Firstly i just have to say... I LOVE BRISBANE!!... the weather today is awesome.... so why am i inside?? lol

It's all quiet here at home. The twins got picked up yesterday by their Dad for the holidays. They're staying with his sister here in Brissy, so that should be fun for them. Dylan is having his afternoon nap, although i'm sure I can hear playing noises coming from his room. And Lindsay just got dropped off at the airport, he's off to Victoria for a month. So it's just Dylan & I until Thursday when my sister inlaw and her youngest boy ( she has six kids) come for a holiday.  I can't wait, i'm looking forward to having some adult company and there's talk of going to Australia Zoo. So Excited!

Healthwise, i'm feeling MUCH BETTER... yay!! After two rounds of blood tests and discussions on Ross river fever, Glandular fever, Lymphoma, Bahma river virus, Cytomegalovirus it was found that I have Parvovirus B19!  I'm happy I know what it is and that it's nothing too bad. Parvovirus is a common childhood ilness that is also called "slap cheek". Ofcourse adults cop it worse. I must not have got it as a kid... and i remember the twins getting it in prep, so it's funny I didn't get it then. I guess I picked it up when I stayed overnight in hospital with Meeka when she got her tonsils out, cos we seriously havent left the house since then and that was three weeks ago now... Nevermind, i think i'm over the worst of it, still get tired and a little achy but feeling really good. I think the beautiful weather helps!

Wish everyone happy and safe holidays! Can't wait to tell you all about mine and to read about yours!

Much Love Tracey xox

I just want to feel better and happy, it's spring and there's beauitful weather and I just feel crappy.

After feeling crook and getting anti biotics for my "sinus infection" and then having a bad reaction to them, I broke out in an itchy rash all over on Thursday. I  laughed and thought it was Karma because earlier that day I was enquiring into how to make a voodoo doll so I could stab the crap out of my ex... oh well... thought it might make me feel better... lol... but no, I got a horrid rash instead.

So off to the Docs again on Sat because nothing was stopping the itch and i also had achy knees and I still have al ump on my neck below my ear. So he tells me it could be one of three things... lymphoma... glandular fever or... ross river fever...

What next? So I get bloods taken and should find out mon or tue what the hell is wrong with me. Now my whole body aches, my fingers, hands, wrists, neck, feet, toes but especially my knees and I have another lump just behind my ear lobe. I just feel grose. I've been reading info on all three things and i feel like my symptoms are most likely ross river... well i kinda hope thats all it is.

Thank goodness Meeka goes back to school tommorrow. Dylan gets his picture taken tommorrow too with daycare, so i'm looking forward to that... love pictures. And thank goodness hubby is home... yay. It's only for a week though, then he goes for a month.

Wishing life was easy... Love T xox

So i've had Meeka at home with me for the past two weeks because she got her tonsils out, she's doing really well and wil be fine to go back to School next week.

I got a sinus infection last week and I went to the doctors because I was feeling really dizzy too. So they give me anti biotics and I get worse... much worse. I started feeling nauseas and off my food and dizzy and had diarhoea too. I started feeling a bit better on the weekend and my cousin invited us over for dinner. So we get there and spend and hour or so chatting before dinner is served... a beautiful roast... and i take three bites and feel like i'm gonna be sick. So they ofered to have the twins for the night because Lindsay is away and I go home to bed with Dylan. So I go to the doctor first thing monday and it turns out that iv'd had a reaction to the anti biotics. Can you believe it? I still don't feel 100% but since stopping them i feel heaps better.

And the yesterday I asked the twins dad to start paying the full amount of child support because he's only paying a third of what he should and we're really struggling at the moment. And what can I say, it went down like a lead balloon. He rang at five last night, no happy and could barely speak he was that angry he didn't know what to say.

So the conversation went along the lines of... well if i pay that amount i may as well have the kids... and ... when will it be my turn to have them anyway... So i'm freking out because I wan't expecting that to be the topic but rather a financial negotiation.

Then i entertain his idea of having the kids and ask how that wuould work considering he's working in the mines and lives an hour out of Perth. He then explains how he'll get a job in town and drive the kids 40 min into town and back every day. He also mentioned splitting the twins... unreal man... I laughed and sayed... oh yeah, how would you break that to the other one? My take on the whole situation is that he's not happy i've asked him for the correct amount of child support and now he's trying to worm his way out of it by taking the kids? So i've spent today calling the CSA and the Family relationship advice line... etc I haven't rung legal aid yet but i will because he's coming to brisbane to take the kids to his sisters place for the holidays. Which is next friday. I little worried he may take the kids back to Perth and we don't have any court orders to say who the kids live with. I'm as angry as cos I feel like i'm being punished with the threat of him taking the kids all because I asked him to step up and pay the whole amount for child support. Not right in my eyes. Considereing he makes 120 grand a year.... arrrrr

Meeka gets her tonsils and adnoids out tommorrow after lunch. We have an over night stay in hospital which i'm so not looking forwar to. This will be her sixth op, so we know the drill by now. Hopefully i'll get a lounge chair to sleep in, her last op i got to sleep in a waiting room chair and ended up having to go to the ciropractor to fix my neck & back.

I'm a little scared, only because she got septisemia after she got her kidney out, but they didn't know until over ten hours later. She was only showing a few of the signs and didn't get a fever until they called the surgeon back in at 10 pm. I was terrified, because she was pale and wouldn't wake up and wasn't letting out fluid. And they moved her into a room on her own close to the nurses station...  But once she got the fever they were sure they knew what was wrong and put her on anti biotics and she picked up after that.

Okay, now my stomach is in knots thinking about it, just keep telling myself that this is a completely different situation and she will be fine, it's only her tonsils for goodness sakes... But they're just so huge, they nearly touch her dangly thing and they've told me the main worry is post op bleeding. Okay, that's it i'm going to go and have a cuppa now and play the xbox (starwars lego) to take my mind off it. I'll let you know how she goes. She get's two weeks off school and i've stocked up on the ice blocks, pain stop, jelly, custard etc ettc

Love you guys

Trace xox

Since my last blog, geez didn't realise it had been so long.Have had soo much happening though.

The move from Perh to Brissy went kinda smoothly, three weeks in a hotel room in the city with three kids wasn't so fun, mainly because it rained the whole time...lol We managed though. We just love it here, there is so much for the family to do and the parks are awesome. Only had one box go missing in the move which had the dvd recorder and surroung sound in it. Replaceable, so didn't care too much!

Connor has started playing rugby and is doing really well. He's got man of the match twice this season!

Meeka has taken up the violin and might i say it definately sounds better than the damn recorder... lol No sport for her yet, she's got massive tonsils that makes it really hard for he to breath, poor little chook. But they're coming out this friday, so once she's all healed we'll get back into swimming or something.

Dylan has had his second birthday, a rather loy key event. He is such a cheeky little thing and he cracks me up every day.  I hope to start toilet training him soon. Now that winter is nearly over and the weather is a bit better for it.

I've been looking after my cousins little boy Jack whos six months old and both Dylan and I have really enjoyed having him. Dylan has grown up with having jack around and behaves like a big boy now. It's so cute, he even tries to put Jack's dummy back in when he needs it.

Lindsay has been away heaps and that's the main reason i haven't had much time to myself. He goes away for most of Sept and then the whole of Oct too. I keep dreaming of going to Bali or somewhere alone on a holiday where I can read a book or just sleep without being disturbed. The whole playing Mum and Dad thing is kinda wearing thin. But it look like Lindsay will stay in the army until Dylan starts school. So i'll just have to suck it up until then.

Hope you're all well in Minti Land, iv'e been dropping in here and there to check in but will be making more of an effort now and check the files for toilet training tips. Take care T xx

 

Firstly merry christmas! For us here we aren't really celebrating xmas until we get to Brissie. We didn't see the point, cos it's all getting packed up anyway on the 27th and the twins are having xmas with their dad. Before he came to get them we all went dowm the beach and had dinner while the sune went down. It was really nice and it was Dylan's first time at the beach. He loved it... so will be doing it more often when we get to the sunshine state.

This will probably be my last blog for a month because we stat in a hotel until 17th Jan when we move into our new place. We are all very excited but sad at the same time because we will miss all our gorgeous friends here in Perth. And hubby will miss his family too. Well, I guess that's it then! Hope you all have a safe and happy xmas. Hope to catch up with you all in the new year.

Love to all... Big hugs & kisses from Tracey XXXOOO

Hi All, well I haven't even bothered putting up the xmas tree and hubby and i wrapped the pressies yesterday which are packed and ready to come with us on the plane. The twins will be with there dad for xmas and up until we leave on 29th Dec. So it will be just us and dylan! So i'm busy cleaning the house and getting everything in order. We'll have xmas when we get to brissy in the hotel. We are all so very excited about the move. I'm just not sure how to keep dylan happy on a plane for 5 hours. Any suggestions on how to keep a 16 month old happy on a plane? Oh...  my anxiety levels hit the roof just thinking about it... lol, i keep telling myself, it's only five hours...

Hiya girls,  I just wanted to say a big hello to all my gorgeous minti friends. I haven't checked out, just been really busy. And i have a little confession... i found facebook, so i've been having a hoot of a time finding and catching up with old friends. However, don't fret pets, it does not replace minti. I still have questions and enjoy reading the advice here. You can't go asking any crazy questions like "omg my daughter has hair down there...what am i gonna do?' on too many other sites. That's why I love minti, as i don't have my own mother to ask these questions, instead i have hundreds of mothers with awesome advice i value. So I guess i want to say thank you to all you gorgeous people who put yourselves out there trying to help and support others. How does that saying go... Many minds?

 

Our gorgeous little Beagle, Albie, died on Saturday from a snake bite. The twins were away with their Dad while it happened so we broke the news to them on Sunday. The poor little souls were absolutely guttered, as were we. It made it harder for them because they didn't get to say goodbye and as fate would have it, this is our second Beagle to be killed by a snake in two years ( at two seperate houses). So, we have all been crying most of the weekend at the loss of our little Albie and what makes it harder is that Dylan keeps pointing outside and saying Albie, the only word he knows, and keeps looking for him.

But that's not all, Dylan has had a runny nose and cough all week and today we noticed his two bottom molars are just bulging like they're gonna explode and the poor little fella has just been screaming all day. Panadol & bonjella didn't even knock the edge off his pain, so due to the public hol we trotted off up to the Hospital to get him checked out and it turns out he has both ears about to pop. They sent us home with some strong pain relief and told me to go to my doc tommorrow.

So kids, happy holidays.... Iv'e just about had it.

Sorry, i'm having a winge. Have been doing a bit of that lately. Before I start I just want to say that Dylan is sick and has a runny nose and cough so he's not a happy bot atm. The twins are great, i just went to the school open night and checked out the work they've done this year and how they have improved. So, apart for the baby, all is good at home, and hubby is home too, so that helps.

Now to my winge. You know my Nana died a few weeks ago and my mum died nine years ago. Well, I have kept her ashes all this time and it was requested by the family that i hand over mum's ashes so they can be put with nana. Okay, good, finally a desicion had been made on what to do with mum and finally we will have a place to visit on those um special? days.  Before Nana's funeral we all went up to the crematorium and decided where to put the plaque, we then found out we could get a headstone and put both on there together with the children of each mother having a side each for there epithaph. So we all agreed that this would be what everyone including nana would have wanted. Paid  and signed for. Now my two sisters and myself have chosen what we want for our mother and passed it on to our uncle so he can see what we have done and get his side sorted. This morning, we all get an email stating he has decided what he's putting for his mother and sister and that our comments would be valued but he would not change what he wanted. I explained to him that we respect he will decide what he wants for his mother and he should do the same in return for us. Well, that went down like a lead balloon. And i'm sure we'll see a grown man have mantrum ( man tantrum) in a few days when he finds out we have already told the engravers what's to be put on our side and he has absolutely no say in it.

It may sound like we're being mean, but this man had our nana take care of his dying wife for 14 years, yep, she sold her house and moved in with him and his four kids and nursed his wife so he could continue working. 14 years later he put his wife in a nursing home, married a new wife then kicked nana out the house. Instead of putting the new place in her name, as she had put her life savings in to an extention on his place to accomodate herslf while she played live in nurse, maid, cook, nanny etc. He put her unit in his own name, meaning that when nana died, he would get the whole lot, leaving his sister with nothing. Now, you may be shocked that this man is already quite wealthy, yet still want's more. In the past he has argued with my aunty, and put all his kids off side when he re married an absolute cow. And now, he has picked an argument trying to tell us how he will be doing things regarding our mother...well, he's got a rude shock coming when he realised he's messed with the wrong sisters. For once he will NOT be getting his own way and I wish I could be there to see his face when the bird from the crem tells him it has already been decided what will be written for our mum, and he will have to decide what to write for his mother only.

Right, good thanks, it's out now. We are strong and we'll get through this. If iv'e learnt anything, it's that I will plan my own funeral down to the flowers, so no one will have to stress or argue over anything. T xx