Awards Season

I absolutely adore Awards Season. Perving on all of those beautiful women in their glamorous gowns is a favourite pastime of mine. Imagine a life with stylists / hairdressers / make up artists available on whim? Life would be much less hag & more glam that's for sure. 

I actually do enjoy living life sans make up & in trackpants though- the upkeep is incredibly easy, but sometimes... It's fun to pretend. 

Here are some of my personal highlights from the Golden Globes and Grammys this year;

Firstly, Amy Adams. Is it just me or does she just keep getting better and better? Like a fine wine she is ageing and getting tastier by the year;

Mila Kunis. This woman could wear a rubbish bag & I would still think she is smoking hot;

Margot Robbie. This Aussie chick has only just cracked it with her 'wolf of wall st' role, for those of you who have seen it- How good was she? I thought she was amazing! Pretty f'n hot too; (I also love the facials from the guy behind her)

Jennifer Lawrence. I am definitely on the J-Law fan bandwagon. She is hilarious, and I love her candidness in interviews. Looks good in a dress too;

Lorde. I don't know about her goth glam look but I do know I felt like I was related to her when she picked up those 2 grammys. Two! 17 years old! 

They were so well deserved & I definitely feel a sense of kiwi pride everytime I see her on the screen. Even if the Aussies are already trying to claim her (f off you pavlova stealing crims); 

Beyonce. They don't call her Queen B for nothing. Could she be anymore flawless?  I am in awe of her utter perfection. What a beautiful specimen, she deserves two pics;

Only she could pull off fishnets with an almost G string & make it classy.

For those of you that actually watched the grammys, I thought this pic floating around instagram was hilarious;

Lastly, I don't know what the doushebags who were airing the Grammys were thinking, but midway through the performance by Dave Grohl, Nine Inch Nails & Queens Of The Stone Age they aired ads. You don't cut off 3 absolute legends to air ads. Little bit of respect wouldn't have gone astray in this case;

Dream collaboration.

Who were your favourites? 

Thought of the day "yup I'm actually going to book my hair in, things are getting desperate"

Gemma 

Classic Choc Chip Cookies & Fish Tacos

Hi folks,

How was your long weekend?

As per usual, I feel as though ours was over in the blink of an eye. We didn't get up to a lot (for a change) just pottered about the house, getting a few things done along the way. Oli put together Blakes new playpen & we cleared up the spare room in order to get things ready for our impending visitors (only 5 weeks til Mum arrives yay!)

We did venture out for "Straya Day", coming out from our cave to enjoy a spot of people watching in the city. Nothing beats a good public people watching session don't you think? However we didn't last long there as it was horribly windy & stinking hot, so we ended up at a friends place which was conveniently river side- therefore we got to see the spectacular fireworks show on display later in the night. But by 8pm (midway through fireworks bonanza) I was struggling to keep my lids open, as was B. Oli had a merry glow going on but I had to be a party pooper & drag us all home...

8pm. That's all it takes these days. Tragic. 

Anyway, last night I made dinner for the first time in 4 nights (takeout galore round here) & it was a massive hit. So easy aswell! If you're into the Mexican flavours of chilli lime garlic & coriander you will love this dish too;

Fish Tacos;

Ingredients;

1 red chilli finely chopped 

1 clove garlic finely chopped 

Handful of coriander chopped 

Teaspoon red wine vinegar 

Tbsp Olive Oil

Red cabbage

1 Lime

Fresh white fish fillets (we used snapper)

Mini tortillas 

Handful spinach 

Mayonnaise 

Method;

Combine half of the chopped chilli with the garlic & olive oil & a squeeze of lime, and marinate over the fish fillets in a bowl, refrigerate for 15 minutes

Whilst the fillets are soaking up those flavours, chop the cabbage into thin strips and put in a bowl. Add the red wine vinegar, coriander, chilli, and a squeeze of lime to it & season thoroughly with salt and pepper. 

Heat up a frypan with plenty of oil & cook the fish fillets until golden (approx 2-3 minutes each side)

Whilst they're cooking, put the tortillas on a plate and put a damp handy towel over them. Microwave for 40 seconds until they're all nice & warm through. 

Then you just serve them all up however you'd like! I had a smear of mayo & a handful of spinach with the cabbage & fish and they were incredibly good!

 

Classic Choc Chip Cookies;

Ingredients;

1/2 cup castor sugar 

1/2 cup brown sugar 

1 cup plain flour 

1 cup self raising flour

125gm melted butter

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla essence 

1/2 tsp salt 

1 cup dark choc chips 

Method;

Preheat the oven to 180degrees & line a tray with baking paper.

Combine the sugars with the butter, vanilla essence and egg, and beat until smooth. Sift in the flour and the salt and mix until thoroughly blended. Add the choc chips and then refrigerate for at least half an hr. 

Roll into balls and place on tray. Lightly press each ball with a fork but don't flatten them.

Now I like my cookies soft and almost cake-like  in the middle rather than hard & crunchy so I only ever cook them for 10 minutes. If you like them a bit firmer cook them for 12-15 mins. And always let them stand on a tray afterwards before putting them in containers. 

These are the best cookies, I'm not kidding. Both batches were gone within 2 days around here & I'm considering making more today. Try em!

So over the entire 3 day weekend, these are the only 2 things I managed to cook. Luckily they were both amazing so I may just get back in the kitchen this evening too! 

On today's agenda I'm thinking a workout is a must (I haven't moved a muscle in 4 days), and then B and I are off for a play date at chipmunks with our friends Angie & Kaiden before they skip town (nooooo!)

Hope you all have a wonderful day

Thought of the day "my heels feel like those of an elephants"

Gemma 

Friday Favs

I managed to capture a few favourite things from our Friday;

 

Blurred streaker

The grossest & most overly priced chocolate I've ever had (not really a favourite but I thought I should warn you all)

Afternoon smoothies 

Compiling a list of reasons why I can't wait to meet BB

By far the best movie of all time. Juno.

It was a really chilled day full of snuggles & smiles.... And now we are back into tackling some of our to do list this weekend.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and for those of you in Australia- an extra wonderful long weekend

Gemma 

32/33 Weeks (8 Months)

I kind of missed the bus last week for the 32 week update so I thought I'd just combine the two, I actually have a shitload to talk about aswel so settle in with a cuppa for this one...

What's been happening: 

He is now approx 2.1kgs & 45cm from head to heel. This week his lungs are very nearly fully formed and there's a chance that if he were born now he wouldn't actually need any respiratory help. Other than that, those wee bones are still hardening & he's still plumping up those fat cells rapidly, ready for the big arrival.

As for I-  well thank goodness I got those iron supplements when I did as I feel a million times better already! No more headaches and now that baby has turned, the heartburn is clearing off aswel. Win win! I've started to get Braxton hicks this week which is rather exciting, the old uterus is prepping for the big show already. Hopefully that means he'll be arriving early, wishful thinking... Also- pleasantly- my nether regions are extremely sore at the moment. Now that he is head down, there is a lot more pressure down there, along with the tonne of extra blood, it's all a bit bloody sensitive. But they're all good signs as it means that the end is nigh!

Weight Gain; Still don't know & haven't been caring as much this week either, it can't get much worse now anyway can it? I do love and appreciate how incredible the female body is during pregnancy, the belly is such a beautiful thing- but the extra padding on the thighs? Yeah not so much... 

Workouts: It seems I have my exercise mojo back! The gyms off the cards at the mo as Blake has been napping right at the only time we can get her in the crèche there, alas, I have been setting up a little circuit in our lounge with some dumb bells & a mat and doing a nice mix of squats/lunges/press ups/ & yoga. I'm not going to lie- I never find it easy to motivate myself to exercise at home, particularly when there's a good book or a movie to watch lying around (or Ellen is on). It's so easy to just sprawl out on the couch and relax for those couple of hours when she sleeps. But ever since I've rediscovered my energy I've actually been wanting to roll out the mat and get into it. So I've done that each day this week aswel as getting out for a few walks (which never last long in this heat)

Movement: He is still really active in there... since we found out he had turned, I can kind of figure out which bits are where when he is wriggling around which is cool. It's mostly just his bum pushing right up underneath my ribs & the odd arm trying to break through the surface. He's also still getting the hiccups 5 or 6 times a day at the moment, I remember Blake doing the same- it's the strangest sensation!

Food Aversions: Mince again, we cooked it last night & the smell was making me feel nauseous, so I went and got KFC. Naturally...

But all red meat is kind of 'bleh' at the moment, I'm supposed to be eating more with all this iron business but urgh. Yuck. 

Food cravings: Bounty bars, and smoothies. Cold bounty bars are freakin' amazing at the moment, I bought a fun size bag and have kept them in the fridge over the past few days, can't believe they lasted as long as they did. Oh, sugar free tues & thurs are out this week by the way. They'll most likely be out until he arrives, and then we will revisit the situation.., 

And smoothies- I've been making green, red, purple & brown ones, once sometimes twice a day at the moment. It must be the heat! Anything cold just hits the spot. 

How could I forget- Vegemite toast & poached eggs. I've had this nearly everyday lately too, delissshhhh.

Sleep: Theres been some really good nights & some really shitty ones lately. The parrots are still squawking at a ridiculous hour (we are working on a slingshot), and it has been 30degs + at bedtime each night. Thank goodness for aircon, but we only have it in our lounge & it often doesn't cool down the bedrooms enough. I'm hanging out for winter that's for sure!

It's getting kind of hard to sleep in any comfortable position now, I never did get around to getting one of those pillows (and I probably won't bother now) so I'm still awkwardly half lying on my front with one leg propped out to the side. Back sleeping is so lame!

Miss anything: Running, strangely enough... I've had it on my mind recently, and I would love to just tie up my sneakers & pound some pavement. And still sushi, I'm far too impatient to make my own lately (and it never tastes as good) so I'm really amped to dig into some fresh stuff soon.

Fun/ interesting things for the week; Probably the most interesting thing this week would have been my hospital encounter that I wrote about in my last post... What a debacle!! My midwife and I actually laid a formal complaint yesterday as she said she had heard a few things about this particular doctor so she wanted something to be done about it. I can just imagine his face when / if he reads what I wrote- I wish I could see it.

I've been going to antenatal classes at my midwifery centre on wed nights for the past 2 weeks. It's a 6 week course, and although we had done homebirth antenatal classes back in NZ, I thought it would be good to refresh & meet some people along the way. It's a shame Oli can't come as obviously someone has to be at home with B, being the only single in a room full of couples is... Oddly uncomfortable. But it was much easier on the second evening. 

The teacher has a great sense of humour & I find the 2 hours actually flies by, birth is so interesting! I do feel like a bit of a know-it-all at times though- I just want to pipe up and retell my experience or my opinion on this & that, but I try to keep my lips sealed as no one wants to be 'that girl who loves the sound of her own voice'. It's actually rather uncanny being there from a totally different perspective this time around, all the women are so wide eyed & there's often gasps or a collective "ooooh", so eager to learn about the mystical and often mythical 'experience of labour'. It feels like just yesterday that I was sitting in that room, holding onto every word the teacher said, taking many mental notes that I still vividly remember today. Actually- I guess I still am that girl, I'm still listening intently to this teacher & asking a lot of questions, but I'm a bit more in "the know" I guess you could say. The other women are probably wondering why I'm even there if I've just been through it all, I should just wear a sign that says "need friends, any takers?", straight to the point. 

Another interesting thing for the week is that my Mum has finally booked her flights to come over 2 weeks before my due date, hallelujah!! We decided only a few weeks back that we really could do with the extra hands, so she's got herself a one way ticket & I'm infinitely excited to have meals cooked & washing done for me!! What a dream! Oh and to see her of course.... We actually are going to be inundated with visitors for all of March / April and May, I'm hoping we haven't over-committed in the sense that we may just want peace and quiet when he comes, but I'm sure all the extra help won't go astray. And besides, it's easy to tell family to piss off when necessary anyway.. Thank goodness. 

What a rant!

Stretchmarks; Negative 

Happy or moody: Happy as a hippo!

Looking forward to: The long weekend this weekend for Australia Day, any extra time with Oli is always a bonus, and I'm finally looking forward to the big day. His birthday!

And winter.

Bump update:  

Excuse the bags yet again, I cant seem to get rid of them without magic concealer which I can't be bothered wearing these days. This was first thing this morn, I downloaded this sweet new app called "pic lab" which I was mucking about in hence the fancy tidbits. Check out that bump though, she (he?) is a beaut!

Gemma 

Dr. Dick

If I ever had any doubts about whether to birth at home or not, they are now completely & utterly banished. 

Yesterday's hospital visit / check up was quite the disaster... Upon madly rushing to arrive only to "please be seated" for 40 minutes (why the F do these people make appointments honestly!!), and then to finally be called up by this;

It gets worse, he was in a Hawaiian shirt. I decided to squish my quick judgement, and held on to hope that he might be a really nice guy underneath the grotesque figure & unsightly shirt. Surely he must have a sense of humour if he was wearing a Hawaiian shirt?

He wasn't. And he didn't. 

Infact, he had this really strong air of impatience & arrogance that was reeking off him like bad cologne. For the first of many times over the course of the next 30 minutes, my instincts were screaming at me to walk right out of his office & not look back. 

"Jump on the scales for me please", said doctor dick. 

"No thanks, I'm not weighing myself this pregnancy"

"Yes you are, now get on"

"No, I don't have too"

For the first of many times over the next 30 minutes, dr. dick rolled his eyes dramatically at me, as if to say "you silly little girl". My fists clenched tight and I really & truly wanted to punch him right in the snarled mouth. 

Following this there was a long course of silence as he trawled through my notes without so much as acknowledging my presence. 

Finally, he said, "I take it you didn't do the  gestational diabetes test"

"Nope"

**eyes roll, count two**

"And why not?"

In my head my voice is shouting at him that, quite frankly, it's none of his business & every (informed) choice I made is my own, quite rightly too.

"I didn't want too" is what I calmly said instead. 

**third eye roll, and second instance in which I seriously consider walking right out & pulling the finger for good measure too**

I also felt like saying, take a look at both of us doc, if anyone's likely to have diabetes out of you or me who is it?

"Ok well have you had any haemoglobin or iron tests done then" 

"Yes I have in fact, just last week"

I think I heard a muttered hallelujah from Dr. D but I couldn't be sure. I handed over the results. 

"So where are you planning on having this baby then"

"At home"

**biggest eye roll of them all. I'm certain there was steam coming from my ears at this point**

Another long period of silence as he tapped away on the keyboard painfully slowly with his sausage fingers...

"Ok well do you have any concerns about your pregnancy at all"

"No it's all been fine, only that the baby has been in breech position for the last few weeks , but I've been seeing a chiropractor & crawling a lot"

He looked at me and let out a "ha!"

"And what do you think a chiropractor is going to do?" said in the most patronising tone I think I've ever heard. 

It took all of my strength just to sit there & take this bullshit from the arrogant prick. But I knew I had to pass this ridiculous 'test' to get our homebirth ok'd.

"They have certain methods for turning breech babies" I said. 

"You cannot use a chiropractor to manipulate the uterus, you need a professional for that" **eyes roll**

"Well, that's your opinion doctor (DIIICCCCKKKKKKK!!!)"

***yup he rolled them again, that's twice in under sixty seconds, record***

"I do think my opinion is probably of higher value than yours in this instance" 

My inner voice was screaming- grab your bag & Blake and go Gemma!!

Another long period of silence as he tapped away, letting out the occasional grunt as if to say "yes incase you didn't notice, I am a disgusting pig".

He then asked me to get up on the table to have a feel of the baby & determine his position. The thought of this mans hands on me made me physically ill. 

I thought he was gelling up a Doppler to find the heartbeat but turns out he was performing an impromptu ultrasound.. Nice to be asked huh? But... Yes there was a light at the end of this horribly dark tunnel. Baby had turned!!! Even Dr. D couldn't wipe the smile of my face at this point! 

I'm not sure when it happened but I'm so grateful it did!! Now it's all smooth sailing from here on out & even Dr. D had nothing on me to stop the homebirth from getting the go ahead. 

He rounded it up with a, "well we are done here, and we'll see how you go"

It felt like this was where he should have said good luck & hope it all goes well but that would be wishful thinking. I was just grateful to be getting the hell out of there. 

I've never felt so belittled in my life, and I never intend on going back to that hospital again. 

If this isn't a prime example of doctors being incredibly medically inclined & completely arrogant in their routines and opinions- then I don't know what is. All I know is I feel truly sorry for any pregnant woman who has to deal with a man like that antenatally or in labour. 

Never trust a fat doctor either- they clearly don't practise what they preach. 

All in all it was a positive outcome for us and the baby though, all is shaping up nicely & we are getting more and more excited about meeting him everyday! 

I will post up my 32 week update sometime soon too-

Thought of the day "can I start reclining again now?"

Gemma 

Cacao Banana Smoothie

Aloha!

I woke up this morning feeling a strong urge for something sweet, so instead of opting for the usual pancakes, I made a smoothie.

I only just jumped onto this "cacao" craze last week so I haven't really experimented with it much yet, but man this concoction was incredible!! Almond milk instead of skim milk would be my only change for next time & possibly a tsp of peppermint extract if I'm feeling crazy!

Ingredients;

Ice

1 cup skim milk/ almond milk 

2 Tbsp Cacao powder

Handful spinach

1 Tbsp chia seeds 

2 frozen bananas 

Method; 

Blend & serve. 

I repeat, delicious. 

This morning I'm going to lay my mat out in the lounge and have a big old stretch, & then we are off to the hospital to get a once-over from a OBGYN to ok our homebirth. Fingers crossed this breech business doesn't jeopardise our chances. I'll keep you in the loop...

Also, here's an absolutely hilarious link to a youtube video called "the ultimate dog tease", most of you have probably seen it but it can't hurt to watch it again, it gets me every single time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGeKSiCQkPw

Happy Tuesday!

P.s how adorable is Blake having a bubble bath? I couldn't resist adding this in. 

Thought of the day "Turn baby turn"

Gemma

  

Breeeeeeeeech

Hey strangers! How have you been? Everyone had a fairly decent week I hope?

I've spent a good 90% of the last week on all fours at home. No the floors aren't ridiculously dirty... Baby is breech. 

(Insert diagram for all of you who don't know what that means)

What it means for us is, if baby doesn't do the old flip around sometime soon, homebirth is off the cards. Frustrating is one word for it. Fuck is another.

I've been trying all the general methods, crawling around, elevated hips etc & my chiropractor is also using a method called the "Webster" technique which is supposed to work wonders, but young buck seems to be very stubborn thus far. It's really starting to shake me up in all honesty, I hadn't even entertained the idea of having a c section (although it is always a possibility), and now that time is running out its a real possibility. I'm not down with that idea at all so getting this baby into position is number one priority at the moment. Fingers crossed it happens soon!

Blake has picked up on my weird shenanigans at the moment and has decided to join in also;

Hilarious child.

This past week has also been all about eggs, it's official,  I'm a full blown eggoholic. 

Exhibit A;

As you can see, it's not all good eggs. I may or may not have mowed through two bags of mini creme eggs in two days. 

I did. They are incredible! 

I'm also really digging poachies at the mo- particularly on Vegemite toast. Phenomenal taste explosions in my mouth! Try it I dare you. 

The weekend didn't entail a lot, I had a delicious brunch date with my pal Teesh on Sat & then she kindly babysat Sat eve so Oli and I could go out for some Mexican. It was so good to just sit down with him & have a meal and talk about things other than Blake. And as a bonus the food was delicious; fish tacos hit the spot. Sunday was spent in our usual state of laziness, we watched a movie & made some burgers & caught up on some Skype dates. Well, I did that whilst Oli cleaned out our fridge, bless that boy. He's a catch! 

I came to the realisation last week that my hair is resembling that of a middle-aged crack-whore;

So I should really get that sorted sometime soon. I'm all for dying hair whilst pregnant by the way, there's not actually any solid facts that it does any harm to the baby & I think if your body isn't working in your favour- then at the very least your hairs got to look good. Something I should probably care about more but clearly don't. Does anyone else think, "oh my that looks lovely" for all of 1 day post hairdressers & then proceed to tie it up in a bun every day thereafter? Kind of pointless? Regardless- this trailer trash mess has to be sorted ASAP. 

Oooh I made up the bassinet in the weekend too;

Eeeeeek! It will be hilarious if 'he' is a 'she', but it would also be handy as we still have zero names on our boy list.. Nil. I may have to put 'baby name book' up on the chalkboard this week actually. 

Meanwhile, I'm currently sitting in the park up the road watching Blake hoon around like a madman;

I thought it would be a great idea to get out and get some fresh air and sunshine. Turns out aircon is far more appealing. It is sweltering out here, Blake is as pink as a piglet & you could take a swim in the sweat behind my knees right now. Aborting mission. Back to the blessed refrigerated air at home... 

I would LOVE to go to the beach for a dip to cool off, but is it even legal to go swimming when you look like this?

I'll stick to my cold showers. 

Happy Monday people 

Thought of the day "Ice cream ice cream ice cream"

Gemma 

Hormonal Rollercoaster

8 more weeks 8 more weeks 8 more weeks.... This is my mantra this week. If I keep repeating it I'll soon come to realise that I'm really & truly going to be a normal human being again in just 8 more weeks. 

Because to be honest... I'm a bloody mess right now!! A flurry of tears & tantrums, ridiculous remarks, sarcasm, and just general lunatic behaviour. Somebody please save me from myself! I'm unbearable. How Oli still manages to come home from work & look excited to be there is beyond me. But bless him for doing so, he is my knight in steel cap boots.

Alas;

This is how I envision my cranium to look post-birth;

Isn't it lovely? So peaceful & pretty. That will be me. Cool, calm & collected. 

Here's hoping anyway, because this hormonal imbalance can go right ahead & jump off the nearest cliff. 

In other non-manic news, I am currently obsessed with 'Clif' bars. Has anybody tried these delicious bars of heaven?

If not, do so immediately. They're supposed to be 'clean' energy bars, and they do have a number of wholesome ingredients, but they still have 20+ grams of sugar in each bar. So... I probably shouldn't be eating 3 a day. I'll work on that.. (White choc macadamia & choc almond fudge will blow your mind)

Recently, I've realised our kitchenware is simply just not up to scratch. One of my reso's was to get creative in the kitchen, but I feel as though I need new appliances to make all of these culinary dreams come alive. These two babies are numbers 1 & 2 on my list;

Vitamix (the GOD of blenders & processors, at an ungodly price)

&

The cuisinart 7-stage slow cooker. I can already feel that beef falling apart in my mouth...

So I was thinking in lieu of having a baby shower this time, I could ask for kitchenware. Is that legit? Obviously I wouldn't expect a vitamix (unless you're my mother), but some nice bright ramekins or a lovely platter wouldn't go astray? 

I'll keep dreaming and scheming & hopefully have these two in my kitchen come June... Which is conveniently when my birthday is..?! How funny.

Thought of the day, "how do I get away with mass murder of parrots?"

Hope you all have had a brilliant mon & tues.

Gemma 

31 Weeks

What's been happening: 

He is now approx 1.7 kilos & 42cm in length. He's just working on that bulking at the mo & he'll find himself running out of room in there very soon. 

As for me, I've been feeling less than ideal... Headaches/heartburn/backaches/exhaustion continue to plague me. Turns out I'm low on iron (something I should have figured out weeks ago) so I'm hoping the new supplements will kick in asap. 

Weight Gain;100 million kgs. That's just a guesstimation though. Seriously though, round two isn't pretty. Particularly for my ass/thighs. I can even feel the extra lard creeping up to my cheeks- the dreaded 'moon face'. I am begging for mercy for the remaining 8 weeks but I don't have high hopes. 

Workouts: It depends on whether going back & forth from the fridge counts? Tricks.

I got in a few last week, & 1 swim at the local pool. They were aiiiight, although I think my mouth gets the most out of the workout as I am constantly yawning. It's embarrassing. I'll count how many times I yawn at the gym next & let you know the numbers. 

Movement: Plenty, he's been getting the hiccups a few times a day now too which is remarkably cute- unless it's past 9pm. And then it is irritating. 

Food Aversions: Not reeeeally, bananas occasionally make me cringe when I eat them by themselves but other than that, I'm down for whatever. 

Food cravings: Pizza, icecream & smoothies

Sleep: Heat wave = hell. Blake = impossible. Invasion of parrots = Oli & I plotting to poison them all. (There is seriously an invasion of parrots in our street, there are hundreds & they squawk in unison at 4:30am. Fuuuuuuucccckkkkkk.)

Miss anything: Being near home at the moment, it would be bliss to drop B off at mums for a couple of hours each week. And Pinot.

Fun/ interesting things for the week;

I went to the chiro last Friday to sort out my aches & creaks. Turns out my neck, lower back & hips are all out so I get to go in for a 3 minute 'crack' twice a week now. It's really rather strange, and slightly scary- but man it feels good afterwards. Before our first session however, she informed me that I should be aware that using these procedures could result in further injury or death. Oh good, sign me up! 

*I made it out alive & less creaky. 

Stretchmarks; Surprisingly not! 

Happy or moody: Moody

Looking forward to: Oli and I have a date night sorted for this Saturday, Mexican & American Hustle, arrrrriba!

Bump update:  

I have surpassed my full term size from round 1 already, this is a big boy;

Gemma 

Week Highlights

Hi folks how are you all going??!! 

Thought I would pop in and share some highlights from the past few days over here..

I haven't been feeling all that swell as of late, but we have still managed to get a few more things crossed off our list this week which has been great! Olis been busy putting together flat packs (whilst watching cricket, who knew men could multi task?)

Ugh honestly, just looking at the trillion different pieces made me feel ill. What a mission. He was a champ though, and after nearly a year in Perth- we finally have drawers!!

And I have managed to get some bunting done, I'm rather proud actually as this is the first "crafty" thing I've made since... I dunno, maybe since I was 10? That's embarrassing. Yet true. 

Ta da;

All set to hang up in the little fellas room. The materials ended up working together really well, the little dogs are my fav. Who knows- this could be the start of a new crafty Gemma? Yeah don't hold your breath...

I had a lovely outing mid week with my friend Letisha.. we went to the outdoor cinemas & got prime seats right up front, with a couple of beanbags, blankets and bags of lollies- we were set;

So much fun!! 'The book thief' was an enjoyable watch, but I always feel a little let down with books-turned-films, they never quite portray the story as you'd want to see it I find. But a rad night out nonetheless, I was home by 11 & I felt like I'd been out til 5am the next day. I'm getting old.

On the movie note, we have watched 3 amazing movies at home this week. First time in forever that we've seen so many good ones simultaneously, I always feel satisfied after a really good film. Only because so many are so bloody terrible these days that you tend to feel a bit robbed of those hours of your life after you watch them don't you think? Anyway; "Enough Said", "12 Years A Slave" & "Dallas Buyers Club" are all amazing movies, I'd recommend you watch them all! 

Perths had a heat wave the last few days, it got to 43 yesterday, forty fucking three degrees. Needless to say, outdoors isn't an option, we just get nude & blast the aircon around here;

I know. She is definitely the best looking creature around. 

I've also made a couple of delicious eats over the weekend;

Chicken pesto and roasted cherry tomato fettuccine, & bagels with almond butter, banana & cinnamon. So so friggen good! 

And other than that, I really don't have that much to report. Apologies for the lack of enthusiasm this post has, I proof read it and thought it was lacking in my usual "zing". It's quite possible I'm not at my wittiest at the moment due to extreme exhaustion (think eyeballs hanging out of sockets), but I'll bounce back and hit you guys with some goodies. I promise. 

Lastly, huge happy 21st birthday wishes to my not-so-young younger sister Kate today, she is no doubt as hung as a dog right now, but I must admit she looked pretty smoking at her shindig last night;

Wish we could have been there with her!

Present is on its way... Almost.

Hope everyone is having a very lazy Sunday,

Gemma 

 

The Pursuit of Happiness

Hi everyone, how are you going on this glorious day? 

Well today was somewhat of a momentous day for me, I bit the bullet & deleted my Facebook account. 

I've been wanting to cut ties with it for so long but I was torn between the convenience of staying in touch with everyone, and the constant crap that was clogging my feed. Eventually, the crap become too much & it had to go. Facebook was suddenly a very negative thing for me. It has such a competitive feel to it nowadays, well mine did anyway.

"Look how cool my life is everyone!! Look what I've achieved and you haven't!! Look how good I look and you don't!!"

Obviously that was only a small percentage of people, but that was the general vibe I was getting every time I logged on. And if it wasn't that, it was all about stupid videos of people either really drunk, or graphic pictures of animal abuse that people just love to post these days. I'm all for awareness of animal cruelty, I think it's disgusting, but do I want to see mangled and bloodied dogs on a daily basis? No I do not. It was making me physically sick. 

Initially, I thought about just going through & deleting certain people but then I thought, nah I'm not going to single people out and be that "bitch". Which is what I would have done in the past. It's me that has the problem with how it has become, it is me that was allowing myself to feel the way I did when I used it, and it's me who had to put a stop to it. I was finding myself getting sucked into this big facade of, "I must make my life look amazing in order to impress people I don't actually give a shit about"- how ridiculous right? 

Fact is, I don't actually care anymore. I did, far too much it seems, and now I don't. 

I guess you could say I'm on a journey right now, without sounding like too much of a organic-cotton-wearing-hippy, I am on the pursuit of happiness. 

Social media was/is definitely negatively impacting my pursuit. I want to be outside in the sun, not cooped up on the couch procrastinating on this tiny little device. I want to pay attention to the people that I am with without picking up my phone, and most importantly I want to be proud of the person that I am, not constantly trying to be someone I'm not..

And that's how I feel about social media right now, it was only making me feel like I need to do better, or be better, or look better- that isn't cool. At the end of the day, I just want to be me, with my crude sense of humour, impatience, bags under my eyes & a sprinkle of cellulite on my ass. I'm cool with all of that, and if I want to change or better myself, I want to do it for me. Or for Blake, or Oli. Not for the purpose of getting a few 'likes' or 'comments'. 

So I was sucked in, but I have managed to scramble my way out & make a few changes to my thoughts in the process. I'm not saying I'll never come back on Facebook, I know when the new baby arrives it'll be really handy to have again- but that's still a couple of months away so in the meantime we will see how I go being Facebook free & see if it helps me on my pursuit. 

Meanwhile, here I am stuck on my phone again! But that's ok because writing actually makes me really happy, I honestly feel like I could go on forever some days- but I'll save that for a diary in order to not bore you poor folk. 

If you want to get in touch email me on; Gemma.m.warner@hotmail.com- or if you're really keen, pen me a letter. How great were pen pals back in the day? As much as I love and appreciate technology and its place in society, some days I wish we could just go back and live simpler again. Life is on a constant fast forward stream.

Slow down, take a moment to appreciate what you have right now; endless sunshine, a sleeping infant & a fridge full of fresh fruit in my case. Excellent. 

Thought of the day "Dr Seuss is a genius"

Gemma