Blogs from a home sick aussie!

~October 2011~

2012-01-24T17:08:00.000-08:00

Not to much went on in October really Kevin returned during the beginning of the month it was extremely tough on all of us having to say goodbye to him again.. No Halloween for us we had a few kids stop by and we handed out candy. October we did decided that 2012 we would return back to the states for a holiday though! We remembered our angel babies Sweet Pea and Baby Jacobs this month we lit candles in memory of them.. We miss them oh so much and still think of them often specially everytime we cuddle Arabella <3 Heres a few photos snapped during this month.

~September 2011~

2012-01-20T07:26:00.000-08:00

So September was some what a busy month for us...with Bella and myself returning back from Hawaii and Nathan finally getting a JOB!! WAHOO someone finally gave him a chance!! (yes he got a job a wk b4 Kevin arrived how crap is that timing....!) We didnt have too to long to unpack and get ready for the arrival of our 5th family member :) Nathan and mine's best friend, Lochlan and Arabella's god father, Kevin which if your familiar with my blog you some what know him! :) My mum drove Bella and i down to pick him up from the airport as Nathan was working... It took barely anytime so it seemed to get to Sydney airport but once there...its took FOREVA for him to arrive it felt like... When he finally walked down the arrivals pathway it was very emotional as this was the first time we'd seen each other since we left almost a yr prior to his arrival.. He had lots of hugs n kisses for his lil Bella and she did fine meeting him for the first time :) On our way home we stopped at the local take away to pick up some grub for him and he even helped change a poopy diaper! What an awesome Uncle he is :) He really has been one of the bestfriends anyone could ever hope for.. And his great with our kids! Couldnt ask for a more responsible god father for our children <3

It was hard saying goodbye to him after his few wks here with us.. But during his stay we tryed to get some sight seeing in! Unfortunately my ankle decided to mess up while he was here so it made sight seeing a lil hard for me...I want to share some of the photos that were snapped during his stay :)

Kevs first night

<3 bathing Bella together

<3 this pic

Doting God father <3

Kisses from her Uncle Kev

Kev visiting with the kangaroos

Terrigal Haven

Kev and Loch @ Terrigal Haven

The view from the Skillion at Terrigal

Water play area at the park in The Entrance

Feeding the Kangaroos

They are wild but the public feed them bread

The View from my Aunt n Uncles house at MacMasters Beach

The Rip Bridge in the back ground

Patonga Beach

On the lift to Taronga Zoo

Apparently he felt like snacking on an umbrella..

Sydney Aquarium

Nathan getting ready to chow down on a meaty Crocodile Burger!

Darling Harbor

Darling Harbor has an amazing kids play park with water and light areas..this is kev playin in one of the areas lol

~August 2011~

2012-01-18T20:20:00.000-08:00

Ok so 2011 was a yr full of all sorts of ups and downs... Im not goin to get into it all i want to recap via photos of the goings on from August till December with you all! Im truly very sorry that i have been so distant in bloggy land no excuses just a plain I AM SORRY PLEASE FORGIVE ME! <3 :)

~*August*~

August was a hard month with celebration in the mix... My nan was taken ill to hospital and a wk b4 we were to fly out for my best friends wedding in Hawaii she was diagnosed with Bowel Cancer.. She is pictured here with Arabella and Lochlan while she was waiting to have surgery.

She was to have surgery the morning we were flying out she did not want us to cancel our plans and it was very hard to leave her.

We landed in Hawaii in Honolulu and caught a connecting flight to the Big Island Kona <3 it was beautiful there... Hard to enjoy when we had no idea how the surgery went so as soon as we got to our hotel room we found out that the surgery had been cancelled and that she was rescheduled to have it after we returned from Hawaii.

After finding out it was a little easier to enjoy the surroundings we went and seen the dancing that was goin on at our hotel they were amazing!

The Beautiful Bride to be met us ofcourse once we arrived and she was beaming with pure excitement! Who wouldnt right? Getting married in Hawaii wow :)

Here she is having cuddles with her god daughter ;)

We took to some sight seeing b4 the wedding! Here is the active Volcano

Besties standing in front of it!

The lava that flowed over the road!

Here we are standing by a sign that survived the lava flow! How funny is it LOL

My mum n dad with their grand-daughter (Just my mum, dad bella and myself went to Hawaii)

Enjoying breakfast along the water <3

My mum with Bella out front of Bubba Gump Shrimp Co!

Bride and Groom myself and the best man

This was the sunset we were blessed with while celebrating the wedding!

We were surprised and entertained with an amazing show!

We spent a wk on Kona and i cant express how much i love this island! i would move there in a heartbeat if it wasnt for the Volcano LOL It was pure relaxation all the locals were so laid back and friendly! I cant wait to take my hubby and son back there for a visit!

This is the view from the penthouse suite we had for a wk! It was crazy busy there...the retail shopping ofcourse was amazing :D i some what melted the credit cards with all the shopping i did LOL but i did return home with pretty much all my Christmas shopping done!

Bella sporting her Bubba Girl onesie that nan got her lol.

We did a bus tour of Pearl Harbor and some of the Island.

Bella all ready for a swim!

Upon arriving back home here in Australia we made an appointment for Arabella to see our family doctor to have her checked out...The day before leaving for Hawaii i noticed something different about her....either her left leg was smaller or it was her right leg was larger...but it was there...and we had no idea what it could mean... So once home the appointment was made...our doctor check her out and agreed something was going on...did she want to tell us what she "thought" it was? No...she told us to give her a moment while she called to and seen if we could get an appointment with a specialist... *SIGH* we left with the knowledge that YES there was something wrong...and we had to wait for a call back from the Specialists office for an appointment...Here when it comes to appointments with specialists...its months of waiting b4 your appointment comes up...unless they think its something really bad....We got home from the doctors that day it was a Friday and the specialist called and wanted to see us first thing Monday morning....my stomach dropped...we had to wait till Monday to find out what it was...what do u do in that time? With the Internet just sitting here filled with all kinds of information...what do u think Nathan did? Yep...he researched...Basically when we went in on Monday morning we had 2 things that fit what was goin on with Bella...We were some what prepared...nervous...sick to our stomachs....and just plain worried... We got called back he did the once over and measured all her limbs and asked us some questions and then he told us what he was positive it was.. he diagnosed her with Hemihypertrophy.. it was hard to hear it we had suspected it from the research Nathan did. He made us an appointment to see a Geneticist to 100% confirm it. It was confirmed Bella for the time being will have to have an abdominal ultrasound examination which should be performed every three months until 8 years of age showing views of the liver, kidneys and other internal organs. Because the risk for hepatoblastoma drops markedly after this age, the remaining ultrasounds can focus specifically on the kidneys. She is a happy healthy girl apart from this...and for right now we are staying positive and loving her no matter what and we will deal with what ever it is that comes with this.

These photos were taken after her first visit to the doctors.

~Life Lately~

2011-07-24T07:01:00.000-07:00

Sorry its been so long but i must admit the first few weeks were sorta rough for us with Bella :) she wasnt sleeping well as she was having problems with her bowels.. BUT the last 2wks have been amazing :) lol she HAD been sleeping 7-8 hours anite! BUT last night she reminded us whos boss lol... she was awake almost the entire night...and finally gave into sleep at 7:30am thismorning...

Life sure has changed for us since her arrival thats for sure! I have ofcourse taken alot of photos and im pretty sure friends and family on this side ar getting sick of seeing my spam of photos but i hope they realise its our way of keeping friends and family back in the states kept in the loop with her growth :)

BellaBoo is very strong she has been rolling over on her own now for a while... she leans and has amazing head control even though we try and support her head she has other plans! She looks around and is very aware of things she has found her tongue lol she will mimic you when you are playin with her and you poke your tongue out at her lol very cute! Lochlan has been pretty good although if you ask him he will tell you all she does is cry lol he has been helping with bath time lately and has been a great help! Bella is definitely aware of her big brother and will pay full attention to him when he is about :)

Swaddling has been a godsend when she cant stop her hands and feet from moving :)

I LOVE her lips lol they r oh so cute! Specially when shes making her OOO lips lol

She is getting better with her baths after bath time bella and mummy have skin to skin time with unrefined coconut oil massage! (baby oil is the devil! specially the sleepy time stuff...made her break out terribly..)

I love this SEVEN sling! Its been great she did fit in it so perfectly :) it made shopping so much easier! We have now upgraded to a Baby Bjorn carrier as she likes to look around shes such a sticky beak!

I baught these b4 she was born in hopes they would be here in time for a professional photo session..they arrived 2 days after..OH WELL she wouldnt have fit in it anyway lol but the shirts r so stinking cute!

Ah yes...an unprepared spur of the moment family shot... look at the bags under my eyes LOL this was a wk or 2 after Bella was born and we were sleep deprived... lol

Perfection...look at that lil sweetheart!

She was helping Daddy out with homework!

YUP look at that hair doo! lol (it hasnt gotten any better lol)

This is a sneak peek of the photo session we had done!

BellaBoo after a nice warm bath!

She loves her Daddy :) And her Daddy is smitten by her :)

My gorgeous kids :)

Owlwill always luv you mummy! LOVE her so much!

~Introducing Arabella Bashanti Anne Jacobs~

2011-06-10T03:15:00.000-07:00

I have been busy :) please forgive me!

I will do a post about my birth experience at a later date but i wanted to share some

of the new photos of my little miracle baby girl! Isnt she so sweet!

Born June 5th at 6:05pm she is tiny and oh so precious! She is just under 7pounds and she is 19inches long! I am doing well currently recovering at home.

~Creamy Ooey Gooey Melty Spinach Dip~

2011-05-29T05:55:00.000-07:00

Last week we had my Grandmother over for a nice dinner, it was most definately a wonderful evening!

My mum and i went and picked her up after i ran to the store for the makings of this yummy yummy dip! We planned for a late dinner as my mothers job has her working later afternoons into the evening so i wanted something melty and warm, nutritional and tasty to feed Nan, Hubby and Lochie! Best thing about this dip is its oh so easy and it can be used for all sorts of yummy fillings! Next time you have boneless skinless chicken thighs or boneless skinless chicken breast try stuffing this stuff into them! YUM so simple yet it really turns plain chicken around into something fancy! Stuffed pasta shells are also something dinner guests will oo and ahh at when you bring them out of the oven ;)

Sorry for the lack of photos i only got one snapped and then that was it! We dug in with little toasted poppy seed garlic toast and crusty sour dough toasts!

~*Recipe*~

hlf a pound or 8ounces of chopped frozen spinach (defrosted and drained)

2 cloves of fresh garlic smashed and finely chopped

a handful of washed and thinly chopped green onions

1/2 a teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper

1 large cup of shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 a cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese

4 tablespoons of mayo

1/2 a cup of sour cream

Preheat oven to about 375ish

Make sure you drain/squeeze the defrosted spinach you do not want the excess liquid in your yummy dip! Add all the ingredients mix well and spread into a casserole dish you really dont want to use a deep dish as it wont melt as quickly :) place the dish into the oven and let it bake until it gets nice and brown and melty! Usually it takes my dip about 25-30mins to get to that point! Serve right away with caution that its VERY hot ofcourse!

This dip really is great because you can make a lower fat version if you like. Also you can keep some of the mozzarella cheese and sprinkle over the top as you see i did in the one pic i took!

Instead of using full fat mayo use light mayo and that goes for the mozzarella cheese and sour cream! If you try this let me know how you like the delish flavours!

~Getting My Groove Back~

2011-05-22T23:05:00.000-07:00

Getting My Groove Back?

What groove am i talking about you ask?? COOKING! Since moving back to Australia and being preggers i really have lost my groove for cooking..

I have not had the desire persay but i would cook once in a while! Seeing its getting cooler here i thought it would be the perfect time to make a big ole pot of Chili! Now its not the same as i usually make it as i dont have all the same ingredients i had back in the states but i must say this turned out pretty dang good :) Now for those of you who have NOT experienced a REALLL good slow cooked chili you have no idea what your missing :) You can NOT even compare a can of chili to a homemade from scratch batch! It slow cooks and all the flavours meld together, if you cant get your kids to eat beans this IS the perfect way to get them to eat em :) MMM MMMMMM!

I did not used dried beans this time as i had no energy to tell you the truth to soak and what not so i used caned beans which surprisingly enough here in Australia theres nothing in them other then water...and some salt... :) good to know! The beans i used this time around were Butter beans which turned out pretty dang good they are alot larger then im use to when it comes to beans but boy did they soak up the flava! I also used cannellini beans which im pretty sure are called something totally different in the states :) I found i had to tweak my recipe alot when it came to the spices as i was unable to find real chipotle powder and i also havent gotten around to making up my own taco seasoning but they are on the list of things to do! But i did find smoked paprika powder which smells similar but doesnt taste the same still gives the chili a nice smokey flavour though! This time around i also had green pepper which i added to the pot as well not alot though as it can be very over powering! (green pepper is green capsicum to u fellow aussies!) I also used ground beef and chunks of chuck steak! Oh and i also didnt use my own stock either..lol i have made stock a few times since arriving here but i always turn that straight into soup YUM!

This makes alot and when i say ALOT i mean alot of chili which is never a bad thing like i mention in this post here we ate off this pot full for 2 main meals and we also gave some away for family to try! Big hit all around ofcourse. When it was all done slow simmering and it was time to eat we served it with some delish artisan breads we got from the bakery a sun dried tomato and olive twist loaf and a spinach and feta loaf YUM OOOO!

I am not posting the recipe as you can find it HERE and if you have read the post you will know the changes i made :)

~Nursery and Name Revealing~

2011-05-17T04:12:00.000-07:00

Well :) Here is the post you've all been waiting for!

So where to start... oh yea... what we had to work with!

The apartment we moved into at my parents place is a nice size open room so

even though we "thought" about putting Aj in with her big brother...

We opted to keep her in our room with us :)

So the main wall in which us to be a garage mind you, turned into an apartment,

had a window in it and was never fully covered in and plastered.. Dad just placed dry wall in and nailed it in and painted a star and moon on that said area! He called up a mate who came and finished the wall

which we were very grateful for..cuz if he hadnt of...we would of had to do it...and i wasnt looking forward to that part at all!

Took a couple days of drying and sanding and then it the rest was up to us! :)

So let me tell you this....paint in Australia is NOT cheap..... i almost fell over when we purchased the wall paints...we baught 2 small i think it was hlf litre paint pots, 2 paint brushes, a roller, a roll of painters tape and a tray grand total? $90 HOLLY MOLLY! :) But whatever! It looks amazing in my opinion!

It probably would have cost way more had it not been for the fact that dad had some paint we used as a "primer" worked out just fine!

This is a pic hubby took after we were all done dressing the crib! Look at that belly LOL lets not even talk about the boobs.. Shall we just say....ive gone up 5 cup sizes.... yep you read right...5! Goodbye C cup.. HELLO G cup..

So lets move onto the photos shall we!

So here is the wall all preped for painting as you can see its sporting a pretty star and moon and pretty blue painters tape!

Here it is all "primed" only took one coat, looked pretty good! Took a day to dry... felt like a week! Yep i found it hard to be patient threw this whole process LOL! Just ask the tape! I couldnt help myself!! Haha..

This is the pink we had colour matched to the light pink in the crib set we decided on! They did a good job huh! The girl who served us said they dont usually colour match anything material wise...which i thought sucked seeing i was so use to being able to go into Lowes and they would colour match pretty much ANYTHING! She gave it her best and well look at the next pic!

Seeing the lighter pink was a bigger area we only really had "enough" paint for one coat...but guess what? We patched over spots where it hadnt coated so well and seeing we used a light blue tinted primer it turned out really well! Here is the proud daddy to be applying the gorgeous dark pink!

SO what do we think?? :) i love how it turned out! Took me forever to figure out exactly what i wanted and to be honest i still wasnt sold on my idea when i decided LOL but i LOVE LOVE how it turned out! I decided no to the chair rail and went with a nice crisp (super light blue tinted) line!

We got 2 coats of the darker on the bottom and it looks awesome! Took the night to dry and the next day it was time to put the crib together! I love this 4 in 1 crib and so glad that Nathan and i decided on this one together!

All put together! Here is Big Brother Loche posing for a pic very excited about lil sissy's arrival soon!

So there you have it! What do you think so far? Couldnt dress the crib till the next day when mum and i went and picked up the mattress we had ordered! We moved the crib to where we wanted then scooted it forward and i measured and used a leveler to make sure where Aj's decal would go would be straight!

Atti was impressed! Wish i would have got a pic of when he first jumped in and he was splayed out on one of the bed rails LOL was very funny lol Atti has been given his notice as of sleepin in our room at night now :) he is allowed to visit but he goes and sleeps in with Loche at bed time.

So here we are...Here is Aj's Name!

"The name Arabella is of Latin origin and means "beautiful alter". It also means "answered prayer" in Italian."
Aj is most definitely an answered prayer in our eyes... she is our "Rainbow Baby" i first heard of this term the other night on one of my support groups for infant loss and miscarriage, they call babies that make it threw healthy after a miscarriage or still birth "Rainbow Babies" and i totally agree with this.. i said that Aj is most definitely a Rainbow after the storm that tore threw mine and my husbands hearts last year loosing our 2 Angel Babies...

Well what do we think? :)

How good did the girl do matching up the colour?!?!

I really love how it turned out its most dfeinately girlie thats for sure! You watch she will probably grow up and hate pink! LOL

I love the crib set we went with! We almost didnt get this set as it was discontinued and we put Nathans mum on a mission to find it! And she did!

Here i am lol... I have offically told Aj that she is has some where to sleep now and when ever she's ready come on down! LOL Nathan on the other hand has told her not a day sooner then her "due date" lol

LOOK at that BELLY! UGH lol im huge! If you were here and felt that belly ud most definitely agree with me that Aj 's got back baby! Yep thats her booty sticking out right there...LOL

Yep shes still in there ;)

Think i will make it another 3 weeks?

I reckon i wont make it 3 weeks :) almost everyone who sees me say they dont see me making it to my due date and i can honestly say i think im ok with that! :)

~An Afternoon at the Beach~

2011-05-15T06:12:00.000-07:00

I know i promised Nursery pictures :) and dont get me wrong we have been VERY busy working on it...But im not ready to do the post just yet as i am still working on the wall decal :) We spent the wkend taping off the wall (dont u hate HATE that part of painting?? it TOTALLY sucks!) We bunked in my son's apartment for a couple nights sleeping on a VERY uncomportable bed... But happy to be back in our room as of 2nite! Loving the colours of the room I think Aj will approve! THAT or she's going to grow up hating PINK lol.. :) The crib was put together this evening hubby and i did that :) I LOVE it its gorgeous! Anyway enough about the nursery i want to share an afternoon with you all at a local beach not more then 10mins away from us :) The place is called Avoca Beach and its just breath taking!

Please feel free to take your shoes off or your sandals and feel the warm sand between your toes! ;)

Days are getting shorter here in preperation for "winter" even though most evenings you will see my husband walking around in sandals shorts and short sleeve t-shirts his causing alot of "put a sweater on Nathan" comments LOL the weather really feels like early fall!

So anyway we visited Avoca a few weeks ago now when the weather was a lil warmer LOL :) It was nice to watch hubby and son explore the beach and the rocks! It brings a huge smile to my face to see how exciting exploring places so close to us make them. I grew up exploring these places so they arent "that" exciting for me these days lol...but im glad to be sharing my childhood memories with them. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

~Happy Mothers Day~

2011-05-09T09:23:00.000-07:00

Happy Mothers Day to all you wonderful women out there and to those who are soon-to-be mums!

I hope you all had a great day!

:) Saturday was my birthday! Nathan and i spent 8:40-3:30 in our last birthing class! I know doesnt sound like the best way to spend your birthday BUT i absolutely enjoyed my day! We were in a small group from the beginning and we all clicked pretty well :) Even though the other 3 couples were alot younger then us and were soon to be FIRST time parents we offered alot of insight and words of advice! This felt like a first time pregnancy for us anyway as it seems having a child here is totally different compared to the states! AND well it HAS been 8 years lol! We can now say that we feel confident, relaxed and alot calmer about the birth plan we have chosen! The information and knowledge we gained from these birthing classes has just put so many fears and concerns completely out of our minds! We feel confident in our birth plan and learned new techniques which we are hoping we will be able to use! The fact that the midwives do NOT believe in laying down or being on a bed in general to deliver your baby is just amazing! You walk in with your birth plan you hand it to the midwife and nurses and they follow it best to their ability! One of the requests we have asked is to keep Aj connected to the placenta for a few hours after birth. We have also requested full skin to skin contact between Aj myself and hubby right after birth :) Anyway enough about that for now! On to the rest of my birthday! When we finaly got home from birthing class my cousin and her husband were droppin of Loche from her sons birthday party :) after they left my brother and his fiance showed up to wish me a happy birthday and drop off a card :) was nice to see them both :) After they left hubster n son took me out to dinner :) we enjoyed gourmet pizza at a restaurant called GPK some of the best pizza i have ever had! We had baught tickets to see Thor but come time after dinner this pregnant mama couldnt barely keep her eyes open :) so we got a refund on our tickets and headed home! Came home and curled up n went to bed! I cant take long days anymore lol! My boys spoiled me with some new furr high calf ugh boots which i LOVE a new cd and a docking station for my ipod touch :) My mum and Dad got me a gorgeous bracelet! Check out the pictures below! Loche also made me for mothers day a really cute "kissy lips" ceramic fish :) its adorable! For Mothers Day i spent the day relaxing and just taking it easy! We didnt do to much which was a good thing! In the afternoon we went with my mum to go see my grand mother for mothers day while mum was visiting, hubby and i ran to the store and baught a feast of meat and salad makings for a bbq dinner! We picked up the old ducks *snicker* and headed home! Nathan cranked up the grill and i made up foil packs of potatoes onion garlic S&P and a lil seasoning salt! We had Kanga Bangas (yes kangaroo sausages!) Kangaroo burgers, Beef sausages, Steaks and Peri Peri Chicken steaks! YUMO i preped n made up a HUGE tossed salad with all sorts of goodies in it and right b4 we all sat down to dig in i threw some multi grain rolls in the oven! We had a great dinner we sat and ate and talked and finished off the meal with Apple crumble and vanilla icecream!
Most definitely a wonderful way to spend a mothers day! Did i mention my boys got me new earrings too?? :)

~My Beautiful Baby Shower~

2011-05-06T07:29:00.000-07:00

Man you've no idea how busy we were leading up to this shower :) Loche turned 8 (i know! 8!!) on the friday b4 the shower! We allowed him to have a few mates over for cake and junk food lol he had 7 mates over they ate and played xbox and played with the 116 nerf bullets! They shot everything and anything lol... Boys will be boys! So his party started at noon and the kids were here till 4:30-5 once they had all left Nathan and i rushed around packed a bag and headed for the train station. We were headed down to Sydney for the night to stay with my best friend and her fiance as the next day i was to attend a big bridal show :) prior to that We headed to the awesome flemmington markets and picked up awesomely fresh fruit and flowers for the baby shower! Needless to say it was a very BUSY day :) i was dead tired but i pushed on! When we were done we headed back to Danielle's house and packed and i mean PACKED their lil car up with all sorts of things for the trip back up the coast...lol we all managed 2 grown men Danielle and a myself and my big ole pregger belly squished into the car and headed home! We got home unpacked the car and started working out the plan for sunday! Food set up and decorating! I am so grateful to Danielle, Alasdair and my mum.

My colours as u can see were lime green and watermelon pink :)
The cup cakes were awesome Ally made and decorated them! He was amazing!

My mama covering over the food :)

Some of the gorgeous flowers we baught at the markets! It was amazing to find lime green flowers!

Some of the gifts :)

Greeting Aunty Jan :)

Here is the spread of food :) We had a few different types of sandwiches that Ally made up, mum turned some of the vanilla cup cakes into butterfly cup cakes(cup tops out cut tops in hlf to form wings add jam to the middle of cup cake and a spoonful of whipped cream then wings reattached!) We had all sorts of fresh fruit (watermelon, strawberries, rock melon, red and green grapes fresh pineapple and mandarins!) My mum made a huge chocolate double layered cake with jam n cream threw the middle of it and then we had all kinds of teas and coffee!

We also had lollies :) jelly babies, and raspberries as well as eclairs!

Yep how delish do these look?!?! Made from scratch! Did i mention Ally is a chef :P these cup cakes were AH MAY ZING! Ally is a super star!

We had lots of cup cakes...LOL

Over the weeks mum and i had baught all kind of neat things to decorate these puppies with :) i think the lil candy penguins were one of the cutes additions!

Here is the wonderful Danielle whom made all the yummy cups of coffee for the girls :)

Yup thats me we've already seen this pic tho ;)

The diaper cake :) so cute!

These Lillie's were amazing..they lasted almost 3 weeks every single flower opened as well!

All the wonderful baby stuff stored in Loches room :)

Yup LOTS of PINK!

I cant wait to get to use the bumbo seat! :) Its lilac in colour too!

So we had planned on using cloth diapers but for the time being we will be using up the heap of newborn huggies we received! We shall move onto cloth diapers when Aj gets a lil bigger :)

Aunty Danielle and Uncle Ally baught her her first pair of red tag levis 's lol this skirt is SO cute!

Here is the "Sleepy Wrap" I cant wait to try this baby out :) i have practiced putting this on a few times with a teddy bear n shown Nathan how to do it as well :)

Got one of these we will see how much it gets used though :) its a great idea BUT i gotta remember to get it out and use it!

Here is one of my fav baby shower gifts :) when i seen it at babies r us it was one of the first things i placed on the registry! And i was so excited when i recieved it as i really didnt think anyone would want to spend that much on it :)

We received so many wonderful things Aj is pretty much set :) we got some beautiful flannel crib sheets which we hadnt even thought about purchasing and matching blankets as well :) Aj also go some very beautiful outfits as well! I didnt take photos of everything it would have taken days! LOL

Aj also got her first car! LOL :)

Im still alive! Still pregnant! And READY to POP!

2011-05-04T08:10:00.000-07:00

I know i know..Its been FOREVER! And i am truly sorry but life has been so busy since my last post! The next couple of days i will be playing catch up with lots of photos of things we have been up to AND hopefully in a week or two we will reveal Aj's nursery and if y'all are lucky we will reveal her name then as well!! Only a few family members and a couple of close friends know it. We were waiting till she got here to reveal her name. But have decided this would be a nice way to show everyone :) Like her brother she will have a long name :) Loche's name is Lochlan Alexander Khafi Jacobs L.A.K.J. Aj's initials are A.B.A.J :) Anyone wanna guess her names? lol :) So anyway onto the nursery her bedding arrived and i love it to bits! We also baught a custom 3 in 1 crib! The wall as of 2morro will be all finished plaster wise :) and hopefully in the afternoon a primer coat will go on and friday let the painting begin! We have chosen 2 shades of pink :) a lighter one and a dark brighter one! We havent fully decided whether or not we will go add a lovely white chair rail feature along the wall or just got with a thick white painted stripe... But i have spent alot of time when not busy looking at cool and funky painting ideas! Ive also fallen in LOVE with the idea of making my own teacup/teapot lamp as of of the accent pieces for Aj's area! The colours we have gone with as u can see so far are pink lol lime green and a seafoam/teal coloured green/blue :) ive found so many wonderful things on etsy! That if i was to come into money im pretty sure i could spend a few thousand dollars on etsy no worries! lol So i have also ordered 3D adhesive butterflies!

Here is the teapot/teacup lamp i was talking about! Dont you just luv the idea! (thanks google for the image!)

This nursery really jumped out at me :) we wont be doing the diamonds but do u see the chair rail idea i was talking about? Love the look of it! (photo found on google! gotta love google!)

This is the custom crib that we baught :) Cant wait to set up all Aj's stuff!
(stock photo from the maker of Aj's crib!)

This is the bedding we went with! So pretty and girlie! (image found via google)

Ok so onto pregnant baby bump pics and pregnancy update! Currently i am extremely uncomfortable :) Aj has been in position for a while now and she is making sure i know it! Last night i thought i was having braxton hicks BUT they went from just being tight contractions to some what painful lol... i wasnt paniced or worried i have a feeling i wont make it threw the last 5 wks.. Id love to do a poll and see what u all think? I might have to do a GUESS WHEN AJ WILL ARRIVE TIME AND DATE!

Look out for that post lol. Currently i am dealing with extremely sore breasts.. one more then the other.. it seems to be swollen im thinking i may have a clog..altho i have been "leeking" i know over share.... lol

BUT even tho im hurting a lil im still liking the fact that i am leaking thats a good sign for me? Seeing i didnt have that the first time around... i was unable to barely breast feed Loche when he was born..which was hard on me with all that i went threw... Anyway onto the baby bump pics!

30 Weeks pregnant! Look at that belly!

32 Weeks! She's dropped!

33 Weeks! Me at my baby shower :) I will do a post just on this event!

And here i am at 35 Weeks!

We also during my MIA time had another normal and 3D/4D ultrasound :) that was at 32 weeks! Aj's was at the time locked in position and we were able to see her lil face :) We have a whole cd full of photos but we only picked out a couple to share with everyone :)

Look at that lil face :) Isnt she cute!

This one she moved just as the tech took her picture prior to this photo we were able to see her full face! During the ultrasound we were also able to watch her yawn and move her tiny little hands around as well!

So things to look forward to post wise from me.... I want to share my baby shower with you all so look out for that post! Also i plan on doing a post about the birthing classes Nathan and i are taking and how much more laid back and so much more relaxed having a child is here in Australia compared to our first experience in the states.... also in that post id like to share some of the neat things ive been reading about in a book called "The Breastfeeding Mother's Guide to Making More Milk"

~Nursery Ideas and a BabyBump Update!~

2011-03-05T08:32:00.000-08:00

Hello Hello! Here i am at almost 28 weeks! Look at that bump! Aj is moving about all the time now to the point where you can visually see her moving my bump about when she gets going :) she doesnt care for the laptop to be placed anywhere near her when i am using the laptop she often kicks and kicks pretty hard to let me know she is not impressed im using her as a table top :P lol and i have caught a few times with our phone her kicking the remote around on my tummy lol, still having leg cramps here and there some nights worse then others... Sorry for the lack of posting life has not been to to hectic really we celebrated hubbys birthday the other week i will post about that another time with photos from Darling Harbour Sydney for you all! And my best friend and her fiance came up and stayed a few days and we celebrated Valentine's Day together :)

Fatigue has risen its ugly head a little but i think it may have something to do with waking up 15-20 times a night with leg cramps? What do you think? Cravings....As of right now my biggest cravings have been homemade pita pizzas topped with LOADS of tomato paste ground black pepper garlic powder red onions pepperoni and cheese! YUMMMMM!! I cant get enough of these :D still loving my fruit as well!

So on to Nursery Ideas!

For a while now i have been looking at colours, themes and all the other fun stuff that goes with expecting a baby... Now we dont have an actual room to call it a nursery for Aj but we do have an area for her with a big open wall that i have plans for! Below i have some pictures of some really wild and out there nursery themes...and some really neat ideas... All in all a lick of paint can do wonders for a room whether it be a nursery or a living room :)

I love this simple nursery 2 of my fav colours in use here!

This is very girly i like the antique crib :)

Love the bright bold colour here and love the tree decal.

I really like the squares painted different colours as the feature wall in this nursery.

This nursery is so light? And simple at the same time, most definitely one of my fav's so far.

This has a few to many wall decals i feel but i love the wall colour.

This is such a sweet little nursery so neutral. Love the cheeky monkey hanging from the tree.

WoW... Yea now this is one of those nursery's i mentioned earlier.. Talk about OVER the top! Where do i start? The blocks on the wall? The crib?? :) I dont know it feels like to much is going on here... can u imagine trying to convert this room when baby girl grows up?? lol

Not to keen on this nursery its to busy for my liking!

LOVE love love this nursery! I was at one point wanting to do something similar to the wall for Aj!

I like the squares..like i said earlier..I even considered doing something similar really till i found a decal i fell in love with that just wouldnt work with squares! Lol! At the same time i dont like what they have done with the furniture..I dont like the wood/paint look specially with these colours...

Again with the dots! LOVE them! I have always been a fan of the blues and browns as well :) our old bedroom back in the states was all blues and browns :)

Interesting wall decal not sure that i like it all that much though..

Like this tree alot :) simple and beautiful.

Unsure how i feel about this nursery.

Love this nursery :) so cute! Liking the different shades of blues!

UM yea...this is another one of those ones i mentioned earlier being abit over the top! :) (wonder if it actually works??)

This is totally me :) love the colours and it has the dots as well! :) Its cute but not over the top i dont think!

This is a really cute nursery i love the colour it reminds me of my bestie Angie! :)

Loving the use of the sewing hoops turned into wall art!

Love the wall art in this one!

Most definitely to fancy for my liking :) and a lil to frilly when it comes to the crib! I like the hanging clouds though.

Pink and Brown done wrong i think...its just to dark...

This is one of my favs! Love the brightness of this room :) with the touches of brown done just right! Monkey is really cute as well!

This tree is so sweet :) we looked into a wall decal like this but didnt go with it :) the crib is different...i dont know that i like it to much though!

This is to busy even though its light..not keen on this at all..

This is busy with wall decals but i like it :) The colours all work well i think.

This was the only combined bedroom/nursery i could find and even though its very "busy" i must admit i like it alot :) I wouldnt make Nathan live in a room like this though :) they would be asking for his "mancard" back LOL

This is a beautiful nursery!

Simple and i love the different shades of green used threw out the room!

This for some reason reminds me of a beachy look :) i like it!

Im not sure about this nursery.. I dont think i like that branch up in the corner of the room like that..love that crib though!

alot very girlie :D

This nursery is nice and simple :) i love the use of wall art to add splashes of colour!

So what do you guys think? I know alot ALOT of nursery photos here.... thanks google for the images! And all the inspiration i have so many ideas to play with! Once we have been to the paint store and picked out the wall colour i will share our colours with you all :)

Is it a Boy?? or a Girl?? We FOUND OUT!!!!

2011-02-09T06:35:00.000-08:00

Here is the latest pictures of little MISS Aj :) YEP that's right we are having a G I R L!!

Okay okay i know i know! When did we find out? We found out on Monday!!

WHY has it taken me so long to let you all know???

I don't have an answer for you all... We have just been so EXCITED and relieved...

Mondays ultrasound was a 4 week follow up to the last one we had were we found out there may be problems with little miss Aj... They were unable to see the fourth chamber of the heart which was a little worrying some...and her heart rate was down as well.. Also there were signs of problems with the kidneys... So needless to say these last few weeks i have held this all away from my bloggy friends as i was trying and when i say TRYING i say it loosely...cuz come on who can NOT worry when you've been threw what i have baby wise... Its been stressful i have experienced all the emotions you could imagine and then some..I was sick of everyone telling me not to worry cuz lets face it...at the end of the day not worrying is easier said then done... BUT now that its over and done with we are so SO happy! Little Miss Aj was up and awake and moving about for her reveal :) she did really well! If your not familiar with ultrasound pictures i will tell you whats going on in this pic :)

Little Miss was smiling :) she had her hands up by her face when we first looked at her head, she sucked her thumb she yawned and then she held her nose while smiling! What a little sweety! She is growing really well she is long just like her daddy and her brother :) and she was KICKING up a storm! When we looked down at her feet and legs they were going at it at full force (explains ALOT of why i have been woken up mid sleep due to kicking!) We do have some names picked out but we are not 100% sure just yet so for now its just Aj :)

Here is this weeks update!

Week 23

Gender:
GIRL!! :)
Size of Baby:
Aj is a little bigger then your hand now finger tip to wrist and a little over!
Movement:
We found out she is ofcourse breached :) which explains why when she kicks me she wakes me up most of the time! Not going to lie at first i was a little worried and even wondered if these were some sort of contractions?!? LOL silly me huh! So yes this weeks movements have been extremely active :) still responds to her daddys voice!
Sleep:
I am not sleeping all the way threw not that i have done do for along time...but my broken sleep has been awful lately due to leg cramps waking me up every 45mins it seems...
Cravings:
Just like last week still craving spicy hot food! Also fresh fruit has had me drooling :) also chocolate!
Symptoms:
Fatigue, lower back pain and discomfort and leg cramps during the night.
What i miss:
Missing feeling comfortable in my skin :) im having body issues although i havent technically "gained" more then a few pounds..i am getting bigger everyday and after the struggle i have had with my weight the last few years i am fighting a demon that is itching to come out and kick my butt for letting my body change... i miss exercising as well!

Week 22 Update and All Round Update of Life In Australia!

2011-02-06T05:23:00.000-08:00

Week 22

Size of Baby:

Aj is the size of a Papaya

Movement:

Movement has been pretty active this week! There has been a couple of nights where kicks have woken me from sleep they have been that strong! I can tell Aj has moved position as the kicks and movements are up higher this week!

Sleep:

Sleep has been better this week although like mentioned earlier Aj has woken me from deep sleep due to kicking!

Cravings:

Still craving spicey hot food! Also fresh fruit this week has had me drooling as well :)

Symptoms:

Fatigue, tender sore hips...lower back pain and discomfort

What i miss:

I miss cuddling up with my hubby lol seeing our bed has been invaded with body pillows and memory foam wedges for the baby bump theres not much room for falling asleep on my babes chest snuggling!

This picture you see here is my mums cat....we came home to find him having a bath after playing and killing this baby snake..YUCK! :)

So i hope everyone has been well! I know i have had a couple of emails from some of you wonderful bloggy friends concerning our safety with Cyclone Yasi that hit Queensland last week.. I am lucky enough to say that we were no where near it thank goodness but watched the count down till its arrival and was up and awake when it hit land... Queensland is having a terrible time weather wise... I hope its all done for now...I dont think they can handle much more... On other news Lochlan started back at school Monday just gone, he was not looking forward to it at all...and i dont blame him he was only in school for the last 3 weeks last year before they went on school holidays. So he was nervous BUT im happy to report he loved his first week of school! HUGE relief for us :) here is a picture of him in his new school uniform! :)

Not much of a serious picture but hey :) we had him laughing before we all took him (nanny included) to school and went to his first assembly of the school year!

Here is a picture of Lochlan and Atti whom has decided the second hand stroller i won on ebay for $10 is his new bed! Lol he almost doesnt fit in the dang thing thats how big the cat has gotten! Yes i am starting to nervously buy baby items... Im loving buying the items but at the same time im still nervous and worried.. I have been to a few garage sales with my mum and gotten some really awesome bargins and i must admit a good amount of it has been girl stuff... BUT all i can say is that IF Aj does turn up to be a B O Y atleast i can resell the items on ebay and atleast get the lil bit of money i spent back for said items :) On more baby shopping news front...I finally did the baby gift registry at Babies R Us...i have been putting it off for a while now although i have been there and a few other stores a few times now but always back away from doing the registry... This time was different i did it because doing so i was given a $50 gift card! Bonus! What did i use it for? I baught a lilac Bumbo seat! :) And a couple OshKosh onesies and bibs!

Loche has really taken to mums cat which is a good thing seeing he misses his cat back in the states... Atti and him seem to be getting along good, here in this picture is atti sprawled out over Lochlans lap while he was up in mum n dads house watching telly and playing on my new phone. I guess Atti felt that Lochlan wasnt paying him enough attention and just took it into his own hands and got up and plopped himself onto of Loche :) he stayed like this for a long while stretched out all the way across and towards the end he slide off his lap due to his stretching and tryin to get Lochlans attention!

So lately well i should say the last week or so its been REALLY hot here how hot you ask? in the 100's... SO MELTY! But previous to that when we would get a little bit of rain we always go outside to check out how many frogs are out and about :) You can guarantee you will atleast see 10 or more frogs! Here are a couple pictures of some of the frogs i have captured pictures of!

This little guy was in the toilet up on the wall so cute!

This adorable tiny little thing was in the bathroom by the towel rack! He was about the size of a grape!

And this guy sooo cute! Looks like a rock or a stone doesnt he :) He was by the glass sliding door in front of Lochlan's apartment! He was about the size of a plum!

And this lil guy well he is just stinking cute! Lil green tree frog his is always around by the Bbq i have seen this same frog a few times now :) its currently raining outside HOORAY! and he is back out by the path way i have been out and said my hellos to him and the others hopping about! I know im a lil crazy but FROGGYS are so stinking cute!

Another water front shot i have plenty of them! Life sure is different here now after returning after 9 years.. My expectations were definitely not met in a few ways since ive been back some good some bad... I do miss my house back in the states and i miss my best friends Kevin, Joey and Angie.. All 3 in different ways :) Angie like you all know is due not long after me so she is going threw pregnancy as well and i wish i was going threw it with her we have so many things in common and i miss sharing those hobbys/interests with her... I have caught up with a few of my old school friends which has been nice but being away 9 years and "growing up" into adult hood in a different country has been hard to fall back into friendships like i had wished would happen. Its hard and i dont know if its pregnancy hormones or what but some days i feel lonely and crave female friendship like what i had with Angie! I have a best friend here in Australia I have spoken of her before Danielle whom recently got engaged im so happy for her! But she lives and works in Sydney and is one busy bee :) she is busy planning her over seas destination wedding, we have been invited down a couple of times to stay with her and her fiance but they have fallen threw due to other plans or me not feeling well and/or being on bed rest... We will make it down hopefully soon. But i am excited to have them both coming up on the 13th to stay with us for a couple of days and celebrate Valentines Day with them at a beautiful little restaurant down on the water front! Things that have been on my mind lately? Who will plan my baby shower thats one thing thats been bothering me.. But Nathan keeps telling me i have plenty of time and theres nothing to worry about (HA Guys!) Anyway more on that topic another post!

This is a baby Blue Tongue Lizard! Isnt he cute! In a reptile dino way! Lol he wasnt very old he had egg shell still on his head and neck my dad peeled it off for him...The only reason we picked him up was because naught Atti decided this lil guy would be a fun toy...no harm came to this lil guy we locked the cat away and the baby made tracks!

On the way home from a movie under the stars one night a couple weeks ago we made a stop at Terrigal Beach! We went over to all the boats that were coming in after a day out on the ocean! One of the boats had caught this lil ugly guy...he was caught because this lil buga kept eating their bait! So apparently he was perfect size for battered fish pieces and he would be lunch the next day lol...fish and chips! This is a small mako shark if you were wondering :)

Week 21 Up Date and a Recipe!

2011-01-27T02:55:00.000-08:00

Recipe for this YUMMY Simple Dish at the end!

Week 21

Size of Baby:

Aj is the size of a Banana! That doesn't seem big according to Loche lol :)

Movement:

Movement is here and there really some nites Aj kicks up a storm preventing me from sleeping and sometimes i don't feel a thing and i get so worried!! But Aj does respond to daddy's touch and daddy's voice :)

Gender:

Everyone still thinks its a girl I'm just hoping for healthy and happy! And ok yes I'm secretly hoping for a girl as well ;) have u SEEN some of the cute things out there for baby girls!!

Sleep:

Sleep MM how i miss it :D but like usual i end up passing out when i am exhausted! Napping when i can, sleeping is getting harder as i cant find a comfy position and i already take up more then half the bed with pillows! Poor Nathan!

Cravings:

SPICEY i can NOT get enough spicey food LUV LUV LUV anything spicey at the moment! Indian Beef Vindaloo has been a huge craving :) and spicey noodles with lots and lots of chili peppers!! And i also have a gross craving of Pepsi...I REFUSE to give into this nasty craving!

Symptoms:

Lower back pains, fatigue and tender sore hips... and my boobs r driving me nuts...they r super heavy...and I'm not even half way threw this!

Belly Button:

In still no sign of popping out :) so i think i shall remove this question!

Maternity Clothes:

Yes...no longer in normal clothes havent been since the end of last week....all maternity stuff now! You all will get a glimpse of how much i am actually showing... :)

What i miss:

The lack of boobage! lol... i REAAAALLLLYY miss sleeping on my tummy...i dream about it even...lol when I'm not dreaming of crazy things like giant size lamingtons the size of a boat with super size shark teeth screeching at me and chasing me around the back yard trying to eat me!! Yup gotta love those pregnancy dreams!

Taa Daaa.. Yep there's the Bump i was telling you about.... I have only gained 3pounds since falling pregnant.... So go figure! :)

Now for a Recipe!

Zucchini and Potatoes!

1 medium size onion sliced thinly

1 medium sized potato (cut in smallish thin slices)

2 decent size zucchini (chopped or diced to bite size)

1 Tablespoon of Garlic

Fresh ground black pepper and sea salt to taste

1/3 of a cup of red wine
1/2 cup of chicken stock
1 teaspoon of chili powder
2 teaspoons of dried marjoram
a dob of butter and a lil olive oil for the pan :)

Heat your oil and butter in a fry pan then add your onions, garlic and your salt and pepper to taste, cook the onions down. If they start sticking add some of the stock at this point toss in the potatoes let them simmer for about 10 mins. Now add your marjoram and chili powder to the potatoes. Mix threw then pour the rest of the stock and red wine over the top. Preheat the oven on high your stock and wine should have cooked down to a nice thickish sauce. Toss the zucchini threw the potatoes and sauce. Empty the zucchini and potatoes into a casserole dish and place in the oven to finish cooking the potatoes for about 20mins! We served this with lamb chops! YUMO!
Super simple and oh so tasty!

Happy Australia Day!

2011-01-26T04:21:00.000-08:00

While Nathan was finishing up his school work last night we were watching channel ABC (its nothing like the one in the states mind u :) its usually documentaries and old movies and alot of British TV) and some guy came on asking "What IS Australia Day?" and so began a half an hour show about him going around asking Aussies what Australia Day is to them! He considered himself to be an Comedian Documentary journalist! He was born in Egypt and he became an Australian Citizen a few years ago and has wondered since then exactly what Australia Day is! It was very entertaining he hit the beaches and the streets and asked locals what Australia Day meant to them! Anyway here's a lil history behind Australia Day;

Please check out the link joined to "Australia Day" to read what a Dr Elizabeth Kwan had to say.

Here is something i found on the net and totally have to agree with :)

"Australia Day is “the biggest day of celebration in the country and is observed as a public holiday in all states and territories.

On Australia Day we come together as a nation to celebrate what’s great about Australia and being Australian. It’s the day to reflect on what we have achieved and what we can be proud of in our great nation.

It’s the day for us to re-commit to making Australia an even better place for the future.”

Australia Day to me this year, technically my first in 9 years :) is being spent at home in the comfort of the A/C unit as its REALLY hot this year! But what you would find alot of people doing is heading out on their boats or heading to the beaches, what you will find alot of people doing while out and about by the seashore or on the water will be Bbqing with their coolers and they are usually filled with booze, grilling meats like Lamb, Beef, Chicken, Sausages and Steaks, fresh fruit, pavlova, lamingtons, and you cant forget about the piles of prawns! And other tasty seafood! As for those who aren't in the mood to cook will end up with a tasty meat pie or some fish and chips from their local take away or bakery! :)

I have no pictures to share with you all but i did gather some photos i got from google that i thought i would share with you all! We do however have lamb out marinating for the grill later this evening and fresh fruit waiting to be piled high on a bloody beautiful Pavlova! MMMM :) Enjoy the borrowed pics yummy!

Pregnancy Diary

2011-01-21T07:34:00.000-08:00

So i have been keeping little sticky notes on my mac book with little notes about things happening in my pregnancy and it wasn't until one of my friends in bloggy land whom has also has some hard times with miscarriages fell pregnant as well has started doing a pregnancy log :) so here are my little updates id like to share with you all!

Week 18

Size of Baby:

the baby is the size of a sweet potato so I'm told lol
Movement:

Ive been feeling movement for a few days now!
Gender:
unknown
Sleep:
Well this baby is bouncing around all night keeping me awake.. But i nap when i can..
Cravings:
Watermelon...like you wouldn't believe! And anything choc chip mint...
Symptoms:
Sore lower back...and lower back pains, fatigue.
Belly Button:
In no sign of popping out :)
Maternity Clothes:
Yes...been in them a couple wks now...for some reason the baby bump has appeared alot sooner then later!
What i miss:
Sleep! Cold cuts of meat! sleeping on my back.... :) Fitting into smaller size clothes!

Week 19

Size of the Baby:
Bubs is apparently the size of a mango!
Movement:
Oh yes :) at night... during the day it seems to be still....but come bed time....this baby is on the wrong time zone...
Gender:
Well if you held a gun to the ultrasound tech she would say its a girl...SO even tho everyone is happy theres a big chance its a girl I'm still not rushing out to buy pink stuff! :)
Sleep:
sleep? what is this thing you call sleep?? I know of napping that's for sure! But as for a good nights sleep....i am most definitely lacking in this....
Cravings:
Watermelon is still my major craving :D and well fresh fruit in general! Still enjoy something choc chip minty once in a while as well!
Symptoms:
tired :) lower back is still a lil ache but that's about it!
Belly Button:
Still in :)
Maternity Clothes:
Yep bought a few more new pieces! Loving maternity tights so comfy! Need to buy new bras tho :( I'm totally dreading doing this.... as i use to have plenty of bras the size i currently am...but after loosing weight i lost alot of boobage :D and went down in size alot! Ive gone from 38C to 38DD...and I'm almost half way threw... yuck!
What i miss:
I miss miss miss sleeping on my back! Lol i hate sleeping on my side..i have a body pillow but it just doesn't make it as comfy as i could be :)

Week 20
WOOHOO half way there!

Size of the Baby:
Aj (bubs nickname) is the size of a rock melon / cantaloupe!
Movement:
Not so much this week lil movements here and there..
Gender:
Everyone is saying Girl I'm still not buying pink!
Sleep:
Not so much not even napping really lots on my mind this week...
Cravings:
Not so much haven't really been to hungry at all this week..
Symptoms:
Fatigue and right lower side hip pain.
Belly Button:
Still in don't think that will change.
Maternity Clothes:
Yep bought a dress the other day that should be good for the whole pregnancy.
What i miss:
i really really miss sleep! I miss my old slash new body... i worked hard to loose the weight and now even though i haven't gained more then a couple of pounds this pregnancy my belly is popping out alot! Along with my boobs...lol...

So there you have it that's all i have so far and with the couple of things that are going on our end baby wise i have been taking it easy and trying my best to stay stress free and relaxed as possible! Hope everyone is well!

Here's what our future looks like! :)

Untitled and then some...

2011-01-18T05:24:00.000-08:00

Yep you read right...This post is untitled...why? Cuz I've no clue what to title this post... I'm in btw emotions and I'm not even sure why or what to blog about?

So we had our follow up ultrasound to have the final measurements taken for bubs and the tech thinks but shes not 100% sure but "thinks" its a girl! I'm happy but i also want 100% confirmation dang it! We also have to go back in 3-4wks time for another ultrasound i wont go into it just yet only close friends and some family members know why.. all i can say is everything looks fine and the baby is growing at a good rate... and when we have had the next ultrasound i will talk more about it with you all!

I haven't done much cooking lately so nothing new on that front...but i have been sewing! HAND sewing as i don't have a sewing machine here..yet.. :) i have been making flowers! Bright colourful fabric flowers! I am hoping to make a few and sell them on etsy and at our beauticians salon! I will post a couple pics, tell me what u all think pls :)

What else...hmmm Nathan has started school doing his courses online so far so good he seems to be enjoying it which is good :) He seems content here in Australia which is good! Still looking for work nothing yet tho but we know why and he is going to fix that! Seems everyone hires threw job agencies here in Australia and he didn't want to join any just yet but has signed up this wk and we will hopefully start seeing results soon! His smitten to i guess u could say "almost" knowing we are having a girl hehe loves loves LOVES the idea he is so cute about it for the time being we have decided to call sleepy j "AJ" :) short for baby girls name! I still find it hard cuz I'm not 100% sure its a girl hehe... Lochlan was so excited when we got home with the news it was surprising as his always wanted from the start a "baby brother?!?!" but he was pretty excited about the thought of a baby sister!

As for Lochlan he is transitioning ok here in Australia they start school back here at the end of January and he is NOT looking forward to that...but i think he will be fine once he gets there and sees that he wont be the "new" kid per say anymore and he is starting the year out at the beginning like everyone else! His made a few mates here on the street we live on which is good but his also had what he calls his cousin here with him :) my mums best friend has been here visiting since b4 Christmas and she bought her youngest son whom is 19 and her grandson with her and Lochlan has attached himself to said grandson :) it will be hard for him when they leave in the morning after having them here for so long :) we will miss her alot as when she returns back to Queensland she will be moving to Casablanca, Morocco where her fiance is from. My mum will miss her dearly she missed her when she moved to Queensland! I haven't seen her in over 9years and i am so glad she came for a visit when we moved back here!

Thats it for me all my lovelies! Here is a recent pic of me :)

I will do a blog post of all the really cute frogs we have around here!

Heres a pic of the waterfront on new years eve! Gorgeous huh!

Is it a Boy?? or a Girl??

2011-01-13T04:16:00.000-08:00

I would LOVE nothing but to introduce you all to our "son" or "daughter" to be :) BUT i will introduce you to SleepyJ we were hoping to find out today but sleepyj refused to move during the ultrasound sound asleep and yawning..barely wanted to move..sheesh! what a life!..and had its legs crossed..go figure! Its just like its brother...Lochlan was a "suprise" till almost the end...! So im guessing that this is a boy! What do you all think? :)

Super Simple Pasta! Healthy and Filling!

2011-01-10T19:29:00.000-08:00

Ok so i have done "some" cooking here in Australia but not really that much...more so just taking a break and taking it easy! But when i have cooked its usually been some sort of pasta dish or chicken dish in the oven :) This meal is really simple and extremely tasty! To cut down on time shop/gather all your ingredients and even prepare them a couple of days in advanced! That way when its time to cook this meal you wont have any chopping to do!

This makes ALOT if you follow it to a tee! This fed 5 adults 1 child and we had a good amount of left overs!

2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

2 pounds of ground lean Hamburger/Mince

1 Can of diced tomatoes

7 large mushrooms(sliced and diced to prevent picking out! mwahaha!)

2 large carrots(grated)

3 Tablespoons of minced/crushed garlic

2 large onions(sliced thinly)

1 can of blended tomatoes or a can of plain tomato sauce

1 small tub of Greek yogurt

1/4 of a cup of pitted olives(diced up small)

2 Boxes of Pasta i used the spiral ones

herbs to taste as listed:

Rosemary

Ground Black pepper

Sweet Basil

Chili Pepper Flakes

Marjoram

Thyme

and Ground Fennel

I used about a Tablespoon and a half of each dried herb and some ground sea salt to taste!

I used an electric skillet to cook the meat sauce, i didn't cook the pasta until i was almost done with the sauce and i cooked the pasta al dente style so that it wasn't mushy and goopy!

Heat the oil in the skillet and add your onions and garlic, cook for 5-10mins then add your meat. Now everyones different but i like to add my dried herbs a few mins after the meat has cooked a little. Stir the herbs around and let simmer for a few mins then add your grated carrots, diced mushrooms and diced olives. Let it cook then add your canned tomatoes and tomato sauce place the lid on the skillet and let sit for 10-15mins stirring once in a while. At this point i start cooking the pasta when the pasta is almost done cooking i add the yogurt to the meat and mix it threw turning the temp up a lil. Mix it all up well then place the lid back on and turn the skillet off. Strain the pasta and place straight into a large serving dish, pour the meat sauce over the top and mix threw and place it on the table! :) And have at it family style!

This dish is great you can ALWAYS add all sorts of veggies to it the sauce really packs flavour so you can really get the kids or fussy hubby to eat anything with this sauce! I have added alsorts of summer squash to this and green beans even shredded cabbage! Also it can be served with Quinoa or couscous if your watching your carbs :)

Today i am linked up for Tuesday Night Supper Club link up! At one of my fav foodie blogs Fudge Ripple! Head on over and see what everyones been up to!

Christmas Australian Style and a recap of 2010!

2011-01-02T02:21:00.000-08:00

Couple days before Christmas my parents street had their Christmas party down on the water front :) very nice day for it, my mum made up curry puffs and jimput jimput a huge success as perusual :)

As most of you can see the traditional aussie christmas is much different then what most of you are use to :) No snow for us this year instead it was t shirts shorts and summer dresses tank tops and caprees! Santa was kind enough to drop on by the water front with presents and goodie bags for the kids :) (and a couple goodie bags for the 2 pregnant women at the party as well lol) After good eats and present opening the kids all headed for the water where they dug up crabs and other things built sand castles and dug trenches! Ending in them all swimming in the tidal pool :)

Christmas morning was fun and extremely busy for the most part :) everyone was told 11:30 and we would start eating around 1ish. The menu for our Christmas day consisted of:

Traditional Baked dinner with all the fixings as follows:

Baked legs of Lamb

Baked Pieces of Beef

Turkey

Roasted Vegetables

(carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, potatoes)

Gravy

Cold Leg of Ham

Strawberry Spinach Balsamic vinegar salad (most definitely one of my new favs!)

Chinese Cabbage Almond Soy salad of some sort

Oysters on the hlf shell

Oysters Kilpatrick

Local school prawns

Tiger prawns

Dips and crackers

and Nathan cooked up a heap of his Grampa's Bbq Chicken which was a hit :)

Desert was rocky road and pavlova with bananas and passion fruit and fresh whipped cream and a chocolate cheese cake of some sort.

It was all set up buffet style so everyone was able to have at it :) Most definitely be a few years before my hubby will get use to it if at all :) he couldn't get over the fact that we were eating outside, it was warm and for the most part we ate some of the food cold lol like ham :) his use to eating it hot back home :)

Now with 2010 being over id like to share some of the ups and downs of 2010 here's the downs...

Although i miss friends and family back in the states i most definitely didn't miss the awkwardness that was at my husbands mothers house this year due to his younger brother whom is "dating" his step sister who is 7years younger to him... Apparently its been really uncomfortable and down right awkward to see them acting in a way that they think is acceptable,which in mine and my husbands eyes it is not by a long shot acceptable. We are not the only ones who see this as disturbing and disgusting...but are the only ones who took a stand and actually said something about it due to the fact that we have a child and we are trying to be good parents and teach him right from wrong. The whole situation has changed relationships in the family which is saddening but we stand our ground just like those who think its fine for them to act that way, stand their ground. I know its hard for my husband to see his mother list this "girl" as her "daughter" when she is by no means blood related to them at all but just under that listing on her facebook is her son whom said "daughter" is dating.. its hard but neither his brother or his mother see any wrong in what it is they are doing and we were told we should "accept" it and move on.
Another down... Loosing 2 angel babies this year.. but i know they are both in heaven being looked after by family members. As hard as this was for us as a family i think it has made me stronger and i most definitely have to say the relationship btw my husband and i has most definitely gotten stronger, he helped me threw alot and has really been one of my main support structures threw out this...
I have to say leaving my best friends behind was a downer as well... it was so hard specially seeing my best friend fell pregnant around the same time as i did... Kevin has been one of my best friends since moving to the states i really really miss him alot..
Saying goodbye to our pets was very hard especially Garfield our first "furr" baby it was so hard and we were late leaving the house because we couldn't pull ourselves away from kissing and hugging on him..
Leaving my house and all my things behind sucked but i had to do it and i know that Kevin has it all keeping it for us till we send for it.

The Ups of 2010

My son turned 7! We threw him the most amazing birthday/goodbye party we could afford! Everyone was invited from school/soccer and family. Hopefully creating some wonderful memories for him!
Lochlan learnt how to ride his bike with out training wheels right off the bat no help needed! Very proud of him :) It was really exciting to watch him take off with no help at all talk about gob smacked!
We finally made the move to Australia! Arriving to open arms and tear felt hellos!
Falling pregnant for the 3rd time and doing really well threw the pregnancy so far! Due at the end of May beginning of June.
Learning about the wonders of fermented foods! And introducing some of them to my family! And i cant wait to start making some of them here in Australia.
eaching my son to make healthy decisions when choosing what to put into his growing body.

So i hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas with their friends and family! And you all had a fun and safe New Years! I will post some pictures of our New Years Celebration at a later date! And i am working on posting pictures and the recipe for the yummiest cookies EVER!

The NOT so Home Sick Aussie Part 2

2010-12-27T18:14:00.000-08:00

So im sure some of you remember my post about having my second miscarriage this year in september, it hit me hard but not as hard as my first one..

Well counting my days till my next period tracking and really trying to avoid falling pregnant again i realised the following month that i still hadnt had my period i was experiencing extreme heartburn, tender breasts and my emotions were all over the place... I sumed it up to the sheer fact that maybe i didnt take the last miscarriage as well as my first one seeing it happened at home... But to be safe i needed to rule out pregnancy again.... so i pulled one out of the draw and did what u do.... walked away praying it was negative... upon returning less then 2 minutes after doing the test... I noticed right away there were 2 bright pink lines.... What was my reaction you ask? I was angry.... i was sad... i was.... NOT happy.... Happy is what your spose to feel right when your biggest desire is to have another child... I couldnt believe i was going to put myself and family threw this all again...yep my biggest fear that i have lived to see come true twice this year already.. was hovering over my head... I washed my face and headed down stairs to what i thought in my head was goin to be breaking the news to my husband calmly... once i seen him i seen red... the words blurted out of my mouth before i even thought about it... YOU GOT ME F*@KING PREGNANT AGAIN...!?!?! I realised straight away that was not how it was suppose to come out.. I dont know how or what happened but i regretted it as soon as the words came out of my mouth... how loving of me right? Yea i deserve the wife of year award for that.. And so once again we started the process of confirming it and figuring out exactly when we could have possibly have concieved this child seeing i hadnt had a period in months techincally.. So off to the clinic to find out that i wasnt even really 3-4 weeks pregnant which didnt put my mind at ease at all.... a few days after the clinic visit i started bleeding... nightmare number 3 please.... i knew what was happening it was exactly like the first 2 cramping..bleeding... the clinic told us if i started bleeding we needed to go to the ER to be checked out..so off we went... at 10:30 on a friday night... crying my eyes out the entire time... they got me into a room took a bunch of blood put a cathiter in to take clean urine from me if that wasnt bad enough...the nurse messed up taking my blood and it all had to be taken AGAIN.. FUN! Around 1:30am they informed me the doctor wanted an ultra sound done to see exactly what was goin on with the fetus... before i knew it the most unfriendliest ultrasound tech was pushing my bed off to do the ultrasound, upon arriving into the room she asked all the same questions i had already been asked and wanted me to explain exactly how many times id been pregnant this year and kind of scoffed at the fact that this was going to be my 3rd miscariage this year... she told me well im going to see if this pregnancy is in the tube seeing uve just "had" a miscarriage last month... (told u she was a REAL winner...) Upon inserting the thingamabob (yep i so should be a ultrasound tech!) she was suprised and said well its in ur uterus and in the same breath she said IT has a heartbeat and when she said it she was shocked i think even more shocked then i was i looked at the screen finally seeing i had my eyes shut sobbing when she started... i looked at the screen and seen a pulsing tiny heartbeat... i...i was gob smacked? I then started thinking wait....how could this be? I was doing the math for how far along you have to be to see a heartbeat and i was told i wasnt even 3-4 wks along... i know its possible to see a heartbeat at 6weeks... and while im running threw the dates in my head she turned the sound on and i heard its heartbeat i burst into tears and asked her if this was really happening?? Id not gotten this far with the last 2 pregnancies to see let alone hear a heartbeat... The tech actually melted a lil and was human like to me and said yes thats your baby and your almost 7weeks along! Holly cow? No that doesnt sum up how shocked/happy and afraid i was... She said she didnt know why i had started bleeding the sack and that all looked good no tares and no signs of anything we should be worried about... She printed out a picture for me and even put "babys first picture" on it. Now just think this entire time i was gone my husband was sittin in the room waiting...wondering...worrying what the out come was going to be and preparing to comfort me for the worst.. I handed him the picture he was just blank? Shocked? I told him i heard its heartbeat! He burst into tears he was so emotional and he had every right to be! He was so happy i wanted to be as happy as him but i was afraid.. scarred.. i knew deep down that i was still not in the clear.. given the all clear and put on bed rest for a couple wks restricting me from doing anything really we headed home with our babys first picture in tote. Couple days later we had an appointment at the clinic and they didnt want to do anything to stir things up so all tests and checking was put off... I was just put on more bed rest... great huh... specially seeing we suppose to be packing for the big move! The entire move was left up to my husband and he waited until the last wk to pack... STRESSFUL :) But it got done all while i was stuck in bed watching stuff get packed away... Needless to say not everything got packed...but thanks to our wonderful best friend Kevin we were able to leave alot of our stuff behind for later shipping. Keepng this from everyone bar close family easy seeing no one really seen me and when asked where i was hubby would just say home cooking or over at Angies. BUT we made it back to Australia safe and sound... it was most definately a LONG trip and exhausting on all of us, but i was worried the entire time about the baby. Once settled and we got all our government paper work done i was able to go see a doctor, she gave me my blood test paper work and a referal for an ultra sound. That date couldnt have come around soon enough! So packed into the ultra sound room nervous as all heck i was hoping and praying i was doing the right thing by having my mum and son with myself and husband for this that when she started the ultra sound that there was a heart beat still... the tech started off lookig at the placenta which was a little worryingsome seeing i had no idea what she was looking for and being that i didnt see a heartbeating right off the bat my stomach started knotting up, and then she moved over to look at the baby and bam there it was small and tiny moving about! I burst into tears straight away, it was like a giant weight had been lifted from my shoulders knowing that the baby was doing fine! And come to find out i was even further along... :)

So here i am :) 17 weeks and 1 day down and 22 weeks and 6 days to go! The day i hit my second trimester was one of the happiest days this year! :) I am showing, the baby is moving ALOT and my hips and back have been kiling me :) BUT its all worth it :) I have not had morning sickness (touch wood!) like i had with Lochlan where i couldnt keep anything down! Which is great cuz i was miserable threw that entire pregnancy, this time around its been opisite :) that combined with the fast heart beat everyone around me is praying that its a girl :) im happy with either so long as its healthy! Lochlan though wants a baby brother which is typical for a boy :) but he is super excited every week on my ipod we sit down and read whats going on with the baby and every few days he wants to be reminded how many more weeks till his a big brother! I have my appointment with the local midwives that deliver alot of the babies here on the central coast on the 12 of jan then i will have my second trimester ultrasound and yes we will be hopefully finding out what we are having :) and as soon as we know i will let you all know as well! I have wanted to share this good news for a while now but wanted to make sure things were all right before i let you all know :) And what else is exciting is that my best friend Angie is also pregnant as well :) she isnt 100% sure how far along she is as she hasnt had an appointment confirming her due date but going off her last period she is a couple weeks behind me :) would have been awesome to of gone threw our pregnancies together! But we are keeping in contact via mac chat and facebook.

This is bubs first picture :)

If you look at the second picture down on the left side you can see the skeletal face of bubs! Kinda creepy huh :) it turned and looked as she was taking pics lol "CHEESSSEEEE"

The NOT so Home Sick Aussie Anymore!

2010-12-20T19:18:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! I know i know... its been FOREVER! But as some of you know we made the BIG move back to Australia! Safe and sound it was a VERY long and emotional flight for the 3 of us... We were greeted at Sydney airport with opened arms and tears :) My mum, dad and best friend Danielle and her fiance were there to greet us which was lovely! We have officially been here now 1 month and 5 days. Our first week we were here we enrolled our son into the school up the road from my parents house, he started school the following week with only 3 weeks left in the aussie school year he really wasnt at school to long :) He is currently on school holidays till the end of January! We have settled into our apartments at the other end of my parents property :) Things are well for all of us! The weather has been up and down but we have enjoyed every minute of it specially seeing we are missing out on all the snow they have been getting back in the states! Well thats it for me right now i will have more posts coming up with some news to share with you all :)

Is everyone ready for the holidays? I know im not!! :) Please enjoy the photos we have taken so far since arriving back home in Australia!

My hubby "trying" to blend in LOL.

Atticus my mums new cat.

My sons apartment down the back, and my husband and mine apartment on the left :)

My parents house.

Loches first day at school!

Presentation Day at Loches school

Wild Cockatoo That flew in for a feed :)

Itty Bitty Spider :)

Celebrating Christmas at the Blue Tongue Stadium watching Christmas Carols and Fire Works!

A Different Style Butternut Squash Soup

2010-10-07T15:35:00.000-07:00

Fall is here ALREADY! Boy this year has gone by fast.....No big suprise but i cant wait for this year to be done with and start over fresh! It has not been my year... Anyway Fall is my most fav time of year?!?! Why? The leaves change colours, the weather gets cooler, LOTS of things to do with apples! Apple cider, apple donuts, apple cheese fritters and so on! Not to mention the gorgeous decorations for fall! I love it! Unfortunately i will not be decorating this year... I do have some good news to share i supose! I PASSED my US Citizenship test! Woohoo! I have not had my ceremony yet though i will have pictures when that happens! So it has been pretty busy around here lately though! We had our first family camping trip! I will post about that but lets just say the tent was NOT water proof and we sorta had a few soggy days!

We have been catching up and spending time with friends and family! Lochlan played soccer this season and Hubby helped coach the team so we have been busy with that also! We planned for a bonfire with friends and family but the rain seems to like to fall on our parade...lol first camping...then the bonfire! BUT we had a great time (inside) either way! I have been busy cooking like crazy YES i have been taking photos! I am ready to take the plunge back into bloggy land!

Although i have about 30 posts that i have started (up loaded pics to each post and jotted down the ingredients to said recipes!) but i just havent had the get up n go to finish them off and publish them!

In between all of this stuff i have been doing lots of researching concerning what to and what not to put into mine and my families bodies food wise! I have also decided that this is the FIRST year since arriving in the US that we will NOT be par taking in getting flu shots this year! I am proud to annouce this! I am taking a natural route to staying healthy for what part of the flu season we will be around for! Also i have to admit the only chemical medicine wise that i am currently taking is benadryl and thats only when my psoriasis is driving me crazy! Im using all organic and natural lotions and soaps to help sooth my skin also and i have to admit i am shocked at how well i am doing! I also think trying to be stress free helps too! I have rid my pantry of some of the nasty things i use to use! Like white flour, white sugar, vegetable oil, shortening(YUCK)! and store baught meats! I will get into more of why the overhaul in the next few posts. Doing this has not made our budget change much at all really it can be done and done on an everyday budget!

Now onto this most delish soup! I grew up HATING butternut squash soup... I HATED it.... it was awful in my eyes... but as i got older my taste buds have most definately changed! I must admit foods i absolutely hated growing up have now become foods i enjoy! I guess my taste buds grew up :P lol Anyway you can find a different version of the same style soup here.

What i used!

1 medium sized butternut squash

3 sweet potato squash(click link to see what these beauties look like)

1 teaspoon of ginger powder

2 Tablespoons of garlic powder

2 cups of chicken stock

1 can of coconut milk (i used light coconut milk)

1 Tablespoon of dried cilantro

1 Tablespoon of dried parsley

1 teaspoon of salt

Olive Oil

Preheat the oven to 350

What i did!

First i washed all of my squashes as they were frommy garden and kinda muddy LOL. then i peeled them and sliced them in chunks! Placed them in a large ziplock baggie. Once the bag was full i added enough olive oil to caot these lovely pieces! Then i added the ginger, garlic and salt, tossed it all around then emptyed out the entire contents of the baggie into a large glass baking dish! I placed it in the preheated oven and checked on them every once in a while. When the squash was tender enough to smash it with spoon i knew it was done! (sorry no exact time i was busy doing other things) i smashed the squash with a fork made sure it was nice and smooth. In the pot on the stove i poured in the chicken stock, dried cilantro and parsely, bringin the stock up to bubbling then turning it to a simmer i slowly started adding the coconut milk making sure it wasnt to hot when added as you dont want the coconut milk to curdle. Once the liquids ahd simmered a good 15mins i then added in the smashed squash bringin up the temp slowly once everything was good and hot i turned off the burned and placed the lid on and let it sit a good 10mins. After 10mins i used my hand held blender and wizzed it threw the soup to make it thick and creamy!

I served this DELISH soup with garlic naan! The boys absolutely LOVED it! How do i know? They didnt have much to say other then mmmmm's and yummmms! And they ate dinner quickly! It was definately a hit!

So i have some pictures of recipes to come! I can not wait to share some of the things i have been up to!

Quick and easy Beef, CousCous and BokChoy

Super simple left over Potatos, Chicken, Homemade Salsa Melt!

Best ChocChip Cookies EVA!

Nourishing Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Baked Apple Cheese Muffins

The BEST ever oven fried chicken you will ever have!

(you know its GOOD when you can take a bite out of it cold and its STILL crunchy!)

Mouth watering Pulled Bbq Beef

Homemade Buns!

Dealing with Stuff

2010-09-09T19:25:00.000-07:00

Yup that pretty much sums up what i have been up to since my last post... So we found out we were pregnant again....i should be thrilled right?? Well sadly i am not... just after a week of finding out we were pregnant....my worst fear took place...i started spotting and that was it i knew everything i had been fearing was coming to life.. :( We lost our second angel baby last thursday... i placed it in a princess keepsake and we burried it under the rose of sharon bush in the backyard that over looks Lochlans play area... we placed flowers from the garden on it and had a moment of silence...and lots of tears :( No doctors for me this time around as we are with out health care...and seeing i am not a US Citizen i can not get healthy start like my son... so i went threw this miscarriage at home with no idea what to expect other then horror stories i had read online... I dont know what else to say other then... I really dont know what to do half of the time... i have been sick pretty much since a couple of days prior to loosing the baby... and i am still sick... im resting as much as i can BUT when you have nothing to do your mind can be painful... In the last week i have experienced every emotion i could possibly go threw and then some... Tonight i am well a little calmer i guess but still sadden at the thought ive lost another child :( laying in bed last night... or should i say thismorning as it was 3am i realised i would have been almost 25weeks had i not lost sweetpea... painful...so painful to think about that.. I have so many questions i want answered... but the answers wont come until i get back to australia and i find a good doctor down there... YES we are still in the states... And will still be here till probably end of october due to migration paper work and other junk that i dont feel like going into..... Anyway i have a few recipes to share with you all but not in this post... In the next couple of days i will throw them up.... I hope you are all well and enjoying what will soon be the end of summer for most of you all who read this blog.

Sweetpea Jacobs Online Memorial | GoneTooSoon.org

Chili Done My Way!

2010-08-13T13:44:00.000-07:00

Ok i know its NOT Chili weather.... BUT once in a while a nice bowl of chili goes along way!

I was digging around in my chest freezer and came across some lovely chunks of stewing beef, ground lamb and ground turkey just enough of each kind not to make a full meal out of them, SO chilli it was! I laid them out the night prior to the long slow simmering, I dug around in my pantry and found 4 different kinds of dried beans (ChicPeas, White Northen, Kidney and Black Eyed Peas) I soaked about 1 cup of each in a deep bowl with water all the way to the top and then i added a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. I soaked them over night, rinsed them the next morning felt how tender they were and realised i needed them to cook a little longer.

So now for the whole recipe i spose!

Slow Cooked 3 Meat 4 Bean Chili

1 pound of ground lamb

1 pound of ground turkey

1 pound of stewing beef

1 large onion (chopped and diced)

4 fresh red chillies (roughly chopped)

3 Tablespoons of fresh minced garlic

2 cups of homemade chicken stock

sea salt

1 Tablespoon of chipotle powder

ground black pepper

1 Tablespoon of cumin

1 Tablespoon of garlic powder

2 Tablespoons of homemixed Taco seasoning

2 cups of diced tomatoes with their juices still

2 cups of tomato juice

1 cup of chic peas (dryed)

1 cup of white northen beans (dryed)

1 cup of kidney beans (dryed)

1 cup of black eyed peas (dryed)

1 cup of liquid from the beans

and for garnishing

dash of lime juice

sour cream

grated cheese

I know seems like alot doesnt it! But we eat on it for a day or so and then i reinvent it :) and add cream cheese to it and pour it over tortilla chips some grated cheese and nachos it is!

Or mix it with cream cheese and a lil sour cream and turn it into a delish dip!

Soap your dry beans the night before make sure its a big enough bowl for the beans to soak in add a couple spoonfuls of apple cider vinegar to the beans and water.

Before starting your chili check the beans if still not tender enough add the drained beans to a pot cover with water add some seal salt and bring to a boil, check beans occasionally while preparing the chili if tender enough remove from heat and leave them in the water, remember you will need some of this liquid for your chili!

In a large pot heat up a little olive oil, when hot toss in your diced onions, minced garlic and your roughly chopped red chillies.

Saute the mixture for a few mins (if it starts to stick and burn add some of your stock) next you will want to toss your ground turkey and ground lamb into the mix and brown it. Once the ground meat is browned add the chunks of stew beef let it seal on all sides (the chunks of meat change colour) add and coat all the ground meat and chunks of beef with the chipotle, garlic powder, pinch of salt, cumin, taco seasoning and black pepper let simmer for a few minutes then add the rest of your stock, diced tomatoes and juice. Once all added bring the pot of yummies to a slow boil then turn it down to low. You will slow cook the pot for about 1-2 hours stirring occasionally. After about 2 hours your going to want to add your drained beans to the pot, stir them in depending how much your chili has cooked down depends on whether or not you will use the alotted amount of bean liquid. At this stage my chili is good and thick and i need the 1 cup of liquid :) i let this cook on the lowest setting for hours but sometimes my boys cant wait and dig in right away which is fine as it is technically good and cooked! When ready to eat i always serve it up with a spoonful of sourcream some tasty grated cheese and a squeeze of lime juice!

Really this chili ive found the longer it cooks the better the flavours!

Local Summer Veggies and Local Merlot Simmered Beef

2010-08-12T13:40:00.001-07:00

Ah yes who doesnt LOVE summer goodies! I have been cooking up a storm lately and my boys couldnt be happier!

The beef i used here is from my local butchers shop and it was lovely and tender!

The veggies are from our local farmers market! Fresh patty pan squash, green beans and red skin new potatoes!

Nothing fancy when it came to these veggies i steamed them in my double boiler pots i checked how tender each lot of veggies were and when almost done i removed them and placed them in a dish where they continued to finish cooking while the other veggies steamed.

The simple sauce i made was just melted homemade butter and a couple of tablespoonfuls of sweet soy sauce mixed toegether right before serving i drizzeled it over the steamed veggies! It was a delish way to get my boys to eat these veggies!

The beef was cooked with home grown onions from my adopted americans mothers garden and before i go on i must add that boy were they hot! The minute i cut the top off the onion my eyes watered straight away! Anyway i used 2 small brown onins sliced them up threw in 4 cloves of home grown garlic i used a tablespoon of homemade butter to saute the onion and garlic in. Once they had cooked down i added the beef chunks and browned them. After that i added half a cup of homemade chicken stock to the pan placed the lid of and let it simmer for about 15mins, after that i added about half a cup of locally made merlot to the meat added a pinch of sea salt about 1 teaspoon of fresh cracked black pepper and 1/2 a teaspoon of celery salt i placed the lid on the pan and let it simmer for about half an hour. This was extremely tasty!

SourDough Muffins! YUM!

2010-08-11T04:48:00.001-07:00

Sorry for my MIA i have been busy cooking and trying new recipes and spending time with my boys :)

Ok so this is not a new recipe per say but i never make these babies the same way!

So i have a jar that lives in my fridge and every few days i bring said jar out and let it get to room temp then i feed it :) and that jar sits on my counter top with cheese cloth over it so it can grow! What am i talking about? I am talking about SourDough Starter! So the day i came about this recipe i was looking at my 2 full jars of sourdough starter that i NEEDED to do something with! So i began searching what i could do with this stuff (other then crackers, pancakes and breads) and i came across a recipe for Strawberry SourDough Muffins, i cant not find exactly where i found the recipe but i really was NOT impressed with it..... It required WAY to much sugar, baking soda, eggs and salt!

So after looking threw my other muffin recipes i came up with this extremely easy and totally tasty recipe!

Now i will warn you all these can be VERY addicting! One will NOT be enough!

Pictured here in the post are 5 different varieties of this muffin recipe!

1. Strawberry, Black Berry and Dark Chocolate Chip

2. Strawberry, Mulberry, Blackberry and Black Raspberry

3. Vanilla and Mango

4. Black Raspberry and Dark Chocolate Chip

5. Mango and Strawberry

Play with this recipe i encourage it! I am starting to play with savory flavors! These make great GREAT quick grab breakfasts or lovely afternoon snacks for the kiddies!

Now for the Recipe!

SourDough Strawberry Muffins

1 cup of sourdough starter

2 cups of flour (white/wheat)

1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce

1/3 cup of sucanat

1 egg

3/4 tsp of baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup of milk

1 + 1/2 Tbsp of Vanilla extract

1 + 1/2 cup of diced strawberries(or any other fruit)

Preheat over at 375 degrees. Mix everything but the diced strawberries in a large mixing bowl until combined. Then fold in the strawberries. Pour into greased muffin tins. Bake 35mins or until toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in tins for a couple of muffins b4 removing and placing on a wire rack took cool completely! Makes 24 small muffins.

You can add many different fruits as i have already mention to this batter! They are divine! Cream cheese is also lovely smeared on them! Enjoy!

Homemade Granola Bars

2010-07-28T18:27:00.000-07:00

Ok so today my son had a mate over and it was last minute so i wanted them to have something healthy to snack on! Being that i didnt want to make and bake cookies....as i was already going to be making bread i decided granola bars it is! Now lets just say i have NEVER made granola bars before but i knew pretty much what they were made up with in my mind? That make sense to you? It does to me lol... So headed to the cupboards and pantry and away i went! I came back with;

Oats

Sucanat

Honey

Wheat Germ

Flaxseed Meal

Crasins

Homemade Butter

Dark ChocChips

Vanilla Extract

Crushed Raw Almonds

Homemade Peanut Butter

And there you have it! Those are the ingredients to these DELISH granola bars! Now for the recipe!

~Kira's Homemade Granola Bars~

1/3 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup of honey

1/4 butter (melted)

1/2 of sucanat

1 1/2 cups of oats

1/4 cup of crasins

1/3 cup of wheat germ

1/2 cups of dark/milk chocolate chips

1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

1/4 cup crush raw almonds

In a mixing bowl combine the sucanat, peanut butter, honey, melted butter and vanilla. Stir remainder of your ingredients into the wet mixture. Press the mixture into your baking dish that has been sprayed with non stick cooking spray :) Bake these beauties in a preheated oven at 360'F for 15-20mins or until the edges are browned. When done you will want to let them cool completely on a wire rack, when cooled the them into bars.

Depending how chunky you want these babies depends on the size of the baking dish you use. As you can see i used a deeper dish so my first batch are thicker then i had expected! But this recipe would work well spread out very thinly and baked till crispy! When cooled break into pieces and serve in a bowl with cold milk for breakfast! This recipe will most definately make some chewy lace style cookies!

Next time i will add different nuts maybe pretzel bits and different dried fruits :)

~Day Dreaming~

2010-07-23T21:30:00.000-07:00

So today was the most laid back day i have had in oh so long.... Im not complaining :) Anyway while i was standing in front of the mirror in our master bathroom after thinking about my laid back day i started to think about all the things i had hoped to get done to this house in the next couple of years, you know like the Bathroom Vanities in our bathroom and the bathroom down stairs. So after washing my face i went down and joined the boys on the couch to watch a movie but i had my laptop with me and i started browsing threw bathroom vanities on one of the CSN stores! I know.. i know... we wont get to do that with moving back to Australia and all but Hey a girl can dream! Anyway i came across some realllly nice ones! Like these just to show you a few!

I like this one alot, Im loving the glass in the doors!

Now this one i could totally see in the boys bathroom down stairs! It fits into the "spa'ish" theme i was going for when i first picked out the colour theme! Love the extra room below.

This is extremely fancy i know :) But can you just imagine what kind of house this sort of vanity belongs in?!? :)

This is simple and would work wonderfully in my small master bathroom! I am a huge fan of the darker woods! And simplicity!

This is different i love the bowl its stunning!

I wish i had a master bathroom big enough for something like this! Although i know hubby would hate it cuz i would have all sorts of things all over the vanity top.... im bad about that LOL!

~Lamb Chop Rub and Tasty Cous Cous~

2010-07-21T19:54:00.000-07:00

This is an extremely tasty meal! Like usual no idea what i was cooking for dinner..like most nights and this is what i came up with!

Now i dont know how many of you are lucky enough to have a Trader Joe's near you, technically we dont have one THAT close but its close enough (plus we like that its just down the road from another grocery store i LOVE Whole Foods Market) :) and it seems we try and make a trip up to Ann Arbor atleast once a month to stock up on bulk whole foods and other organic goodies! One of my fav things to buy is this;

MMM definately one of my fav things to fix lately because it can be dressed up or dressed down!

~Lamb Chop Rub~

(this rub is enough for 6 large chops!)

2 Tbsp of onion powder

2 Tbsp of garlic powder

1 tsp of sea salt

2 tsp of freshly ground pepper

1 tsp of spicey hot chilli powder

1/2 of ginger powder

1 Tbsp of brown sugar

Mix all the ingredients into a jar/bowl and mix, take your chops of choice :) drizzle one side of the chop and sprinkle the rub over top do this on both sides and place into an extremely hot pan to seal in the juices! Depending on how rare or well done you like your meat depends on cooking time!

This rub is a little sweet and some what spicey :) just the way we like it in our family!

~Tasty Cous cous~

2 cups of dryed cous cous

1 Tbsp of garlic powder

1 tsp of rosemary

1 Tbsp of dried chives

1/2 tsp of sea salt

1 c of raw peas

1 1/2 c of chicken stock

1/2 c of heavy whipping cream

fresh thin slices of parm cheese to garnish!

In a large sauce pan, combine the chicken stock peas, garlic, rosemary and salt. Bring to a boil, turn to low allow peas to cook and become tender, also add the cream at this point. once peas have become tender remove from heat pour your 2 cups of cous cous in slowly stirring threw the liquid. Once stirred throughly place a lid onto and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Remove lid after said amount of time and fluff the cous cous with a fork and serve.

Place thin slices of parm cheese on top and serve! This is super simple and oh so tasty, cous cous in general is fun to play with when it comes to trying new things!

~Just another Day~

2010-07-20T19:19:00.000-07:00

Just another day here in my lil swanton home, not alot to say today it was an ok day for me i had a couple of low moments today, we had to take my son in for his check up and he needed some blood work done. There was a brand new mum in the waiting room with a beautiful little girl in her car seat. Oh so tiny and precious.... i didnt know where to look or where to go once the tears started welling up... Baby girl started crying that beautiful new born cry and that just shot a pain threw my heart... It was hard but we got called back not long after that. Im not handling pregnant women and new born babies very well at the moment i have a love hate relationship with the idea... I ache knowning they are going threw something i was going threw not to long ago....6wks to be exact..yep i try not to remember how long its been since i lost my angel baby but its impossible...i would be almost 19wks had i not lost him/her... Anyway Lochlan had to have 7 vials of blood drawn and even on good days im bad with seeing him go threw this BUT 2day i was already an emotional reck.. thank goodness i had to use the rest room and skipped out on it...stood outside the door and listened to the carryin on tho which was still hard... Anyway no recipes today just some pictures of my beautiful flowers in my garden! Hope your all well and enjoyin your week so far, recipes tomorrow i promise!

(Sorry for the moppy post..)

~Adventures in Homemade Goodies~

2010-07-19T10:12:00.000-07:00

Homemade mustard?? Yep you betcha! Eggless Mayo??? That can last in the fridge for a couple months?? Mhmmm! The mayo is quick and easy, i know alot of you all once seeing the ingredients will be like WHAAAA???? But believe you me it tastes just like mayo and you can add all sorts of goodies to it! Lets start with the mustard recipe shall we.

~Homemade Mustard~

1/2 c of mustard powder

1/4 c of sugar

1/4 c of white vinegar

1 tsp of sea salt

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl or container, cover and store in a cool dark place. Taste after 2 weeks. If its still strong, leave it for a few more days. Once the msutard has mellowed, scrape from the container and place into a clean jar/bottle and refridgerate. This can last months when stored well.

I added garlic powder to mine and some paprika. My boys like that this mustard is spicey and sweet!

You can play with this recipe, as there are many ways to alter it and make it better.

When all mixed up this mustard is extremely strong smelling :)

Mayonnaise (Egg Free)

1 can of sweetened condensed milk

1 cup of vinegar

1 teaspoon of salt

2 teaspoons of mustard powder

Empty the can of milk into a mixing bowl, add the salt and dry mustard. Slowly start pouring in small amounts of the vinegar, whisk to combine. This does not take long before it starts to thicken. Once all the ingredients have been whisked together, taste it and adjust to taste. You can always add more vinegar, dry mustard or salt to your liking. I like to add some olive oil and a little lemon juice, its VERY tasty!

~Super Simple Delish Summer Corn Salsa~

2010-07-16T12:38:00.001-07:00

This is one of the simplest salsa's ever! And it works right in to your "mexican" night menu!

The night i made this dish up my boys were craving Chipotle and i refused to give into the craving myself....(even though i REALLY really wanted it also!) So i dug around in my pantry and freezers and pulled out the last 2 cups of sweet frozen corn from our local farmers stand you all know how i love my locally grown produce! Some local chicken breasts, raided my spice rack! And found some yummy stuff in my veggie crisper draw! This is what i came up with :) Heres the recipe for just the corn the rest will come promise!!

1 Can of naturally sweet corn

1 Fresh tomato

hand full of fresh cilantro

1 hlf of a green pepper(capsicum for my aussie readers!)

a pinch of salt

8 garlic scapes (if you have these on hand!) or just 1 small clove of garlic minced

Drain the corn and empty into serving bowl, dice your tomato to you and your families liking same goes for the green pepper as well (i kept my around the same size as the corn kernels) Add them to the corn. Roughly chop the cilantro and add it to the bowl as well. Mince the garlic/scapes, combine and mix all the ingredients in the bowl now and sprinkle with sea salt and serve!

This is really refreshing you can have it in home made buritos, tacos, salad or just straight up on corn chips!

Lochlan attempting to eat his soft shell taco!

Nathan's Burito that he had a hard time folding lol :)

I had mine on a salad! MMM

Kevin's Burito was also jammed packed and hard to fold up LOL

Happy Friday my Gorgeous Friends! Hope EVERY singal one of you have a fab wkend!

~Trying to move on~

2010-07-15T08:40:00.001-07:00

To the baby that I carried, But never seen your face, Or tell you how much I loved you, Or ever to hear your cries. You will never be forgotten. The excitement we had for your coming. When I realized I'd never hold you, The feeling I had was numbing. My angel baby is who you are. My angel baby you'll always be. Your loving memory will live in my heart. So you will always be right here with me.

Sweet Pea is what we called our little darling when we found out we were pregnant.

So here i am making my return, i wanted to thank all of you who have emailed me and checked in on me. I decided i wanted a tattoo to remember my angel baby by something i would always have and could never loose. I went to my tattoo artist with a couple of ideas having NO idea exactly what i wanted... And this is what he came up with! I absolutely LOVE it! Its everything i wanted and then some, he did a fantastic job and i couldnt imagine having anything different.

I am still dealing with it in my own way, i have good days and bad days but i am taking each day as they come.

I am still alive...

2010-06-02T19:50:00.000-07:00

Just wanted you all to know that yes i am still alive....

I am not feeling up to blogging much lately...

Reason being? We lost the baby :(

I will post about what happened.... at a later date when i am able too.

Hope your all well.

I miss you all!

A Recipe and Exciting News!

2010-05-13T08:24:00.000-07:00

Lets kick this post off with a promised recipe!

Simple Easy Tasty Pancake Batter!

YOU wont be disappointed!

2 cups of milk (i used the milk left from making my own butter!)

1/4 cup of sugar ( i used raw sugar)

2 eggs

3 Tsp of honey

1 tsp of oil

1Tsp of vanilla

2 and 1/3 cups of flour (i used hlf wheat hlf white)

1 1/1 Tsp of baking powder

Nothing to it toss the wet ingredients into a blender then add your dry ingredients! Turn it on for a few mins making sure everything mixes up nicely! Depending on your choice of batter (thick or runny!) whether or not you add a little more flour or a little more milk! We like our batter to be a little runny as i find this recipe does puff a little! Use a large spoon and drop desired amount on to your griddle or frying pan! I let the batter sit a min or so then add a few choc chips to mine for my guys!

Give it a go you can add all kids of goodies to your pancakes which im sure you all do! This recipe does not disappoint there is no weird baking powder after taste like some recipes give you! Plain or jazzed up! I keep the batter in my blend and keep it in the fridge for a few days and its still tasty when i get it out and cook it up!

Now onto the exciting news!

So May 7th i turned 30........OH BOY! I had NOT been looking forward to this at all... Now leading up to my birthday we were extremely busy, April was Lochlan's Birthday... Then his big bash! Then it was my mother in laws birthday! Needless to say we have done a lot of celebrating in this time...After Lochlans party i was exhausted! Didn't matter what i did i couldn't get enough rest... We figured it was just all the celebrating! With 30 creeping up around the corner..... and the lack of a visit from mother nature....we decided to do a pregnancy test....expecting the usual....when im having "issues" it usually all starts with missed periods...In the last 6 years we have done plenty of pregnancy tests...all showing negative...and this is exactly what i expected this time...those of you who know me and my adventures in fertility issues know a couple years ago we were told from some of the biologic medicines i had taken for my Psoriasis had made me infertile....so missing a period or being "late" really didn't excite me at all.... so i sat by our window in the bedroom over looking the box like usual making sure they hadn't changed the signs or anything lol...grabbed the stick and went off about my business...told hubby "ok 3 mins tell me when its up" not sure exactly what i was doing....and then his like "ok its 3 mins babe" got up when to the bathroom picked it up glanced and about had a heart attack my throat felt like it was swelling up......my heart sped up.....i felt faint...i screamed a lil.... hubby was like whats wrong??? whats wrong??? my response "uh...um..i THINK im pregnant?!?!?!"......he was gob smacked...i ran in and grabbed the box and double checked...triple checked....gave him the box and the test and told him am i????? AM I??? Sure enough the pink line was there..... called my mum even tho it was 6am there in australia....and told her! Next i called my best friend Angie! We didn't tell EVERYONE till we had it confirmed seeing there was doubt in our minds that it was "REAL" but what a birthday present huh???

This is my "first" pregnancy photo lol 6 wks!

So onto my birthday celebrations! I was spoiled rotten! We celebrated the nite before at my fav restaurant "Carrabba's" with friends and family. And then friday morning we got up got Loche ready for school dropped him off and hubby took me to michigan! We went up and had a tour of the Mac store! That store is simply amazing! I was told we were going up there to get a cover for my birthday gift i had been given earlier! I Ipod Touch! So i picked out a hot pink cover! And was totally surprised when we left with a matching MacBook! *GASP*

After the Mac store we wondered around the mall and he bought me a bottle of Dolce&Gabbana perfume "The One"

Here is my other present he got me as well!

Hubby and i before we hit the Mac Store!

Yup this is meee! Lol this was taken before we headed to Carrabba's!

Hubby and I!

My fav 3 men in my life!

This was taken at Red Lobster after we returned from Michigan! After dinner we met Kev at the movies and watched Iron Man 2! What a birthday!

These are my beautiful mothers day flowers my hubby got me!

So yes these are some of the reasons i have been MIA :) that and we are still preparing to move back to australia! It has been something else i tell you we have some life changing things headed our way and we are trying our best to spend as much time as possible with friends and family while we are still here in the States!

Lochlan's Birthday Bash!

2010-05-12T11:17:00.000-07:00

Remember all that planning for Lochlan's HUGE BIRTHDAY BASH?!?

It almost got rained out.... It was terrible all that morning it just rained and rained and then about 10am the rain stopped the sun came out and it was pretty nice the rain held off until 3:30 (hlf an hr b4 the party ended!)

Here was the high light of the party! And this was almost not going to be apart of the event cuz of that pesky rain i mentioned!

What does 150 plus sponge bob cup cakes look like u ask???... No i did NOT make these i am not super mum :) i had enough on my plate to do i was not adding baking to that long list!

This is the birthday boy blowing out his candles.....shortly after this photo he fell off the bench...BUT not to worry dad was quick on his heels and grabbed his arm b4 he hit the floor! Loche got up laughing all was good!

MHMMM...look at this boy....7! And he lives up to that shirt too! In all it was a fantastic event! Lots of compliments and questions about who planned and organized the event! That would be ME and my wonderful hubby! We had 150 plus RSVP's due to the rain not everyone showed up but there was 130 plus according to the rough head count :) I have to say a great big thank u to Nathans step dads sister Janet and her husband Bill who did face painting and air brush tattooing for the adults and kids lol!