little update...

13 weeks!

so jellybean is starting to look like an actual baby now! which is pretty cool. makes it seem more 'real' (?) or something, i dont know. but it was great to see him/her on friday at my scan. id been going through a weird worry phase where i didnt believe i was actually pregnant, and that maybe when they did my scan nothing would be there. and although my pregnancy wasnt planned at all, id still be heartbroken if it doesnt work out now. we're invested in this and fully excited about everything, so for things not to work out, it would be devastating.

but big sigh of relief, bubs is still in there and everythings looking good according to the nurse who did our scan. it took us about 3 hours to get the measurements and things they needed though, because our little darling was doing a handstand in my belly when we first got there. seriously, just sitting on their head the whole time and refusing to move. it took alot of fake hula hooping and a half an hour walk around the block just to get bub to move it the right position! the supervisor even came in and commented on our 'naughty' baby! oh no, i hope bub grows out of that before theyre born!!

so besides all that, thigns are looking good. normal and healthy and fine. i did worry a little yesterday when my clinic rang and asked me to move my appt with my doc to this week instead of next (whats that about?) but the clerk reassured me that its not because anything was wrong in our tests. i still have a niggly feeling and the burning question of 'why move the appt a week early if nothings wrong?' but im trying to stay calm about it. im trying to be a super calm mumma about all this stuff, but man is it stressful. and the constant worry about money and praticality of having a new baby in our lives is starting to freak me out.

my poor DMan copped it last night when i went into meltdown and overreaction about nothing in particular and spent almost an hour bawling into his jumper while he was trying to cook dinner. i really thought that i wouldnt be that kind of emotional pregnant lady, pffft how naive was i? luckily, hes an awesome guy who just rolls with it and always manages to calm me down and say the right things and doesnt freak out on top of everything. i did ask him how could he be so calm when im such a mess. and he didnt really have an answer. just that he was sure we were ok, and as long as baby stays ok, then everything will work out. which is true, but hard to see sometimes.

we have so much to do and figure out and so much money to spend before this baby comes along, and only 6mths til im due. hes planning on getting a new job, we're going to buy our house (our landlord is selling to us, cheap!) and we need to buy things for this baby and somehow fit it all into our house!

anywho, like i say, im stressing. but im pretty sure that is a normal thing to go through, and im sure we'll make it out of this alive. on a side note, the random weird and sometimes awful pregnancy dreams have started. monday night it was that my dad had died. and my mum didnt call me because she didnt want to 'worry' me, and by the time i got home to see them, she'd already moved all his stuff out of their house! see weird and awful.poor mum got a phonecall immediately yesterday morning to make sure he was ok. of course i was being silly. last night it was that a plane crashed next to me on the beach, but it didnt explode or anything, there wasnt even a scratch on it. and everyone was ok. then i had lunch with lars ulrich (drummer from metallica?!?) and THEN me and daniel had to bring someone (no idea who) back to life by mixing their blood with something (that i still dont even know what it was). i think that part came from watching the first couple of episodes of the new season of True Blood. but who knows. very weird. and making me wake up very confused!

so on the whole, im a very confused, stressed, worried, tired, happy, excited pregnant lady lately. and this post has turned into a bit of an essay. apologies for that. have a great week everyone!

EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

hi everyone thats still out there! i know ive been quite absent in the last few weeks, but i do have an explanation, and a pretty good one i think. theres been a new 'developement' in my personal life and i have been resisting the urge to post about it straight away, well because we're still adjusting to the news, i havent informed my workplace yet, and well its still fresh, but ive decided i cannot wait any longer! so for those of you that havent guessed yet, DMan and I are HAVING A BABY! (whoa thats still weird to say(type) out loud!)

We found out a few weeks ago, and I'm about 11.5 weeks along now. Which makes me due around the 19th of December! Hello Christmas Baby! the 19th also coincides with my late grandmothers birthday, so thatd be a nice little way to change what that day means to our family!

But yes, as i mentioned, we're still adjusting to our news. It was something that we had planned for way down the track, once we'd bought a house, gotten engaged and maybe married, and we'd grown up and sorted our lives out a bit, but fate will not have that it seems! so yes, big surprise, not something we're prepared for, but we're still very happy and excited to be having this experience. and besides, who's idea of how their life should go ever really works according to plan anyway?

and as i said before, i have not told my workplace yet. im saving that for when the big boss gets back from holidays (just a week away, i want to tell him first before anyone else since he is the dealer principal) and i havent made a facebook announcement yet either. but i have told my entire family, and all my closest friends, so thats whats important.

so far, everythings been going well. no morning sickness as such, more like evening sickness. but no actual rushing to the bathroom to throw up or anything like that. just a faint nauceous feeling from time to time, but other then that, and my already super expanding chest, everythings been going well. we've had one ultrasound already (see pic below) and seen jellybean's little heart fluttering away. and im scheduled for my 12-13 week scan on the 15th, so hopefully we'll get to hear her/his little heart and see a bit more of a baby shape!

so yes, thats my big news and the reason behind my absence. now we're on to organising our life in 6 mths to prepare for this bub to come along and change everything! (for the better!) DMan is on the hunt for a new, higher paying job, we're sorting out our money so that we can buy our house (we're renting off one of my managers at work, but he wants to sell, and we want to buy = perfect arrangement basically!) and then itll be onto organising all our junk so we can find room for this baby to fit in! we have a 3 bedroom house, but its small with not alot of storage, so im scouring pinterest all day long for storage solutions and nursery ideas!

big exciting scary and nerve wracking times ahead! but we're lookng forward to everything thats about to happen and are very positive about this whole thing. DMan's gone into "man mode" where all hes doing is worrying about money and practical things, like making sure the house is ready and what not. its sweet. and of course, hes doing a great job of taking care of me, even though not alots changed just yet. im not even showing yet!

oh, and for anyone thats curious about how i will deal with having a lapband while pregnant, im actually visiting my specialist next week to discuss what actions need to be taken. but basically, its perfectly safe to carry a baby whilst having a lapband. it doesnt need to be removed or anything. we will need to monitor how "tight" i am, and make sure im eating enough for the two of us to be healthy, but besides that, it will be business as usual. there is no risk to the baby with me having this foreign object in my body, as long as i continue to eat fresh healthy and substantial food. which is great news! and of course, it will help with getting the pregnancy weight off when ive finally had the bub! not that thats the most important thing of course, but it is a bonus!

Everyone meet Baby Edwards!

as you can tell, theres not much to see yet. this was taking around my 9 week mark, so the little thing was only about 2cm long! but he/she's definetly in there and alive and well so far! we're not 100% sure about finding out the sex, DPants really wants to, I'm on the fence about it. My family have made it very clear that they do not want to know, but i dont know if i could hold it in if im gonna know the whole time! but im coming around to the idea, afterall, itll still be a surprise even if we find out early! at least it will help narrow the name list down a bit!!

:D

im back!

well hi there! long time no blog! ive been terrible i know, but things have been a little crazy lately since we got home, and with the work computer network blocking blogger lately, its been really hard to find the time to update.

anywho, lets get to it. our holiday. was in 1 word, awesome. we had a blast. and not in the drink all day - party all night kind of way either. we're just too old for that now! just in that we enjoyed our time together relaxing and having fun. we spaced our week out by doing an "activity" one day, then doing pretty much nothing the next. it was a great way to have a holiday. there were a few times when we were lying around, thinking we SHOULD be doing something exciting, so that we werent being "boring" but honestly, we couldnt be bothered. the whole point of being on this holiday was to chill out and not be busy or tied to a schedule.

our hotel was lovely. it was small, but very well equipped, we even scored a room upgrade! hello king size bed and massive bathroom! it also had a roof top pool and restaurant, which were both awesome and so pretty. it was great to eat breakfast out in the open on our roof top each morning. the pool was so cool. was smallish - but the hotel was small anyways. the staff were so friendly and attentive, you could have barely been slurping the last of your drink before they were there offering you another! perfect!

it was also so close to the main shopping areas, and all the places i visited last time i was there. which was great, because i could find my way around without too much trouble. (ok we did get lost on our first night, and i may have had a small panic attack about it, but we found a taxi to take us home, and as it turned out, we were only 1 street away from the hotel! doh!!)

our activities were fun too. we spent an entire day at the safari park, after purchasing a package from our tour guide. our package included a trip on the safari bus throughout the entire complex visiting all the animals, lunch at a restaurant thats situation right with the lions (he was watching us eat! but barely moved!!) we got our photo taken with a lion cub, watched the white tiger feeding, and then the best part of the day - we rode an elephant! it was so cool! i was nervous and not sure that i wanted to do it, but so glad we did. it was so much fun. we got a nice photo of us on the elephant printed too. it was such a great day. super hot though, so lucky the place had its own water park for us to cool off at. it was a nice big pool set away from all the animals that had two smallish water slides. we had such a great day.

after a rest day, we then spent a whole day at Waterbom Park. this water theme park is so much fun. theres heaps of rides,  thrill seeking ones and plain old boring lazy rivers. (which we both secretly loved, and probably spent more time in there then anywhere else!) the only downfall to that place though was all the freakin stairs! of course you expect stairs when youre climbing to the top of water slides, but man were we sick of them by the end of the day! and our calves were killing us for days afterwards!

we also booked ourselves a lovely sunset dinner cruise for our second last night. that was great. being out on the boat at sunset sipping cocktails. that included a buffet dinner and caberet show (which included an awesome drag show!) that was a great way to end our holiday.

and i wish it had ended there in a way, because the last day and night i was terribly sick and dehydrated and could barely walk around for 10 mins without fainting! and yes i did actually manage to faint on the floor of a pub and out the front of a shop! very embarrassing!! poor Dman! but i managed to keep it together until we got home and once home, i felt a bit better and thought i could avoid going to hospital. but no, by around 10pm it was very clear that i was sick and needed help. DMan bundled me up and took me off to the emergency dept.

dont worry, it was nothing to panic over. my lapband had been playing up for a few days, and after a couple of days of constant vomiting everything i ate or drink, i managed to lose 4 kgs and become extrememly dehydrated to the point of having a fever and not being able to walk properly. it was terrible. the people at the ed were great, cept as soon as they noticed my fever, and heard that id been to bali, they went into a bit of a panic that i might have some strange disease, so decided to keep me over night. definetly not what i wanted! but once i finally got a bed (at 2am!) i managed to drink a bunch of water and get some sleep. in the morning i managed to eat a full breakfast and keep it all down! D came and picked me up and take me home. luckily we both had a few more days off work to recover.

so thats our trip in a nutshell! now onto some photos!

IM BACK!

well hello everyone! im back from holidays! full post and pics coming soon, but to sum up, we had an amazing holiday and such a relaxing time. there was a slight hickup which resulted in a night in hospital (no not over there, luckily we were home by then!) but all in all, it was great. and i cant wait til our next holiday (august!)

oh a side note, disaster at work! blogger has been blocked on our work computers. :( something i shouldnt technically complain about, since i shouldnt be blogging at work, but its an inconvenience all the same. i will try my hardest to keep on track with my blogging at home. fingers crossed i do end up with a new laptop for my birthday!

so happy to be home :)

2.5 days to go!

happy wednesday everyone! wow wednesday already. gee when you get 2 holidays and a weekend in between, the days really do just get away from you! 'scuse the lack of posting, but i was off enjoying a nice break from work. (which is silly because im about to go on proper holidays anyways!)

how was everyones break? mine was lovely. hectic though. there was alot of family time to fit in in those 4 days, but it was great all the same.

ill start with thursday. titanic was awesome. i hadnt watched that movie in about 10 years i reckon, but it was still awesome. i loved it. the 3d was a great touch, but not too distracting, and boy had i forgotten just how cute lil young leo was back then! wow. we had a great time. we laughed and sung and danced and gasped and cried and had a blast all at the same time. im so glad we went and saw it.

as i said before, friday we were having lunch with D's dads side of his family. the side of the family i had never met, even though we've been together near on 2 years (next week!) and some of the family i met, while theyd heard of me, they had no idea we'd been together so long, or even that we were living together! so i guess D and his parents keep their lives quiet? im not sure. but it was a great day. we had a lovely seafood lunch with everyone, and sat around laughing and talking and watching the kids play. theres 10 great grandkids on that side already, but theyre all boys! not one little princess in site!! but the boys were all adorable and well behaved. was a great day.

saturday morning, we were up early so i could make my potato salad for our next family lunch that day. my potato salad is delicious and is starting to become my "thing" whenever someone has a dinner or lunch that we're invited too. and i dont mind. its really simple. its just potatos, boiled eggs, bacon and avocado. the dressing is what makes it awesome. but i dont even make that. im super lazy, i find the shortest way possible to make something. so the dressing comes from a packet. and its black pepper, garlic and parmesan flavoured. yumm!

look at all that bacon!! well i was cooking for 12! we went round to D's other grandparents place for a lovely lunch with D's sisters and partners and uncles and everyone. its a lovely little family group and im super happy to be a part of it. theyre all so nice to me, so i think that means they like me! we were celebrating not only easter, but his nan & pops 75th birthdays (both their birthdays are within a week of each other) and to celebrate, they cracked open the bottle of Moet that they had received as a present for their 50th wedding anniversary a few years ago! what a way to celebrate! it was such a great day. we were all full and tuckered out by about 4pm, so we left and spent the rest of the day/night on the couch being bums. we had a drive to my parents place to face in the morning, so we really werent up to doing anything saturday night.

so up early again we were on sunday. to make the 2 hr drive down south to spend easter with my family. we were roped into taking my sister and her fiance in our car too, so at least the drive wasnt boring! we got 'home' around 11.30am and from then on it was more and more food!

my family paid absolutely no attention to me saying i didnt want chocolate this year! haha i should be thankful. even though i said i didnt want it, im sure a part of me wouldve been disappointed if i had received none at all. mum also got us some fresh new bath sheets! love them! and me and my sis scored $20 off nan each too! yay!!

we had a nice family lunch, just us and nan and pop. mum had cooked a roast lamb and had all the roast veggies and everything to go with. and considering she has NO kitchen at the moment, it was quite a feast! i dont know how she did it with just a camping style stove and a webber, but she did and it was delicious!!! i get the suspicion that the novelty of cooking outside and having no kitchen sink and everything is starting to wear off though. specially when her camping sink broke half way through the dishes and covered all our feet in dirty dish water! yucko!! we then just had a nice afternoon of relaxing and not doing much of anything. me and D did have plans to go out to my auntie's ''farm'' and visit, but we were full and tired and bumming around on the couch seemed like a better idea. turns out, we missed out on seeing my cousin J and her beautiful babies, and since i havent seen them since xmas, i was a little bummed. but it was my own fault for being lazy! we'll see them again soon anyway no doubt!

back to the city on monday, seemed like we had hardly spent anytime at home all weekend. after a quick visit to my grandad in hospital, we managed to get out of town and back to the big smoke by 1pm. which was nice coz it meant we still had the afternoon to sort all our washing and organise ourselves for the week. hate getting back at like 7pm when theres no time to do anything cept have dinner and go to bed!

so washing was done, and i loosely started packing for our holiday. not real packing, just sorted what i wanted to take and what needed washing into piles on our spare bed. that kinda counts doesnt it?

capped the lovely long weekend off with a very very bright nail polish job to wake me up whenever im about to fall asleep at my desk! not long now!!



promise ill be better at taking more pics soon! and therell be plenty from our holiday!!

weekend!

happy early weekend everyone! why is it early? well because its easter silly! which means a super extra long weekend, and i for one, CANNOT WAIT!

it all starts tonight...

Z, a friend from work J, and I are all going to see the re-release of Titanic in 3D tonight! we're heading out to dinner first which im sure will be lovely, then off to relive our love for Leo and Kate and the dramatic spectacle that is that movie. Now, I gotta be honest, i didnt LOVE titanic when it first came out all those years ago. i wasnt a massive Leo fan back then (cmon i was only 12!) and for some reason i just didnt get all caught up in the hype of it. but since it got announced that they were releasing it in 3D, ive started to feel all nostalgic and excited about it and i can not wait to see it again. it really was a beautiful movie, i love love loved all the costumes and the detail they put into every scene. its going to be awesome. and since ive gotten all mushy in my old age, i just know im going to cry! waterproof mascara for sure tonight!!

is anyone else going to go see this while its at the cinemas again??

so thats going to be a great start to my easter weekend. we've got a bunch of family gatherings to get to, including a Good Friday seafood lunch with the side of D's family that i havent even met yet! and of course, we're squeezing in a trip down south so i can make sure to spend some time with my family also. theres talks of a night out at my aunt & uncles farm, which will no doubt feature lots of laughing, drinking and table tennis! my cousins bub, Jaffa (not his real name of course, but he has just started to call himself this by accident. and its adorable, so we're hoping it sticks!) hes only 2, but hes decided he loves ping pong, and is always trying to play. nevermind that the table is level with his nose and he can barely reach over the table! he has dad to help with that!! and you know what? im so terrible at it, he'll probably kick my ass!!

only a week til our bali trip! wow thats come quick. and im only jsut now starting to think of everything we have to do and sort out before we go. its full on. but im excited and am already counting the days til we're on that plane and celebrating our 2 year anniversary just the two of us!

hope everyone has a safe and happy easter long weekend, no matter what youre all getting up to for it!! promise ill make more effort to take lots of quality pics to share when i get back!!

:) Caris-L

happy monday!

no really, it is a happy monday for a change! cept for the weather. a little less rain and wind please, my hair does not behave in these conditions! seriously, it looks like i straightenned my hair in the dark this morning! grrrrr. but anyways, yes happy monday.

apologies for my lack of posting, i had been struck down with the dreaded flu for almost all of last week and am still recovering. but for the first time in a while, today i can smell and taste and breathe through my nose again! so happy day for that!

how was everyones weekend? mine was fabulous. i probably shouldve taken it a bit easy, since i wasnt well still, but ehhh. friday night was spent in, with DPants and JBB (otherwise known as J) we watched that Ryan Gosling movie, Drive. which im still not sure if i liked or not. it was odd. and very violent. just when i was about to complain that nothing was happening in the movie and that it was a bit boring, WHAM blood! so i guess it got exciting. it wasnt boring, or terrible. it was just odd. and not really my thing.

saturday, DPants and I went book shopping for our holiday. i still have a bunch of unopenned books that i got for my bday and xmas, so i didnt end up purchasing any. but D got a couple (cant even remember what) and then we headed into the city. He was there to pick up his comics, i was shopping around for the perfect cobalt blue jeans. which i had been searching for, for like forever. i had seen them at a local cotton on store ages ago. but didnt buy. now that i actually wanted them, i couldnt find them anywhere!! went to 5 different cotton ons! all the while looking in other stores for similar ones that would do. but nothign!! arrrgghhhh!! i hate when you have the perfect item of clothing in your mind, and you decided that you HAVE to have it, and NOW and NOTHING else will do. drives me crazy! anywho, in the end I FOUND THEM! at the 6th cotton on store! i had to get a size bigger then i would normally wear, but theyre skinnies, so still fitted well, and they were onsale for $30 so score!

(top Kmart, jeans CottonOn, shoes Target)



 i found them! whoo!! so happy with them. theyre just exactly what i wanted. scuse my posing, im still not very good at outfit pics. this whole outfit is a bit of a budget one. with the top from Kmart only being $15, the jeans were $30 and the shoes were $30 too! i went out on the town with Z and a couple of her friends on saturday night. we went into northbridge and danced the night away. we had a blast, but man am i getting too old to be out til 4AM!!!! thats right. we didnt get back to Z's til 4. after 3 clubs and a pit stop for food at 2am, we were wrecked! my poor feet were so sore all day on sunday!

the always lovely Z. trying to pull off her sultry look. hehe she looks so cute. and her hair was adorable. not sure what brand her dress is, but i know she got it while she was working at myer. its hard to tell in this pic, but its acutally a really nice light lemon colour with brownish gold leaves on it. so pretty.

sunday i drove myself home at around 9am then went back to bed for a couple of hours. had to get up and get ready for a bbq that me and D were going to at a friends place. it was a pretty nice afternoon, albiet a little chilli, but we had a great time relaxing with friends. played a few rounds of pool, play with their new kitty "snuggles" and then we all went for a big walk around a new housing display village thats close to their home. was lovely walking through the new homes and dreaming of what me and D could eventually have. pffft, yeah right! if we won lotto maybe! but it was still nice to look.

the adorable snuggles. who is also affectionatly known as "boof" since shes so boofy! im not a huge fan of cats, but kittens are adorable and alot of fun to play with.

all in all it was a great weekend. we were both knackered by the time we got home last night and in bed by 9pm! was a early night, but we needed it.

now we've just got a short week, easter, another short week to get through, then we'll be off to Bali! cant wait!!

best face...

while i was downsouth i had to of course take some time to visit the cutest little girl ever! Riley is so awesome lately, shes hilarious to hang out with even if shes super touchy and can be so cute yet so psycho 5 mins later! oh and lately, shes been doing this hilarious thing where if you pick up your phone, she assumes immediately its because youre going to take a photo of her and she smiles. but not like a cute accidental smile, its a full on forced smile that just ends up making her look silly (but still gorgeous of course!) heres the face.....its the best :)

i love how she strains her face to "smile" for the camera, but she just ends up looking all wonky! its hilarious! and whenever theres a phone out, shes making this face! even if youre not even pointing the phone at her, or even looking at her! sooooooo adorable! xxx

a few more...

now that my laptop is working better, heres the last couple of pics from my holiday :)

 our one day of proper sunshine, this was our view for most of the day. so pretty. such a clear blue sky.

 me enjoying the sunshine on our one hot day! this was up on the roof of the boat, and i was determined to sun bathe even if it was for only 15 mins or so coz it was sooo hot up there. sunshine, cold drink and a harry potter book = happy caris :)

hahaha dont mind what hes doing to his eyes in this pic! geee. this is taylor cracking a smile on our last night on the boat. so happy he had a great time and we had a family holiday with all of us together :)

my holiday (finally!)

ok so ive finally gotten around to getting my holiday pics on my computer and organised! so i thought id share some with you. like i mentioned before, we had a great week away on a houseboat down south. taylor's carer and her son came with us to lighten the load of looking after him, and we all had a ball.

 our lovely house for the week. it was just like a big extra wide caravan! had 3 bedrooms and a good size bathroom and toilet considering the size of the house.

us on the shore ready to unload all our stuff onto the boat.

 the helm :) fully equipped with a couch for a captains chair!

 my sis ami enjoying the ride (and the wind!)

one of our crabbies!! we caught about 7 or 8 crabs every night while docked at the jetty, and had them for lunch every day! delicious!!

 my dad in his happy place. in the sunshine, in a boat, with a beer and his family. he took us out in the dinghy to go fishing a few times. we didnt catch a thing!

 this darn pelican kept hanging around! so we fed him some of the small fish we were catching :)

taylor chilling in the sun. he wasnt a big fan of the boat when we were travelling, but whenever we were moared somewhere he was loving being out in the sun and wind with us

i almost caught a stingray! oh my, it was hard hard work! dad set up my line with a live bait and promised me itd catch a stingray. i really didnt believe him, but he was right! i hooked onto a stingray and managed to keep it on there for about 20 mins! and for a while i was winning. (dont worry, we werent planning on keeping the stingray or doing anything to it, we wouldve just let it go immediately) but at about the 20 minute point when i was getting really super tired the line snapped and the stingray won. it was hilarious, and so much fun, but man was i tired afterwards! and i spent the rest of the week sore and bruised from my fight. it was awesome.

look at that rod! whoo hooo!

my misshapenned claw of a hand after the fight. took 15 mins or so to go back to normal!

ok so thats all my laptop is allowing me to upload at the moment, its starting to play up on me again! will add more photots when i get a chance. all up, as ive said before, it was an awesome week filled with lots of laughs and love. cant wait to do it all again soon! :)