School Holiday Fun

I'm trying to make sure we do at least 1 thing every day to have fun these school holidays. These photos are of us at the beach late afternoon, we just wanted to get out of the house for an hour so we went to have a play at the park. The boys were sitting on top of the hill and then rolling down.
Joel rolling down the hill
Cody crashing at the bottom of the hill

Joel and Cody having a break

My three boys, Andy was in his sling helping me take the photos

Balancing

We also went to CRAZY DAY at forster on thursday.

So much fun and I look forward to it every year. Basically its where all the local shops have massive sales, so the surf shops, nick nack shops, all of them have specials and mark downs that are CRAZY!!! They also have street buskers and street stalls, its a bit of a carnival atmosphere and lots of fun. All the shop keepers dress up and have a 'theme' for their shop, from a movie to a year in history to famous people, even a christmas in July theme. I ended up going CRAZY and shopping up a storm. I hit the surf shops for Cody and Joel and picked up some hoodies, board shorts, t shirts and going out shirts.

For me I picked up some bargins. I got a few dressy tops for a ridiculous 10 buck each reduced from $49 and a summer dress which is nice and flowy and great for summer- so looknig forward to summer again at the beach, a bit different than sitting at westmead.

I also got my fav perfume. Its the DKNY delicious green apple one. So yummy, but wait for it, I got 4 lots for 49 bucks, yep the real deal for a third of the price. they are normally about $99 each, saved a mint and am so happy. I picked up a few other bits and pieces like a little money box for Andy with his name on it, a broncos clock for Joel to go with his birthday presents and a broncos wallet. A filo frame thingy that was $5, it basically hold the kids art works and stuff and you can swap them around and store them at the back of the frame.

So all in all it was a pretty good day shopping but thats not all my biggest purchase was a

CARAVAN!!!!!!!

I pick it up on thursday but dont get too excited for me, its an old one and we are using it as a bedroom for Cody. Saves extending to the house, its on wheels so no council approval needed...YAY

Journal Update

I haven't done a proper journal update since Andy's birth story so I thought I'd update whats been happening in my life.

Im going to be an Aunty again. Yep. Both my brothers partners are expecting baby's.

Adams baby is due on the 14th of January 2009. This is his first baby. They have been trying for years with no luck so its great news for them to finally have a baby. Adam will make a great dad, he is great with all his nephews especially his special bond with Cody and Joel. Its so cute when he rings up and talks about baby stuff. He even went to the parents and baby's expo and found the new Modern Coth Nappys which he thought were very cool. He was so surprised at the cost of prams, cots etc- welcome to my world. This is only the beginning hahahaha.

Nathan's baby is due at the same time. This will be his 4th baby. He has Hayley who is 8yrs old, Oskar is 4 yrs old, his step daughter Danni is 3yrs old and now this one. My guess it will come early, Rachel was very sick with her other pregnancies so Im thinking it will be here before christmas. Nathan has a cool job, one that he enjoys, I'm really proud of him as he has been a very hard worker since he was 16yrs old and has never been without a job. This job even sees him going overseas.
My MS- I hate the fact that I now have this label. Ive started my injections which I have once a week and they make me feel very sick the day I have them. Its horrible but I guess Ive gotta do what Ive gotta do. My eye sight started to go on me the other week, not a good sign, its ok now thank goodness. Other than that it affects my legs and arms and I hate the pins and needles but its manageable. I've joined the local MS support group which is a fantastic little group of people. I look forward to going once a month just for the social outlet. Im also getting someone to come in and help me with stuff around the house which is a huge relief. It means I can concentrate on mummy duties.

My boys- Cody and Joel just got their school reports back. Boys are so difficult, Cody had a good report, he just needs to put in more than 50%, Joel OMG needs extra help. We have decided to swap schools as his current school wasnt the best option for him and the 100km's a day to take him to school was getting too much. So now he will go to the little seaside school up the road. Its new, the prinicpal seems to be great and the kids there seem nice too.

JOshua turns three next month, wow time flys. His latest saying is 'What the hell' I think he got this from his older brothers. We are having a pirate party for him with a petting zoo if we can get one to come out. Im so excited. Christmas and birthdays are my favourite times and I always put in alot of effort.

LIttle Andy is 10 weeks old this thursday- another one that is growing up way to quick. Its so sad, they dont stay babys for long.

KIds Galore

Hayley and Oskar on the swings
Joshua showing me how he jumps on the new trampoline

Cute little Danni- Nathans step daughter

Big Boy Oskar

This is Nathans two children Hayley and Oskar.

We had a visit from Nathan and Co today. It was a lovely sunny winters day so everyone was outside running around and testing out our new trampoline. I went to the K mart sales last week and decided to pick up this massive trampoline for the boys birthdays next month, when we got it home we decided to put it up and use it. Such a good thing to buy, all three boys have been outside everyday jumping and playing on it. Its so cute watching Josh try to copy his older brothers.

My breastfriend

My little man is no longer breastfed. Due to my MS medications I've had to stop breastfeeding. It was such a lovely time and Im so sad its over already.

Presenting.....My niece or nephew

Adam and Sarah had their first ultrasound this week and I can tell they are really excited cause we all got the ultrasound piccies emailed to us. I was secretly hoping it would be twins as payback to Adam but its only one baby. Just as well. Im hoping for a girl but as a wild guess I'm saying its a boy.

My Vege Patch

A few months ago I started a vege patch but thought I'd killed all my beautiful veges, the other day I was walking around the gardens and came across my dead vege patch that had started to grow again.

I found strawberrys, cauliflower, carrots, onions, spring onions, and lots more, so the last couple of days have seen me in my vege patch mulching, replanting and weeding my garden.

Can't wait to see it in a fewweeks time.

Bacon and Eggs anyone??

Stevie our puppy waiting for his breakfast
mmmm annoying the cook by taking photos of him cooking our breaky

Every weekend we have bacon and eggs or pancakes for breaky. This weekend it was BBQ bacon and eggs cooked up by steve, yummmyyyyy

Me and my man

Has it been easy??? OMG no....

Your my friend, my lover, and the father to my babies.

Life isnt easy for us but we are still here and together working through a whole pile of things that go wrong but we do it together.

So thank you for wanting me, thank you for waiting for me and thank you for giving me my boys. For that I truely love you

My little man, 8 weeks old

Time flys. I cant believe little Andy is 8 weeks old already....

Andrew is such a happy baby, he laughs all the time, especially at 3am in the morning when he wakes mummy up for a feed. The clever little boy is trying to roll over and his little left foot goes like he is starting a bike up......Oh they grow up so quickly

Our house,....... in the middle of our street.......

My Balinese stone head
The front of our home

The above piccy is the view from the front of my house

The above photo is my back yard

Our new weight bench that has now become a shoe rack

The corn boy

Dont you just love my 'corn boy' Joshua just loves corn, this is a whole fresh corn cut in half and he eats both halves!!!! SOmetimes he wants more.

FAMILY TIME

We had a visit from my brother and his family today, even though it was freezing cold, we still had a lovely roast for lunch with a Pavlova for desert, of course my kitchen assistants had fun helping. Hayley is Nathans biological daughter, although there is no mistaking this. Danni is Nathans step daughter.

Today would have been my mums and dads 39th wedding anniversary so it was kinda a day to be together for my mums sake, such a great women who helps me out so much

6 weeks and big smiles

My cute little man smiling. I cant believe he is 6 weeks old already, Time flys....So cute

My Big Boy

Its really hard to believe Im a mummy to a boy in High School, but I am. Cody started high school this year and is getting so big. Here he is at his year 6 graduation.

My little boys room

I just love JOshuas little toddler bed!!!, its a Nemo theme room, gotta add more stuff to make it more 'fishy'

How cute!!!!

Mothers Day 2008

Trying to get 4 boys to look at the camera and smile was a big challenge. We had a lovely day and my boys always try to do something special for me in their own special way. Joshua made a beautiful card and heart shaped photo poem with his hand prints, very very cute. Joel got to buy something at the mothers day stall and picked out a beautiful photo frame, Cody and Andrew went shopping and bought me some perfume (WISH), and the Underbelly series...WOOHOO. I also got some lotto tickets and scratchies. We bought mum some Betty boop stuff which she loves!!!!!

I LOVE MOTHERS DAY!!

Andrew

My sleeping prince

The Speedy arrival of Andy Williams

The Birth Story of
Andrew Raymond Williams- Malouf (yes we changed his name after 12 hours from Ryan Andrew!!!!!)
Knowing that this was my 4th and last pregnancy, I was determine to enjoy every second, even the bad stuff. I was satisfied that this was my last baby and content that I would never be doing this again.
I finished work when I was 36.5 weeks pregnant, by then I was well and truly ready to have a few weeks rest before having another baby in the house. My maternity leave couldn’t have come any quicker to be honest. It was time for me to enjoy the remainder of my pregnancy and the birth of a new life in the house.
At this time I also began doing everything I could to have a spontaneous labour including expressing and storing this away in the freezer to use in the first few days after I had the baby.
At 39 weeks I had a discussion with my Dr and it was decided I would be booked in for an induction the following week on the 2nd of May 2008. I knew what to expect with another induction but still desperately wanted a spontaneous birth.
Experiencing weeks of pre labouring, I woke early on the 1st of May thinking I had ruptured membranes. With no pain I did what I had to do, made beds, got children ready for school, packed the rest of my bag, before Steve and I drove down to Sydney to have the baby at my workplace, a 3 hour drive away. We decided we would stay in a hotel the night before and go out for dinner with some friends. All very relaxing, or so I planned. I even wanted to get a pedicure so my feet would look nice.
We arrived in Sydney sometime after 1pm and went straight to the Day assessment unit where they called my Dr. After a Spec exam he said he wasn’t convinced I had ruptured membranes and we would stick with the original plan of an induction the following day. I had everything organised. 2 middie friends were also going to be support people and they had strict instructions to make sure I had heaps of photos and videos of the birth and straight afterwards. They were alsoon call should I need them before hand as well.
So Steve and I booked into our hotel, about 5 mins drive from the hospital, stuffed around setting up the movie channel and even swapped rooms as the first room faced a huge intersection and was really noisy. Settling in for a rest before getting ready to go out, we began watching the movie ‘Wild Hogs’, Steve was laughing at the movie and I was reading a magazine lying down.
It must of been about 3:20pm when I felt this ‘pop’ on my right side, strange feeling like the baby had grabbed the amniotic sack and pinched it, 3 mins later I felt the biggest gush of warm fluid and knew that without a doubt my waters had broken. I told Steve that I definitely had ruptured membranes, when he asked me what we should do, I simply said, ‘finish watching the movie and hang out until something else happens.’ And that’s what we did.
At about 4pm I started to get my first contraction, at 4:30pm I told Steve we wouldn’t be going anywhere tonight except to have our baby. I rang the hospital and told them what had happened and also text my support people to let them know. The hospital told me I had to come back in ASAP. Bugger.
So me being me decided to have a shower, meet my younger brother for a quick hello and get my stuff organised. I was contracting every 5 to 8 mins but wasn’t too worried as it was no where near the painful contractions I had experienced in my other labours.
We must’ve ended up back at the hospital at about 6pm. I had the usual, a CTG- happy baby- irregular contraction. They then told me the birth unit was full and they had a bed for me upstairs in the antenatal ward until my induction. I politely informed them that I would be requiring drugs (gas) in the next hour and that I’d be having this baby before the morning. So they told me to hang around and go get a coffee and wait for a room in the birth unit.
Yeah right, I think I got 10 metres when Steve told me I wasn’t going anywhere, yep I was now in established labour . I guess because I was relaxed and calm and not making any noise you could be mistaken for thinking I wasn’t in pain at all, but I was secretly in agony with every contraction and tried to pass the time chatting with people and text messaging friends. I even told one of my support people that I wasn’t doing much and not to hurry in but really I wasn’t that far away from holding my baby.
My heavy breathing during contractions must’ve got some attention as the next thing I knew a wheelchair was ready to take me up stairs to the birth unit. Still very busy when I arrived, I was put into an assessment room until a room was available; thankfully the assessment rooms are big and new and just like a birth room anyway.
It must’ve been about 7:20pm when we arrived in the birth unit and no one came in for what seemed like ages. I told Steve to press the buzzer, I wanted gas and I wanted it now. Still no one came. I remember Steve saying to me, ‘Not again’ referring to no one being around when our last son was born and only walked in when Steve yelled out the baby’s coming.
With contractions on top of one another, my legs were tired, Id been hip rocking and standing, leaning on anything I could since I got to the hospital and decided to sit on the edge of the bed. With the next contraction I felt the baby’s head start to descend even further and told Steve the baby is coming, he casually walked to the door and called out ‘the baby’s coming’. Three words to guarantee attention in a birth unit. With no delivery trolley, or synto to assist with third stage. I remember one midwife calling out to others to grab the gear they needed. It must’ve taken them about 3 mins to have everything in the room ready to go. Everything except the gas, the one thing that I wanted.
I asked them again to get the gas, they did an internal and surprise surprise I was fully dilated. Still requesting the gas they told me if I wanted to I could push, I told them I’ll hold it in until I get the gas. They asked me how I would push the baby out with the gas and I simply told them I would breath the baby out. I did exactly that.
I had a total of about 7 minutes of Gas sucking for dear life as I attempted to slowly help my baby into the world.
Little Andrew Raymond arrived after a 3 hour labour and 7 minute second stage at 7:42pm. Crying Pink and breathing.
A total uneventful labour with nothing significant to write about. It was very relaxing because I was relaxed and Steve was relaxed because I was.
To compare my 4 births- there is no comparison for me. A spontaneous labour and birth was a great experience after 3 inductions which I now describe as horrid and hard core.
I am in a happy place now, completely satisfied that I’ve had my children and content to watch them grow up into men.