Photos Galore

A quick post to unload some more brilliant pics on you all;

Enjoy 

Seriously, where do you start?

Babies breath bouquet 

Sisterly love

Bob & Blake know what's up 

Gal pals 

Cheerio!

Gem 

The Best Tomato & Vegetable Soup

Today I am feeling extremely seedy... Therefore Blake Oscar and I are tucked up on the couch pretending that the sun isn't shining through the cracks in the blinds- infact, I like to think it is rather stormy outside & very uninviting. 

I should probably muster up some energy & take Blake to the park soon, the poor girl is delirious from boredom. There's only so much IPad time one toddler can endure in a day. 

Remind me why we drink again? (My glowing red-cheeked giggly self could have told you last night I'm sure.... I was in good form.) In hindsight, I probably should have reserved some energy for tonight though, as it is Oli and my 6 year anniversary. Six years ago I smooched that delightful man for the first of many many times, and I can't wait to smooch him again when he gets home from work. And then go for a big snooze. Parenthood eh? It really doesn't mix well with hangovers. 

We are having a very merry time with my friend Nicole here too, she is such good quality & I may just have to swipe her passport so she can never leave us..

Feeding the ducks this wonderful morning

Although all this wine-time encouragement is exhausting- I'm beginning to feel like a withered old woman! Who am I kidding, the encouragement is coming from me. 

Tomorrow, after I've fully recharged the bats, we have some very exciting plans. Wedding dress shopping! Argh! 

I'm not actually expecting to find and buy 'the one', I'm just wanting to see what looks good on me & go from there. Daresay when I'm standing in front of a mirror with a gown on, the reality will really kick in- yikes! I'll be sure to let you know how we get on.. Or maybe I won't actually as Oli religiously reads my blogs (he is my self-appointed number 1 fan), and I don't want to ruin the big surprise!

Anywho- 

Now that Winter is fast approaching, I thought a good old fashioned soup recipe is in order. This one is Olis mums recipe, and we inhale bucketloads of it every cool season... 

Tomato & Vegetable Soup;

Ingredients; 

3 cloves garlic finely diced 

3 big bay leaves 

4 cups vegetable or chicken stock 

4 tins diced toms

1 tin red kidney beans 

3 carrots cubed

4 potatoes cubed 

Leeks finely chopped 

Celery finely chopped (incl leaves)

Method;

In a large saucepan on high heat, sauté the garlic & leeks in some olive oil for 2-3 mins. Add the chopped carrots, potatoes & celery, sauté for another couple of mins 

Add the stock, tinned tomatoes and bay leaves, season well & turn down to low heat. Let this simmer, covered, for 3-4 hours. Half an hour before serving, add the tin of kidney beans. 

Voila! 

This tastes amazing soaked up in some bread & keeps well for at least a week-  or else it is a great meal to keep in the freezer. Blake loves this concoction as well, so if you have littlies keep this in mind! So easy, so healthy, and so yum! Give it a whirl!

Meanwhile, I really don't think that park trip is going to happen (sorry B), this couch is far too cosy. Nicole's just put me onto an amazing jewellery site "kirstinash.com", and I'm currently sitting here pining for these four fine rings; 

Now that Mother's Day is approaching and all... I think it is only fair that a few of these land on my digits sometime soon. Online shopping is dangerously convenient. I better not though, turns out weddings aren't cheap- who knew?

HAPPY FRIDAY FRIENDS! Have a lovely weekend won't you?

Thought of the day "how the hell is it already May?"

Gemma 

Post Baby Bod Update- 6 Weeks (wedding edition)

Dieting & exercising have been patiently sitting at around number #224 on the priority list at the moment... 

Simply trying to survive each day has been my main goal. But now that Oscar is settling a little & the rush of visitors is almost over, I feel like a new routine is in order. Especially now that we have set a wedding date...!!! 

May 23rd 2015 is to be the big day, which leaves me with approximately 13 months to get in tippy top shape. I've told some friends and family about my big plans to be in great shape & majority of the responses were;

A) you don't even need to lose weight (lies)

Or 

B) don't put pressure on yourself for one day.

To which I say;

A) I actually do as I just had a baby 

&

B) point taken, but I don't believe aiming to be fit, healthy & glowing for my wedding day is an unrealistic expectation- and it just so happens to be the most important 'one day' of my life.

Thank you very much.

Really, which woman doesn't want to look their best on their wedding day? I actually think it's incredibly good motivation to ditch the chips & choccie in favour of green smoothies and truckloads of squats. Ever since all this wedding talk a couple of weeks ago, I've already been making much better decisions when it comes to my health and fitness- and it's bloody marvellous! 

I wont be starting some starvation diet & running for 20km a night or anything ludicrous like that, but I am going to quit the sugar (mostly) & up the workouts where possible from here on out. (I say this as I just finished 100 weighted squats in the lounge and now feel slightly wobbly / ill)

The plan at the moment is simply to cut out as much crap as possible from my diet without being too strict, and to exercise at least 4-5 times a week even if that just means a walk for an hr. At the moment my diet looks mostly like this;

Morning; muesli & almond milk with a banana 

Snack; fruit or hardboiled egg and almonds 

Lunch; variable but mostly sandwich or sushi

Snack; something sweet or a smoothie

Dinner; our main dinners vary between chicken wraps, curries, steak & mash, or a roast of some description. 

There are far too many refined carbs (white rice, bread etc) being consumed, so I'll swap them out for brown or whole grains, and try to cut out my sweet tooth snack in the afternoon. Not massive changes, but better choices. 

As for exercise; I'm walking 3 or 4 days a week and running once or twice as well, I've also been doing Jacobs ladder sporadically but would like to make that a regular weekend thing. I will also try to do at home yoga & weights at least 2 or 3 times a week. This all depends on how many hours of sleep I'm getting & how my body / mind are feeling, I won't push myself if I'm tired- will just go with the flow.

So I'm going to start by documenting my progress on here, updating it monthly with photos of my journey whether they are good or just plain unsightly, you'll see it all. 

Here are some pics from yesterday, unfiltered, unedited, and I'm not sucking anything in;

(I can't wait until those massive hooters shrivel up!)

Things aren't looking too shabby for 6-7 weeks out but there is some tightening to be done! The areas I want to work on are typical 'women problem areas', upper thighs, arms and tummy. I don't have a lot of weight to lose but I do have a lot of toning to do, so watch this space! Oh, and ballet starts tonight too, weeeeee, I'll let you know which role in Swan Lake they cast me as.... Probably the swan though I'd say.

I hope you're all having a wonderful week, and enjoying the cooler weather with some cuddly dressing gowns and snug slippers (my fave). Perth dropped down to 7degrees whilst I was feeding Oscar at 4am today, it felt like -7! (I've ashamedly become a big Australian pussy)

Happy hump day folks!

Thought of the day "will this child feed every 2 hours forever?!!! Broken sleep sucks"

Gemma 

Recent Events

Hi folks!

Phwoooaarrrr have we been busy or what?!

Indeed we have. 

Each day has just flown by at the speed of light lately, I feel like I just crawl out of bed only to promptly collapse back in (at 7pm). 

I'll touch on our heavyweight champ first; 

All of Olis dreams coming true 

Oscar weighed in at 6 kilos on Thursday. Six freaking kilos. He falls into the 98th percentile for his weight & age, and is already wearing clothes for 6 month old babes. I feel like he should be putting on a backpack & heading off to primary school next week, saying "gidday" in a deep throaty voice & eating lamb chops and mash. Upon checking Blakes weight at this age, she was a measly 4 kilos (!!!!) and didn't hit 6 kilos until 5 months. This kid is growing at an out of control rate & I am seriously impressed that my milk is doing all the work- the human bods are pretty incredible! This week he has been giving us the hugest grins that squish into his chubby cheeks & morph him into an Asian baby. He is so alert aswel, it is remarkable- I seriously think he is a super baby (spoken like a true bias Mother) He's also cooing and even attempting to laugh which is insanely cute. I'm falling madly in love with the little sumo each and every day and I can't wait to see just how many rolls one baby can actually produce. 

We think his colic (or reflux) has finally dispersed for good, or mostly anyway as his tantrums are now few & far between. Thank fuck & bless probiotics is all I have to say about that. 

As of a couple of hours ago, Nana and Opa left the building. Their quick visit whizzed by & Blake (and Kathy) shed many tears as they pulled away, it was so lovely to have them & we really cherished all of the family time together;

Matching hairdos

So many snaps & so many smiles this week.

Oli and I managed to sneak out for a date night on Thursday, and let me just say; he did open the car door for me which I thought deserves a mention. Chivalry isn't dead after all...

That night was my first experience at Perth Crown Casino, and I gotta say- I was impressed! Not with the actual casino (I find them really sad & depressing) but the restaurants & decor were incredible!! 

Spruced up

We ended up eating at a Japanese place called "nobu" which was AH MAZE ING.

Life changing tempura prawn sushi in which pictures don't do justice, and I had already half eaten before taking a photo

And I ended up having a few margaritas which went straight to my head- long story short, we were home by 10:30 and that was A ok with me. Late nights are so not appealing anymore!

Friday morning was spent brunching at a delicious local joint where Jim ordered two triple shot coffees in twenty minutes, I wasn't sure we should let him drive. Serious coffee addict! After that we were off on a mission for a double pram..

Ta Da;

Funnily, I swore I would never own one of these beasts. But as it turns out, the Phil & Teds one we bought was an absolute joke, my shins hit the bottom seat with every stride & it was just horribly set up for two kids. This one, despite being a wide load, is as smooth as a babies bottom to push and folds in half with ease to fit into the boot so it was a clear winner. I'll mostly be using it for our morning strolls & supermarket shopping (yay for wide aisles!). So now I can go walking without feeling like I'm breaking my back, and I can still play with Blake in the park now too as I was fairly restricted with the front pack on before you see? Problemo solved...

The rest of Fri & today was spent taking numerous strolls to the park, a trip to the beach, and drinking many Peronis

After our goodbyes this afternoon I reluctantly meandered back into the kitchen, I knew our time to meet again would come. Alas, a friend of mine had posted what looked like an incredible vege curry dish on Facebook yesterday so I was eager to give that recipe a go, and man it was SO good! I tweaked a few things to our taste & it turned out delicious;

Crappy photo of a phenomenal dish 

Potato Cauliflower & Chickpea Curry

Ingredients;

1 brown onion diced 

3 cloves garlic finely chopped 

1 cup water 

1 400ml tin coconut milk 

2 tins diced tomatoes 

1 tin chickpeas drained 

10 potatoes chopped and parboiled 

Half a cauliflower 

1 cup frozen peas 

1 tbsp Garam Masala 

1 tbsp Curry powder 

2 tsp Ground Cumin

1 tsp Cayenne

1 tsp crushed ginger 

Basmati rice to serve 

Method;

In a large saucepan on medium- high heat sauté onion and garlic in coconut oil for 2-3 minutes. Add ginger and herbs & spices. Stir for a further minute until fragrant. Add two tins of tomato & the tin of chickpeas, and then the potatoes. Then add the coconut milk & the cup of water. Turn down the heat to low and let it simmer covered for 2-3 hours. Add the cauliflower and frozen peas and simmer for a further half an hour.

Serve with basmati rice!

Such a delish and nutrish (definitely not a word) vegetarian dish, I love trying out new recipes- particularly curries. Thanks to Chelsea- keep those ideas coming! 

And now that I'm fully loaded on carbs, I think it's time to sit down and listen to the delightful sound of rain hit the roof whilst flicking through my mountain of magazines, eat some Lindt Orange Intense choc & figure out how I'm going to get 'wedding dress' bod ready.... Tomorrow.

I will write up a big blog about all of our 'Big Day' plans thus far soon, as I have far too much to say and I feel as though it deserves it's very own post. Its all extremely exciting / nerve wracking / we still have 13 months to go and I'm already a neurotic mess, so watch this space.. 

Thought of the day 

Two sleeps til sleepovers!

Happy Saturday friends,

Gemma 

In and Out

Goodbye latest guest, hello new set! That's what it's been like at our joint since the beginning of March. Kate left on Tuesday & simultaneously Olis parents Kathy and Jim arrived.

(Yay Nana & Opa!)

 It's been so full on but so wonderful seeing them all, and obviously having the extra sets of hands have come in handy these past few weeks.. After Kathy and Jim depart my dear friend Nicole arrives for ten days, and after she goes we will be all on our lonesome. It will be rather strange having an empty household, & a whole different playing field handling these two on my own I think, but it will also be cool to walk around naked again & spend entire days where I barely move without feeling guilty for it. I'm a tad nervous actually, hopefully I can dish out enough attention to Blake as she demands a lot of it, all. the. time.

But who am I kidding, I love smothering her in as much attention as possible- who wouldn't? 

Lately she is such a chatterbox, it is insanely adorable. And slightly scary as I can say something like "what should we eat" to Oli from what seems like yonks away from her and she's not even in the convo, and she'll pipe up with "mmmm nyum nyummy nyums". If those ears are tuned in 24/7 I better work on that language before its too late. Swear jar coming right up. She moos and barks and oinks and chirps to all the right animals and she is very fond of the word "no" already. Bedtime Blake? "Noooooo". Eat up Blake? "Noooo, I'm all done". Hmmm..

As for Oscar; 

He is already at his 6 week mark and he is coming along in leaps & bounds. He's now only waking twice at night & settling straight after feeds. I'm more than cool with that, it beats the 5 or worse- constant feeding, that we had going on for the first 4 tortuous weeks. He is such an alert wee fulla, always peering over my shoulder watching the world whizz by with those big blue peepers. We are taking him in for his heavy weight weigh in this afternoon which should be interesting, last time we had him weighed was at 10 days and he was 4.2kgs, place your bets people because my money is on at least 5.5kegs of solid babe. I will be sure to fill you in...

(These boys are pretty handsome)

That's actually Oli there not wolverine. He lost the beard last night after weeks of protesting from me, kissing that haystack was becoming gross. Although now that it's gone I miss the ruggedly handsome feel it bought, women ay? You can't bloody win! (Oli says)

So we've just been hanging out at home with the in laws, which has been really good- particularly because Olis mum is a phenomenal cook & I haven't had to prepare any meals since tues- magic. Last night I went for an evening jog & I always stop halfway at the park for a bit of abs on the grass, as I lay there with my legs vertically in the air I couldn't help but snap a pic of the glorious scene in front of me;

(No pesky filters necessary)

How freaking cool is that? Nature makes my soul smile. 

Aside from that, we've actually been working on a little something else these last few days, something beginning with W...

I'm smiling like a big dork just writing that. We are finally getting the wheels in motion for our big day & we are this close (two fingers held a millimetre apart) to booking it in, so I'll elaborate more once it is set in stone- but I'm still in slight disbelief that it is even really happening at this point!! Dreams are becoming a reality really fast... 

That's it for now folks, I hope you're enjoying your short and sweet week!

Thought of the day "Date night tonight!"

Gemma 

Home Is Where The Heart Is

If any of you come from a small town, you'll know what it's like to pop out for groceries and end up bumping into a handful of people you 'small talk' with. When I lived there I used to think this was annoying & a bit of a nuisance upon my busy day-  and now I actually miss seeing those familiar faces & all the awkward conversations with my friends mums. In Perth, we are merely strangers amongst thousands of other strangers, sure there's still plenty of friendly faces and polite hellos, but it just doesn't have that warmth and familiarity that home does.  

I miss waking up and seeing this;

(Mount Maunganui in all it's morning glory)

I miss feeling fresh, crisp New Zealand air hit my face on a cool autumn morning. I miss the lush green grass tickling my toes & guzzling down the crystal clear spring water. I miss climbing that glorious mountain and the astounding view from the tippy top. I miss the delectable produce and the thick juicy steaks, along with the ultimate of all Turkish kebabs right on our doorstep. (I am yet to eat a decent Turkish takeout in Australia). I miss catching up with friends who live 5 minutes away, and popping down to the pub for a beer on a sunny Sunday afternoon. But mostly, I just miss my family. 

Solely due to the fact that they are missing out on watching their grandchildren grow is enough to make me want to go home. I mean really, how is it fair for anyone to miss out on this;

That level of cuteness is out of control. I feel cruel for depriving anyone of this, but particularly their grandparents & Aunty and Uncles. 

After having all of my family staying for the last couple of months & watching them interact with Blake and Oscar, I came to realise that it isn't just them missing out on the kids- but we are missing out on them. Blake and Oscar are missing out on bonding with their relatives, and we are missing out on watching them bond. It's been really amazing to witness everyone forming different relationships with the kids, and just knowing it will be at least a few months before we get together again is devastating. By next time, it's likely Blake would have forgotten their faces and the bonding would have to start from scratch. Not to mention, Blake and Oscars first cousin is due to arrive in a few weeks time and we all want in on those family play dates!

It's definitely made us think about all the reasons we are here & whether they are still valid. Should money really be more important than having our children grow up around their families in our hometown? That's one answer we are really not sure of anymore. To say it is hard is an understatement: it's brutal. Sure, Skype helps, but Skype unfortunately doesn't have the ability to plop your grandchild on your knee to read them a story.... Yet. (Maybe they should consider doing some re programming?) 

So that's where we are at at the moment, feeling nostalgic for home and all the goodies that come with it. It certainly doesn't mean we are packing up our bags anytime soon, but it does mean that our time will come to head back one day. And that's enough to keep us going for now. After all- home will always be there right? 

Hope you're all enjoying your last day of the looooong weekend, and feeling sprightly about the week ahead.

Thought of the day "the amount of milky spew stains on our couch is revolting" 

Ciao, Gemma 

An Egggggselent Week

Hi friends,

Sorry I've been absent this past week, blame the beautiful weather and the fantastic company for luring me away from you all!

Where do I start?! 

Well, the first half of last week was spent taking numerous strolls to the park, laughing until our bellies ached, & eating bucketloads of sushi;

See Exhibit A;

Kate makes a pretty incredible roll of sushi, and I make one pretty happy customer.

On Friday morning we decided to tackle Jacobs ladder in order to make up for some of the poor eating decisions we had been making all week. I tried to tell Kate it was rough, but I don't think she was expecting to come out quite that beet red and with quivering quads for the remainder of the day. Shit that climb really gets the blood pumping!

I also managed to get in two 5km runs on top of the daily strolls, and it's official- running still sucks.

What doesn't suck is practising handstands in your home... Most likely bought on by boredom, Kate and I started practising handstands mid week & have been doing them on a daily basis ever since. It's become a little competition and I'm already feeling like quite the gymnast!! So that's been a spot of random fun fitness!  (Blake is beyond adorable, she tries to copy everytime we do them)

And on another note, my adult ballet classes start in just over a week, arghhh- so pumped!

I simply cannot wait to prance around feeling like an elegant swan, head held high and toes stiffly pointed- I can safely say the elegance I am picturing will be a far cry from the reality of it all, alas, none of you will witness it so just envision the elegance. But seriously, it'll be rad, I'm beyond excited! 

On Thursday eve, we managed to squeeze in some late night shopping whilst Oli stood guard at home. Kate wanted to buy a bunch of things and I wanted to escape the parenting duties, it was a win win for both of us. I ended up purchasing a really funky new top from Witchery & a new (daringly dark) Mac lippy as I knew we were going out for a few drinks on Saturday eve.

Uh huh that's right. Going out. For the first time in a year... No biggy.

It was glorious! We had a few drinks at a friends place then ended up at the pub where there was some absolutely phenomenal people-watching going down (picture a mixture of really short purple leopard print dresses and lots of hip thrusting on the D floor). I could not tear my eyes away, so so funny. We were home by 12 & I couldn't wait to scoop up my wee darling boy upon arrival. Isn't love strange- I often cant get away from home fast enough but within an hr or two there is no where else I would rather be. "Awwwww" it's corny, but true. Thankfully Oli had a big night of league to take in so he was more than happy to hold the fort, bless him and bless rugby league. 

In other news; have you guys met Oscar? 

(Thanks for the onesie Abbey!)

This isn't the Oscar from last week, this is a whole new baby. Although he has some similar traits to the old Oscar (still up every two hours searching for that nipple), however he is a much happier version. We're talking huge cheesy, heart breaking smiles smeared across that chubby little face and aimed directly at me. There's no question, I'm the favourite for sure (this may be due to my alluring milky smell but I'll still claim it). So things are looking up around here, there are far fewer tears (from both parties) and a whole lotta lovin' floating about. 

And here we are today on Easter Sunday!! To be fair, the rabbit dressing gown is merely a coincidence, as she wears it regularly and is in no way meant to be for Easter. Infact, we didn't really celebrate it at all this year, considering we have been eating eggs since they hit the supermarket in mid feb (such a scam!)- we were over it by the time Easter actually rolled around. There were a few chocolates floating about that we ate but nothing outta the norm. I actually prepared some healthy choc treats on Friday that I've been devouring instead;

Coconut goji bites. Made solely from coconut oil, maple syrup, desiccated coconut, LSA, and goji berries. Moulded into little hearts and refrigerated- so cute, and so delish. Pity I've also been snacking on potato chips, ice cream and lots of white bread aswel.... This last 5 kilos is going to be a bitch to shift- breastfeeding doesn't seem to be working as swiftly as last time unfortunately! Which is surprising considering Oscar is the size of a mini sumo wrestler already. Not to worry though, all in good time, and like I said recently- it's really nice to have a few goals to work towards! (And it has only been 6 weeks after all... Patience patience patience.)

So today hasn't been spent scoffing eggs, but rather we've been sprawled out on the lounge floor playing consecutive games of rummikub. Has anyone played this board game? It is addictive. My inner nerd cannot get enough. Things were getting quite competitive by the end of the day, it's all fun & games until you don't win any games... I think Kate actually said, and I quote, "f*%k you're a b*&@h Gemma, you just stuffed up all my moves". It's pretty clear who was losing...

We've only got a couple more days with my sister here now, but then we have Olis parents arriving the day she is leaving so there is more excitement to come! Oli has all week off too so we are happily relaxed and soaking up all this wonderful time with our families and the two babes. The plans for this week are to soak up some sun, go on a few dates while we can & simply enjoy the company. The following week, my darling girlfriend Nicole flies in from NZ too & our first stop together is the Lorde concert. Eeeeeek! So much to look forward too I can barely contain my excitement! Be prepared to be bombarded with pics in the coming days...

Meanwhile, it is approaching midnight & I am multitasking up a storm- I recently started writing short stories and man it is incredible how powerful ones imagination is, I feel like I've unlocked a new door in my mind and I'm exploring some wildly fantastical and magical territory. It is somewhat of an escape and I am utterly enthralled at the moment; I may share some stories soon if I am confident enough so watch this space. So right now I'm simultaneously breastfeeding, brainstorming fresh topic ideas & also wedding planning. I found the dress;

How exquisite is this? So simple and ethereal, I am totally sold. It is different to the styles I had been leaning towards but as soon as I saw it I knew it was the one (true love?). Hopefully I can find something very similar. Is it normal to find the gown before doing anything else? I feel like it is priority number one, maybe that's just me? 

Maybe we should actually set a date. Argh- indecisive is my middle name. 

Anywho- I've wrote enough to send you all into a deep slumber. I hope you are having an absolutely splendid Easter weekend & you all never want to so much as look at chocolate again

Night friends,

Gemma

Thought of the day "ohhhh that's right, yup that's a hangover, how I have not missed you at all"