Not a shopaholic!

Shopping. I used to looove shopping. Strolling around at my own pace, trying on clothes, picking out new make up. Oh and SHOES! OMG! Shoes!! Even when my older boys were younger and I was a stay at home mum, I use to pop them in the pram and go shopping. At least once a week. Most of the time we window shopped, but shopping! I loved it!

So as you can imagine, with 5 kids and a full time job, study and a hubby who works nights means that I have very little time to go shopping. Whatever shopping I do(besides groceries) is done online because I simply do not have the time. Loading 5 children into and out of the car is enough to put anyone off going shopping. But today I decided I would bite the bullet and just do it. The hubby decided to come with me and we went to a shopping centre that was 30 minutes away(and got stuck on the freeway for ages to to roadworks, grrr!).

The shops were mayhem. For one, it's a Saturday and two, it's leading up to Christmas. I couldn't believe when I walked in and there were children already getting photos with Santa. In November!! That's just pure craziness!

I really didn't enjoy myself. Not with a tired hubby and kids that couldn't wait longer than 2 minutes in one store. Someone had to go to the toilet every 5 minutes and people are just damn rude! I was astounded at the amount of people who knocked the stroller and didn't bother apologising. Is it really that hard to say sorry people?! Sheesh.

I did come away with some sexy new shoes and some red accessories for my outfit, some shapeware and invisible lift up stick on bra things(sounds intriguing doesn't it, I'll let you know how those work out). Hubby got a  nice dark grey shirt to wear(at $85, eek!).

Oh and I bought some tea from T2. If you are a tea lover, I recommend you find a store. Or you can check out the website here . I have had the Creme Brulee tea tonight and it's delicious! I plan to try the Toffee one with breakfast tomorrow. Highly recommend it! The iced teas are next on my hit list.

After today I am in no rush to go shopping again. I'll stick to my online shopping as much as I hate having to wait for things to arrive in the post(I am one of those 'I want it and I want it NOW' kind of people. Annoying much?). I'm kind of sad about it all, my bestie just informed me that it  means I am getting old and boy do I feel it. So not cool.

By the way, only 12 days until the hubby and I jetset to Sydney for the weekend, completely kid free!!1 Did I mention that this will be the first time away without any kids(we even had one of them with us on our honeymoon)!

The 'Do

There's nothing like having a new hair style and whenever I get into a 'funk', I go and get my hair done.

What do you think? People tell me it makes me look younger. I think I can live with that!!

I plan to get it coloured in the next couple of weeks, might go a bit lighter now that summer is on it's way!

Crashed and burned....

Help! I can't keep up!! I have too much on my plate and I have just landed in Struggletown.

It's pretty obvious why I went back to work, 5 kids - four of them boys who eat us out of house and home, school fees, uniforms, sports, food, bills...yeah. Nothing I can really do about it, I HAVE to work. The studying is interesting, but it's full on. I can understand it easy enough because I'm in the industry but it's soooo much work! To think I want to complete my Diploma after this. Freaking crazy woman I am!

I'm just tired. I don't feel like I'm spending enough time with my kids, The hubby is great though and he does a LOT around the house, he drops off the kids to school and picks them up, he makes lunches and cleans and cooks dinner...I would be lost without him. It's still that Mummy guilt though isn't it? I'm doing this for them and to get them everything they could ever want, but shit, I just feel so so so guilty!! Some nights I get home, give my kids dinner, a bath and then the little ones are off to bed. Then I'm up and out the door as they are waking up in the morning. I'm almost finished with my major assignments at Tafe now and things should get somewhat easier.

As you can imagine, the time for 'me' is on the wayside. I haven't been working as hard as I should be to look after myself and it shows in the little amount of weight I have lost since starting the program. My head is just not into it and I am totally not organised. Being organised is the key to making a success of this. So now I'm recommitting and I am MAKING the time to get organised but can someone please, PLEASE tell me how to get motivated to exercise? I hate exercising with a passion!

That's not to say that I don't exercise at all. I actually started going to pole dancing classes a few weeks back. They run a cardio fitness class 5 days a week and it's not so much about swinging around a pole, but a lot of dance moves and butt popping! I LOVE it! So I signed up 2 weeks ago for a beginners pole dancing class to learn how to do these pole dancing moves. It's challenging and I'm still having some trouble with some of the spins and I know it's because my core muscles are still pretty crap. Like, really crap. My arm muscles aren't so great either, in saying that, they have gotten stronger over the last few weeks. I'm hoping to kiss these tuck shop lady arms good bye soon!

I love pole dancing so much that I've bought myself a pole for the house. I'll be picking it up soon and we'll probably have to set it up in the back patio(I'll have to invest in some crash mats too I think! haha). I'm one of those people that has to practice, and do it in private so I don't have to worry about making myself look like a complete fool in front of people. I can't wait to get it and get myself stronger from using it!

I tell you, one thing I'm really looking forward to is a weekend away with the Hubby. We're jetsetting off to Sydney in about 4 weeks time. A whole weekend away WITHOUT kids. This has never happened to us in the 7 years we've been together. I am sooooo excited!

Anyway, it's 10.15pm and long past my bed time so I shall leave it here for tonight. xx

12WBT Update

So I thought I'd do a bit of an update as we're now in week 3. The food is delish! Like really really YUM. Not just that, but really easy to prepare and cook. Admittedly, I have had a few bad food choices and at the party on Friday night I did drink one or two(or four) glasses of Jacob's Creek Sparkling Moscato.

The part that I'm struggling with is the exercise. I'm really really finding it hard to get out there and do it. I know I'm making excuses, but I'm struggling to pull out my 'just fucking do it' card. It's going to change though because I'm going to just have to pull some motivation from somewhere. This week I'm going to my first pole dancing class with 3 women from work. It's going to be a lot of fun and I hope that it's going to be a great workout too. This is really embarrassing but I'm quietly freaking out that I'm not going to be strong enough to carry my own weight on the pole. Buuuut, if I can manage then I think I might sign up for the beginner course. We'll see. Stay tuned.

I forgot to get on and mention how much I lost last week(at least I think I did? Shit I can't remember what I had for breakfast the day before most days!). Well I was 1.6kg down. I honestly am not expecting any kind of loss this week though, we shall see I suppose....I'm being a bit blase about it all but deep down I am crapping myself! Haha.

By the way, Skinny Cow Coffee flavoured ice cream cookies....O.M.G! And only 124 calories each!!

Meep!

How sad is it that I have to resort to blogging on my iPhone at 11.30pm just because I simply do not have the time to sit down and write something.

Does anyone get the impression that I tend to overload myself with things? Why oh why do I do this to myself. And how have I not crashed and burned yet?

So what's been happening in Casa MamaTee? Well my kids are as feral as ever. Ah well, not quite that bad but I can tell school holidays are right around the corner by judging their behaviour. Jye is just about toilet trained besides him pooping right in the middle of his brothers bed and then proceed to tell me about it. He was as proud as punch.

Friday night I escaped the mad house for a few hours *gasp*. One of my workmates is turning 21 and invited me to his birthday bash at the pub. It's always so interesting to see people outside of work when they're not on their best behaviour. It was a good night but boy did I feel so old being almost 30 and all.

Saturday was my cleaning and procrastinating day. I have assignments due on Monday and I was going to get stuck into it...then the kids and I went next door for a BBQ and bonfire and came home late.

Today the hubby was at home for most part of the day and AWAKE! He usually sleeps through the weekend due to nightshift. In fact, he is at work right now. So anyway we decided to take the kids to a school fete about 20 mins away as it was sunny and warm. And because hubby and I are like jinxed or something, it poured down with rain about 15 minutes after we arrived!! Bloody hell! All we managed to do was have a feed and because we were all soaked to the bone, we left. Of course it stopped raining by the time we got home and was clear for the rest of the afternoon. Grrr!

So now it's midnight. Jeez it's slow typing on my phone! I must get some sleep before another action packed week ahead!!

12 Week Body Transformation

I'm ashamed to admit that I have gained some weight back over the last few months. I worked so hard to get to under 80kg, I don't know what the hell happened to me but 12kg is back on my body. It's been really hard to get motivated, especially when I know what I need to do to lose the weight. Why is it so hard? Why do I keep sabotaging myself? And you know what sucks the most? I've kept the weight off the top half of me(read boobs) and have put it on around my waist, butt and thighs. As if they weren't big enough already. *sigh*

I really, really need to pull my head in. I have to get out of my comfort zone and just fucking do it! There is no excuse and I've got to stop hiding behind them. If I've got time to sit on Facebook, then I have time to exercise. I won't by crap food any more and I need to get organised and have meals frozen ahead of time so when I can't be bothered cooking, there is no need to go to the take away. It's time to really get serious about this, no more half arsed attempts. The only person I'm hurting is myself.

With that said, I bit the bullet and signed up to Michelle Bridges 12 Week Body Transformation. In case you've been living under a rock, Michelle Bridges is one of the trainers on the Australian Biggest Loser series. She created the Michelle Bridges 12 Week Body Transformation, where each week she provides a meal plan, workout plans and there is plenty of support. The forums are great, but the Facebook group for the Perthies has been amazing thus far. There are so many women there who have shared their stories, their before and after pictures, etc it is so inspirational and it's given me motivation to do this.

So there will be more posts from me as I transform this body once and for all. I don't want to get to 30 having spent all of my 20s being over weight. I am committed to this program and I WILL KICK BUTT!!! And that's a promise!!

Floss your Teeth!

{Image from here}

On Tuesday, I went to the dentist. You're probably thinking, 'yeah, and....'. Well I'm ashamed to admit that it's been about 10 years since my last visit. Yes. TEN years. It's not because I have a fear of dentists as I spent like 3 wearing braces. No, it was because I couldn't afford private health insurance(dudes, I was so poor that I lived 4 months without electricity when I was 20). I couldn't afford PHI which means there was no way I could afford the full cost of visiting the dentist.

My perfect job has an incentive with a well known PHI company and offers a corporate discount of 8% for our entire family and gets deducted from my pay packet before I get paid. Now we are in the position to go see the dentist, etc for a low out of pocket cost and I asked the hubby to book me an appointment for this week. He loves me, he really really does. So much in fact that he booked my dental appointment for my BIRTHDAY. Thanks hun, I love you too.

Let me tell you, I was crapping myself all day Monday. How bad are my teeth? What if they need to be taken out - every last tooth in my head! Don't tell me I'm being silly because I know a woman who is younger than me who had this happen to her. What if he tells me off and makes me cry on my birthday of all days? I realise I will probably need some work, I've had 5 pregnancies with morning sickness each time. That stomach acid has got to do something awful to my teeth.

Before I even sat in the chair I blurted out, "It's my birthday, please don't tell me off!". He examined my teeth and I do have a bit of tartar build up which he cleaned off my front teeth. I'll have to go back in a few weeks to get the rest done. Other than that I have to get one, maybe 2 fillings and he's going to just fill some of my molars a bit and seal them to protect them. The BEST news of all is that I won't need to have all 4 of my wisdom teeth pulled out like I thought I would have to. They have all completely ruptured and have come in straight with space to spare. Thank goodness for that!!

It wasn't so bad in the end(though he did lecture me about tartar and flossing because I admitted I don't floss...ever). Oh and he dropped his little mirror tool thingy on my face. Not cool Mr Dentist Man. I will go more regularly now and I will floss every day, I really would like to keep my teeth. My kids told me they were so proud of me and asked if I got a sticker and a colouring page and then proceeded to tell me that my Dentist sucks and I should go and see their school dentist to get the freebies!

What's your plan?

Home invasion. It is happening alot here at the moment. Basically every day this week I've heard it on the news of people being victims of home invasion. It is a massive, massive fear of mine. Especially being the wife of a night shift worker, meaning I am home alone at night, almost every night - with 5 kids.

Even the photo gives me the creeps when I know it's not real. I can't have the mindset that it won't happen to me. It might, it might not but I would rather be prepared to know what I can do than have it happen to me and not knowing how to protect my children.

First things first, I make sure that my doors are locked at ALL times. Including the deadbolt. I believe those chains that allow you to open the door partially are a load of crap. If you can have a peephole, USE it! Lock your fly screen door too if you have one. ALL THE TIME. Home invasions can happen at any time of the day! Having security screens on your windows is a good plus and if you have an alarm system, make sure the warning stickers are visible.

I sleep with my mobile phone under my pillow and I have important numbers on speed dial. I have a baseball bat down beside my bed. My eldest children know to try and escape the house without being seen and go to the neighbours(who are my in laws) and to be noisy outside their house to wake them up. My only fear is that they can't get out, all our bedrooms open into an open space, it's very hard to sneak anywhere. I thought that I could just get all the kids into one room and barricade ourselves in, but how do I do it with kids so young who don't understand why Mama is dragging them out of bed(plus I don't have enough hands to carry 3 sleeping toddlers).

It's not very nice to think about but every family should have a plan on what to do if this happens to you so that you can do your best to prevent any of your family member and yourself from getting hurt. My heart goes out to the victims of these home invasions and I have no idea how people can do this to others. They truly are evil beings.

I'm 28!

Heeeey!!

I celebrated my 28th birthday on Tuesday. I spent the day....at work. My workmates are AMAZING and my desk was drowning in banners and balloons. It was so very cute and warmed my heart. In return, I baked some yummy lemon meringue and devil's food cupcakes for them all and it was very much appreciated by all. So much that I am baking more of my yummy cupcakes for Cupcake Day for the RSPCA.

Hubby took me out for dinner that night. Just the two of us(doesn't happen very often). It was fun and I'm glad we got some time alone out of the house, even though I was so sick(damn cold!) and could have just gone to bed at 5.30pm instead of going out.

So....28. Another year closer to....*gulp* 30. How the frickin' hell did that happen? 10 years ago I was pregnant and scared shitless. There were no career goals or anything like that because I was going to enter motherhood...five times over in less than 8 years. That was that. I never really gave my career a second thought. We had our business and I learnt alot, but we were still very focused on family.

Then we came back to Perth and in financial poo. It was time for me to get my career going. I was over the retail jobs, I am so not a shop assistant kind of person, but I also knew it would be a bit of a struggle to enter the corporate world - funnily enough I love paperwork and such and I craved a fancy desk job. Don't get me wrong, I have worked on and off in various jobs in between children, one of them being a PA role for about 8 months. We were struggling on one income, so I had to bite the bullet and I landed my current job when Tahnee was just shy of 12 months.


I love my job. Like reaaaaally love it. The people are great, my supervisor and I are always laughing about something. We all spoil each other with lovely morning tea every week. They are paying for me to get a formal qualification - my cert 4 in HR. Now I can actually complete not two but THREE qualifications in a year, cert 4 in Business and cert 4 in Frontline Management. Not just that, but the Director seems keen to keep me with the company and when I suggested that our OHS Manager trains to become a First Aid Trainer so we can do Senior First Aid in house for our staff(as she holds a cert 4 in Training and Assessment), he approached me and said he thought it was a great idea but he wanted ME to do it! So if all goes to plan, I will have 4 qualifications by the end of 2012. Wow. Someone up there is looking out for me. Suddenly my career goals are being fast tracked and now my opportunities are endless. After the shit year we had last year, I am feeling incredibly blessed this year.

I still get shocked looks from people when they find out that I am a mum of 5, I work full time and I study. They ask me how I do it. I dunno, I just do it. Yes, I am tired(it's 9.15pm peeps, and I could have gone to bed an hour ago - I was just catching up on my shows after the kids went to bed). The early bird stuff is not my thing because I have ALWAYS been a night owl. Alas, the perfect job comes with it's bad points and for me that is the 7am starts - but the 3pm finish is perfect for right now. My house is a mess, it rarely stays entirely clean for more than a day but I will touch on this a bit more another time.

On that note, I'm off to my empty bed to get some sleep while the hubby is working hard tonight with a bad back. *sigh* The things we do.

When it rains, it pours!

It literally has been pouring here in Perth over the last week. Many people are grumbling about the rain and how they're getting wet getting the kids to school, or at footy. I probably would too if I was the one picking up the kids, but I'm not. I'm safely tucked away inside my office with the heater blowing at 24 degrees. While I agree that the rain can be a bit of a pain, lord do we need it! If only it would just bucket down between 6pm and 6am, then most people would be happy.

So anyway, the title wasn't really anything to do with the weather. Things had been going really good for us as of late. REALLY good. Perhaps too good. Then it all comes tumbling down.

My kids brought home their school reports. They are not doing so good with their writing and grammar. One is having trouble with his reading. We read with them all the time and I am really at a loss at what to do.  It is sooo hard as a parent to know that your kids aren't doing well, it makes me feel like I'm failing as a mum and I can already see the looks in their teachers faces at the interview that plainly say that I'm not cut out for this job. *sigh*

Our lovely boys like to use half a roll of toilet paper every time they poo. No joke, I can hear 'MUUUM, I need more toilet paper' at LEAST once a day. Well. This came to a head 2 days agow hen Owen flushed the toilet and it overflowed. Water ran into the bathroom, into my linen closet and down the hall. Not cool. A bottle of bleach and 2 days later the smell has finally gone. ARGH!

I've had to listen to Bailey sobbing all day because I refused to let him go to his football match in the rain with an earache. Such a mean mummy I am.

Bailey has an earache. Need to take him to a doctor.

I think I have gingivitis. EWWW!!! It is really quite gross and I am waiting to get into the dentist and brushing after anything passes through my lips until I do. Major freak out about my teeth falling out and all that, but we won't go into detail on that one.

The landlord from our old business is giving us grief and it looks like we are going to be going to court over it. So stressful and really lame(it's over a whopping $800). When I am stressed, I eat which brings me to the next bad thing...

I have GAINED weight. You wouldn't believe how annoyed I am at myself, I keep saying I'll buckle down and I haven't. My eating was out of control again. I haven't gone and had my fat captivation done because there was a fire in the shop next door, causing damage to the clinic. That's on hold until they reopen. Gah.

It is tax time. Enough said.

Seriously, what is next? When can things be really good again? I was really enjoying myself.

I love cinnamon buns!

And so does the hubby!! I was inspired to do some baking because let's face it, I barely have time to shave my pits these days. I decided to try making some cinnamon buns in a cake tin, the idea of fussing around making the scroll part didn't appeal to me at all.

I gave this a go but there is a little tweaking I will do next time(there will be more test runs as I want to take this in for morning tea at work later next month).

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups plain flour (I would probably use around 2 cups next time)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp dry yeast
• 2/3 cup warm milk 
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg

Cinnamon mixture

• 3 tbsp butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• pinch ground cardamom

Icing

• 1 cup icing sugar
• 1-2 tbsp milk

Directions:

Lightly grease a square baking pan.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt. Dissolve the yeast in a measuring cup with the milk, then stir milk mixture, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and egg into the flour mixture. Mix well, until smooth. Pour into prepared pan and let rest for 15 minutes.
While the dough rests, mix together butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and cardamom in a small bowl using a fork until all the butter has been incorporated into the sugar and mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle evenly on top of rested dough and press the mixture down into the dough with your fingertips.
Place pan into a cold oven, then set the oven temperature to 175C.
Bake for about 30 minutes, until bread is lightly browned at the edges and the center of the bread springs back when lightly pressed. Some of the sugar mixture on top may still be bubbling.
Cool for at least 30 minutes before whisking the powdered sugar and milk together to form an icing and drizzling it onto the bread.

I found that the cinnamon mixture was a bit too much for the amount of bread, but I think I also put in a little too much yeast. I'll have to be a bit more careful next time and see how we go.

It is sweet and buttery and no good for my waistline at all!!

Ultrasonic Fat Cavitation

Also known as Non-Invasive Liposuction. This is a relatively new procedure to get the fat moving and lose some inches in your target area.

What is Fat Cavitation?
It's a high tech way of destroying fat in the stomach, thighs, bum and arms. It is pain free and non invasive.

How does it work?
Basically it is concentrated sonic energy that is directed at localised areas, which breaks down the fat cells. The fat cells break down into fluid and gets expelled out of your body via the liver like any other simple fatty acid consumed from food. That's it in a nutshell, I'm not good at being all technical.


How many treatments are necessary?
It varies from person to person, the most dramatic results are seen between 8-10 weeks(one session per week).

If you have Epilepsy, are pregnant or breastfeeding, have a pacemaker - you cannot have the treatment. There are other factors too that deem you unable to have this done, so I'd advise checking with your clinic if you have any health conditions.

Each session lasts about 30 minutes and no longer than 30 minutes.

You should not eat 2 hours before and 1 hour after treatment. You MUST drink 3 litres of water a day to help your body expel the fat. Stick to low fat food and exercise.

So, with my non technical 'technical' stuff out of the way, I decided to try it.

I chose my lower abdomen because I seem to lose weight there last - my poor boobs have shrunken away to two pancakes, but my gut is as big as ever. She got me to lie down on the massage table and slathered my belleh in oil. With a hand held device that was much like a dustbuster type thing, she vacuumed my stomach. This is to stimulate the lymphatic system and treatment area. It promotes circulation and fluidify (apparently it is a word, even though the spell checker says otherwise!) the zone to be treated. It didn't really hurt so much, it really did feel like she was dragging a vacuum cleaner nozzle across me. It was sort of pinchy and pully, but not too bad. This lasted for about a minute.

Then she covered me in ultrasound gel(much like the one they use when your have a pregnancy ultrasound). It was a metal round disc attached to a hand held piece. This was not painful at all, the disc was quite warm, almost hot at times and it vibrated. A lot.This process causes the fat cells to pressurize and heat up which in turn makes them implode(and fluidify! lol). The oddest thing about this is as soon as the ultrasound wand touched my skin, I started getting a high pitched hum or ringing in my ears. It was a little annoying at first but I was talking so much to the lovely woman that it didn't bother me too much towards the end. This stage lasted 20 minutes.

According to my after care paperwork, she was meant to use the vacuum on me again, but she didn't, so I may query that next week when I go in again.

I had this treatment almost 3 hours ago and I feel as though I've done a hundred sit ups. Something must be happening in there!! lol.

The treatment cost me $170 for a single treatment, but I decided to continue and bought another 3 for $299. Well worth it if you have stubborn fat areas to move but have struggled with but normal diet and exercise. Of course, I will have to keep up with my diet, water and exercising more - it would just be a waste of money otherwise.

I have taken a week 1 photo. Please don't look at my daggy pink knickers(how embarrassing!).

Gah! I can't believe I'm publishing this on my blog! I hope my post 5 baby belly doesn't scare you off!


Keep tuned for my weekly updates!

Growing up...

Kids. They grow up in a blink of an eye. I don't know about you, but I spent many of the first few months postpartum wishing the baby would hurry up and grow up so that I can get a bit of shut eye. I live for the day when I no longer have to change nappies. In saying that, as each birthday rolls around, it makes me feel so sad that my kids are getting older, becoming independent. Before I know it, it'll just be the Hubby and I rattling around in our house. Gee, what on earth will we do? We've never been just US. It's always been, us + kids.


Anyway, I will stress about that later(like next month when my eldest turns 9, that's HALFWAY to adulthood don't ya know?!).

So, on this day 4 years ago, I was about 38 weeks pregnant. Hubby was on annual leave from his mining job and had just arrived home days prior. Things were very uncomfortable for me - aching hips, HUUUUGE belly and intense braxton hicks for weeks and weeks. I'd noticed bub had quietened down a little bit that day and I was getting a little bit worried. A few pokes had him moving a little bit, but no extreme acrobatics like usual. A nap was much needed, so I lay down for a quick cat nap in case things started happening. I woke up around dinner time. The hubby was cooking dinner for the two boys and I decided to just call the hospital for assurance as the baby still wasn't moving much at all. She told me to come in and get checked out. *sigh* My mum was called and the kids overnight bags were packed, dinner was shoved into tupperware containers and dropped off to my mum with the kids.


THEN we were on the 30-40 minute drive to the hospital. It was about half way into the trip that I got a tightening. Enough to make me think 'wow, that one was different'. You see, with my first two babies I never went into labour naturally. Both times started with my waters breaking and being induced due to failure to progress(in hindsight, I should have just stayed home longer and gave my poor body a chance). I didn't believe that it was a real contraction.


We sit and watch Big Brother(It was a double eviction too!). I lay on the bed and they had the monitor on to keep an eye on bubs movements. All the while I was having these niggles and they were starting to hurt more. It got to around 8.30pm and they decided they were happy to let me go home. The niggles really were quite painful and I mentioned this. I was told that the contractions were very irregular so I couldn't possibly be in labour. Finally, they agreed to an internal before letting me leave. I will never forget the look of surprise on the midwife's face when she announced I was 4cm dialated....then my waters broke all over her hand and I was 5cm. No going back now, I was having a baby!!


There was a little more sitting around while they found me a room, it would have been around 9pm when I was taken up to the labour ward. I had my first two babies in the same hospital but it was totally different as they renovated when I was due with my second bub. The rooms were quite nice and we were greeted by a lovely midwife. She advised me I had tested positive to strep B the week before and I would need a cannula in. I would need 2 doses of antibiotics, 4 hours apart. My first dose was administered at 9.30pm.


A shower had been on my birth plan and I would have spent a good hour or so in there. The hubby was in charge of the small shower head, moving it around my lower belly during contractions while the main shower ran down my back. The water was total bliss. Tiredness was setting in though, so we went back to the bed so I could rest. I remember dozing between contractions, but it was becoming uncomfortable. I asked for drugs. My birth plan stated that I would refuse all drugs. I didn't think my midwife would have even cared(they ignored my birth plan the first two times). She did care though and offered an internal and promise of the bath afterwards. I agreed through gritted teeth. 7cm! I was 7cm and ready for that bath. Unfortunately the bath was down the corridor in a separate room, so she suggested I get back in the shower and she would get me when the bath was ready.


By now it was midnight. I was in the shower not 5 minutes when I got that urge to push. The look on the Hubby's face was pure shock. He was more concerned with turning the taps off than helping me back to the bed like I wanted. The midwife came in just as I reach the bed and a huuuuge contraction hit me.


'She's pushing' Hubby said.


I saw the doubtful look on the midwife's face and I wanted to slap her.


The next contraction hit and I was bent over the bed baring down. She sprung into action, helping me get comfortable and gently coaching me to push my baby out.


10 minutes it took and our chubby little Owen was born. 9lb and a short 49cm. The hubby cried.

Owen is 4. He is in kindergarten and loving every moment of it - he doesn't speak much there and he has informed us that he is 'shy at school'. He has made some wonderful little friends at school and he is learning so much. He truly is a joy to have, I just wish he would stop trying to be like his big brothers and stay my little boy for just a bit longer!!

Owen is 16 months and at the airport ready for his first plane trip.

Disaster zone AKA my kitchen.

I know that some of you are going to be horrified when you set your sights on the state of my kitchen. Cross my heart and hope to die that this kitchen was spotless on Friday. Today was a public holiday, so instead of my usual 2 days of cleaning up after the kids all day long I've been doing it for 3 days. The rapid rate that my kitchen goes from being clean to a total bomb site amazes me. No joke, it can happen in mere hours and I don't know how it's even possible. Kids!!

People often ask me how I manage my life, that I must be some kind of Super Mum. Believe me, I am far from it and here is the proof. My kitchen this morning:

Please note that the glasses and plate at the front of the bench are clean, they belong in the cupboard above the microwave but Jayden is too short to reach it to put them away. His daily chore is to empty the dishwasher and I may or may not have decided that this would be his chore because I despise doing the task myself.

It didn't take me long, but I felt much better when my kitchen looked like this:

There are still some dishes there, I had put a load in the dishwasher and they needed to go through the second run.

My kitchen is cute(you can't really see it but I made the curtains and they are of pink cupcakes(much to the Hubby's dismay!). I love the colours and the cupboard space, not to mention the bench space. You wouldn't believe the lack of bench space we've had in previous houses. The only thing I don't like is the oven being so low. Tahnee tries to swing off it like a monkey, it's a bit of a worry. There is no way of blocking the kitchen off to the rest of the house either.

So it is just me? Is my kitchen the only one that stays clean for an hour tops?

Listography - Decisions

I was over visiting My Big Nutshell after discovering her blog today and I came across her post about the top 5 decisions she was glad she made. Now I don't know about you but I LOVE to make lists. Each morning at work I turn on my computer, get my breakfast and coffee and make my to do list in my little notebook.

So, I made my way over to Kate Takes 5 and decided this is something I'd love to join in with. Here goes:

5 Decisions I am glad that I made.

1. Having my babies young. I never imagined that I would have 5 children and now that I do, I am glad I had my first baby at 18(even if it was with the wrong bloke!). I am 27 going on 28, with 5 gorgeous kids and an abundance of energy to keep up with them, running a household AND working full time - ok I admit, I am not so great at the housework thing, but I do do at least 3 loads of washing A DAY! If I had waited another 10 years I imagine that I wouldn't be able to keep up with my kids so much(dude, I have FOUR BOYS!) and I probably wouldn't have 5 kids. It's hard to imagine life without all 5 of my little horrors cherubs.


2. Leaving my ex and doing it alone. This would have been the hardest thing I had to face in my life thus far. I was 20 with an almost 2 year old and a 3 month old baby. My relationship with my then boyfriend was interlaced with drugs, alcohol and violence. I had nowhere to go, my parents were in the midst of a messy divorce but I did it. I managed to find a little villa to rent with my two babies and left him. It was like a weight had lifted off me and I was so much happier. Single parenthood was tough, but we survived and I have happy, well mannered kids as a result.


3. Buying a business with my husband and moving to the country. This was a HUGE step in our life and although we no longer have the business, we have learnt so much about owning a business and about ourselves. Living in the country was wonderful and so beneficial for the kids, they adored the space and freedom they had there. We would so do it again, but not with kids so young, it was a lot of pressure on us trying to run the pub 7 days a week and do normal family things with the kids. One thing is certain, it repaired our somewhat broken marriage after years of him working fly in, fly out.


4. Starting my own business. I started my own little venture, making hair accessories, hand bags and personalised pillows. It's been so rewarding and I'm a little sad that I've had to take a little step away from it when I started working full time. I am taking my business in a different directions and also another in partnership with a friend - yeah, I'm crazy doing that with everything else I have going on, but I LOVE it. Plus it gets awful lonely stuck at home with 5 kids when the hubby works night shift.


5. Choosing to birth at home. As a woman, birthing at home has got to be the most amazing and empowering experience ever! I learnt to trust my body and my baby. They arrived into the world peacefully and the only human contact they had during the first few hours were from myself and their Daddy. Our midwife - who was with us from day one, coming to our home for all our appointments - left and it was just us, our children and new baby all snuggled up in our own bed together in the comfort of our home. I would never step foot in a hospital to have a baby again, unless there was a medical reason to.

And that's my 5 decisions that I will never regret for as long as I live!

What are yours?

No longer shrinking.

I wonder whether you have noticed that I haven't been posting about my weight loss. As you can tell in the previous posts, my weight loss journey was going great...

Until I hit that magical number - 79kg.

My goal to be under 80kg has been one that I've had for maybe 5 years now. I got close. Many times. Usually I would fall pregnant and end up gaining all the weight I lost plus some. 79 was the magic number and I FINALLY made it there. Suddenly I felt a bit lost. It was kind of like the big build up of planning and excitement of your wedding day, the big day arrives and it's AMAZING. Then the next day you feel a bit lost and empty because there's nothing left to plan. So that's how I felt when I hit 79.

I have lost my way.

Om NOM NOM NOM

My old eating habits are creeping back. Why oh WHY did they have to open a Baskin Robbins right down the road when they know that I could eat my weight in Choc Chip Cookie Dough ice cream?! I have no self control and no discipline and I HATE MYSELF FOR IT. Whenever I put something bad into my mouth I will justify it by saying that I'll go for a jog on the treadmill tonight. But I don't.

The down side to gaining full time work is that I don't have TIME to go to the gym any more. I leave home at 6.30am to get to work, I get home around 3.30pm and the hubby is out the door at 4.30pm to go to his work. The treadmill only get used at night because I have little people with curious little fingers that I'd like for them to keep attached to their little hands. Getting 5 children, 3 of them who are 4 years old or younger, out of the house to go for a walk is impossible. I stop ever 5 seconds to tie shoelaces, look at bugs, console a screaming baby who would rather walk herself. I'm not sure what else to do. I do miss going to the gym, but I think that's more the social aspect because I doubt any normal person actually loves exercise.

It's really depressing. My body is in a terrible state after 5 kids and being overweight. I have an APRON made of tummy skin, people!! It is ugly, uncomfortable and makes me look a dress size or two bigger than I am. The chances of it just going away is pretty slim I would imagine. The more weight I lose, the more stretchy and saggy the skin is. At this point in time, I am seriously considering getting it removed once I reach my goal weight. Maybe this is why I am sabotaging myself? I have no idea.

In a nutshell, I'm in the poo and I have no idea how to get myself out!

My girl is one

Dear Tahnee,

I remember back in August 2009, Daddy, the boys and I were living out in the middle of nowhere in our tiny little pub. We were super busy all the time, getting our business up and running and the boys definitely kept me on my toes. Your brother Jye was getting close to turning one and he was starting to sleep better at night. I spent lots of time with my friend Karin too, we spent many mornings walking the country roads in the sunshine.

I was still breastfeeding Jye and he became really fussy about his milk, he started feeding less btu I didn't think too much of it. I had just gone to the doctor and he put the implanon implant into my arm because Daddy and I decided we would like to wait before we tried for another baby.

Karin and I went into town one day and at the new age shop(or the hippy shop as Daddy liked to call it) they were doing Aura readings. It has always been something that I thought would be fun to try, so I had mine done and the women was very accurate describing my personality. She stopped abrubtly at one point, and asked me if I had lost a baby recently. When I told her no, she said it was odd because there was a little girl with pigtails dancing around in circles around me.

Fast forward a week and I had been feeling a bit out of sorts, I sent Daddy to town to get me a pregnancy test, even though I was sure that there was no way I could be pregnant. I tested as soon as he got home. I kid you not, there were two lines there before I had turned the test over. Daddy and I were in shock, of course we were happy, but we weren't sure how we would juggle pregnancy and a business. Especially since I wanted to give birth to you at home.

Our pregnancy went smoothly, you made me feel a bit sick but otherwise I felt fantastic. It was on the 15th of December that I went for my ultrasound and found out that you were a beautiful baby girl! I had to keep pinching myself because after 4 boys I didn't think it would be possible to have a girl!! Karin and I went straight to the shop and I bought your first pink outfit.

The rest of my pregnancy seemed to go on and on forever, we just could not wait to meet you. You and I and the two little boys came to Perth to wait for you to arrive, with Daddy and the big boys following us when we reached 39 weeks. We stayed at your Aunty Mandy and Uncle Andrew's house, this is the house where you were going to be born.

Two days before your due date, I knew you were starting to get ready to come earthside. You were very quiet in my tummy, occassionally giving me a nudge to let me know you were ok, just resting in preparation to meet us. I was having contractions, maybe every 30 minutes and I texted our midwife, Mel, and Karin, who was coming to take photos of your birth. I told them it wouldn't be that night, it would definitely be tomorrow and to have a good sleep because it would be a long day.

I contracted all night long and by about 6am things were ramping up. You were sooo quiet in there, I wondered how fast you were going to come. We spent a lot of the morning pacing around in my furry pink dressing gown and slippers in the backyard. It was really funny, but every time I walked past the fish pond, I would have a massive contraction. It makes sense to me now, you love the water!

Around lunch time I got into the pool and it was blissful. I think you liked the warmth too because I felt you wriggling around. By 2.30 you were ready to meet us and after a few short pushes you were born into water. I had to look around for you as the water was cloudy with vernix, but I saw your mass of black hair and scooped you up into my arms. Daddy's first words were 'wow, she looks just like Owen' and the first thing I did was check between your legs to make sure you really were a girl!

You've been such a joy over this last year. You were a terrible sleeper though and I think I spent a few nights crying because I was just so so tired. We got there in the end with some tears from both of us. Now you sleep pretty well and some nights you still wake once or twice, it's way better than every hour like you use to do!

You have come ahead in leaps and bounds, even though your so teeny tiny for your age. You started to walk before your first birthday, but you prefer to walk along on your knees until you get to one of us, pull yourself up with our pant leg and give our leg a big cuddle.

Whenever you get told something is hot, you blow it. Even the heater.

You hate sweet food and prefer savoury things. Not like you Mummy at all!

You were a Mummy's girl and wouldn't let me out of your sight. Now you are totally smitten with your Daddy, and he is just as smitten with you. I don't mind, I love seeing you both snuggling with each other.

You are starting to talk now, you can say Dad, Mum, Hi, Bye and No(and Poppy witnessed you saying that one!!).

You get super excited when you hear your Nanny and Poppy's voices. You bounce and clap and throw your arms out for them to catch you. Sometimes you do it without us being prepared and we have to juggle you to stop you from falling.

You are also attracted to water, any little puddle and you are right there in the middle of it. I've even had you crawl into the shower fully clothed when I accidently left the door open one time.

When you smile, your whole face smiles. You show all your teeth and your little nose and eyes crinkle up. It melts us every single time.

You have RED HAIR. We never saw that one coming. You get that from your Pop and his mum and dad. They are Irish.

Each and every one of your brothers adore you. They will fight with each other over toys and food(yes, I do feed them but they always want what the others have!), but when it comes to you, they will gladly share whatever it is with you. They smother you in kisses and cuddles and carry you around. You are the little princess, that's for sure. When you were born and Jayden first met you, he told the midwife that you were his baby sister and he was going to make sure no-one is ever mean to you or hurt you. I bet he will live by that. They love you sooooo much.

And I love you, my baby girl. The daughter that I never thought I would ever get to have. You came at the most unexpected time in our lives, but Daddy and I both agree that we wouldn't trade you for anything.

Love you with all of my heart and soul,

Mummy

On the up!

Things are on the up financially. I was recently offered a job in an engineering firm in a Human Resources role. What experience have I got in HR? Diddly squat to be honest, but they are willing to train me so that I can gain a tertiary qualification and learn on the job at the same time. Then after completing the training I'll become the HR Manager. Seems too good to be true huh? Well it gets even better. I went in with no expectations on how much they would be paying me because I was looking at studying HR next semester if we could manage it financially. So any money would be a bonus, I'd be getting paid to learn instead of paying to learn. You can imagine my reaction when I received my offer of employment in my inbox and it showed a figure that was MORE than what the hubby(who is a Bar Supervisor at a casino)is currently earning. Yeah. Thankfully the hubby was at work at the time and missed the squealing and booty shaking that ensued.

As exciting as all this is, I do have a little anxiety. Not about the job, that I can handle. It's more about the kids and leaving them. Tahnee will be doing 1-2 days a week at daycare and she absolutely hates strangers. She even cries when my mum even looks her way. I've had to sort of detach myself from her, which breaks my heart. After working a week in a reception job(and that's another post entirely, what a nightmare that was!), I was still breastfeeding in the morning and at night and expressing for her midday bottle. Well. After only 3 days I couldn't express more than 50ml and we made the choice to give her formula during the day instead. Yes, I cried. I wasn't ready but I had to think of her health and wellbeing. She loves her milk, and we still get a cuddle in the wee hours of the morning when I breastfeed her, so not all is lost.

Another thing that is bothering me is the hubby's job. He works full time at night and his days and hours change week to week. To make it worth our while, we need to keep the kids out of daycare as much as possible and it's going to be a bit of a struggle(though some of the pressure will be off next year when Owen is at school full time). The hubby is confident that we will manage, I suppose he is right and if we can get through the next 3 – 4 years, we can get through anything.

Why am I going back to work, you ask? Well 4 boys and a husband eat A LOT. Hehe. We are feeling the strain on one income with 5 kids and the cost of living is rising. Buying our first home is high on the priority list and now that I am working, it seems achievable! We don't want to worry about living from pay check to pay check and to have savings put away for the first time in my adult life would be AMAZING. I have struggled so much over the last 10 years, I had my first baby when I was only 18 and a drop kick of a partner who couldn't hold down a job and had a drug addiction. Then I was a single mum to two kids. I had a spat of casual jobs when I got with my hubby, but I've had 3 babies in 3 years, and we had our own business, where all our money went into it(and we are still paying off some debt now, but once it's gone, we are completely debt free!).

I imagine this will be a stressful time ahead, but fun and challenging and I'm sure plenty to blog about!

Time is running away...

This time last year, I was 400km from home and waiting for my beautiful little girl to come earthside. I remember hoping that she would wait until 39 weeks so that the hubby would be here on time to be at her birth. My in laws were fantastic to put up with me and 2 very active toddler boys, it was so hard to be away from hubby and the older boys for 3 weeks though. Thankfully baby girl waited until the day before her due date to arrive, and whilst it wasn't a difficult birth, I don't think I could have done it without the hubby there.

In less than 4 weeks time, that tiny baby girl is turning one. Where on earth has one year gone?! She is such a sweet little thing - still so small at 7.5kg. The cuddles she gives are the BEST, her little head snuggles in on my neck and her little hand reaches over my shoulder to pat my back. Daddy is flavour of the month at the moment, she cries when he walks out the door to go to work.

Now she is cruising the furniture, standing unaided. The high chair is the best thing to push around the floor so she can walk to where she wants to go. And FOOD! She is the best eater! Everything we eat, she devours. Unfortunately she is having some formula during the day. It broke my heart to do it but being at work during the day, I couldn't express enough milk and it's slowly dwindling away :( However, I still get full at night so I feed her during the night now. As much as I wish she would sleep through the night, I do love that she is still getting milk from me.

It just astounds me at how many new things she is learning, it seems like every day she does something new and it's frightening how fast she is growing. I'm sure my boys never grew this fast!!

In hiding..

Me? Avoiding my blog? What makes you say that???

Ok, so maybe I have been avoiding writing a blog post and as per usual, I am super busy. My at home business has picked up and orders are rolling in(along with a special order for 4 flower girl dresses that drove me completely batty! Never again am I working with satin and chiffon!). So I spend most of my time chained to my machine. I've even neglected the gym. *sob*

Are you wondering how my weight loss is going? well I can tell you that it's been slow. I didn't lose one week, gained 100g the next(and then my period turned up the next day - first one since Tahnee was born), and then after a week of junk food, I managed to lose 700g! Now I'm sitting on 79.1kg. So I'm getting there, ever so slowly. Due to financial reasons, I've had to come off Lite n Easy for a few weeks and I am struggling bad. It's just too easy to order in pizza when I am flat out busy. Or hubby will cook dinner for the kids before he leaves for work at 5pm and I'll grab some toasted cheese sandwiches when I'm hungry. I'm amazed I lost weight last week. I don't think I will be so lucky this week. I do have a personal training session tomorrow, I am so scared of getting my butt whipped.

In other news, I was offered a full time job today and *gulp* I've decided to take it. It's for a family run travel company that is rapidly expanding. I'll be doing the reception and taking bookings, making up itineraries and confirming accommodation,etc. I was very impressed by the company and where it's headed, but already my stomach is twisting into knots over the fact that I have to leave my kids 5 days a week.

For this to be any benefit, we can't put the kids into full time day care, the cost of day care for 3 kids full time and 2 kids in after school care is ridiculous. We'd be better off me staying at home in that case. So the hubby needs to mind the kids a few days, and he also works night shift, I'm not sure how this will pan out, but he reckons it's doable. The littlies will still go to day care maybe 2 days a week. I have anxiety about putting bub into day care, she is super clingy to me and the hubby and cries when other people hold her. She lasted about 40 minutes at the gym creche. *sigh*

Of course, I need to do this. We are just making ends meet and I am so sick of worrying about money. I want to buy a house once we've finished paying off our debt from the pub and that won't happen unless we have two incomes(yeah it's not always good having such a big family).

So that's what's been happening in my neck of the woods, I will TRY to blog again soon!

Weigh in Week 9(take 2) and week 10

I jumped a bit ahead of myself when I posted last, it should have been week 8 not week 9.

So I haven't had huge losses at all the last couple of weeks, I ate out more than I should have and didn't exercise enough because the hubby was working day shift and Tahnee does not like being left in the creche one single bit!

Week 9 saw me with a 500g loss. Not much I know, BUT....my weight was 79.9kg!!!! I DID IT! I made it under 80kg which was my first goal!!!! It's been my goal for, oh, about 4 to 5 years now and finally I have smashed it! Kissing the 80s goodbye FOREVER.

Week 10, more bad food and no exercise(well less than week 9) and I lost 200g, down to 79.7kg.

This week I have no excuses, so I expect a good loss. I hope. But I feel reassured that I can have days off and not pile the weight back on.

Weigh In - Week 9

At least, I think I'm at week 9.

Well, I was thinking that I'd have a great loss over the last week with all the exercise and mostly healthy eating. On Monday, I did Aero Boxing. Tuesday, I did Zumba not once, but TWICE(one in the morning and one at night). Wednesday, I did Boxing. Thursday, I did Zumba - yes I love Zumba if you didn't already know. Friday, I did Strike Zone(martial arts). So LOTS of exercise. Each class was for an hour, that 6 hours of exercise.

I hopped on the scales today and I lost a measly 200g. After all that. It was my most active week and my smallest loss to date.

I am now down to 80.4kg. A total loss of 6.8kg since Jan 1st.

So that was pretty depressing and I had to refrain myself from devouring every single biscuit in the pantry. Instead I took my measurements as they were due to be done today. I must say that I was pretty pleased with the results and I will just blame the small loss on gaining muscle.

My first measurements were on the 1st of Jan.


Waist - 102.5cm to 95.5cm - 7cm lost
Bust - 104cm to 102cm - 2cm lost
Chest - 93cm to 86.5cm - 6.5cm lost
Hips - 117cm to 107cm - 10cm lost
Arm - 34cm to 33cm - 1cm lost
Thigh - 62.5cm to 54cm - 8.5cm lost

In total, 35cm gone in 9 weeks.

Ok, so I can't really complain about that. Weighing myself was always my way of seeing if I've lost weight, I never really gave the measurements a second thought(and most of the time I would just not bother measuring). So there's the proof that I AM slimming down now.

BTW, I had plans to blog during the week but still haven't finished my post yet. Argh!

Can you tell?

Ok so not the greatest quality photo(the second one, I took it at night on my iphone in the bathroom!).

Can you see the difference in 8kg? The first photo was taken exactly 2 years ago today. I went and dug out the same top and same pants. The pants are getting loose now, they start to fall down and they are loose around the thighs. They were tight to the point where I was uncomfortable in the first picture.

I notice my arms are thinner. The stripes on the top sit closer together and it's actually a little loser around the boobs too. But then my boobs don't seem to sag as much now as they did.

It was good to put the two pictures together like this. I need the visual to see that there has been changes in my body because when I look in the mirror, I just look the same to me. So I'll be keeping this set of clothes for a while so I can keep comparing myself as I get smaller.

88kg wasn't my biggest weight, I was actually bigger than that after Tahnee was born. But I would have been around this at Christmas time.

Anyway, I just had to share this because I am so excited with my weight and how close I am to achieving one of my goals - to break through the 70s and kiss goodbye the 80s forever!!

Weigh in - Week 6 & 7

Oops, so I forgot about last week. I was having a bit of a Debbie Downer week, so I never bothered to update my blog.

So week 6, I lost 500g. Week 7(today), I lost another 800g. Bringing me down to 80.6kg! I have not been this light in about 5 years!!

My eating has gotten back on track, and while I do have some naughty things, I try to make sure I do some exercise to burn it off. I have done 2 Zumba classes now and I LOVE IT. I spend a lot of it giggling along with my friends at how clumsy we are, but boy do we feel it - legs burning, sweat pouring out of us.

We also tried out the water aerobics yesterday and sort of thought we were in for an easy ride. Well, guess again! I think I am more sore after that than after a Zumba class. It was fun though(even though my best friend nearly killed me for conning her into doing the class instead of going to get her haircut). We almost fainted after getting puffed out in 15 minutes only to be told that we'd just completed the warm up! But we will go back again. Call us suckers for punishment.

Monday we are trying out Aero Boxing. Should be interesting. I can already tell that I'm going to get my butt kicked.

I am keeping up with my running too but just fitting it in where I can between my classes. I made the mistake of running the night before Zumba and my legs were screaming at me the whole hour long! Still on week2 at the moment and I'll do the 3rd run tomorrow before moving onto week 3. Loving it, but find it hard to fit it in. Running only happens once the kids are all in bed, I've read too many stories about young ones having accidents on moving treadmills.

Week 5 - Weigh In

Ok I need a swift kick up the arse because I can never seem to stay on the straight and narrow for very long, even with a meal plan all laid out and done in front of me. I cannot help myself from eating the kids snack foods(like LCM bars, oh how I love those!). I feel awful not allowing them any kind of treats because I'll eat some of them. ARGH! What is wrong with me??!!

I've eaten so much shit I shouldn't have and I don't even know why? It's not like I am craving any sweet food as today's snacks included biscuits. I just eat it because it's there. I feel so guilty because the hubby has let me budget this into our finances and I am blowing it by eating crap! AHHH! SO ANGRY AT MYSELF!

To make matters worse, I have been exercising too and all it's doing is burning some of the junk I've been eating.

In saying that, I still somehow managed to lose 400g this week. I am happy for the loss, but I know I can do better. I WILL do better, even if it kills me, I will not gain back the weight.

Week 4 - Weigh In.

Another weigh in day has rolled around again. We are in the back to school rush with 3 of my precious boys off to school on Wednesday. It's left little time for me to actually focus on losing weight. So my exercise plan went out the window. I've also had some bad eating after dinner and included two trips to McDonald's over the week(one of them being on Australia Day - we met up with friends and ate there before going to watch the fireworks).

So I wasn't expecting much at all and imagine my surprise when I weighed myself(on the Wii Fit as my scales were dead, luckily I weighed myself on the scales and Wii Fit last week on the same day and both gave me the same reading). I lost....1kg! Down to 82.3kg and it puts my BMI into the 'overweight' category instead of 'obese'.

*Happy dance*!

Week 3 - Weigh in Day

Gee, these weeks roll around so flippin' fast! School holidays are almost at an end and we are nowhere near prepared for the kids to go back to school.

Another weigh in day has rolled around. I can't say that this has been the best week, I exercised maybe twice. I also ate some bad things I wasn't meant to(like fries at Hogs Breath Cafe).

One good thing is my water intake has gone from 2 litres a day to 3 litres. I can drink it with no problem now and I'm so very proud of myself! I have finally kicked my diet coke habit.

So stats for this week:

Weighed in at: 83.3kg
Down from 83.9kg

A loss of 600g this week and a total loss of 3.9kg since Jan 1st.

Weigh In - Week Two.

I haven't posted much this last week. I've been glued to the TV watching the news coverage of the flooding in Queensland. It's really hard to get my head around that something so devastating is happening on the other side of the country while over here it's just scorching hot. But anyway, I didn't know what I could possibly write about when all these people have had their whole world turned upside down. I'll admit I have shed many tears for the children who were swept away in the flooding. That's the Mama Bear coming out in me I suppose. It's just a very sad time and I am working hard to get ready to have a stall at a local Family Fun Day to raise money to help these people who need it so badly!

Anyway, I weighed in today and this week I've shed another 500g. Much more realistic than the 2.8kg that I lost last week. So I'm happy with that. Down to 83.9kg now - I can't wait to see the other side of 80kg, it's been a looong time!

I didn't make exercise a priority and I know I should have. This week is going to be different. I dug out the Wii Active yesterday and I'm on the 30 day challenge. Today was day two and I'm feeling a little sore. Not going to complain though :D

Anyway off to bed, darling daughter has slept so much better tonight so I'd better get some shut eye in before she wakes up!

Weigh in - Week 1

Oops, I never got around to posting my first weigh in yesterday, the days seem to blur into each other during school holidays!

This program is amazing, I am never feeling hungry and the food is so good! Makes me wish I had started Lite N Easy sooner, but the main thing is I'm on it now and I'll stay on it for as long as I need to. I had a couple of break through moments last night and today. The first was when we went to the hubby's Uncle's 70th birthday party, it wasn't starting until 6.30pm and it was only about a 5 minute drive from home. I'd said to the hubby that I would just eat at home before we go and not eat there - but according to him, his Aunt would have been less than impressed. So I bit the bullet and didn't eat my 'safe' dinner. It ended up being a buffet of meat and cold salads, and I am might proud of myself on going easy on the high carb salads(curry rice and potato). I wasn't even tempted by dessert and it was pavlova - My absolute FAVOURITE!

That was pretty amazing for me, I usually have no self control - hence the weight issue.

So that brings me to today. My eldest two boys had a sleepover at their dads house last night and the Hubby went to collect them at lunch time. He decided to get the kids some McDonald's for lunch and I didn't even bat an eyelid. It did not phase me - hellllooooo! I was a takeaway junkie! Nope, I didn't even think of cheeseburgers and I thoroughly enjoyed my salad and fruit for lunch!

That brings us to number time....I lost....2.8kg!!!!!!

Unreal! I was never expecting that much and I am so pleased with the number.

Tomorrow I plan on getting the Wii and start using that for exercise :)

Sleep baby, Sleep!

You'd think as a mother of 5, I would have this parenting thing down pat. I should have been faced with all sorts of issues that I've overcome in the past, so baby number 5 should be a breeze.

Well, she's not.

She WILL NOT SLEEP...unless we are holding her and then once we put her down, the screaming begins. I have never been faced with this before as I was blessed with boys who were sleeping through the night from 6 weeks old, so imagine my dismay when my darling girl didn't follow the trend and is a week shy from 8 months  and still not sleeping well at all.

On a guess, I would say that she wakes around 6-8 times a night. I am exhausted. And frazzled. I have no time to make products for my business, during the day I'm contending with 2 toddlers and running the kids to and from school and karate, etc. It's just really, really hard and I am at a loss on what to do. The hubby works night shift and is well and truly gone before bedtime.

I simply cannot let her cry it out, it breaks my heart and she gets so distressed to the point of vomiting all over her bed and I end up having to bath her and change the sheets, etc. I've tried a bunch of different things to no avail and now I'm at my wits end because I NEED SLEEP!

What do I do? Surely someone can give me some advice on how to get her to go to bed and stay asleep without letting her cry it out, I don't believe that crying it out is any good - all she would be doing is crying to the point of exhaustion and passing out. Yeah....nah....

I've worked out that she is only sleeping one sleep cycle, once she gets to the end of the first cycle she wakes up and I don't think she knows how to get back to sleep.

Tonight after her bath and books, I nursed her to sleep at around 7pm and put her into bed at 7.15pm. She was awake again by 7.50pm and I nursed her and rocked her and got her back into bed by 8pm. I literally have to wait until she has zonked out completely before I can put her down. It's just gone 9pm so let's see how it pans out and pray for me that I get more than a few hours sleep tonight!

Hey, it's 2011!

Wow, 2011 rolled around real fast didn't it? Christmas went by in a blur - not that we did much as my family all live overseas. We just went next door to the in laws place and had a late lunch before the hubby, his sister and brother in law all had to go to work(yes they all work at the same place). New Years was a non event. Hubby was at work, so I took the 5 kids to a friend house for a BBQ dinner and we were home by 8pm, it was as far as I could really stretch the toddlers. And no, they did not sleep in for me the next morning.

So my plans for 2011? 

1. Lose some weight! I've lost 7.2kg since Tahnee was born and I put on more than that during pregnancy.

2. Not get pregnant.

3. Take a huge chuck out of our debts.

4. Grow my business.

5. Keep the kids active with Karate, play group, etc.

6. Cry when my 3.5 year old starts school in February *sob*.

7. Blog more.

8. Continue to grow my friendships with some special women.

I didn't want to go too specific with my goals because I know I tend to set them too high and then fail miserably. I'd like to lose weight but I'm not going to say I need to lose 10kg by 2012. Any weight loss is good right?

Let's kick off with some weight loss talk. I have been down this 'need to lose weight' road a few times now and I usually lose maybe 5kg or so and wind up pregnant - yes, it's happened 3 times now! The hubby has been warned to stay well away from me because I don't trust contraception any more after getting knocked up with the implanon implant in! My diet is pretty poor, with 5 kids and one of those to be a pretty demanding baby - I eat on the run, or I don't eat at all. My body is suffering because of it as I am still breastfeeding almost exclusively(she does occasionally have finger foods when she feels like eating), so she is getting what little good stuff I have and I'm depriving myself.

There is a history of diabetes and heart disease in my family. My paternal grandmothers mum and sister died die to diabetes and many members of my paternal grandfathers side have died young due to heart disease. I don't want to leave my kids while they are still so young. I want to see them grow and have their own babies and maybe even meet some great grandbabies someday.

I took the plunge and ordered Lite'n'Easy, which is a meal plan that is prepared and delivered to your door. My first delivery arrived last Friday so I started off the new year on this plan. Something had to be done after I saw photos of myself on Christmas Day(which I don't have copies of because I am sort of in denial that I let myself look like this). I am frumpy. I don't have nice clothes because I say I will shop when I lose weight and drop a dress size. Half of my wardrobe is still maternity clothes. For goodness sake, I am 27 YEARS OLD. It shouldn't be this way!

The food has been great and so easy to prepare! I am eating so much better now. Cooking for the kids has never been a problem and I provide them with healthy meals - only they eat at 5pm and I'm usually not ready to eat until 6.30pm, not to mention my portion sizes are way out of control. I can totally see where I was going wrong, I was probably eating 3 or 4 times the amount of cereal in the mornings than I should be. This is teaching me what my portions should be like. Once I heat up a meal I move it to a dinner plate so I can see how much I should be having. Then, when I feel ready I can leave the Lite'n'Easy behind and know how much I should be eating.

Anyway, I am on the 1800 calorie meal plan because I am still breastfeeding and need extra calories for her. I will see how I go though, once she starts feeding less and having more solid foods I may be able to drop down to 1500 cal like other breastfeeding mums that I know.

The stats:

Start Date: 1 Jan 2011

Start Weight: 87.2kg

Goal Weight: 65kg

Measurements(taken monthly):

Bust: 104cm

Waist: 102.5cm

Hips: 117cm

Arm: 34cm

Thigh: 62.5cm

I expect my bust measurement will fluctuate depending on how much milk I've got in there at the time!

Here we go!