We always knew

I've been quiet since IBOT.

I'm starting to feel a huge range of emotions which are only going to amplify over the next 9 days in the lead up to DD's 1st birthday.

As some of you may remember from reading my post The In Between, we got told at her 6 and 9 month milestone assessments that DD had failed and was behind. Even taking into account her corrected age.

Well, DD showed the Child Health Nurse today. Did exactly what she had to and then some, especially on the talking front. So, it's with great pleasure, excitement and pride, that I tell you DD passed her 12 month milestone assessment. 9 days early even!

I'm so pleased with how far she has come in 12 very short months. She's slightly ahead with her talking, and with a mum like me, that's not surprising. I could talk under wet cement!

So it's only a short post today. Alongside the happy feelings, there's a mixed bag, as I keep thinking back to exactly what I was doing on this day 12 months ago. Tomorrow would be 12 months since we had our 32 week scan and get told that our baby is head down, ready to go, my low lying placenta has moved and oh, look! Your baby is practicing breathing! We didn't know then just how much that phrase would mean in just one short week!!

Christmas Carols

'Tis the season, lovely people.

Yep, that's right, there are Christmas Carols galore. In fact, right now, I'm watching Celtic Thunder: Christmas. 

I have to admit, I'm a sucker for carols. I love them. From the traditional like Good King Wenceslas to the different like Mele Kalikimaka. That's Hawaiian for Merry Christmas.

I wish I could listen to carols all year. Actually, DH thinks the reason DD came so early was that she was sick of me playing the carols in the car ALL the time. After 22 days of them, she'd had enough. 


If you had to pick say, 5 Christmas Carols that you could listen to whenever you wanted, what would they be? My 5 would be:

Good King Wenceslas

Mele Kalikimaka




Santa Baby (the Leann Rimes version)




Jingle Bell Rock




Fairytale of New York (Ronan Keating version)

So, what are your top 5??

Today I'm linking up with Essentially Jess for IBOT.

Monday Menu Plan

Ok, so today I'm linking up with A Dose of Dannie for her Monday Menu Plan.

Mine is likely to change, depending on my mood, the weather and what DD is doing at the time I decide to cook. 

But so far for this week we have:

Monday: Chicken & Mushroom risotto with baby spinach. Courtesy of a one pot meal pack.

Tuesday: Chicken Muffins with a potato and garlic filling - Lenards. Most likely to be served with salad.

Wednesday: Steak and veges.

Thursday: Marinated steak (Masterfoods Marinate in a bag - Red Wine & Garlic) and salad or veges.

Friday: Grocery night. Likely to be Maccas or KFC - both are on my way home

Saturday: Chinese - going out for my Nan's 73rd birthday

Sunday: BBQ I think, with the in laws. Or whatever my MIL decides we're having. On these nights, I'm not picky, because I'm not cooking it or washing up after it lol


We're a pretty boring bunch here. This weeks plan is slightly more extravagant than usual thanks to packet mixes and marinades. 

What's on your menu?? 

It's just the vino talking

My name is Sarah and I love wine.

There... I've said it. 

Personally, I would be very happy if I could get a Sav Blanc with a zero alcohol content that tastes as good as the alco one. The current no alcohol ones you get at the supermarkets taste like shit. 

Some people drink wine because it's alcoholic. I drink it because I like the taste. There's something about the combination of flavours and the way the can dance or roll or just sit on my palette.

My husband tells me I drink too much wine, because I probably do. But I say again, it's the flavour. 

If I was a wine maker, I would try my very best to do what I want - a great tasting, no alcohol wine that anyone could enjoy. 

You know, the way a good red, like a Cab Sauv, can warm you from the inside on a cold winter's night, when you sit down with a hearty beef and vegetable stew? 

Or in summer, the way an icy cold (yes, icy cold) white like Sauvignon Blanc can be refreshing. 

I'm one of those adventurous people who doesn't pair wine with food. For example, as I type this, I'm enjoying a glass of Chain of Ponds "The Cachet" Cab Sav, Shiraz, Merlot. We've not long finished a dinner of chicken, leek and mushroom pie.

Good wine-equette says that I should be drinking a white with chicken. Uh-uh. Not me. I'm a rebel. 

My husband thinks I'm addicted to Vinomofo. I probably am. Sassy comments on ALL my Facebook posts that I put on their page. 

By the way, I guess I should tell you that I'm just a loyal customer. I'm not receiving anything from anyone that I've mentioned. I just like great customer service and want to share it around.

So with that, I would like to remind you, that it's just the vino talking. 

Merry Mofo-mas everyone!

P.S. I wrote this on Saturday night, not Sunday morning.

My Christmas List

In true Christmas Spirit, along with Essentially Jess and Always Josefa I'm doing my Christmas List.

How many items do it get? No, I'm just kidding. There's always a few things that are standard, so here goes:

1. Good health for all of my family. I want my mum's arm and neck to be better.
2. A money tree. Greedy, I know. But if I had a money tree with a never ending supply of money, I'd share it with my family, friends and charities. I wouldn't be so greedy as to keep it all myself, but I just want us to be comfortable without worrying.
3. More creativity. I'm sure you're all getting bored with my posts. I'm not that exciting or interesting.
4. For my family and friends to get their wishes for the rest of their lives - I know what some people want and it's nothing I can help with, so I really, really want them to get it.
5. An RDO for my husband. Having him home that one extra day a week would be wonderful.
6. An open ticket (including travel) to any and all country music concerts in Australia forever. I want to see Big and Rich, Billy Ray Cyrus and all the artists at CMC Rocks the Hunter. I've been lucky enough to see international artists Brooks and Dunn, Tim McGraw, Joe Nichols, Dwight Yoakam and Gary Allan to name a few. I want more. It's an addiction!

I'd share the love, but all my favourite and followed blogs have already been tagged I think.

Tell me in the comments what you want and who you would like to see give their Christmas list.

Wacky Wednesday

I'm feeling a bit wacky and stir crazy today, even though DD and I have been out for a couple of hours this morning.

I've been thinking back over funny things that I've done. 

The most memorable prank would have to be the one I pulled on DH. It started out innocently enough - the sprinkler popped off the hose. Seeing as he was near it, he decided to fix it for me. Of course, I turned it on while he was still standing next to it and I have never seen a man jump so high before. 

I think back to all the times my bestie and I stalked people through the shops, ran around yelling that we were aeroplanes, me pretending to be a kangaroo because I was drunk.

My best drunk experience would have been after a post work drinkies episode. I cannot remember how many UDL's I had, but it was a lot, especially for me. DH (then just boyfriend) was driving me home, and he got pulled over for an RBT. He'd had one or two beers, and was definitely fine to drive, but I kept hissing, "Don't lie!!" at him in my best Gollum voice. 

I got my comeuppance the very next day - it was the hottest, most humid day of the year, I had to wash and vacuum my car AND to top it off, I had to take my Nan to bingo in a non airconditioned hall.

All of these hilarious experiences have made me who I am today. And if you see me walking funny down the street - I did my first RPM class today and it the seat feels just like a real bicycle and I don't normally ride bikes....

That Darn Feeling

Ok, so yesterday I freaked out. Big time.

For two days, I'd had severe nausea and even vomiting in the morning. 

I honestly thought I was pregnant again, even though DH and I have always used protection, apart from when we were trying for DD.

When I threw up yesterday, DH said, "You're not pregnant, are you?"

That's when the panic set in. I rang my mum, all scared, wanting her to watch DD while I went and got a pregnancy test. In the end, I went and saw my GP because in my mind, the test was only going to give me a false negative. I became a human pincushion for bloods to be taken, I was so dehydrated. He rushed them through and one of his receptionists rang yesterday afternoon - I'm not pregnant! It's just food poisoning or a virus.

Why was I so scared? I'm just not ready for another baby yet.

There's quite a number of reasons, including the fact any further pregnancies are high risk, with lots of monitoring, early steroid injections, lots of scans, and a very good chance I will go premmie again, maybe even earlier than 33 weeks. I don't want to miss out on anything with DD while she is still so young. It wouldn't be fair to her to do it all again so early. Our house isn't big enough, we don't earn enough money, I can't risk losing my job. I mean, Centrelink would probably look a bit nicer toward us if we had more than one, but it still wouldn't get us through. 

Will I ever be ready for another baby? I honestly don't know. DH thinks I'm just being silly, but he's not the one who was left alone in the hospital at night, with no one to turn to if I needed to vent. He could have called his parents or mine, but I'm the sort of person who finds it very hard to talk about how I'm feeling sometimes. I also have trouble asking for help. 

There's no doubt in my mind that we would have just carried on and somehow gotten through if I was, but it was such a relief to know that I'm not pregnant. 

But I will say to you - if you ask for your steak medium well and it's still rare, don't eat it, no matter how starving you are!

I've linked up with Essentially Jess for IBOT today. Head on over and check everyone out!