Feathery Friends!

A few weeks ago we had a lovely surprise ... a feathered fella was hanging on (for dear life I might add *lol*) to our kitchen window screen.

He looked so placid so Steve & I decided to try feeding him ... he loved it!!

The bubba can WALK!!!

For approximately a month Miss Ella has been taking the odd step here and an odd step there ... so you can imagine my surprise when she was in our bedroom with me tidying up last Sunday morning (11th October 2009) and took 10 steps in a row!! I was soo excited ... I then had to go out to the kitchen so I stood Ella in our hallway and she followed me ... taking another 39 amazingly cute steps from the hallway to our dining/kitchen area!!

Steve sadly was out at the time so he didn't get to see this when I did but Ella was happy to show daddy when he got home how she can take lots of steps :-)

Needless to say I have my running shoes on now hehe

Happy Birthday Babcia :-)

Photo: Babcia & Ella at Ella's 1st Birthday Party ...

My Babcia (my grandmother) is celebrating her birthday today. Ella and I called her this morning to wish her a happy birthday and even sang "happy birthday" to her just like she does each year on my birthday hehe

Ella's First Birthday Party :-)

Ella turned one on the 30th September 2009 ... So we threw her a first birthday party on Monday 5th October 2009 (labour day public holiday). Lots of people came to celebrate her big day and the lucky little birthday girl was given even more gifts!!

We even had another cake - this time it was 1/2 Cherry Ripe mud cake, 1/2 White Chocolate mud cake. The cake (decorations) didn't quite turn out as I had pictured it - close though :-)

Happy Birthday baby girl, your daddy & I hope you had a lovely day and enjoyed the first of many wonderful birthdays & birthday parties!!

Ella's First Birthday Dinner Party !!

Tonight we had some lovely guests over to help celebrate Ella's first birthday.

Photo: Ella-bella with (left to right) Tiesha, Uncle Bill, Aunty Tina, Giorgia, Madeline, William, Annabelle

Photo: Ella-bella with her godparents, Aunty Tam & Uncle Rod

Photo: Ella-bella with Poppy, Great Nana & Nana

We had pizza & garlic bread for dinner (which Ella wasn't too interested in *lol*) and a very BIG #1 cake for dessert!!

Photo: #1 cake made by Steve and I - mmm yummy Vanilla Butter Cake...

Photo: Ella giving me cuddles :-)

Photo: Ella-bella and her daddy

Ella was given lots of lovely pressies including a clothes, jewellery box, beanie kid, teddy, swing, earrings and much much more!! Such a lucky little girl :-)

Now to the really fun party of having a birthday .... The Birthday Party!!

Happy Birthday Ella-Bella xx

Photo: Miss Ella reading her very first birthday card from mummy and daddy...

One year ago today Steve and I gave birth to our beautiful baby girl and today she is one!! We can't believe how fast the past year has gone.

Ella-Bella we are so proud of you. You are an amazing little girl who lights up our lives :-) We hope you have a fun filled day on this your special day and hope all your dreams come true.

Photos: Miss Ella loves her new trike!!

We love you baby girl and hope you enjoy your first birthday dinner tonight with your special guests ...
Love from Mummy, Daddy, Casper, Duke & all the Fish!!

My Birthday :-)

On Saturday 26th September 2009 I turned ... dare I say it ... 31!!

I don't think I have ever had anyone "surprise" me with birthday gifts or a party but that is exactly what happened to me this year.....

My darling hubby Steve gave me an early birthday pressie on Thursday evening... it was a gift certificate for a brand new car stereo ... not just any car stereo but a cd/mp3 player with auxlillary input for my ipod and also a USB plug!! Needless to say I was very happy. He also advised me that my car was booked in for the following morning at 9am so the new stereo could be installed in time for my birthday!

So of course at 9am on Friday morning Ella and I dropped off my car to the installation centre and went on a lovely walk to the local duck pond .....

After we picked up the car we went for a small drive ... we had to test the new stereo of course :-) ... Miss Ella was "dancing" in her seat ... hehe to paint you a little picture... Miss Ella was strapped into her car seat so the only part of her body that could "bop" side to side was her head and oh how cute her little head wobble/dancing was ...

Fast forward to the next day and while I wasn't feeling 100% (suffering with a bad cold) Steve gave me 2 more pressies... a 1hr massage voucher ... and 5 gift certificates for "Ella-free-time" hehe

He then said he had to let me in on a little secret ... seeing as I was sick his plans for the day had been turned upside down.... he had planned for him, Ella & I to go on a picnic and there were going to be several surprise guests. But seeing as the weather was a little horrid (wild winds) and I wasn't feeling the best ... our guests came to visit me here at home.

We had a lovely afternoon of good food, company and even played some Kelly Pool. I was also spoilt rotten with lots of lovely gifts ... :-)

To top the day off Steve, Ella and I had a nice quiet relaxing evening at home.

Photo: Steve, Ella & I during my surprise party :-)

Does it get any better than this???? :-)

The List .....

I have decided to keep a list for Miss Ella on here of all her Beanie kids :-)

So here goes ....

(Mummy & Daddy - 08/09/09)
1 - Miss Lady Lucinda the Bear
(Mummy & Daddy - 09/09/09)
2 - Miss Peony the Tiger Bear
3 - Miss Rouge the Can-Can Dancer Bear
4 - Miss Lulu the Maltese Bear
(Eadie - 20/09/09)
5 - Miss Miss Universe BK the Bear
(Aunty Tam & Uncle Rod - 30/09/09)
6 - Miss Raindrop the Bear

Ella & her little friends ....

BEANIE KIDS !!!!



So as I mentioned before I have begun a collection of Beanie Kids for Miss Ella.


This is Miss Ella with some of her new little friends ....

Beanies, Beanies & more Beanies!!

Ok so I can admit that since my daughter Ella was born I have been vicariously living through her hehe. The question is though, can you blame me? hehe

I have been trying to think of "something" that I can start collecting for her that she can have as she grows and add to etc. Yesterday I found that "something". Beanie Kids!!

I don't know why I didn't think of them before, they are so cute and really quite affordable compared to any of the other options. And so the journey begins :)

Pictures to come of Miss Ella with her new friends :)

The birth of our beautiful daughter Ella :-)

After 8 1/2 long months the time had come for our baby (who my darling husband nicknamed "Chester"). The date was Tuesday 30th September 2008. My Obstetrician Dr W was inducing me at 8.30am!!

Photo: Me on the morning of my induction. Not the most flattering shot *LOL* but what can you expect at 38weeks pregnant in addition to Steve being the photographer *LOL*

So Steve & I left home at 7.00am and arrived at Tina's house (my sister) and then finally arrived at the Figtree Private Hospital at 7.30am.

Wow the emotions running through my mind & body on that morning... I was so scared, excited, nervous and much much more!

So, after all the boring administration stuff I was admitted and Steve, Tina & I were taken to the delivery suite. At the start things were all nice and relaxed, I was ready to meet my baby and couldn't wait ...

I had 2 midwives. One was Anne - she was the head midwife and the other was Chris - they were both very nice and reassuring. I also had Dr W. Anne did explain that she had some rules in her delivery rooms (I was interested to hear what "rules" they expected a labouring mother to abide by). Anne explained the 3 rules:

1. Under no circumstance was I allowed to vomit on her. hehe. She went on too explain it's OK to vomit on anyone else - just not her *lol*
2. Do not apologise - I thought this was a great one as I was sure I was going to maybe say a few words that I usually wouldn't say in public *lol*
3. The most important apparently - she said "if you break rule #1, feel free to break rule #2"

At this point I was laughing and having a great time - I began to relax a little. Then they started me on the drip and broke my waters, all good to begin with ... then BAM the contractions hit and hit hard! My birth plan for a natural birth with no pain relief was slowly flying out the window *lol*.

At this point times & events do get a little hazy and I really regret not jotting it all down at the time as I find it hard now (12 months down the track) to remember exactly what happened and when. One thing I know for sure is that I couldn't have done this without Steve & Tina by my side and will be forever greatful that they were with me during this amazing time. :-)

Once we were off and running (so to speak) I remember telling Steve that I wasn't sure I wanted to do this anymore hehe, poor Steve I can just imagine what was going through his head at that moment.

By mid morning the contractions were pretty regular and took my breath away, they gave me the gas - oh yeah ... that did it :) Was loving it ... till the pain got worse :-(

Around lunch time Dr W came to visit me ... he told me I was progressing well and he expects bubba to be joining us "shortly". This was very encouraging. Over the next few hours everything felt like it was all going wrong. The pain was incredible, I wanted to go home (and told Steve this several times *lol*) and it really wasn't like I had imagined after reading all those birthing books. I ended up having a pethidine shot and that helped. We knew that the birth was a while away so felt comfortable that the drug wouldn't harm our baby.

I remember around this time as I was "quite relaxed and sleepy" from the Pethidine that my midwife Chris came to see how I was going and while I appeared to be "napping" I could hear them all talking... Steve and Chris were talking and Chris joked to Steve that "she's not so happy now" *lol* I wanted to slap him but he was 100% right. My happy-go-lucky mood from earlier that morning was long gone hehe.

By late afternoon the pain was getting pretty bad - I asked for an epidural. I had to wait about an hour but it felt like days! When the anesthetist finally arrived I was so glad. He did his thing and then things were calm again. For now ...

According to Steve and Tina, after the epidural was in I became very sleepy. They told me that I was sleeping peacefully while they could see on my monitors that I was having some pretty big contractions. Thank god I wasn't feeling them *lol*

Dr W came back to see me at around 6pm and I remember things got a little crazy at this point as it was "change of shift" time. Anne had bid me farewell and wished me all the best, Chris stayed for a little bit but also ended up saying bye bye and leaving. My new midwife was Janette. She was so nice, gentle & sweet.
At this point I recall telling Dr W that I felt I needed to push. So we gave that a go ...
This was not a pretty sight ... even with the epidural in I was experiencing extreme pain. We soon found out that "Chester" had decided to flip upside down and was now in the posterior position - Good one sweetheart!! I remember begging Dr W to "help me" (like he hadn't heard that a million times in the last year hehe). He told me we could try the vacuum. So here we go about to try sucking our little bubba out but nope ... bubba had other plans ...

Dr W did yet another check and found that our sweet child had the the same directional sense as his/her father/my darling husband Steve. It was apparent at this point (10hrs since I was induced) that Chester was stuck and was not coming out naturally. At 7.00pm I was moved to a different bed, my epidural was topped up and I was wheeled into theater for an emergency Cesarean Section.

Our beautiful baby girl Ella Jean was born at 7.31pm Tuesday 30th September 2008.

Ella was born 7pd 12oz/3515grams, she was 49.5cm long and her head circumference was 36.5cm

Ella's name was chosen in honour of both her grandmothers. My mum Elizabeth (who sadly passed away in 1993) had the nickname "Ela" and she loved it - so there was no question about if we had a girl what we would call her. Ella's middle name comes from Steve's mum. Kerry Jean ... And so Miss Ella Jean was her name and Steve and I hope she loves it as much as we do... I know it would have meant the world to my mum and I know it meant a lot to Kerry also.

Little Miss Ella then had to visit the Special Care Nursery (SCN) as she had to have her blood sugars monitored due to me having Gestational Diabetes during my pregnancy.

Photo: Ella & daddy having their first cuddle in the Special Care Nursery (SCN).

Daddy got to feed Ella her first feed seeing as I was in recovery. She drank 20mls and was full ... hehe

Photo: Ella's 1st cuddles with Aunty Tina. Do you think Aunty Tina was happy?
hehe such a genuine (& tired) smile :-)

I was finally taken back to my room (from recovery) at 9.30pm where I was able to have my first real cuddles with my new little baby girl. I was still in shock that she was a girl. I was positive throughout my pregnancy that I was carrying a boy! What a nice surprise she was.

Photo: Ella & Mummy's first cuddles.

Photo: Our first family photo :)

And so our journey continues .... :-)

The proposal / Wedding ...

Now this is a funny story.

It was a lazy Sunday (14th January 2007) and Steve and I were laying on the lounge watching telly. We were talking about our future, our hopes & dreams. Later that day (while we are still laying on the lounge) Steve looks at me and says "so ... do you wanna stay with me forever?" and my reply was "yeah I do" :-))) so he smiled and said "well do you wanna marry me?" and I squealed and screamed "yes!!"

Of course we all know Steve isn't much of a shopper so he told me that he would like to take me shopping on Thursday night to look for the perfect engagement ring. We talked about dates and seeing as there was already so much going on over the next few months (a new baby niece due, friends coming from overseas etc) and seeing as we had decided there was no need to have a long engagement (and we wanted to start planning for a family) we chose the date of 26th May 2007. This was a special date for us ... 26th because I was born on the 26th (of September) and May because Steve was born in May.

So 4 1/2 months later Steve and I were married at the Killalea State Park, Shellharbour. We had our reception at the Sea Spray Function Centre. It was the most amazing day ever. It really was the beginning of many beautiful memories for Steve & I.

The Steve & Penny story continues ...

In 2006 Steve and I had been together for just over a year. So we decided to take the next step in our relationship. We moved in together. It was a pretty logical thing to do really as we had been spending just about every night & weekend together anyway!

So I moved out of my house and along with my dog (Duke) and my cat (Casper) moved in with Steve and his fish *lol*

And then the fun began!! :)))

How Steve & I met...

It all started in November 2004. Steve and I met on the internet. We quickly became friends and went from chatting online now and then to nearly everyday within a few weeks. Christmas came and went and we continued chatting. Then things changed ..... :-)

January 2005 - I was being a whinger online one evening hehe. I remember it was a Thursday night (6th January 2005) and I was meant to be going grocery shopping (so I had something to eat for dinner that night) but I didn't feel up to battling the crowds. So ... here I am whinging to Steve online that I was hungry but couldn't be bothered going shopping *lol*... Steve being Steve - has a solution for everything *lol* - his solution for this problem was that I should pick up some take away and come round to his house and share it with him ... I remember telling him that he should order home delivery and then I would come round and help him eat it (not thinking that this would all actually happen) ... and that's exactly what ended up happening *lol*

Now for the record I know how potentially dangerous this was and I had never done this before. I still do this day can't believe I did do it ... but I am glad I did.

So ... I went to Steve's house that night, we ate a lovely dinner from Tang's Chinese Restaurant and watched the worst movie ever *lol* It was quite funny actually .... we both really didn't like the movie but sat there watching it as we were both a little nervous .... at the end of the evening we parted (no there was no kissing!! *lol*) and promised to talk again soon...

The following Sunday (9th January 2005) I invited Steve around to my house for dinner and a movie ... and well we have been together since *grin*

Who is mummy?

Who is mummy? - I believe this is a question all "mum's" ask themselves at one stage or another.

My answer is simply this:

My name is Penny.
I am married to my soul mate - Steve.
In September 2008 we gave birth to our first child Ella.
We have a dog named Duke, a cat named Casper and approx 12 fish (mostly guppies!!)
I am a stay at home mum (SAHM) and loving it!!
We live on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia.

That's who mummy is ... :)

I'd like to share this photo - this is me & my baby girl only a few weeks ago :-)