Oscar turns two

Oscar aka Ossy aka Ossy bum aka Oss burgs turned two last Saturday. Are you all thinking what I'm thinking? Didn't he just violently shoot out her vagina like a rocket into space like last week??

I KNOW! (the memories are still very raw)

Two whole years. Wow. In so many ways it feels like Oscar has always been with us, or with me I should say. At my feet, clutching to my calves with his chubby little mits, pleadingly looking up at me, "Mum, food?" "Mum, tuddles?" "Mum" (often its just Mum with no follow through, mostly when I'm doing anything besides giving him my undivided attention).

I vaguely remember our lives before we turned into a family of four, its blurry, but there was certainly more sleep, definitely more family outings, and a heck of a lot more patience on my behalf. Before Oscar came along, I was sure I had this mothering gig down pat. I was confident to the point where I was bordering cocky. Or, I was just flat out cocky. "What do you mean this is hard? Did your baby not sleep through from 3 weeks old? Did they not just adapt easily to your environment and be cool with whatever you're doing or wherever you're going? Flights are sooo easy with babies they just sleep!" That was me- what a fucking dick. Why did nobody slap me? Not to worry though folks, I paid for it tenfold when Oscar arrived.

After an incredibly hard and fast home birth, Oscar flew out grunting, beet red, squirming, and crying. That didn't change for 12, excruciating weeks. Colic, reflux, and sleep deprivation decided to set up camp for 3 loooooooong months and I morphed into an emotionally unstable wreck. In all seriousness, I couldn't love Oscar. I wanted to, I so badly wanted to look down at him whilst he was feeding and feel nothing but heart warming joy, pride, and contentment. Instead I felt angry, bitter, helpless and resentful. I joke about this period of our lives a lot, however all jokes aside, it was the single worst experience of my life. By the end of the 12 weeks, I felt like a shell of a human, literally and figuratively. And then, as babies tend to do (and as everyone tells you whilst you are wading through the shit storm but you don't want to hear it because it doesn't fucking matter when you've had 1.75 hours of sleep, total. TOTAL) Oscar settled in. He started to sleep through, and smile! Smiling was a biggy for Oli and I, because he was Oscar the grouch for what felt like forever so that big gummy smile was a huge reward. Finally! We are doing something right! He loves us! He really loves us! Before we knew it, he was sitting, and then crawling, and then standing up, and then pottering around on his thick little legs, running full pace into Oli as soon as he walked through the door each arvo, smothering us both with smooches and tuddles, and just generally being a total heart throb.

I fell madly in love with this wee boy.

And now - Oscar is an empathetic, hilarious, hungry, boisterous, amazingly vocal, push-the-boundaries-on-a-daily-basis, full of heart human being. At 19 months he started parroting Blake, and he was stringing full, clear sentences together well before he turned 2. Everywhere we go, people are drawn into the Oscar vortex, all it takes is a simple "Hi" and a wave of his hand and they're hook line and sinkered. Throw in the fact that he has his sisters giant blue peepers and nobody stands a chance.

His sleeping has been erratic and exhausting ever since our move home to NZ, but in recent months he is mostly back on the 12 hour bandwagon (we will give it an even 80%) and that is making juggling working/ parenting life a heck of a lot easier for us. Alas, he still has this horrible little blanket that he uses as a snuggly, and that thing is the bane of my life. For example; 3am today "Muuuummm my snuggles, MUUUUUUMMMMMM". So we are booking in a burning ceremony for that any day now.

And seeing as he's reached the big two year milestone, we (reluctantly) are about to bust out the old potty again. TT round 2. Insert a monotone "yay". This time will be slightly different to Blake, not just because of the different 'bits' but because a lot of the training will be done at his kindy. I'll be sure to keep you in the loop with his progress on that one.

On his actual bday this year, we (conveniently) had a wedding to attend, so rather than stressing over some big soiree with 50 tier high cakes, and 100 grubby kids tearing our place apart (thats most definitely a huge exaggeration by the way as Oscar has approx 4 friends max), we decided to invite the fam over and a couple of Oscars little mates and his favourite cousin Sadie for an early morning birthday brunch involving bacon buns, mimosas, hash browns and of course- cake. Which I made, and might I add- was actually edible and dare I say it- good (baking is not my strong point, nor do I find it enjoyable in the slightest- the pressure!!)

Oh look- here we are!

It was a wonderful little affair, and I'm definitely making a mental note for the birthdays to come that bday brunches are where it is at. Anything with bacon is where its at though really.

And that my friends, is a wrap! Another year down, one toddler and one mini Madonna in our care, still ending every day with smiles on our faces and huge chunks of cheesy love in our hearts, so thats a #win.

Enjoy scoffing back those oval eggs and hot cross buns in excess this weekend won't ya?

Gem

Thought of the day "Did I tell you guys we have a 5th mini Tabak in our clan- this is Rudy, and he is absolutely delicious! 

March?

March? Fucking march?

Really?

Would someone care to explain to me exactly how it is March already? Its quite possible every single one of my posts from here on out, will have at least (emphasis on the least) one whinge about how quickly time is going. I had heard this is a ‘Mum’ thing, but I tend to lean more towards a ‘we are all getting old’ thing.

So anywho, despite my protests, it is infact March. Which means- my teeny tiny infant still-rocking-him-in-cradle-position-even-when-he-is-resisting baby boy Oscar is approaching two. Yup, two. March the 12^th is the day to be exact. So whilst he is sprinting, walking, talking (and I don’t just mean ‘Hi, Bye, Mum, Dad’ either. I’m talking “Mum, we are going over da bridge….. Mum we are SOOOO high….. Mum I can see da water….. Mum Look! A truck! Mum it’s a truck and a digger! Its yellow! MUUUUUUMMMMM!  Y E L L O W!!!!), and eating his own meals without any help (“No, I’LL DO IT”), snoozing in his big boys bed minus any safety rails because he’s a bad ass like that, and just generally NOT being an infant at all, here I am standing back in bewilderment thinking “Now, tell me again where the hell those two years are hiding please?”.

There he is! So devilishly handsome 

Despite feeling incredibly nostalgic (as always) about my little humans growing into big humans, I’m also at a stage where I feel especially excited about the people they are becoming. Watching them race around pretending to be dinosaurs, all teeth bared and raaaaawwwwwwwrrrrrrsssss, releasing and expanding their imaginations- exuding confidence and an astonishing amount of energy is fascinating. And then when five minutes into said pretend play, someone inevitably gets injured in some small (or sometimes large) way, watching their empathy unfold as they wrap their arms around each other kissing the sore spots and reassuring with “there you go, its ok now” is enough to make me weak at the knees. Buckling I tell ya. They’re just so bloody precious. Delicious. Mischievious. Adventurous. Smooch-their-cheeks-until-they-break-free-on-a-daily-basis-ous.

And here they are just out doing their own bunnings shopping- who needs Mum anymore?

About now is the point where everyone starts asking on the regular, “so how about that third kid eh? Eh? Eh?”. Crikey, give it a rest- I’ve only just recovered from the trauma of two consistent years of sleep deprivation, my uterus is shivering at the thought. Seriously though, Oli and I are still on the two child bandwagon two years in. And even though some days I’ll have an overwhelming maternal tug at the heart strings where (we’ve obviously had a rare full sleep and no tantrums day) I’ll think ‘whats one more?’. To which my realistic hubby would reply, its another mouth to feed, another two years of no sleep, another step away from our budding freedom, aaaaaand another 9 months of you moaning. Oh yeah, that’s right, lets stick to two.

On another note, my work hours have recently been extended to 4 full days a week Mon-Thurs, and despite every single morning being absolutely and utterly manic- I’m talking flying lunchboxes, smoothie sculling until I gag, half ironed clothes and shooing kids out the front door- we are managing to make it work (kinda), and its really making me appreciate the time I do spend with them over those 3 day weekends. Dare I say it, I actually miss them when I’m at work. And in turn, it helps me have less screaming matches at/ with them and be a heck of a lot more patient too which is bloody good for the soul.

Whilst I've been wrangling work and the kids, Olis been working his ass off to start his new business. There's some very exciting things I will share with you all shortly, but for any of you Mounties, make sure to remember to refer Olis exceptional electrical skills to your neighbours, your parents, your grandparents, your grandparents friends, and anyone else who will listen. 

Besides all of the above, when we get a spare sec, we’ve been chipping away at our house, trying to sex it up as much as poss on a somewhat limited budget. Last weekend we (along with Dad and TJ) gave the new fence a fresh lick and it turned out pretty suave in a smooth grey:

Next on the agenda, the overwhelmingly large agenda, is doing some landscaping. Good old Grandma is popping over this weekend, soil in tow, to guide me into growing our first veggie garden, woohoo!! Trust me when I tell you, Granny knows what’s up. Her green thumb is world famous (in Te Aroha). So I’ll be sure to fill you in on how that is growing, and if you’re in the neighbourhood I may even skip over with a basket full of fresh goodies. (The chances are slim but theres always hope).

Speaking of fresh delicious goodies- its about time I posted a recipe. Its only been a good 6 months-ish right? Last night, after spotting a particularly drool-worthy Instagram post by Loni Jane, I decided it was dhal time. Dhal is such a perfect meal for cooler nights, its full of nutricious fats & proteins, and it makes for warm full satisfied (bloated) bellies.

There wasn’t an actual recipe on the Instagram post I saw, just a snap, so I just took a stab at it and it turned out pretty damn delish:

I threw in;

Two cups of red lentils (washed thoroughly)

1 x tin of brown lentils in brine (drained and washed)

1 x 400ml tin of coconut milk

2.5 Cups of water

1 x onion finely chopped

2 x plump cloves of garlic finely chopped

1 thumb of fresh grated ginger

2 x red chilies sliced

1 heaped tablespoon of curry powder

1 heaped tablespoon of garam masala

1 tablespoon of turmeric

1 tablespoon of ground coriander

2 teaspoons of ground cumin

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

And jasmine rice, fresh spinach leaves, fresh coriander and lime to serve

Method:

In a deep pan, saute the onions, garlic, and ginger in coconut oil for 5-10 mins. Add the Curry powder, garam masala, turmeric, ground coriander, cumin & cinnamon and stir for another couple of mins. Add the coconut milk, water and red lentils and bring to the boil. Season well (next time I will use vegetable stock rather than water as I had to salt it quite a bit). Bring it down to a simmer after it has come to a boil and leave for 30-40 mins. Add the brown lentils and chilies and stir. I left mine for a good hour but it could have gone for much longer to soak up all the flavours. The dhal should have a porridge like consistency, thicker than soup but runnier than hummus. Serve on a bed of rice & spinach and top with limes and coriander.

Enjoy at least 4 times the recommended serving size in one sitting, and then bask in your bloated glory.

Lately I have not been digging meat at all so I’ve been loving veggie dishes- another dish I made on Monday night was potato crisp tacos. Filled with crispy potatoes, avocado, spinach, jalapenos and cucumber- these little babies hit the spot! Sorry I don't have a snap to insert but you can picture the goodness. 

So stoked winter is right around the corner, its carb season- rice and potatoes for miles.

Ok I better wrap this up before I become a bore to you all,

Happy hump day creeps,

Gem

Thought of the day “I have major girl crush feelings for Margot Robbie”

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"

2016

Why hello there friends, family and creeps, how the heck are ya? Merry Xmas, and happy new year and all of that jazz! 

Upon opening the curtains this morning and taking in the torrential rain pelting the  windows (the middle of summer in Mount Maunganui is horrifically schizophrenic) I decided right- that's it, time to dust off the old blog and get into again. 

Turns out a lot can happen in a short couple of months. Juggling a job, daycare runs, wifely duties & a social life have soaked up majority of my precious time; however on top of that, Santas been and gone, friends have flown in and out, Oscars sprouted his top canines (and I've spent a lot of time googling adoption agencies), and somehow- magically, it is a whole new year. Would you fancy that? 2016 ay. Ten years since we finished high school in fact. Shit that's a horrid thought, let's forget I ever said that.

New year! New goals, new me! Just kidding, I'll still be my same old sarcastic self, and I'll still have the same goals...

1) 'get rich whilst also taking at least two holidays a year and wearing fabulous clothes whilst doing so', & 2) 'keep the children alive'. Now that we're maintaining a mortgage, I'm sensing that I may only be able to uphold number two this year. Which is a damn shame as I really love the combo that is cocktails and sunshine.

Being homeowners is pretty bad ass so far though I must admit. Since the minute we moved in we've been flooded with exciting ideas and inspirations- planning out colours and themes and soundproof walls. We've also quickly learnt that nothing comes easily or quickly with renovations, it's one (excrutiatingly slow) thing at a time. Our first thing on the agenda was the fence. Which, when we moved in, was rotting and barely holding its own. So far, we have gotten the new posts in (when I say 'we' it was actually Oli and 6 friends which was rather efficient and brilliant), and if the sunshine decides to come out sometime this weekend we may even have a completed project!! Next week, we are tackling the carpet, which is a funny old tale in itself. You see, this is what our carpet looks like currently;

(Mind the delish sprogs). You're thinking what we are all thinking right? Gross. Dated. If I vomit here will you even see it? Etc etc. Oli and I knew we would be changing up this monstrosity at some point, but it was never going to be this soon. Until, someone bought it. Yup, you read that right. Someone bought the entire house lot of it, on trade me. For 2 and a half grand. Insert hyena laughter. 

So next week, a man in a big truck is coming to collect his 'goods', and we are laying brand new stuff throughout the digs. !!!!!!!!!!!!!. A few weeks after that's gone down, Oscar will begin toilet training- we've really thought this one through well. 

Let's have a wee update on the infants/ giants shall we?

Firstly, the favourite- Blake. 

Our deliciously pink, boisterous, and bubbly little gal has taken her new role as eldest cuzzy under her wing swimmingly so far this summer. Aside from Oscar, she has Sadie (20 months) and Amelia (5 months), to try to boss around for at least another 10 Christmases until they all get sick of her. 

The mini Tabaks - Sadie, Oscar, Amelia and Blake aka Pips.

Blake has loved having all of her family around this summer though- including her extended family who are family all the same (Andy, Sterl Jimmy Lis and Abbey), but most notably is definitely Aunty Dee (my sister Kate). Who has moved back permanently, woohoo! You're all thinking what I'm thinking right? Babysitter- jackpot! 

And here we have the (close) second favourite;

Oscar... oh Oscar. As much as he is hilarious, and crowd pleasing, and a total stud- he also still will not sleep through the night. And without those full nights sleep, I'm still day by day, drifting ever so slowly towards that asylum. Fuck, just lock me up and throw away the key if it means I get to sleep all day and night, I'm all for it. 

Besides the fact that he is infact torturing me on a daily basis, he is absolutely adorabloodyble. His vocab has gone from zero to 100 in just a couple of months and he is speaking like a school kid rather than a nearly two year old. You may think I'm just being one of those Mums who is totally bias but, in all seriousness, he is a child genius. And now that he is in daycare, after I eventually peel him off my hip and run out the door whilst he chases me bawling (yeah, it's fun), he seems to be at the peak of his social performance thus far. For example, if one of our (male) friends walks in they will say 'sup' with the old chin lift to match and Oscar will do it right back, resulting in cheering and laughter. Like I said, total crowd pleaser. I'll laugh harder when he sleeps through religiously though.

And lastly, my biggest infant;

Darling hubby. This was us celebrating his 28th birthday two weeks back. And here's me still telling tales of his 21st birthday as if it were last year. Crikey time, just chill the fuck out ay? OT is doing well though, possibly a bit green around the gills from a couple of weeks of some heavy, heavy intoxicating- aren't we all though?

I most definitely am. Green around the gills, and puffy around the tum, time to welcome back some routine and hopefully re join the gym. No idea when that will squeeze into the schedule but it's always nice to have options innit?

Before work commences on Monday, and reality hits me hard in the face, Aunty Dee aka número uno bebesitter is taking over tonight whilst we have a meal with some fabulous friends over some whisky sours. Yes please. 

Have a warm weekend won't you folks?

Gem 

Thought of the day "au revoir holidays, you've been magnificent" 

Relationship rollercoasters

You know what? Life is really fucking hard. 

Despite social media insisting it is nothing but a light stroll through a particularly pretty park on a warm summers day (mine included), it is actually really fucking hard. 

What I seem to be struggling with mostly, as a sprightly 26 year old, is my relationships. Finding balance, and compromising, accepting others and making a concerted effort to be a kinder human, can often be draining. There seems to be a lot of energy exasperated, with little return a lot of the time.

This is where someone would likely pipe in with "let that shit go, cut off anyone or anything that doesn't do you better". What a crock of shit. Life isn't about cutting ties with people based on your assumption that they're bringing you down. Life is about evolving, understanding, growing more patience, building, making sacrifices and learning about yourself by your relationships with others. 

That's not to say that if there's some total dickhead lingering around that does nothing but hover overhead like a black cloud, to keep them on and persevere. Without being captain obvious, there's some relationships that are quite obviously doomed from the beginning. But I'm continuing to find, that even relationships that are bound by the stars, still require a huge amount of effort, time and energy. 

Take my most precious relationship for example- Oli and I. After nearly a decade since our relationship first began, I'm finding that as we grow, and as we change, this relationship needs a lot of maintenance. I don't say that like its a horrible chore that weighs heavily on my shoulders (but let's be fair sometimes it's like climbing a mountain with 100kilos of frustration on your back), it's just something that I feel needs to be discussed more often. How can we improve our communication? How can we find the balance between work, our little dumplings, hobbies, sex, 'us' time and of course, time to ourselves. How can we keep the flame burning this year?

(Yee old flame burners a tough one post children I tell ya!). How can we improve as parents together, and seperately? I don't have the answer to any of the above incase you had thought I might bust out some stellar words of wisdom. I would like to know the answers too though if anyone is willing to offer?

Is adulthood really going to be this exhausting forever? Will I ever stop whining? 

So many questions left unanswered today. 

In the meantime, I think I'm going to take some time to think about myself more than others. Dig deep and see what's benefiting me and what's not at the moment. Maybe I'll find some answers buried in there? Who knows.

Have a very merry day friends,

Gemma 

Thought of the day "I am so sick of seeing the word "salty" everywhere"

Hello I'm Gemma, and I am a real life adult.

Oh well hello there!

How the heck are ya?

She's bucketing down out there today so for the last twenty mins or so I've been umming and ahhing between writing this blog, or doing an at home workout. So here I am, scoffing almonds, weighing up pros and cons in my big old mess of a head. "The kids are asleep now so it's my only opportunity to get sweaty" - lean green Gemma machine argues. "You haven't written anything of any substance  in weeks woman, get your thumb to that screen!" counter argues the devilish procrastinator Gemma. Just fucking stop standing in the kitchen and do something before the bloody kids wake up- that's all ten Gemma's coming together right there. 

So here I am. 

(I also just had lunch, so jump squats and push ups sound like a recipe for a good old vom right about now)

Looking back on my past blogs and how many I used to fire out there is slightly bewildering now. That shit was consistent. Alas, a lot has changed since then and yee old blogging has taken a major backseat on the bus of life. In the last few weeks, besides the actual move home (I still have nightmares about packing boxes opening up and swallowing me whole by the way), we've been preoccupied with finding our house, finding work, finding furniture, kindy drops off and pick ups, organising Olis new business, trying to squeeze in shitloads of mum activities (the mount is a hub for mothers by the way, this place freaking rules), oh and just trying to cook clean and exercise occasionally too (failing miserable at at least 2/3 of those per day at the mo). Despite everything happening all at once, it is all coming together really blimmin well...

Number one news item for the week; I am employed! I managed to land a part time gig at a uber cool place called "Woods Creative" downtown the Mount, and I am thrilled beyond belief to be fair. It is a branding/ marketing firm that has staff made up of writers, graphic designers, website developers etc. I mean, there's a table tennis table in the middle of their office and they shoot up the mount on their lunch breaks. COME ON. It is literally the purrrfect environment for me, which I think is so detrimental in any place of work. You gotta fit in, you know? My role will be general office work, but even just being amongst that kind of awesomeness on a small scale is going to leave me unnaturally happy. "Oh you want me to type that up? Absolutely!! Not a problemo!!" (Said with the cheesiest smile that borderlines creepy and leaves them telling all the other staff how weird the new girl is). But I don't care!! Because for a few hours each day I am no longer Muuuummmmmmyyyyy, I'm Gemma or Gem or G Dog or whatever those new best buds of mine want to call me in the office.

So that's a spot of excitement! And whilst all that has been happening, we are also working on starting Olis electrical company, which turns out- involves a lot of admin. A lot. However, it is also, a very exciting venture that we are both eager to get underway whilst the economy is running hot. Finding an available sparky here at the mo is like striking gold, so something tells me it is going to be a rather busy year ahead for the both of us! (This can also act as a plug, so if anyone knows of or needs any work done in the Bay, be sure to holla!)

In other news, I'm currently slurping back my first real LB in weeks;

It tastes like I've been pashing Liam  Hemsworth (that ones for you Abbey you creep) aka unnaturally delicious. I've been on the dirty old instant mocconas recently, and let me tell you, the moment we move into the new place, before we set up beds, plug in the fridge or anything else that is less important than caffeine, we will be busting out the coffee machine. 

Move in date is in 3 weeks time, and in those 3 weeks I'll no doubt collect at least 15 more unnecessary items for the place. Olis all like "stop buying shit Gemma" and I'm all like "Oli, how do you think we would have felt if we hadn't bought the old radio/ record table that looks incredibly bad ass" the answer is fucking terrible. That's how we would have felt. (He actually was all for the bad ass record player but not so much the new bedding for all 3 bedrooms- spoil sport).

But check this little beaut- it is so friggen sweet;

So if you need to find me, I'll be lurking about at every second hand store you can think of for at least another year. 

Oh and here is the mandatory snaps of the kids that simply cannot be missed purely because they are absolute gold;

Last weekend Blake went trick or treating as a vampire and we were in stitches at how well a 3 year old pulled this look off

Oscar rocking mums wig almost sent me over the edge also- Christian school teacher dressed as a toddler

One sunny Sunday 

Mr whippy always hits the spot 

Alrighty, well I think I've over verbalised enough for one day. To wrap it all up, today is one of those days where I feel like I just may have my shit together. Where I might even pass as a real life adult. Then again, tomorrow's a new day and if it's anything like yesterday, I may just make eggs for breakfast lunch & dinner and have Shrek on replay. At least motherhood is exciting right? You wake up and really never know what the day will bring. (Please bring well behaved children who eat all of their food and play nicely together and pick up their toys when they're done tomorrow)

Oh well would you look at that, 4:59pm, it's happy hour, catch ya later loves,

Gemma 

Thought of the day "is it really November? What the actual faaaark!"

Yoohoo

Why hello,

How are we all going? 

It feels like I should explain my absence as a kick starter- and then I feel as though I shouldn't need to explain anything as this is my space and I can come here to write whenever I like. And then I think that sounds self absorbed and defensive. Followed by more over-thinking, and so on and so on... 

You see...

When I first started writing my blog I was fearless with my words, and sadly, I feel like my courage may be somewhat clouded now. Certainly filtered at least. But by what? And why? (You may ask). I don't really know the answer to either to be honest. Possibly by the constant pressure of society, or the knowledge of just how many people I know who read this- or maybe it's just been a tiresome time and I'm not feeling so sprightly in general. It could be one, or all of the above, but the fact is, I just haven't felt inspired lately. 

Alas, here I am, (insert toe tap and corny smile), so maybe my mojo is making a comeback! 

The last couple of months have been incredibly hectic, and therefore incredibly tiring. I am so inexplicably tired. And yet, here I am at 10:45pm, on my blower, burning my irises for a change. (Who actually remembers life before smartphones? What the fuck did we do with all of that time?). 

This is good. Writing again, it feels good. I feel like maybe this is where I should begin to tell a few tales,

Then again, this could just be a warm up and the tales can come in due time.

In other words, I really should sleep. 

Oh, but I will fill you in on one rather significant life event so I don't leave you with nada;

We bought a house! She's a little beaut too. We move in at the end of Nov and I am bloody beside myself about painting and decorating and the endless goodies from Kmart I can buy to sex the place up. 

So if anyone has any hot diy'ing tips, feel free to shoot them my way,

Adios friends, sleep tight 

Gem

Thought of the day "after just google thesaurus'ing 'Alas', I am shocked to discover its definition is unfortunately!! And here I was, using it as a standard interjection on a daily basis. Whoopsie! So my above alas, is totally defunct- however, I can now use my fresh knowledge to drop that 'alas' down where it belongs from here on out"