Internet Habits

Well my new found enthusiasm for the blog didn't last long...it's already been a week between posts! I think it's because internet time is so precious these days as I can only use the net when Cate is asleep - it's too hard otherwise as she wants to 'help' and that just goes nowhere.

First place I check on line is (99% of the time) Facebook. I am well and truly addicted and check it a minimum of twice a day if I am at home. I love everyone's status updates and I love using it to check out pics - I hate all the games and Farmville and what not.

After Facebook I usually move on to ebay (these days anyway). I have been on the hunt for a Phil and Ted's double pram and finally scored one last night. I have been outbid six times previously so am thrilled to have finally secured a pram. Only thing is that I am yet to hear from the seller and we need to tee up the fact that the pram is coming from Tassie in a few weeks. So hopefully I'll be reporting happy pram details around May 10th or so. Stay tuned.

After e-bay it's usually i-do. It's a wedding forum BUT I don't play in the wedding section, I play in the parenting section and love it there. There's always something to catch up on and now that I have been a part of the forum community for over two years I can safely say I have friends on there that I love chatting with. I was, in fact, inspired to start blogging due to the fact that many i-do girls blog and do it so well.

Other sites I visit regularly include my blogger dashboard to read everybody else's blogs (I'm still reading even when I'm not posting!!) and my ANZ banking site (boring and stressful. I hate money...or the lack of money anyway!). I'm also a fan of PostSecret and I have to check my emails at gmail too.

So that's me. By the time I get through all of that hours can have gone by...and I have to exist in the real world too! So poor blog, you are often neglected and shall quite possibly remain so.

The Great 'Vicks At Naptime' Incident of 2010

This one is for Biddo too because I know how funny she found it when she read about it on facebook. So, the Great 'Vicks At Naptime' Incident of 2010 starts out like this:

Cate has had a sniffle the last few days so I have been rubbing Baby Vicks on her chest at each nappy change. It smells divine and helps clear her blocked nose so I figured it couldn't hurt. WRONG!

Yesterday I changed Cate, rubbed Vicks on her chest and placed the opened container on the edge of her cot. At that moment she sneezed, snot went flying EVERYWHERE and I dived for a face washer to start repairing the damage. The result? A clean, snot free baby BUT an open jar of Baby Vicks remianed on the edge of the cot. You can see where this is going right?!

An hour later Cate went down for her nap. I rushed in to draw the curtains whilst her milk was heating then came back into the darkened room with my baby bundled up and deposited her and the milk in her cot, kissed her and left. No problems. An hour and half later she cried out for me and I walked in to collect her.

I opened the door and....uh oh...what was that overpowering smell? I mean, sure I put Vicks on her chest, but the whole room now smelt like Vicks. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't unpleasant but it was kinda weird....

...until I got to the cot and saw my daughter. OH MY LORD!!!!!! The Baby Vicks jar, now completely empty, rolled around the cot and Cate was COVERED in the stuff. Her hair, face, sleeping bag, bottle, sheets and toy mirror were COATED. Cue hysteria. From mummy of course - Cate thought it was HILARIOUS.

It's been a rather full on 24 hours since where I have bemoaned my forgetfulness endlessly and frantically phoned family and friends for advice as well as trawling the net for solutions. The end result: seven separate shampoos - some in the bath, some in the shower - two further washes in dishwashing liquid AND (the absolute winner) using a dry shampoo in a can. Twice. The end result is a little girl who may never want to have her hair washed again BUT one who has beautiful, clean, Vicks-free hair. Thank God for that!

Back in the game?

Guess what?

One of my besties read my blog. Finally someone I know read it and wrote to me about it and the funny thing is I have gone totally off blogging and haven't been here for weeks. But Biddo may have just inspired me to give it a crack again...her new blog is already cracking and it looks so pretty :)

I told her that I can't get the tone of this blog right. I don't know if I want to be funny, if I want to take the piss, if I want to be all serious and homely and mumsey...my tone seems to change each time I read a blog on my list. The other thing I've been thinking about since I fell pregnant is that I often write in this blog like it's a diary BUT it will never be that because other people (okay not many other people, but others all the same!) read it and you don't go sharing your diary around, do you? If I was truly blogging diary style, my pregnancy would have appeared on this blog in January when I found out. Because it's internet land though it stayed a secret until after the 'safe' mark.

It's also weird because I don't know who's reading it or when...my aunt read this the other day and I nearly died of embarrassment, she must have thought I was so full of myself!

Because I haven't blogged in ages I've removed the link to this blog from my facebook page and my forum page as I thought I was going to let it die. Watching Biddo get into blogging though has reminded me why I was sucked in at the beginning...it's so addictive when you get on a roll. So maybe I'll give it another crack and see how it goes.

Over and out. For now...

Baby News

So at last I can explain why I haven't been blogging properly for aaaaaaages. Primarily it's because I have been feeling like crap. And the reason I have been feeling like crap?

I'm pregnant!!!!

Whoooo - freaking - hoo!!!!!

Even though many people know in the real world I have been keeping it a secret from the internet whilst I waited to reach 12 weeks. That little milestone happened yesterday and I am feeling good so here is news!

We were so lucky this time round, it was a much quicker process. It took four cycles to conceive (we conceived on the fourth) and I did it with a little bit of help from my old friend Clomid. Only difference was I used a girlfriend's left over packet without my doctor's supervision. I know. Bad. But, my logic was "hey, give this a go, see if it works, if not, no stress, back to the Fertility Specialist in Feb". I took a very low dose, much lower than I needed to conceive Cate and wham, bam, thank you M'am...it worked.

I took a pregnancy test only because hubby suggested it was a good idea as I was being a feral cow, having period like symptoms AND my sense of smell went through the roof...I could smell rotting mould everywhere, it was awful.

The test revealed a bright pink second line IMMEDIATELY :) I had to do a happy dance with Cate in the bathroom as we were the only ones home!

That was quite some time ago and, in the mean time, I have morning (more like all day) sickness, extreme fatigue and a whole lot of bloating. I'm looking fat and pudgey (not pregnant!) but feeling better and about to go and see my midwife for my first appointment.

Life is good :)

Shameless Show Off

Well I would have taken the lazy way out and just have loaded these on facebook sans long blog BUT my page is 'temporarily unavailable" which I hate. So here I am.

It would seem I have the cutest daughter in the universe who is also, by the way, the biggest show off EVER. The other day I induldged in some shopping...only a little bit as that is all I can afford and only for Cate because, let's face it, shopping for her is so fun, fun, fun. I can also justify her purchases much better than buying yet another top for me that I will probably wear two or three times before growing out of it (hehehehe - more to come on that little issue on Monday!).

Anyways I bought Cate new runners with...wait for it...velcro. Oh, she could die and go to heaven! This kid LOVES velcro! Her little runners are pink (God damn it I am SO OVER pink) but they are also white and they are as cute as hell. Missy fancies herself in them like you wouldn't believe.

Second purchase was a coat from Target. Here was the dilema: two coats, one a stylish and gorgeous trench style in a deep pink, very trendy, the other a hot, hot, hot pink parka style with green lining and a fur trim. Now, my tastes ran towards the former, the stylish trench. Unfortunately though, the trench was not anywhere near padded enough, not warm and snuggly enough for our cold winters. So I was forced to purchase the well padded but garish fluro pink fur trimmed coat. Sigh. MORE pink.

I need not have worried however, as Cate fell in deep, passionate love with her new fluro pink coat. She ran delightedly from the kitchen to the bedroom to stare at herself in my mirror, over and over and again. She who hates hats loved the fur trimmed parka hood and screamed when I took it off. So...even though I hate it, I now kinda love it, purely because it has delighted my girl so much. Proof is in the pudding up top :)

Three weeks later...

Time flies when you're not blogging. It's been three weeks since I was last here celebrating at my own pity party. I have five minutes to myself as hubby has taken baby for a walk - must be quick then.

Things are better? Worse? The same? No, they are better. Sleeping is still not great but I've done more reading (sigh) and implemented a few changes and they've worked a little. I got tougher on food and made up big freezer stashes of healthy things for Cate to try - I have had some success, more vegies, fruit, meat and fish have been ingested on some days, it's still pretty hit and miss. The horrid bout of teething that plagued the house for nearly a month has eased and Catie has two new molars and three other teeth (I don't know all the proper teeth names - so shoot me)half way there. I'm relieved the teething has slowed but am aware it will be back with a venegence...still a break is better than nothing.

So yeah, the pity party stuff has slowed down too.

There's been other exciting developments on the horizon too. My sister and her fiance have set the date for their wedding and picked a venue (Jan 29th 2011 - bring it on!), my parents have sold their business and are slowly getting through the last hand over weeks (final date is March 19th, can't wait) and we have started adding a third bedroom to our house - our new room! We have added a wall to our large upstairs 'loft' space and created a new room. Wardrobes are going in this week, air con went in last week, there's been painting and plastering and nails, bolts and screws - all very exciting stuff. Can't wait til it's finished and we can move in.

So yeah - life is better. We are running away next week for a mini break...will be back to blog and finally add some piccies after that!!!

Mother how you want to mother?

I am sick of apologising for not being motivated enough with this blog. So there. No apologies today.

Just read an interesting post titled 'Mother How You Want To Mother' and it got me thinking. While this post was about this particular mother's journey through the first seven weeks of her baby's life and I'm a long way past that heady stage, I started thinking about how I DON'T 'mother how I want to mother'. Not really anyway.

When Cate was little, it was easy. Sure there was sleep deprivation but, hello, there's STILL sleep deprivation. And everything else has gotten harder. My tiny little seven week old was an angel...feeding, burping, sleeping through...bliss. I am now dealing with a 'full of personality' toddler and man, it's a whole different ball park.

I always had in my mind that I, of course, would be SuperMother. No hesitation there. I just 'knew' mothering was something I would be good at. I had this image of having funny little kidlets who had great personalities, great manners, great respect for others. I would be firm but fair when it came to discipline, my children would know that my no MEANT no and I would make a few mistakes along the way (don't we all) but not many. In a nutshell: SuperMother come on down.

The reality is sadly different.

My dad says I am a Marshmellow Mother and, even thought I'm not as soft as he thinks, I am certainly not as 'tough' I would like to be when it comes to my little firecracker. I never realised I would be blessed with such a strong willed drama queen and I know I haven't always dealt with her in the best way possible.

I'm NOT mothering how I would like to mother. Cate gets away with murder because I've realised I'm more a "Peace At Any Price" mum as compared to a "When I Say No I Mean It" type mum. I have been horrified, literally horrified by the amount of utter crap my daughter has been eating lately and yet, tonight she ate chips from the chicken shop for dinner because I simply didn't have the energy to whip up something healthy she wouldn't eat anyways. I used to be tough when it came to her night wake ups...now I have reverted to getting her a bottle to get her back to sleep quickly as I crave sleep so desperately. She drinks too much milk, eats nowhere enough good, healthy food (or food full stop) and she frequently gets away with behaviour that she shouldn't (for example, climbing on the kitchen table or playing with my mobile phone) because I can't be bothered suffering through another tantrum.

Sigh. Pity party much?

Tired much?

Still here. Promise I am still here.

I am exhausted, bloated, tired, hot, cranky and exhausted but I am still here. Just ;)

Update:

Cate = Good. Generally happy. Apparently has decided that sooking and tantrums are reserved for Mummy's presence seeing as both Daddy and Granny and Gramps have reported perfect behaviour over the last few days I've been at work. As soon as I reappear my monster does too!

Justin = Good. Hardly seeing him at the moment as I work days and he works nights. But we need the money so cannot complain (plus I am being melodramatic. It's only for three days!)

Family = Good. Sister and her new fiance return from OS this Thurs and am peeing in my pnats to see them and celebrate their engagement (after nine years together!). Am hoping I shall muster some energy from somehwere before this big event.

Health = Fine and Dandy. Kinda. There's news on the brew that shall remain nameless for now. I am also in desperate, desperate news of a manicure but can't be fecked right now.

Bed time please :)

Banana Pancakes - YUUUUUUMMMM!

You all know cooking is not my thing. Fortunately, however, I CAN cook and LOVE to cook pancakes. Was a die-hard "pancake shaker in a bottle" fan until my good friend Mad Moro taught me how to make them from scratch and I realised how easy it truly is.

Best thing? Cate adores pancakes :)

Even better thing? I usually have milk, eggs, baking soda, caster sugar and self raising flour on hand.

Here's how it went tonight. Cate is still being a bratty with what she will and won't eat. Sigh. She did, however, wolf down a banana for afternoon tea. I'm sick of cooking sausages and fish fillets for her dinner so decided it would be banana pancakes tonight instead. A bit of a sweet dinner, but what the hell, I knew it would get eaten for a change...and it did.

So my very basic baby pancake recipe goes like this:

*Dash of SR flour
*Sprinkle of Baking Soda
*Sprinkle of caster sugar
*Splash of milk
*1 egg

Mix thoroughly until a batter forms. Adjust ingredients until it just looks *right*. I know this is incredibly unhelpful in terms of recipes but everyone knows what pancake batter looks like, right?

Tonight I added half of a mashed banana to the pancake batter.

(If I am poshing pancakes up for grown ups I use buttermilk and more quantities of everything. The above only makes a tiny baby batter suitable for about five pikelets.)

Pour batter into heated frypan after adding butter to make sure the pancakes won't stick. Flip the pancake when it starts to bubble.

Oooooooo, yummy. The mashed banana gave these a real kick and they were a big hit, Cate had four!!! Mummy scoffed the rest ;)

She Walks!

Hurrah!!! She really walks now, no doubt about it.

It seems my little love likes to take her merry time. When she started crawling, she got up one night in the kitchen, crawled, collapsed and didn't crawl again for nearly a month. I should have known the same thing would happen with her walking...and it did.

She took her first steps on Boxing Day - she walked four steps from my friends arms into mine. We all screamed and jumped for joy thinking 'this is it!'. Then, nothing. On Jan 15th, she got up and walked across the room! Cue more screaming and utter delight. She walked all night, meters and metres at a time, giggling and thinking she was tops. The next day I tried to convince her to show off her new skill to her daddy once he returned from work - nothing. In fact, not only would she not walk, she had a massive tantrum very time it was even hinted at!

A whole week later on Jan 22nd, Cate finally decided walking was for her - for real this time. She hasn't stopped since. Daddy bought her her first pair of shoes - a darling pair of navy blue leather sandals (I'm not saying how much they cost, you'll die. I usually don't spend that much on shoes for myself, let alone my 15 month old!). This morning Daddy and Daughtter walked all the way down the street and back - a HUGE walk for someone brand new at it! As a result, she collapsed into her cot and is sleeping soundly - bliss :)

That piccie shows Cate midstep :) She's wearing a gorgeous top her Aunty Stace and Aunty Rob gave her for her birthday - it finally fits!

A Food Disaster

Okay, the last couple of times I have blogged about baby food it's been to show off. I'll admit it. But tonight, dear reader, I have to admit to defeat. Massive defeat. Ooooo, it was a Carla Kitchen Disater tonight!!!

I thought I'd try whipping up something yummy for Cate with what I had in the house. Again. You might remember the Chicken Balls - they were a spur of the moment deal-e-o and they worked a treat. Tonight I used for inspiration a can of salmon. In all honesty, it was probably all down hill from there.

Thought I'd whip up some salmon patties for Cate. I used:
* 2 potatos, boiled, skins on
* 1/2 can of salmon
* Some chopped frozen onions
* Smidge of minced garlic
* A few basil leaves (why? They were there. No other reason)
* 1 grated carrot (sneaking vegies in no matter what)
* 1 knob of butter

Whizzied it all up in the food processor, had orange garlic smelling mush. Hmmmm. Added:

* Shredded tasty cheese
* 1 egg

and whizzied again.

Still not much better.

Over it by now and had a grumpy kid on my hands to boot. I rolled little salmon balls in bread crumbs and fried them in olive oil. Oh bad. Bad, bad, bad. They just wouldn't bond together, they were waaaaay too mushy. As I was trying to flip them, they would just turn into piles of sloppy mush.

I made six before I cracked the mega shits and chucked the rest of the orange garlic goo into the sink and blasted it away with hot water.

I presented one to Cate but she met it with distain. She poked it with a spoon for a few moments them demanded custard and two fruits, followed by strawberry yoghurt (she's no fool). Well, you win some, you lose some.

Postscript:
I did freze the five other salmon patties but do suspect the dog shall be enjoying those at a later date. Ha! Sucker dog!

Cate Update

I have been a very naughty blooger in 2010. Have been right off it in fact. Am hoping to be more inspired over the next few weeks as our new family routine settles down AND once Cate's top molars poke their horrible, sharp and pointy little heads through so my darling gets some relief.

I digress already.

I thought it was time for a Cate Update.

My little girl (and yes, she really is that these days, no longer a baby - sob!) is fifteen months old but, in reality, she thinks is is fifteen YEARS old and truly resents being trapped in her teeny tiny little toddler body. I am in awe of her strong and fiesty personality. I always imagined I would breed the 'perfect' child - sweet, gentle, loving, kind. Um, ooooooo-kay. Nope, it would appear that I have bred a stubborn, strong-willed, rough and tumble little tomboy...the only bit I predicted right was that she would be loving...she most certainly is :)

Since she was 9 months old Cate has been perfecting the art of the tantrum. She will tantrum about anything and everything with screams, wails and full 'flinging my body backwards on to the floor' moves. It used to terrify me, still embarrasses me and freqently gets me giggling (on my good days - bad days, not so much!). We spent Christmas at my parents' house and, as Cate launched her body into an Oscar worthy tantrum, she flung herself backwards into their concrete slab floor - OUCH. Since then, she still insists on doing the 'fling myself to the floor in disgust' move but now she does it slowly, checking for hard surfaces first. Fast learner this little bean of mine.

My mum thinks Cate is super, super smart. Indeed, there are many things about my daughter that amaze me. She is quick as a whip if she knows I am sneaking chocolate and now demands a portion for her silence on the matter. She loves putting adult shoes on and will pull my high heels out of the box and slip her tiny feet into them with a look that says "I know what this shoe business is all about" on her face. She has worked out how to climb up and down our stairs with ease, can open quite a few of the apparently child safety locked cabinets and loves to drag baby wraps out of her change table to use as dress ups. She's obsessed with gates and loves to swing on ours and my parents'. She can point to pictures when you say "Where's Mummy?" and she gets it right pretty much every time. She knows where her nose and her tummy are and delights in pointing them out to you on request. She LOVES giving big sloppy tongue kisses and does that often NOT on request! You can't put much past Catie - she knows what she wants and she is out to get it. Now, preferably.

It's these 'natural smarts' that stop me from fretting when I read other mummy-blogs and see how advanced other toddlers are. Cate has only just started speaking and it's very basic. She says 'mum' and 'dadda' but only when SHE wants to. She says 'ate' for Cate and 'duh' for duck. She makes a 'woof-woof' noise whenever she sees a dog (or a horse - seems we have a little way to go with animals sounds). And that's it. Apparently other children a mere two months older than Cate are talking in three word sentences already - glup! Also, on the walking front. Cate has only just started - she walked more than a few wobbly steps last Friday. It was AWESOME!!! But, since then, nothing. I swear to God she nearly ran 30 meters on Friday night yet, on Saturday morning when her daddy got home from work and I wanted to show off her new skill: nothing. Now when I ask her to walk whilst holding her hand she cracks it, plants her feet, bottom to the ground and the hysterics start. Sigh - I celebrated far too early it would seem!

She is obsessed with water. Obsessed - it is her true passion. The bath, the shower, the shower turned on IN the bath, the paddling pool, the dog water bucket, any bucket filled with water, the pool...the list goes on. We haven't yet hit the beach this summer, but when I took her at the start of October (it was freezing!) she crawled straight out into the water up to her mouth without a moment's hesitation. When I hang the washing on the line Miss follows me out and creeps to the dog bucket - most morning her pjs end up soaked as she sits her little bot down for a morning soak in water / dog slobber. No one can tell me this baby won't be well immunised!

Cate is the light of my life. She is SO VERY different to how I imagined she would be but I wouldn't change her. This firey little spirit is sure to be a go-getter, I think she will fight like a mad thing to get what she wants out of this life. Whilst this Catie Coo can definitely be trying at times, she is such a mummy's girl and such a sweet little softie that I am a great big pile of mush when it comes to her. Case in point: this morning my darling woke at 5am. Gave her her morning bottle but nope, she didn't go back to sleep: noooooooooo. I changed her bum, fresh pjs on (she's a heavy night wetter at times) and slipped her into bed with me, wildly hoping it would work (she hates co-sleeping, is a wriggle bot and a star fish sleeper - needless to say we are not so fond of it either!). Well, she spooned into me, put her hand on my face and slowly dozed off - and stayed that way for nearly and hour and half. I woke up to tiny litle fingers poking my eyes - "time to wake up now Mummy". Cracked open my blearly eyes to find my beaming bambino. Life doesn't get any better ;)

Lots of piccies for you! Most of these are from a professional shot that was organised as a gift for my 30th birthday. I also added a pic of my little Miss with her pigtails in (soooooooo damn cute!) and one her playing with Daddy's shoes. Sweetie!

I did it again...

...I cooked something! Amazing!

Admitedly, it was for Cate. Again. Because she's the only person I like cooking for. Because, it's usually easy. And, no surprises here, it WAS easy today.

I was on my on-line forum this morning and I stumbled across a recipe for Chicken Balls. I liked the sound of them and wondered if I could make them without leaving the house to purchase ingredients. With a little bit of tweaking, I could.

Here is a basic wrap up of ingredients as I used them:

* 3 chicken thighs
* 1 frozen spinach 'block'
* 1 cup mixed frozen vegies (carrot, potato, peas, corn maybe?)
* 1/2 cup frozen onion
* Small little tiny bit of minced garlic
* Little bit of cracked pepper
* Dash of garlic soy sauce
* 1 cup of shredded tasty cheese
* 1 teaspoon cornflour
* Bread crumbs.

Whizzy up the chicken in the food processor and put to the side. Whizzy up the vegies and add to the chicken(defrost what you need to). Add the cheese, garlic, soy, pepper and flour and mix. Place bread crumbs on a plate. Roll little balls out of the mixture, roll in breadcrumbs and lay on a baking tray well greased. Bake for half an hour on 180 degrees until golden brown.

Very easy and, like I said, I had all the ingredients on hand. I have snaffled a few since they came out of the oven and YUM. Best bit - check out the piccie above. Success!

Still Here

I've been a bit quiet in the new year. There's been lots going on.

First, it was NYE. Then it was my surprise 30th birthday party. The day after that, it was Justin's birthday, two days later it was my birthday. Three days after that it was 'Two Weddings in ONE Day' day. Phew. I am exhausted just reading that back!

On top of all of these events, there's been stress and tension surrounding me as Justin and I keep trying to sort out this new life as a firefighter / firefigher's wife. We're good now, but it's tough fighting it out and there's been a bit of that. So that's added to the lack of blooging as well.

Plus, don't forget the ever present Cate. My darling dauhgter has been having a terrible time with teeth and tantrums. Her tantrums are becoming epic and, as a result, very problematic. Her teeth are driving her nuts and most nights she needs a strong dose of baby panadol before bed. Sleep has been erratic at best. So add the Cate factor the explain lack of blogging.

Now...I am good, well and happy. Really had a ball yesterday at two fantastic weddings. Came home today hungover and exhausted and Cate and I napped for three and half hours - oh yeah baby! We spent the rest of the day in her paddling pool in the garden and my tired, tired little bean went to bed without any drugs and without a peep at about 8pm tonight. It would seem she's as tired as me!

So, niht night. Time for more sleep.

The Big Three Oh

I'm turning thirty in a few short hours. Holy crapola - where did all that time go?

Honestly, I've been fine with it. Seriously. Not phased. Hmmmmmm.

Hubby threw a suprise party for me on Saturday night, it was fantastic. About twenty friends and family in a nice local restaurant, we had the place to ourselves, the food was yummo and presents, my Lord, the presents I was soooooo spoilt. I drank too much, partied too hard, had a ball and ended up tucked in bed with a bucket at 1.30am. Whoops.

And my friends (lots of whom are older) were constantly telling me how well I've done, how accomplished I am for turning thirty. They added it up for me: married (for nearly five years), mummy (to a darling 15 month old), professional (okay, that's stretching it, I'm a teacher and have been for seven years) and home owner (LOVE my house. Although there IS a strange smell coming from it these days, it's sour and yucky and I can't find it, damn it. Driving me mental!). I am also surrounded by a gorgeous fam (I actually really love all my family members and count my sibs as up there with my besties) and absolutely amazing friends.

And all of that is true.

So why, why, why have I been feeling so down lately? Is it all hitting me in some way of which I'm unaware? Is it the clomid mucking my brain up? Is it hubby's new job, new routine etc? I don't know. I just know I need to get over this funk and fast.

Frustrating as hell.

So I'll be spending the last few hours of my twenties sleeping (once I get off the damn computer). See you on the other side of 29.

PS There are some piccies from the surprise 30th. Me and my cake (my dad made it!), me and my hubby and the last two show off the party guests. It was an a amzing night, I am a lucky lady.