I'll sign your Autograph now...

That's it, I'm famous. Time to quit my paid job and retire.

HA! I wish!

But this blog has been proudly featured in the latest internal newsletter at Pumpkin Patch. My signature dish, my favourite meal and my very own creation 'Knock-Out Gnocci' - check it out!

Do you have a signature dish? Or a meal that you LOVE to cook?
I'd love to hear about it!

xx

My Son, The Superhero

My son is a superhero. He has gone from an average, every-day 6-year old boy, to a boy with superpowers in the last 5 months. True Story.

He was a boy that couldn't see very well + had such bad hearing. I'm surprised he had developed as well as he did, and learnt as good as he did before his transformation into a superhero.

For those that aren't aware, my son Logan has Sensory Processing Disorder. It is a challenge for us as parents, but it is nothing in comparison to his own frustrations. It's a juggle, it's a learning curve for everyone involved. Especially me who lacks patience and has a strong need for quiet time.

Towards the end of last year/beginning of this year, we decided to look into his senses in conjunction with his diagnosis of SPD. We knew there were some slight issues, but we had no real idea of the full scale until we had it investigated further. And we found he had trouble.

His eye sight: Long-sighted + Short-sighted. And 2 lazy eyes. Glasses prescribed.
And he looks gorgeous in them, if I do say so myself.

Then it was his hearing. Approximately 30% loss due to a lot of fluid, at first diagnosis (turned out to be more in the end once everything was opened up).

And sleep apnea: snoring, no quality of sleep. Insert a tired boy who already has issues concentrating + focussing, to it also being combined with a lack of that real sleep. The sleep that growing boys need.

A few short weeks ago, Logan had his first ever operation, albeit a small one. He had grommets put in and had his adenoids removed. I don't think I really knew what was involved or knew what to expect from it. Especially when I *wanted* to be present when they put him under the general anaesthetic. I don't regret it now, but it was an experience I don't think I'd like to witness again. It wasn't pretty. But he had his little Superman with him, and we promised him that he would get super-hearing to match with his super-sight.

He was a trooper. He made mummy so proud with his bravery.

He woke up (a few times), minimal tears... and then he ate. And ate. And slept.
We came home and he slept some more.

The best thing? After a while, he couldn't sleep. Because the darn clock, the same clock that had been in his bedroom for the past 3-years, was ticking far too loud for his new super-hearing. And the toilet flushed far too loud. And he laughed, because he had super hearing. He was hearing things he hadn't heard his whole life.

And his sleeping? Well he still snores a little, but hubby and I aren't having to increase the volume on the TV when he gets going. Not only that, but the quality of sleep is better, he's waking refreshed and ready-to-rumble.

My son is a superhero now. He can see + hear the world beyond anything he ever knew.

Happy Wedding Anniversary

Cameron and I recently celebrated our 2nd Wedding Anniversary.
Two years of wedded bliss. Two amazing years.

Our wedding day, as cliche as it is, was the most happiest day of my life. It wasn't just about us becoming 'Husband' and 'Wife', it was about us officially becoming a family. It was a day celebrated with those most dear to us, and those guests to this day still talk about it and reminisce with us.

The day was happy, relaxed and full of love. And I cherished every single moment.

I find myself going back through photos often. The little things; the location, my flowers, Cameron's emotion, Logan's outfit... every little detail was perfect and I love going back through it all. I want to remember it all as if it were yesterday because now, it feels as if it was such a long time ago, especially when raising children.

The two years since being married have been the happiest years of my life, thus far. They've not been without their challenges (health issues, financial issues, etc.) but as far as our relationship, and our marriage goes, we could not be any stronger or any happier.

I've met my perfect match, that perfect person for me. And I married him.
Cameron makes me laugh like noone I have ever met.
He's that perfect combination of childish and mature.
We have inside jokes. And they're stupid to anyone that doesn't understand.
But we understand, and we smile together and laugh at it's stupidity.

We love. We don't go to bed angry.
We often go to bed in laughing fits from calling each other random insults.
To anyone on the outside of our relationship, that seems unhealthy, but to us... it's us.
It's what makes us laugh together, it's the moment before we go to sleep that we share and forget about what bills haven't been paid, or what chores haven't been done.

We laugh at stupid name calling. And I love it.

He lets me crack the shits. He understands my need to crack the shits, because he understands I need an outlet. And he's there to listen to my apology for said shit cracking.

I love him for knowing me more than I know myself.

I love that he's a thinker. He analyses. He listens. He plans.
That he knew how obsessed I was about Paris and the Eiffel Tower, that he could not let that moment pass without making it something monumental. So he proposed to me there. That one event in my life would have been enough, it satisfied me enough to feel like the luckiest woman in the world.

We are a team. We are a family. We have strong family values.
He is a family man. He is a provider.

He is the nicest and most genuine person I have ever known.
And he married me.

Little me.

I sometimes joke to him that he 'settled' for the first woman. That he decided he wanted to get married and have a family... and it just so happened that I was the next woman he met. And 'I would do'.

And to some extent, I get scared somedays that he will wake up and realise that he really could have done so much better than 'little me'. He could have met someone without baggage, without the moodiness and the aforementioned shit-cracking.

But then I think of what we have and the life we have created. Not just in Ryder, but our home... our great lives beyond our finances. We really are happy, and very lucky.

And most importantly, we are madly in love.

So, here's to my favourite 2-years. Happy Anniversary!!

I love you more than yesterday, but less than tomorrow xxx

Grateful for Julia

There's something very special about a friendship that stands the test of time, moreso when there's been a large gap of nothing-ness inbetween. And by large gap, I mean 10-years.

I've known Julia since I started High School in 1995. We weren't friends until the following year, but as soon as we became friends and I got to know her, I knew that we had the same values. I didn't completely understand our connection at the time, but as I have grown and as we have grown, I have come to appreciate the bond that we shared all those years ago.

Towards the end of Year 10, I changed schools, as did she. And being 'back in the day' where mobile phones were not readily available like they are today, our friendship also changed. It didn't take long for our friendship to fade away and before I knew it I was in my mid-20's, but I still thought of her often.

Every now and then I'd look her up on Facebook, wondering if she had 'cottoned-on' to the fad and when I couldn't find her name I would think that perhaps she's married and I'd stress that I would never find her. Then one day, out of the blue she was there.

I added her.
And the timing couldn't have been more perfect.

She had literally JUST moved back to Adelaide after living overseas.
She was planning/trying for a baby.
She was planning a wedding.

All of these life-changing moments in her life and I got in just before them. Before finding her would have been near impossible.

Our friendship has taken off as if no time had passed. We're older, we're married, we're mothers and like those days when we were 13/14, we have so much in common, and we still have those same values.

Today we met for coffee with our babies (both boys, who are about 4-months apart). Every time we catch up it's a laugh. It's talking about the babies, talking about 'those days' back at school, or talking about anything that is happening in our life at that very moment. From someone watching us, we're typical girls chatting over coffee. But today was just that little bit different.

Julia gave me a hand-written note. And I was shocked. I cried (just a little).
I put it casually in my bag, without reading it, because I knew that reading it would make me really cry.
And I just can't do that in public.

I wanted to read it while at home, in a quiet moment where if I wanted to cry, I could. And I did.

It was beautiful.

It brought back so many of the great memories I had from when we were at school. We used to write notes/letters to each other often and back then they were about nothing, they were about trivial things that seem so unimportant now. Now they mean something, because let's face it... who writes letters anymore?!

I'm grateful for Julia. For not just the letter, but for not changing who she is after all these years.

I'm grateful that as the years continue, our boys will grow together.
I'm grateful for the support, encouragement and SUCH kind words.
Strong words with meaning, and value.

I'm grateful that we have been able to pick everything up from where it was left. That even though all these years have passed, there's still something. And that something is special.