Happy (belated) birthday Glennji!

Hey little brother,

Hope you've had a fabulous weekend and everyone has given you lovely presents!
We'll be bringing one with us. :-)

*hugz*
-dayna- & brucey

Happy birthday in memory, Dad

Happy birthday Dad - love you, miss you.

I didn't have my Tullamore Dew with fish and chips today (had to work instead)..

Anyone want to join me to raise a glass in remembrance when I'm visiting?

Happy birthday Damien

Happy birthday little brother, hope you had a brilliant one with your beautiful family! :-) You'll be happy to hear that, as your duly appointed representative, I blew out the candles AND ate your cake.
No need to thank me.

Welcome Lily

Dear Lily Sofia,

Happy birth day. Your Mum, Dad and big brother Oscar are very pleased to finally meet you.

You have a large family who are also eager to meet you - have you met Nannie and Nana yet? Unkie Bruce & I can't wait to visit in about two months.

See you then. *big hugz*

-aunty dayna-

Baby update

This morning we had our 36week midwife appointment. Damien got to come along as well which was really good (he has missed the last few because Os has been asleep). We were very interested to find out how baby is lying. The last two appointments she has been transverse (lying sideways with her head on my right) but she had since seemed to have moved. The midwife had a bit of trouble locating the baby's head so we had a quick ultrasound and the baby's head was down, but after a second opinion from the doctor we were told the baby is actually lying oblique (on an angle with her head towards my left hip). So she had turned a lot and maybe a little too much!! We're booked in for an extra appointment with the doctor next week where we'll see if the baby has moved again and if not talk about our options. Apart from moving around into the wrong position, everything seems to be going alright. A lot of kicks and movement, especially in the evening. I've been feeling a lot more mobile than I did with Oscar at this stage... I've been doing a bit of shopping and we've been out for dinner a few times, and I can still get up from the floor! :)

Oscar is doing well. He's still at childcare the same two days a week until next week... gives him something different to do (staying at home involves a lot of tv watching while mummy rests :-\ ) and it also gives me a break. Recently he has been doing a lot of singing. Even if he doesn't know all the words he still gets the tune right so we know what song he's singing! It's especially impressive when he sings a song we haven't taught him.

Damien is going well, also. He has been really busy getting things organised... carpet cleaning, lawn mowing, tree chopping and all the other household jobs that I can no longer do! I'm very grateful for all the work he does :) Our next job is to finish tidying our room so that we can move the bassinet in there.

That's about it from us! Hope everyone else is doing well, also :)

Happy Birthday Chez!

Happy birthday Chez! I know there wont be any drinking and/or carousing but I hope you enjoy your day (and we'll eat plenty of cakes at lunch :D)

Happy Birthday Trinity

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear Trinity
Happy birthday to you!

hope you have a fantastic day!
keep your eye on the post - we sent your present yesterday.

*big hugz*

Happy Birthday Mum

Hope you had a wonderfully relaxing day, Mum. I'm sure the roses enjoyed the haircut. hope lunch tomorrow is tasty & your birthday celebrations continue for as long as possible. :) I'll bring your pressie in October. :)
*big hugz*

Welcome to the world Jules

Congrats Glennji & Deeji on your bundle of joy. Looking forward to meeting the new nephew in October (and seeing all the nieces & nephews!)
*big hugz*
(yes, I've posted this in the past.. ooOo time travel. ;) hehe)

Mom says fibrocartilaginous embolism isn't good for dogs

Whilst I wait for a release to build -- gotta love being a programmer -- I thought I best pen a quick update on the trials and tribulations of our "little" puppy Lucy, who is due to come back from a two-night stay at a specialist vets today.

On the weekend she fell at the bottom of the stairs, and while I didn't see it the noise was an almighty thump and she seemed a bit shocked afterwards. I gave her a hug and she ran up the stairs, but stumbled again at the top and almost fell over. It was heartbreaking! I sat her down on her bed and ran my hands over her to see if she'd actually broken anything.

Since that time she was having trouble walking, her back paw "knuckling" over and sliding on the wooden floors. When she didn't seem to be improving, we took her to the local vet, who suggested a spine or brain injury (!!) and referred us to a Dr. Peter Laverty, who was kind enough to slip us in between his other patients.

Overnight observation showed she wasn't improving (very quickly, anyway), so we signed the release for a myelogram. This x-ray was not without its risks, but would locate the problem and tell us whether she needed surgical intervention.

Another nervous night (her timing sucks -- with Dee about to go into labour any second, we really need our rest) and morning and we get the results: it is not a compression or swelling, so it is very likely a random "spinal stroke" (fibrocartilaginous embolism) that will fully heal itself over the next 6-weeks -- it could've been much worse! Dr. Laverty suggested that it was more likely that the fall was due to the stroke, not the other way 'round. Lucy will still not be allowed downstairs for a long time yet.

This week is the week

A recent ultrasound suggested Dee has "polyhydramnias" - that is, too much amniotic fluid - and the follow-up had the specialist ready to do a Caesarian on the spot (practically), but Dee obviously wanted a second (and third!) opinion from her doctor and midwife.

On Friday we got that opinion, and now the game-plan is set: if little Jules hasn't arrived by Thursday we're into the hospital overnight for inducing Friday morning. And if he can't be induced, ol' sawbones McGee is standing by for a c-section. Either way the lad is coming out!

It is still more likely that he'll come on his own this week, statistically speaking, but just in case we've asked Dee's ma to come over and look after the place for a few days.

It will be great to finally meet the little guy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAYNA!

I know, I know, we've already said it.. on facebook.. google plus.. some people maybe even in person. But dammit, this is tradition, so here we go..

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAYNA!!

Happy Birthday Dayna!!

Have a brilliant day bringing science to the masses, and an awesome weekend!

Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3

Ignore me: I'm trying out the "send to Facebook" button that I've just added to the bottom of each post -- if it works, it means you can publish here, then click "[f] Send" at the bottom of the post and type "Family" to send a link to that group on Facebook -- let's try it, eh?

I want more power tools

We've got a bit of a break between visitors so I thought I should write a quick update.

We were expecting Darryl at some point before the baby was born, but he surprised us by calling us a few days before the weekend to say he'd be here along with his family. Luckily I had just spend a large chunk of the previous weekend cleaning the spare room (for the guys to come and fix our shutters) so we were okay. It was great to see Darryl, Alicia, Charlotte, William and Spencer, and although Oscar got a little upset about having to share his toys early in the week (especially after his nap when he was still tired) by the end of it he was happily (for the most part) playing with everyone. He seemed to like following Charlotte around, copying her, and later he and Spencer both copied each other.. which was good, because they were playing together, but not so good if they both wanted to play with one little toy :) I think it's a small taste of what's to come for him though. Daz was brilliant.. he made us the wardrobe (which we're still in the process of filling), fixed up the front security door, reattached the linen press door.. just generally did those tasks you really need power tools to do. We repaid him as best we could with beer and chocolates, but I think we still owe him big time.

This weekend Rach arrives, which will be great too. She's staying for a week, and I know Os is going to love having family here who don't want to ride on his bikes or read his books ;) Sadly Rach wont be bringing power tools to fix up whatever is left, but that's okay.. I think Chez has got a day off work so I'm sure they'll get up to no end of hijinks.

Speaking of Chez, she's doing really well. Only 10 weeks to go, and the little girl is very active. Os calls her "baby sister" and occasionally points out toys for her :) The time seems to be flying by now. We put up some photos of Cheryl so you can see her belly too.. I don't think it's as big as it was for Ossie. Either way I'm sure you'll agree she looks beautiful.

And me.. I'm on a weird low-carb diet. I'll write more about that when it's over if you're interested.. Then I'll have final numbers and the like. Either way, it seems to be netting a result for me, which is good.. because I do miss delicious carbs.