Hi! Am still alive!
These two photos are from Friday, we made HEAPS of biscuits, and they are YUM, they still needed the white chocolate on them, but I LOVE them, I tend to only make them at Christmas time every year.
Next to make is the choc truffle balls and white choc truffle balls, which are totally divine!

This is Mia on Thursday night at her Kindy Concert. For those that know where we live, it hardly EVER rains here, except for last Friday night when the concert was originally scheduled and then Thursday night for when it was re-scheduled. About an hour before it was supposed to start the storms rolled in, we had a huge downpour, the sky was red with dust and there was thunder and lightening and rain. Phone calls between four of my friends and the Kindy resulted in us going to the Kindy to hear the kids sing their 4 songs and then back home again! So, that was the Kindy concert for the year! It was a pity that it ended up the way it did as not all of the Kindy Kids were there......

And lastly an older photo that I found on my Kodak camera, which I am
using at the moment as my Canon is in Adelaide having a good clean before bubs arrives.... This is hubby and I when we went and saw Chopper earlier in the year. I saw him quite a few years ago and thought I had enjoyed the show but maybe I have matured as this time I thought he told the same stories and really has not much charisma, just stands there talking and not making much sense! Anyway, we had a nice night just the two of us and it was just before I found out I was pregnant so it was a last hurrah for me, lucky I made the most of the strongbows that night!

As for bubba news, the baby is scheduled to be born by c-section at the end of December, and then we will have to see what happens. Alot of the outcomes are very up in the air at the moment.. Not that the baby won't survive or anything like that because it WILL and it will thrive, BUT what I mean is that we just really don't know what will happen and when as far as operations and procedures for baby! I will try to keep you as updated as I can but I just might not have the time to let you know day to day what is happening in our lives.... Please just presume that no news is good news!!

Am 34 weeks now, and having had swollen ankles, feet and hands for the past couple of days, have been trying to take it easy.. I went to the hospital last night as I just was not comfortable with how my feet were looking and feeling! But all was fine with my blood pressure and proteins etc.. so back home to just rest. I was talking to one of my friends today and am thinking a cleaner might be in order for the last couple of weeks that I am here so that I can concentrate on other more important things like packing and sorting stuff out! Will definately be looking onto that one!
Hope your weekend has been good! I have had DH home all weekend which has been fab!

xxx

Well here I am in this piccy taken just tonight! I am now 31 and a half weeks! And that half is very important, OK!!! Bubba is very active and has the hiccups at least once a day. The heartburn is getting to be a real problem at night now, I stand at the fridge and frantifcally skoll milk out of the carton in the middle of the night(when the Mylanta tabs aren't cutting it anymore) and have waaaay too many pillows under my head at night! Add that to the one under my belly aswell and I'm taking up alot of room in the bed! If I lay on my left side, bubba kicks on the right side of my belly and HARD, same thing happens if I lay on my right side,but opposite, IYKWIM!!! At least I haven't got the leg cramps at night YET!! I have started to get discolouration on my face, not even sure what it is called, maybe pigmentation something or other..... I had it with Mia and it went away afterwards so I'm cool with that! I HAVEN'T got stretch marks yet and didn't with Mia so can you all keep your fingers crossed that I don't get them this time, although, I don't think I will really care, just don't want them!! I'm not complaining really, just writing it down for later, ok! Although I will be happy when the heartburn goes, it is really ridiculous!!

Oh, and when I started the little baby counter on the side, it was on 196 days until the baby was born and now it is not so many days anymore, scary but am starting to get the feeling that I want to meet this little bundle of trouble soon!!




And a pic of Mia taken on my webcam on the laptop, just copying Belinda, saw that she did it a while back!! Mia loved it!

So, all in all a little pregnancy update, ok!

xx

Hi again... two posts in a week, it's a PB for my blogging lately!
Above is my entry into Witchy's CJ in Ruby's swap. I really thought that we were never going to see Witchy's and Orange's CJ's again, but I never gave up, I must admit I had a real bee in my bonnet about them.... It is hard to explain, but I wasn't going to give in...

And the above one is for Naomi's CJ in Simmi's swap, there are some beautiful pages in there already, felt a little intimidated but just did my thing....





As promised, here is Jamie Olivers Chicken Chow Mein Recipe...
It's mainly for you Skye, let me know how you go with it...
Basically the philosophy of his new book, MINISTRY OF FOOD, is that you learn a recipe and pass it on, so kinda don't think he would care that'lil 'ol me is putting it on my blog... I DID change it a tiny bit, no BOK CHOI in this house, DH would not eat it, so I used some fresh button mushies and some carrot as I knew he would eat them. I cooked them in the oil at the start to give them a chance to cook properly then pulled them out and chucked them back in later... Oh and I used peanut oil instead of groundnut oil.....And, one more change, I didn't use chook breast, I used tenderloins, and chopped them up, just coz I like them better!!!
Ok, here it is!!




serves 2
*a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger
*2 cloves garlic
*1/2 -1 fresh red chilli, to your taste
*1 large skinless chicken breast, free-range or organic
*sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
*2 spring onions
*a small bunch of fresh coriander
*1 bok choi
*optional: 4 shiitake mushrooms
*100g (2 bundles) medium egg noodles
*groundnut oil
*1 heaped teaspoon cornflour
*1 x 220g tin water chestnuts
*2-3 tablespoons soy sauce
*1 small lime

TO PREPARE YOUR STIR~FRY
* put a large pan of water on to boil
*peel and finely slice the ginger and garlic
*finely slice the chilli
*slice the chicken into finger-sized strips and lightly season with S & P
*cut the ends off your spring onions and finely slice
*pick the coriander leaves and put to one side, and finely chop the coriander stalks
*halve the bok choi lengthways
*if using the shiitake mushrooms, either tear into pieces or leave whole

TO COOK YOUR STIR~FRY
*preheat a wok or a large frypan on a high heat and once it's very, very hot add a good lug of groundnut oil and swirl it around *Stir in the chicken and cook for a couple of minutes until the chicken browns slightly * Add the ginger, garlic, chilli, coriander stalks, mushrooms (if using) and half the spring onions *stirfry for 30seconds keeping everything moving round the wok quickly *Add your noodles and bok choi to the boiling water and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, no longer * meanwhile, add the cornflour, water chestnuts and their water to the wok and give it another good shake to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom *remove from the heat and stir in the 2 tablespoons of soy sauce *halve the lime, squeeze the juice of one half into the pan and mix well * Drain the noodles and bok choi in a colander over a bowl, reserving a little of the cooking water *stir in the noodles and bok choi with a little of the cooking water to loosen if necessary and mix well * have a taste and season with more soy sauce if needed

TO SERVE YOUR STIR~FRY
*use your tongs to divide everything between two bowls or plates, or to lift on to one large serving platter *spoon any juices over the top and sprinkle with the rest of the spring onions and coriander leaves *serve with lime wedges




So there you go, Jamie Olivers recipe! And please please please don't be tempted to leave out the chilli or the lime if you are unsure, they really work well in the dish.. It was truly delicious!! I will also say that if you feel like going and getting yourself a pressie, make it this book, it is full of fab recipes that you will actually cook, and not just shove in the bookshelf.....



xxxx

Hi
Two of my fave people going for a dip on Saturday afty!
Finally we have our paving done.
Now I just want the inside of my house re-tiled which would make me happy for now
I love how I got them both jumping in at the same time
Note my Dad in the corner video-ing aswell!
He took that much video when he was here, mainly lots of Mia singing!



I was in a swap over at THE BOXX which was a 'jar of whimsy' swap, sooooo exciting to get the goodies this morning, many thanks to Janine!
I thought I had heaps of stash but Janine really spoilt me with lots of things I have never even seen before! Goes to show that there is so many different styles out there!
I love all this lot!

Random photo of Mia eating spaghetti bolognese. She has a face only a mother could love!
What sort of title should I use for my page that I will eventually do???

This girl is gung-ho when it comes to just jumping in the pool!
She gets more game each time she gets in.
I love these type of shots of her in mid-air...

And finally a LO that I started last Tues at Tatums house. I am liking what I have been doing lately even though I haven't been scrapping much.
I'm not very adventurous but I don't care much at all, I am just happy to try and scrap here and there.

Two weeks today and we will be in Adelaide having some more scans on Bubs, and hopefully find out the date the baby will be born. I am really looking forward to finding out for sure when this little life will make it's appearance.
My anxiety is growing everyday... I just can't help but worry.
I am more than confident in the medical profession, It's just something that always creeps into your mind. And at the silliest times! I was watching Mia sleep last night and shed a few tears, just at how lucky we are that she is so healthy and had a little tiny pity party at the same time.... I thought to myself, Why can't this one be healthy too??
But all sorts of people face all sorts of challenges and we all live to tell the tales,
and marvel at how strong people can be when they need to..


Enough of that!!!

Thanks for popping in and leave me some loving!
I forgot I was going to put the Jamie Oliver Chicken Chow Mein recipe up and I still will, but maybe tommorow! SORRY!!
My wireless modem has arrived today and I want to get that all connected, imagine me blogging from the bliss of my recliner chair!!!
Noice!!!

xxxxx

Oh how my little girl has grown up so fast! Here she is dressed and ready for her 1st day at full-time Kindy last Monday! Talk about excited... She HAD to wear a skirt, she is starting to want to wear dresses and skirts ALL the time...Anyway, she loves Kindy and I am loving the break from her, she is into the FERAL FOURS, although still lovely aswell!! (of course!!)

CHICKEN CHOW MEIN!!!!!
From Jamie Oliver's Ministry of food!! Was a really yummy dish and I knew that DH thought so too, as he took leftovers for lunch and he only ever does that when something is really good! So, I was pleased with myself!! If you want the recipe, let me know and I will post it!!

This photo of my friend's baby is too cute, she bought her around for her first swim yesterday but she didn't like it at all!!! She was interested to see what was going on, but I think the pool scared her.. She is too cute and had real tears when close to the pool....

CJ entry for Simmi's swap, it has sort of hidden journalling ont he two red pages poking out of each side, and the affirmations are from a deck of Louise Hay Affirmations. I looked through them for appropriate ones and was going to re-write them but thought, I may aswell just use them on my page! (A-la Witchy style)

All is ok around here, am starting to have a little panic about the future, but my feelings are up and down anyway so I know I will be ok in a day or so... The baby's birth is coming up soon now, and I am forced to think about things a bit more...
A couple of things lately have made me face the actual reality of the situation...
I have been putting off thinking about things as I knew it was a long way away,
And now it seems as though the birth is really not that far away now...
And I'm scared for the future and what might happen and I know that worrying now won't help things one bit but I am suddenly remembering how small Mia was when she was born and the truth of what may come our way with a brand new baby. I just hope that it's strong and fights with everything it's got!!

Enough sadness, it's a beautiful day here today and when Mia goes to Kindy this afty, I am going to sit at my scrap table and play and tommorow when Mia goes to Kindy I am going up the road to sit at my wonderful friend's house and scrap there too!!! So, let's bring on some scrapping,hey!!


xx

A few pics of Bubbas room for a friend that would like to see!!
Hope this gives you an idea!!
xxxxx

Hi there!!! Been a little while! But I'm still around, blog hopping when I can and trying to inspire myself... just not sitting at my scrap desk and actually scrapping... Oh well, it shits me that I'm not scrapping much, I have a lot of nice new papers and embellies, but just am not into it! I have to pull my finger out this week and do the two CJ's that are sitting on my desk, so that is this weeks mission! One of my CJ's from another swap I have been involved in has gone missing at this stage, and I am a bit upset about it, but really in the big scheme of life and things in life, it's not going to affect me forever IYKWIM, so I am not getting that upset over it...
The below LO is for The Boxx's monthly sketch challenge, it's ok, was DH's birthday on the 29th so used some photos from that....
Oh, and the photo of Mia and I was taken today, we have been swimming in the pool today, it's the first time that I have gotten in this season, and I must say it was nice and warm in there, we all had a great time.. lots of pool toys that I just have to have in the pool too, and even though we had sunscreen slapped on, it's nice to feel the sun on the skin! I am 27 weeks in this photo, DH was sitting down, while we were standing up, surely I don't look that big!!! Not in my tummy, but everywhere else?? Anyway..... As long as the baby is healthy apart from it's existing probs, I'm a happy camper!

This post has turned into a bit of a ramble as usual, but here is a piccy of the new Jamie Oliver cookbook I scored this week, full of fabulous, back to the basics recipes that I need, I am not into my cooking either ATM, so it's going to inspire me (I hope)... Far out though, these books are exy, I saw this online for $65 not that I paid that much, but it was still $40..... That's retail therapy for you!!

And I watched an episode of this (Jamie at home) on Austar this evening, what a great show, tonights was about carrots and beets, so now I want to grow white, purple, AND orange carrots... Maybe next year but I have already found heritage seeds online, I just love to grow vegies.... Next year FOR SURE!!!

Thanks for visiting, and thanks to all my internet friends who I know think about us... I am doing ok, just have to wait and wait now.... Baby is kicking strongly and that makes me so happy... DH and I are working on a few names, I really want one with 'meaning' behind it...
Thanks for visiting!!
xxxxxx