Four Things

Four things about me:
A) Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Loans Clerk
2. Bank Teller
3. Receptionist/Admin Officer
4. Payroll Officer

B) Four movies I would watch over and over:
1. Dirty Dancing
2. Shrek
3. Monsters Inc
4. Love Actually

C) Four places I have lived:
1. Nelson
2. Tawa
3. Newlands
4. Upper Hutt

D) Four favourite TV shows:
(don't watch it much!)
1. Shortland St
2. House
3. CSI Miami
4. NCIS

E) Four of my favourite foods:
1. Fresh Salmon
2. Steak
3. Chippies!!!
4. Corn cobs

F) Four places I would rather be right now:
1. In bed!!!
2. Ireland (family)
3. Melbourne (family)
4. Timaru (family)

G) Four friends I think will respond:
1. Kate
2. Sue
3. Carla
4. Kim


And onto other news... well I have survived my two days at work!!! But only just I may add! Talk about stress levels being extremely high in that office at the moment! But it was nice being in the new offices - they are very posh indeed! LOL And I only rung home 3 times each day so am very proud of myself there! I think Monday was pretty stressful for Steph as Rachel was being very fussy with her feeding (reflux probs) so by the time I got home she was very hungry! But today she was a lot better with the feeding and a lot happier!

I am sure all will go ok when I do return to work on the 19th Feb - the hardest thing I think I will find is the tiredness - after working all day to come home to Rachel and lots of things to do... So not being able to blob out and relax until after Rachel is in bed will be hard but am sure I will get used to it over time. I will be calling the day care centre tomorrow to organise our settling in periods over the next two weeks.

We have plunket tomorrow afternoon but I will call them first thing in the morning to see if we can go earlier as Rachel seems to be in the habit of having her "big" sleep after lunch so I don't really want to be waking her to go out and then have her up and grumpy for the rest of the afternoon! Then on Thursday, we have Rachel's 3mth jabs with the nurse and then we are seeing the Dr regarding her reflux situation and on advice from a friend I will ask for a referral to a pediatrician to get the reflux officially confirmed and a line of treatment that we can work through. So after all of that, Friday we will have a quiet day at home!

Scales are looking good for my first week of the 12 week challenge, but official weigh in is on Friday morning so I will keep you posted. Probably the best thing about returning to work is the amount of water I drink while there! :) Still not sure if I will get the time to go walking in the evenings but intend to really try to make the most of the next 2 weeks while I am still at home during the day!

Anyway, best I get moving... catch ya all later :)

Hi

I thought I better do an update since it had been a few days since my last one... sometimes I just find it hard to update here as I have nothing new to report and all I blabber on about is Rachel and our days together... and there is only so much of that one can take so I feel that if I haven't got anything exciting to say that I am better off not updating.

I have however, joined up Paulene's 12 week New Year Challenge and have set myself a goal of losing 500gms each week to start with and hopefully that will get my motivation with my weight loss back! I am almost back to the 100 mark and I so DON'T want to go back there so I have to nip the naughty snacking in the butt and get moving! Some days my water intake is really good and other days it is almost non existent so gotta sort that out too. I keep thinking that I should go walking once Rachel is settled for the night (usually about 8.30ish) but then there is heaps to do around here before going to bed so those things take priority over walking.

Am off to work on Monday and Tuesday this week to fill in for the boss - am sort of looking forward to it but I know I am going to miss Rach SO much! But at least with her being home with Dad will give them the chance to do some "bonding". I just hope she doesn't get too fussy with her bottles like she has been at times. Her reflux has been playing up again.. just when I thought it had gone so feeding times can be a bit hellish occasionally.

Have had Mum here for lunch today as she was playing Petanque at Park Ave in Lower Hutt so that was nice to see her and to catch up with her. I also scored a new tshirt off her that she had bought for herself but it was too small for her - fits me just perfectly and Rachel has already "christened" it! LOL

Here are some recent photos of my wee girl:







Right, time to get moving, washing to finish folding before Rachel is awake again...

Ciao for now

Hi all

It's been a quiet few days in the life of Karen... nothing major been happening - just been plodding on day by day.

Thank you for the lovely birthday wishes :) My birthday went by very uneventful really as Steph spent the day helping his brother and sisters paint their parent's roof so it was just Rachel and I blobbing out. We did go up to Upper Hutt and bought myself a book as a birthday present from her but ended up buying her more things rather than me! LOL Once Steph was home and showered, we went to our friends Lynaire and Kev's place for a BBQ tea and a good catch up. We had a lovely evening there and Rachel behaved herself like an angel and even went to sleep in the portacot that Lynaire had set up for her! Then once home, slept through till 7am! YAY! We are getting more "all nighters" happening - perhaps 2/3 times a week so that is great and when she doesn't sleep right through - its just the one wake up between 3am-4am and then straight down again for another 4hrs :)

Sunday, we were supposed to have my sister, her partner and his girls come for a BBQ tea but due to the Rimutaka Hill being closed for 9hrs due to a fatal accident they decided to leave it for the time being but Steph and I still had a nice wee BBQ with just the two of us :) And I always say that meat just tastes better when its cooked on the BBQ!

Yesterday being Wellington Anniversary, Rachel and I met up with Sue, Helena, Jo and Rachel for lunch at Mega Mitre 10 in Petone. I had the most awesome bacon and roast kumura salad along with 2 berry smoothies and finished it off with a scrumptious apricot and apple crumble! YUM YUM!! My Rachel was well behaved and gave the girls some of her famous smiles! Though "big" Rachel was just as good! LOL We got home to find Steph's brother and his family here for a visit.

Today, we have been down to Lower Hutt for a few bits and pieces and then stopped off the Childcare centre that Rachel is going to be starting at in a few weeks time to pay the "bond" and have a chat with them. Am going to give them a call next week to start doing "settling in" sessions.

I am working for two days next week to fill in for the boss while he is away so Steph is taking next Monday and Tuesday off work so he can look after Rachel so that will be good for the both of them as she has been a bit fussy lately about other people giving her the bottle so without me being around she will have no option.

Weight wise - not a great subject at the moment as things have been pretty laid back - too laid back at times. Am hoping that with returning to work and making my sandwiches and the walking to and from the Railway Station each day will get me back on track. And whilst being on leave, work have moved buildings and is now approx a further 5mins walk away from the station so thats all good :)

Anyway, best I get moving... hope you are all doing well.

Hi

Wow another week gone by and another week closer to me going back to work! God I so don't want to go back to work but no matter how hard we try to rework the budget there is no way that we can manage on just Steph's income. We were initially thinking that I could go back part time but even then it wouldn't help us get out of the red so its back full time for me to help get us back on our feet and then perhaps I can look at part time work further down track.

Have had a good week so far - been out on 3 walks but it sure has been hard work in the heat we have been having lately so have been working up a good sweat!

Wednesday was a nice day with Mum celebrating her birthday. We went out to a brilliant cafe (180 degrees) in Paraparaumu Beach and I had a lovely tandorri chicken salad. My nephew who has been doing work for mum around the place before he moves to Aussie also came along (it was his birthday last Saturday) and then with it being my birthday tomorrow, the three of us were all enjoying our combined last minute birthday lunch on the beach front!

Before we left for Mums on Wednesday, I had a phone call from Plunket reminding me that I had an appt with the Karitane nurse but I knew nothing about it whatsoever! The next appt according to the book was the 31st Jan but as we had been having feeding issues with young Rachel, we popped down to see them before going to Mums. The nurse showed me a different way of holding the bottle which assists her drinking so that has been great. Rachel was also weighed and in the last 3 weeks has gained 700gms so is now weighing in at 5.84 kilos! We are getting more and more smiles and she chats away to herself when laying on the floor playing so all going well there.

Wednesday night, there was a group of us that got together to have a toast to Jude on the first anniversary of her passing! It seems just like yesterday that we were laughing, joking, chatting and having lots of fun times together! I still can't believe its been a whole year! I talk to Rachel about her "Aunty" Jude every day and I just know that Jude is watching over us as Rachel grows.

My arm is getting a lot better - still a bit tender and warm to touch but the swelling and redness has more or less gone! Just have the black circles left on there which looks funny when I am wearing t-shirts which is all the time at the moment!

Long weekend here in Wellington this weekend due to it being anniversary day on Monday. Not a lot planned really with Steph being at his parents for at least two days helping his father (and sisters) paint the roof of their house so guess Rachel and I will just have quiet time at home. Then on Monday, some of us Wgtn chicks are getting together for lunch at Mega Mitre 10 so that will be great to catch up with them for the New Year.

Anyway, best I get moving and organise a bottle for Rachel for when she wakes (due to wake any minute). Hope you all have a good weekend and I will catch ya later

Hi everyone

Hope you are all keeping well... just plodding on day by day here. Nothing exciting happening really - just cherishing every day I have with Rachel as the time draws closer for me to return to work! :(

We went for a walk this morning thinking that I would get out there before it got too hot but even at 10am it was hot and muggy! Worked up a great sweat! LOL

I had Rachel at the Drs yesterday as Mum suspected Rachel may have had oral thrush as she was refusing the bottle (both milk and water) and we were literally having to hold her arms down and force the bottle in to ensure she was fed! However, no sign of thrush - Dr thinks she may have had an upset tum (runny nappy) and was getting over a viral infection so we are just giving her some pamol when required. However, Dr was more concerned about the state of my arm! Long story but basically I woke up on Sunday morning with a sore elbow, over the day it got redder, hotter, more painful and bigger.... went to the chemist who sold me some antiflamatories, took one of those but by Sunday night it was getting worse so I popped up to the After Hours in Upper Hutt and the Dr there thought it wasn't infected but just a reaction to whatever it was so gave me a couple of paracetemol and a couple of steriods there and then (to save prescription costs apparently) and told me if it was no better in 24 hrs to go back there as it would be free. Anyway, my Dr saw it yesterday and was most concerned about it and didn't want me waiting another 6hrs or so for the After Hours to open so after a quick check up, she gave me a script for penecillin so am on a high dose of that for 10 days. Though at one stage last night, I was in so much pain and white as a sheet we came close to finding a babysitter so Steph could take me to the hospital but at the same time I knew we had to give the penecillin time to "kick in" so I went to bed in a lot of pain, woke at midnight and took some more drugs and then when I woke at 6am (yes Rachel slept through again - must have known her mummy was sick) I was feeling a lot better. Elbow still warm to touch and tender but HEAPS better than it was. Have to go back to my Dr tomorrow evening to get it checked out (their policy apparently) but better to be safe than sorry I guess.

Steph has taken photos of my elbow so have posted them below. The first one is the size it was at the After Hours and then the second one was the size of it at the Drs yesterday afternoon.





Anyway, that's whats been happening for me lately... but will also post a couple more photos of Rachel for you all :)





Right, time to get moving and do some tidying up before young Rachel decides its time to get up again... off to Raumati tomorrow to spend the day with mum as it is her birthday. Catch ya all later

Hi ya

Hope it's hot enough for you all? Sure is warm enough for me thats for sure! Well I guess we can't complain since we have all been moaning about the lack of summer!

It looks Rachel is going to be like her mum in the fact that she doesn't cope well with heat and high humidity! She has been quite grizzly/scratchy over last couple of days with this heat we are experiencing at the moment with a lot of dosing off and on and snacking so to speak... We have the windows open in her room (during the day) and then one left open on security latch at nights and then today we have put a small desk top fan to circulate some air which seems to have made a bit of a difference as her room gets quite hot! But overall, she is doing great and we got some great photos of her smiling over last few days so once they are downloaded off the camera, I will then post them here.

Not a lot more happening really, had our coffee group get together on Wednesday morning and now feel a bit better about going back to work as there are 3 others that are going back in Feb as well and 2 others going back at 12mths and then 2 that are not planning on going back at all. It's amazing how fast our wee ones are growing and the difference in them all. We got a photo of all the ones that were there laying together on the floor which was so cute :)

We seem to have sort of a "routine" going at the moment for Rachel but usually as soon as I say that she throws a spanner in the work! LOL I'm sure she does it to keep me on my toes! LOL

Steph is still off work this week and is currently blobbing out as the heat has gotten to him this week I think. He water-blasted our front deck and path yesterday afternoon and boy what a difference that has made especially with the sun shining on it this morning - it was so bright to look at! LOL

It's Mums (and mine) birthay next week so Rachel and I are going to go to Mums on Wednesday (her birthday) and go out for lunch so that will be nice. Wednesday is also the 1st anniversary of my friend Jude's death so a group of us gals are getting together on Wednesday evening to have a drink and a toast to Jude and to remember the good times we all had.

Thanks for the advice on different options that are available to me re weight loss etc... I will look into them all and find something that suits me and my needs :)

Right, its too hot to keep sitting here, I might go do some water-blasting myself (back path) while Rachel is sleeping. Catch ya all later :)

Hi

I thought I would take the opportunity to do a quick update while Rachel is sleeping :)

Haven't really been up to anything that exciting in the past few days but the big news over the weekend was that Rachel decided she could sleep through the whole night! Friday night she was down in bed by 9.30pm and slept through till 6am!! And then on Saturday night she was down by 9pm and again slept through till 6am! Wooohooo!! Okay it only lasted those two nights but at least we know she can do it when she wants to! The last two nights its been back to 4am wakeup calls but at least that means she is doing between a 6-7hr stretch at a time. It's just hard going back to bed about 5am when the birds are starting to sing and its starting to get light...

Rachel has also been in cloth naps for the last 7 days!!! They have been fantastic and so easy to use now that I have my head around them. Okay I am doing a load of washing each morning (which will be changed to nights when I go back to work) but it only a few mins of the day putting the washing on and then hanging it out... we did do 3 nights in cloths as well but Steph is finding it hard to manage the cloth situation when doing the night change so we have compromised and are using cloth during the day and then disposables at night. But then on saying that once Steph goes back to work next week I will be back to doing the night feeds during the week and as I don't find them that hard to do I think I will keep her in cloth all the time and then just use the disposables on the Friday/Saturday nights when Steph is on duty so to speak :) We do have 4pkts of huggies that she will be growing out of shortly but we can either take them back to the supermarket and exchange for the next size up (always good to have a pkt or two on hand anyway for emergencies) OR I can sell them on TradeMe.

Anyway, enough of that... not a lot more happening in our lives really. We had a fantastic time in the Waiarapa with it being 28 degress!!! The weekend was pretty quiet overall which was nice. Yesterday we went and met with the Mgr of the daycare centre that Rachel will be going to - she was lovely and very easy to talk to and put our minds at ease over the few questions we had. Today, I have my friends Steff and Jo coming around for afternoon tea with their beautiful wee girls and Steff's wonderful son! :) So have just whipped up a batch of cheesy muffins - though just sampled one and they don't taste as good as usual but they are still nice. Was going to make a sweet slice as well but have run out of flour so will have the muffins and perhaps open the pkt of Mallowpuffs that are in the pantry. Then tomorrow, I have our coffee group morning tea and then in the afternoon Steph and I have an appt to update our wills and do the guardianship for Rachel etc...

Hmmm on to my weight - not looking that good at the moment :( The scales are SLOWLY creeping back up again so must nip that in the butt before they go too much higher! Can't afford WW and Barbara has wound up her business of Positively Slim. Don't want to do Sure Slim - one for the money and two for the 5hr break between meals and no snacking. Yes it might work for some (I have two friends that have lost quite a bit of weight doing Sure Slim and have kept it off) but its not my cup of tea so to speak. But like I have said in previous posts, I know what I should and shouldn't be eating... and I know exercise is vital in any weight loss programme.... sooooo I just need to eat correctly and get off my butt and I should be right. I am doing a bit of walking - perhaps I just need to pick up the pace a wee bit! :)

Right, best I get moving and do some bits and pieces around here before young Rachel decides to wake up again though at least with Steph at home, he can do feeds etc if I am wanting to get other things done.

Catch ya all later... oh I know I have been slack in acknowledging comments or questions and I do apologise for that. I often read the comment and think "I must drop so&so an email" but I often never do that. So please I am reading and taking on board comments etc and I will make the effort to acknowledge them more.

Ciao for now

Hi all

Oooops didn't realise it had been a week since I had done a proper update... thanks to you all for the lovely comments about Rachel and also her christening gown. The gown is at least 25yrs old (was given to my sister to use) and was worn by my sisters three children. I do love the two christening photos that I posted on here so just have to get the disk to a camera shop and get them printed off (as our printer isn't that great) so I can put them in to a frame.

So what have we been up to in the last week? Not a lot really - it's been great having Steph home and he still has one more week at home with us. The family are more or less gone now... just got my brother (and his family) from Melbourne to head home and they leave on Sunday. My brother from Chch has gone up north for a week or so and will pop back in here on his way home. It was really hard saying goodbye to my nieces and nephew from London on Tuesday afternoon (their father is my brother from Ireland but they live in London with their mum) - it had been 6 years since I had seen them and it could be that long before I see them again! The only reason they live in London is that their mum is a pom and when the relationship with my brother ended, she met another pom and moved back "home" and not long afer my brother followed so he could still have regular access to the kids and has since met and married an Irish woman.

Anyway, I went off on a tangent there - sorry about that. So apart from that trip to the airport we have done sweet bugger all really. Days at home, going for a walk or two as a family which has been great. We are heading over the hill to Masterton today to spend the afternoon with my sister and my brother from Melbourne as they are over there today as well. This will be our goodbye to the ones from Melbourne but because we see them fairly "reguarly" it won't be as sad but as always I do wish my family all lived in NZ but thats not the case. So once Rachel wakes up, has a feed and nappy change, we will hit the road, have some lunch, do a bit of shopping over there and then head to my sisters for a BBQ tea and at least with it being at my sisters place we can rely on having tea at a reasonable hour as all my brothers tend to eat late at night (i.e. having dinner about 8.30pm or so).

Rachel is now 2mths old (and 2 days)! Can't belive that the time has gone so fast and it is really sad to think that I have to head back to work next month!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! But unless that ever eluding lotto win comes our way in the next 5 weeks then yes it is back to work for me. Will sit down in the next few days and redo our budget and all going well I will be able to go back part time which will make me slightly happier. The Mgr from the daycare centre we have booked Rachel into rung me yesterday to have a chat so Rachel and I are going down there to see her on Monday.

I have won two battles so to speak today... the first one being not getting Rachel up when she wouldn't go to sleep at midnight - I just stood beside her rubbing her side (as she sleeps on her side in a safety wedge for reflux purposes), playing her musical butterfly and using the famous "shhhhhhhhh" and although it took about 12mins she did go to sleep and stayed down till just after 5am and even then she really only woke due to a stomach ache as we are having a few constipation problems at the moment. And the 2nd battle was that I put her down awake (rather than rocking her to sleep) at 8.30am and it is now 10.45am and she is still "out to it"! I know that both of these could be a fluke but definitely gives me the motivation to continue both of these battles to prepare her for when she goes into care. Now, we just have to get into some sort of routine... nothing strict - but something that resembles a routine would be great! But the Mgr of the daycare said she would help me with that when we see her on Monday.

Anyway, enough rambling from me - best I go make sure I have got everything packed for Rachel before she wakes up... hope you are all having a fantastic holiday season and that those on holiday are enjoying themselves :)

Photo Post

With Dad on Christmas Day

Uncle David keeping me happy

The whole family (minus me cause I was sleeping and my cousin Michelle who is in Ireland)

Me with my new bear that mums friend Gerry sent to me

With mum after my christening

Sleeping through the christening