Not heaps to talk about tonight... but yet I am online so thought I would do an update anyway.

Work was interesting yet again as L has handed in her resignation and will be finishing 2 weeks prior to me starting my parental leave! So the boss is starting to stress a bit which is totally understandable! As his most experienced staff member who has been there for over 4 years is now leaving and will be taking so much knowledge with her but she is being great and doing up procedure sheets etc for when she goes. And then of course then I disappear for a wee while (unless of course I can find myself a job in the Hutt Valley whilst on Parental Leave) so that only leaves the boss and the new lady "P" and if they are lucky a couple of temps...

I omitted to mention in last nights post that yesterday I reached 30 weeks in the pregnancy! So wow only 10 weeks to go!!!! And I am sure that time will fly with still so much to do around the house and finances to sort.... but am sure (and really hope) that things fall into place within the next 5 weeks so I can really relax. I am really starting to get uncomfortable at night time now and am really missing sleeping on my tum and back so I find I am waking feeling all grumpy etc... but I know all this is part of being pregnant and I know in 10 weeks or so things will be totally different but from a totally different aspect of course!

Right time to get moving.... got a fairly busy weekend ahead of us - well ok a busy Saturday anyway and then Sunday we will be under coating the nursery.

Hi all

Before I get started, I just want to say a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to both Jodie and "A mummy losing it" on the birth of their daughters yesterday! So many babies in blogland at the moment which is fantastic! I can't wait to see the photos and hopefully they will share some details of the birth as well as I do love reading birth stories!!! :)

Not too much to report tonight but as I am home alone... waiting for a phonecall from Jude's mum - ooops just finished talking to her now - her ears must have been burning! LOL We are hoping to get up to visit them in Foxton on the 25th Sept but not making any promises to them just yet as we will see how I am feeling as well as how much progress we have made on the nursery etc...

Work was very interesting today but will reveal more when I can... but too busy but like I have said this is the definite calm before the storm! Have sussed out my Annual Leave days for my last weeks... so Friday 22nd Sept will be my first day off and then the next 3 Wednesday's before finishing on the 18th October.

Met with the bank today at lunch time and the opition that Steph and I had come up with re mortgage payments is looking ok at the moment but as I didn't go to our normal branch, they are going to call our file in and get back to me either tomorrow or Friday so please do keep your fingers crossed because if we don't get this - then we may end up having to look at selling up! After the bank, I met up with S who is part of my support crew for the birth (support crew being Steph and two special friends of mine) and I had to laugh as S wanted McDonalds so I ended up having two fillet-o-fishes! Boy they were good! LOL And it was great to catch up with her and have a talk about our inital birth plans etc...

Anyway, best I get moving - have this craving for the boysenberry ripple ice cream that is sitting in our freezer...

Catch ya all later

Hi ya

Well firstly looks like its gonna be a great turnout for lunch when Chubbymum is down in Wgtn in just over 4 weeks time! :) Must remember to call the cafe tomorrow and see if we can get their function room (providing there is no charge for it) and will keep everyone posted once I have spoken to them.

I had my performance review today and all went well although as I am near the top of my salary band there is a high chance I will get a very minimal increase which really suxs big time!!! The boss is going to try to get us a bonus but am definitely not holding my breath on that one! A few other things happening at work which I can't go into here but will be an interesting outcome in the next few days... Oh I have spoken to my boss today about taking a days annual leave each week in the last month so I only have 3 full weeks left of work (including this week) and then from there on I will take each Wednesday off as Annual Leave. It would be great to have Friday's off but that doesn't suit our workload and I am conscious of the fact that I still need to help out as much as I can in the time I have left there. I have also told him that I may not work the weekends if they are needed in the next 3 weeks or so as I just don't think I am up to it and besides I have heaps to do on the home front! LOL And with the new lady "P" on board who has picked things up real quickly the weekend work may not be required.

I am also waiting to hear news of Jodies impending birth of her first baby... she was induced yesterday but still no news as yet! So I am checking her blog reguarly during the day! But shhhh don't tell the boss! LOL My friend Jo is also now overdue by 3 days and is getting impatient so at least 7 days to wait for her induction if her wee girl hasn't made an appearance by then!

Not much more to say really... oh I knew there was one more thing I was gonna say - next week we start our Antenatal classes!!! Now thats real scary for me!!! LOL

Catch ya all later xx

Oh FFS!!! I was half way through my entry when I hit a button in my speed of typing the entry that somehow I lost everything! GRRRRRRRRRR Now I have to think back to what I was saying... and with preggy brain that is definitely easier said than done at times!

I wanted to say thanks to you all for your comments about the updated photo shot... I personally didn't think it was the best of photos but thats cause I took it myself in the bathroom mirror but thats only because I was so impatient and didn't want to wait until Steph got home from shooting! LOL

Back to yesterday, we didn't do too much really... had a sleep in before getting up and just blobbed out for a wee while before getting the housework done. After we had done that, Steph got stuck into wiping down the walls and window sills in the nursery with a sugar soap solution to ensure that they are all nice and clean for when we do the undercoating next week. We had initally thought we would be able to do the undercoating yesterday as well but common sense between us said to leave them until next week to ensure the walls are totally dry!

After lunch, we thought we would pop up to Upper Hutt to wander around for a wee while before heading to Stephs parents to catch up with them. So we thought we would pop into Farmers and have a look around and whilst there we managed to score a wonderful bargin! They had a cot there that is normally priced at $399 and had it reduced it down to $150 due to end of line clearance! And as we had $100 gift voucher in my bag (from a christmas present last year) this would mean we would only have to fork out $50 for a brand new cot! So who could refuse a deal like that??? Certainly not us! So we now have all the big purchases that are required for this wee princess of ours... now we just have to get her room painted so we can get it all set up! LOL

Today, work, boring ole work! LOL Not a lot to report on that front... just plodding on. This could be our last quiet payroll for quite some time! And for me there are only 3 more pay days to go before I finish up!!! Ouch that's real scary!!! LOL

Right not a lot more to say really - oh only 5 more weeks until ChubbyMum and her family come down to Wgtn for a visit! Can't wait till then!!! It's gonna be so much fun :)

Catch ya all later

This was taken this evening by yours truely so please do excuse the quality - 29wks 3 days





And in comparison, this was the last one taken at 22wks 5 days.

Have had a good day despite the disgusting weather we have had. Both Steph and I checked out the local day care centre that had the open day this morning. Steph was really impressed with it (I had already been through it once) and we got our questions answered and a couple of issues sorted. The only hiccup could be if I go back to work part-time... so if I end up doing that we will probably have to use a private care giver.

Have just sold 3 surplus heaters on TM as well as 4 CD's :) The one that amazes me the most is a CD that we bought for $6.99 at the Warehouse for our wedding (and never used) and despite the price label being very clear in the photo - we have sold it for $13.50!!! Two bidders have been going flat out bidding for it! Definitely made me smile :)

No housework done yet today - oh wait I have done the dusting today which was well over due! But no vacuming etc done as yet but hey theres always tomorrow. Steph has been at a shooting comp all afternoon and has just txt me to say he made the final so hopefully he should be home about 7.30ish - or he had better be cause I am super hungry!!! LOL

Right, no more blabbering from me - catch ya all later :)

Hi all

Yeap I am still here and all is well... no more spotting or cramping which is a great relief! But I have been out of town for the last couple of days for work - have been up in Tauranga and Rotoruaa doing a couple of site visits and attending an HR Meeting with all the HR Mgrs from the Bay Of Plenty Area. Was a great visit and the meeting today was very worthwhile. I loved the hotel I stayed in last night and it was awesome having a bed all to myself!!! LOL Had an awesome meal last night although I was Karen no mates LOL so the maitre'd (very clucky gay male) kept me company and entertained since I was the only one in the restaraunt at the time!

I don't think that bubs enjoyed the flights too much though as both there and back she was very active indeed with heaps of boots and kicking!!! Either that or she was throughly enjoying it! LOL

Not too much planned for the weekend at this stage, apart from the usual housework and groceries. One of the day care centres nearby that I have already looked at are having an open day tomorrow morning and as I have a few more questions for them I thought I would pop along for a wee while. I am wanting to catch up with a friend who lives over in Wainuiomata so will give her a call at some stage and try to pop over there for a coffee at some stage. And of course, there is the work on the nursery to be done as well - well the undercoating anyway. So no doubt it will end up being a pretty full on weekend as we usually seem to end up having them!

But right, its 9.30pm and I am shattered so am off to bed... catch ya all later. Hope you all have a good weekend.

Hi all

Well am at home today after a WEE scare yesterday afternoon.... went to the toilet just before heading home and had a wee bit of spotting along with a bit of blood when I wiped! Had a very gentle walk to the railway station and uncomfortable ride home on the train due to the period pain I was having and also the amount of movement I was getting from our wee girl (which I must admit did keep me reassured that all was ok) and then paged my MW when I got home and headed straight to bed! MW rung back and after a good chat with her, there was nothing to panic about and it was probably a result of the sex that Steph and I had on Sun (sorry if that was TMI) especially since I had been awfully tender at the time on Sun! So MW just suggested, I have a day of rest today and that I will be ok to fly to Tauranga and Rotorua tomorrow and Friday. I was to call her back if I had any further bleeding which I haven't but still woke feeling a bit crampy and also with a headache so yeap it was a definite day for staying at home! I have done one load of washing but that was only due to the fact that the hamper was overflowing for some strange reason! There is more washing to do - but that can wait till the weekend!

So apart from the washing, I didn't actually get up until about 10.15am which was nice and I felt a bit better. Didn't actually have a shower or anything till about 11.30am and that was only cause I was getting chilly sitting here in my nightie and robe! It was nice sitting here in the sun initially but it has disappeared behind the clouds :(

I also had some bad news yesterday after talking to the bank and due to the type of mortgage we have got (looong story) we are unable to take a mortgage holiday whilst I am on parental leave (that was our last option we were using) so I really don't know what we are going to do now. I do have a couple of ideas up my sleeve but need to really sit down and discuss them with Steph... Had a great talk to a couple of friends from work yesterday and they came up with some ideas for me to do whilst at home with baby so will investigate those as well. And whilst home today I will attempt to call IRD and talk to them about our eligiblity for Family Assistance and/or accomodation supplement and/or child care subsidy! I have never had a "hand out" before but hey I have paid my taxes for the last 22 years (from when I started working part time at the age of 13) so if I can get just a wee bit to help us out then I will apply for it! But whilst talking about this - a HUGE THANK YOU to Jodie and Carla for their emails yesterday and to Carla for the chat on MSN last night! It meant so much to me and helped through things. Jodie I got your email just as I was leaving work and as I am not there today, I haven't replied but thanks heaps guys xx Thank you to the others who have also been emailing and commenting and supporting me through the rough patch I am going through at the moment. I am trying to keep a handle on it all as I would hate it to turn to depression (have been down that track a few years back) so do bare with me if I have a negative post or a moan and bitch on here but as this is my journal I find sometimes this is the best place to vent my feelings!

But anyway, I might head to the couch and watch a DVD... oh I am reading everyones journals - just been a bit slack leaving comments but trust me I am still reading them all the time!

*hugs* and thanks again to you all - I would be lost without you all xxx

Well am still having hormonal emotional moments so am just trying to take things one thing at a time one day at time. One moment I will be fine and the next I will be right down on the verge of tears (if not crying already).

Yesterday morning I was fine and Steph and I had some fantastic quality time whilst having a lay in which was great :) Made a start on the nursery by sanding down the windows and the walls (after Steph had filled all the wee holes with polly filla) and the ceiling.... we shouted ourselves lunch from the local bakery (as we had a wee win in lotto) and then after a bit of blobbing we ran out of motivation to start the undercoating so that will wait until this weekend. And then that seemed to start off another wave of emotional time (and a few tears) for the next few hours until I hit the sack!

Woke up today not feeling like going to work at all and it took until about lunch time before I seemed to come out of my rut! But then by the time I got home I was feeling down again until Steph and I combined efforts and started cooking dinner. We had Hunter Style Chicken on Rice (another receipe from the Food in a Minute cookbook) which was delicious and we both have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Currently watching the documentary on TV1 -"Having a baby ruined my life" which is filmed in England but so far its quite interesting. And having just asked Steph if he is having second thoughts already (first ad break just on now) and he said sort of! Ooops! LOL I know we won't be perfect parents nor we will have the perfect child/ren but we will learn as we go along, listen to advice on the way and we will manage in our way that suits our style.

79 days until the due date.... and only 42 working days left! Am contemplating about asking to take a days Annual Leave each week for the last 4 weeks or so but unfortunately that will be our REAL busy time (with perhaps weekend work involved) so I feel real bad asking for that time off but I do need to think of myself and the baby's health. Yes I could call in sick if I wanted too but don't want to use all my sick leave now as no doubt I will need it after bubs is born and she goes through the childhood illnesses!

Right time to get moving - catch ya all later

Ahhhh Saturday afternoon already - boy why do weekends go so fast yet the week days seem to drag on...

I had a better day yesterday after my post on Thursday evening... believe me things were a lot worse than I actually let on but didn't want to get myself too down as I was bad enough as it was! My moan and bitch could have been a lot worse but like I said I didn't want to go into all the details as I didn't want to bring myself down any lower than I already was. For those couple of you who asked what I ended up making myself for lunch for Friday - I ended up with egg sandwiches :)

I think some of my problems could be related to tiredness as I have worked out that I am averaging approx 6hrs sleep per night which I know for some is ample and for some they can only wish that they did sleep that long... but for me who used to easily have about 8hrs sleep a night, now only having the 6hrs most week nights is probably impacting on my hormones and moods! I have tried going to bed earlier but if I do that I just lay there for a good hour or so before I finally dose off.

And unlike others, I just can not spend the weekends in bed... I sometimes wish I could believe me! But if I ever do manage to do that, I feel like I am wasting the day away which is why I am usually up by about 8.30am at the weekends as for me that is still an extra 2hrs or so in bed so that is a lay in....

This morning, I headed down to Lower Hutt and did my 28 week Gluclose blood tests. The drink wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but I did start struggling with it by the 2nd cup but got it all down! So whilst filling in the hour before they did the next blood test I went for a walk to Baby Factory and got a wee present for a friend of mine who had a wee girl during the week. My other friend Jo hasn't had her wee one yet but fingers crossed it will be happening this week :) Back to the lab for the rest of the test and then home...

Steph had done the majority of the housework by the time I got home which was great but I do want to get stuck into the dusting at some stage as that hasn't been done for a while but whether I get to it today remains to be seen.... After having some lunch, we went and did the groceries. Now we are home again, Steph is reading the paper and I am blogging (obviously). Not sure what we are doing this evening as yet but might head down to his brothers place to take my old computer down to them as well as his nieces birthday present (only 10 days late).

Then that means tomorrow we can start moving stuff out of the nursery into the spare room and then once that is done, we can start sanding, painting etc... my nephew who is the sparky is going to come down from Palmy on the 9th Sept to install our new power points, light fittings etc... so just trying to work out if we aim to get all the painting etc done by then or if we just have the room sanded and prepared and then do the actual painting after Rob has done his things around the place.

We definitely have one very active baby which is still amazing me and Steph finally got to see my tum move last night which was cool and as usual she is jumping, kicking around whilst I am typing away!

Anyway, not much more to say really - but thanks again for your support on Thursday evening and yesterday - as always it is very much appreciated.

Hope you are all having a great weekend... catch ya all later

"Don't know............"

Warning - "me" post ahead!

I am in such a "Don't know" mood! This is where I don't know how I am feeling, what I want to do, and just want to sit here and cry!!!!

I wanted to go to Farmers cardholders night this evening to start the christmas shopping now that I have had some ideas of what people want... but I didn't want to go either...

I know I have to make lunch for tomorrow as I ended up having to buy lunch today but don't know what I want...

I have restless legs and don't know whether I want sit, lay or walk...

I want to cry but I haven't got the energy to do that...


But anyway, enough of me and my moaning... just wanted to say I had a fantastic night out last night with the girls! I haven't laughed so much in such a long time and boy were there some interesting conversations taking place!!! LOL My cheeks and stomach were so sore when I got home from too much laughing and they were still tender this morning!

On that note I am going to sign off for now... just needed to moan and bitch for the night! Catch ya all over the weekend.

Hi ya

Just a quickie as its gone 9pm and we have just done the dishes after Edith (the MW) had gone... Another great visit from her - she is happy with the way everything is progressing and I got my blood/gluclose test form from her so will probably go and get that done on Saturday morning so fingers crossed all is ok there as I really don't want to go through the 2 hr one which is the next step if this one comes back high or borderline! She is now going to do the visits on Tuesday night which is great as that will mean will be here for them all now... still one more monthly visit and then will go fortnightly after that... Tonight we discussed the delivery of the placenta and what we want done with the placenta afterwards.

Still 3 weeks to go until we start our antenatal classes so will probably be one of the furtherest along in the class but we are looking forward to them and at this stage there is only one definite class that Steph will miss due to other committments... but I must say that things will be pretty full on for us during the weeks when they start with Ediths visits on Tuesdays, Steph shooting on Wednesdays and then the classes on Thursdays so lots of quick easy meal planning coming up I think!

Work today has been pretty cruisey especially this afternoon - boy it sure did drag on and on and on.... did a bit of surfing on the net for baby things which the boss got more clucky over than I did! LOL As much as he can be a pain in the butt at times I know he is really looking forward to this wee one arriving!

Not much more to say really so won't ramble on any longer than I have too.... am so looking forward to the girls dinner tomorrow night! No doubt there will be lots of chatting and laughter going on!!! :)

Catch ya all later

Thanks to Pauline and Anne for your comments on my weight during the pregnancy but please do note that my last offical weigh in was in fact SEVEN weeks ago! I have tried for the last 3 Saturday mornings to go to Barbara's for a weigh in to get an offical weight but I have been unable to get hold of her so I do hope all is ok... I did leave her a message on Saturday but haven't heard back from her as yet... So unoffically my pregnancy gain to date is sitting about 11 kilos which I guess over 27 weeks is not too bad. My offical MW (not the back up) is happy with it and the dietician is happy with it so if they then I am too! :)


Wow only 86 days left of the pregnancy!!! Time is surely flying! And only 47 days left of work!!! Now thats real scary.... along with the fact that I only have 4 pay days left... still heaps to get but am sure we will get there eventually!

Work today was not too bad, pretty quiet but the new lady P started today and so far so good :) We had a welcoming morning tea for her today which was scrumptious! Ate too much and then had a big lunch on top of that so have felt "too full" all day! I must learn that my stomach is indeed getting smaller as bubs grows!

Oh have the MW coming tomorrow night which is cool as that means Steph will be home and get to hear the HB etc which is great for him too... heard a sad story today about a lady who lost their baby at full term. Went into labour etc feeling movements, then by the time she got to the hospital the baby had died :( So, so sad...

And then am out Wednesday night for a girls night with some friends for dinner so am really looking forward to that!

Right off to make my sandwiches etc for tomorrow... catch ya all later :)

Sunday afternoon and all is well... quiet but well :) Sorry if I have had you worried Tarns but I occasionally leave my update till Sunday evening especially if I haven't been up to much :) But all is ok - just had a fairly quiet weekend overall.

Hmmm yesterday we didn't do anything too exciting really - housework, groceries, lunch, then I popped up to a girlfriends place for a good ole catch up with her which was great. She had another friend there as well who has a 5yr old and a 2 1/2 yr old who were so full on! This friend of my friend also gave me a big bag of baby toys, nappy holder, and a few other bits and pieces so that was really kind of her. Home and just basically just blobbed out for the rest of the afternoon. Had a yummy cottage pie made from the Food in a Minute book for dinner. Early night for me - think I was in bed just after 9pm admittingly it was after an argument with Steph but I knew I was tired and the best place for me was bed!

Today, I woke reasonably early and as the sun was shining, I got up and went for a walk! Yeap you read right - Karen got up and went walking! Albeit only for about 35mins and I think I covered about 2.2kms so it was definitely a slow one compared to what I was doing prior to pregnancy but considering how long it had been since I went for a proper walk (i.e. not counting my walk from the station to work each day) I felt I did quite well. I think I even had some Braxton Hicks whilst out walking as my stomach tightened off and on a few times so I just slowed down when it was tight and uncomfortable! But I must admit as tired as I was when I got back I felt really good for doing it. Blobbed out all morning just doing bits around home as Steph was busy trying to clean up my old PC so we can sell it to his brother (for his kids) so I had to go through all my doc's and emails and save the ones I wanted to save as there lots there from when Dad was sick and also a couple of poems that Jude had written for me etc which I didn't want to lose.

Helena popped infor a coffee and a chat for about an hour which was great! :) Talk about talking the time away - time always flies when we get talking :) After she left, I whipped up a batch of Crunchy Lemon Muffins and a banana loaf, did the dishes and am now blobbing out again! We have a lovely piece of corned silverside cooking away in the crockpot so am really looking forward to that for dinner! :)

So didn't get much work done in the nursery at all since there are still heaps of computer bits all over the spare room floor but hopefully they will all be gone by the end of the week and then we can move all the stuff from the nursery into there and really get going on the painting etc... Still not sure whether she likes the noise of the keyboard or hates it but boy she gets so active when I am on here typing away... shes not too bad when I am just surfing the net but once I get typing she starting kicking and moving around! LOL

Looking forward to my weekly bubble bath later on... and then going to bed to read my book. Oh before I go I must share with you all the CD I am listening to at the moment - its one I picked up from Countdown last week - its a kids one called "Travelling sing-along songs" and it has some awesome songs on it like: Puff the Magic the Dragon, Yellow Submarine, Going to the Zoo, Michael Finnigan, The Wheels on the Bus and my all time favourite Supercalifragilistic! I just love that song and I sing along to it much to Steph's amusement! I can't wait till we have this playing the car on our journeys! LOL

Right time to get moving... getting cold now so time to pull the curtains, put the heater on, etc... hope you all have a great week :)

Friday evening

Hi ya

Well another week over and another weekend begins... and at this stage we still don't have a lot planned which is good but feels funny at the same time if that makes sense.... guess it's because we are used to having fairly full on weekends! So we are hoping to spend a bit of time clearing out the nursery and preparing the walls and windows for painting (on top of the housework and groceries of course).

Work was pretty quiet today with L being away so it was just the boss and I and to save him moaning about his workload I helped him out as I had sweet FA to do today... I should be making the most of August as that is our "quiet" month before the mad rush of September and October before preparing for the Christmas "rush" but then of course I will be enjoying time at home with our wee one by then. Had some bad news this afternoon when we found out that one of the girls from downstairs her mother was mugged and beaten in broad daylight just down the road from work - a very busy central Wellington Street so had the cops downstairs for the rest of the afternoon! Not nice at all and very scary! I was quite wary when walking to the station this afternoon...

I have been a bit paranoid today after talking to my eldest brother in Ireland - I mentioned to him about the son that he lost 15 years ago. I was being nosey and was wondering how far into the pregnancy Pauline had been when she lost Thomas (who had strangled himself on the cord) thinking that it had been about the 23 week mark but nope - it was in her 28th week which of course happens to be the same period that I am at now so have been paranoid worrying about each and every movement our wee girl has made today which was sweet bugger all but luckily since being home she has definitely become a lot more active which is putting my mind at ease but I think I will be on my toes for the rest of the pregnancy making sure I get enough movement each day...

Anyway, enough rambling from me - might try to take a belly shot over the weekend and if I do I will post it :)

Hope you all have a good weekend and take care everyone

I've been tagged... twice!!!

Thanks CM and Helena for tagging me...

THE RULES
The player of this game starts with "5 weird things/habits about yourself". In the end you need to choose 5 people to be tagged and list their names. The people who get tagged need to write a blog about their 5 weird things/habits, as well as state this rule clearly, then tag 5 more victims. Don't forget to leave your victims a comment that says "you've been tagged" in their comments and tell them to read your blog!

1. I have funny toes - inherited from my dad! Thanks Dad for that!
   
2. Like Helena - I too have a funny laugh if something really tickles my fancy big time! I have been known to laugh so much that I have trouble breathing!
3. I hate people who eat with their mouths open!
   
4. I hate people who chew gum loudly and pop bubbles!!! Really irriates me big time!
5. I dislike seeing kids being taken out in the cold without being properly wrapped up especially with the cold southerlies that we can be known for in Wellington!

My five people to tag are:
Tarns
Jaxx
Lou
Mel
Felicity

Not much more to say tonight really - work was pretty busy. Had lunch out today (on the Dept) as L and I were taken out by the boss and our new lady P came along for all of us to meet socially. She seems great and we think that she will fit in to our team nicely.

Still enjoying watching my tum move at night times watching our wee girl move around! :)

Right on that note, best I go tell the others that I have tagged them... catch ya all later

27 weeks down.... 13 to go!!!

Yay I am on my day off but can't believe that it is almost 1/2 gone already!!!

Was up at 7.30am and at the hospital just prior to 9am. The dietician is really happy with my progress to date. Just gotta watch the "added sugars" that I am eating and to keep on trying to reduce my meat portions and increase my veggie portions. I don't see her again until about 4 weeks after bubs is due (if she is on time that is) and then that will probably be my last visit with her. One thing we did discuss was coke - as a couple of mths ago I started drinking it again! Haven't drunk it in a good couple of years and then suddenly I had an urge to have it at work one day. We have a fridge with cold can drinks for sale so I just got myself one thinking one is ok... so basically I started having ONE can a WEEK which she thought was ok. But over the last 3 weeks or so it has started to go to about 3 cans a week! :( And for someone who was addicted to it (many years ago I could drink almost 2 litres a day) she is concerned that I may go back to that habit but as I am so aware of it myself I am going to make a big effort to cut it back again to one a week!

Anyway, after there I went to the Baby Factory and put some money on the pram and carseat laybys and got a couple of wee things to add to my present for my friend who is due in a couple of weeks (who by the way is NOT Just Jo but another friend called Jo). Then I stopped at Countdown and got some baby stuff as they have a big baby special on at the moment along with a competition. Whilst there I got myself a cheese scone as I was starving by this stage. Have just demolished it (with no butter) and boy it was delicious! Also had a lovely glass of cold milo (one of my cravings at the moment)... so am now just blobbing out and will have some lunch later before heading down to Pregnant Jo's place to catch up with her and to see her nursery etc...

Having a meat loaf for dinner tonight, so might actually make that before going to Jo's so its all done for when I get back and I don't have to worry about it later on...

Oh before I go I must tell you all that I had the most amazing experience last night in bed (okay mind out of gutters ladies LOL). I was laying there before going to sleep and bubs was kicking away big time so I thought I wonder if I can see the movements through all the layers of fat and wow I did!!! It was amazing watching my stomach move in all directions as she kicked and moved around! But of course, when I tried to get Steph to see it - all he could see was my breathing (typical male) and then she stopped! LOL Thought I would get Steph to see/feel it this morning as I was laying in bed and called him over and said WATCH my stomach and he must have thought I said touch it as he put his ice cold hand on my stomach and I just about hit the roof and yelled some not so nice words at him! LOL Poor bubs would have wondered what on earth was going on! LOL Ohhhhhhhhh I can still feel the ice coldness of it when I think about... shudder!

Anyway, thats enough rambling from me - might go turn the heater on as its quite chilly really. Catch ya all later

Thanks for the comments last night after some random thoughts last night... still have more to come so might do a few more at the end of this post.

After having an email chat to Emily today - we worked out that I only have 51 days of work left! Shit no its 50 now as today is over.... hang on I have tomorrow off so that means only 49 days of work left and I am sure between now and then there will be a sick day or two (okay that sounds bad but am allowing for tirdness etc) and perhaps a day or two of Annual Leave as well... but anyway the thought of 50 days really freaks me out and am sure it will fly by!

Work today was ok I guess and I do love the comments about my boss failing charm school! LOL He wasn't too bad today but am glad I am having a break from him tomorrow. I know L isn't happy about being there by herself with the boss tomorrow but am sure she will "get over it"!

Wasn't able to change my dietician appt tomorrow morning so will still have to be up about 7.30am but at least thats about 90mins later than normal! But instead of then having to drive into town and go to work, I will be able to head home, blob out and then catch up with pregnant Jo for a cuppa in the afternoon.

Now for a few more random thoughts:

• I am a big eater and always have been. I am having probs adjusting to the fact that my tummy is getting smaller as our wee one grows and keep over filling myself! LOL
• I am also a fast eater and when out in a group or even among family I am almost always the first to finish eating!
• I am a garlic bread lover - everytime we go out for tea I always HAVE to have garlic bread!
• I am missing the gym big time! Never ever thought I would say that but I am. Yes I guess I could go back but when I can't/won't committ to 3 days a week we can't afford to waste those $$$
  
• I used to collect soft toys and at one stage I had over 80 of them!!!! But over the last couple of years I have donated some of the older ones (and the ones with no sentimental value) to Womens Refuge and Salvation Army. I still have approx 30 of them and don't want to share them with the baby! I know that sounds awful but they all mean so much to me and are all in excellent condition! I know that I will probably cave in and let them be played with - all except for the two I got recently from Jude's son which are ones that I gave her when she was sick.
• I own Bad Jelly the Witch on CD and love listening to it! LOL And believe me its a great way to get a party to come to an end when a drunk Karen puts it on and starts acting out Bad Jelly with a drunk girlfriend - I have never seen a party come to an end so quickly before! LOL

Anyway, thats enough from me for tonight - catch ya later

Ooops hadn't really clicked about how much I talked about food on here whilst pregnant but I guess thats life when pregnant! So I do apologise if I make you guys hungry whilst I rave about food...

Work today was busy but boy my boss can be a real @#@$@$ at times! He was so damn grumpy today and moaning and groaning after being away for 3 days last week... and not one bit of thanks for keeping his work up to date for him! Grrrr to males at times!!!! I have booked a days Annual Leave for Wednesday so am soooo looking forward to that! Won't be much of a sleep in as I have my appt with the dietician at the hospital at 9am - have rung and left them a message trying to change it but not holding my breath so will go to that, then come home and blob out for a few hours before catching up with my friend Jo who is due to have her baby at the end of the month.

Now for some random thoughts:

• I am one of 6 children - coming in at number 5. Have 4 brothers and 1 sister. I was an "accident" with there being almost 7 years gap between me and my elder brother and then there was one more "accident" almost 2 years after me.
• I became an Aunty at the young age of 10 years old and they have been "popping" out almost every 2 years since then! LOL The oldest is 25 this year and the youngest has just turned 2! Everyone is shocked that I am the last of the famliy to have kids...
• My family is scattered all over the world - Aussie, London, Ireland and around NZ.
• I love tap dancing and wish I could do it again - perhaps I will once I have finished having kids...
• I loved (and still do love) Enid Blyton books (such as Famous Five and Secret Seven), Nancy Drew, Babysitters Club.
• I have a set of 4 Holly Hobbie glass pictures that I got given when I was very young... and I am so looking forward to hanging them in my wee girls room when we have the nursery painted etc...
• I have been married before and met my first husband (who is now the father of 6mth old twin girls) whilst dating one of his best friends (whom I met through a newspaper advert)! And if I am honest, I would say I only married my first husband as I thought noone else would ever want a short, fat gal! But trust me between him and meeting Steph, I discovered that there are lots of guys out there that do like bigger women! :)
  
• I met Steph online through a website called www.findsomeone.co.nz It wasn't love at first sight, but after our first inital meeting we kept in touch and chatting and emails, and then he took me out for dinner on the 27th Dec 2001, stayed the night (yeap I was a hussy back then LOL) and then moved in 3 weeks later!
  
• I love the internet and can spend ages surfing on here if am in the right mood :)
• I always wanted to be an early childhood teacher but after getting "rejected" twice from Teachers College I gave up and stayed working in the bank.
  
• I initally took the job at Postbank after leaving school for 6mths thinking I will find something better and finally took voluntary redundancy after 11 years there!
  
• I love ceramics and enjoying making new thingsl; however due to the cost etc I have stopped making new things.
• I also love cross stitch - have got a wonderful alphabet one that I started for one of my nieces when I first found out my Sister in Law was pregnant and it took me 6yrs to finish it! So have kept it for myself and I look forward to hanging that in the nursery as well.

Anyway, thats enough from me - not sure if its as exciting as some of the other random posts that are around... Catch ya all later

Hi ya

Well another Sunday evening is upon us and back to work for another week tomorrow... :(

Had a nice night at Steph's parents last night and had some real yummy curries - but nothing too spicey for me which was great. We were home by 9.30ish which was great cause neither of us wanted a late night but the drinking etc was going strong when we left!

Managed to have a wee sleep in this morning getting up about 9.30am this morning which was nice. Had mum coming over for lunch so popped up to the Supermarket and grabbed the ingredients we needed to make the Sweet Chilli Corn fritters that I had decided to make for lunch. They were rather yummy flavour wise but perhaps just a wee bit heavy in texture. Served them with grilled bacon and lite sour cream! Very nice and very filling :)

After lunch, the three of us popped down to Lower Hutt to put the carseat we want on layby - well actually the one we had initally decided we would get had gone off their sale price and were back at full price however the next model up was still on sale so for an extra $20 (diff between full price for the inital one and the sale price of the other one) we got the "flasher" one and boy it looks so comfy :) Whilst at Baby Factory, Mum bought a couple of wee things for the baby and gave them to me when we got home so that was pretty cool and exciting! :) Home for a cuppa (well for mum anyway) and then Mum left about 4ish. Managed to make a batch of Chocolate Slice for our lunch boxes this week and am now rather shattered!

Easy dinner of a Steak Pie, mashed spud and veggies, and then a bubble bath is definitely on the agenda tonight to wind down...

Right time to get moving... hope you all have a great week. Take care.

Yay it is Saturday and the sun is shining! Guess we had better make the most of it as tomorrow is not supposed to be too flash weather wise.

Am sitting here in the lounge, with feet up, sun shining in and the french door open! Had every intention of going for an offical weigh in this morning but upon trying to get hold of Babara this morning to ensure she was open, I couldn't get an answer (second week in a row) so am a bit bummed out really as I really did want an offical weigh in to see how my weight is going so far. At the last weigh in 6 weeks ago my total gain during the pregnancy was 8.1 kilos and am estimating that my gain is now sitting about 10-10.5 kilos which over 26 weeks isn't too bad I guess. And after talking to a number of women (from the forum that I belong to) who are also due in Nov, it seems that there are quite a few of us sitting about that 10 kilo mark so far in our pregnancies so all is ok there.

So, since I couldn't go to weigh in, it was time for breakfast, doing another load of washing (had done one last night), then we sat down and organised our meals for the week before going to do the groceries. Home and blobbing out whilst Steph is reading the paper... will organise lunch soon - we are having homemade BLT's with that chicken bacon on fresh breadrolls! YUM YUM! As I did the vacuming last night, I don't have to worry about that so after lunch we will probably head down to Mitre 10 Mega store in Petone to use some of Steph's birthday vouchers and get us the 3 in 1 bathroom light/fan and will have a look at what else we can get for the house whilst there. Tonight, we are heading to Steph's parents place for a "Welcome home" party for his middle sister who has been in London for the last couple of years - the theme is a "Curry night" so we are making a batch of Chicken Korma so it should be a good night though it won't be a too later night for us :)

Nothing planned for tomorrow as such so might spend some time on the nursery preparing the walls for painting etc... Might try to catch up with a couple of friends as well if they are free :)

Bubs is still being an active wee girl which is great - am getting over the "freaky" stage of the movement and just enjoying it all now. Though it does get a bit frustrating when she gets active during the wee small hours of the morning... but it is nice at the same time. Starting to get to that uncomfortable stage of sleeping so am using extra pillows etc much to Steph's annoyance as his share of the bed gets less and less... but like I keep telling him there are two other beds in the house which he is welcome to use if he wants to! LOL That ususally quietens him down for a while! LOL

Oh, I am also working on a doing a "random" post as per Kate's suggestion so stay tuned for that...

Right time to go organise lunch... hope you are all having a great weekend. Catch ya all later

Phew only more day of the working week left! Thank goodness for that! Another great day at the office with no boss... he decided it was better to spend another day at home so he didn't share his germs with me!!! I mean hello??? Two days of him sneezing and coughing openly is more than enough to share them with me so if I am going to get his flu it will be no thanks to him!

Anyway, to ensure he doesn't moan like anything when he comes back (probably tomorrow) I have kept on top of his work as well as my own today which has made the day go fairly fast.

I had an early start to the day today when woken just after 5am by a loud clap of thunder and the heaviest rain that I have heard for ages! It must have woken our wee girl up as well as for the next 45mins she kicked, bounced, and jumped around which was a great feeling :)

Have been talking to a friend who is organising a baby shower for me so I just have to give her a list of dates that suit me and also a list of names (and email addresses) of friends that I would like to be invited. So thats under way at the moment so that should be lots of fun! :)

Oh only 10 1/2 weeks left of work and I am sure the time will fly by reasonably quickly... although August is generally a slowish month at work, but September is a diabolical month so that should fly by and then I am finishing mid Oct. The scariest thing is there is only 5 pay days left but I know we will manage. Oh I got my letter from IRD today confirming that my paid parental leave has been approved and when it will start from.... wow things are really happening now! :)

Right, better get moving - gotta ring Mum and catch up with her.

I have to say firstly, Rachel your comment in regards to my boss summed him up very nicely indeed!!!! I had a wee giggle when I read that saying to myself "my god how right she is"! LOL

But the good news is that he did stay home today! Phew I have never been so pleased to get a txt from him before than I was this morning! And then L was back on deck today as well and I have never been so happy to see her either... LOL She just couldn't believe some of the things that I told her about that had happened (there was a lot more work related stuff which I didn't talk about in last nights post)!

Work today was pretty steady which was good as the day seemed to go quite fast which always makes things better :)

Steph is busy cooking fish pie for tea tonight... and as L gave me a ride home tonight I was home early and sitting here with my feet up doing my blog already! Oh I do enjoy coming home and just being able to relax without stressing about dinner etc...

Oh we finally got rid of the spare single bed that was hogging space in the nursery today! I finally remembered (after about 8 weeks since we got two great beds from Mum's) to ring the Salvation Army to ask them to come and collect it so this morning prior to leaving for work, Steph lugged it out to the carport and we left it there for them to collect today. So now there is space in the nursery, we can really make some headway I hope. We have decided on the colour we are painting the walls as well and Steph's sisters have said that he just has to name a date and that they will come around and help him with the painting so that will be wonderful! Okay am starting to wonder if I have already shared this part with you... or am I just dreaming? LOL Okay - call it preggy brain! :)

And for Emily - I do love your idea of singing "99 days to go" LOL I read that comment whilst at work and started singing it straight away :) Though hopefully I don't drive everyone crazy over the next 98 days or so whilst singing!

Right, enough blabbering from me - catch ya all later :)

Wow check out my ticker... we are finally down into the double digits now for the countdown... yeap only 99 days to go! And only 1 week 1 day until Carla and I enter the third trimester! Now that is real scary! And makes things so real I guess if that makes sense! :)

Bubs had a real quiet night last night so in turn that meant mum got a reasonable nights sleep too... in fact she has been quite quiet for most of the day but have still had enough movement not to call the MW... in fact as per usual she is moving around as I sit here typing this. So its obviously something to do with the noise of the keyboard I am thinking! :)

I almost told my boss where to go today as I have had enough of him! He came to work today sick and I have had to put up with him sneezing, coughing (both he does without covering his mouth), sniffing, moaning, groaning, swearing.... and to top it off he has recently given up smoking so is chewing gum reguarly but I have NEVER EVER known anyone to chew gum so damn noisely!!! And then there is the bubble blowing/popping that he does continuously!!! He knows how I feel about him doing it all but he doesn't really care! So by lunch time I had had enough!!!! And then he was on the phone to a customer and at the same time as talking to her he was stuffing his mouth with chippies and talking with his mouth full to her! I let him have it when he got off the phone about how rude it was and he just didn't care! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR I was so wild! And to make matters worse, I had sweet FA to do all afternoon which of course made the afternoon drag on and on and on... Thank god L is back on deck tomorrow and all going well the boss will be staying at home - well if he knows what he is good for him he will stay home!

Anyway, enough moaning from me... just had to get it off my chest. Not much more to say, so will catch ya all later.