Been doing lots of thinking over last few days and have decided that I am gonna print out these two photos to remind me of where I DON'T want to go back to (and WON'T go back to) and of how far I did get and of where I WILL get back to (and further)!

The before photo was taken in Oct 2002 (and one of the photos that spurred me into losing weight) and then the next photo was taken Christmas Day 2005 when I was at 88.9 kilos (so having lost approx 42 kilos)!

I am taking one day at a time and taking baby steps in regards to my eating habits - can't go cold turkey on all my "bad habits" - so just working on one habit at a time and then when I have that one under control I will move on to another one. And with daylight saving starting this weekend I am really hoping that I will be able to get out walking after Rachel has gone to bed and the dishes are done... even if I can get out for 30 mins 3 times a week to start off with.

So onto other things - not a lot happening really. Rachel is growing SO SO fast! Can't believe that in under 6 weeks time our baby will be 1! So am busy starting to organise her first birthday! My biggest diliema is wanting to invite everyone I can but we have such a small living area so have had to limit it to immediate family and her godparents and my friend Lynaire (and Kev and girls) who was there with us at Rachel's birth.

Anyway, it's 9.45pm so that means time for bed... but before I go - here are a couple more photos but of Rachel this time :)

Having fun with the mirror...


Having fun with a balloon (one of her new favourite toys these days)...



Right time for bed - catch ya all later xx

Hi ya

Just a quickie from me before I head off to bed... but realised that its been a week since my last update so thought I would pop in to say hi!

Am plodding on slowly with my ankle - the physio is impressed with the way it is healing and should only have one more session with her. However, since the fall my back has been playing up a bit so must have jolted it in my fall so the physio has said she will have a look at that during our next session.

Rachel really is well and truely on the move now with her commando crawling and rolling. And is now starting to try to pull herself up on the couch and coffee table. She tried it this morning on her toy box and fell forward and gave herself a nasty bumpy and graze on her forehead (first of many bumps I am sure) - no tears at all and wasn't impressed with me when I tried putting a cold face cloth on it! She kept pushing it away and wanted to keep on playing! So she obviously has a higher pain threshold than her mum! LOL

Work is pretty full on at the moment and its definitely panning out to be "one of those" weeks at this stage!

Right am off to bed.... catch ya all later xx

Hi ya

Well after my post on Saturday morning, we had an eventful evening as we were at our friends (Lynaire and Kev) friends place for pizza and all was going well and we were having a great time.... Steph had just left to go into town for his shooting competition, so Lynaire, her niece and I decided to check out their sleepout and the work that they had done and as I was walking down the back stairs, I missed the last one and had a nasty fall on to concrete! And all I can say is THANK GOD I WAS NOT CARRYING RACHEL AT THE TIME (I had just put her down in the portacot) as I just shudder to think what the outcome could have been!!!

Anyway, end result after a visit (and $60 later) to the After Hours Medical Center and then down the road to A&E for an xray to ensure it wasn't broken (4 hours later) is that I have a badly twisted ankle! Got very minimal sleep that night after getting home just before midnight! Sunday was a very quiet day for us as I was literally quite useless!!! The most frustrating part for me has been not able to carry, lift, change Rachel etc... And lets just say that Steph got a feel of how much I do actually do around here! LOL But all credit to him as he is doing a great job! And as much as I wanted to call in sick today - the fact that I had been off for 4 days last week with Rachel, I felt to guilty so rung the boss on Sunday night and had a chat to him and he organised the use of one of the emergency staff car parks in the basement for me to use (left ankle is the injured one and we have an automatic) so drove into town and typical the price of petrol went up today! So managed to hobble around work for the day but unfortunately the chair that my foot was to be elevated on wouldn't fit under my desk so it wasn't elevated as much as it should have been so is quite swollen tonight (but do have it up now).

So... with all of that happening, we were unable to get the family portrait done as it is on the 2nd floor of the building with two flights of steps to get up to them... which was something I was not going to attempt on crutches! So rung them and due to the circumstances (which were beyond my control) they were willing to let us transfer the sitting to another day so need to ring them later in the week to make a new date!

Have got physio tomorrow morning so will see how that goes...

Anyway, getting tired and sore from this position and the nappies need folding... so will love ya and leave ya... catch ya all later :)

Hi all

Thought I would try to do an update while Rachel is playing happily on the floor but how long that will last is a totally different story.

I have been home with her since Tuesday so it has been a long week! We were hoping that she would be able to be back at daycare on Friday however due to the epidemic of rotovirus (contagious form of vomiting and diarrhea) in the Hutt Valley, the MOH (Ministry of Health) enforced a 48 hr period from the last runny nappy they had until they can return to daycare. Therefore, as Rachel's last runny nappy was about 5pm on Wednesday she needed to have Friday off too!

We have had some wonderful moments but we have had our frustrating moments as well and she has pushed my buttons to the max! But the best thing is that she is definitely on the mend now and today was the first day all week that she had some toast for breakfast.

We have a first birthday party to go today (at lunchtime) and we were getting worried that we wouldn't be able to go but as she has gone the 48hrs without being sick or a runny nappy then we are in the clear to attend! :) So can't wait for that as it will be so much fun - just hope Madam Rachel is a bit less grumpy than she is this morning. We have had 3 invites to parties today so we are attending two of them - the first birthday and then another one this afternoon and then home for Rachel as no doubt I will have a tired grumpy girl on my hands by then and her daddy has to go shooting as his team is in the final tonight.

Tomorrow, we have a portrait sitting that we won at the child show in Porirua recently so am looking forward to that - just hope Rachel is going to show off her best smiles! LOL

I would like to offer my sincere condolonces to Lyn and her family as they grieve the loss of two tiny nephews. How terribly sad for them all especially for her sister. *hugs to you all*

I would also like to say go Lennie!!! You are doing fabulous job recovering from such major surgery and I knew it wouldn't be long before you were doing the updates - though Craig was doing a fabulous job in your absence! He should seriously consider starting his own blog as he has a great way of writing! :) Can't wait to see your new bod! :)

Okay madam is getting grumpy now - and wants my attention. I knew the rugby would hold her attention for only a short time. Catch ya all later xx

Boy another week gone by and we are into September and spring already!

Firstly, well done to Helena on having her surgery done yesterday and from the update on her blog (by her beloved Craig) and on Rachel's blog - it sounds like all is going extremely well for her recovery! I sent her a text today and she is sounding so cheerful and I can't wait to catch up with her once she is home.

Secondly - thanks for the comments and emails regarding Rachel's class trip at daycare... we went with our gut feeling and said no to her going with them. She was the only one that didn't attend but had one on one attention with her care giver at creche so she had lots of fun with Tish :) She will have plenty more opportunities to attend other trips during her 4 years there!

We got the photos back from creche - not sure if I mentioned that we were quite disappointed with them but managed to select 4 to get the basic package. We got them yesterday and they do look great but now I just gotta work out the new scanner (okay not that new but I haven't used it as yet) so I can share them with you all.

There has been a nasty tummy bug going around the creche and after a week I was quite thrilled that Rachel hadn't succumbed to it.... well until last night that was! About 5 mins after I walked in the door and we had just put her in the highchair when next minute she did the most full on power chuck! EWWWWWWWWWW!!! So she had a bath, 1/2 her bottle and bed... got prepared with getting bedding etc out just in case we had an urgent change required during the night. But it wasn't required as she slept soundly all night - well until she started chatting about 5am :) So due to the 24 hr policy at daycare, I stayed home with her (much to the annoyance of my boss but tough titties) but boy it was a very full on day with Rachel being very, very clingy indeed!!! So apart from that she was her normal happy self until after her lunch bottle (or less than half of it) when she brought it back up again! So back to bed for her and when she woke up, hmmmmm it had started at the other end if you know what I mean!!! So rung daycare and told them she won't be in tomorrow either - sounds like the bug is quite nasty and knocking both staff and kids for six! She ate about 1 fish finger mashed up and then a wee bit of fruit for tea, and then half her bottle before going to bed. So will be interesting to see how she is tonight... and then again tomorrow.

I shot up to the supermarket after tea and bought a new pack of disposables for her as that is the only problem with cloth naps and diaoreha! But it is only the 2nd pack of nappies that we have had to buy in 6mths! The last time was when she had diaoreha just after she started at day care!

We have a real busy weekend ahead of us this weekend so fingers crossed we are all over the bugs by then! We have had 3 invites to 3 different birthday parties on Saturday so are attending two of them :) And then on Sunday, we have a family portrait sitting that we won at the child show we went to Porirua a few weeks ago - only problem being it is right on Rachels afternoon nap time so it will hopefully go ok. But it will be nice to get a decent photo of the three of us!

Anyway, time I was outta here - but before I go I will share a couple more photos of Rachel (and me) that were taken last weekend by my brother who was up from Chch. He has a fascination with Rachels eyes! LOL