This Happy Mother's Day

Today is Happy Mother's Day*.

It's the one day of the year I'm supposed to be allowed to sleep in and be showered with gifts. Right? 

While I knew I probably wasn't going to get to sleep in, I didn't think my 9-year-old would be the one to cut my rest short. Nathan who is usually my latest-riser, was way too excited about the gift he made for me, and woke up around 6am. I could hear him moving around his room, then shortly after, he came into my room to check the weather forecast so he could get dressed for the day. That's when I knew he wasn't going back to sleep. A few minutes later, he was back in my room, standing in front of me with bright eyes and a big grin on his face. He handed me his hand-drawn card and asked me to watch his Keynote presentation about how I was the "Best mom ever". It included animated flames engulfing a picture of monkeys. My mind was a little foggy at that point; I wasn't really sure how it all connected.

Next up was Caleb. He came home from school with a Mother's Day card and gift on Friday. I asked if he could give it to me on Sunday, he told me "but today is Happy Mother's Day!" and proceeded to open my gift for me. It was a beaded keychain he made in class but I can't show you what it looks like because he's taken it to be his own key to unlock things around the house. This morning, he insisted on celebrating by opening his own market stall, which must have been a last minute addition to the plans because Andrew immediately disappeared downstairs, scrambling to make wares for Caleb to sell. Yes, we had to buy my Mother's Day breakfast from Caleb's stall. I had yellow jelly and chocolate chip cookies to go along with my tea.

Mia quietly and contentedly observed as her big brothers gave me their gifts and waited until I sat down at church to give me a gift of her own - a big, loud cry letting me know that she's not going to sleep quietly in Andrew's arms this week. So we sat in the cry room instead. She was nice and quiet there.

*according to Caleb, today is not "Mother's Day", it's "Happy Mother's Day". 

Prenatal Yoga

I have about 3 weeks to go before Baby comes and as hard as it is to move around with my growing belly, aching back and swollen legs, I've been trying my hardest to make it to any yoga session I can get myself to. Sometimes I'm just too exhausted, and other times it's a timing issue. 

Lately though, I've cut it down to just one class - my prenatal class. It's low-impact and I don't feel so awkward because I'm not the only one struggling with my balance and shifting my belly trying to work into the poses. I feel like if I can make it to this class, at least I'm doing something good for my body and relaxing once a week.

Usually, Andrew can watch the boys while I go so it's a bit of an escape for me. But last week, Andrew had to work. A couple weeks before, I brought the boys along to the daddy class, even though Andrew had to work then, too, and they were so quiet and well behaved so I brought them along again. Even though they were relatively well-behaved the second time around, all I could hear the whole time was their whispering and shuffling. My instructor kept reassuring me that it was okay and they were fine but I couldn't get over it and I couldn't block their noise out of my head.

Now that we're getting down to the last days, I'm so glad I could just go to my class by myself again today because sometimes I just need to get away from it all and find some quietness inside my head.

Showered With Love

A few weeks ago, one of my good friends told us to save the date for a BBQ get together she was planning on having. We didn't hear about it for a while, but when the day finally came around, I was feeling pretty miserable and stressed out. We had just heard back from Toronto about Andrew's spot and I was so exhausted from all the pressures of having to decide whether to move back to Toronto that I was seriously thinking about thinking about taking a rain check on the BBQ. Andrew convinced me to go. At the very least, it would help me get my mind off of the decision for a while.

As we drove into the cul-de-sac, I realized that there were a lot of cars that I recognized. Little did I know, that BBQ was actually going to be a baby shower for me and Andrew had been in on the surprise all along. I was blown away.

My 3 South African friends had gone to great lengths to plan this surprise baby shower for me. They invited a bunch of my friends, some of whom they didn’t even know. They decorated my friend’s home with everything pink, and they put out a delicious spread for afternoon tea. I have no idea how they found the time to do all that because they are some of the busiest moms I know.

What I do know is that being surrounded by close friends will definitely put a smile on your face and melt away life’s stresses. And Andrew volunteered to bring the kids out to the park so we could have a child-free party, even though he had just come home from an overnight shift at the hospital, and was going in for another one that night.

I was so touched that all these women, most of them with young children at home, were able to come out and spend a few hours with me. I left the shower feeling incredibly loved, like everything was right in the world again. (But I also felt extremely guilty that I’d probably have to tell them we will be leaving very soon and they won’t even get to see this baby grow up.)

Life, lately

Last week, I took a break from blogging and it was honestly one of the best things I've done for myself in a long time. My goal for this month is to let go and as much as I love blogging, I had to show myself that this blog does not define me and it shouldn't take up all my time and energy.

I felt more free to use my time as I pleased, experimenting with new ideas and enjoying my boys. I didn't have to worry about having to come up with new content, or if there was something scheduled to post. It was liberating and I loved it. 

There were times when I would think, "Oh, this would be nice to put up on the blog" but then I'd have to force myself to let it go. 

Doing that - giving up blogging and Instagram for a week, gave me a bit of perspective. It isn't my job to blog or share photos, I don't get paid to write, but I do enjoy writing to share my stories and document our memories. While I'm not going to stick to a rigid blogging schedule anymore (because, let's face it, I was no good at that anyway), I will be back now and then. It might not be as frequent as before but I will be here. 

And if there are any humans out there reading this, I hope you will keep coming back once in a while and say "hi" because I'd love to get to know the people getting to know me and my family through this blog.

Good Saturday Morning

I just realized this didn't go up when it was supposed to. It's late now, but I figure I'd post it anyway.

It's a long-weekend here in Queensland and that means we didn't have to rush off to a soccer game this morning. For once, Andrew and I got to sleep in until 8:30, followed by a FaceTime chat with my sweet, chubby-cheeked nephew and a nice hot cup of tea. I wish all Saturday mornings could be like this.

I'm looking forward to spending some extra time with the boys and Andrew. We'll all be together for three full days and I fully intend to make it relaxing and awesome.

Have a good long weekend!

Happy Mother's Day

Our Mother's Day was unexpectedly full of activity. 

It all started off with Nathan chasing a monster out of my room and telling him in a not-so-quiet voice to "don't say anything. I don't want mommy to know what I'm doing. It's a secret." That made me giggle so I pretended not to hear and went to take a shower.

After church, we met up with some friends at Lone Pine and ended up watching the birds of prey show, the sheep dog show and the sheep shearing show before the boys were finally ready to leave. It was almost 2pm by then and I was starving (the boys had shared a hot dog before the first show). 

We met up with Andrew and another friend, had a huge late lunch. We had a couple hours until our dinner reservations (yes, we basically went from one meal to the next) so we headed to the city and played a game of bowling. 

And about a million games of ping pong. 

That involved a lot of smashing and running after the ball which was great for working off our lunch, but not so good for my already-dwindling energy levels.

Then it was time for dinner. 

And dessert that we brought home because we were way too full to enjoy them. 

Caleb fell asleep on the way home so Andrew suggested we keep the gifts until the morning. Extending Mother's Day celebrations for one more day is alright by me!

Hope all you moms out there had a beautiful Mother's Day. I sure did.

A Night Away

Sometimes a night away with some of your girlfriends is just what you need to relax and reset your perspective on life.

Changing Food Habits

Earlier in the month, I shared about why I chose to start eating clean as a way to be kinder to my body by not forcing it to digest foods it couldn’t actually tolerate. 

When we returned to Brisbane, I gave myself a couple weeks to get back into a routine of buying groceries and cooking again. Then, it was time to start putting my plan into action and start cleaning up my diet. 

I didn't want to completely eliminate all the foods I'm allergic to from my diet because I still wanted to be able to enjoy food when we go out, or have dinner at someone's house without causing too many inconveniences. I just had to be careful not to surpass my body's tolerance levels*. 

Plus, I'm pretty sure if I decided to quit all the offending foods cold turkey, I'd rebound back to eating them sooner or later. Changing food habits is a process that requires long-term commitment so I had to let it all happen slowly and naturally.

Aside from all the hidden ingredients in restaurant food, it's pretty easy to avoid all the major allergens. Things get a little more difficult when it comes to cooking at home because most of the food I'm used to cooking include at least one ingredient that I'm no longer supposed to eat. 

So over the past month, I've been taking small steps towards finding alternatives to most of my red meat and tomato-based recipes (both favourites in our home). I'm spending a lot of time scouring the internet for new recipes and a lot of time in the kitchen testing them out.

Along with changing the variety of food we get, we're being more conscious about where we get our foods. We now get about 90% of our produce from fresh food markets because their stock tends to be fresher and cheaper, and hopefully we'll start working more organic foods into our diet. 

I'm so thankful we have so many markets to choose from here in Brisbane! I found a live caterpillar in one of my veggies a while ago. It scared me half to death but that has to be a good sign my vegetables weren't covered in pesticides, right?

I'll be honest, sometimes it is downright tiring trying to plan ahead, because really, how many times a week can you eat chicken? And especially this week, I've been wondering if this change is actually helping my body because I've been coughing my lungs out and I don't feel like I'm healing any faster. But then there are days when I do slip up, and I feel the consequences almost immediately and that is enough to convince me that yes, I need to stick with this change.

*I have heard mixed reviews regarding training your body to build up tolerance for certain foods. The allergist I spoke with supports that idea while I have friends who warn that doing so causes inflammation in the gut. I need to learn more about all of this!

Living With Food Allergies

One of my goals for the month of March is to eat clean. The main reason for wanting to shift to a cleaner diet is because of all my food allergies and intolerances. For me, eating clean is not just about eating healthy foods; it's about eating foods that are healthy for my body.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always felt sick after eating. It wasn’t just because I was eating junk as some might suspect. I felt sick after eating food. Period.

Things got a little better over the years and for a while, I actually thought most of my issues were getting resolved. I was probably just getting better at ignoring the symptoms. Then, suddenly I couldn't ignore it anymore. My allergies got way out of control - not only was I feeling sick on the inside, but my skin was reacting to everything in the environment. I was miserable and exhausted all the time. I could literally feel the energy draining from my body every time it had to fight against some allergen I was exposed to. This was a pathetic way to live so I finally decided to do something about it.

I knew in order for my body to feel "normal" again, I'd have to make a lot of changes. But in order for me to do that, I needed to know exactly what to change.

I went for a skin prick test last October and the results were eye-opening. A lot of my suspicions were confirmed but many of the foods I ate regularly were also on that list. In fact, some of the foods were such a normal part of my diet I had to write the list down so I would remember to not eat them.

Allergies and diets became the centre of my focus and things like oral allergy syndrome, elimination diet and desensitization crept into my everyday conversations. However, I decided to hold off on making changes until after our trip home. It would've been too difficult to adhere to an elimination diet with all the Christmas meals, family gatherings and our old favourite restaurants to visit. Plus, it would be so unfair to anyone we visited to have to cater to my new dietary restrictions.

I did start paying more attention to what I was eating though. I noticed myself cutting down on things I wasn't supposed to eat and trying out vegetarian options that I would have previously overlooked for red meat dishes.

And that is how my journey into cleaner eating began.

Turning 28

Well this post is only a few weeks late!

I was so, so lucky to have celebrated my 28th birthday about four times with different groups of friends and my family back home in Toronto, and then a couple more times when we got back to Brisbane.

My final birthday celebration was a morning tea at a beautiful little garden cafe. We sat outside, I had a chai latte and a mimosa, and it gave me a chance to reflect on just how incredibly blessed my life has been.

This year is potentially our final year in Brisbane and Andrew's final year in med school. This will probably be my free-est year for a very long time and I intend to take full advantage of that. In the spirit of being brave, I'm adopting a "Just Do It"-esque approach to life this year.

Yes, I'll likely still over-think every single thing but hopefully in the end, I'll still convince myself to take bold steps and grow.

So here we go!

Weekend Recap

Soccer season is winding down. I can't believe the boys just played their second-last game! That also means it's time for coach appreciation. The team parents decided to get the coach and his wife a gift certificate to a fancy restaurant but I thought it'd be nice for him to get something from the boys as well.  I didn't want to do anything too involved though as we're quite limited on time.

So while I was baking a cake for the P&F Cafe, I came up with a brilliant solution. We could just buy a soccer ball, write thank you, our team name and get all the boys to sign their names! Easy and thoughtful.

I have never seen a group of boys so interested and excited about a gift that wasn't for them.

After soccer practice, we raced home to get our water gear and down to South Bank to register for the Bridge 2 Brisbane race. I had absent-mindedly put it off until it was too late and the registration deadline had passed. Luckily, Andrew called the race office (many times) and finally learned we could sign up at the office before noon.

Since we had to head to South Bank anyway, we decided to let the boys have a play at the beach. The weather's been so hot and sunny lately. The last day of winter felt nothing like winter at all. It's like someone flipped the switch and suddenly it was summer already.

The boys had a nice cool-down in the water while I sat under a tree with our stuff. We took the boys on the City Hopper for a little ride on the river. Caleb's become so obsessed with taking public transportation lately, so we brought him for a boat ride because it happened to be approaching the stop as we were there, and because it was free.

Our Sunday was filled with more rides (on the bus) as we made our way to the Bridge2Brisbane starting line. We met up with some teachers and families from the school and began our 5km walk.

It didn't occur to me until Andrew mentioned that this was my second 5km race in 8 days. I feel a little silly saying "race" because I didn't really try to get to the finish line before anyone else, or by a certain time, but that's what it was. 

Walking the Bridge2Brisbane was much harder than what I did last week because this time I was pushing a stroller in the blazing hot sun, not really knowing where the finish line was. Despite all that,  I enjoyed it anyway because I was out getting exercise with Andrew and the boys (even though Nathan ran ahead with his buddies) and we were supporting Nathan's friend.

Becoming An Early Bird

I've always been a night owl. I can stay up late into the wee hours of the morning, no problem. All nighters used to be my thing.

But I'm getting old and I'm realizing that if I can wake up before the boys do, I can be so much more productive and I'm in a better mood for the rest of the day.

There's also the benefit of working in natural sunlight.

Unfortunately, that means I have to give up my precious night time me-time, which is when I usually do my work and scrapbooking. But let's face it, most days, I'm mentally, physically and creatively exhausted by the time the boys are in bed so I just waste my night in front of the computer.

Making this transition means I'll be catching up on lost sleep for the next little while so productivity might drop before it picks up again but I'm excited for this new routine.

So what about you? Are you an early bird or a night owl?

Chasing Down The Party

I never thought I'd say this, but I did it! Or rather, I should say we did it! A few of my friends and I did the Puma Glow Run 5K today.

We arrived a little before the start, got all geared up and decked out in glow necklaces and bracelets and joined in the fun. They had DJs playing music, getting us all pumped up for the run. 

A short while later, we were at the starting line. It took a little longer than I had expected for them to get the waves going. They did smaller waves to space people out so that if they wanted to stop at the dance stations, it wouldn't get too crowded. 

It's a lot different running with people I've never run with. It was harder to find my own pace because I felt like I had to match theirs at the same time, but I think we did okay. Next time, I'm definitely not bringing my jacket or my keys. Or I'll have to invest in an arm pocket because having something swinging around while I run is no good.

Ahh the beautiful finish line.

It was too hard to get a good picture of us in the dark so this is me, finally home with a different t-shirt for tomorrow draped over my mirror, ready for an early start and another long day.

It was a good run tonight. It was lovely to have friends to go with and I'm looking forward to the next one!

Who's Running?

This is the shadow of some crazy girl who signed up for the Glow Run 5K that's happening this coming weekend.

This is the same girl who had her mom write a note to excuse her from running the 400m and 800m in elementary school because her sad, weak asthmatic lungs just couldn't handle it. No joke.

I'm going to need all the help I can get because as of yesterday, I could barely make it 500m without wanting to keel over.

Any tips for a pre-runner?

Corals and Seashells

My sister came back from her trip up north with quite the impressive collection of shells and coral. She has a few really cool pieces, like that shell on the top right is really spiky! I bet her students are going to like this collection.

I can't wait to take the boys up north again. I would really love to see the Great Barrier Reef before our time in Australia is up.

While she was out collecting shells and corals, I collected a whole bunch of books for her classroom. There's going to be a lot of learning going on in her grade 5 classroom!

June: Currently

Looking forward to having two weeks off with the boys, followed by a four-week visit from my family.

Staring at the hot mess that is the boys' upstairs play room, wondering how on earth I'll get it cleaned up in time for my sister to stay in there.

Wishing the Lego situation would sort itself out. I can't believe I'm still working on putting the sets back together!

Dusting off my apple pie recipe. It's cold and I need some warm, homemade comfort food.

Hoping the rock-hard vegetable shortening I bought today will work with my recipe. Why don't they have Crisco here?

Spending more time connecting with people, less time on the computer.

Waking up in the middle of the night as Caleb's developed this habit of wandering into my room and climbing under the covers with me at 3am.

Turning the central heating on finally because it's just a little too cold at night.

Enjoying the pile of photos on my desk. If only I had a bit more time to catch up on my Project Life!

Walks With Caleb

For the past few months years decade, I've been looking for a way to tear myself away from all the work I have to do for a few minutes of fresh air (and, okay let's face it, exercise).

I used to convince myself that carrying a week's worth of groceries to the car and running around after an active toddler could also be considered weight training and cardiovascular exercise. Then, I looked around and saw moms who also have multiple children, or worse, moms of newborns with bodies like those of professional triathletes and realized how severely wrong I was.

I'm constantly thinking of ways I can squeeze a little bit of exercise into my daily routine, but every single time, I also come up with a way around it.

Yesterday, it was dinner. It took way too long to prepare dinner and by the time it was remotely close to being ready, the sun had already set and I don't walk outside alone anymore.

Before that, I was going to walk out to the mailbox to post some mail, but it was easier to just swing by the post office after dropping Nathan off at school.

And before that, I was going to... well, you get the point.

Well, today, I decided to break the cycle.

After coming home from Caleb's last swimming lesson for the term, I decided not to let myself off with the excuse that kicking around the pool for half an hour with Caleb could be considered exercise for the day. Instead, I asked Caleb he if would like to go for a walk, and as always, he said 'yes'.

We got our shoes on, Caleb hopped onto his scooter and we set off.

Our walks usually consist of me walking and him riding on his scooter, with me steering and pulling him along because he hasn't figured out how to steer the thing. It's a little inconvenient, but at the same time, it could be so much worse - I could be taller. So I thanked God that I am as short as I am and kept walking.

We went up and down Brisbane's hilly terrain, walked on grass and on the street (apparently Brisbane doesn't believe in long stretches of sidewalk) and eventually we made it home.

It wasn't a very long walk, but it's a start and sometimes a little goes a long way.

Mother's Day 2013

I'm not much of a sleep-in and have breakfast in bed person, especially when I'm at home, so when I woke up at 7 and all the boys were still sleeping, I hopped out of bed and straight into the shower. That's my idea of the perfect way to start off my day; a peaceful, un-rushed hot shower.

The boys started to wake up a little after I stepped out of the shower. When Nathan got up, he ran straight for his playroom. About 10 minutes later, he emerged with this handmade card for me. I absolutely don't mind that he waited until literally the very last minute to make it. I like knowing he can write thoughtful notes on the fly.

We drove down to Mt. Tamborine for a lovely afternoon. Our first stop was the Tamborine Mountain Country Markets. It's been a really long time since we've strolled through any markets. It was a little chilly up on the mountain, and soggy from the rain but the air was nice and fresh.

Excuse the pair in the background. This would've been a nice photo, just bad timing!

Next stop was this open area on the side of the road with an awesome view. I can't even begin to explain how breath-taking it is there. You just have to see it for yourself.

I love this shot of the boys.

Not even a minute after Andrew snapped this photo of us, it started to rain and the entire view was hidden behind a veil of mist. We were so lucky.

We were also lucky enough to get into the Bavarian Grill Haus again without a reservation, and the wait wasn't too long either! Andrew's been wanting to go back for ages. Look at Caleb, all ready to dig in!

The weather cleared up as we were eating, so we made our way to our next and final stop: O'Reilly's.

The road Apple Maps told us to take was blocked with a "Road Closed" sign. There had been a landslip there so we took a detour.

The views on the way were spectacular. That's the coast in the distance, all dotted with high-rises. Eventually, we arrived at the winery. They have a dessert wine that I had tried a couple years back and I've been meaning to get us a bottle. It's been a long wait, but Andrew made it happen (times three).

We took a stroll along the vineyards and by the water before piling back into the car for the ride home.

It was a happy Mother's Day indeed.