision pics.

(Will add these later)

11 Weeks 12 Weeks 5 days
Doesn't look all that different really - but believe me - it feels different. This week i feel so much bigger - and my work skirt is on it's last legs.

All very exciting really.