The Blog Is Moving

      I've come to a decision - I'm going to move my blog.


It's not a decision I've made lightly - I like the setup of blogger.com... but there's no link to Facebook, so it's very tricky for people to leave feedback and responses.

So it's moving to http://aussiejenna.wordpress.com/

Please check it out soon!

Fat... plus decisions to make

    I'm feeling fat.

I'm feeling worse than fat - I'm feeling uncomfortable. I'm over 110kg now, and although being 6ft means I don't look super-fat, I feel really large. I know that I've been indulging in all the wrong foods and not exercising; so what do I do about it?

I know that I should stop drinking soft drink, stop eating sugary snacks, and eat less in general. But it's extremely tricky. A lot of it is lack of willpower, and the fact that I love all the wrong foods. And I should exercise - but that's really tricky when I have no energy (thanks to the antidepressants) and little opportunity to get to the gym (maybe I should get a treadmill?).

And Ash and I are currently discussing whether or not to have more kids.
I've been very very clucky since seeing my nephew at a couple of days old.  But I'm not sure if I can put my body through what it went through last time. Although, as long as I stay well hydrated, I shouldn't have the same problems. Dehydration caused a lot of my problems.

So... to have more kids, or not?
To find the motivation to lose weight, or wait for it to find me?
Decisions, decisions.

And even better - Coop has come up with one red spot on his foot, and he's got explosive diarrhoea - to the point where I looked at his shorts and t-shirt and decided to throw them in the bin (or rather my nose and stomach did). Looks like we may have another Pox patient soon.

xxx

The Adventures of the Chicken Pox Kid

     So Madd has chicken pox.

It first appeared on her legs on Tuesday morning. I sent her to school on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, assuming that they were just mosquito bites. I was wrong.

On Friday morning I noticed quite a few spots on her lower back. There were a few on her stomach, so I figured that if there was a mass infestation of mozzies or fleas in our house, then we'd have to flea-bomb the house. So off to the doctors we went.

When we got there, the receptionist looked at Madd, and sent us to the nurse's station. I found that strange, because I really didn't see why. Then the nurse came along and had a look, and said "yep, that's chicken pox". I was dumbfounded. I hadn't even CONSIDERED chicken pox! Whoopsie!

So we've been home yesterday and today. We had to cancel our plans last night, today, tomorrow, school Monday, and Melbourne Cup Day Tuesday. Plans that I really was looking forward to.

Madd is actually handling it quite well. She was fine yesterday, albeit itchy. Stuck her in a Pinetarsol bath, which she HATED and screamed the whole time. Then, on advice from the pharmacy worker, we covered her in Solosite gel. We did that most of yesterday. Today she's barely had any issues. She's been very tired and restless, but overall pretty good. She hasn't scratched at all, and we haven't neeeded to put gel on. She's had one dose of Panadol, since she has some chicken pox spots in her "vajayjay" (I am very sorry that she has to deal with that). But she's been incredibly good. Misbehaving and melting down, presumably from being stuck at home with no routine happening and plans all changed since we can't go out - but not stressed about the chicken pox.

I'm dreading spending the next few days at home. Cooper has worked out how to get onto his top bunk, even though we removed the ladder - he just climbs up the side and swings his way up. So today I put the ladder back on, since there's no point in not having it there. It hasn't helped keep him off the top bunk at all. He's such a little climber, it drives me insane. Twice today he's decided it's a great idea to put a full toilet roll in the loo and flush it. Very lucky that he hasn't blocked up the loo yet. 

So it's been an interesting couple of days at home. I've baked lemon and poppyseed cupcakes, a cappuccino cake, and tomorrow's agenda is making a caramel slice.

I wasn't coping too well this morning, I can't handle the thought of being trapped at home. I've always loved the fact that I can pick up and go, even with two kids. I've always loved having my freedom. But knowing that I'll be stuck at home until at least Wednesday... that's not sitting well with me. Fortunately with Ash being home on Wednesday and Thursday I'll still be able to go to placement. Just hoping Madd is better by next Friday night, because I'm supposed to be doing a Mary Kay party at a friend's place (my first real gig).

Hope everyone is well
Jen
xxxx

Autism Obsessed

     Since finding out that Madd has autism, it seems to be all I blog about.
A lot of the reason for that is because dealing with it takes up more time than anything else in my life. But tonight I'm going to make a concerted effort to blog about the REST of my life.

     Cooper is 27 months old, and an absolute terror. He loves to climb up the drawers and onto the kitchen bench. He'll sit there and play with whatever happens to be on the bench. He loves to stuff his little cars and trucks into random socks. He is now speaking in 3 word sentences. He craves routine... can't put his bag in the backseat after creche, it must be in the boot because that's where it's always gone. At night, he watches In The Night Garden, then gets his "milk" and goes to bed. It's a great routine, calm and peaceful - and he responds well to it. He's about to go up to the next room at creche, he is moving up from the toddlers' room to the big-toddlers' room. I'm a little disappointed, because the staff in the toddlers' room are fantastic. Nothing against the staff in the bigger room, but I'm very familiar with the staff in his current room. But it's all part of growing up.

     Madd is covered in bruises at the moment. She's fallen off her bike a few times, fallen off her scooter, and been bumping into things. Her legs look awful, covered in bruises and scratches and grazes. But she's coping quite well. She went to bed on time tonight, which is massive! She was in bed by 7:30, and asleep almost immediately. She had a great time for Halloween - we always go down to Mum's place, since her whole neighbourhood love to do Halloween. She dressed up as a witch, and we painted her face green. She looked absolutely fantastic.

She had a great time, and was super-polite as always. She didn't say too many inappropriate things, and wasn't too forward. She did extremely well.
(please read this blog in regards to "scripting")

I, however, had high anxiety. I was freaking out about door-knocking with people who may not have been participating in Halloween. Fortunately for me, we ran into a few of the neighbours that I do know, so we went along with them.

I have only 2 weeks left of placement. I'm glad in one way - I'll get my free time back! But I'm devastated, because I really do like it there. Had a pretty crappy day today, I ended up coming home sick because my stomach got really upset for some reason. But overall I'm really liking it. I'm hoping to get a job there, even if it's just casual work. Otherwise I'll try and find some work next year once school goes back.

My new car is amazing. I know it's only an old car, but it runs really well - and it has the 2 things I really wanted; airconditioning and power steering. Madd loves it, and it's the perfect size. It's cheap on fuel, and... I just love it!

I'm selling Mary Kay makeup - I've never been a really girly-girl, and never bothered with makeup. But I love the colours, and the skincare is just magic. They have a peach hand set that's just amazing, it keeps my hands nice and soft even with me washing them 15 times a day. The best part is that the "hostess benefits" are sales-based, not party-bookings-based. So there's no pressure to get a certain number of friends to book parties from your party. And the prices are pretty reasonable. It's my latest love.

Ash is... Ash. Nothing much changes with him. I'm not looking forward to summer, when his work hours skyrocket and he's never home. But I'll survive, as always.

Hope you're all doing well, drop me a line :)