WIW {to dinner}

Hubs and I have been dis-connected lately.  
We get distracted with life and all it's busyness and don't take the time out to just spend that few hours alone together.  
The times that we are both home together are few and far between.  
I found out friday night that he was off Saturday so I texted our babysitter right away to see if she was free to watch the girls.  
Sure enough, she was and we booked her for 7.  
The girls love her and feel really comfortable with her.  She's fantastic with them.

Theres a few great restaurants here in our little town, but when we have the opportunity to go out, we like to head into Melbourne and try something new.  

It was a perfect night to sit outside.  It was a bit hot yesterday (30 degrees), but once the evening rolled around the sun went down and it was perfect.  Unfortunately, the restaurant we went to didn't have any available outdoor tables, but we got the next best thing.....inside but the doors were all open!.  This was the view from our dinner table.  
We had a really great dinner and got to sit together for a solid 2 hours without any interruptions!!!.
This is what I wore to dinner:

Jeans:  Cotton ONShoes:  RubiStriped shirt:  TargetCardi:  Jay Jay'sNecklace:  DottiBracelet:  Miss Mommy ShopRing:  True Love Ring by Amy Cornwell

In an instant

The school holidays are different here.
The financial year is different too.  It goes from the 30th June - 1st of July.  
With that said, the kids are finishing school now for the summer.  They have the summer off - which is from December to Feb.  
Yesterday Eve had her end of year school picnic.  



The preps were so cute!
There was so many people there.  The picture you see was zoomed in as far as I could get from my cell.  I have an iphone 4S and it takes good pics, and this one was the best I could get.  
So I was this far away from Eve and as soon as she finished she spotted me.  In an audience of I can't imagine how many people.  She gave me a thumbs up.  
In that instant I froze
I was so proud.  I wondered how I got there?  How did I have a 5 yr old in school?!
THIS is what life is all about.  It's about making these memories.  Eve will never be 5 again.  She will turn 6 on the 1st of Feb.  She will never be this innocent little girl again.  
I need to treasure these moments.  Treasure the kids at this age.  Freeze and enjoy their fights instead of cringing over them.  
Life is so full of lessons.  

It's starting again.....

It's starting again....... the sadnessthe desperationthe longing for familythe denial....... It's almost Christmas - that's why.    This is my 3rd Christmas without family.  Without the thrill of waking up Christmas morning and heading to my parents to open presents and have a yummy brekky made by my dad.  The 3rd Christmas I won't sit around a dinner table with my grand-parents, aunts, uncles & cousins and listen to the same jokes that i've heard for the past 27 years.  It's the 3rd Christmas I didn't want to put a tree up.  The 3rd Christmas I get knots in my stomach leading up to the actual day.   This is the 3rd Christmas that I will try my very best to make the best out of it just for the girls. My birthday is the 26th.  Always made special and we've always gone out to dinner.  Even though we are all still stuffed to the brim from the day before, we always go out for dinner.   This is the 3rd birthday in a row that I won't go out for dinner.  The 3rd birthday in a row that won't be made special for me by my mom.  The 3rd birthday in a row that I won't wake up and have the phone call from my grandparents singing happy birthday.   It's the 16th of December and the decorations are still sitting in the box next to the tree.  The cards I ordered are sitting there and haven't been written in or sent out.  The wreath is there but not on the door.  The left over wrapping paper and scotch tape are there but no presents bought yet to wrap.

 Denial.   I'm in denial.  If I didn't have kids, I would skip Christmas all together.  I don't enjoy it anymore.  To me it means stress, anxiety and sadness.   But, I will make the absolute best of it for the girls' sake.  They deserve that and as their mama I will provide that for them.    

Instincts & Mother Nature

As most of you know, my cat Fifi has recently had 5 kittens.  If you know anything else about  me, than you know how much I love cats.  I have grown up having cats and have always had a cat throughout my married life.  I would have 10 cats if Hubs let me!

Hubs on the other hand isn't so keen on cats but tolerates them for me.  Hubs jokes that I will be that old lady in the supermarket with nothing else in my trolley but canned cat food!.  HA!

Fifi getting pregnant was an accident.  I never wanted to have kittens. Having kittens meant additional work for me and the heart-break of having to give them away.  But one night as I opened the back door to feed the dog, Fifi snuck out and hopped the fence before I could catch her.  She was out all night.  I was scared and worried. 

Now we have 5 little babies.  5 precious babies.  5 new little lives.  As much as I love kittens, I love these ones even more. 

  

 

I delivered them.  Without going into too much detail, Fifi had a hard time with 2 of them and I "assisted".  I cleaned their little faces and noses so they could breath.  I'm sure if I didn't intervene things may have worked out - after all, Fifi is a cat and it's mother nature to birth her babies alone and take care of that process on her own. 

But Fifi wanted me there.  She kept following me, and literally got up to follow me out of the laundry room as she was delivering a kitten!.  I stayed right beside her for the entire 4 hours it took her to birth 5 babies. 

Fifi loves me and trusts me.  She trusts me enough to have me there assisting with her delivery.  But the funniest thing happened this morning.  As I was sitting on the floor directly beside her, I scooped up one of the kittens and had it in my hand.  Fifi immediately sat up, and grabbed her baby by the back of the neck and put it back with it's siblings and layed back down cuddling her babies.  She didn't want me holding her baby!.  I can pet them while they are with her, but I can't pick it up.

Mother Nature has kicked in and her instincts are telling her that she wants her baby close to her and no one to pick them up. 

This just amazes me and makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Now I do realize that I am taking about cats & kittens, and to some they are a dime a dozen and I do understand that the pet population is high and we should be spaying and neutering our animals.  Fifi will be spayed as soon as her kittens are weaned by the way.  But don't think i'm crazy becuase there is a moral and lesson to my story.

It's the instincts that have left me in awe in this whole experience.  As mothers we will do anything for our babies and do anything to protect them.  Even cats will protect their babies and don't want the person they are closest to handle them. 

It's our instinct to protect our young - don't get in the way of a Mama and her Cubs. 

 



Our History {Part 7}

Read Part 1 hereRead Part 2 hereRead Part 3 hereRead Part 4 hereRead Part 5 hereRead Part 6 here

June 2009 approached quickly.  Eve was as resilient as ever and adapted to whatever came our way.  

Everything about moving to Australia felt to bitter-sweet to me.  I've thought and thought about this and the only way I can best describe it as bitter-sweet.  It was SO bitter because I was going to leave everything and everyone I knew, but I was so excited to see Hubs and embark on this new journey.

On the 3rd of June, 2009 Eve and I said goodbye to my family not knowing when we would see them again.  We boarded an Air Canada flight to LA and them carried on with United Air Lines to Melbourne.  

Life as I knew it was different from that moment on.  I left.  I was the black sheep that left the nest. 

 

Little did I know of the adventure that was ahead of me. 

I had a lot of time to think while on that flight.  That flight is LONG!.  It was 5 hours from Toronto to LA and then 15 from LA to Sydney and then just an hour from Sydney to Melbourne.  But while on my 15 hour flight I did nothing but think.  Eve was cuddled up beside me and sleeping and I didn't want to budge in fear of waking her.  I knew we were in for a long night of flying and the more she slept the better.  My 20 week pregnant belly was protruding over the seatbelt and I just put my head back and tried to fall into a slumber but could do nothing but think.

 

How was my life going to change?

Why have I done this?

When will I see my family again?

What lies ahead for me with this international move?

What's going to happen when Eve starts school?

Whats going to happen when I have my new baby girl?

Will everything be ok back home?

Will my mom ever forgive me?

Will my sisters, grandparents & rest of my family ever forgive me?

Will they forget about me?

Will my marriage survive this?

These were just a few of the questions that went through my head that long night.  Of course I thought of these things before, but I was always reminded of just how perfect life was going to be in Australia.  I never allowed myself to fall into such a sense of desperation of questions.  All those questions were answered for me and I wasn't allowed to second guess them.  I didn't want to second guess them.  I was scared to second guess them. 

The only thing I knew forsure at that point was that when I got off that flight Hubs would be there waiting for us.  Anything after that was unknown. 

Stay tuned for Part 8.

 

Tuesday Ten - 14 {kittens & Bracelets}

Welcome to the 13th week of Tuesday Ten.  

If you're new here - Hi There! :)

Tuesday Ten is a link party about your posts of ten of anything.  It can be ten things you love, ten places you want to go, ten things you want right now, ten people you love etc....ten of anything really.

I love this because it gives me a chance to get to know my readers better and meet other bloggers.  It also allows all of you linker uppers (yes, I just made that up) to see eachothers wonderful blogs and meet new bloggers as well :)

Rules of linking up are:

Please place my button on your page so others can link back and see other posts.  You will find my button to the right of my blog page.  ---------->

Also, please click on others link ups and comment so we can all share some love.  We all love comments don't we??!!
This weel i'm going to post 10 pics I've taken in the last day from my phone.  
My cat, Fifi had kittens last night and they are SO adorable.  I was right there to help her the whole way through and she did amazing.  (I will be spaying her once she is finished nursing her babies)

Fifi just before she had the kittens

This is the first born!

Mama and her 5 babies

How sweet is that face?!

New life.  It's such a miracle in any shape or form.  

How cute are the kittens?  I'm in love with them!.  
These 3 bracelets aren't listed in the shop yet - but I'm giving you an opportunity to snatch one at a really discounted price!
They are all triple wrap and are available for 35$ each including shipping.  
If interested, please e-mail me at missmommy@live.ca.

Giveaway with Pink Stitches

You know those awesome Crayon Rolls you see everywhere?.  And you know how you think "Oh how convenient would that be to put all the kids crayons in and be able to roll it up?".  
Well thats exactly what i thought when I came across Bonnie's Shop Pink Stitches on Etsy.
I contacted Bonnie right away and asked if she could make me 2 "girly" Crayon Rolls.  This was prior to us going on vacation so I thought how great to take with us and small enough to just put back in my purse.

These are the gorgeous Crayon Rolls that I got!.  They were PERFECT for our vacation.  And the girls use them ALL.THE.TIME.  I bring them shopping, out for dinner etc.  
Once I saw how amazing Bonnie was and how amazing her products were, I asked her if she wanted to swap and do giveaways.  I sent her a Bracelet of mine with a matching ring.

And Bonnie sent me this GORGEOUS bag

This bag is just as perfect as the Crayon Rolls.  It fits everything I need to take out with me including a few diapers, wipes, my wallet, phone, keys etc.  
I'm also lusting over this iPad case in Bonnie's Shop

I know - pretty eh?!
Today Bonnie is offering a $25.00 shop credit to her gorgeous shop!
Here is how you can win:
Visit Bonnie's shop and comment here telling me what you would get if you won
MANDATORY:Follow this blog and Pink StitchesFollow Miss Mommy & Pink Stitches on Facebook
Comment for each entry.

Don't forget to check out the giveaway that's happening over at Pink Stitches for a $25.00 shop credit to my shop!  Click HERE.

Tag-Along Thursday Facebook Hop

Welcome to Tag-Along Thursday Facebook Hop!  The wonderful ladies who host this Hop are: Nicole @ Miss MommyEm @ And Nothing Else MattersKatie @ Punkin Heads and Dooda LoosLena @ Mom 2 Memphis and RubyJen @ My Adventures Through MommyhoodLacee @ Mommas Like MeBeth @ Through The Eyes of the Mrs  What is this "Facebook Hop?" Glad you asked!.  It's a super fun way to link up your Facebook page in the section below this post and get more traffic and readers.  It's a fantastic way to meet new readers and new friends.  This hop is up once a month on the Second Thursday of each month.  The rules of the hop are: Follow your hosts - by following the hosts it guarantees a follow back from all of us.  Leave us a comment letting us know you are a new follower  - we'd LOVE to hear from you and get to know YOU better.  The hosts are the first 7 Facebook pages linked up in capital letters in the linky section.
Please follow a few others in the hop and leave them a comment saying you came from the Tag-Along Thursday Facebook Hop :).  You never know what new friends you will come across and meet. 
REMEMBER - This is a FACEBOOK hop.  ONLY link up your FACEBOOK page The most important rule - HAVE FUN!!. 
NOTE:.  Please "like" others business pages with your PERSONAL Facebook account otherwise it won't count in numbers.  

Tales of woe from a shift-workers wife

 

 It's not easy being a shift-worker.  It's not easy being a shift-workers wife either.  I think it's even more difficult being a shift-workers wife with 2 kids and your own job! Let me give you a little brief on my life as a shift-workers wife with kids and her own job: Hubs works shift work.  His place of employment is open 24/7 and never shuts down - not even on Christmas Day! The shifts are:Days: 6:30am-2:30pmAfternoons: 2:30pm-10:30pmNights: 10:30pm-6:30am His work is usually pretty good in the sense that they will typically put him on the same shift for a week straight.  Well - that's not true - it's usually 6 days straight.  Sometimes he will get dropped off and have a random day off and then pick up another set of shifts. The kicker is this - he doesn't find out what he's working the next day until the current day at 2:30 when he calls his roster! Crazy huh???!!! So that makes life a tad difficult because I can never 100% say that he will be around.  Of course he can "scratch" shifts and make himself un-available, but you're only permitted to do that so many times per month.  So you try and "save" those for special occasions or things you really need them for.   - When hubs is on days he leaves early so he's not around in the morning to assist me with the chaos that is getting the kids dressed, lunches packed, brekky etc. - When Hubs works afternoons he is not around in the evening to assist with the chaos that is getting the kids from after-school care, daycare, dinner prepared, fed, bathed, readers read, and into bed. - When hubs works nights he's typically home and asleep before the kids and I get up, so again i'm on my own in the mornings.  The worst part about nights is if I am home for the day with the kids like on the weekends etc and trying to keep them quiet enough that he can get a decent sleep. I really do feel for him having to switch his body clock around all the time.  I can't imagine being up all night working and sleeping during the day.  That would be so difficult.  But it's just as difficult being the wife with a job herself and 2 kids with the husband that works shift-work. I have all the respect in the world for how hard he works to bring home the bacon, but it's hard for me too.   I am SO lucky to have the amazing and wonderful job I have where I get to work 3 days per week 9-4:30 AND it's within walking distance to home.  They are SO good to me and SO flexible if I have to be away due to one of the girls being sick etc.  I think having the best job in the world is my saving grace.   Theres my tale of woe from the shift-workers wife.  Rant over. If you have a shift-worker hubby, and have any managing tips please let me know! 

Tuesday Ten - 13 {Random Musings}

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Welcome to the 13th week of Tuesday Ten.  

If you're new here - Hi There! :)

Tuesday Ten is a link party about your posts of ten of anything.  It can be ten things you love, ten places you want to go, ten things you want right now, ten people you love etc....ten of anything really.

I love this because it gives me a chance to get to know my readers better and meet other bloggers.  It also allows all of you linker uppers (yes, I just made that up) to see eachothers wonderful blogs and meet new bloggers as well :)

Rules of linking up are:

Please place my button on your page so others can link back and see other posts.  You will find my button to the right of my blog page.  ---------->

Please "like" your favorite Tuesday Ten post by clicking the "like" button underneath the thumbnail.  I will do a small feature on the post that got the most "likes" each Tuesday so be sure to vote for your fav.

Also, please click on others link ups and comment so we can all share some love.  We all love comments don't we??!!

Last week the post that got the most likes was:

Lacee from Mommas Like Me with 4 likes.  

Check out her post here

My Tuesday Ten this week is just 10 random things going on in my head or my life right now:
1.  I haven't started Christmas decorating yet - I should really consider doing that this weekend
2.  I just ate my breakfast - a bowl of cereal - here in front of the computer and as I went to put my hand down I hit the back of the spoon and milk and cereal flew all over the desk
3.  I can hear the girls fighting right now - I wish they would quit fighting!!
4.  I'm very annoyed with this domain switching process!.  Moving my blog to WordPress isn't as easy as I thought!
5.  My poor poor cat, Fifi is so heavily pregnant.  I feel sorry for her.  
6.  I'm meant to go on a yacht for Christmas for a week with Hubs family - I'm thinking I may have jumped over-board by the end of the week.
7.  I can't decide what to have for dinner tonight
8.  I need to start going to bed earlier - this late nights and early mornings are killing me!
9.  I want 2012 to be an epic year 
10.  It's 8:28 am and I have to leave for work RIGHT NOW!!!
Link it up!

Where am I?

Do you ever think "where am I?".Or, "What am I doing here?" or better yet, "who am I?"

I often wonder this.
I wonder where I am and why am I here?
I wonder; how did I end up here?
I obviously know how I got here - I took a 21 hour plan ride in June 2009.  But I wonder "Why?"
HOW did I leave my family and move so far?
I've made a life here in Australia.  I have a house, job, car, friends......but my family is not here.
The sadness has set in.  

It will be the 3rd yr, the 3rd Christmas and birthday spent with my family.  
My birthday is the 26th of December.  My family always made a big deal of my birthday being the day after Christmas.  My Birthday always got over-shadowed by Christmas, so it was always made special for me.  

I miss them.  
I wish I could see them tomorrow.  I wish I could call them tomorrow morning and say "whats for dinner?".  
Every day that passes it seems like being with them is a memory instead of a reality.  That makes me sad.  
Desperately sad.
  More sad for the girls.  
Sad that they don't get to experience opening presents on Christmas morning and waiting for Grandma and Grandpa to arrive.  My dad complaining in about how many batteries the toys take and how much time they take to put together.  How the Christmas music with the fake fire place playing in the background sound.  The brunch he cooks and worries about everything stay hot and warm enough to eat for everyone.  
How did I end up here?
Will the sadness decrease as the years pass?

"my turn my turn" {A Video}

Wellon Family Vacation

I realised just the other day that I haven't posted pictures of our vacation.  Things get hectic and life tends to take over.  Work, kids, and every day life takes over and I lose track of the small things in life.  I lose track of the small and very sentimental things life.  
While on vacation I tried to soak in the small things. 
Every.single.day Lilah would wake up and say "I swimmy, I swimmy" 
Hubs and I took the kids to the pool every.single.day and Lilah would just stand there and wouldn't swim!!

I forget to soak these moments in.  I forget how sacred they are.  I thought that since Eve was older I would have learned just how quick they go by, but I have gotten tainted.  I've gotten tainted by the outside world and how precious the moments of innocent childhood are.  

 This is the first vacation Hubs and I have taken with the girls.  
Looking back a few weeks after....I miss it.  I wish we could go back.  We were relaxed.

Hubs often works 6 days a week and I work 3 full days bad have my online business and blog.  We get dis-connected.  I forget how precious life is and how important it is to appreciate the little things.  

When did I become so jaded?.  When did I stop appreciating the small and beautiful things in life?

I wish we could slow down.  

Life should say that before you have kids and become an adult.  ENTER HERE IF YOU DARE!!.  I wish I had a warning at how quick life passes by.  

We've been back from vacation for 2 weeks.  Things have gone back to normal.  Hubs working 6 days a week, me working, keeping up with house work etc.  
Vacations are very short lived - even if they are so memorable.

I wish we could be on vacation every day - but thats obviously not possible.  
Hubs and I have to learn to appreciate the small things and milestones.  
We need to slow down and enjoy life every day.  

I realised just how lucky I am.  I am so lucky to have 2 beautiful and healthy children.  I always knew that but it didn't really sink in.  
We had a fantastic vacation and we are going to do it every year.  
Next vacation is Canada with the girls in July 2012.