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| Mark Inglis |
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| Mark Leach |
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Run Mark Run
On Sunday Mark will be doing the Run Melbourne with our friend Mark, to raise money for Transplant Australia. If you would like to sponsor either of the Marks, please click on the pictures below to be taken to their sponsor pages.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
A week in the life
This sounds like a fun challenge. I'm going to give it a go. If you'd like to join me, click on the logo to be taken to the project info page. Listed are lots of tips and suggestions and how to prepare for the challenge. There's also a link to see what others did last year. I plan to blog the pictures I take and do some digital scrap layouts of the photos too.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Due Date
Last November I discovered I was pregnant and tomorrow would have been my "due date". (You can read about what happened here). Wow, I can't believe that had things been different, I could already be holding, or about to hold, a little bundle of joy! Joy... the middle name we chose if the baby was a girl.
I can't say that 'so much has happened' over the past nine months. It's just been life as normal.
After losing the baby, we were told that if we did want to get pregnant again, we should wait 3 to 6 months before trying. I'm glad we had this time to decide whether we would 'try' to get pregnant. At the end of last year and the first month or two of this year, we pretty much had decided to have another baby.
As time went on, there began to be more days when we' d think 'I don't know', then gradually more days that we felt 'no'- well I'm speaking for myself here. Mark would happily have had more children, but said that ultimately the decision is mine since I'm the one who has to go through the pregnancy and delivery etc - mind you, Mark has always been a wonderful supporter and is always there for me and certainly isn't saying that I'd be on my own. He is realistic and knows that at the end of the day, I have to be able to cope with a new baby.
Such a hard decision to make - it was a no brainer when we wanted the boys - of course we were going to have children. Of course we were going to have more than one. Of course we were going to have number three - oh hang on - life threw us a curve ball just before we were going to start 'trying for number three' and I began to have anxiety attacks. We put off having number three while we sorted out my mental health issues... which ended up taking several years and by then the question hovering over number three was 'How would I cope?' Since I couldn't honestly answer that question, we decided that since we had two beautiful children, why make things harder for ourselves and them and the rest of our family by having another baby if I can't cope. It was the unknown answer that decided for us.
And that was that. It probably took me about two years to come to terms with the fact that we were not going to have anymore children. It was something I grieved over. We consoled ourselves with the fact that we'd meet our third child (which would have really been our first) in heaven (I had a miscarriage almost three years before having Cameron).
So now? We decided once again, that we will leave our family the way it is with the two beautiful boys we do have. There are other factors now at play too, I work, do I want to give that up? Can we afford to give up my wage? Do we want to give up my wage? How will the large age gap work? I'm getting closer to 40, how would I cope if we did have a baby with Down Syndrome? (we wouldn't be 'getting rid' of any baby we conceived). Do we really want to have broken sleep when we've been past that stage for several years?
It was a difficult decision, but I'm glad we had several months to make it. Over time we went from more days saying 'yes', to more days saying 'I don't know', to more days saying 'I don't think so', to more days saying 'no'. There still are times when I think 'It'd be nice' but those times don't last too long.
Having said all that, I still wish that things had been different and that this baby had been growing in my womb. I still grieve for this baby (and the one before Cam - who would now be 13! Oh my gosh!) and I look forward to meeting this baby one day in heaven. I have two earthly babies and two heavenly ones.
Now we enjoy our friends' little baby, Eden - who is now no longer a baby, but is almost two years old. I call her my 'pretend daughter' and her parents call us 'her other parents'. She has helped fill a space in my heart that has always longed for a little girl, but we get the best of both worlds, we canusually hand her back when she has a dirty nappy! hahaha
Eden has always been a special baby to me. I don't know why - I've never got clucky over my friends babies, and when Eden was born and a little baby, I didn't really know her mum Renee all that well. But there has been 'something there' with Eden and I - some sort of bond.
Over the past nine months Renee and I have developed a wonderful friendship, she was there for me in ways that no-one else was when we went through what we did, and I'm so grateful for her friendship and love. Over the past few months, we've discovered that we have so much in common - and that our husbands do too. Our children all love playing together, our boys dote over Eden as she does them. I've never had a friend whom I have felt so comfortable with. Renee truly is the sister I never had. God has blessed me wonderfully. Thank you Renee for sharing Eden with me and for being my 'sister friend'.
I can't say that 'so much has happened' over the past nine months. It's just been life as normal.
After losing the baby, we were told that if we did want to get pregnant again, we should wait 3 to 6 months before trying. I'm glad we had this time to decide whether we would 'try' to get pregnant. At the end of last year and the first month or two of this year, we pretty much had decided to have another baby.
As time went on, there began to be more days when we' d think 'I don't know', then gradually more days that we felt 'no'- well I'm speaking for myself here. Mark would happily have had more children, but said that ultimately the decision is mine since I'm the one who has to go through the pregnancy and delivery etc - mind you, Mark has always been a wonderful supporter and is always there for me and certainly isn't saying that I'd be on my own. He is realistic and knows that at the end of the day, I have to be able to cope with a new baby.
Such a hard decision to make - it was a no brainer when we wanted the boys - of course we were going to have children. Of course we were going to have more than one. Of course we were going to have number three - oh hang on - life threw us a curve ball just before we were going to start 'trying for number three' and I began to have anxiety attacks. We put off having number three while we sorted out my mental health issues... which ended up taking several years and by then the question hovering over number three was 'How would I cope?' Since I couldn't honestly answer that question, we decided that since we had two beautiful children, why make things harder for ourselves and them and the rest of our family by having another baby if I can't cope. It was the unknown answer that decided for us.
And that was that. It probably took me about two years to come to terms with the fact that we were not going to have anymore children. It was something I grieved over. We consoled ourselves with the fact that we'd meet our third child (which would have really been our first) in heaven (I had a miscarriage almost three years before having Cameron).
So now? We decided once again, that we will leave our family the way it is with the two beautiful boys we do have. There are other factors now at play too, I work, do I want to give that up? Can we afford to give up my wage? Do we want to give up my wage? How will the large age gap work? I'm getting closer to 40, how would I cope if we did have a baby with Down Syndrome? (we wouldn't be 'getting rid' of any baby we conceived). Do we really want to have broken sleep when we've been past that stage for several years?
It was a difficult decision, but I'm glad we had several months to make it. Over time we went from more days saying 'yes', to more days saying 'I don't know', to more days saying 'I don't think so', to more days saying 'no'. There still are times when I think 'It'd be nice' but those times don't last too long.
Having said all that, I still wish that things had been different and that this baby had been growing in my womb. I still grieve for this baby (and the one before Cam - who would now be 13! Oh my gosh!) and I look forward to meeting this baby one day in heaven. I have two earthly babies and two heavenly ones.
Now we enjoy our friends' little baby, Eden - who is now no longer a baby, but is almost two years old. I call her my 'pretend daughter' and her parents call us 'her other parents'. She has helped fill a space in my heart that has always longed for a little girl, but we get the best of both worlds, we can
Eden has always been a special baby to me. I don't know why - I've never got clucky over my friends babies, and when Eden was born and a little baby, I didn't really know her mum Renee all that well. But there has been 'something there' with Eden and I - some sort of bond.
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| April 2010 |
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| April 2010 |
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| July 2010 |
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| January 2011 |
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| May 2011 |
Over the past nine months Renee and I have developed a wonderful friendship, she was there for me in ways that no-one else was when we went through what we did, and I'm so grateful for her friendship and love. Over the past few months, we've discovered that we have so much in common - and that our husbands do too. Our children all love playing together, our boys dote over Eden as she does them. I've never had a friend whom I have felt so comfortable with. Renee truly is the sister I never had. God has blessed me wonderfully. Thank you Renee for sharing Eden with me and for being my 'sister friend'.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
feels good to get stuff done!
These holidays I am trying to get organized.
On the weekend Mark and I cleaned out the mudroom.
Yesterday I started on the study.
So much material and craft stuff.
It's really hard to keep organized and tidy.
On the weekend Mark and I cleaned out the mudroom.
Yesterday I started on the study.
So much material and craft stuff.
It's really hard to keep organized and tidy.
And don't get me started on the boys' bedrooms! UGH!
Anyway, found a link to a Month by Month Storage Plan. Think I'll give it a go. Hope it's helpful.
The first month (January) starts with organizing the Home Office, which is actually what I'm working on now. Here is what they suggest:
- Create a Mail Station. Set up mailboxes on a desk, wall, or bulletin board. Or give each member of your family his or her own labeled box, bin, or slot.
- Stay on Schedule. Hang a large monthly calendar in a spot everyone can see and use it. Choose a paper calendar or dry-erase version, and encourage everyone to write important events, deadlines, and reminders.
- Organize Office Supplies. Outfit a desk drawer near your main working area with a divided tray or multiple small bins. Limit the number of office supplies in each compartment. Label each compartment with an adhesive label.
- Get Rid of Junk. Test all writing utensils. Toss everything that doesn't work perfectly. Group similar items (pens, pencils, markers, etc) in canisters for easy access.
So off I go to get some stuff done!
I heart, therefore I pin...
Uh oh - if you haven't discovered Pinterest - don't!
Be warned.
It's more addicting than facebook!
Ah love it!
Pinterest is a virtual giant Pin board of things that interest you. So much better than saving pictures of stuff you like - this way you'll know where you found the pic, can find the original (in most cases) and it doesn't take up any room on your hard drive - just takes away your time!
Here are some posters that I've spied on Pinterest that I heart.
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