introducing

I thought you might all like to have a look at the first pictures of our little one - 19 weeks young and doing well.

Dr says it has all the right bits in all the right places, so I look forward to getting to know them better when they get out here!
Am starting to look properly pregnant now (at least in tight clothes), but have taken to wearing baggy clothes, so no one has really noticed. I am almost half way there, so its hard to believe that in around 4 or 5 months I will have myself a baby. Very excited.

In other news, all the changes have now been announced at work and I was deemed not ready to be put into a managers role, so will stay in my current position with a different boss. I was extremely dissapointed as you can imagine, and have said barely 2 words to my current boss. I really have lost all respect for him and have complained to HR about the way he dealt with everything. I mentioned that I had told him that I was expecting, and she knew nothing of it and was involved in the decison making. Instead of being bitter and sulky, I have spoken to HR at length and we are developing a plan to have me move into the role that I want before I go on maternity leave. I am determined to show them that I can do it!

Going to try to have a fairly healthy and productive weekend. On Saturday I am going to a prenatal yoga class with my pregnant buddy, and then possibly going to the gym. Sunday, the hubby is in the final of the bowls pairs (he plays comp lawn bowls - he is too funny), so I will be up early to cheer him on and in the evening we are heading down to the domain for Tropfest. Its tricky doing the picnic thing when you have to be careful about what you can and cant eat, but I am sure we will manage. I also am really missing my glass of wine at social events, but its a small price to pay!

We need to start sorting out what we need for the baby, and although we really dont want to go overboard, we want to be prepared, so any suggestions on MUST HAVES will be very much appreciated!

Oh, and I am LOVING The Biggest Loser. Even the hubby is addicted. Am finding it really inspirational, my main problem is that its on at precicely the time that I would normally go out and exercise. Last night I had to bite the bullet and went for a lap around centenial park while the hubby was at football training!

Thats all from me - hope you all have a great week!

vxx

cricket feast

I just had to share this little story about the people that were sitting in front of us at the cricket yesterday.
A bunch of about 5 guys turned up with a styrofoam box and an esky. Through the course of the day, this is what I saw them eat....

• A BBQ Chicken, ripped up and put into buttered rolls
• A cheese platter with stilton, chedder and pate on crackers

then it got interesting...

• fresh prawns
• 1/2 LOBSTERS - yes these guys brought LOBSTERS to the cricket!!

the next time I looked up, they were eating

• individual creme caramels in bowls
  
• then, a packet of tim tams, some grapes, one bar of lindt dark chocolate orange chocolate -

it was at this point that I yelled out 'I hate these people, have they got an expresso machine in that box' and the guy turned around and gave me a square. I felt a bit sheepish, but god it was good.

Then there was another block of lindt chocolate.

I mean, who brings that kind of stuff to the cricket? And the funny thing was, that there wasnt a woman in sight. We couldnt work out what kind of men would be organised enough to bring that kind of food to the cricket - LOBSTER AND CREME CARAMEL.... It was very weird, but a little bit inspiring! Where was the moet and the sashimi, and the truffles and the fresh oysters... Any other suggestions from blog land?

vx

Wonderful weekends

Well, despite being a little sunburnt and sore, I had a wonderful weekend. Yesterday was my 2nd wedding anniversary and we had a wonderful day. Started in the morning with pressie - hubby bought me a beautiful black pashmina. You are supposed to give cotton on your 2nd anniversary - neither of us could think of anything! So the pashmina (being wool) is not actually cotton, but he figured it was a natural fibre so it would pass! He is too funny!

Went to Zen in Darlinghurst for a massage. They have this beautiful couples room where you can get massaged together. It was really lovely. Although, I am bit concerned as I find the massage thing really uncomfortable. I spend the whole time wincing with pain and wondering when the relaxing will start, and before I know it is over and I feel more tense than when I started. I am loathe to admit that to most people (especially the hubby) but I just dont enjoy it. And I know that its not just because he wasnt a good masseuse, because I have felt this way on previous occasions. Am I weird? I feel like I am weird, cause massages are good right? Oh well, I can spend my $$ on other things! So today my back is sore. I think he hurt me...

Then we headed off to the cricket. It was an awesome day. The hubby and I decided that we were both equally into the game - you know how normally one person is more into it than the other. Most guys think thats weird, but I am quite happy with the synergy of that! We took water and lots of healthy snacks from home and completely avoided the pies, hotdogs and hot chips that we usually get sucked into. And because I stayed away from the alcohol (not by choice mind you) I walked away at 10.00pm, and felt great! It was however very hot! And we were in the full full sun all day. Luckily the people we were with had sunscreen and I broke my no hat wearing rule and donned a cute little cowboy number, but I still got a little burnt on my chest. Well a lot burnt and I look silly! The game was great, really fun crowd and a really good day... and Australia won, so that always helps!

The rest of the weekend was also fun. On Saturday we did what we have been talking about for 2 years and picked out, designed and put a deposit on my new kitchen. I am so excited. I keep calling it my kitchen, because I do most of the cooking, cleaning and washing up, but it is our kitchen. Its from smartpack kitchens, a company in Stanmore that sells you the kitchens and you put them together yourself (aparently in a weekend!!). We spent a little more than we were expecting, but it will look awesome and sooo much better that the wood-slate-no storage-no bench space-door's falling off mess that we have now! We also went out for a lovely dinner with some friends to a place in Summer Hill called Pier 26. Probably not WW friendly, but really lovely seafood and great value for money!

On the baby front, I am getting a belly and feeling great. I dont feel tired at all and am looking forward to when I actually look pregnant, so people dont think I am getting fat again! I am sure that people round here are starting to think I am Oprah!! Not much planned this week. We dont really celebrate Valentines day, so I wont have any goss from tomorrow, but I am having my 19 week scan on Monday, so I should have pics and news from that! I cant believe that I am almost at the half way mark - who would have thought it!

Hope you all have a great week. I am very jealous that I missed the bloggers lunch on Saturday. I looks like you all had a wonderful day! Top stuff!
vxx

the news is out there

Well, I finally got around to letting my boss know about the baby on Friday - considering I am 17 weeks, its amazing that he had NO IDEA! The good news is that he was over the moon excited and agreed to keep it to himself, as well as pushing all the change of role stuff forward to this week. I am pretty sure it was the right thing to do, and I feel so relieved that I dont have to hide it from work anymore. I have told a few of my close work mates who are estatic, but am going to wait another week or so before I share the love with everyone!

I cant tell you how good it feels to be able to relax about it all. I am felling well (if not a little concerned about my growing belly!) but I know that I need to do a bit more exercise. Its been hard the past few weeks with my conference and the hubby's birthday, but I have no excuse now and have to start moving again!

Today is the 4 year anniversary of meeting my husband. We met at a dodgy bar in the city on a Tuesday night at something like 3am, so I woke him up this morning at 3am to wish him happy anniversary! He is the best and I am so lucky to have him in my life! This Sunday is our 2nd wedding anniversay - how's this for a day of contrasts - we are going to day spa and getting a couple's massage in the morning and in the afternoon we are going to the cricket final! I think its hillarious, but I know it will be a great day. I will just have to see how I go at the cricket without any beer!!

Hope you are all having a happy monday!
vxx

a moment of clarity

Am in a much better mood today. Have decided to not go ahead with any further testing. There is a 0.16% chance of there being something wrong, and I figure that is small enough for me. The hubby went out last night, so I didnt get a chance to discuss it with him, so when we talked about it this morning, we both had made exactly the same decision for exactly the same reason, so it must be the right one!

Have a fun weekend planned. Actually doing a tour of Paddys Markets tomorrow - its a special tour of the asian food section (part of the chinese new year celebrations) and then we are going to a friends 30th, where we get to spread more baby love!

Hope you all have a great weekend!
vxx

Where does the time go?

Apologies for my quietness again this week. I was on a work conference for the first half of the week and no where near a computer. It was a great couple of days, and let me just tell you, the Hilton in Sydney has great food if you ever have a conference there! Just try and stay away from the cakes!

Thanks again to everyone for all the comments and advice you have left over the past few weeks. I am sincerely overwhelmed that there are so many people that take the time to be interested in my humble little life. Although I have not told work, I have decided that I am going to tell them sooner rather than later. It is getting too far into it and I am sick of hiding what should be something worth celebrating. Besides, I really do think that they will be more pissed off with me if I wait another 4 weeks and tell them after I get the job, 'by the way, I am going on maternity leave in 4 months'... Many people I have spoken to about this have said I am damned if I do and damned if I dont, so I would rather do what makes me feel more comfortable.

I went to see my obstretrician again today and finally got my results back. Unfortunately, they were not as glowing as I would have hoped, and although they still are well within the low risk category, I am still not comfortable with the risk they pose. I am feeling quite disturbed and distracted which I dont think is good for me or the baby. I guess noone said this would be easy, but I didnt expect there to be this many decisions to make this early on. I will decide what is right in the next few days. If I decide to have further testing, there is a slight risk of further complications so we just have to work out what is more important to us.

On a lighter note, it was my hubby's birthday yesterday. I bought him a Sydney Swans jersey a couple of months ago (I would haven given it to him for christmas, but we decided not to do christmas presents last year when we found out we were having a baby), so I have been hanging on to it, to give to him as a present. Well, imagine my delight when I found out that the guest speaker at our conference was none other than Paul Roos, the coach from the Sydney Swans. I took it in with me and got him to sign it on Tuesday, and gave it to hubby yesterday. He was so excited he nearly cried. It was so cute. Its so lovely to give someone a present that they really love. I took him out to dinner last night to a restaurant in newtown called Oscillate Wildly. If you ever get a chance I really recommend it! The food is lovely and fresh, the menu changes every 2 weeks and is always interesting and a little bit unusual, and they do 3 courses for $45, which is such good value for a great dining establishment. And the best bit is that it is BYO, so that helps keep the costs down. I'm not drinking at the moment as you can imagine, so it was very funny watching hubby trying to drink almost the whole bottle on his own. He was a hoot! I had a small glass as it was a special occasion, but it was a very small glass!! We had a lovely night and he had a really lovely birthday!

So on that note I must be off. Thanks again for all your interest and support and I promise to be back soon, and a little less distracted...

take care
vx