Australia Bound Amy

Benjamin at 8 Months Old

2011-06-10T01:59:00.004-04:00

Benjamin is currently 8 months old and growing like a weed! At his last check he weighed 9.32 kg/20 lb 9 oz and was 73.5 cm/28.9 inches! He has learned how to clap and wave, can crawl and pull him self up and will walk while holding someone's hands! He's a gorgeous little boy and I'm proud to say he's mine!

Home

2011-06-10T01:54:00.002-04:00

We're going home! Paul and I are taking all three kids to America! I can't wait. This will be the kids first trip to the U.S. I am so excited to have them meet all of my family and friends. There are so many shops and restaurants to go to, mom's home cooking to eat and people to see!

Look out! Here we come!

Benjamin's Birth Story

2011-01-19T23:55:00.003-05:00

The entire week before Benjamin was born I had been having cramping in my lower back. I tried timing them, but they were so erratic that I didn't think much of them. Saturday I had started leaking, but wasn't sure if it was amniotic fluid or not. Sunday, September 26, 2010 was the morning of my virtual baby shower. All my family and friends gathered at my parent's house and Paul and I joined them on cam. After the shower was over I called the hospital because I wanted to get checked out. Since I was GBS+ they had me come in right away. We made it to the hospital by 1:30 pm. They set me up in a bed and got me hooked up to the monitors. The midwife did an internal, asked the student midwife to look and asked her "Do you see that dark circle?". My first thought was "Oh my God! I have cancer!". Seriously. The midwife told me that I was at almost 4 cm, the head was right there, and the baby has some dark hair. I was incredibly happy to find out that I didn't have cancer, I was just in labor.

I was set up in a room by 2 pm, given antibiotics, and was told to go walk around but be back by 6 pm. We (Paul, Chelsea, Andrew and I) returned at 6 and I was given another round of antibiotics. The midwife (a different one this time) broke my waters and started the Syntocinon to help my contractions. The contractions started right away and got strong very quickly. So quickly that I barely had time to rest in between. At about 6:30 pm, Paul took the kids downstairs to get picked up by their Aunt. I had asked for gas for pain relief. The midwife set me up with it, told me how to use it, and left the room. The next contraction started and I started inhaling the gas, and started to feel sick. I stopped inhaling but it was too late - I ended up vomiting everywhere. Of course I was alone and had no idea what to do. Paul walked back in and saw me sitting up with a panicked look on my face. He told me afterward that he thought I had had the baby! He ran out and got the midwife and they came in and cleaned me and the room up. I was so embarrassed.

I started pushing around 8:10 pm. I pushed laying down in bed, I pushed while sitting over the toilet, and standing up leaning over the bed. Finally I wanted to get back into bed. I got a shot of Pethadine, but I was too far along and it did nothing to help the pain. I could remember thinking that I just wanted a c-section because it hurt so bad and didn't feel like I was making any progress. Finally he was born, and Paul yelled out "He's got a willy!". It was such an awesome feeling finding out the sex right then. I ended up with a second degree tear and some stitches, but never needed any pain medication other then the first lot.

Benjamin Ernest was born at 9:07 pm on September 26, 2010. He weighed 7 lb 9 oz and was 19 1/4 inches long. They placed him on my chest right away and then took him over to get cleaned up. It took about a minute for him to start breathing and then I heard that lovely cry. He was born face up so he came out extremely bruised.

I took a shower up in the birthing room and then we walked upstairs to our room for the next 2 days. Benjamin slept most of that first night and, of course, I couldn't. I had to wake him up for feeds and he seemed to latch on pretty well. I did get some help from the nurses with breastfeeding, but all in all it went pretty well. He had a tongue-tie which we got cut at 3 weeks old. After that breastfeeding was much easier since he was able to move his tongue more.

Here are a few pictures of him at birth, and now at 4 1/2 months (February 16, 2011).

New Year, New Commitment

2011-01-12T18:36:00.003-05:00

It has been an incredibly long time since I last blogged. I am going to give a full update in one post as it will be easier. I am also going to start blogging more. At least I hope. I really had good ideas for this blog, but then life got in the way. Even though I don't have as much time as I did before, I WILL blog. Simple as that. It may not be everyday. Actually, I know it won't be everyday. I will aim for once a week. That will be my goal for 2011. To blog once a week. I promise.

Anyway, here is what has happened since I last posted.

I had a baby. If anyone still reads this, I'm sure you figured that out. Since my last post was about being 34 weeks pregnant. And no one would be 49 weeks pregnant. I will post my full birth story another time. Don't read it if that doesn't interest you. It's mostly for me. I want to have it written down so in the future I will be able to read it, instead of recalling on my faded memory of it. For now, here is the quick version.

September 26, 2010 was my online baby shower. After the shower I went to the hospital to get checked out for leaking. I was told that I was 4 cm, the baby's head was right there, and I was going to give birth within the next 24 hours. I got a room at 2 pm, got my waters broken at 6 pm, started pushing at 8:10 pm, and Benjamin Ernest was born at 9:07 pm. We didn't know the sex of the baby before he was born and it was awesome hearing Paul yell out "He's got a willy!". The next baby will definitely be a surprise too. At birth, he was 7 lb 9 oz and 19 1/4 inches long.

As of today he is 15 weeks and 4 days old (3 1/2 months). I measured him myself last week and he was at 15 lbs and 24 1/2 inches. He is growing like a weed and awesome in every way possible. He rolls front to back, loves to stand, has HUGE smiles, and a cute little bald patch on the back of his head. He is exclusively breastfed, we co-sleep (only until we get his mattress then we will start transitioning to his crib), I wear him in the Moby, and wears cloth diapers. He goes to bed between 8 and 9 pm, sleeps through until 3 - 4 am, has a quick feed and burp (15 minutes total), and goes back to sleep until 6:30-7 am when he starts fussing. To me, that is sleeping through the night and I love it.

At 5 weeks old, my parents and sister flew over from Buffalo to meet him. They spent 2 weeks here that went way too quick. We did lots of sight seeing, but the best part was seeing them spend time with Benjamin.

He's had his first Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year, even though they aren't all celebrated in Australia. He's been on the Great Ocean Road, to Bairnsdale, Raymond Island, Wonthaggi, Geelong, Portarlington, and Altona Beach. He's been to the waves pool, and the playground. Pictures are to come later.

34 weeks 3 days

2010-09-08T01:05:00.003-04:00

How far along? 34 weeks 3 days

Total weight gain/loss? About 20 lbs gained.

Maternity clothes? Yes

Stretch marks? Nope.

Sleep? Still getting up every 2 or so hours to pee and waking up for good earlier each day.

Movement? Slowing down a bit. Most active in the evenings.

Food cravings? None.

Gender? Unknown.

Labor signs? None.

Belly button in/out? In. Shallower and flat on the bottom.

What I miss: Being able to bend over. Being comfortable.

What I am looking forward to: My baby shower is coming up!

Milestones: Less than 6 weeks to go! I don't know if it's considered a milestone, but baby is head down and ready!

30 weeks 3 days

2010-08-17T20:32:00.004-04:00

I have seen these questionnaires before and figured I might as well fill them out for the last few weeks of this pregnancy. Hopefully I remember to do them weekly!

How far along? 31 weeks 3 days

Total weight gain/loss? I don't know. They only weighed me at my first appointment.

Maternity clothes? Oh yeah. Although I do have some non-maternity shirts that still fit.

Stretch marks? Nope.

Sleep? Much better now that I'm over my nasty cold. Now I only wake up 3-4 times a night to pee instead of that plus waking up every ten minutes because I couldn't breathe/swallow.

Movement? All the time. Usually in the morning and evening I feel it the most with some occasional kicks throughout the day.

Food cravings? None right now. I haven't had many strong cravings. Most of the things I do want though are only available in the US so I can't even have them.

Gender? Unknown.

Labor signs? None, just an occasional Braxton Hicks contraction.

Belly button in/out? In. Shallower and flat on the bottom.

What I miss: Not much. There really isn't anything that I did before that I can't do now. Except maybe bend over comfortably to shave my legs more often.

What I am looking forward to: My midwife appointment tomorrow. Another ultrasound in 2 1/2 weeks. My shower at the end of September. Being able to finish buying all the baby items.

Milestones: Finally making it to 30+ weeks. It seemed so far away at the beginning, but now it's here.

Don't mind the blurry picture, or the messy room. I was having a hard time getting it to come out clear.

Ultrasound Pictures

2010-07-16T03:19:00.004-04:00

Below are some pictures from my 20 week and 24 week ultrasounds. The baby doesn't like to cooperate so they still haven't been able to see everything and I go back for another ultrasound in a few weeks.

Bairnsdale

2010-07-16T03:10:00.004-04:00

The first week in July Paul had off of work so we went down to visit his mom. It was nice and relaxing being away for the week. I didn't take many pictures, but here are some of what I did take.

Paul tried to help Andrew up on this
rock but got told, "No Dad! I am a
man! I am a MAN!"

The lone Pelican we saw.

States visit May 2010

2010-07-16T02:54:00.004-04:00

Because of my grandma's passing, Paul and I flew back to the States for her funeral. Even though it was an extremely sad occasion, I had a great time catching up with everyone. I miss everyone and even though I keep up with them on cam/facebook, it's not the same. Here are some of the pictures I took while home.

Trenton

Jocelyn

Lori, Mom, and Clarisa

William

Marisol

First thing I did when I got home was get a
haircut! It was the first one since before I
moved in June 2009!

Uncle Bob, Aunt Gaylene, and Uncle Jim

Dad and Trenton dancing!

Oh! The Preakness was going on while we were there and the horse I picked came in second! Woo hoo!

RIP Grandma

2010-07-16T02:35:00.000-04:00

January 18, 1927 - May 9, 2010

Easter Surprise

2010-07-16T02:22:00.005-04:00

This year for Easter we had a surprise for everyone. We are having a baby! I was 12 weeks on Easter Sunday (I'm now almost 27 weeks so you can see how much I've been slacking on this blog). It was super hard to hide because Paul's sister was living with us at the time. Somehow we managed though! Paul ended up calling his side of the family and telling them (they live about 4 hours away). Since I found out I was pregnant the first week of February, I knew how I wanted to tell my family. Paul and I both agreed to wait until I was 12 weeks before we told anyone and it just so happened to work out that Easter Sunday was 12 weeks. It worked out even better that my family was going to be at my parent's house to celebrate. We had planned to get on Skype together and I loved seeing their reaction. It was hard getting everyone in the same room and I thought our plan wouldn't work out. My aunt had to take her mother home so I asked her to wait and get everyone in the room because had a picture we wanted to show them. Finally everyone was there and I sent the picture via messenger. It took a few seconds for it to register with everyone what it was a picture of and then there was lots of screaming and crying and falling off couches! It was such a great feeling to be out and now have to keep the secret to ourselves anymore.

Due October 17, 2010, gender is a surprise!

Happy Birthday Andrew!

2010-07-16T02:02:00.005-04:00

March 14th was Andrews 10th birthday! Since the kids birthdays are so close to each other (Chelsea's is March 7th) we spent the day at the zoo. It was my first time at the Melbourne Zoo. We were all slightly disappointed because a lot of the exhibits had no animals in them. Oh well. We had a great time seeing what we could.

Happy 1st Anniversary!

2010-02-02T22:07:00.001-05:00

January 30, 2010 - 1st Anniversary!

Happy Australia Day!

2010-02-02T21:58:00.003-05:00

I know it's late, but Happy Australia Day! We went to a park and had a BBQ. I had a great time for my first Australia Day!

Echidna

2010-02-02T21:50:00.002-05:00

I saw an echidna on the side of the road and made Paul stop so I could take pictures! I love seeing wild animals!

Flying Foxes

2010-02-02T21:44:00.002-05:00

They smell, they're loud, and they're gross. That's all I'm going to say about them.

Lakes Entrance

2010-02-02T21:35:00.004-05:00

I love the water. I mean, I really love the water. Whenever we go out on the weekend, I always request going to the water. We went to Lakes Entrance twice while down in Bairnsdale. The first time it was Lisa, Chelsea, Andrew, Jackson and myself. We took the kids to the trampolines and they had a great time. We then stopped at this wonderful ice cream place. It was amazing! We finished off the day by walking down to the beach. We had to walk over a long bridge, and up a big hill, but it was worth it! The second time we went it was Paul, myself and the kids along with Lisa, Karen, and Betty. We went straight to the beach. The kids brought their suits this time and loved going in the water!

Kangaroo Searching - Buchan

2010-02-02T20:23:00.003-05:00

We went to Buchan to find some kangaroos, but had no luck. We did manage to see a wallaby though! While we went through the caves, Paul was napping in the car. He told us when we were done that he thought he saw a kangaroo hop across the road, but couldn't be certain. We went to look in the direction he pointed. Paul, Andrew and I climbed up a big hill but came up empty. We went back down and started heading towards the car. I wanted to take a few pictures of the small creek and as I walked over, I heard a rustle in the bushes. A wallaby hopped out! I was so excited! That was what Paul had seen hop across the street. It was very thirsty and kept drinking from the creek. It even let Andrew get pretty close!

You can see the wallaby in the bottom right
corner drinking.

Royal Cave - Buchan

2010-02-02T20:01:00.009-05:00

I had never been in a cave before. Never. I don't know why. I probably was never offered the opportunity. When we went kangaroo searching at Buchan we decided to go through one of the caves. Paul stayed in the car because his knees were hurting him, but Lisa, Chelsea, Andrew and I went through the Royal Cave. It was beautiful. Although it felt cool when we first walked in, it was very humid. I would definitely go back and go through the Fairy Cave.

Our tour guide told us that about 6 weeks earlier, a wedding was held in the cave. I have no idea how she would have gotten through while wearing her dress, since there were many tight spaces. How gorgeous would that be though!

The part in front is called "Niagara Falls".

Raymond Island

2010-01-24T20:11:00.008-05:00

I love seeing the wildlife of Australia. I don't see much where I live because it's a built up area. Kangaroos aren't just going to hop down the main street. We saw more wildlife then usual down in Bairnsdale since it's out in the country. In order to see koalas though, we went to Raymond Island. We took the ferry over and had fine driving around looking for them. In all we saw 17 koalas, including one baby, a wallaby, and a kookaburra! We also got invited by a creepy man into his garage to see his train set. He built it himself over the past 11 years. It was very cool to see, even if the man was weird.

I wanted to get a better picture of the
kookaburra, but when I turned around to take
the pic, it was gone.

Paul spotted this wallaby alongside the road
while Chelsea and I were walking around
looking at all the koala's. It looked at us for a
while then hopped off into someones yard.

This one is doing some stretches.

The baby is hard to see. It's above
the mom, but hidden behind leaves.

This is one of the best pictures I got of them.

If you know Andrew, you know this is a typical
face!

Bairnsdale

2010-01-24T20:04:00.001-05:00

January 2, 2010 - January 13, 2010 we spent down in Bairnsdale visiting Paul's family and friends. We had a wonderful time. It was nice and peaceful. Thank you Paul and Karen for letting us stay at your house! The next few posts will be of our time spent there.

Christmas 2009

2010-01-24T19:48:00.004-05:00

Our first Christmas as a family! It was a nice quiet day with just the four of us. We picked the kids up around 2 and came home and opened presents, had dinner, and just hung out together.

Our brand new tree.

Andrew was so excited about his new
Cricket set that he kept putting it on
and then taking it off all day long.

After this picture was taken, I said
we should open presents. Andrew
goes, "Whoa! Did you just put those
there? I didn't see them!"

Paul's brother and his sons came down and spent New Year's with us. I didn't get any pictures though. I know it's late, but Happy New Year everyone!

Brighton and St. Kilda

2009-12-31T23:46:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago we went for a drive and ended up at Brighton and then at St. Kilda. Here are some pictures from the day.

Brighton:

St. Kilda

Harness Racing

2009-12-30T23:17:00.003-05:00

There is a racetrack about 5 minutes from our house and it's free to enter, so we like to go there for a cheap Friday night out. We took the kids for the first time in December. We had a great time and picked some winners!!

Thanksgiving

2009-12-30T23:15:00.002-05:00

My first Australian Thanksgiving!!! We had Chelsea over for dinner and made a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Andrew was sick so he couldn't make it. I also got some Thanksgiving roses!!!

Williamstown

2009-12-30T23:06:00.006-05:00

The weekend of November 21-22, we went for a drive around the city and ended up in Williamstown. We had ice cream and then played frisbee. The kid's and I took a walk out to see the water too!

There was a wedding going on at the gazebo.

It's Been A While

2009-12-30T23:04:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted anything in a looooong time. I just forgot about it actually. I have finally put the most recent pictures on the computer and will start putting them on here today. Oh, and feel free to leave comments! I'd love to hear from everyone!

Djerriwarrh Festival

2009-11-08T21:37:00.004-05:00

This past weekend was the 30th Djerriwarrh Festival in town. Paul's sister and her husband were also in town visiting. We got down to the parade a little late, but were still able to see the kid's schools float! We also went to the carnival where I won a giant stuffed Husky for the kids! I had never won anything that big before! The kid's named him Fred and he sits in the living room while creeping Paul out.

My First Melbourne Cup And It Was Shocking!

2009-11-03T22:12:00.004-05:00

The first Tuesday of November is Melbourne Cup Day! It is considered a holiday so Paul and the kids had off of work and school. Who knew you could have the day off for horse races? Monday night Paul and I went to a TAB to put some bets on for the next day. He also put some money in his phone account so he could bet from home on the computer. Paul won some races early in the day. One particular race he backed a horse named Strawberry. If you've ever met Paul, you know how loud he can be. Well Strawberry was winning, so Paul was yelling out 'GO STRAWBERRY! GO STRAWBERRY!!' and so Andrew, who was in the other room and had no idea what was going on, starts yelling out in the other room 'GO STRAWBERRY!!!'. We had bought a party pack of meat pies and sausage rolls, as well as mini dim sims, money bags, and spring rolls. We had those for lunch and brownies for dessert that Chelsea and I made. The big race started at 3, so we all made sure we were paying attention. The horse that won was named Shocking and second place was Crime Scene. I had backed Crime Scene each way so I won a little bit a money because he placed! When I say a little bit of money, I mean a little bit of money. I won $15! All in all it was a good day. We made back our money that we spent on the bets and then some. I can't wait until next year!

Echuca

2009-11-01T17:09:00.007-05:00

Paul and I went away by ourselves for the weekend! It's about time! On Friday after Paul got out of work, we packed our bag and headed off to Ballarat. We stopped for dinner at The Hog's Breath Cafe and drove around the city for a while. We didn't want to go to Sovereign Hill without the kids, so we decided to go back home. We got up early Saturday morning and went to Echuca. I had been there once before in February 2008 when I first came to meet Paul with my mom. We only spent a few hours there that time.

It took us a while to get there this time (4 1/2 hours) and was extremely hot (about 35 Celsius which equals 95 Fahrenheit). We stopped in Bendigo along the way, as well as Rochester. On the way there, we passed a farm where a Shetland Pony had gotten itself to the top of a dirt pile. He was just standing there, looking down as if he didn't know how to get himself back to the ground!

We passed this house with plastic animals all
over! There was also an orangutan hanging from
a tree, a rhino, and some cows!

Sunday morning we stopped for breakfast and
went to the river to eat it. This little guy wanted
some breakfast too!

Paul was kind and fed the duck.

The Murray River.

The bridge to Moama, New South Wales from
Victoria.

An American Hotel in Australia!

The Canberra.

Markers marking how high the water
level used to be.

Wine barrels.

The Log Buggy.

The blacksmith area after he moved out of the
way. It was cool to see him work.

The Great Ocean Road!

2009-10-25T02:30:00.006-04:00

Every weekend we try to get out of the house. Especially when the kids are with us. We didn't have anywhere specific in mind (we usually don't!) and Chelsea suggested Geelong. On the way there, we pass signs for The Great Ocean Road. I have been wanting to go there again since I arrived in Australia. We've talked about going for a few days in January when the kids are on holiday, but I still keep trying to go earlier. Well, we went for a little while on Saturday! I was so excited because it is so beautiful along the coast. We stopped for lunch on the way down and ended up going to Lorne for about 1 1/2 hours.

Saturday was the Cox Plate, so while in Lorne Paul dropped the kids and I off at the beach and he went to the TAB on the corner to place some bets. I don't have any pictures of us there though because we went on the trampolines and I didn't want to leave my camera unattended. So anyway, Chelsea, Andrew, and I went on the trampolines first. I love trampolines! They were a pretty good deal too at $3 for 10 minutes. We had a nice view of the ocean while we were jumping. After that, the kids went on the playground for a few minutes. It wasn't that spectacular so we moved on down to the beach. Since we weren't planning on going down there, we weren't really dressed for the beach. The kids had fun anyway. They rolled up their jeans as far as possible, but still ended up a little wet. It was one of the best weekends we have had so far!

The view we had when we stopped for lunch.

Right after lunch. Some guy was trying to chat
me up while I was taking pictures.

Chelsea on the ride down.

Andrew wanted the hawk on his hat to be seen.

The Great Ocean Road!

There are a ton of curvy roads like this one.

This was our first stop.

The beautiful view!

Andrew saw a lizard and was trying to get it
out of the grass.

We drove down a little farther and parked
near the beach. Paul stayed in the car while
the kids and I went down to the water.

I loved the waves crashing on the rocks.

Some unusual sea growth.

On the way home, I heard a strange hissing noise.
It sounded like sprinklers were running so I didn't
think anything of it. A few minutes later we
discovered this:

That would be the hissing noise I heard.
Paul changed the tire and we were on our way
home. We were still 2 + hours from home
and in the middle of nowhere so we were a bit
nervous and hoping the tire would hold out.

It was a long day for the little man and he fell
asleep on the way home!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-25T02:23:00.003-04:00

I know it's still early, but Happy Halloween! They don't really celebrate Halloween here much, but it is gaining popularity. Since the kids won't be with us on Halloween, I decided to make Halloween cupcakes with the mix and frosting my mom sent from America (Thanks, mom!). I was going to wait until they came home from after school care, but then I discovered that I only had one muffin tin. Since it was going to take a while to bake them all, I started them early so they could frost them when they got home. Of course Andrew, being a boy, didn't want to frost them, so Chelsea and I did them. She had so much fun and like "accidentally" getting the frosting on her finger so she had to lick it off. Paul actually tried them and likes them! They are already half gone and I think I am going to freeze the rest so they don't go bad since the kids are gone again for another two weeks.

Here is just a sample of all our hard work!

Andrew's Famous Sayings!

2009-10-12T23:53:00.005-04:00

Andrew comes up with some pretty good sayings. I thought I'd start posting them here so they will never be forgotten!

On the way back home, Chelsea wanted a drink and our drink bag was empty.

Chelsea: "There's no more cans of drink left and I'm hungry!"

Chelsea was jumping on the Springfree Trampolines, trying out the different ones, when Paul asked her how the one she just got onto was.

Chelsea: "This one is gooder."

I was telling the kids that I won a DVD in a competition.

Me: "I won a DVD, but you can't watch it."
Chelsea: "What's it rated?"
Me: "MA15+"
Andrew: "I've seen MA15+ before! Wait here, woman!"
Paul: "Did he just call you woman?"

Paul and the kids went grocery shopping. While there they picked up some of what they thought was toilet (dunny) paper. Once they got home, Paul asked Andrew to put the toilet paper on the holders. He goes to do this, then comes back out holding a roll of paper towels, which were bought accidentally instead of toilet paper.

"Dad! This is the biggest dunny roll I've ever seen!!"

Before we moved, Andrew would come into the bedroom and snuggle with Paul when he woke up before going downstairs to play. One morning he had done this and then came back a little while later once Chelsea had woken up and was snuggling with Paul.

Paul: "Andrew, how long have you been up?"
Andrew: "At least 10 minutes, Dad."
Chelsea: "You've been up over an hour!"
Andrew: "I know. I said at least 10 minutes!"

Paul and Andrew were talking about the school sport day. Andrew had run a 100 meter race.

Paul: "How did you do in your race?"
Andrew: "Good."
Paul: "Where did you finish?"
Andrew: "Second last."
Paul: "Second last? What's so good about that?"
Andrew: "It wasn't last."

Paul and I had gone on a day trip up a mountain the weekend before. We were in the car with the kids and I was telling them what we did. Somehow, I said, "Last weekend, your dad and I went up a dinosaur!" How I got dinosaur out of mountain, I will never know. That night once we had gotten home, I said something equally as strange, although I can't remember what it was. After I said it though, this is what Andrew said.

Andrew: "Amy, are you sure you're not taking any drugs?"

A Day At The Park/A Day At The Beach

2009-10-12T23:07:00.005-04:00

On Saturday we went to play at a park. We had no plans for the day, and I suggested we pack some balls into the car, and pack a lunch, and go out to play. We drove to Gisborne and found a nice big park. We grabbed our footy and took a walk through the woods and came to a footy ground. It was empty so we played on there for a while. I did pretty good for my first time! Eventually some cars pulled up and the people were dressed in cricket outfits, so we knew it was time to go.

Chelsea kept getting mad because she had to
chase after the ball!

Andrew with his footy.

I loved seeing grass! I don't see as much of it
anymore.

A baby magpie. I got up close to take this picture
and then Paul told me that they swoop at you if
you get too close. Thanks Dear!

My lovely family.

They love playgrounds. (I do too!)

I have no idea.

Sunday, Chelsea had a birthday party to go to. Paul, Andrew and I had nothing planned. Andrew said he wanted to go somewhere that we hadn't been to in a long time. We ended up going to the Werribee Beach! I love going to the water, even when it's a little chilly!

Andrew loved throwing shells at the jellyfish to
watch them bounce off.

While he was throwing shells, he accidentally
picked up some dog poo! After I finished
laughing, I told him to rinse his hands in the water.

The sand was littered with shells! Too bad it's
illegal to take them home!

Sunday Day Trip

2009-10-06T22:44:00.007-04:00

Paul and I went for a day trip on Sunday. We ended up going up a mountain! I was so excited as I had been asking to go to the top of a mountain for a while now. It was cold and rainy, but it was still beautiful! I loved seeing all the plants, grass, and ferns! We ended up going to a place called "Sky High". It had gardens, a maze, gift shop, and restaurant. There was a wedding going on while we were there, so the Secret Garden part was blocked off. Here are some pictures of the rest of the place.

Paul wanted to kiss the kangaroo
on the totem pole. Who am I to
stop him?

They had some nice statues around.
Don't ever let Paul tell you he doesn't
like his picture taken - he seems to
end up in them a lot!

One of the gardens that we were able to walk
through.

The owl.

I'm not sure if this guy is crying
into his hands, or holding his whole
head in his hands.

Mr. Percy Possum. There were a
ton of kids there, I'm sure they would
have loved to play over by this tree!

Some of the beautiful flowers that were in the
gardens.

We were literally in the clouds!

The Giant's chair!

The view of the towns below the clouds.

Paul loves his Sabres hat!

Our first visitors!

2009-09-27T21:25:00.006-04:00

Paul's mom and sister spent Wednesday to Sunday with us as our first visitors! We also had the kid's all week because of the school holidays so it was busy. It was nice having people around instead of being by myself all day. They were very helpful and we had a great time. We played a lot of games with the kids, went shopping and even went to The Royal Melbourne Show!

The show was a lot of fun. We went on some rides, played some games, saw a dog show, watched diving pigs, and bought a ton of show bags!

I have no pictures of the diving pigs, unfortunately. My camera batteries died right as they were climbing up to dive. It was cute though!

Paul and the kid's outside the Fun house.

One of the show dogs dressed up as a king.

The cute puppies. I wanted to take them home!

Do they really need to tell people this?

The view of the city from the show.

Chelsea, and Andrew behind her, waving from
a different Fun house.

The cute little piggies about to get wrangled.

The dog wrangling the piggies.

The gigantic cow!

We all had a great time while they were here. I'm looking forward to visiting them around Christmas time!

Rock Eisteddfod

2009-09-27T21:12:00.003-04:00

September 18th was the night of Rock Eisteddfod finals. Chelsea's team came in second in the junior competition! Her schools theme was "Murphy's Law" and she was in the section that's dressed in black with the lab equipment on the front. We are so proud of her!

I Miss Fall and Pumpkin....

2009-09-22T06:55:00.002-04:00

But I made my own Pumpkin Spice Latte and Pumpkin cookies! Even though it's Spring here, I keep reading about Fall in America and it makes me want some seasonal food! I had bought a can of pumpkin at the USA Food store in Melbourne and found the recipes online. I got weird looks from both Paul and the kids, but I'm not forcing them to eat them! I forgot to take pictures of them, but they were soooo good! I made them when Paul's mom, Betty and his sister Lisa were here. Everybody (except Paul) loved them! I also made chocolate chip cookies, as per Chelsea's request.

Some more pictures of the house.

2009-09-16T01:12:00.005-04:00

Here are some pictures of the outside of the house and of the new furniture we got. The house is almost complete. I think all it needs is the bookshelf I'm going to redo and our art that we are getting framed. I'd love to be able to put more stuff on the walls, but since we aren't allowed to put nails in them, it's going to have to wait.

I'll start off with the door that the delivery men took a chunk out of!

Chelsea loves her picture taken!

My husband and son enjoying a moment together.

The new TV unit and coffee table. Please
excuse the mess!

Coffee table up close. I taught the kids how to
play Scat and they love it! They ask to play all
the time.

The TV unit. It has the perfect amount of space
to store all of our photo books/albums.

The china cabinet. Paul wants to put
a vase on top instead of our wedding
pictures.

The top shelf with my shot glasses!

My little Sabres corner. We didn't get a good
picture of us at the Sabres game in February
so I put a picture of us at the Sydney Opera
House instead. That's also a replica of the church.
Pastor gave it to us as a wedding gift.

The happy family minus one. He was playing
Playstation like usual!

The new fence that was just built this week.
We don't have as much space outside as we'd like.

The back of the house. A little more room here.

The other side of the house. There is supposed
to be a fence up at the front there soon.

The view from the front. We just got the driveway
painted this morning, so now it's a dark charcoal
color. I really like it!

That's all the pictures I have for now. Paul went back to work this week. He is obviously sore, but feels a ton better then before the operation. We hope to get his other knee done within the next few months and hopefully they will last a few years before he needs a replacement.

The Bridge

2009-09-15T00:34:00.007-04:00

On Sunday, Paul, the kids, and I went for a drive. I saw this pretty bridge, so Paul pulled over and we took a little walk to it. I only had my old camera, but here are some pictures I took. I think they turned out pretty good! I have some pictures of the new furniture to post soon. I have to keep an eye on the internet usage we have though first. So hopefully within the next few days I will have them!

Andrew is excited that he made it over the
little bridge!

Here's Chelsea walking back over the bridge.

She's happy she made it! She was nervous about
falling in.

Oh, and this is what one of our lights look like.
We were putting pictures up on the wall and I
happened to look up and notice this. It added
wonderfully to everything else that had gone
wrong with the house!

The Move

2009-09-08T01:53:00.016-04:00

The move. Let's just say, I want to move out of here ASAP and never move again at the same time. Everything that could go wrong, did. The past two weeks have been so stressful and I'm glad they are over. Paul and I moved everything by ourselves. He couldn't get off of work, so that meant he brought me over with a trailer load before work and then we rushed after he got home to bring as many loads as we can. It took 3 days, and many, many trips. I've realized that I have no muscles. Next time we move, we are hiring someone. We got everything in just fine and the house is mostly set up. We are having a TV unit, coffee table, and crystal cabinet delivered on Friday and then we will be pretty much set up. There are a few more things we want to get (a new lounge suit, for one) but that is going to have to wait a little while.

The house was supposed to be ready August 6th. We had to be out of the old house by August 15th. We had to get an extension on the old house, because there was no way that we would be out on time. The new date that we had to be out was August 27th. The house was once again not going to be ready on time and we were asked to get another extension. We told them that we couldn't and were told that we could move in on Tuesday, the 25th instead of the previous Friday like we were supposed to. The house still had to have the stove and dishwasher installed, but as least we were able to start moving.

On Wednesday, we had an appointment for our phone to be reconnected at the new house between 10 and 2. By 3, when they still hadn't arrived, Paul called the company to see what's going on. They said that whoever Paul spoke to the previous Friday, never put the order in. We ended up having to get a whole new number because they, for some unknown reason, couldn't disconnect line from the old house and transfer it to the new one.

The bedroom suite was delivered on Thursday. We still had to bring some last minute stuff from the other house and clean it. We got home pretty late and still had to set up our bed so we had somewhere to sleep. The next day, after Paul got home from work, we unpacked the rest of the furniture. Everything was good, until we realized they sent us the wrong tall boy! We ordered one that has the top lift up with a mirror on the inside, and they sent us one that didn't lift up.

We also had our refrigerator, washing machine, and microwave delivered. They bring the fridge in and go work on the washing machine. I'm looking at the fridge, and realize it's not going to fit into the cavity! It would have fit perfectly, except for this huge power thing that was on TOP of the fridge, instead of the back like normal. So we called both companies, and scheduled a delivery for the following Thursday for the tall boy, and arranged to bring the fridge back to the store to get a new one. Getting this gigantic fridge back into its gigantic box and onto the trailer with just me, Paul and the kids, was not fun. We eventually got it on and were ready to drive to the store, when Paul notices a huge chunk of our front door gone. You can't see it when the door is closed, but it is really noticeable when it's open. The only thing we can think of is it was done when they delivered the fridge. I was watching them and it was a very, very tight squeeze. Nothing else was that close to the door frame to do it. I don't have a picture of this yet, but will take one and post it soon. We complained when we took the fridge back and are getting it fixed soon. We ended up getting a smaller fridge, but at least it fits.

The internet. The internet has been a horrible experience. Well, not the internet itself, but trying to get it hooked up. Paul called the company we has the internet through about a week before we moved. He was told to just call when we move and they will hook it up. So he calls and they say they will have to send out a modem thing to connect to the ADSL because the one we have won't work. He called on Friday and was told it would be here by the next week. Well the next Friday, he calls them since we hadn't heard from them. They tell us that it can't be connected here at all. We were not happy at all, mostly because they hadn't even bothered to call us, Paul had to call them! That is another long complicated story, but basically no one here can get internet unless they get wireless, which is extremely expensive. We ended up having to switch to Big Pond, which Paul had before and they were to expensive, but it was our only choice. He talked to someone who said they would send out and ADSL thing in 5 days. Paul asked if we could go to a local Telstra store and pick one up so we can get it sooner. The guy told us he called the store and had it arranged for us to pick one up. We go to the store, they tell us no. The guy never called. They are a licensed store and they couldn't have been able to give us one even if the guy did call because they are their own company. Paul ended up on the phone with Telstra for over an hour in the store trying to get things straightened out. That is when we had someone else tell us that it is not possible at all to get the ADSL here and we have to do wireless. It has been ridiculous. We got the wireless router in the mail today and were told to just plug it in and it would work. Of course, like everything else the past two weeks, it didn't work. Paul was on the phone with Telstra once again trying to get it to work and it didn't. They told us that the internet was connected, but something was wrong with the computer making it not open pages. They couldn't do anything but they gave us a number to call and they should be able to get it working, for a price of course. Paul called and set up an appointment for 3:30 and he ran down to work. I ended up playing around trying to get it to work and I somehow managed to! I played around with some settings, tried redoing the disc, and restarted the computer a few times and a box came up that we had seen earlier. I filled in our information and it said that it worked, when before it told us an error. I don't know if it was just one thing that I did, or a combo of everything, but at least we are online now.

Oh! And we still don't have our garbage bins. The real estate agent faxed the council to have them delivered the day we moved in. They didn't show up so she called them and they said they never received the fax. So, she put in another fax to have them delivered the next Tuesday. Once again, they didn't show up. So she called them and they said they want written approval from the home owners (we are just renting). Seriously? Do they really think that we wouldn't want our bins? That we really want to throw our garbage in the trailer and then pay $16 every few weeks to take it to the tip? I don't think so! They were supposed to be delivered again today, and they weren't.

There is one HUGE plus that is going to be coming soon. We were told that they are building a gym here that is free to use by those living here! We will definitely be using it!

Here are a few pictures of the house so far. I will take more of the living room and theater room once they are set up correctly.

The front. We are supposed to have some plants
and a fence, but of course we don't yet.

The living room from the kitchen.

The kitchen from the living room.

The sliding glass door in the meals area. The
view is supposed to be of the fence, that we still
don't have.

Andrew's room.

The laundry room, before the washing
machine was delivered.

The huge linen closet!

The kid's/guest bathroom.

Another view with the sink.

Chelsea's room.

The theater room/kid's play room.

Our bedroom.

Our bathroom.

Our closet. I've always wanted a
huge closet!

The front foyer area.

This is going to be the guest room/nursery
when it's time for that. Right now it's a storage
room.

The hallway from the front door.
At the far end is the kitchen.

Our new bedroom suite and sheets minus the
tall boy that wasn't delivered.

Another view.

The new washing machine! I love it. It plays
a little song when it's turned on/off and when
the load is done.

Paul's Makybe Diva picture. He loves horse
racing. She is the first Thoroughbred to win
the Melbourne Cup three times: in 2003,
2004, and 2005.

Our framed wedding photos. The computer
desk is also in this corner.

The kitchen cupboards. We bought some nice
vases the other day, three of which are up on
top of the cupboards. We also have some bottles
of Shane Warne wine.

Paul's horse that won in 1989.

Andrew's room almost furnished. I will be
painting an old bookshelf and putting it in his room.

Chelsea's room fully furnished. They were both
so excited to be able to set up their rooms
however they wanted!

Another view of Chelsea's room.

Our key ring holder that we bought at the
St. Kilda market, and the Western Bulldogs art.

These are the pins that we bought in Niagara
Falls after the wedding. They are the three
honeymoon pins featuring the falls. Paul had
the frame already and we bought some fabric
and cut out cardboard the size of the squares.
We put the fabric down, and pressed the card
board into the squares. We pressed the pins in
on the other side and this is the result! We
love how it turned out!

So this is how our move has been. I really hope that we don't ever have to relive this again. This experience has made us want to get far away from the house. Now that we are in though, we won't be moving for a few years. We have room if anyone wants to come visit! Just let us know first!

Pink!!!!!

2009-08-16T22:39:00.015-04:00

On August 13, 2009, Paul, Chelsea, and I went to the Pink concert at Rod Laver Arena. It was AWESOME!! She did so much, and she sang beautifully!

This picture is of the big screen. I wish I could
have really been that close!

She sang "Sober" while on the trapeze!

It was fantastic. I wish I could have gotten better pictures, but I didn't want to risk bringing my new camera with. The website said no professional cameras, and while mine isn't, it is quite big like a professional one and I didn't want the security to think it was. I highly recommend going to see Pink in concert if you ever get the chance!

Happy Birthday To Me!

2009-07-27T01:06:00.007-04:00

Paul and I spent the weekend celebrating my birthday! Saturday night we went to the Crown Casino and actually left with a profit! It was very small, but it was still more than we went in with! Sunday we went to a market, and to Williamstown for lunch. We were going to go on a boat ride, but it seems that they don't do that anymore. At least not with the boat Paul wanted to take me on. We walked on the dock and took some pictures of the city. We also went to a lolly shop and I found some Dr Pepper, root beer, and some Reece's!! Sunday night, we picked up the kids and went to dinner at the Watergardens Hotel. It is a buffet and the kids loved being able to go get whatever they wanted! The play room was an added bonus for them too! I had a great first birthday in Australia!

The view of Melbourne from Williamstown.

Paul got me these beautiful roses!

We got the house!

2009-07-23T21:31:00.002-04:00

Paul got the call yesterday that we got the house! This is the house that I really wanted, I'm so excited! It is still being built so we can't move in until mid-late August. We won't have any pictures until that time, either, but I will post some as soon as I get them! As much as I am dreading packing everything up, I am excited to be able to set up the new house however I want it! We will finally get out new bedroom set that we bought, and our fridge, washing machine, and microwave! We are also getting frames made for some of our wedding photos. I wanted the three 8 x 10's put into one frame, but couldn't find any anywhere like that. We're also getting one made for the 11 x 14 picture. Those should be done around the same time as the house!

RIP Morgan

2009-07-23T21:24:00.002-04:00

7/25/95-7/20/09 I love you!

Geelong

2009-07-19T21:41:00.015-04:00

On Sunday, Paul, the kids, and I took a drive to Geelong. I love going to the water! We had a great day, walking along the beach and letting the kids play on the playground. It was very windy, but fun!

I saw my first jellyfish!

And then tons more all along the beach!

It was windy.

Very windy!

The beautiful water in Geelong!

Andrew acting like Andrew!

Posing on the way to the playground.

We got Andrew to stop running around long
enough to get a picture!

And I found this!!!:

I don't care that it cost $3 and was a tiny can, I bought it anyway!

My first footy game!

2009-07-13T03:33:00.006-04:00

Friday, July 10, Paul, the kids and I, along with BIL, SIL and our nephews, went to the Western Bulldogs vs. Collingwood Magpies AFL game. I didn't really know much about the game, but was excited to go! It was a fun night out, even though I still don't know much about it! The Bulldogs lost by one point - 111 to 110! Chelsea was extremely happy since she is a Collingwood fan and was rubbing it in our faces that we were going to lose!

Paul and Andrew

If you look closely, you can see the yellow footy
going through the posts as the Bulldogs score!

I also made my first loaf of bread on my new bread maker!!

It was sooo good!

Mini-Vacation

2009-07-09T19:38:00.007-04:00

Paul had off on Wednesday and Thursday this week, so we took a mini-vacation! We left around noon on Wednesday and just drove around. We went to the Mornington Peninsula and then ended up staying on Philip Island. On Thursday, we went to see some animals. We were able to feed and pet some of them. We loved it! We also went to the Nobbies. We've tried to go there twice before, but it was always too late when we got there so it was closed. We didn't get to see any seals, but the view was beautiful! On the way back home we stopped at a chocolate factory. We didn't take the tour, but did get some nice chocolate to bring home. I was able to take a ton of pictures!

The Nobbies

Tasmanian Devil!

Family

Look at the joey!

He kept popping out for a look!

Wombat

They were very active at this point!

A younger joey

We had some pelicans in the background.

This little guy kept following us around for food!

The best I could get while riding in the car.

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-04T17:54:00.002-04:00

I found an American food store that is located in Melbourne that I really wanted to go to! It took an hour to get there but it was worth it! Everything was so expensive, which I expected. I got a 12 pack of Dr. Pepper for $20 Australian. I also got some mayo, a couple Butterfingers and Capt'n Crunch. I would have gotten more, but it was so crowded we could hardly move, let alone browse for things.

We also bought this:

We pulled into a parking lot to look at a map and try to find the road for the food store. We just happened to pull in front of a Clive Peeters and Sleep City. We of course had to go in! We ended up getting a crockpot, mini mixer, and a breadmaker at Clive Peeters. We had been looking for a bedroom set all week, but everything was so expensive. Sleep City had a 30% off sale so we decided to look there. Right away we found this Tokyo set and we both loved it. The price was perfect so we couldn't say no. We also got a mattress that we desperately needed! They will hold on to it until we move and just deliver it to the new house.

Two Days

2009-06-28T22:00:00.003-04:00

I have been in Australia two days and have already purchased a microwave, front-load washing machine and a refridgerator. It feels so weird being an adult! We spent all day Sunday going from store to store looking and price comparing until we finally found what we wanted at a great price. They won't be delivered until we move into our new house. I will post pictures though when we get them!
I am spending today going through my suit cases and the boxes that I've sent down. I need to get out what were going to be using now and keep packed away that stuff that we don't need until we've moved. With how much stuff there is, I'm going to be doing this for a couple days!

Leaving

2009-06-24T12:12:00.004-04:00

I leave tomorrow. I am so excited to finally go, and sad to leave everyone at the same time. I can't wait start my new adventure! I hope everyone will keep in touch through facebook and this blog. Feel free to leave comments! And I want to see lots of pictures of everything that is going on back home! It's been nice being able to hang out with people the past couple days that I don't normally see. For my final night here in the states, I am going out to dinner with my family and then my sister and I are going to see "Walking with Dinosaurs." Hopefully I'll be able to get some nice pictures to put up on here! Next time I post, I will be in Australia. See you then!

Visa Granted!!!!

2009-05-29T09:20:00.002-04:00

I finally got my visa! On Tuesday, May 26, I e-mailed my case officer to see how things were going since it had been over 8 weeks. She replied the next day saying that she was in the middle of it and would be contacting me very soon. Sooner than I thought! She e-mailed me Thursday night saying she would call me Friday morning for a phone interview at 9 am. Of course I could hardly sleep that night! I was so nervous waiting for the call. She asked some questions about Paul and I and our relationship. She then said everything looked good and she was going to e-mail me the grant letter so we can get on with our lives!

Everything Is In!

2009-04-17T10:40:00.002-04:00

My criminal record check from the FBI came back on April 15th. I mailed that, along with my local police check in to my case officer on the 16th! I've done everything that I can do, so now I just wait.

Fingerprinting

2009-03-28T16:34:00.003-04:00

Friday afternoon the police called and said I could come in and get fingerprinted. I'll need to go back next week to pick up my clearance letter since the person that does them wasn't there. I just need to send my finger prints out to get my Criminal History Record Check and send everything in! After that all I can do is wait until I hear from my case officer again.

Good News!

2009-03-26T14:48:00.003-04:00

On Monday, 3/23/09, I received my e-mail with my case officer and file number! Less than two weeks after I mailed in my application. I was given the go ahead to get my police and medical checks done. My medical appointment is in an hour! I've never been more excited to go to the doctors!

Introduction

2009-03-15T10:20:00.004-04:00

I decided to start this blog in order to keep in contact with family and friends once I move to Australia. It will be easier to update everyone this way instead of sending out e-mails or making many telephone calls. I'm not much of a writer, so please bear with me.

As of right now, I don't have much to say. I mailed my application in on Tuesday, March 10, 2009 and it was delivered on Friday, March 13, 2009. Now I just have to wait until I hear from them to know what to do next.