Month in Pics

Has it really come to this? One blog a month? It would seem so. My apologies my sweet wee online diary, I've been neglecting you for such a long time now. What can I say? I'm a busy woman. Which is funny, because I always thought I was a busy woman once I had Blake, and I was to a certain extent- but current day busy Gemma blows 2013/14/15 busy Gemma right out of the park. Way out there. Now I look back on 2013/14/15 Gemma with nostalgia and a smidge of envy. How I miss my mummy dates, and meals that take longer than ten mins to prepare, and quality time with the kids when they're not cranky a-holes after kindy. And quality time with Oli that doesn't involve quick pecks on the cheek with a murmured 'nunite love you'. I also miss shampooed hair, waxed & tinted power brows, and the gym. Oh the gym. We were once inseparable, now look at us- we are practically strangers.

On the flipside, life seems to be really working in our favour despite the blurred chaos. I'm absolutely loving my job, like, I rock up to the morning meetings each day with genuine enthusiasm, even if I am still half asleep (LB in tow- always). Olis business is up and running and work is flying in at an alarming rate. The kids have been total champs at kindy, sans any illness for this year so far (touch wood), and Oscar is F I N A L L Y sleeping through the night. All four snarly canines have reared thier ugly heads and operation "fuck you teething" is complete! 

One of my resos for the new year, which isn't really a reso as I was left with no other choice in the matter, was to start rising at 5:15 every weekday to run up the Mt and get my exercise done for the day before the household awoke. Now, let's take a moment to understand and appreciate just how much I hated getting up early before this regime started. Mornings were for any excess sleep I could get, followed by strong black coffee, and then, I would rejoin the human race. After two weeks of setting my alarm for this horrific hour and turning it off every single time, I finally, begrudgingly, got up one time and went for a run at 5:40am. It was gross. I got a massive headache, my mouth was cotton dry, my time was way slower than usual, and I hit the biggest arvo slump at 1pm where I felt like hiding beneath my desk and snoozing in foetal position. Another two weeks of turning off my alarm flew by and I decided to give it another crack. Mostly because I was finding it incredibly frustrating when each day would end, and no exercise was done. And now, believe it or not, I'm actually enjoying getting up in the pitch black most mornings. Running down the mountain with the sun just peeking above the ocean is pretty bloody breathtaking. Gone are the headaches, and the arvo slumps, they've been replaced with excess energy and a slight smugness that comes from knowing you don't have to squeeze in exercise for the entire day because you've already done your share. Oli still thinks I'm mental, his quote for Friday was (through bleary half-asleep eyes peering at me in the shower post hike at 6:30am like a creep) "so this running up the mt early as fuck ordeal is actually a "thing" now". Yeah, it's a thing. 

So without further ado, I bring to you, some snaps of our lives in 2016 to date;

New carpet + new couch + old kids = a splendid sight 

My big gal got her first haircut last week, it took 5 minutes and was totally uneventful but I shed a tear

This is Annah- we met through mutual friends when we were both pregnant in 2012 and now we both have a big girl and little boy each. She has come to be one of my favourite humans and this was us eating tip top at a tip top spot last week when she came to visit. Friends are so cool.

What's summer without a sprinkler? Feat B & Sadie 

The epitome of cool kids 

My sweet gypsy soul Tali flew through briefly and I'm counting down the hours until her & Lee touch down again in a few weeks 

Well I told you it was spectacular didn't I?

Stop whatever it is that you are doing and read this book. Immediately. (Thanks Sarah for the recommendation!)

Aunty Dee is all over it. Be back in 5. (65)

This is just how we roll these days. Feat fancy new fence. 

Oscar still having an inkling of baby in him whilst being a fully functioning walking/ talking toddler is unbelievably adorable. Stay this age forever please. Minus repeating everything you say 34 times until I respond. 

Time to wrap this up- Olis in Auckland for the night whilst I'm holding down the fort, aka eating burger fuel and creme eggs and reading my book whilst the children snooze up a storm. 

Peace & love folks

Gem

Thought of the day "it is 100% confirmed that working is a hell of a lot easier than mothering"