No Internet For You!

Tomorrow is the big day.

MOVING DAY.


It's going to be manic to say the least. What kind of dickhead books the removalist for 7am anyway? Oh, wait. That would be me...

Balls.

Did I mention that Mr Bond is working on Moving Day?

Double Balls.

Or maybe minus balls if we want to get technical.

Oh, and it's invoicing and pay run day today too.

Fark.

So today, in between overwhelmed meltdowns, I will be frantically packing the 80% of the house I have not been able to pack until now, thankfully with the help of my mum, who is going to suffer the full brunt of my delirious, random ramblings.

I must remember to send her some flowers once we get settled.

Anyway, the whole purpose of this post was to let you know that I have made the appropriate arrangements to have all of our utilities etc connected and most will have little to no downtime, with the exception of our Internet, which I was, until yesterday, blissfully unaware would not be available until at least next week.

How I am going to keep you all updated with the progress of our move now?!?

An exceptionally first world problem I know, but unsettling none the less.

It's probably a good thing though since I should have my full brain capacity back by then and you will be spared any more of my incoherent nonsense!

You know you are excited about my return, if only to find out what the hell this is.



On that note, have a great weekend and I will see you all when I am rebooted x

Goodbye Little Home

I've made my fair share of complaints about our home since starting this blog. The lack of space, the too close for comfort neighbours, and of course, my total disdain for my kitchen. But now that it is time for us to move on to bigger and better things I can't help but feel a little sentimental. There are a lot of wonderful memories in this home. 

Our first home. 

Before

After

I Can't Believe I Heart My Pregnant Body (We Heart It - I Heart My Body 2012)

A lot can change in 12 months. For last years I Heart My Body campaign, I was physically fit and learning to embrace my appearance for what it truly was - healthy, strong, beautiful. I wasn't sure if I would participate again this year, I saw some of the negative responses from people and I was saddened that some misunderstood the purpose of the campaign. It was a promotion and celebration of body love, yes, but it was also a chance to show each other what REAL women look like. 

Something that we just don't get the opportunity to see very often.

I decided to remove the post earlier this year because those few opinions were enough to make me feel vulnerable about having pictures of myself in my underwear 'out there'. 

I also felt that I had got what I needed out of it. I had shown real images of me after becoming a mother and what that looked like. I had made some small dent in the countless number of photoshopped and surgically enhanced images we have come to accept as normal and I had felt liberated by publishing the images when I ordinarily baulk  at the idea of wearing a bikini at the beach in front of my closest friends. Now, I regret taking the post down because it was an important reminder to me that what your mind perceives is not always an accurate reflection and most importantly, it's such a small part of who I am.

This year, I have a different focus. 

This year, I love my body for what it is capable of. 

We're Gonna Need A Bigger Bed

I have known this day would come but I was doing my best to ignore it while we were living in Limbo Land not knowing exactly where we might be living when Baby Bond arrived, well that has been my excuse anyway.

But the time has come, I can't avoid it any longer. 

Skye is going to need a Big Girl Bed.

Yes, at almost 3 years old, Skye is still sleeping in her cot. I never meant for her to stay there that long, but through a combination of lack of space, a desire to avoid too many changes too quickly and lets face it, laziness on my part because the cot keeps her trapped until I say she can get out, she is still in there.

Now that we have sold the house and will be moving into a rental property in a matter of weeks, I feel that now is as good a time as any for her to make the transition. That and the fact that there is another little person due to arrive in less than 2 months who is going to need somewhere to sleep! 

My Guardian Angel Saved Me $5,000

This time last week I was suffering from the beginnings of pneumonia, we were still awaiting confirmation of contracts exchanging on our house and Mr Bond's work ute was causing all kinds of grief with troublesome clutch issues. Definitely not a week I would want to feature in any highlights reel and certainly not a time I was giving Guardian Angel's much credit. 

Last Friday, at the end of said very long week we had all been out together talking to builders and tagging along while Mr Bond did a bit of quoting. On the way home Skye had fallen asleep (as usual) so we pulled into the driveway and left the car running in the hope she would stay that way. 

As I went to collect the mail, I heard Mr Bond close his car door and then the sound of offended crying coming from the back seat as Skye had been rudely woken from her slumber. I dashed back to her and sat the mail on the back of the ute while I got her out and settled her inside with "her shows". In the meantime, Mr Bond had dashed past me saying that he had to leave to get to his next appointment, jumped in the car and took off down the road. 

Pregnancy Glow My Arse

Up until now I haven't had it too bad as far as pregnancy ailments go. While I would say I had it much easier with Skye's pregnancy, my only real complaints would be the heartburn, sore back and excessive grunting everytime I get up.

I would liken my grace to that of an upside down turtle, but really it's to be expected given I am 31 weeks along.

That all changed quite dramatically last weekend when Skye was kind enough to share her cold with me by coughing directly into my mouth.

Lovely.

I knew it was inevitable that I would end up sick, but didn't expect to be coughing by that afternoon. I knew I was feeling rotten but if you hear someone in their third trimester complaining about feeling tired, sore and short of breath you aren't likely to take it too seriously.

I didn't take it too seriously either until I had a coughing fit so bad I managed to pull a muscle in my stomach.

Ouch, that's a real bastard every time I have to move now.

Deciding I needed to confirm this was just a standard cough combined with a slightly sooky pregnant lady, I made an appointment to see the doctor. I was more concerned about getting Skye checked since she had been complaining about her ears aching.

Once we saw the doctor he told me that Skye was fine and would be better on her own soon. Me, not so much. Turns out I have a chest infection so bad he is treating it as pneumonia.

Oops.

Any wonder I was feeling so shit.

Just so you get a really good understanding of how not glowing I am, here is how I looked right after I got home from the doctors.




For the record, I am wearing foundation and mascara.

Yikes!

The Simpsons Are Not The Ideal Parenting Tool

Remember the episode of The Simpson's where Reverend Lovejoy's daughter, Jessica, comes home, steals the Collection Plate money and leaves Bart to take the blame?

Image Credit

Ok, so if you're not an obsessive fan like me, this should still make sense.

And Just Like That, Our House Is Sold

Last week we accepted an offer on our house, the first and only offer we have received since putting our house on the market at the beginning of August. Not a bad result in our suburb where houses can and do sit for over 12 months before the right buyer comes along. We didn’t even try to get more money out of them, mostly because their offer was so close to our asking price we didn’t think it was necessary, but also because the whole thing just felt so ‘meant to be’ that I didn’t want to mess around.

Just when we had decided that we weren’t getting any interest and needed to reassess.

Why Is It So Depressing To Be A Mother?

It's pretty common in the blogosphere that a theme or trend on posts will emerge, sometimes the influences are seasonal like gift ideas before Christmas or Summer weight loss journey's. Sometimes it is due to a current event or major news story. Other times it relates to underlying issues within society, an indication that something is wrong.

Image Credit

Lately I have seen a great many posts relating to Depression. Stories of women struggling, feeling lost and overwhelmed by the task of motherhood. Everyday I see another post about a mother beginning a course of anti-depressants or seeking counselling to help them overcome these issues. Thank God we have these options available to us to allow these mothers the opportunity to enjoy their children without being clouded by these feelings. A right we all have as parents. 

But it does concern me. 

It concerns me that the need for these tools seems to be increasing. What is causing mothers to be so depressed? Has it always been this way and we are just a generation more comfortable with acknowledging things are not perfect, or is it simply harder to be a Stay At Home Parent now? From my perspective, I believe that part of the issue lies in the archaic attitude that being a Stay At Home Parent does not constitute work.

Exercise in Pregnancy

During my pregnancy with Skye I ceased all forms of exercise with the exception of walking, as instructed by my then doctor, who was of the opinion that despite my existing level of fitness, I was to take part in nothing more than gentle walking in my "delicate condition". As it was my first pregnancy I was happy to follow her advice and did my utmost to ensure that I did nothing strenuous (well except for that one time when I simply had to move a sofa bed at about 37 weeks), but I did find it frustrating, especially as my doctor actually participated in many of the classes with me and was well aware of what I could handle.

At Boot Camp in between pregnancies