Holidays Finally! And we're having a ...!

The last couple of weeks have been busy ... School Christmas concerts, Charlie and Scout's birthday, our gender reveal, chrissy shopping, taking the kids to different Christmas shows and events, not to mention working our tails off in our respective jobs.  The heat is also turning up outside so bottom line is ... I'm tired and so relieved to be able to finally get off the merry-go-round and have a break for a bit!  I have pretty much done the bare minimum in terms of Christmas preparations this year.  No baking or chutney making.  No advent calender.  We didn't even decorate the outside of the house.  We gave the girls the Christmas tree box and just let them do what they liked with it, which actually turned out pretty good (although alittle heavy on the tinsel!!).  I love the ornaments they chose to use ;)

                       

Apart from just being tired, the other reason we haven't really gotten into the spirit of things is because this will be the first year the girls won't be with us.  They are spending it with their dad in Queensland so we are dropping them off to their Aunty at the airport this afternoon.  I have mixed feelings about this.  Christmas really is all about the kids so it will be a bit weird to wake up to a quiet empty house without them on Christmas morning, but I'm also not about to complain about having some time on our own together :). So since this will also be the last time we will be kid free (ever!) we have booked a hotel in the city for xmas eve and I'm looking forward to wandering the streets listening to carols and looking at the lights and christmas displays in the shop windows and just doing whatever we feel like without having to worry about the little ones :). 

On the baby front, I am now a very merry 25 weeks pregnant!  Crazy! 

                       

And I can finally say that our gender reveal last weekend was lovely :).  There was only a few people who couldn't make it (because let's face it ... it's a bad time of year to be rescheduling a celebration at the last minute!) but it went off really well and we felt very loved.  It is a rare thing to get both sides of Scout's family together at the same time but we pulled it off and I'm so glad they could all be there for it.  Especially Scout's grandparents who are both quite unwell generally but came along anyway.  People took photos and filmed it for us and I honestly can't rewatch it without tearing up every time (being the pregnant sap that I've become!).  

                       

So it appears there will be a bit more pink joining our little family!  We're very excited :). I felt alittle disappointed for Scout because I know how badly she was hoping for a son but I think those pink balloons that floated past her car the day before helped to convince her there is a special reason we are having a little girl and we both just feel so blessed :)

Anyway, I need to pack a bag and sort out the girls and animals before we leave for the airport!   Merry Christmas everyone, and if I don't post again this year ... I hope you all have a very happy new year x

Quick catch up

I often think about things I want to blog but right now the time and energy seems hard to come by. I have one week left till I get time off for Christmas holidays and it can't come soon enough! Yesterday was Charlie's birthday. She turned 9! Crazy! We bought her a Billy cart which she put together herself and she's been riding it (and crashing it) ever since :). Jazzy has been a handful just in keeping her fed, entertained and relatively happy. Some days she seems like 3 year old and other days she's bordering on teen behavior. Together, the girls now fight ALOT. Their interests and abilities are becoming increasingly different with Charlie wanting to do her own thing and Jazzy wanting her to still be her constant playmate. It will be interesting to see how a baby changes the dynamics in the house.

Our cancelled BBQ will finally take place tomorrow :)  I'm looking forward to it but tired and will no doubt be a bit stressed trying to pull it all together tomorrow. Scout is nervous about finding out the baby's sex lol. Either way it will be interesting!

I feel baby's movements more and more each day. Both the girls have also felt baby now but I think they are alittle underwhelmed by how subtle the movement still is at the moment on the outside. Hopefully they'll start finding it a bit more exciting in another month or two.

Sleep is still a problem (mostly because of hayfever) but I've pretty much accepted that that's how things will be now. My hips get very sore and I can't figure out how to get comfy with all the big pillows so I have actually resorted to using just one regular pillow and one of the kids pillow pets which is small enough to reposition easily when I roll.  

Anyway I have heaps more to write about but lots to do right now so it will have to wait till after the reveal :).  Hopefully everything goes well tomorrow.  It's going to be a big day!

Ps.  Scout just got back from a driving lesson with a student and is freaking out because in the middle of the lesson a big clear bag filled with pink balloons randomly floated right down in front of her car and then floated away again!  She's pretty much convinced now that we are having a girl!